Ginny Weasley (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ginny_weasley) wrote,@ 2005-07-13 19:40:00 |
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| Current mood: |  bitchy |
| Entry tags: | essay part #1 |
.:: Symbolic Fight: Part #1 ::.
Thank You:
belladonna77tehgiantsquidwickedquill&
snark beta:
charlotteschaos‘Ready?’ he whispered to Hermione. ‘You’d better hold on to me-’
He nudged Buckbeak’s sides with his heels.
Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air. Harry gripped his flanks with his knees, feeling the great wings rising powerfully beneath them. Hermione was holding Harry very tightly around the waist; he could hear her muttering, ‘Oh, no – I don’t like this – oh, I really don’t like this-’” (POA p. 302)
Symbolic flight, indeed.
It is completely and utterly beyond my comprehension why anybody would consider this excerpt from Prisoner of Azkaban a point that proves the budding romantic relationship between Harry and Hermione in canon.
Come to think of it, however, many Harmonians’ “arguments” rather impressively contradict any point they were attempting to make in the first place. They somehow manage to successfully poke holes in their own elaborate theories, thus making disproving them a rather effortless task. By using examples from Rowling's books (novel concept!) I will prove how deluded these shippers truly are.
This is not just another essay tentatively refuting any evidence supporting the Harry/Hermione ship in canon. It is an essay that is proving, quite simply, that I am right and you are wrong.
Certain Harry/Hermione shippers, or “Harmonians” (their previous ship name - "Pumpkin Pie" - was largely abandoned after many were made aware that pumpkin pie is not a very popular dessert in England), chose only to ship H/Hr in fanon. This essay is in no way, shape, or form aimed at any of the members belonging to that spectrum of the shipping debate. This is an essay directed to those shippers of all ages who blatantly refuse to accept that Ron/Hermione is as canon as, say, James Potter and Lily Evans…James Potter and Lily Evans who did not make amends until their sixth year at Hogwarts. But I digress; we’ll cover that later on.
This is an essay that has been written in response to any H/Hr shipper out there who has felt the need to slander J.K. Rowling after she has given quotes that discredit any remote chance that H/Hr stood in canon.
“Harry and Hermione? Do you really think so? Hermione and Ron – that’s where the tension is.”
This is an essay that is directed to anybody who has ever felt the need to suggest that Ron Weasley is evil or that Ginny Weasley is a slut. This is an essay that is directed to all those who will grasp hold of everything and anything - including “evidence” from a movie - in a desperate attempt to prove their rapidly sinking ship. I must warn you that I will not be formal, or even polite, so, if you are easily offended, I urge you to continue to read. You could use a reality check before the sixth book hits bookshelves.
Harry & Hermione?:
platonic: adj.
1. a. friendly or affectionate but not sexual.
Many of the points that the H/Hr shippers use in an attempt to disprove the R/Hr ship occur within the first
I do not feel the need to oppose any of the evidence that the Harry/Hermione shippers have stumbled upon within the first book. The fact the people are desperate enough to spend time analyzing possible sexual chemistry between two eleven-year-olds speaks for itself.
I will instead begin with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the novel in which Harry Potter actually does become aware of the multitude of females that Hogwarts school possesses.
‘Why do they have to move in packs?’ Harry asked Ron, as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. ‘How’re you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?’” (GoF pgs. 338 & 339)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is perhaps the most relevant novel when it comes to evidence supporting the relationship forming between Ron and Hermione. Funnily enough, Goblet of Fire is the book least brought up in essays supporting the Harry/Hermione ship. If there are in fact clues pointing towards mutual feelings of attraction between the couple, J.K. has hidden them well. In fact, I daresay even Sherlock himself wouldn’t be able to decipher them.
It is in Chapter 17 that Harry and Ron get into a rather bitter row. From page 238 (to when Dumbledore selects Harry’s name from the Goblet) to page 313, Harry and Ron are not on speaking terms. The interval between Chapter 17 and Chapter 20 give J.K. ample opportunity to begin developing the relationship between Harry and Hermione, but, as we will see in the following quotations (taken directly from the British version of Goblet of Fire), Harry spends most of his time with Hermione thinking about, well, Ron. Even Hermione herself seems rather desperate to get the pair to reconcile.
***
“‘You miss him!’ Hermione said impatiently. ‘And I know he missed you-’
‘Miss him?’ said Harry. ‘I don’t miss him…’
But this was a downright lie. Harry liked Hermione very much, but she just wasn’t the same as Ron. There was much less laughter, and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend.” (GoF p. 278)
***
“‘…They wouldn’t look twice at him if he couldn’t do that Wonky Faint thing-’
‘Wronski Feint,’ said Harry, through gritted teeth. Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms correct, it caused him another pang to imagine Ron’s expression if he could have heard Hermione talking about Wonky Faints.” (GoF p. 278)
Certain shippers seem to miss the fact that the stories are told entirely from Harry’s point of view. We, the readers, are able to see the world of Hogwarts through his perspective. When a new character is introduced, we see them through Harry’s eyes. If, at any point within the novel, Harry had experienced anything other than platonic feelings for Hermione, we would know. In the entire duration of the time spent alone with Hermione, Harry was ill at ease, and rather discontent. The conversations that the pair had were centred around school (the first task) and Ron. When the pair weren’t in the library or discussing Ron, the extent of their interactions went as follows:
‘When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!’ she hissed back. ‘You know, I’m starting to think it’s time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?’
‘No idea, ask Fred and George,’ said Harry.
Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while Harry drank his Butterbeer, watching the people in the pub.” (GoF p. 281)
How do people honestly expect Harry and Hermione to have a successful romantic relationship when neither feels “right” without Ron present? At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix we find out that Ron and Hermione have spent nearly the entire summer in each other’s company. Neither seem to have any complaints upon Harry’s arrival, implying that the pair got along just fine without him. Further evidence of this appears earlier on, in Prisoner of Azkaban, when they go to their first Hogsmeade weekend together, leaving Harry at Hogwarts. They return "looking like they'd both had the time of their lives." (PoA p. 118). It becomes apparent that the pair enjoyed Hogsmeade, and enjoyed it together. The usually studious Hermione allowed Ron to show her a good time. While Ron and Hermione can evidently get along for extended periods of time, within a matter of weeks, Harry quickly tires of Hermione as his only company.
As we have seen in all of the books thus far, Hermione spends a lot of her time worrying about Harry. This worriment is entirely warranted. However, one of last things that Harry requires at this point in his life is a girlfriend who frets over him constantly. It is not Hermione’s intention to vex Harry, but worrying seems to be her way of letting somebody know that she cares. She is always quick to voice her worries (“‘But it might take weeks to work it out!” said Hermione. “You’re going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don’t!’” (GoF p. 342)), which cause Harry to become even more anxious and tetchy than he already is. By no means am I chastising Hermione for this behaviour; worrying is a part of her nature, something that she cannot help. In some cases, it is indeed quite helpful and necessary, but, as we see in Goblet of Fire, all work and no play makes Harry go, well, angsty. Another popular character within the series who is an obvious worrywart is Molly Weasley, and in many ways, Hermione, like Molly, serves as Harry’s surrogate mother, helping to keep him in line and on task at Hogwarts.
After all, Hermione’s worrying has always seemed like a more “maternal” worry than a “significant other” worry. Although Harry has never truly had a mother, he can be as dismissive to her as a teenage boy would be to their nagging mothers. So perhaps the H/Hr ship is really about people's deviant desires to “fuck their mothers”, or in other words, is full of motherfuckers. We won’t get Freudian, though. If certain shippers have trouble comprehending romance in fiction, I daresay psychology is a bit out of their league.
The word “bossy” also comes up a lot in descriptions of Hermione’s nature. This contrasts with Harry, who, as he is described in canon, reacts badly to people who attempt to dominate him (pay attention, Snarry shippers). Harry Potter spent the first decade of his life being ordered about by people (the Dursleys) who exerted their authority over him without love, or good intentions. It could be as a result of this that Harry is noticeably defiant and independent, strong-willed, and oftentimes cheeky to authority figures (Professor Snape, Professor Umbridge, etc). Harry is aware that Hermione cares for him and has his best interests at heart, but he still finds her bossiness hard to bear. Even when he knows that she is right and complies with her demands, he does not bother to hide his resentment.
‘How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?’ snapped Hermione. ‘There’s nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius. We’re not supposed to be doing anything else!’
‘All right!’ (PoA p. 298)
If he is not in the mood to comply, however, he has been known to react in other, more negative ways. He will ignore and avoid her, and if that doesn’t work, he either lies, or shouts, showcasing his rather frightening temper.
As it is proven in Goblet of Fire, Harry and Hermione do not have the ability to make each other laugh. In fact, from chapter 17 to chapter 20, words like “smile” and “laughter” seem entirely foreign. Is this a coincidence? I think not. This fact alone is rather disadvantageous if you are a Harry/Hermione shipper, considering that the interval between chapters 17 and 20 offers their relationship ample opportunity to blossom.
Harry's sense of humour is rather dark, and very sarcastic; he uses jokes as a sort of coping mechanism.
Hermione does not appreciate these sort of jokes. She feels that serious problems should be taken, well, seriously.
The moments that depict these two laughing together are few and far between. In fact, they are nearly nonexistent. It is possible for Harry and Hermione to have fun together, but, in order for this to be so, a third party is required. Without Ron present, Harry and Hermione seem to have as much fun as a pair of Flobberworms (not that there's anything wrong with what Flobberworms do in the privacy of their own dirt pads. I'm not judging). As we saw in a previous example, when Harry and Hermione were alone in Hogsmeade, she chose to lose herself in her work while Harry lapsed in a brooding silence. Without Ron around to distract Harry, his mind often wandered to the Triwizard tournament. He was moody and clearly stressed out. The second that he and Ron are back on speaking terms, however, his mood lifts instantaneously.
***
“And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand, too – four.
‘What?’ Ron bellowed furiously. ‘Four? You lousy biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!’
But Harry didn’t care, he wouldn’t have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron’s indignation on his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him. He didn’t tell Ron this, of course, but his heart felt lighter than air as he turned to leave the enclosure.” (GoF p. 315)
You don't even require a “symbolic” mystical creature to see the obvious joy Harry feels at Ron's presence. Really, there's more canon evidence for Harry/Ron than Harry/Hermione, but that’s a whole other essay.
Many Harry/Hermione shippers will bring up the point that Ron and Hermione constantly “bicker”. Many conversations had over H/Hr forums imply that this “bickering” is in some way detrimental to Hermione’s mental health. If Hermione does in fact share this common outlook, she hides it well. Am I wrong to assume that if Hermione did not, on some level, enjoy bickering with Ron, she would have acted somewhat differently upon him and Harry re-establishing their friendship? For someone who is “verbally abused” by the brash redhead, Hermione seemed, dare I say, relieved, when Harry and Ron’s disagreement finally came to an end.
It was an though the last few weeks had never happened – as though Harry was meeting Ron for the first time, right after he’d been made champion.
‘Caught on, have you?’ said Harry coldly. ‘Took you long enough.’
Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew he was about to apologise, and, suddenly, he found he didn’t need to hear it.
‘It’s OK,’ he said, before Ron could get the words out. ‘Forget it.’
‘No, said Ron, ‘I shouldn’t’ve-’
‘Forget it,’ Harry said.
Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back.
Hermione burst into tears.” (GoF p. 313)
Oh…well, maybe the Harmonians do have a point…No, wait! I lied.
I somehow doubt that those were tears of anguish.
Hermione, being the smart and considerate friend that she is, understands the importance of Ron to Harry. It is quite an impressive feat that after five consecutive books, certain Harmonians still have yet to realise this.
Indeed, Hermione could have used Ron and Harry's argument as a means to eradicate the "abusive" presence of Ron from her life, but, as the previous quotes have demonstrated, Hermione evidently missed Ron just as much as Harry does. This is not entirely obvious, considering that we as the reader are not allowed access to Hermione’s inner dialogue (as we are to Harry’s’), but you would have to be completely incompetent to misinterpret Hermione’s reaction to the reconciliation.
The “symbolic flight” argument (mentioned at the beginning of the essay) is one of the most renowned arguments throughout the H/Hr fandom. Sirius83 may have had a point in her essay Buckbeak the Hippogriff: Symbolism for H/Hr when she states:
The Hippogriff is indeed a creature of Greek Mythology, and it has been used as a symbol of love. With that said, I find it interesting then that Hermione does not enjoy the ride. At all. Could it be possible that not all love has to be of the sexual kind? The only sort of “love” we have really seen thus far within the series is an entirely different kind of love. As Dumbledore explains in Philosopher’s Stone, it was the love of Harry’s mother, Lily, that saved him. So while the H/Hr shippers may be correct in their assumption that the Hippogriff is a creature symbolic to love, could they perhaps be incorrect in interpreting that symbol in Prisoner of Azkaban? After all, in the end the Hippogriff was delivered to and used as a means of escape for Sirius Black, the first parental figure in Harry's life who granted him unconditional love.
Certain members of the Harry/Hermione ship seem to forget that the main focus of the Harry Potter series is not romance. They will use scenes that are anything but romantic in an attempt to prove their ship, even if it means entirely disregarding the actual relevance of the scene. I will use another example from Sirius83’s essay to make my point:
Romantic imagery? Pick up your British copy of Prisoner of Azkaban and take a look of both Harry and Hermione’s expressions. An artist literally took that scene and painted a picture of it, and the result is clearly not a picture depicting romance. Perhaps it had potential to be, if you entirely put aside the fact that they are both in a desperate rush to reach Harry’s Godfather, Sirius Black, before he is kissed by Dementors. Gravity was the sole purpose that Hermione was clinging to Harry’s waist, and I think it’s safe to say he was too distracted to notice the lovely “moonlit night” (as opposed to what? I was under the impression that all nights were lit by the moon).
The purpose of the moon in this chapter was in regards to Remus’ transformation, it wasn’t to set a scene of romance. In fact, the only time J.K. even mentions the moon is when Remus Lupin is transforming into a bloodthirsty werewolf. Oh, the full moon! How romantic. Especially when it turns an otherwise innocuous character into a drooling beast with a zest for human flesh. Nothing says romance quite like the threat of having your limbs ripped off. If the H/Hr shippers are to be commended for anything, though, it is their wonderful imaginations (or…utter delusions).
It was in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that J.K. Rowling cleverly slipped in how Hermione’s name was pronounced. Could it be possible that she also attempted to dispel any potential possibility for romance between Harry and Hermione within the same novel? J.K. Rowling is well aware of the shipping wars that go on. Perhaps by ultimately getting rid of Ron for a few chapters, she was attempting to show what a relationship between Harry and Hermione would consist of. If the members of
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
dierondie do get their way in the sixth book, I daresay that by the end of the seventh book Harry would throw himself at Voldemort’s feet, pleading to be put out of his misery. I honestly cannot imagine how it would have been possible for J.K. Rowling to be clearer about the relationship between Harry and Hermione. She had Harry himself state on multiple occasions that Hermione was not his girlfriend. If Harry even remotely enjoyed the one-on-one time he spent with Hermione in Goblet of Fire, he hid it incredibly well. Even his subconscious wasn’t aware of any romantic feelings that may have been stirring.
Harry, who from Krum’s secretive manner had expected something much more serious than this, stared up at Krum in amazement.
‘Nothing,’ he said.” (GoF p. 479)
Even Harry himself doesn’t take the notion of something going on romantically between he and Hermione seriously.
‘Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often,’ said Krum, looking suspiciously at Harry.
‘Yeah,’ said Harry, ‘because we’re friends.’” (GoF p. 480)
How delusional do you have to be in order to interpret this scene in any other way?
‘No,’ said Harry, very firmly.” (GoF p. 480)
Harmonians often accuse Ron and Hermione shippers of not “reading between the lines”, and to that I say – what part of “no” did you have trouble understanding? The “n”? Or the “o”? What part of “Harry was getting sick of telling people that Hermione wasn’t his girlfriend” are we misinterpreting?
Self-Insertion:
At some point in her life, every little girl dreams of being a fairytale princess. Every little girl has a fantasy of being swept off her feet by a dashing man, and riding off into the sunset on a muscular white stallion. And then the little girl grows up. However, when that little girl is out at the movies with her semi-attractive boyfriend (who owns a second-hand car, rather than a steed), she may still find herself gazing up at the silver screen, wishing that she was the girl being courted by Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom. After the Harry Potter movies were released, this inevitably became the case in some instances of Harry/Hermione shipping. Daniel Radcliffe is handsome and charming, and Emma Watson is beautiful and endearing.
Hermione quickly became the obvious candidate for self-insertion, mainly because of the movies, where she appears perfect and pretty and all other things wonderful, and where her relationship with both boys is purposely – and wrongly – left teasing and vague. People seem to forget that "book" Hermione is not perfect. She is certainly not a beauty queen – and although she is undeniably brilliant, that brilliance is for the most part limited to books and cold, hard facts.
In novels, the “hero” is often handsome and charming (think James Bond), not awkward, lanky, and redheaded. It is no wonder that many H/Hr shippers have a certain dislike towards Ron Weasley; he disrupts their clichéd fantasy. This fact is unfortunate and unjust, but entirely irrefutable. People need to keep in mind that none of J.K. Rowling’s characters are perfect – tragic-hero!Harry and brilliant-beauty!Hermione are twisted and exaggerated archetypes. I thought that what we all loved about the book was how real it made everything feel – and yet here Harmonians are, forcing everyone back into stereotypical roles without any sort of problems other than the expected ones of fighting evil. The trio is composed of intricate characters, and each have the capacity for more than tragic, misbegotten, unfounded love and righteous anger.
Certain shippers have become lost in the idea that Harry is the hero and Hermione is his prize. What is often looked over is Ron's loyalty to both of his friends (Philosopher’s Stone, anyone?). We have already seen in Goblet of Fire that Harry and Hermione mutually respect and admire one another, yet share an uneasy friendship. They are not close enough to really be themselves with each other, yet both are completely at ease on their own with Ron. J.K. Rowling did not create Hermione as the prize to be won. She has stated on multiple occasions that Hermione often serves the purpose of the “exposition character”; a character that is handy to have around when the author needs to explain something to their readers. Unlike her supposed "fans," Hermione sees the loyalty and steadfastness of Ron's personality. Thankfully, the qualities have not been lost on her.
Ronald Weasley:
While many H/Hr shippers sit with their noses pressed to the screens of their television sets, shrieking with delight every time Emma Watson grabs hold of Daniel Radcliffe’s hand/jumper/waist in Prisoner of Azkaban, many other members of the shipping community would rather get their information straight from the source: biographies of J.K. Rowling, jkrowling.com, and reading transcripts of interviews the author herself has given. Some have even resorted to reading the actual books.
Am I making assumptions? Of course I am. One can only assume that the majority of people who have so much as implied that Ron is dumb or retains evil tendencies aren’t even aware that there are books that preceded their beloved films. If this were the case, they would know that the character of Ron Weasley was loosely based off J.K. Rowling’s best childhood friend, Sean Harris.
If you are a H/Hr shipper, and you do own the books, do me a favour and retrieve your copy of Chamber of Secrets. I’ll give you a moment, I’m sure it’s buried under piles of your Daniel Radcliffe posters.
…
Got it? Brilliant.
Now, brush the dust off the cover and open it up. You see that?
getaway driver and foulweather friend.
Now, I daresay that dedication makes you point of “idiotic and baneful” Ron rather, shall we say, moot.
As a fan of J.K. Rowling, I find it highly offensive that some shippers feel the need to sink to the level of degrading one of her favourite and perhaps most personal characters in an attempt to reassure themselves that by the end of the series, Buckbeak won’t be the only character that Hermione Granger has straddled. I suppose we mustn’t blame them, however. If the idea of my ship was that ridiculous, I’d be grasping at straws too.
There are communities such as
harmony_army and harryhermione, that were created for the sole purpose of discussing the H/Hr ship. Both communities make it clear in their user info that their communities are a debate-free zone, which ultimately means that no R/Hr or H/G shipper is permitted to wander in and point out that an argument like, oh – is rather unreasonable, considering it has been taken from the film version of Chamber of Secrets (as most of their “evidence” is). The actual series of events goes a little something like this –
‘Go away!’ Hermione squeaked.
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
‘What’s the matter?’ said Ron. ‘You must be back to normal by now, we are…’
…
‘It was c-cat hair!’ she howled. ‘M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn’t supposed to be used for animal transformations!’
‘Uh oh,’ said Ron.” (CoS p. 168)
The only person that teased and laughed throughout the entire scene was Moaning Myrtle, so really, that quote does nothing but prove that Hermione/Myrtle won’t be happening in canon (I send my sincerest condolences to the Frozen Quills ship).
‘If I’d sprouted whiskers, I’d take a break from work,’ said Ron, tipping a stack of books onto Hermione’s bedside table one evening.” (CoS p. 170)
(Upon discovering Lockhart’s “Get Well” card that Hermione keeps beneath her pillow)
‘You sleep with this under your pillow?’
But Hermione was spared answering by Madam Pomfrey, sweeping over with her evening dose of medicine.
‘Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you’ve ever met, or what?’ Ron said to Harry as they left the dormitory and started up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower.” (CoS p. 171)
I won’t even bother touching upon anymore of the “evidence” that some Harmonians find within the films. I prefer to base my arguments off of J.K. Rowling’s novels, and not Steven Kloves’ screenplays.
If you take a moment to look through a few posts at either community, you will inevitably see a little R/Hr jab here and there (“We don't need BICKERINGS and MENTAL ABUSE”), but this is only to be expected at any H/Hr community. It is instead the communities like
dierondie and the_it_ship that cause much of the animosity between the shippers of the fandom. Those Who Seek to Spoil the Fandom Experience:
Oddly enough,
dievoldemortdie has only one member, while dierondie has thirty-nine. Could this be because the Dark Lord does not interfere with their idea of a romantic relationship forming between Harry and Hermione? Lets see."Ron + Hermione = complete fantasy but obviously these R+H people can't handle the reality of the simple fact that it isnt gonna happen. I mean even if it did, It wouldn't last: A. He would say something stupid she would correct him and that would get old real QUICK. B. Hermione couldnt have a decent intelligent conversation.C. Ron still secretly hates her cat. D. We all not so secretly hate him. Finally rest assured if we have any say he wouldn't live long enough.....MUHAHAHAHAHHA"
"There ya go, Hermione tell Ron she will forsake Harry cause Ron is her one true love, All the pent up sexual tension in Ron suddenly is aggravated to the point that he explodes. Harry comes out of the shadows kisses Hermione and says "My dear you are so sadistic hehehe.' to which she replies "It's not my fault he was so gullible and serves the stupid git right for trying to spy on me in the bath,prefects perk my ass!"
These were all quotes taken directly from recent posts, thought up by the witty and imaginative members of
dierondie. What can I say, except perhaps: point proven. Judging by these selections, the members of the community are as opposed to proper grammar as they are to a romantic relationship between Ron and Hermione. As for
the_it_ship, many of their members state that "if you respect their ship, they will respect yours". However, by simply being part of a community whose sole purpose is to degrade and demean any character that poses a threat to their ship, they are already violating their promise to respect other peoples' beliefs.The user information for this group contains some of the most asinine assertions that I have had the displeasure to read.
Amused? Admittedly, I am amused. Quite like I am when I see a person trip and fall in public. It's sad to see, but you can't help laughing at the ridiculousness of it. You feel bad, but you can’t help but laugh at how utterly ridiculous they look. That gem of a line is the last sentence on the page, which I skipped to since their attempt at wittiness with the squid bits was at best, sophomoric. Nothing really gets your point across quite like squid sex, does it, ladies? But I suppose with the lack of actual canon proof of your ship; you do what you can.
But let's back up a few paragraphs, shall we?
the_it_ship is home to H/Hr shippers who every once in a while become severely frustrated with the lack of substantial reasoning behind "other" ships. You're welcomed to discuss anything from the lack of characterization that befalls certain characters to the sheer ridiculousness of "other" ships.In a very constructed manner."
And by “constructed manner”, I’m sure they meant “constructive manner”.
It amazes me that over a hundred people are a member of this community, yet no one has taken the initiative to point out the rather apparent grammatical error on the information page. How are you supposed to take seriously the word of someone who gets the past tense mixed up with an adjective? Especially when the whole point is the ability to glean answers from text. Maybe that's the secret. If you don't truly understand the English language, H/Hr makes sense! I somehow doubt that the members of
the_it_ship have many thought-provoking discussions regarding topics like characterization. Perhaps they should leave those kinds of discussions to those of us who actually understand the basic rules of the English language.Please do continue to fight stupidity,
the_it_ship. The rest of us will be over here in our protective bubbles of logic and reason while you lot enjoy your battle royale! Aye aye! In reality, the entire community is basically a cesspool of the childish tantrums thrown upon the realisation that the “it” ship is sinking. It is moderated and visited by a by a bunch of unappreciative brats who are too imbecilic to appreciate the hard work J.K. puts into each of her characters.
Criticizing you people is like booing at the Special Olympics.
Whether you love them or you hate them, Ron and Ginny Weasley are two of J.K. Rowling’s most personal characters, and the lack of respect throughout the fandom is troubling. The fact that a character has to die (
dierondie) before your ship stands a chance should perhaps be taken as a sign that you are sailing the wrong ship. There is, of course, no such thing as a “wrong” ship in fandom, but, as we see in communities like diejkrdie, certain shippers are already anticipating the Harry/Hermione shipwreck that is book six. Instead of accepting it, they choose to make a community wishing death upon the mother of three children, simply because they believe that –The book has yet to be released, and already despairing shippers are accusing J.K. of “contrived character development” because things clearly are not going their way.
So two twelve-year-olds with a penchant for Daniel Radcliffe believe that J.K. Rowling is a bad writer. I’m sure she’ll shed a few tears, dab them away with a fifty-pound note, and get on with writing the seventh book.
By assuming that the point of Harry Potter was romance, you’ve already missed the point of the entire series. Don’t waste your babysitting money on the new book, kids, stick to fan fiction and your mum’s Danielle Steele paperbacks.
Communities like
diejkrdie prove that even the Harmonians do not believe that their ship is canon; otherwise, why create an anticipatory site to rant about the ship that sunk before the book has even hit bookshelves? And what of it if Hermione isn't off snogging in the Room of Requirement with Harry at any given moment? I always thought these books were about a boy who was rescued from his nightmarish family to be thrust into a world of magic and mystery that surrounded the death of his parents and the mark he bore for it. I suppose that, yet again, I've failed to glean the subtleties of the text.
edit:
there is a second part to this essay. please, h/hr shippers, for your own sake, read it before you comment.
once again...
THERE IS A SECOND HALF
please read it before commenting and making an ass of yourself. seriously. i'm not gonna disable comments, i promise! you'll have lots of time to say what you have to, but for the love of god, at least read the essay before commenting on it. i will not take any pro h/hr comments i receive on the first half of the essay seriously. until you actually read both halves, don't bother to comment.
edit: (again)
i really, really, really appreciate all the pimpage ('cause i'm a slut, like ginny), but i just wanted to point out that my essay is called symbolic fight. fight. not flight. easy mistake to make ;)