A Defense of Ron and Hermione

Shipping is the politics of internet fandoms.

I don’t mean this shipping:

Or this shipping:

I mean the promotion of a relationship from a series.

For example, I would like Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender to end up with Sokka. So verily I ship Toph and Sokka aka Tokka.

I also ship Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Phineas Flynn and Isabella Garcia-Shapiro from Phineas and Ferb. And Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger from Harry Potter.

I don't like to get involved in big discussions about shipping much for the same reasons I don't like to get involved in big discussions about politics. Such discussions tend to make people focus on the wrong things.

However, out of all the fictional things I love, Ron and Hermione's relationship is one I particularly cherish. And so given the current turmoil over J. K. Rowling's statement that she regrets pairing them together, I decided that this time, I will throw in my two cents. Or Knuts, if you will.

People say, "Hermione is too good for Ron. Hermione deserves better."

People. How could you say that?!!!

There aren't any guys better than Ron Weasley. There are guys who are different than Ron, but not better.

I mean, look at the kid's qualities. He's funny. He's a loyal friend. He sticks up for others--Harry, Hermione, Neville. He's obviously brave--he puts his life on the line every June and sometimes more often. And no, Ron's not as academic as Hermione, but he certainly is smart. He's a chess prodigy, for crying out loud. Not to mention that he's tall and athletic.

I don't mean that Ron is flawless. My understanding is that out of the trio, Ron is the one most connected with his own emotions. Hermione filters her emotions through facts and logic. Harry constantly sacrifices his emotions to his noble spirit. Ron, however, does what he feels. That means he can be both incredibly selfish and incredibly selfless. He struggles with this pretty much every single book--but in the end, he always chooses to do the right thing. He always comes through for his friends.

This sums up Ron's character arch nicely:

"Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he gave me the Deluminator, didn’t he? He - well," Ron’s ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe, "he must’ve known I’d run out on you."

"No," Harry corrected him. "He must’ve known you’d always want to come back."

We also must remember that Hermione is super annoying.

Yes, Hermione is brilliant. She's talented. She's a good and loyal friend who means well. And the icing on the cake--she's pretty.

But she's still annoying. She tends to be critical and uptight. Ron knows that. He makes fun of it in Book One especially. But he likes her anyways. He decides that he loves her anyways.

Let me repeat: He knows who she is, her faults as well as her good qualities, and he loves her anyways. And she sees his faults as well as his good qualities, and loves him anyways. Wow. What could be better than that?

Some people desire to pair Harry and Hermione. I understand why. Everyone should end up with someone who really cares about them, and Hermione definitely cares about Harry and vice versa.

Yet we'll never know whether a Harry/Hermione relationship would work out, because it isn't in the books. The books go out of their way to show how platonic Harry and Hermione's friendship is, while Ron and Hermione's is full of chemistry and spark.

That's how the books are written. And the books are over. And Ron and Hermione are together, and no controversial interview quotes can change that.

In another universe, in another version of Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione could have ended up with other people. But that's not the version J. K. Rowling wrote.

She wrote a version in which Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger were developed in such a way that it's unthinkable for them to end up with anyone else.

I for one am very happy about it.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I am planning to write a relationship Ask Awkward Mormon Girl for Valentine's Day. So please, leave your love-related questions in the comments, and I will give you splendid advice in return.

To Sting or Not to Sting

Disneyland is always an adventure.

Sometimes when I tell people about the five-day park-hopper passes my family buys, they say, "Five days? How can you spend five days at the same amusement park?"

I can spend five days or more at Disneyland because Disneyland isn't misnamed. Unlike other amusement parks, it truly is a land, a world of its own, a small country.

When I was in Europe, I only spent a few days apiece in Germany and Austria, and I didn't even begin to experience what those countries had to offer. I stayed over a week in Italy and still only began to make her acquaintance. Well, it's the same thing with Disneyland. I've never come close to doing all there that I want to do, and I doubt I ever will.

This time was my first time actually going inside Sleeping Beauty's castle. There's this cute display within that tells the story of Sleeping Beauty in a style I can best describe as pop-up book. Like, it's all in pictures but the pictures have depth and moving parts and little surprises.

It was awesome. Awesome enough that for a moment I actually saw some value in being a Disney princess. But that only lasted for that moment because then swords!

The Castle Heraldry Shoppe beckoned right outside the castle's doors. Going inside, I saw a flipping sweet pirate sword. And a flipping sweet model of Peter Pevensie's sword from Chronicles of Narnia. And some flipping sweet Greek daggers and Roman gladiuses like the kind they use in Percy Jackson.

I was suitably impressed. I love swords. I have a collection of short swords/daggers that I've purchased over the years at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Granted, most of the swords had nothing to do Disney properties, but I was not complaining at all. When it comes to movies featuring awesome swords, Disney leaves a little something to be desired. Disneyland, however, always surpasses my wildest dreams. Again--swords.

I saw lots of swords that I liked, but I didn't buy any. And I was happy about that. See, before the trip started I decided I could spend only x amount of money on souvenirs. This is what we adults call a budget. And yes, I am an adult. I do still have some growing up to do, but overall I'm about there. I mean, I rip off my own Band-Aids. If that's not adulthood, I don't know what is.

Being as adult as I am, I knew I had to stick to my budget. Most of the swords exceeded that budget. The ones that didn't, I did not want enough to feel justified in spending so much money.

"Wow, look how mature we are!" I said to myself. Then I high-fived myself. It's way easier than high-fiving someone else, just lonelier.

Then I saw it.

Sting.

Sting the sword.

Sting the sword that belonged to Bilbo Baggins.

Sting the sword that also belonged to Frodo Baggins.

They say love at first sight doesn't exist. They say that the only emotion that can exist at first sight is lust.

There may be something to that. 'Cause the moment I saw that sword, I wanted it.

My internal dialogue went something like this:

ME: I want that sword.

ALSO ME: It costs more than our budget.

ME: It's Bilbo's sword.

ALSO ME: It's twenty-five percent over our budget.

ME: It's Frodo's sword!

ALSO ME: Plus shipping.

ME: It's Sting!!!

ALSO ME: It's backordered twelve weeks!

ME: Sting is so shiiiiny. I love it.

ALSO ME: What would you even do with it?

ME: It loves me.

ALSO ME: It's an inanimate object.

ME: I want it. I need it.

ALSO ME: That sword is the equivalent of x amount of hours at work. Think about this. Pretend that you worked x amount of hours, and your boss said, "I'm not paying you today, but I will give you this exact replica of a hobbit's sword instead." Would you be okay with that?

ME: Yes.

ALSO ME: You're ruining my logic.

ME: I wants it. I loves it. My preciousssss.

Only discipline gained from ripping infinite amounts of Band-Aids from my epidermis aided me in leaving the Castle Heraldry Shoppe without becoming the brand-new owner of that beautiful replica of beautiful Sting. It was quite painful, but the further away from the store I went, the more I was free from the blade's spell, and the happier I was that I had behaved in an adult manner.

Instead I bought myself a Phineas and Ferb t-shirt that says, "I Know What We're Going to Do Today!" and a Precious Moments Mulan. Because even adults need shirts with cartoon characters on them and Disney Princess dolls.