#dutch mermaid

[tetsunabouquet]

I cannot wait to see Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken no matter the mixed reviews and numerous spoilers. I'm thinking of going this weekend to the cinema. This, is for a very important reason:

Chelsea Van Der Zee, is the reason. When I initially saw pictures of her, I was hyped to see how DreamWorks is going to poke fun at the live-action remakes. Because come on, production of this movie started 2 years after the announcement of the live-action Little Mermaid. BUT, there is another layer to the parody of her character that will fly over most people's heads: She's a Dutch mermaid. Her faux-Dutch last name is a proper sounding Dutch surname, it doesn't falls into the pitfalls of writing it as Vanderzee, and whilst on the nose it's a well-constructed surname. Like, the people who created her last name were aware of HOW our surnames were constructed and didn't end up creating a non-realistic surname that simply sounds Dutch like Gossip Girl did. I remember trying to playback a moment in the trailer several times, when Chelsea confronted Ruby about being a kraken in the trailer, she says a word at the end that I couldn't place and no matter how many times I rewinded it I didn't understood what she said. Until I came across the scripted version of the quote yesterday; “I know your secret. You're a kraken, hiding as a human. And soon, everyone will know the truth. Kusjes!” Kusjes is horribly butchered, but it's Dutch for 'kisses' and we actually do use that and XOXO, just like English speakers do so the usage of Dutch that I have seen so far is correct. Now, I have actually seen people speculate she's Dutch because of That's So Raven, but as a Dutch person myself I see it from a different angle: There's a phenomenon I like to call the 'Dutch Default'. Historically, the English had difficulties recognizing which Germanic speaking culture was which. You can even see this reflected in our English name, 'Dutch', when that's how the Germans refer to themselves, as the Deutsch. We calls ourselves Nederlanders in our tongue. Pennsylvanian Dutch? I was told the area was mostly Swedish. I can continue with examples. Whilst I noticed the UK has became a little better educated about the topic, this is still perpetuated by Americans to this day. When The Little Mermaid live action was announced, there were various people who actually confused us for the Danish. Some were harmless comments like calling the novel Dutch instead of a Danish novel. Others were not. When there were Danish people speaking on social media about how disappointed they were with how Disney treats one of their national symbols, there were hate comments from people defending The Little Mermaid, but various were directed at the Dutch because Americans were too lazy to even Google which culture they are hurling insults too. This, was all taking place during the production of Ruby Gillman. Now, how likely is it that Chelsea is a Dutch mermaid because of That's So Raven, and how likely do you think DreamWorks noticed Twitter and decided to use the Dutch Default as another layer to the parody of Chelsea's character? Because it's not like the entirety of Hollywood seems to be unaware of this phenomenon. The Umbrella Academy S2, actually has this scene with the Swedish brothers being called Dutch even though the characters were already told they were Swedish, and Five corrects them like, "No, they're Swedish." Paired with how Luther shouts at innocent Olga through the phone, it gives a perfect portrayal of how clueless Americans are about foreign cultures. There are people in Hollywood who do notice how little Americans know about other cultures and will harass innocent people on false misconceptions. For DreamWorks to poke fun at Twitter wars for doing so, makes me love Chelsea Van Der Zee.

If I ever see one of those stupid Americans again because this whole drama isn't completely over yet, I will summon Chelsea to drown them to the bottom of the Ocean.

[wanderingwithstars]

Carved and engraved shells by Cornelis Bellekin (circa 1625 - before 1711), Dutch engraver of mother-of-pearl shells and, apparently, also active as painter.

Born into a family of engravers - the founder of the family, Jeremie, having settled in Amsterdam in 1608

- he specialised in the engraving of mother-of-pearl, becoming the most distinguished artist in that field.

Via The Decorative World of Shell Artistry

[thefugitivesaint]

Gerarda Rueter (1904-1993), ''Onze Kunst'' 1911 Source

[cookietastic]

I come two months late to mermay with an offering to you of Daniel and the Mer-cobras in his care 🧜‍♂️

@phoomwhoosh also just dropped a mercobra fic too you can read here !!!

[gagehoneymoon]

I could eat if I was a fan fiction maker, I could really make a good fan fiction but I don't know if I should 😭

[interstellar-lamb]

I will forever pity the Americans. Who grew up with the English rendition of Aladdin and will never know the amazing beauty of Dutch Jafar saying 'ik jubel'

PRINS ALIII JA DAT IS DIEE STRAATARME STAKKERRR

[silversoulss]

[fluffystarusagi]

Just wanted to share my luchia cosplay here on tumblr

It was a perfect cosplay for viencon and my cosplay dream came true !

So here are my favorite pics

I love this series since I was 15

I can't wait to cosplay here again but I wanna do a mermaid melody group

Photo made by Cflashninja

[angelshizuka]

I've been Googling the Dutch CCS dub and haven't been able to find anything except the intro song (that I already knew was uploaded online), but I did find back 4 of the voice actors and though I might never be able to watch the Dutch dub again, some of the others characters they voiced are a lot easier to find. So, at least that way I'll get a piece of my childhood back.

But holy hell, Sakura's Dutch voice actress was a bigger part of my childhood than I realized. She was (is?) Stella in Winx Club, Meg in Herucles, and even Queen Iduna in Frozen (only that one line in the first movie, though), excuse me!?? Also Ariel's mother in The Little Mermaid 3, Riley's mother in Inside Out (2), Bonnie's mother in Toy Story 3-4 and Marinette's mother in Miraculous... Guess she has a thing for voicing animated mothers.

Syaoran's voice actress also voiced some of my childhood characters, like Izzy, Palmon, Togemon and Lillymon from Digimon and Timmy from Fairly Odd Parents. But I can't really find any recent work she did (she stopped voicing Timmy in 2017). I can remember Timmy's Dutch voice quite well, because that show was on TV all the time, and yeah, I can totally see why she got casted for Syaoran.

Tomoyo's voice actress doesn't seem to have many (known) roles, but again another big part of my childhood with her also voicing Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Reggie from Rocket Power, Like, that voice of hers is still so clear in my mind.

And Kero's voice actor also did Tai in Digimon!? Can these people stop taking over my childhood, I swear...

[wildbeautifuldamned]

Handpainted Dutch Tile Mermaid with Dolphin 4 x 4 ebay Sunshine Welding and Collectables

[mahouowo]

Mermaids in Dutch folklore

The Netherlands is a country that co-exists with water, but it wasn't always that way. A lot of our cities & villages have been lost due to floods (like Saeftinghe) before we had proper dikes and Neeltje Jans. Some of the areas affected by these floods have become wetlands and others have ruins standing where the village used to be.

So, what do mermaids have to do with this? In Dutch folklore a lot of these floods are either caused by greedy villagers or by fishermen catching a mermaid and refusing to let her free. They talk about pavement being laid with bricks of gold and hooves from horses being of silver with villagers wearing clothes made out of the best fabric around. Sadly, because their villages and cities were always so pristine they did everything in their power to cast out beggars and travellers. When there was no mermaid involved the story would describe the flood as a consequence of their greediness. However, with every story that does involve a mermaid being caught by a fisherman, the place they come from tends to be the same. Golden pavement, silver hooves, etc. A merman, being the mermaid's husband, would come above water and warn them of the upcoming floods if they didn't set his wife free.

'Westenschouwen, ’t zal u rouwen dat ge heeft geroofd mijn vrouwe, Westenschouwen zal vergaan alleen de toren zal blijven staan’

'Westenschouwen, you shall grieve That you stole my wife away from me, Westenschouwen shall fall Only its tower shall stand tall'

In this example the merman curses the village by putting seaweed & sand in the gullies of the city after the people mercilessly killed his wife by putting her up for display. After he leaves, storms flood the place with one single tower standing.

Even in Dutch folklore mermaids were seen as such beautiful creatures that fishermen couldn't help but take them home. They weren't the only ones, however! We also have the Nixie, who in some stories was said to be a beautiful woman who would jump out of the water to sit behind you on the carriage. When you reached the end of the body of water she would jump back in, never to be seen again.

The Mermaid of Edam

Around the 1400s there was a mermaid sighting close to Edam. A mermaid was stuck behind the wrong side of the dike because of a heavy storm. After the storm, the hole was fixed so she had no way to go back to the sea. People described her as drifting between the edges of the lake asleep, unless she dove to the bottom of the lake to eat. She was beautiful and her body was adorned with moss and seaweed. There would often be women sailing on the lake to milk the cows on the other side who were shocked to find her. However, after some time they got the courage to approach her and pulled her out of the lake.

The Mermaid didn't speak their language nor did they understand her, so they did what any rational person in the 1400s The Netherlands would do - strip her of all her moss to put clothes on her. They fed her and she ate our type of food, but she always longed to go back to the water, so they guarded her. She became quite the tourist attraction and because a lot of Haarlemmers wanted to have her for their city, the people of Edam gave her as a gift to them in the end. She learned how to spin wool and lived a very long life. When she died they buried her in the graveyard of the church because she made a lot of crosses in her lifetime (which could also mean she became Christian). In 2014 they rebuilt a statue in Haarlem to remember her.

The Mermaid & The Mother

Once upon a time in the province of Limburg near a big castle a servant took two children out to the beach. He met someone and spoke with them while the children continued playing on the beach ahead, but when he was done they were nowhere to be found. He searched all day and returned to the castle with only their socks. Everyone helped searching for the children, but it was to no avail - they were gone. After a lot of grieving the lady of the house took a stroll on the same beach and to her amazement saw a beautiful mermaid singing in the sea. The mermaid asked her why she was so sad and the lady relayed the story of her missing children to her. "Oh! Don't worry." She replied. "They are safe and happy in my castle."

The mother pleaded with the mermaid to see her children or to bring them back but the mermaid refused. She didn't give up however because everyday she went back to the same beach to plead with her again and again. There came a day the mermaid was sick of it and dragged the mother into the water to take her to her castle. The castle was made out of crystal and on every corner you could imagine was a little light to illuminate the darkness of the ocean. She brought the mother to a room with a glass window and to her surprise she saw tens of children playing together; including her own. Sadly, she was only allowed to look through the window and pleaded with the mermaid again. "You can't go inside, but I'll allow you to live here and look through the glass window everyday."

Many moons passed and everyday the mother would stand outside the window looking at how her children were happily playing with the others. However, she didn't give up and by pleading as much as she did back then the mermaid struck her a deal. She could take her children back home if she would make the mermaid a cloak of her own hair. The mother was handed a pot of fat to grow it out and started to get to work. The first time she finished the mermaid was not impressed and demanded that she do it again. When the mother came back a second time the mermaid was happy and called for a crystal carriage pulled by other mermaids to take her family home.

Conclusion

Mermaids in Dutch folklore, although beautiful, are often related to misfortune, curses & floods. Their symbolism and stories seem parallel to the peoples’ struggle with the sea. Our relationship with her is a complicated one as she both destroyed our towns and livelihoods all the while giving us plenty of abundance over the centuries. On the other hand, it also highlights how we treat and have treated the nature around us. Nowadays we put great emphasis on co-existing with water and try to educate on the importance of our delta works. We can not tame the sea, but we can work together to make it liveable for both of us.

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Books of reference:

The Sagen boeken written by JRW Sinninghe (Dutch only)

[bigfrozensix]

I’ve watched the live-action The Little Mermaid in theaters twice now. Once in English and once in Dutch/Flemish.

At first I thought it was weird they did one dub with a mix of Dutch and Flemish voice actors (usually they get seperate dubs), but during watching I realized all sea creatures were Flemish and all humans were Dutch, so I think it was intentional to give an extra layer to the “two worlds” theme.

Anyway, to sum it up; I liked it! I mean, wanting see it twice in only a few days is already better than what I can give some other recent (Disney) movies. Is it perfect? No. Do I like it more than the animated movie? Definitely not. Did I enjoy it anyway? Yes!

There’s at least one thing I liked better in the live-action than in the animation, but it’s NOT in a “the animated scene is bad” way, just in a “I am absolutely weak for this sort of thing” way. It’s a really small change, but I just love the way Eric craddled Ariel in his arms when she lost her ability to stand from her legs turning back into a tail (also Ursula’s “Shut up!” as she shoved Eric aside made me laugh).

I also can’t stop thinking about Part Of Your World (Reprise II), especially the Dutch lyrics, because honestly... they hit me even harder than the English ones (sorry not sorry).

“Waar kan ik heen, als ik nergens thuishoor?“ (Where can I go, if I don’t belong anywhere?)

“Thuishoor” (belong) literally translates to “be at home”. Like, the Dutch lyrics really emphasize how in this moment Ariel officially feels like she doesn’t belong in either world and has no home to return to. This is honestly the only time in the movie where I cried, definitely an adittion I liked.

I’m not ashamed to admit this is my fave live-action remake (to be fair the bar wasn’t that high) and though I prefer animated Ariel, I’m not complaining about having two Ariels now!

[harmonictechnicality]

welp. we did it, fam. my hair has once again reached ass-touching length.

*high fives genetics*

[dutch2000s]

[havatabanca]

[healingdemeter]

The Lie About Pediatric Transition

I am currently reading Time to Think which details the trans medical scandal at the Tavistock. I have been following this for awhile and am still shocked at the details that are emerging.

One lie I am tired of hearing is that the Dutch Protocol and Pediatric transition were immaculately researched and have a strong evidence base. This book shows how poor the evidence base was, how the research was funded by pharmaceutical companies, how the pressure to transition children was driven by activist groups such as Mermaids, and how poor funding for children’s mental health services all contributed to this perfect storm of putting children on a medicalized pathway that leaves them at risk of being anorgasmic, infertile, and whose consequences to brain development we do not yet understand. 

Children who are gender diverse deserve better than this! Gender diverse children deserve to learn to love their bodies and to have bodies that are fully functioning!