schemingreader

My Snape rarely uses contractions, and pretty much sticks with formal Queen's English (in part b/c I am not competent to write a northern dialect with any sort of accuracy). He smirks a lot, especially at Harry, but also scowls and snorts. Generally he controls his temper because he is all about control. He is also very fond of all sorts of kinky sex. He does have softer emotions but he's not good at recognizing them, much less articulating them, although he may express them indirectly through physical/sexual means.

Pet peeves? Really fluffy Snape, pregnant Snape *shudders*, entirely submissive Snape, Snape allowing anyone to call him "Sev."

My opinions only and YMMV.

When you write Snape, does he use contractions, or not?

Absolutely yes. No contractions is for people who are learning English as a second language or who are Data. :)

Do you ever write him speaking Northern? Or only standard formal Queen's English?

I've had him speaking in a kind of Yorkshire manner, but only at times when he's around his old home, and either with people who knew him when he was a boy or with whom he feels particularly comfortable. I suspect he thought it was important to get rid of his childhood accent, and so rarely speaks that way as an adult.

Does he smirk an awful lot? Scowl? Glower? Glare? Snap? Snort? Does he speak softly or silkily?

LOL. I just wrote commentfic for thetreacletart (for this post (http://thetreacletart.livejournal.com/331857.html)) and I think I used almost all those words. :)

Very controlled, or loses his temper frequently?

Nasty, but usually fairly controlled. Loses his temper when he's particularly emotionally invested in something and he thinks it's being snatched away from him (like the Order of Merlin in POA)

Talk to me about canon, fanon and your pet peeves.

The whole Snape Manor thing is pretty much a moot point now (which pleases me). My personal feeling is that Snape is in robes all the time and not Muggle clothes unless he has to be in the Muggle world for some reason, but I understand why some people can't break free from the lure of the movie clothes.

I think my biggest...hmm...not 'peeve,' really, but the way I diverge most sharply from fanon is that I don't think Snape's any kind of an intellectual. I think he's clever and he's almost certainly a genius where potions and the dark arts are concerned, but I doubt very seriously he knows much of anything about literature or wine or travel (I suspect he hasn't even been outside of England). He has enough on his plate without turning himself into some kind of Renaissance man. :)

My big struggle (sort of in line with what Beth was saying) is whether to make him an intellectual or not. Strictly speaking, I don't think he is - what he knows, he knows because he thinks it's going to be useful for him. But as you well know, I am in love with polyglot!Snape and wellreadliberalarts!Snape. That's where he starts to turn into my Snapey Sue. ;-D

On the other hand, he's pretty sharp, so he could know quite a lot without being a committed intellectual, per se. You know, I think it would be really great to have a story in which his autodidacticism (is that a word?) is showing, so to speak. Where he tries to front it as a learned person among people who really ARE learned, and fails. Hm... *adds to plot bunny list*

As for the cool-and-collected vs. hissyfit!Snape...I don't know if this bears up under canon evidence, but I gravitate toward characterizations of Snape in which he's just barely holding it together. In my world, he's got that cold, sour-faced mask on all the time because otherwise he'd be a gelatinous, invertibrate column of impotent rage. ;-D

heeheehee! I love these types of threads. I'm certainly not trying to slam anyone here ('cause God knows yer all smarter than meee) but I think canon!Snape vs. Fanon!Snape is sort of a moot point. If people are going to get all anal about canon (and many of them do) the READ THE FREAKIN' BOOKS! The only canon stuff is in the actual novels. Everything else is fanon, really.

Not that I don't have my fic pet peeves! I personally don't think Snape would be terribly kinky. If you want to get all 'anal' about it, I doubt he'd be gay either. BUT WHERE'S THE FUN IN THAT?? :D

Now, keep in mind, that most of my art and fics are squick and/or crack, so I don't really have a leg to stand on, do I? If a fic is really well written, I can 'swallow' just about anything the author throws at me. DementorDelta writes a waaay more romantic Snape that I would ever imagine him, yet I will eat her fics up with a spork!

As for your stuff, Schem, Snape would NEVER take part in an orgy that featured Lupin, some Weasleys and Neville, but I had great fun reading that!

Okay, I guess I don't have a point here....bla bla bla. Keep talking amongst yourselves!!

Contractions (in my little world) are fine for conversations when he's tired, rushed, and/or around someone he trusts completely (like Dumbledore and... like Dumbledore). Also good if he's furious, but never if he's lecturing or putting up any sort of social wall.

(Sadly, I can't write Northern. Would that wishing made it so.)

Like Ms. Rolwing, I enjoy a good gl word for Snape. Glare, gleem, glower, gloat, glow, glean, glaze, glide, glint or gloss usually work a treat. And my version of Snape is very controlled because he's so frequently close to losing it.

Pet peeves: EmotionallyAvailableSnape! CryingSnape! HisHairOnlyLooksGreasySnape! Especially that last one. I'd rather he be crying over his childhood and hugging a stuffed teady-bat than have secretly good-looking hair.

I'm late enough to the party not to have much to add, but I'm throwing my hat in the ring anyway.

Thinking on Snape...

I have never once thought about whether he uses contractions or not, (I'm sure this is a sign of bad writing, and I shouldn't be admitting it) so I am certain my Snape does use them, as often as any of my characters would, dependant on the voice of the particular story. By the same token, I don't have nearly enough confidence to try to effect colloquialisms in dialogue... I'm much more concerned with what he is saying then how he is saying it. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

My Snape does snap, snarl and scowl. I don't see him is as completely controlled as much as emotionally challenged. That is, I think Snape channels all emotions into a form of anger. The Snape in my head doesn't know how to express envy, pride, jealousy, love, sadness, guilt, sorrow, etc any other way then by becoming angry. Feeling makes him angry at the person making him feel and angry at himself for feeling. Which is why I write him snappish and prone to losing his temper. There is so much trying his temper, and his patience.

Of course that isn't to say there isn't a level of control he must possess to be a spy, and to occlude from Voldemort, but I always thought that hiding things in plain sight was his trick. He has enough anger at all the people in his life that it is easy enough for him to appear to hate muggles, the Order and Harry Potter. He can offer up memories of hatred and anger enough in his mind without having to manufacture them.

As for pet peeves? I don't know. There are so many ways that his character can be interpreted. Most of what we get from canon is filtered through the mind of someone who hates him passionately, as long as an author can reason why Snape is acting the way they have written him, then it will probably ring with a sort of truth. I guess I get annoyed when he is overly romantic or overly cruel without any sort of explanation. Only because it doesn't fit with my interpretations of his character and therefore seems to come out of the blue. Different interpretations of characters is kind of what I'm reading fanfiction for. I like all the different Snapes, even the one's that don't strike me as particularly snapeish.

My Snape is always smirking. He snorts constantly, too. It's a real problem. If I take away his smirks I feel he's acting inappropriately.

I'm so late! I write teenage!Snape...just as a warning (It's a Snape/Lily fic)

When you write Snape, does he use contractions, or not?

Yeah, I use contractions for his character. I'm pretty sure he uses them in canon.

Do you ever write him speaking Northern? Or only standard formal Queen's English?

I've been planning to when he gets really angry but I'd need a little help from somebody who understands the dialect more than me.

Does he smirk an awful lot? Scowl? Glower? Glare? Snap? Snort? Does he speak softly or silkily?

Lots of scowling, glowering, glaring, snaping, and a bit of snorting. Smirking every once in a while but at the moment he isn't too fond of the other main character at the moment (Lily)

Very controlled, or loses his temper frequently?

I see him being more of a loose canon as a teenager but I still include very controlled temper and emotions with him.

Talk to me about canon, fanon and your pet peeves.

I hate when Snape is very handsome in fics. I don't see Snape as necessarily UGLY in canon but he is certainly no beauty; he is no Sirius Black! So when I see fics in which Snape's hair isn't really that greasy but it just looked like it due to the lighting,weather,position of the, WHATEVER...I get frustrated.

This is a Snape/Lily pet peeve but I become very frustrated when Snape falls for Lily at the drop of a pin! I support the idea of Snape having loved Lily but COME ON, WRITERS! Make it realistic!

Ach, let's see.

I write Snape as using formal language, so he rarely uses contractions. When he does, it might indicate stress or an uncontrolled reaction to something.

He smirks rather than smiles, and smirks rarely. He often scowls, glowers and glares among other things. When he speaks softly or silkily it's usually a good idea to slowly back away from an impending explosion.

Most frequently controls his emotions but can become a volcano otherwise.

Pet peeves: Reading someone writing Snape as smiling or (heaven forbid) grinning all of the time. Reading his dialog written as though he's a teenager if the plot doesn't have him actually becoming one. Reading through gift lists for birthday and holiday fics rather than seeing the emotion/significance of said birthday or holiday in the fic. Rather than being peeved at the writers, I'm of the hopes that they're teens that will improve as most people do with their writing given more time and experience...