Sunshine Challenge: Red
Jul. 1st, 2020 07:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
author_by_nightThe Sunshine Challenge is doing a color theme this year. I thought I would relate colors to mostly fandomy things, though not all of the time, and not all Harry Potter.
Today, however, I am focusing on the reddist of them all in Harry Potter: The Weasleys. It would take too long to talk about all of them in great detail, so instead have provided some brief thoughts on each Weasley, along with many treacle tarts and a cup of hot strong love.
Arthur: I love Arthur, although he's a little problematic with his near-worship of Muggles. But I think it comes from a good place, and he eventually channels this into fighting against the Ministry and even getting a promotion. I headcanon that he teaches his granddaughter Victoire to be as obsessed with Muggles as he is, albeit in a much more sensitive and productive way.
Molly: I adore Molly. She's fun because she has two very different sides - in real life, she'd be that housewife who gets in the news after lifting up a car a stranger was stuck under. She's sweet to Harry, strict with her kids, and savage with Bellatrix.
Bill and Fleur: I put them together because I wanted to give them a shout-out for having the best romantic arc in the series. I love that Fleur overcomes being judged (and lowkey slut shamed, which I think was absolutely intentional - although I have my feelings about JK Rowling right now, I think she did some things right, and Fleur's story in HBP was one of them). I think their story was handled really well - they stay in the background while also having a coherent D-Plot, as it were.
Charlie: Am I the only one who thinks before Ron and Hagrid got chummy, he was chummy with Hagrid? I don't see it ever having been on the same level as the trio, but I kind of like to imagine them having geeked out over dragons together. They definitely seemed to have a repore of sorts in GoF. I also see Charlie and Tonks as having had a past relationship, but that's purely headcanon.
Percy: A more complicated Weasley. I know a lot of people ask him how he could possibly be a Gryffindor, but I think you could argue his actions were demonstrative of the worst qualities of a Gryffindor: He found a cause and championed it beyond reason. Rather like Dumbledore was deceived by Grindlewald. Or maybe he was just an overly ambitious jerk who could've been in Slytherin; that may very well be the intended takeaway. However, my takeaway is that he believed in everything the Ministry did to a fault. I'm sure the ending of OoTP was a rude awakening, and I don't even know what he did during Deathly Hallows except literally come through.
Fred and George: Something I never realized until I began writing an It's a Wonderful Life homage with George (which I never finished, sorry!) is how much of an impact they had on Harry. They actually took care of him, from getting his luggage on the train in the first book to picking him up in the Ford Anglia to giving him the map. I think their role in Harry's life was often overlooked, since on the surface they were mostly just comic relief.
Ron: I love Ron, and I know this is a bit of an unpopular opinion. I just never understood the whole "Ron the Death Eater" trope I often saw applied to his character. I do think Ron got a little flanderdized, and even before that, he had some bad moments. But all of them did. I love Ron's loyalty, I love his dynamic with Hermione, and I really wish we'd seen more of chess player Ron.
Ginny: Another character a lot of people don't like, but I do? It's funny because even liking her, I remember thinking her character changed drastically in the fifth book - then I re-read the series a few years ago, and honestly, she didn't change that drastically in OoTP. I think it's more that fanon Ginny was always this sweet, quiet girl when even before OoTP, Ginny shows sides of the character she will become. That said, I liked her less in book six, but I don't think I really liked anyone in book six except for Luna and Neville. And Fleur. Book six was kind of that "everyone's doing their own thing" book.
Today, however, I am focusing on the reddist of them all in Harry Potter: The Weasleys. It would take too long to talk about all of them in great detail, so instead have provided some brief thoughts on each Weasley, along with many treacle tarts and a cup of hot strong love.
Arthur: I love Arthur, although he's a little problematic with his near-worship of Muggles. But I think it comes from a good place, and he eventually channels this into fighting against the Ministry and even getting a promotion. I headcanon that he teaches his granddaughter Victoire to be as obsessed with Muggles as he is, albeit in a much more sensitive and productive way.
Molly: I adore Molly. She's fun because she has two very different sides - in real life, she'd be that housewife who gets in the news after lifting up a car a stranger was stuck under. She's sweet to Harry, strict with her kids, and savage with Bellatrix.
Bill and Fleur: I put them together because I wanted to give them a shout-out for having the best romantic arc in the series. I love that Fleur overcomes being judged (and lowkey slut shamed, which I think was absolutely intentional - although I have my feelings about JK Rowling right now, I think she did some things right, and Fleur's story in HBP was one of them). I think their story was handled really well - they stay in the background while also having a coherent D-Plot, as it were.
Charlie: Am I the only one who thinks before Ron and Hagrid got chummy, he was chummy with Hagrid? I don't see it ever having been on the same level as the trio, but I kind of like to imagine them having geeked out over dragons together. They definitely seemed to have a repore of sorts in GoF. I also see Charlie and Tonks as having had a past relationship, but that's purely headcanon.
Percy: A more complicated Weasley. I know a lot of people ask him how he could possibly be a Gryffindor, but I think you could argue his actions were demonstrative of the worst qualities of a Gryffindor: He found a cause and championed it beyond reason. Rather like Dumbledore was deceived by Grindlewald. Or maybe he was just an overly ambitious jerk who could've been in Slytherin; that may very well be the intended takeaway. However, my takeaway is that he believed in everything the Ministry did to a fault. I'm sure the ending of OoTP was a rude awakening, and I don't even know what he did during Deathly Hallows except literally come through.
Fred and George: Something I never realized until I began writing an It's a Wonderful Life homage with George (which I never finished, sorry!) is how much of an impact they had on Harry. They actually took care of him, from getting his luggage on the train in the first book to picking him up in the Ford Anglia to giving him the map. I think their role in Harry's life was often overlooked, since on the surface they were mostly just comic relief.
Ron: I love Ron, and I know this is a bit of an unpopular opinion. I just never understood the whole "Ron the Death Eater" trope I often saw applied to his character. I do think Ron got a little flanderdized, and even before that, he had some bad moments. But all of them did. I love Ron's loyalty, I love his dynamic with Hermione, and I really wish we'd seen more of chess player Ron.
Ginny: Another character a lot of people don't like, but I do? It's funny because even liking her, I remember thinking her character changed drastically in the fifth book - then I re-read the series a few years ago, and honestly, she didn't change that drastically in OoTP. I think it's more that fanon Ginny was always this sweet, quiet girl when even before OoTP, Ginny shows sides of the character she will become. That said, I liked her less in book six, but I don't think I really liked anyone in book six except for Luna and Neville. And Fleur. Book six was kind of that "everyone's doing their own thing" book.
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Date: 2020-07-06 02:40 pm (UTC)I am fully ready to adopt that Charlie headcanon as my own, Hagrid and Charlie being bros about all the cool dragons. ;) There done.
That is such a wonderful point about Fred and George, oh man there go my feels.
I'm totally with you on Ron, that trope makes zero sense to me honestly and while he's by no means perfect, I do feel that of the trio he is in fact the best example of an ideal Gryffindor. (Hermione having Ravenclaw leanings while Harry could have just as easily been Slytherin.)
As for Ginny, I like her too. I might not have liked where her character was taken (epilogue, what epilogue), but she was awesome; strong, and fierce and honestly a lot like her mom though I don't see her as being the happy homemaker type.