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reenkaso while i realize people read this stuff-- v. v. strange-- i still
basically feel that i'm mumbling to myself, which is probably good.
otherwise i may censor & such. like, "who really wants to read about
-this-?" and "this isn't of use to anyone", etc.
i can't even say i wouldn't write this stupid fannish stuff if not for beng "part" of a fandom-- i wrote it back on my pitas page, which is why i gave up and got a livejournal, figured may as well spout where they can hear me. i was curious. but anyway.
so i do think, of my own free will, about why hermione is or isn't similar to harry. i don't even need to go -into- why ginny isn't "harry", but i suppose it's part of the same issue. i find it a very curious concept to say that pairings or combinations of two different people with one person, are "equivalent". what does that mean? what are you saying about the depths & personalities of the two people you're equating? on the one hand, i would, myself, compare-- i would say things like, harry/draco is roughly similar to buffy/spike, and i could go on about it and show you why i think that.
but when people say that hermione/draco is largely similar to harry/draco, all that gets brought up is that they would also fight and that it'd be good vs. evil or whatever. i think that's pretty sloppy, myself. in my mind, harry & hermione are too different. although that's slightly hypocritical, coming from me, because i find the h/h pairing to be uninteresting because they're too similar, -to work romantically-. but their dynamics, their motivations are still largely different. i suppose i can go into a list. "this is what hermione's like", and "this is what harry's like", compare and contrast, but i don't think it's necessary.
the major difference between harry & hermione is that of self-image. hermione is pretty sure of herself, what she needs and wants, and what she expects from people and from herself. hermione is sane, rational, unsentimental, sensible, bossy. i would think harry only shares her unsentimentality, and that, not to as large of an extent. he has some, mostly about his parents i'd think. hermione wouldn't be as seduced by the Mirror of Erised, i don't think.
harry's the middle ground, obviously, between ron and hermione, emotion and intellect, and so on, being the semi-cardboard character that he is. but i think besides his base personality, he has some personal issues, some darkness & psychosis & insecurity & things like that, that would bring him closer to an intuitive understanding, closer to a rapport with someone like draco as he -could be- (and probably isn't, in canon).
where is hermione's darkness? how easy would it be for her to lose it, to go insane? she'd probably be one of those people that retains the semblance of rationality even while spewing complete nonsense about being in control of voldemort and being responsible for his presense in the world, and being his mother, and she could probably prove it to you while she's at it.
everyone always says, that hermione & draco could bond on an intellectual level-- but that makes it a largely different dynamic than harry/draco, doesn't it.
also, this whole intellectualism of draco's is largely a fanon invention, anyway. sure, he doesn't seem as dumb as his goons, but hermione is a sensible girl, not just book-smart, and draco's a stupid ass when it comes to life itself. she has complete superiority over him, it's not exactly equal, i'd think.
~~
the ultimate test would be to put different characters in the same situation, and see how they'd react, while remaining completely in-character. would they truly react similarly? if they would, i suppose you've proven your point.
i feel slightly bad for only contrasting rather than comparing -and- contrasting, which would be more complete. i realize it's largely done in debate and maybe even science, but i feel somewhat closed-minded. but i truly think there's little of similarity between their (harry & hermione's) patterns of behavior-- under stress in particular.
i think it's sloppy to say, anyone who has antagonism towards the same object is automatically interchangeable with the others. all three of them-- harry, hermione, and ron, have very different reasons and patterns of behavior within their antagonism. ron just hates blindly. hermione just disapproves. harry is more complex (big surprise) and has a mixture of being personally rubbed the wrong way (physical discomfort being in draco's presence, nightmares, etc) and disapproving of draco's behavior.
the way they're set up, the three of them aren't meant to react the same. they're meant to act in a complementary fashion, where one picks up the the others' slack. i suppose this is where you could bring in ginny and ask if ginny might not be the closest to harry in possible behavior. well maybe so, but she's lacking a lot of harry's commanded respect & thus power over and issues with someone like malfoy.
you may say hermione has this respect, because she's bested draco in classes repeatedly-- but you would be overlooking the fact that draco doesn't respect being beaten, he resents it. if he's -not- beaten, then he just takes it for granted. i realize i'm thus digging my own hole for harry/draco as well, and that's ok. but i think harry -is- different because he's The Boy Who Lived and he's one living breathing exception no matter how you look at it, and draco's natural response system doesn't quite cover harry, i don't think.
none of them really have any patience for malfoy and his stupid bullying, or much patience at all, really. ron is also showing no signs of being able to really rise above resentment all that easily, and malfoy is probably the person he resents most in the world, so he won't even -want- to. hermione does things for a reason, otherwise she prefers to just stay well clear of irritants, especially ones that have no redeeming value (like say, draco-- what's draco's redeeming value? his good looks??) but she has no problem cutting said irritant down to size absolutely when the situation calls for it-- and she's not going to argue, she's just going to act (slap and leave, etc). arguing with draco would be beneath her, really, because she has nothing to learn that she could easily see, especially since draco isn't known for being rational or reasonable but rather known for mean overblown rhetoric. i think that to see the `true draco', whoever that is, you'd have to get beyond his petty stupid words (and petty stupid actions, for that matter). that's not something i think hermione would waste her time with, since she would be able to see the obvious, which is that draco -has- nothing of interest to her to offer. because even if he is intelligent, she's also as moral (and gryffindor-like) as harry, and would thus not be likely to value intelligence wasted on stupid premises and in support of lame (and offensive) ideas.
all i'm saying is, this isn't harry.
harry is more likely to just judge based on gut instinct, as well as being curious and investigative and the most likely of all of them to notice small nuances of behavior shifting.
not that i claim harry/draco makes any perfect sense either. draco is a hard character to fit with a sane, likeable character, and even harder to justify enough to make it convincing, so i don't even try most of the time. i bank on harry's unpredictability, his neediness, his inner darkness, his somewhat random flexibility, and on the fact that malfoy seems to get to him from the start.
unlike anyone else, i think he and draco can be mirrors of each other, star-crossed and fated, blah blah, not.
i'm getting sick of this. but. just. anyone who can prove how hermione is secretly harry gets a cookie. that is all.
...in other, even t00bier news... why, oh why do i bother -finishing- silly sappy gooey fics that make me have a weird taste at the back of my mouth? have i learned nothing from my years rotting my brain with horribly bad-written romance novels?? am i masochistic? (don't answer that). *laughs* `the boat of a million years' really reminds me of those bodice-rippers. although it could have something to do with all the french endearments and the star-crossed!lucius/narcissa, hahah. it's so amazing, the words "i hate you" were mentioned only once, in passing, in this fic. "i love you, i need you, i want you, i hate you"-- blah blah french endearments blah. *laughs some more* no, really, i appreciate it, i do. i'm still laughing. not every fic can do that. hahaha *remembers harry & draco and their goat farm*
*dies*
i can't even say i wouldn't write this stupid fannish stuff if not for beng "part" of a fandom-- i wrote it back on my pitas page, which is why i gave up and got a livejournal, figured may as well spout where they can hear me. i was curious. but anyway.
so i do think, of my own free will, about why hermione is or isn't similar to harry. i don't even need to go -into- why ginny isn't "harry", but i suppose it's part of the same issue. i find it a very curious concept to say that pairings or combinations of two different people with one person, are "equivalent". what does that mean? what are you saying about the depths & personalities of the two people you're equating? on the one hand, i would, myself, compare-- i would say things like, harry/draco is roughly similar to buffy/spike, and i could go on about it and show you why i think that.
but when people say that hermione/draco is largely similar to harry/draco, all that gets brought up is that they would also fight and that it'd be good vs. evil or whatever. i think that's pretty sloppy, myself. in my mind, harry & hermione are too different. although that's slightly hypocritical, coming from me, because i find the h/h pairing to be uninteresting because they're too similar, -to work romantically-. but their dynamics, their motivations are still largely different. i suppose i can go into a list. "this is what hermione's like", and "this is what harry's like", compare and contrast, but i don't think it's necessary.
the major difference between harry & hermione is that of self-image. hermione is pretty sure of herself, what she needs and wants, and what she expects from people and from herself. hermione is sane, rational, unsentimental, sensible, bossy. i would think harry only shares her unsentimentality, and that, not to as large of an extent. he has some, mostly about his parents i'd think. hermione wouldn't be as seduced by the Mirror of Erised, i don't think.
harry's the middle ground, obviously, between ron and hermione, emotion and intellect, and so on, being the semi-cardboard character that he is. but i think besides his base personality, he has some personal issues, some darkness & psychosis & insecurity & things like that, that would bring him closer to an intuitive understanding, closer to a rapport with someone like draco as he -could be- (and probably isn't, in canon).
where is hermione's darkness? how easy would it be for her to lose it, to go insane? she'd probably be one of those people that retains the semblance of rationality even while spewing complete nonsense about being in control of voldemort and being responsible for his presense in the world, and being his mother, and she could probably prove it to you while she's at it.
everyone always says, that hermione & draco could bond on an intellectual level-- but that makes it a largely different dynamic than harry/draco, doesn't it.
also, this whole intellectualism of draco's is largely a fanon invention, anyway. sure, he doesn't seem as dumb as his goons, but hermione is a sensible girl, not just book-smart, and draco's a stupid ass when it comes to life itself. she has complete superiority over him, it's not exactly equal, i'd think.
~~
the ultimate test would be to put different characters in the same situation, and see how they'd react, while remaining completely in-character. would they truly react similarly? if they would, i suppose you've proven your point.
i feel slightly bad for only contrasting rather than comparing -and- contrasting, which would be more complete. i realize it's largely done in debate and maybe even science, but i feel somewhat closed-minded. but i truly think there's little of similarity between their (harry & hermione's) patterns of behavior-- under stress in particular.
i think it's sloppy to say, anyone who has antagonism towards the same object is automatically interchangeable with the others. all three of them-- harry, hermione, and ron, have very different reasons and patterns of behavior within their antagonism. ron just hates blindly. hermione just disapproves. harry is more complex (big surprise) and has a mixture of being personally rubbed the wrong way (physical discomfort being in draco's presence, nightmares, etc) and disapproving of draco's behavior.
the way they're set up, the three of them aren't meant to react the same. they're meant to act in a complementary fashion, where one picks up the the others' slack. i suppose this is where you could bring in ginny and ask if ginny might not be the closest to harry in possible behavior. well maybe so, but she's lacking a lot of harry's commanded respect & thus power over and issues with someone like malfoy.
you may say hermione has this respect, because she's bested draco in classes repeatedly-- but you would be overlooking the fact that draco doesn't respect being beaten, he resents it. if he's -not- beaten, then he just takes it for granted. i realize i'm thus digging my own hole for harry/draco as well, and that's ok. but i think harry -is- different because he's The Boy Who Lived and he's one living breathing exception no matter how you look at it, and draco's natural response system doesn't quite cover harry, i don't think.
none of them really have any patience for malfoy and his stupid bullying, or much patience at all, really. ron is also showing no signs of being able to really rise above resentment all that easily, and malfoy is probably the person he resents most in the world, so he won't even -want- to. hermione does things for a reason, otherwise she prefers to just stay well clear of irritants, especially ones that have no redeeming value (like say, draco-- what's draco's redeeming value? his good looks??) but she has no problem cutting said irritant down to size absolutely when the situation calls for it-- and she's not going to argue, she's just going to act (slap and leave, etc). arguing with draco would be beneath her, really, because she has nothing to learn that she could easily see, especially since draco isn't known for being rational or reasonable but rather known for mean overblown rhetoric. i think that to see the `true draco', whoever that is, you'd have to get beyond his petty stupid words (and petty stupid actions, for that matter). that's not something i think hermione would waste her time with, since she would be able to see the obvious, which is that draco -has- nothing of interest to her to offer. because even if he is intelligent, she's also as moral (and gryffindor-like) as harry, and would thus not be likely to value intelligence wasted on stupid premises and in support of lame (and offensive) ideas.
all i'm saying is, this isn't harry.
harry is more likely to just judge based on gut instinct, as well as being curious and investigative and the most likely of all of them to notice small nuances of behavior shifting.
not that i claim harry/draco makes any perfect sense either. draco is a hard character to fit with a sane, likeable character, and even harder to justify enough to make it convincing, so i don't even try most of the time. i bank on harry's unpredictability, his neediness, his inner darkness, his somewhat random flexibility, and on the fact that malfoy seems to get to him from the start.
unlike anyone else, i think he and draco can be mirrors of each other, star-crossed and fated, blah blah, not.
i'm getting sick of this. but. just. anyone who can prove how hermione is secretly harry gets a cookie. that is all.
...in other, even t00bier news... why, oh why do i bother -finishing- silly sappy gooey fics that make me have a weird taste at the back of my mouth? have i learned nothing from my years rotting my brain with horribly bad-written romance novels?? am i masochistic? (don't answer that). *laughs* `the boat of a million years' really reminds me of those bodice-rippers. although it could have something to do with all the french endearments and the star-crossed!lucius/narcissa, hahah. it's so amazing, the words "i hate you" were mentioned only once, in passing, in this fic. "i love you, i need you, i want you, i hate you"-- blah blah french endearments blah. *laughs some more* no, really, i appreciate it, i do. i'm still laughing. not every fic can do that. hahaha *remembers harry & draco and their goat farm*
*dies*
