baaad plotbunny, funny video, and Slytherin House
This thread on fanficrants has given me a silly shortfic parody bunny, wherein Salazar Slytherin enforces the "no electricity, must use parchment and quills" rule while the others are off distracting themselves. (Rowena Ravenclaw is busy reading the blogosphere. She has to be.) If I can manage to get some work done, I think I'll actually write this. Crackfic is my specialty. :)
Also came across this video on Andrew Sullivan. Dance, White Boy!
I was reading a F_W post about sorting_elite (would be tempted to apply just for shits and giggles, but this LJ isn't a month old yet, and by the time it is, I'll probably have forgotten the whole thing), and came across their essay about Slytherin House. Was particularly interested in this quote, as it reinforces the ideas of ataniell93 and others about Slytherins:
When potential wizards emphasize their selfishness and even bloodlust, they get Squibbed. This is perhaps the reason that the Slytherin House is noticeably the smallest in almost every community. But why do these wizards that feel they belong in Slytherin House get rejected?
That is because they lack subtlety. Ambition, arrogance, elitism, and cunning are all attributes of a Slytherin, but the key quality is subtlety. This is why Potions is the forte of the Slytherin Head of House, our beloved Professor Severus Snape. Slytherins can manuever themselves through any situation so quietly and so adeptly that they resemble the snake that represents them.
Which leads me to my question: where *does* the fierce individualist belong? Where does the person who openly admits and even revels in their selfishness (and sees it as a positive quality) belong? Where would one sort a Satanist? Or a Dark-inclined person along the Sith philosophical line? The Huffles are too clannish, the Gryffs too proud of being "good", and the Claws too dispassionate. Where else do such people belong *but* Slytherin? They're (or should I say "we're", since I still think like an LHPer-- as lilairen once pointed out, Satanism is as much philosophical toolset as religion) ambitious, frequently cunning, strategic, perceptive, and certainly concerned with our own self-preservation. And yet subtle we often are not. It's not just about self-preservation, but self-*definition.* Living one's life on one's own terms and not bowing before the control of another. (The foot-kissing masochism displayed by Voldemort's Death Eaters is especially repulsive. Not in a hundred million years would I do this.) Perhaps there's something of the Gryffindor about this kind of display of packless dominance, but few Gryffs would be so openly ruthless.
I'd argue that Tom Riddle is an example of this kind of Slytherin-- if he truly accepted the status quo, he wouldn't have been able to rise to power and shape the world according to *his* desires. Riddle is a lot of things, but one thing is clear-- he is a rebel. He's not content with manipulating from the shadows, he chose a name that would be highly visible and then set his cap to making sure the world learned it. Of course, there are plenty who are more interested in controlling their own lives instead of the lives of others, but my point stands. Where else to put these people *but* Slytherin House? Even if it *does* defy the shadow-manipulator, subtle, quiet, (Palpy-like) view of Slytherin.
Thoughts?
Edit: A couple things weren't very clear in this post (what I get for writing at 5 am!), one of them is that the italicized text is someone else's opinion of Slytherin (from the info page of sorting_elite, actually) that I'm commenting upon. I *don't* think Slytherins must always be subtle, that's the point of this post. :)
Second, what I mean by "individualist" is not someone who simply doesn't conform, but someone who adheres to individualism as a philosophy. Basically, that the need and success of the individual and the evolution of the self always trump the needs, interests, and success of the group. Which isn't to say that an individualist has *no* regard for others-- indeed, an individualist would argue that the ability to love another or have regard for another proceeds naturally from loving and having regard for the self. On further thought, I think a cogent case might be made for the placement of a true individualist in just about any house *but* Hufflepuff. IMO, Hufflepuff is extremely collectivist and group-oriented (Voldemort would have done well to select his footsoldiers from Hufflepuff!). Gryffindor comes close, but is more pack than family-- an extremely socially dominant individualist could do well in Gryffindor.
(BTW, just a tiny rantlet, if I haven't ranted enough for one night... what the heck is with everyone on LJ suddenly forgetting to LJ-cut things? Must spring fever equate to posting super-wide images and quizzes and entries that take 6 page-downs to get past? This is definitely not pointed to any specific person, it seems like half of my friendslist and ALL of my communities are doing this, and it's really, really driving me nuts. Especially when people take "cut this, plz" as "omgyou'reoppressingme!" Just cut the freaking thing and STFU.)
Also came across this video on Andrew Sullivan. Dance, White Boy!
I was reading a F_W post about sorting_elite (would be tempted to apply just for shits and giggles, but this LJ isn't a month old yet, and by the time it is, I'll probably have forgotten the whole thing), and came across their essay about Slytherin House. Was particularly interested in this quote, as it reinforces the ideas of ataniell93 and others about Slytherins:
When potential wizards emphasize their selfishness and even bloodlust, they get Squibbed. This is perhaps the reason that the Slytherin House is noticeably the smallest in almost every community. But why do these wizards that feel they belong in Slytherin House get rejected?
That is because they lack subtlety. Ambition, arrogance, elitism, and cunning are all attributes of a Slytherin, but the key quality is subtlety. This is why Potions is the forte of the Slytherin Head of House, our beloved Professor Severus Snape. Slytherins can manuever themselves through any situation so quietly and so adeptly that they resemble the snake that represents them.
Which leads me to my question: where *does* the fierce individualist belong? Where does the person who openly admits and even revels in their selfishness (and sees it as a positive quality) belong? Where would one sort a Satanist? Or a Dark-inclined person along the Sith philosophical line? The Huffles are too clannish, the Gryffs too proud of being "good", and the Claws too dispassionate. Where else do such people belong *but* Slytherin? They're (or should I say "we're", since I still think like an LHPer-- as lilairen once pointed out, Satanism is as much philosophical toolset as religion) ambitious, frequently cunning, strategic, perceptive, and certainly concerned with our own self-preservation. And yet subtle we often are not. It's not just about self-preservation, but self-*definition.* Living one's life on one's own terms and not bowing before the control of another. (The foot-kissing masochism displayed by Voldemort's Death Eaters is especially repulsive. Not in a hundred million years would I do this.) Perhaps there's something of the Gryffindor about this kind of display of packless dominance, but few Gryffs would be so openly ruthless.
I'd argue that Tom Riddle is an example of this kind of Slytherin-- if he truly accepted the status quo, he wouldn't have been able to rise to power and shape the world according to *his* desires. Riddle is a lot of things, but one thing is clear-- he is a rebel. He's not content with manipulating from the shadows, he chose a name that would be highly visible and then set his cap to making sure the world learned it. Of course, there are plenty who are more interested in controlling their own lives instead of the lives of others, but my point stands. Where else to put these people *but* Slytherin House? Even if it *does* defy the shadow-manipulator, subtle, quiet, (Palpy-like) view of Slytherin.
Thoughts?
Edit: A couple things weren't very clear in this post (what I get for writing at 5 am!), one of them is that the italicized text is someone else's opinion of Slytherin (from the info page of sorting_elite, actually) that I'm commenting upon. I *don't* think Slytherins must always be subtle, that's the point of this post. :)
Second, what I mean by "individualist" is not someone who simply doesn't conform, but someone who adheres to individualism as a philosophy. Basically, that the need and success of the individual and the evolution of the self always trump the needs, interests, and success of the group. Which isn't to say that an individualist has *no* regard for others-- indeed, an individualist would argue that the ability to love another or have regard for another proceeds naturally from loving and having regard for the self. On further thought, I think a cogent case might be made for the placement of a true individualist in just about any house *but* Hufflepuff. IMO, Hufflepuff is extremely collectivist and group-oriented (Voldemort would have done well to select his footsoldiers from Hufflepuff!). Gryffindor comes close, but is more pack than family-- an extremely socially dominant individualist could do well in Gryffindor.
(BTW, just a tiny rantlet, if I haven't ranted enough for one night... what the heck is with everyone on LJ suddenly forgetting to LJ-cut things? Must spring fever equate to posting super-wide images and quizzes and entries that take 6 page-downs to get past? This is definitely not pointed to any specific person, it seems like half of my friendslist and ALL of my communities are doing this, and it's really, really driving me nuts. Especially when people take "cut this, plz" as "omgyou'reoppressingme!" Just cut the freaking thing and STFU.)