SHIP: Of Love and War (More)

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 21103

Hi everyone --

My favorite topic and I've been unable to get online to do more than
*read* messages (fuming all the while that I haven't had time to
respond) ...

Amy Z wrote:

> I don't know what Jenny meant by "tensions" between Harry and 
> Hermione, but what I mean by it (and the lack of it) is not "they 
> don't bicker" but "there's no romantic/sexual tension."  When you fall 
> for someone, it introduces an awkwardness into your thoughts and words 
> that doesn't disperse until your feeling are out in the open.
> 
> We don't know what Hermione is feeling "first-hand."  I have read the 
> H/H Mission Statement (msg 13842) and still don't see any sign of this 
> kind of tension emanating from her.  But it's a matter of opinion, of 
> course.

We have a "Mission Statement"?  Did I write it?  <g>  Sorry ... no time
to
check that reference right now.  
> 
> > BTW, I do identify with Hermione and I would choose Harry over Ron in 
> a heartbeat, yet I'm still an R/Her.  That's because my shipping 
> (in this instance) isn't about what I want to see but what I think JKR 
> is going to do.

Amy isn't the only one to say recently, "I'm R/H because that's where I
see the canon going."  Can someone explain this philosophy to me?  Am I
reading "I might possibly *prefer* another pairing other than R/H, but I
don't see it ever happening so I'll just favor R/H by default"?  I admit
to not understanding this position too well.  

> So the question is, > if bickering ruins romances (and it can), does it ruin friendships > too (of course it can, but is it inevitable)?  Those of you who think > R/H will never fly as a long-term romance, do you predict a cooling in 
> their friendship too?

Just like romances, bickering *can* ruin friendships too.  I don't,
however, necessarily predict a cooling off in the R/H friendship due to
their bickering.  It's still possible that another "Crookshanksgate" as
Ebony termed it could irreparably damage their friendship.  But, I think
I see the friendship aspect being pretty solid at this point, although
Ron's jealousies, insecurities & ambitions make me nervous for his
friendships with both Hermione & Harry.  But, I think a romantic
relationship between R/H would take the bickering & spatting to a whole
new level.  Seems to me that the barbs would cut a bit deeper and be
harder to repair if there was a romance involved.  I do know that there
are couples who thrive on this sort of thing, so I do acknowledge that
there are successful bickering-style relationships out there. I would
personally not want to be involved in one. I think Carole was right:
Hollywood would have us believe this is far more common than is the case
though.

Ebony wrote:

> What's that quote from Stephen King?  "The best friends I ever had, I had at 
> twelve years old?"  After the latency period ends, everything gets 
> complicated... which is perhaps why JKR has put off letting the characters 
> hit puberty for so long.

I think you've hit on why GoF really didn't take our characters as far
into adolescence as their chronological ages might dictate.  She has
said she doesn't want to keep them rooted in pre-pubescence forever, and
I do think she means that.  But, I think it gets more complicated and
perhaps she wasn't ready to introduce that sort of complication into the
plot at the GoF stage.  Maybe she used GoF to lay the groundwork.  Maybe
I'm about to ramble my way right into my pet theories about FITD,
perceived FITD, love, betrayal, blah, blah, blah.  I'll stop now!  <g>  


Jenny wrote:

> As someone who likes Ginny very much, I'm curious to know what it is 
> exactly about Ginny that people do not like (it has been mentioned 
> before).  There are other characters who aren't well developed yet are 
> well loved (Neville, Fred, George...).  I think we need to know more 
> about Ginny, though and I'm happy to say that JKR will be developing 
> her character more in OoP.

I disagree that Neville & Fred/George aren't well developed yet.  I
think those characters are definitely more fleshed out than Ginny.  I
can probably name all the Ginny scenes, because I've studied them
carefully in an effort to understand why I don't like her character
much.  I know I should be more forgiving of what I perceive as faults in
the first two books since she is so very young in those books but .... 
She has 2 lines in SS, both of which are whining to her mother about
spotting HP (she seems more like 6 than 10/11 in my book).  While we see
glimmers of strength & character by GoF, she really only has one scene
of gumption in CoS (the bookstore scene) and is hardly seen at all in
PoA.  F&G, by contrast, are really portrayed as Harry's only real
friends outside of the Trio.  Someone posted a link a few months ago to
some online source that had ranked each character in order of the
character's spoken words.  F&G were considerably higher than Ginny IIRC. 

Speaking of sources (and BTW, I agree heartily with Amanda that things
stated as "JKR said" should really be accompanied by a source please) --
could someone please point me to the source that supports the notion
that JKR has said Ginny will be important/developed more in Book 5. 
I've seen repeated references to that but never heard a source.  I've
read tons of JKR interviews -- not just out of interest but also because
I've written the JKR FAQ.  I don't recall where people have picked up on
Ginny's future importance to the plot as confirmed by JKR.  

RON: Thanks to Lisa I for a wonderfully insightful post about Ron and
how he might actually pull himself together post-GoF.  I have had alot
of doubts about Ron, based on GoF.  Your post gave me some good reasons
to expect more from him in OoP & beyond.  :--)

Lots of other great posts on non-shipping topics, but I'm sadly low on
time for online interaction right now. Will hopefully catch up later!

Penny