DutchSlytherpuff's introduction
Hello everyone! My name is DutchSlytherpuff (well, obviously not, by my online/random name is) because back when I first made a Pottermore in 2013 ish I was a Hufflepuff/Slytherin hatstall! I chose Hufflepuff back then and stick with that House mostly, but I do see some Slytherin in myself and I've long been obsessed with anything Slytherin. Also, I'm from the Netherlands. Thus: DutchSlytherpuff.
I saw this site mentioned on r/SeverusSnape on reddit and thought, why not?
It's hard to say when I really entered the Harry Potter fandom. I'm 22, so I didn't grow up as the books were being published, but my mother did like the books a lot and says she literally locked herself in the bathroom to read Deathly Hallows when it came out as to not be disturbed by her annoying young children (one of which was me). She read the books to me when I was young, I think she started when I was 7 ish with Philosopher's Stone, but in my native language of course. I've been hooked on them from the start and I've since read the series in English about a hundred times, a dozen times in my own language, once in French and once in German (I had to learn these languages for school, what better way than by reading Harry Potter?) and I still want to reread them in those languages. I find that reading it in another language adds something to the whole experience. I especially love the Dutch translations of names, they really keep the magic alive. And as my native language and first meeting with the world, it's bound to feel special. And we got very very lucky with someone as talented as Wiebe Buddingh'! He's great at wordplay and a brilliant translator from English.
But I love the French translations here and there as well—Snape is Rogue (meaning something like contemptuous/disdainful) which is an awesome name, to give an example, and does give us a pretty good idea of who Snape seems to be at first glance (keep in mind these names had to be translated for Philosopher's Stone without the knowledge we have now!). In Dutch he is Sneep. Not only is it phonetically how Snape is pronounced, it is also the name for a fish with a large nose. Precisely like Snape!
Some other things are how for example in Dutch Snape's nickname is Secretus which is Latin for loner basically, or more like... put apart? Rejected, excluded, etc. Bit of a play on his character in meta vs in story like Snivellus is (which is obviously a play on his name in combination with his nose/grease).
I also like the name for the Marauder's Map much more in Dutch, because it's very literal and I love it. But on the other hand, the English name is very clear as well as to the purpose of the map (rather than the usage, like in Dutch), so it really emphasises different parts of it! Which is awesome. Also "Put-Outer" is very literal but in Dutch it's "uitsteker" which is also very literal but much better because a lighter in Dutch is "aansteker" so "Put-On-er" so it fits much better. (Which is why Deluminator is superior in English.)
Hermione Granger's surname in Dutch becomes Griffel which is one of those old things they used to write with. Stylus? For a slate? This I'm not sure about in English for the names haha sorry. But I love that it has meaning and thought because it calls to mind a smart person. Perkamentus is Dumbledore and perkament is parchment which has you think of old, and Dumbledore IS old... Dumbledore itself, the name, is an old word for bumblebee. Both are very grandfatherly. I could go on but I will stop now. (In case you didn't notice, I am a bit of a language nerd. Case in point: I'm trying to learn Icelandic for fun. I'm trying to read Philosopher's Stone in Icelandic as well! And I like to read up endlessly about etymology in particular. And Latin! Sadly have never gotten the chance to formally learn it but I'm in love with the language.)
(I don't really like the movies. Sorry to any movie-only fans... I mean no offence.)
My obsession really started when I was around 11/12 ish and has only grown stronger since. My favourite characters have long included Severus Snape, although I probably hated him on the first read haha. I don't remember.
(Other favourites include Voldemort himself, Petunia, Dumbledore (this list is starting well is it?), Narcissa and Lucius (and, by extension, Draco), Lily, James Potter (scandalous in this community? I hope not), Regulus Black, Sirius Black (I fear I'm not making myself popular haha), Andromeda, Bellatrix (actually all the Blacks, including "name on page" (read: family tree) characters and Walburga), Dudley Dursley, Peter Pettigrew (sorry), Remus Lupin (I said I'm sorry - I just love three-dimensional characters I can think about long and gard), Harry, Hermione, Ron, Molly, Arthur... okay I'm going to just list everyone if I continue... I can't help it, I just love them all).
Snape is just extremely fascinating to me and I'm not exaggerating when I say he's probably in my (nonexistent, because I can't make lists of favourite characters, I fall in love with well-written characters far too quickly) top 10 of greatest characters I've ever read about in any book. And I am a bit of a bookworm, mostly in the fantasy genre and children's books if I'm honest. Oh, and tonnes of fanfiction and Harry Potter rereads. I also play a lot of The Sims (especially 2 and 3, but also 1. No 4 though. Don't get me started. It's the Cursed Child of The Sims).
I've been trying to write fanfiction since around 2016 ish and mostly have unpublished WIPs and far too many ideas, though I've got some published WIPs as well.
Around 2018 I started writing fanfiction in a more serious manner, starting my first real project which I in 2019 finally got the courage to post a Snape fanfic that I'm definitely not proud of now, most of it is horrible and my English has certainly grown through the years, but at the same time I'm proud of how far I've come. I'm planning on rewriting it sometime in the near future and reposting it so I have something I can truly be proud of. Currently I'm writing a longfic on Regulus Black and I'm in a few competitions I post for, but not much of it is Snape.
I'm slowly moving my stuff to AO3 from both ffnet and Quotev (and physical notepads, and digital notepads, and my brain, ...).
I'm mostly in the (canon-compliant) Marauders/MWPP section of the fandom (and indeed I like just about all characters from this era, as stated above), but I do like the Golden Trio era as well, and I also dabble in Next Gen (NOT the abomination that is Cursed Child, I prefer better-written fanfiction), and pre-Marauders (mostly Voldemort's rise to power/childhood/etc).
As for ships, I don't ship Snape with anyone (I prefer him in canon compliant settings) but I do read shipfic with him as well (though my favourite kind is genfic). Mostly Severus Snape/Sirius Black, Severus Snape/Remus Lupin, Severus Snape/Lucius Malfoy, or the classic Snily. I've read other ships too but these are my "mains" if you can call it that when my true main go-to's are gen. I also like Severitus (not Snarry, and not bio-father Severus but either Severus raising Harry or mentoring him), though as mentioned I mostly gravitate towards canon compliant fanfiction in general. Love missing moment fanfics and Severus Snape-POV rewrites, or his POV throughout his youth, etc.
This is getting rather long so I'm going to end it here. I'm not sure if this is a good introduction but just let me know if there's anything I should mention that I forgot to.
Disclaimer: I'm not the most social person and struggle a lot due to my autism, but I hope to find like-minded people here and I do really enjoy talking about Snape/anything Harry Potter, especially meta-talk and worldbuilding (but also fanfic discussions/recs/writing!) as it is my "special interest" (I prefer the term obsession since it more accurately describes the extent of which it occupies my mind 24/7 and how nothing else even comes close) so I hope I'm in the right spot here.
(Sorry for the chaos that is my introduction (and the many parentheses), I am currently high on tramadol since I had my infected wisdom tooth removed yesterday.)
Going to figure out how to edit my profile bio now (pointers are welcome).
Welcome into the fold @dutchslytherpuff. We are pleased to have you among us and I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here.
Please be sure to check out this awesome New Member Welcome Guide which contains all the useful information and links for our new members.
If you haven't done so already, kindly do take the time and read through the rules.
Since you said you enjoy writing, check out Writing challenges. It's a good exercise and fun activity.
If you do decide to publish your writing, and I'm sure everyone would love to read it, do share it in our Story Archive.
We'd love to know more about you, why not share your Wand and Patronus with us as well?
We also have a section dedicated entirely to Snape, as well as one for general Potter stuff.
I liked your introduction, and your honesty, and good to know similarities and differences among fellow Snape fans.
Anything you wanna ask pertaining to the website and other stuff, you can ask by PM our Professors and Headmistress or by making a post on this thread itself, we'd love to help you out.
Wow, what a thorough, well-written introduction! I especially enjoyed your insights about foreign language versions – I had no idea they used different names for the characters.
"Bit of a play on his character in meta vs in story like Snivellus is (which is obviously a play on his name in combination with his nose/grease)."
I hope you don't mind me pointing this out, but your translation here is slightly off. "Snivellus" is a mash up of his name and the word "snivel", which means whining/crying in a weak and pathetic manner. Essentially, they're calling him a crybaby in a very juvenile (and inaccurate) attack on his masculinity.
"I don't really like the movies. Sorry to any movie-only fans... I mean no offence."
I'm not a fan of them either. 🙂
As for liking James Potter and other characters that aren't exactly popular in Snapedom…
Personally, I can't stand the Marauders, but I wouldn't expect you or any other member to conform to my opinions. By all means, express yourself freely, like whichever characters you want to like, and please don't ever apologize for having a different point of view. As long as you're respectful to other members, you (and your opinions) will always be welcome here.
On that note, I hope you'll post as often as you feel comfortable. Welcome to the site! 🙂
I hope you don't mind me pointing this out, but your translation here is slightly off. "Snivellus" is a mash up of his name and the word "snivel", which means whining/crying in a weak and pathetic manner. Essentially, they're calling him a crybaby in a very juvenile (and inaccurate) attack on his masculinity.
Ah—my bad. I picked the meaning of "snot/runny nose/nose mucus", since they gave him that name fairly early on with little to no reason to really call him a crybaby (though bullying doesn't need to be logical, of course) so to me that definition of snivel always made more sense.
But thank you both for the warm welcome!
Whereas I can say that I neither am a fan of Marauders and they’re quite of a “niche” in this community to what I observed, you’re not much of an outlier on the other areas. I myself am neurodivergent and much of a social recluse most of the time - it’s pretty lax of a space regarding that though and no interaction is required of you if you don’t feel like it.
It’s really nice on another hand, to see someone being equally fascinated with linguistics, actually. It’s also a topic that I deeply appreciate and it’s been a very interesting read, even to find out too how it was in the Dutch version and of there even existing such translations of names themselves. The Polish books left the names as they are, albeit they have quite a few interesting name translations for the magical creatures, for example “niuchacz” for the niffler, which would translate to something like “sniffler”. Quite a funny take lol. I have been learning a pinch of Dutch as a 9-year old but I know only the very of the basics and random words.
You’re not alone too in your love of etymology and Latin. I’m currently learning some Latin… very slowly, but probably somewhat surely. I hope to exceed to above of the basics though someday and perhaps take some classes.
