to all of the jewish people that may be reading this, i hope you and your families are safe today. i hope that you are able to grieve with your community and hold one to each other and hold each other up.
i am thinking of you all. i am thinking of our communities and our people.
Welcome to the Harry Potter fandom where we ship one character with chicken, another character with an apple, another with pudding, one with a floorboard and a fifth with a cardigan.
Apparently, it is a thing. People I follow on here often reblog posts tagged with it (although, for obvious reasons, that’s not why I follow them). I’m pretty meh about it as well. No disrespect to people who do ship it, but it’s not my thing.
I can’t say I blame Emma Watson for making that clear in interviews. They were all growing up in the public spotlight, and the media does take an (in my view, anyway) unhealthy interest in the love lives of young actors, especially the female actors. I remember (with disgust) that a British tabloid published a weekly countdown to the day Emma Watson reached the age of sexual consent. It was disgusting to see that in the public spotlight.
Heck, the one time she did admit to having a small childhood crush on a co-star (Tom Felton, to be precise), the media went hay-wire over it. Tom Felton’s girlfriend even got hate-mail and online abuse over it from people who shipped Emma Watson with Tom. Tom and his girlfriend ended up breaking up (not sure if it was because of that, but it might have been a factor), and apparently him and Emma aren’t as close anymore because of it (at least, according to what I’ve heard).
I think some people like to imagine that the actors are similar to their characters in that way; that they’ll develop feelings for their co-stars in the same way that their characters do for the other characters. But real life often doesn’t work out that way.
Like I said, I’m not going to hate on people who ship it, but it’s not my cup of tea. Especially if it impacts on real-life friendships and relationships.
But onto your second question. I personally like Ron and Hermione as an end pairing, since I think they genuinely work well as a couple. They’re a couple I can see being in it for the long hail, since their personalities mesh so well. And they’re not just two random teens falling in love either; they are best friends who’ve known each-other since they were children.
Sure; it might be a little bit of a stretch to assume Hermione’s rough edges became softened over time, but I think that it is possible for those.
Harry and Ginny, though….?
I’m not sure. I guess I’ve never really been as interested in them as a couple compared to Ron and Hermione. I personally don’t mind Harry and Ginny as a couple, but I’m not really fussed when I see them paired with other people either. I’m pretty vocal about my enjoyment of the Luna x Ginny and Luna x Harry pairings.
In terms of personalities, I think Harry and Ginny work okay, but their personalities don’t mesh as well as Ron and Hermione do (at least, in my opinion). Ginny’s got a fiery spirit; much like Harry does. I guess I always thought they’d both need someone with a more calming presence around them. That’s why I like the idea of a Luna, Harry and Ginny poly relationship.
There is also the slightly-problematic aspects of Ginny and Harry’s relationship; the ‘does Ginny love Harry or the-boy-who-lived’ conundrum which many in the fandom discuss, the fact that the build-up to their relationship is very subtle compared to Ron and Hermione’s, and the issue that (aside from being the man Ginny loves) what does Harry actually offer her in a relationship? It’s a complex set of issues which I personally don’t feel comfortable discussing, as I can hardly give the pairing a fair reading. I’ll leave that to people who are more interesting in the pairing.
Not ALL of Harry’s fellow students married each-other. Luna married Rolf Scamander; someone who never appears in the fandom. Cho Chang married a non-magic person (the only person of that generation to be explicitly stated as having done that). Presumably, background characters’ post-second war lives were never really discussed. It is possible that shared experiences in war creates bonds with people that can’t really be replicated with anyone-else.
Thanks for the message, @albus-dumblewhore; hope that answered your questions!
Lol I know it’s a ship, I just don’t think it’s a thing IRL, that’s all.
I remembered about Luna and Rolf, I just wonder where they would’ve met if not at Hogwarts? It seems like everyone with the exception of Cho and Percy married someone they knew in school in some capacity. I can’t think of anyone else, a lot of the post-grad pairings haven’t been touched on so far as I know.
I like Ron and Hermione as a couple, I just wonder how realistic a lot of the main post-war pairings are. There’s a case to be made for the bond between those who have suffered a significant amount of turmoil together, certainly, but whether or not it’s particularly healthy or realistic is certainly up for debate. I don’t imagine any of the relationships between Hogwarts students who survived the second war would be free from complications, but I also concede that in terms of children’s/YA literature the purpose is not necessarily to convey realism to the audience.
It sort of makes discussions regarding “problematic” stuff in the series difficult imo, mostly because I feel certain character flaws are generally blown out of proportion or taken out of context. Most of the flaws in each character are there on purpose to either make them a more realistic character or to exemplify larger issues in wizarding society ie the allegory for our own, re: Ron’s prejudices toward werewolves or half-giants (revealed upon his initial discoveries of Lupin and Hagrid’s heretiges respectively). I also see people really tearing Hermione apart for keeping Rita Skeeter in a jar in book 4, and honestly I don’t read too much into things like that. It’s not because I’m not a critical reader, more that the purpose of things like that seems to me to be intended as silly, funny bits that aren’t meant to be taken so seriously.
So when it comes to analyzing ships, there are a lot of things from the epilogue I’m not sure I agree with, but I also concede that A) no fan would ever have been 100% satisfied with the canon conclusions, full stop and B) a lot of times with children’s literature it’s important not to fall down the rabbit hole and overshadow the real problems with the text with more passive issues that aren’t necessarily meant to be interpreted in a positive way.
In terms of post-war traumatic bonds… I have PTSD, and one of the things I love about the series is the child-friendly portrayal of trauma. That being said, while I understand it’s possible, in my irl experience with the illness I find that the way my trauma shapes my relationships is not particularly health roughly 99% of the time. I don’t take tons of issue with the canon ships because it’s not a hill I necessarily want to die on, I just wonder what would’ve happened if Harry had been allowed to take a bit of a vacation from being a wizard cop and making babies and he’d had a bit more time to… idk, reflect. Heal. 🤷🏻♀️ that’s what fic is for I suppose
I know what you mean. I personally don’t like shipping real-life people if they don’t have that sort of relationship.
By the sounds of it, they’re not even that close anymore (especially not in the past few years). Rupert seems to be closer with the rest of the former HP cast than he is with Emma (who doesn’t seem to be close with any of her former co-stars anymore, except possibly Matthew Lewis and Tom Felton, and even then both are a stretch). Maybe it’s the geographic distance (since Rupert still lives in the UK), or maybe they just naturally drifted apart due to being busy. It’s also been hypothesised by one of my mutuals (I think it might have been @diva-gonzo) that Emma might have some form of social anxiety that makes things difficult for her to be close to people.
I don’t know if they do joke about it, since they were asked about it all the time they were growing. By the time the series had ended, you can tell that it was getting annoying for them (although I think Rupert got bored of it more than Emma did. I’m guessing he’s more of a private person than she is). I remember @pynki talking to me about this topic a while back.
I agree with you on that; it’s not really our business. I’m not going to hate on people who ship certain things (as long as it’s not incest, pedophilic, etc.), but I’ve never understood the appeal of shipping real-life people together if their relationship isn’t like that.
Thanks for the message, anon!
I’m guilty of shipping real people together, I won’t deny it, I’ve done it.
I shipped Grinston, I did, there was just so much that indicated she has a crush on him I thought it would be cute if they got together.
Like, Sophia Bush/Chad Michael Murry and Racheal McAdams/Ryan Gossling those pairs had such great chemistry on screen that when I found out they were together IRL I was like “I SHIP IT!” I think it’s cute when actors fall in love onscreen and off.
But some people go crazy. There were Grinston shippers who sent Rupert’s girlfriend hate. I even think she deleted her Twitter account for a bit (or put it on privet) when their relationship went public. That’s where I draw the line, it’s one thing to think two people would be cute together, it’s another to get salty and blame one of their partners when that relationship doesn’t happen. Georgia did absolutely nothing wrong, but Grinston shippers went after her.
When Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murry got divorced, he got a lot of hate over it, granted he did cheat on her with Paris Hilton, but still. There was a video I saw from an OTH convention where someone was yelling at him in an autograph signing. I mean, really?
A few months ago TMZ tweeted about how Tom Holland and Zandaya might be dating IRL, I think that’s adorable. But that’s where it ends.
I honestly don’t think it’s creepy or weird to be happy that two celebrities are in a relationship. The creep factor comes in when people get personally invested in their relationship, or personally offended when it doesn’t happen or ends.
Be invested to the point of obsession over fictional characters relationships, it’s not gonna hurt anyone, being that way over real people’s relationship can hurt someone.
I’m such a hypocrite when it comes to shipping real people together, I do it, but when I hear other people doing it I side eye them like, “Are you the ‘ Oh that’s cute’ kind of shipper? Or are you the writes fanfiction ‘I’ll off myself if they break up/date someone else’ kind?”
I’ll mess with the people who think it’s cute and that’s that, you tell me you write fanfiction about these very real people, I’m running the other way. Run away screaming if the people you ship aren’t even together, you just want them to be.
(I’m not even joking about the fanfiction. I once had someone recommend a rated M Grinston fic to me. No, no, no, no, no. DO NOT WANT! That’s crossing a line. That’s crossing SO many lines. You do you, but I’m going to do me WAAAAAAAY over there where the fictional characters are.)
I’ve heard the Grintson ship referred to as “the black sheep” of the Romione fandom.
I don’t personally ship it (I’m not a fan of shipping RL people), but I’m curious as to the consensus on it.
So, what do you all think; yay or nay?
Yay.
I shipped it, in shipping it I came across some really creppy stuff that made me not wanna be a Grintson shipper.
I talked about it in that other post you tagged me in but… yeah… not a comunity I wanted to be in. They ship it, like SHIP it, ship it like I ship Romione.
I’m there like, “YOu do know you can’t make them to be togeather through shear force of will, right? Soulmates? Wow…OK… I’m just gonna …go…”
Yikes. That’s just…. yikes. I’m not surprised you got out of there.
Before the ban on experimental breeding some rather fascinating creatures were made. Above is the image of Ayed, the first and only of her kind. Kept by the Shafiq family for many years she was eventually gifted to the Egyptian Ministry of Magic where she lived out her days, utterly alone.
It is generally claimed that such cruelties are the reason that Ministries made movements to ban experimental breeding, or at least heavily restrict it, but ultimately this supposed ethical reason is a lie and nothing more. Really Ministries wanted greater control over their people, and over the magical creatures within their borders.
Having not yet mapped all the magical creatures in existence they thought to limit the creation of new ones in order to keep only known creatures in their dominions. However international communication being as flawed as it is not all Ministries knew what magical creatures were already in existence, simply not in their area, and which were newly bred creatures. As such one might confuse a hex-bred flame-breathing chicken with the Japanese Basan, due to a lack of awareness of what other magical creatures do already exist.
Indeed the vagueness in some of the legislation, and the way certain sentient magical creatures – such as Merpeople and Centaurs – are classed, means that even the cross-breeding of certain magical creatures (most usually shapeshifting merpeople and humans) might technically be bannable by the ministry. While this may not have been intended by the original legislators it has also never been altered, which has allowed some pureblood lobbyists to drag in wixes with non-human heritage and campaign for them to be “destroyed” as the products of illegal beast breeding.
– Excerpt from Beings, Beasts, and the Constant Divide by Anima Faustus
Headcanonsandmore 