Shipper Peace/The Trio and the nature of love

[Ebony AKA AngieJ]

No: HPFGUIDX 10919

(NOTE TO ADMIN:  Hopefully, this is not a duplicate post.  I've been 
having website and e-mail woes for almost three days now.)

The ship debates have been fun.  It's been great being on the front 
lines.  However, I have a science project that needs my full 
attention... not to mention a FAQ to finally upload.

One ship debate led to my starting the science project... it seems as 
if another will lead to my finishing it.  :-)  So I'll be returning 
to my cabin for a while to check on my test tubes, beakers, and 
Bunsen burners.  Of course, should my captain and shipmates need me...

I have one more post that will show up on the list whenever Hotmail-
gone-haywire decides to send it to the Yahoo! group.  I really hope 
that this forthcoming post starts a thread that will connect shipping 
posts to the other theoretical strands.  I believe that fans 
traveling on the two major ships are reading not two different books--
but have *completely* different ways in reading canon that extends 
far beyond ship preferences.  More to come soon.

Jim's theory below intrigues me.  We travel on different ships, but I 
agree point-for-point with his observations.

> We've been debating relationship preferences for a while and the 
> significance of events like The Kiss or Ron and Hermione's 
squabbles, but we all ignore the fact the three love each other 
already.

This is the underlying sentiment behind volatile terms such as 
the "Ron problem" and the "Harry problem".  Western culture is 
binary.  We're not used to thinking in threes.  That's part of the 
problem.

> In our society we don't talk about love amongst friends, and we 
> certainly don't talk about males loving each other unless we're 
> writing slash fic, but it's real. the bond between Harry, Hermione, 
> and Ron is so strong that an outside mate might have trouble 
> understanding it.

Unless something happens to sever the bond, I came to this conclusion 
as well.  Even in the R/H & H/G scenario, the triple dynamic would 
remain.  It's also much too "neat" of an arrangement for JKR.  It 
doesn't fit her writing style any more than the ending of EQ fit 
LMM's.

> This could be the ultimate no-shipper's argument. Anybody they 
might meet might seem to pale compared to the friend they saved the 
universe with. What happens when the intimate bond comes before the 
romantic attraction?  <snip>  JKR's got a lot more to say about 
> friendship; let's not forget it either.

Thanks for the reminder, Jim.  This post and other conversations have 
really made me take a step back and consider.  It's a variable that 
I'll definitely incorporate into my own project.  I hope that other 
sailors, whatever vessel they might travel on, will keep this in mind.

--Ebony AKA AngieJ

(P.S.  Speaking of which, in Cassie's latest chapter of *Draco 
Sinister*, she does explore this question a bit in a conversation 
between Ron and Hermione... in case you didn't know, DS at this point 
is H/H.  I appreciated the scene a lot.  My favorite aspect of the 
canon up to this point is the Friendship--which is why I like to 
dissect it so much.  :-))