⚜On the wings of the night amidst the stars ⚜

i am still not overjoyed with child severus snape being described to look at lily 'hungrily' or with 'undisguised greed' on his face. but i think i forgot about how jo was very very poor before she got her break with harry potter.

so if you read these moments with poverty in mind, 'greed' and 'hunger' come across a bit different now don't they? severus snape reeks of desperation and it makes me think of 'parasite' when thinking of 'greed.' it doesn't seem fair to describe him like that because someone wishing to change his situation and desiring something else isn't a bad thing. but it makes me think of the sentiment of the lengths people will go to just survive, hence 'greed'. it's all messy and nasty but that's what poverty does.

it's really easy to just view these words in a purely sexual way but it's a very thin reading and, honestly, lazy. i think severus snape ultimately showcases the uglier side to what really bad circumstance can do to a person. he's not palatable at all, so everyone short circuits when trying to understand his pov.

so it is fitting that harry is the person who ends up understanding. after all, we read book after book of harry wanting something so desperately. to have his parents. to escape privet drive. that's a craving. that's a hunger. harry himself is described to look at his family in the mirror of erised 'hungrily.' and when he sees lily using the deathly hallows, she looks at him 'hungrily' also.

Oh my Gosh, I am so glad somebody thought about this too and said that!

I have actually read out "The prince's tale" and recorded it so that I can share the audio version with others. And I read it in all the voices as best as I could and when I listened to it back, I heard this especially. About him greedily looking at her. And I've thought about it quite a bit, also because I understand his perspective in some ways. Maybe many ways.

It is truly how the lady wrote it out here, if you come from bad circumstances and were deprived of your needs for connection and love and comfort and safety and care, then you ultimately end up "greedy" and hungry because your needs don't go away. The more you want them to go away and the more other people treat you like that, the worse it gets. And unfortunately our society is nowhere near the level of awareness as a whole to realize that this doesn't work and is extremely detrimental to us all.

But that being said, I definitely don't see Snape as someone who lusted after Lily sexually. Maybe to some degree in their teens but I'm pretty certain that his "hunger" was for love and approval and just someone being there. I definitely think that his heart was still pure enough that he wanted what's best for her and he most likely treated her this way even though his hunger was eating him from the inside.

Come to think of it, his relationship to his mother must've had some kind of a meaning to him because he doesn't really hold keepsakes close to himself a lot and one of the few things is her name. Which he kind of maintained, I think he had a bit of an attachment still to his character as "The Halfblood Prince", since his memories in book 7 are titled "The prince's tale".

I love this view on Harry, I hadn't quite thought about it but yes, he eventually is the one who can understand it and probably has some unspecified wish to do so. (I am entirely opposed to people who made a ship out of that, just for the record, their relationship is important but unclear and definitely platonic.) But yes, it makes a lot of sense that Harry would be able to empathise more and maybe release a bit more of his judgement towards Snape.

I can understand Snape in many ways unfortunately and fortunately in some ways I don't. But what I can say is that trauma does awful things to a person without their fault. And one of the worst things is that it leaves you desperate for connection and better relationships and it is precisely that despair that makes other people even more unkind and reject you more often. We know now that there is a way to reconnect to yourself and find your way out but it is even today an *extremely* tough way that few have gone successfully and if you have no guidance and a lot of people using you, like Snape did, you are definitely in a very, very painful place. It is no wonder he died in his 30s as a result to the shadows he was facing. At least he could never stop loving Lily as that pure little lasting flame that was hidden so well and that held him to the very end.

Just in case you guys care, I am fully supporting Teal Swan on this absolute shitshow that is run against her. I'm talking about "The Deep End". I am so tired of this narrative that is spun against her in the vilest way yet again and of course some low-life knowitalls are eager to jump on this bandwagon. "I'm a therapist/ psychologist/ doctor/ cult specialist and I consider her work highly dangerous and unethical!" - guess what, asshole, nobody cares and your goddamn diploma hasn't done shit to make people's lives better.

Do I agree with everything she says, do I think all that she does is wonderful? No I do not, my beliefs and values are sometimes quite different from hers and I listen to other input and perspectives. And so should you because apparently owning up to your own shit is a no-no in your world and you'd rather abuse her trust and dedication.

She's genuinely helping people break free of the matrix that we are all trapped in and suffering from so that must be a real threat to the powers that be apparently.

I know she has helped my life a lot and I have no interest in being fed those lies and conflated drama. I believe that she is authentic as best as she can.

Hello there @lydialovegood ! 🙋🏼‍♀️

I have to ask out of curiosity - is your name Lydia too? :)

So I've heard this argumentation often and since I don't take this kind of stuff lightly, I did my research for a while as I came across Teal's work for the first time. I even thought that it fit the accusations against her quite directly and I had a lot of fear, to be honest. However, I did not find substantial evidence that this was indeed what people claimed. Which is why I don't believe in the general narrative anymore. I have directly experienced a lot of malpractice by licensed people and I wish they faced as much consequence for their actions as Teal does.

Now I don't generally dismiss people who try to warn others and are concerned. I know that we should listen to both sides because there is always a broader picture of the truth. But as I stated in my post, I do in no way believe in this new smear campaign against her. Partly because I have looked into my own shadow themes and also because I have an understanding of how offender introjects work.

I would personally appreciate more truth in this, I agree with her that seeing unedited footage would be very clarifying. Thank you for your thoughts though!

This interviewer is so disgusting. As a woman, seeing the clear subtext and her multiple attempts to re-direct being ignored makes my skin crawl. But he keeps prodding her to make her uncomfortable by revealing something so intimate just for a story.

It reminds me of when Letterman was sexualizing her for having a boyfriend 10 years older than her when she was 16, even shaming her for a situation wherein there was obviously a power differential

I’ve always admired how she’s taken bad things that have happened to her in the past and created avenues for people to relate and heal through their own shared pain (WE; advocating for self harm representation on the Fall; condemning sex trafficking; etc)

Seeing how she’s turned into an advocate for being in control of your sexuality and not allowing others to shame you for it after what she’s alluded to is so powerful and I just adore her. Sorry for my soapbox, I can’t help myself

I have to say, I was really blown away by those insights and what she so kindly told in those interviews about her own experiences. I do agree that I feel really bad for her having to explain again and again that she won't talk about certain things. The worst one is David Letterman, what a gross and disrespectful way of interviewing her! It should be the bare minimum of humanity to tread carefully around other people's difficulties and sensitive experiences. I'd be absolutely awestruck if she decided to tell me such deeply felt things during an interview.

It has really occupied my mind all day what she opened up about here. I had never seen her in that light. I didn't know her troubles ran this deep and how sad and unhappy she was during her childhood and adolescence. I feel much more sympathy towards her and also gratefulness that she spoke about it and what she managed to make of her life. You'd never think that of her when you just watch her as an actress. She's so delicate and wounded and yet so amazing, determined and strong and lovable. She deserves the very best and I'm still amazed by how poised she is through all this. God bless her! 💚💖💜