[HPforGrownups] Sibling rivarly, shipping and the rest of us...

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 8566

Hi --

Heather Edmonds wrote:

> I'm an H/H shipper and certainly not an only child but I am the eldest
> of
> three, two girls and a boy and frequently longed to be an only child
> while growing up. Still do on occasion. I was an only child until I
> was 5 and did not respond well to the arrival of my brother.

I'm 5 years older than my sister too.  Being an only child for such a
long time & then having a sibling was also a big change for me too.  <g>

> I suppose that is why I sympathise with Hermione (and to a esser
> extent
> Percy)her identity at least initially comes from her academic
> achievements and like me she ended up a victim of her own succss once
> you achieve a certain standard it becomes expected of you and you have
> to live up to it.  Therefore you end up working harder and harder
> desperately wanting someone, anyone to be pleased with you.

I wrote a message on this point sometime back -- I agree 100%.  This was
*very* true for me as well.  Maybe this is a theory for H/H shippiness.
<g>

> Look at poor Percy ( I do sympathise with him ) his siblings treat him
>
> appalingly and nobody stops them. Mrs Weasley is proud of him but she
> doesn't stop the others from making his life  a misery.
>
> So here is another question How many of Percy's more unfortunate
> traits self importance, bossiness etc stem from his siblings unkind
> treatment?

This is an interesting thought -- hadn't considered this before but it
does make sense.  Back when we discussed which characters we all
identified with, I said that I identified most strongly with Hermione &
to a lesser extent with Percy.  Just read that message last night while
going through messages for my Hermione FAQ.

Sounds like we have alot in common Heather!

> Strangely Bill and Charlie don't suffer in the same way I think it is
> possible that they are both hero worshiped by the other Weasleys
> because
> while the implication is that they achieved above average academic
> results, their strengths verge towards the heroic, star quidditch
> player, dragon breeder/trainer and treasure hunter.

Many of us also believe they are quite a bit older than Percy, almost
their own separate family unit.  That might explain some of that
phenomenon.

Penny



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]