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!
Yep, I’m a bloke. Don’t worry about that; I get that response a lot on Tumblr. One time, I even got referred to as (bless the person who said this, by the way) “a unicorn” because it was so rare for them to see a male blogger who wasn’t sexist. Which makes me sad, since I was hoping that non-sexists were the majority of male-run blogs on Tumblr and not the exception to the rule.
Granted, I still have problematic behaviour that I’m trying to unlearn, but I hope that I’m getting better.
I actually take it as a compliment when people assume I’m female. It means that I’m doing something right in my attitude towards toxic masculinity and sexism.
‘Bloke’ is British (and Australian as well, I believe) slang for someone who identifies as male. Although I wouldn’t really describe myself as especially ‘blokeish’, since I’m more of a dork than anything else.
Thanks for the message, anon; hope that cleared things up for you.
I shit you not even I was convinced you were a girl but I didn’t say anything because it felt silly to give you kudos for being a decent human being. I thought you’d be offended. It’spretty funny but sad that people express shock when a decent person turns out to be a boy. Nobody would ever say things like, “oh my god you are so nice I can’t believe you are a girl” to a friendly girl.
@ronandhappiness Don’t worry about it. Yeah, it is ridiculous that the bar is set so low that being a decent person is praised so much. Nah, I’m not offended. Like I said, I take it as a compliment since I shows I’m unlearning problematic behaviour that I had developed through toxic masculinity.
Men have the bar set waaaay too low compared to women. It’s ridiculous that men are praised just for doing the bare minimum of ‘being a decent human being’.
You are a very nice unicorn. I hope other unicorns emerge from your influence!
Awwww, thank you @gaylittlepieceofsh1t and @leiaorganahuttslayer; that’s so sweet of you both!
I actually thought you were a girl too- no offense meant.
Tbh i didn’t even realize that the reason I thought that was because of how non sexist and kind you are to people and to your interpretation of the Harry Potter series, I just automatically associated those qualities with being a girl and sadly, that really does say a lot.
Cheers to you for being an awesome unicorn!
None offence taken! Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!
Y’all making me feel so warm and fuzzy today…
When I think about it, I never actually envisioned you as a really nice boy or a really nice girl, just as a really nice person 😅 it’s kinda how I see all the people here unless they’ve specified their gender.
Awww, thank you @smarklepotter, that’s very sweet of you to say! Yeah, I tend to do that as well with blogs on tumblr. 🙂
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.
Yep, I’m a bloke. Don’t worry about that; I get that response a lot on Tumblr. One time, I even got referred to as (bless the person who said this, by the way) “a unicorn” because it was so rare for them to see a male blogger who wasn’t sexist. Which makes me sad, since I was hoping that non-sexists were the majority of male-run blogs on Tumblr and not the exception to the rule.
Granted, I still have problematic behaviour that I’m trying to unlearn, but I hope that I’m getting better.
I actually take it as a compliment when people assume I’m female. It means that I’m doing something right in my attitude towards toxic masculinity and sexism.
‘Bloke’ is British (and Australian as well, I believe) slang for someone who identifies as male. Although I wouldn’t really describe myself as especially ‘blokeish’, since I’m more of a dork than anything else.
Thanks for the message, anon; hope that cleared things up for you.
I shit you not even I was convinced you were a girl but I didn’t say anything because it felt silly to give you kudos for being a decent human being. I thought you’d be offended. It’spretty funny but sad that people express shock when a decent person turns out to be a boy. Nobody would ever say things like, “oh my god you are so nice I can’t believe you are a girl” to a friendly girl.
@ronandhappiness Don’t worry about it. Yeah, it is ridiculous that the bar is set so low that being a decent person is praised so much. Nah, I’m not offended. Like I said, I take it as a compliment since I shows I’m unlearning problematic behaviour that I had developed through toxic masculinity.
Men have the bar set waaaay too low compared to women. It’s ridiculous that men are praised just for doing the bare minimum of ‘being a decent human being’.
You are a very nice unicorn. I hope other unicorns emerge from your influence!
Awwww, thank you @gaylittlepieceofsh1t and @leiaorganahuttslayer; that’s so sweet of you both!
I actually thought you were a girl too- no offense meant.
Tbh i didn’t even realize that the reason I thought that was because of how non sexist and kind you are to people and to your interpretation of the Harry Potter series, I just automatically associated those qualities with being a girl and sadly, that really does say a lot.
Cheers to you for being an awesome unicorn!
None offence taken! Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!
So, is it just me, or is Hermione the most heterosexual out of the golden trio?
Definitely. She’s also practically a misogynist.
@hillnerd Wow. That’s a… interesting viewpoint to have. Care to elaborate? (I’m not trying to be rude; I’m just curious).
Sure!
Hermione displays a lot of internalized misogyny throughout the series.
She does little to support other women in the series, only accepts women when they are authority figures or ‘one of the guys,’ is frequently disdainful towards and about female peers, dislikes peers who are traditionally feminine and is quick to be dismissive of them.
It’s a common trope for women to think they’re ‘not like OTHER women’ and then reject and be unsupportive of other women. Hermione has great trouble relating to other women and reduces them to stereotypes a lot of the time. She’s more prone to be rude/dismissive towards female characters she doesn’t know well and much more tactful with male characters she doesn’t know well in my opinion.
To me this shows that she has a lot f internalized misogyny she’d need to contend with (of course this is really just a symptom of JKR’s writing- as there tends to be a lot of tropes against the ‘silly female’)
You make a lot of good points, @hillnerd. I see what you mean now; Hermione’s behaviour towards other women is definitely problematic at times.
Headcanonsandmore 