a brief andreil as snupin thesis (written at 2am on a random saturday night):
first we must consider their backstories:
the thing that drawssss me into snupin is that we have two characters cut from the same piece of cloth but sewn together length-ways and width-ways. we have two characters with unstable father-son relationships and yet they end up on completely different paths - remus, having grown up with his magical dad doing what he did, leaves him feeling untethered in both worlds and desperate to prove that he's good and worthy of belonging the same as everyone else. snape, with his abusive muggle dad, is pre-disposed to accept the rhetoric he hears and he is so desperate to belong anywhere that he, as a young 11 year old, clings to that slytherin title all he can.
we have a similar dynamic with andreil with two boys who have never had a stable home, but in such different ways. they both had Bad Homes in the sense of their original ones, and they reacted differently. neil never let himself feel any kind of stability. he ran from place to place and refused to accept - even when Hit Exy Player Kevin Day is in front of him - that he deserves the grace of standing still. pair this with andrew who is so DESPERATE for a home that he stays despite drake. that he would endure drake's assault if just for the semblance of a home.
are we with me so far? okay. onto them.
"yes or no?"
there's a big difference between drake's actions and SWM but the comparison works the same - a person who has experienced assault and how they adjust to this. i loveeee a snupin dynamic with clear boundaries and outlines. a clear understanding of "okay. my dad did this and that, your friends did this and that. here's what i am okay with and what i am not" and that "yes or no?" from andreil? it's so them. it's so them.
whether verbal or not, snupin do the same thing. when one of them is overwhelmed and clearly stressed there is a clear question of "can i support you right now?". when snupin sit around the table at an order meeting and a tense mission is announced, snape will tap remus' leg once and let remus decide whether to intertwine their fingers under the table or not. when they're intimate there is constant communication, even if it's not poetic or in depth, it's a simple "can i?" "yes?" "no?" "this?" that makes them so sure that they are not overstepping anything.
need i explain how this is so andrew?
need i also explain the kind of intimacy and trust that's required to let one see your scars? need i explain the parallels between neil and remus here? NEED IIIII EXPLAINNNN???
i will. andrew is terrified of neil. he's terrified of caring about neil, he's terrified of something happening to neil and he's terrified of the fact that he even CARES what happens to neil. boom, snupin. an older snape being so scared of how he feels, so scared of that intimacy and yet so overwhelmed the first time remus trust him with his scars. late nights and groggy mornings of fingers barely touching skin and whispered stories of "and this one?" "what happened here?"
boom. andreil as snupin.
andrew's medication vs snape's occlumency
both of them being Physically Incapable of letting someone In. snape with his occlumency walls that, out of necessity, he has spent years crafting. snape with his occlumency walls that have been so strong that nothing could tear through them Until It Does. until remus somehow manages to see right through his facade anyway and Sees Him.
andrew with his medication which, again, he is on out of necessity. to survive. not being able to feel things as clearly as others, his mind constantly being clouded but the One thing he needs to see clearly? neil. he needs to understand neil he needs to watch neil and he needs to Know neil.
and they both convince themselves that it's because of a threat. andrew convinces himself that he's worried about neil's "fascination" with kevin, snape convinces himself that it's because of remus' condition, but they both Know. they Know once they can see clearly that none of this was fake or wrong or a lie. it was real.
"you were supposed to be a side effect of the medication"
mhm yeah. andriel as snupin.
mannerisms and understanding
neil and remus Knowing the other through and through. no one else really Getting It. no one else really understanding but that's because they don't know that the other's left brow twitches when he's thinking of a snarky comeback. they don't know that each lip bite means something different and they don't know what the tension behind each finger means.
because both andrew and snape are closed off to others and to themselves that it takes someone with some much patience and longing and understanding and LOVE to learn what each expression and twitch and glance means and-
guys i am so tired i am sleeping now but i will be back but PLEASE DO WE SEE IT ππππππ ARE WE PICKING UP WHAT I'M PUTTING DOWN RN
