Essential Snarry Reader Interview with Lizardspots
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Essential Snarry Reader Interview with Lizardspots |
| Interviewer: | Aubrem |
| Interviewee: | Lizardspots |
| Date(s): | January 7, 2005 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Harry Potter |
| External Links: | interview is here, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
In 2005, Lizardspots was interviewed for Essential Snarry Reader.
Some Excerpts
In terms of random drawing, I've always vaguely drawn since I was a child. Nothing serious. I actually began in the Harry Potter fandom as a writer since I had no idea of the existence of a fanart side of fandom. Back then (in about 2002)fanart was very much on the sidelines. I then stumbled across three wonderful artists at the same time - seviet, squirmy and glockgal in March 2003. And I thought 'Wow! I want to try that!', and consequently I never wrote again. :D After plodding along on Deviantart for a while, I met duckpuppy, who introduced me to lj and to lunulet, who introduced me to fiendling, and it's just been a rollercoaster of fanart and smut and squee since then. Hee.
In an arbitrary sense, yes [I have always considered myself an artist]. I consider myself knowledgeable in art to know what I'm talking about, if you get what I mean. But professionally? No way. This is staying firmly as a hobby - I've thankfully been commissioned by some wonderful generous people on livejournal (*bows to you*) but beyond that, I don't intend to pursue a career in art. I intend to follow my dream, which is to become a doctor, hopefully a surgeon. :) Besides, calling oneself an 'artist' sounds terribly aristocratic, doesn't it? Hehe. If I were to call myself anything, it'd be 'fanartist', or 'illustrator' if I was feeling egotistical. The distinction is slight, but 'artist' just doesn't seem like me. *grins*
Gah, I'm not nearly eloquent enough to explain what I love about Snarry in general, but I'll try. I've always liked enemy-slash, where the author slowly develops the characters' relationship to a point where they are on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum from where they started. I love that, I love reading about the progression from hate to obsession to respect to dependence, and possibly to love. Snape has always been my favourite character in the HP series, starting from book 1 - he was just so openly horrible, there had to be more to his character. A good Snarry story always has to have a very solid Snape characterisation. I wouldn't know where to begin describing his character, but I love an author who can really get stuck into his mindset, leaving the reader fascinated by this complex man.Strangely enough, I used to hate Snarry, absolutely hate it. It squicked me terribly - I wasn't very fond of Harry, and Snape in my mind was far too intelligent for the likes of a teenaged boy. Plus the teacher/student idea made me uncomfortable. (this was when I'd begun tentatively stepping into fandom in early 2003). I just couldn't see it in the books (I know, I must have been blind!). So along came Nym with her series "Shattered" which was being rec'ed like nobody's business all over LJ, and I thought "Eek, ok, I'll give it a shot." ...And that was that. Totally fell in love with the ship, scrounged around for all the 'classic' fics, went hunting for Snarry moments in the books and was shocked at myself for finding the pairing so squicky beforehand. I think it was the age gap that put me off - I'm only 19 (17 when I first delved into HP fandom) and having a relationship with someone 20 years my senior just did not compute in my head.
Now of course, I love older/younger pairings, Snarry being my favourite. My tastes have changed from my 17 year old self, and I've fallen in love with teh Snarry even more. Canon Harry is still rather annoying, but I have to keep reminding myself that he's only a 15 year old boy, and will be prone to idiotic actions now and then. *grins* I love reading older Harry fics - there's so much room for exploration with adult Harry. His characterisation varies a lot from fic to fic, and I love reading them all. As long as he's not too defiant and whiny. ;)
And when it comes to drawing them... it's all about the intensity. They're both dark haired, which makes for some very nice black and white pictures, and the contrast between Harry's lithe youthful body and Snape's more masculine larger one is great fun to draw. Larger person/smaller person slash always looks more pleasing to my eye, and Snarry is no exception - it's all about that diagonal slant I mentioned earlier. I'm also very fond of drawing manly Snape *cough*chest hair*cough* with his chiselled jawline and long fingered hands. Many people draw Snape as slightly effeminate, but that really doesn't work for me, not for grown-up Snape. Teenager!Snape, yes, but not Snape-the-Potions-Master.:)