Chapter Nineteen

[merrymelody]

The Lion and the Serpent

Useless Fact: This is the chapter I read first when I got my copy, purely on the basis of the title.

Comments

Re: Part two, because your summary is so huge!

[go_back_chief]

b) that it was unhealthy for two outcasts to get together because that would imply they didn't mind being outcasts.

I must say that's not the way I read it at all, rather I thought what she was doing was generalising the motives of N/L-shippers, much like she generalised the motives of D/Hr-shippers ("they only want Draco and Hermione to get together because Tom Felton is pretty and girls usually go for 'bad boys' before they have acquired the wisdom and experience I have"), when she sunk that ship. And her assumption of the N/L-shippers' motivation was that they didn't want Neville and Luna together because they honestly thought they were suited, or because they love each other (which we now know they never will in Canon), but because they thought "everyone must necessarily be paired up", and "no one who is NOT a geek could ever possibly love Neville or Luna, so they better fall in love with each other, because that's the only chance they could ever get".

I completely agree with you on the "Neville-lesson" part, though. I still like Neville, but I'm really fearing that his "rise-storyline" will become more than I could handle, and I'd hate it if the lesson becomes that he has to transform to Harry's/Trio's/Rest of Gryffindor's standards, before he can "gain" other people's respect and his own peace of mind. This is why I loved this story so much, because it shows a Neville who cmes to the conclusion that he doesn't need other people's approval all the time, rather than having him transform, and then become accepted. It's also a big part of the appeal in the Neville/Cho-ship, for me. I mean yes, part of it IS because I think having Neville succeed where Harry doesn't is a far more satisfying and suitable resolution for this character, instead of having him go through some cheesy secondary hero's journey (kill me now!), but it would also be come across to me as "two people who Harry has deemed unworthy" (though for completely different reasons), deciding they love each other despite what other people (other people here meaning Harry ;-)) think of them. While N/L could supposedly tell this story as well, I think N/C would do it far better, not least because the fact that both Neville and Luna are, at least by the end of OotP, Harry-friend-wannabes, and I don't think JKR having them dating each other would have changed that in any way.

Re: Part two, because your summary is so huge!

[sistermagpie]

That, at least, is something I can get behind--the idea that just because Neville and Luna both seem like geeks doesn't mean they can't expect to do "any better" than each other--though it's unfair to assume that everybody assumes that's what anybody interested in the ship thinks. I mean, I could come up with perfectly valid reasons for them to like each other that have nothing to do with that, actually. That Neville is freaked out by Luna at first is good because her dottiness could show him that you don't have to try to fit in, that it's okay to be different. And they both could be the only people who see no reason to get back at people who pick on them, not to mention they have the same bonding issue that supposedly makes Luna/Harry so important--they both have dealt with death.

But yeah, that's exactly what I don't like about Neville, that his own strengths aren't good enough so he better develop some kung fu double quick. Then we can have Hero!Harry, Second!Hero!Neville and Coming!Up!A!Distant!Third!Sidekick!Ron.

Re: Part two, because your summary is so huge!

[go_back_chief]

I, for one, have no doubt that shippers behind any ship can have perfectly valid reasons to ship them -whether I'd agree with them or not- even if it's ships I personally don't see the appeal in. Andd that's why it's always annoying when someone is putting words into shippers mouths, telling them why they like it, rather than listening. It's no less annoying when the author does so herself.

Re: Part two, because your summary is so huge!

[merrymelody]

Seriously. What's wrong with Neville who likes Herbology and avoids conflict if possible?
Why does he have to be good at the subjects Harry deems best, like DADA, and 'prove' that he belongs in Gryffindor by fighting. Why can't it just be that he's brave because he has a rough time of it and doesn't whine (unlike other characters who shall remain nameless, lest I be accused of not having proper respect for Harry, the Only Boy with Hormones in the world...Oops.) and works hard?

Re: Part two, because your summary is so huge!

[merrymelody]

Hee! I like that story.
And now I'm curious as to whether any Neville/Cho exists. I know Invisible to See had a little.