On shipping within the Trio

[lotesse]

I used to be a Ron/Hermione shipper. Never a die-hard, and I was never terribly interested in ficcing it, but I was certain that it would happen and enjoyed all the tension in GoF and squeaked over the romantic possibilities. H/Hr always seemed vaguely incestuous to me, in the same way that Luke/Leia does. You know they shouldn't be kissing. But let's not open up the battleground, because I don't anymore. Ship R/Hr.

The chemistry is gone, and now the two of them just seem to harp on each other. Quarreling can be a sign on UST, but in OotP it felt more like scorn than suppressed passion. Ron seems too emotionally immature, Hermione too damned sure of herself. They don't seem to want to be together, and they don't seem like it would work out too terribly well if they were. They don't seem to have the inclination or the ability to make it work.

But H/Hr hasn't changed in my view either. It seems cliche. It seems maybe even a little bit saccharine. And I sure don't see any UST there. (Covering my ass: of course, this is just me. There's some absolutely fabulous H/Hr fic out there, and I enjoy it as much as the next girl. I'm just talking about writing, here) And while I've started pairing them up with characters from outside of their little circle, I'm also finding myself threesome-shipping. Why? Why don't I like the pairings by themselves but like them when they're all mashed together?

I think that part of it is that I like who the Trio would have to become in order to ever even think of a threesome. Ron and Harry would have to grow up quite a bit to be able to manage something as emotionally complex and societally taboo as a multiple, and Hermione would have to loosen up a bit to make it work. Pairings are boring when the characters can remain static. It's when they have to grow and stretch and adjust that it's interesting.

I like the way it comes about as a product of war, the soldiers pulling closer to each other for comfort, for sensation. Trioshipping seems to take into account the seriousness of war, the emotional impact of growing up as warriors. That's what these three kids did: they always knew that they had to fight, that the adults were not going to do it for them. They've gone through this together, grown up through this together. And as it hurts more and more, I can certainly see them becoming even more together. Shipping these three adds a note of pain to the Potterverse, shows the discord behind the sparkle.
Oh, that and the sex is really, really hot.

Comments

[hyel.livejournal.com]

They work when they're three. Hermione's practical, which is just what the boys need to keep them from doing silly things without thinking, and the boys are willing to risk things, which bucks up Hermione, who might otherwise never do anything by herself but run to the professors instead. Ron and Harry need each other for the quidditch squee, plus it helps that Ron has Harry to accept him without criticising (and Hermione can't resist criticising). It's good that Harry has Ron to be lazy with, because Hermione wouldn't stand for it. But, really, the boys need her, because she's what makes them think twice... and she needs someone to need her, too. But, even though they work best when they're three, the tensions can get pretty explosive, which is why Harry couldn't talk to either Ron and Hermione in OotP, and had to have Luna to make him feel a bit better in the end. Luna didn't criticise or try to comfort. People trying to comfort one is sometimes so damn infuriating...

Yep, I agree that in order for a relationship of a romantic sort to exist between the Trio there'd have to be plenty of growing up and probably a bit of agonising first. While I 'ship, it might realistically work best with the three of them as Platonic friends from here to evermore, like a family, you know. But maybe that's just my real-life anti-romance feelings talking.

[lotesse]

That's a loffly icon!

Maybe it would be more stable is they remained Platonic, but stability isn't everything. People who expereince the downs of life feel the ups more acutely. Stability can reduce both pain and passion. And I personally think that the passion is worth the pain.

[hyel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the icon compliment! I only wish I could make really stylish ones, though.

...Exerting my philosophy again, the passion is sometimes worth the pain, but that's not law, that's a question of luck. Sometimes the pain far outweighs the joy.

By the way, I actually really dislike the word "Platonic". It's so... incorrect!

You're right about the ups and downs, though. Great joy and great pain is one option; there's no "mellow contentedness and great joy" option, as far as I can see..

[lotesse]

It's not that you'll always be given measure, but rather that I, at least, am willing to take the pain for the hope of the passion.
Know what you mean about "Platonic," but you started it!

[hyel.livejournal.com]

Oh, but it goes the other way around. Passion's joy first, then pain.

I know I started it! *howls* But there is no other proper word for it! Oh, misery. Words should be precise, but they're all messy and incorrect half the time.

[lotesse]

In any specific love, yes, but I meant in a more sort of general-life sense. You can't be guaranteed that you'll have passion or pleasure in your life, but that's no reason to turn it all off and go in for stability, stagnation. You live with intensity, and it hurts, and you just keep holding out for those moments of transcendent glory.

Silly words.

[hyel.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't go for pain without any assurance of pleasure to follow or precede it... But I guess you mean in a general sense...

I've been stable for years now, and have been having less hissy fits. That's probably good.