'i'm camouflaged by the timeline, i'm camouflaged when the sun shines...'
RL: So one of the independents has backed Julia Gillard. ^_^ One down, three to go! She just needs two more, I think, to finally claim victory and be confirmed as PM! I just lol’d because Abbott’s people were so childish and attacked that independent over choosing her side, I mean, wow, what sore losers! *shakes head*
I’ll be happy if Gillard wins ( Read more... )
I’ll be happy if Gillard wins ( Read more... )
In my head-canon, Molly is the antithesis of Snape. Whereas Severus has no emotional intelligence despite being completely driven by his emotions, his emotion is coupled with a powerful intellect that allows him to see beyond the surface appearance -- whether that surface is a fallacy-filled argument, the thin social veneer of civility, an opinion blindly held by the majority, or even a student's falsehoods -- to the heart of the matter, which then makes him a bitterly cynical person who is often, literally, the only person in the room who sees something for what it is. Severus is a man who is capable of learning to defeat the Dark Lord at Occlumency, learning to fly without the aid of a broom (a technique only Voldemort is shown to master besides Snape), and who as a SIXTH-YEAR STUDENT made improvements to the Potions textbook directions and invented several new spells besides.
Molly, on the other hand, has the same lack of emotional intelligence while being driven completely by her emotions... but she's no Severus Snape upstairs. She's not bright. She doesn't think deeply about anything unless there's an obvious reason to do so because it just doesn't occur to her to probe into the whys and wherefores. She doesn't have a burning desire to know, to extend herself beyond what's at her fingertips, to push herself. Society says a wife is to be "the neck that turns the head," that mothers are to cook and knit, that children like Percy are the type of children to strive for, and so that's what she does. She nags at Arthur to be more "ideal" because that's what society expects. She can't keep all her children's likes, dislikes, and needs straight anymore than she can keep her house straight, because being that on top of things just takes more brains and memory than she's got. Luna and her father keep to themselves so she just assumes they are okay and forgets half the time to look in on them, whereas Harry and his tragedy keep on intruding enough on her family whether she'd like it or not. She really did get the best dress robes she could for Ron on her budget, but she naively underestimates the cruelty of other children because she wasn't a cruel child herself and thinking otherwise make her feel sad so she just shrugs it off. As for Fleur... we're back to not seeing past surface appearances. (Which is why, in my opinion, she's so friendly to Snape. Half the time he's talking it flies right over her head because he's either busting out the big words or just being way too subtle.)
I know people like Molly in real life. They can be shrewish and small-minded and flaky, but it really is the best they can do because they think they're helping. Which is better, in my opinion, than deliberate cruelty or meanness for selfish gain. Which is why I tend to forgive Ron all his stupidities. He takes after his mother.
DragonLady
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THIS. So much this. Agrees wholeheartedly.
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At least you admit she has flaws. I appreciate that. It’s when people shove their favorite characters down my throat and firmly deny they have any flaws, they are PERFECT, that I get really irritated. Or when they suggest their flaws make them a better person. Like Harry using Cruciatus showed how gallant he was. *retches*
a bitterly cynical person who is often, literally, the only person in the room who sees something for what it is
WIN. I laugh at the people who criticize him for the things he says, because it’s the TRUTH. They just don’t like to hear it.
Severus is a man who is capable of learning to defeat the Dark Lord at Occlumency, learning to fly without the aid of a broom (a technique only Voldemort is shown to master besides Snape), and who as a SIXTH-YEAR STUDENT made improvements to the Potions textbook directions and invented several new spells besides.
a) Harry couldn’t even master Occlumency against someone who wasn’t out to kill him. *eyeroll* Of course, JKR somehow turned this into a suggestion that Harry was too pure of heart and noble of soul to mask his emotions and feelings. Of course. Why is it that the obvious, rash, reckless actions are always praised above people who are careful, smart and devious?!
b) I wonder if they’ll show this in the movie? Because for DH I we see Snape pressed up against a window- I’m wondering if that leads to the infamous ‘Snape-shaped hole’ *headdesk*. Wtf was JKR on when she wrote that last book anyway? So cartoonish, especially with marching desks and chairs to defend the castle!
c) I questioned what made Hermione earn the title of ‘brightest witch of her age’. It’s interesting how people took that as a negative comment, like, no, guys, I wasn’t dissing her brains, I didn’t mean that she isn’t smart and that she wasn’t absolutely brilliant with her ability to keep the boys alive and solve puzzles and defend/attack, etc. But in terms of academia, what makes her the brightest? Merely memorizing and regurgitating isn’t really that praiseworthy a skill. I’m sure there are Ravenclaws capable of that same feat. She’s definitely not on Snape’s level, with his revisions and inventions, nor on contemporaries like the Weasley twins- much as I hate them, they were genuinely smart and talented and innovative.
She's not bright. She doesn't think deeply about anything unless there's an obvious reason to do so because it just doesn't occur to her to probe into the whys and wherefores.
*sighs* Which is why she’s so quick to believe Rita Skeeter’s accusations about Hermione than to believe in the girl she knows personally. Ugh.
Luna and her father keep to themselves so she just assumes they are okay and forgets half the time to look in on them, whereas Harry and his tragedy keep on intruding enough on her family whether she'd like it or not.
Hmm. So you don’t think his fame has anything to do with it? That if Ron and Luna had become friends, she’d be invited over for holidays and to treat them as her second family? [I kind of like the notion of Ron/Luna, actually, although I wasn’t averse to Ron/Lavender]
She can't keep all her children's likes, dislikes, and needs straight anymore than she can keep her house straight, because being that on top of things just takes more brains and memory than she's got. She really did get the best dress robes she could for Ron on her budget
Bwahaha. Well, that’s blunt and concise!
But re: the robes- she doesn’t need money. Honestly, there have to be charms for things like removing the lace and turning it a less hideous color! As a house-wife, she should know those kinds of things.
she's so friendly to Snape. Half the time he's talking it flies right over her head because he's either busting out the big words or just being way too subtle.
I love this! Ha. I really do enjoy fics where he’s snarking at people and they’re too dense to realize he’s insulted them. *g*
Which is why I tend to forgive Ron all his stupidities.
Yeah, I’m in the uncomfortable position of- rather liking Ron this time reading the series. O.o I’m sure once I get to GoF, that’ll change, though.
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Yeah!
No. *headdesk* People get all up on Snape for calling Lily a nasty name, but Harry uses an Unforgivable Curse on another human being (which under normal wizarding law means an automatic sentence to Azkaban) in anger and that's fine.
I questioned what made Hermione earn the title of ‘brightest witch of her age’.
In her year and the one above and below, certainly, because she's always the first one to perform a new spell accurately. Of all time? No. Snape and Voldemort were doing far more as far as sheer power and understanding the principles involved at that age than Hermione was.
... which, of course, makes sense since Hermione is a witch and the other two were wizards. In JKR's world women are always subordinate to men, either as lesser-powered helpers, girlfriends, or mothers. /bitter
So you don’t think his fame has anything to do with it? That if Ron and Luna had become friends, she’d be invited over for holidays and to treat them as her second family?
Hermione was.
Remember, Hermione was at the Weasleys before Harry in both GoF and OotP. In the case of OotP, Harry was being excluded by Dumbledore, so it couldn't even be argued that Hermione was only invited as an attache to Harry. She came on her own even when Harry couldn't possibly know she was there, and when as a Muggle-born with her own parents she had every excuse to stay away or be left behind. Also (with the Rita Skeeter incident aside) she was treated with the same subdued-nagging courtesy as Harry... but with the same short-sighted stupidity as the Weasley kids. The Twins got the shaft from Mum until Molly had to suck it up and admit (thousands of Galleons later) that their life choices were, in fact, better than Percy's (who had been used as a measuring stick and club against them before).
Also, in my opinion, Molly and her constant comparisons holds the blame for the massive hostility the Twins had for Percy growing up.
I love Molly. But she is as dumb as a box of rocks.
Honestly, there have to be charms for things like removing the lace and turning it a less hideous color! As a house-wife, she should know those kinds of things.
I blame this on JKR's inconsistency with magic. Madame Malkin is always seen as using pins and thread, not magic, to alter her clients' robes. We never see her wave her want to adjust, repair, or create. Therefore I concluded there must be some reason that tailoring cannot be done with magic: that it must be learned just like Muggle tailoring. Not all housewives can sew, so therefore it never seemed odd to me Mrs. Weasley couldn't fix Ron's robes.
Furthermore, as an example of JKR's lazy writing where magic is concerned, in Book Two Mrs. Weasley pours soup out of her wand, conjuring it out of thin air. However, in Books Six and Seven we are told that food is an exception to Transfiguration and cannot be conjured out of thin air, which is why we Merope starved and how we can have wizard paupers who are underfed (ie. Lupin). Nevermind Mrs. Weasley doing it in Book Two, "it can't be done." I submit that fixing Ron's robes also falls under this category of "You Can't When The Plot Needs You Not to be Able to" Magic.
I’m sure once I get to GoF, that’ll change, though.
Yeah. He really starts taking after his mother in Book Four. I mean, believing EVERYONE ELSE that Harry put his name in, rather than the friend who has included him in everything since the day they MET... yeah. Takes after. His mother. And then the "scarlet woman" comment. MOTHER.
DragonLady
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