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
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I agree totally with your conclusion that people like that would have to be sorted into Slytherin. However, I don't quite agree with your interpretation of Slytherins always being subtle. It's like saying all Hufflepuffs have to be quiet, or the only way one can be intelligent is to be bookish.
I can be categorised with many of the labels you used - satanist, ambitious, frequently cunning, strategic, perceptive, self-serving, self-defining, and all about self-preservation. Many of these qualities are specifically Slytherin (as defined in canon), yet others are not, but fit in with the stereotype created in the books.
Being subtle isn't one of those. Snape is subtle, indeed. But many of the others are not. Voldemort, is not, like you said. Draco is the biggest example I can think of. He isn't subtle in the slightest. He wants people (in particular, Harry), to pay attention to him. He rushes on in like a bull in the china shop and demands that people take notice. He is rarely subtle in his behaviour. He is brash, and bright. Crabbe and Goyle are also not known for being subtle.
However, I think that a key point with those of us (I include myself in this) who are loud about their Slytherin qualities, do have the knowledge that some things are better left subtle. I think this IS shown with Draco in the books, but in terms of things like his knowledge of his parents involvement with Voldemort, and how far that stretches (as shown in his comments in the forest during the World Cup in GoF). I could go on about Draco and Slytherin qualities for ages, because I feel he really is a key representative of the house, but I will refrain.
My point is this - there are two ways of looking at house qualities. The first is that all house qualities, no matter what the house, are present in all people. The degree to which the attributes are shown does vary from person to person, but they are all there. For example - Pansy shows loyalty (Hufflepuff trait) in her concern with Draco (but as a Slytherin, it is likely this motivation is self-serving). Hermione shows intelligence (Ravenclaw), as does Draco, in his cutting wit.
The second way, is that the defining traits of the house are simple and straight forward in themselves, but will manifest in a multitude of ways (for instance, Gryffindor is known for bravery, and the stereotypical view of this is the type that Harry displays, but quiet, unassuming Neville also shows bravery, in standing up to his friends, and how he deals with the condition of his parents).
(cont in next post because of word limit)
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So do I, that was the point of my post. :) The always-subtle thing isn't my opinion, but a quote from the info page of sorting_elite (and echoed by many other Slytherin fans), and it's something I'm trying to take issue with here. Not sure why multiple people assumed the italics were quoting me, but I guess I could stand to write more clearly in the middle of the night. :)
Good points in the rest, though, especially the "all House qualities are present in some way in all people."
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