connielane: (herbology can wait)
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posted by [personal profile] connielane at 08:44am on 01/11/2005 under ,
I was tagged by [livejournal.com profile] mrs_bombadil for this, but it took me a while because I wanted to do the subject as much justice as several of you did and because I almost gave up on the task entirely after seeing this. I mean, honestly, what's the point in following that?

Nevertheless, and for what it's worth, here goes.

First, a little bit of history. I have suspected H/G since Harry watched Ginny run after the Hogwarts Express in Sorcerer's Stone. That, I thought, was about as "hit you over the head" (read: anvil-sized hint) as you could get when introducing a hero's love interest. I didn't "ship" them at that point; I simply had a hunch that they would end up together. I wasn't emotionally invested in this hunch at all - heck, I wasn't that emotionally invested in the books at that point. But I do remember smiling a bit smugly when I went to see the first film and saw that Ginny, despite not really needing to be there, was in it, and I felt that this was an indication that the screenwriter saw what I saw.

Then came Chamber of Secrets. I was officially hooked. H/G became a sort of wish fulfillment ship for me, having so often loved "from afar" myself. After reading SS and seeing the film, I read CoS, PoA, and GoF in quick succession, so any thoughts I had on H/G in those books are a bit of a blur, but after finding the Fandom, my ship-meter went into overdrive. By the time I read OotP, I was officially insane. I distinctly remember reading the NY Daily News' spoilers about OotP a few days before the book came out and being crushed - CRUSHED, I tell you - that Harry was still hankering after Cho Chang. I literally cried, and I think I even planned a mix-tape of "poor Ginny" songs. Of course, actually reading the book allayed my fears. :P

Thence the lead-up to Half-Blood Prince. After OotP, I truly did not know what to expect. I felt sure - more so than before - that H/G would happen, but I had no idea how and I still had a paranoic doubt in the back of my mind. When the HBP spoilers hit the web, I completely lost my shit. I still have the YM convos, full of "OMG"s and "!!!!!!!!!!"s. I actually could not sleep the whole week before HBP because I was playing the H/G moments I had seen like a movie in my head. Every time I thought about the fact that H/G was now truly, indisputably canon and that being with Ginny made Harry "happier than he could remember being for a very long time" I took a sudden deep breath of excitement (this happened several times a day that week). Getting my hands on an actual copy and reading it turned out to be the most fun I've ever had reading a book.

In a nutshell: I love. this. ship.

But why?

These are not numbered and are not in order of preference or strength of feeling or whatever. But here they are.


Because I like Ginny. I detest ranking characters against each other, but if I had to pick, Ginny is my favorite non-Trio character in the books. I identify with her in a lot of ways, not the least of which is her admiration of a boy from afar (more on that below). She's energetic, clever, funny, fiercely independent, loyal, empathetic, warm, tough, and affectionate. It makes so much sense that Harry fell for her. And I love how good she seems to be for him. She makes him completely and utterly happy, and she understands that he must face Voldemort, even if it means that she will never see him again.

Because Harry likes Ginny. Simple enough. I sympathized with Ginny through her crush in CoS, PoA and GoF (I think my heart cracked a little when she reacted to hearing that Harry had asked Cho to the Ball). However, I loved it far more after the creature in Harry's chest made its appearance. There was such a delicious irony about Ginny "languishing in love" for Harry and Harry only realizing his feelings after hers were (we thought) no longer engaged with him.

Because it was foreshadowed in a highly romantic fashion. I am a complete fool for romance in stories. I often find myself looking for romance in stories where it doesn't really fit. I was and still am quite surprised at just how much "icky love stuff" is in the books. We're hit the hardest with the H/G foreshadowing stick in the first two books, when Harry is at an age where girls are simply weird. We get that highly romant-ish train station scene in Book 1, which brings to mind all kinds of epic Hollywood movies (or maybe that's just me :P). And then in Book 2, the other anvil drops. Harry saves Ginny's life in a spectacularly heroic and evocative way, referencing not one, but two romantic archetypes - the "Hero slays beast to rescue maiden" motif and "Hero awakens the sleeping maiden" motif.

Because it fits so well with the tone of the books. Something I have always adored about the Harry Potter books is the sort of cozy quality they have - at least where normal, non-life-threatening situations are concerned. There's a sort of nonchalance and innocence about the imagery - the potty humor, the warmth of the Weasley family, Ron's ears going red, and the many references to socks - that just make me want to physically hug the books. And I think Harry's and Ginny's romance fits well with that. Not just the humor, but the warmth as well. Harry's strange lack of annoyance with Ginny being "taken with him" in Books 2-4. The little laughs they share between the two of them in books 3 and 5. The image of her small, warm hand in his that you almost feel rather than visualize. *melts*

Because it is intense and passionate. I love that Harry's feelings for Ginny appeared very quickly. I love that they got together very quickly with just one impulsive kiss. I love that their first kiss was "several sunlit days" as opposed to "wet." I love that instead of brooding on Voldemort during his down time, he finds himself daydreaming about a "particularly happy hour" spent with Ginny by the lake. I love that, after telling her he can't see her anymore, he can't even be near her for fear that he'll change his mind. *fans self*

Because it is largely left to the readers' imagination. I'm endlessly amused at people expecting me to be disapointed with H/G as it happened in HBP, because I think JKR wrote it perfectly by having most of the actual relationship stuff happen off-page, and in a way that yielded two great results. First, the younger readers didn't have to go through page after page of "icky love stuff." Second, it let older readers - including fanfic writers - come up with their own conclusions about what happened between them when they were alone together. Just as readers could imagine for themselves what Harry's dreams about Ginny consisted of, they could also draw their own mental images of what exactly happened during that walk on the grounds after Harry and Ginny first kissed. Or what happened during that hour by the lake that Harry was replaying in his head while he was supposed to be doing homework. I love it when books leave some blanks for me to fill in.

Because it's still going on. Despite Harry and Ginny having broken up at the end of HBP, their romance plot is still happening and will continue to happen in the final novel. I get all twitterpated at the thought of Harry and Ginny meeting again at Bill and Fleur's wedding - how Harry will look at her in the bridesmaid dress Fleur chooses for her, how he will feel when he first lays eyes on her, and what, if anything, they will say to one another. I cannot wait to see how Ginny gets mixed up, as I'm certain that she will, in the "heart of it all." And my heart swells at the thought of how they will be reunited after Harry fulfills his destiny with Voldemort.

Because it's a variation on a theme. Girl loves boy from afar, girl eventually "gives up" and starts dating other boys, boy finally takes notice, and boy gets girl because she's wanted him all along. This kind of story sometimes takes heat from feminists, who decry it as a "bad message" for girls. Sometimes the story will address this concern and have the boy turn out not to be what the girl always thought.

Rowling handles this a different way, though. By making the boy (Harry) our POV character, she makes it about what he wants rather than getting Ginny the boy of her dreams. Plus, there's no need for Harry to turn out to be different than what Ginny thought (in order to make a better "message" for girl readers), because we know Harry intimately, and we know that he is an immensely loving, loyal and sensitive boy and definitely worth the getting.

Because Ginny likes Harry. Sure, he may be "famous Harry Potter" to her when she's ten and wants to go see him on the train. But over the course of six years, she gets to know the real thing. She presumably hears a lot about him from Ron. He stays with her family almost every summer. And once she gets over her debilitating shyness around him, she gets to know him more personally (and that during Harry'S CAPSLOCK Era, when he's not exactly Mr. Congeniality). And still she fancies him. I can't say I blame her.

Because I like Harry. He's absolutely my favorite character, and I care much more about what happens to him than I do about any other person or creature in the books. And I knew that if he was going to have a love story that it would be hugely important. Harry is a character whose defining characteristic is his capacity to love. I was sure that when Harry finally chose a girl on which to bestow his affections - not just an adolescent crush, but real, true, Gene-Kelly-dancing-in-the-rain love - that it would be amazing. And - dayum! - it SO was and is.

Heh. I didn't notice my sick-feeling as much while writing this. Now that I'm done, my nose feels noticably stuffier and my eyes more watery. :P
Mood:: 'groggy' groggy
Music:: "Magic Works" - GoF soundtrack
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