#the weasley

[ashlunes]

Yes I think Harry Potter is *gay* and not bi

as unpopular as that hc is, as I read @hollowed-theory-hall's great metas about gay! harry, I became convinced of it, and I wanted to add some points I thought as well about this

also i wanna say to everyone that says that Harry can't be gay because he dated Cho and Ginny... Do you know what homophobia is ? What heteronormality is? And how it impacts queer people? I hope you know that tons of gay men -or lesbians- have dated the opposite gender, or even married them in some cases, so how is Harry having a high school gf for a few months making it impossible for him to be gay?

Harry and the Homophobia Closet Cupboard

so, I know in fics ppl usually make Lucius homophobic, but you know who is *canonically* homophobic? The Dursleys.

(it's already kinda obvious that they are based on the fact that they're a conservative *probably christian* family in the 90s, obsessed with being seen as normal and calling harry a freak every five seconds, but it's also straight up in the text)

Vernon Dursley being homophobic:

(he also disapproves of the wizards clothing which is not in the manly standards of Muggles)

and Dudley as well :

(i doubt dudley is asking harry because he's an ally)

+The Dursleys calling Harry every variation of the word "freak" -which in that case, refers to him being a wizard, but can't you just picture a younger Harry commenting on a boy's beauty out loud -like he always does in his head in canon- and what would be the Dursleys' reaction? The Dursleys that are abusive, always calling him abnormal and beating him up and CHOKING HIM for breathing?

Harry and the repression and shame of his feelings

so ... we can all agree that Harry's uncomfortable about showing feelings, like the fact that he never let himself cry even when he's experienced smth traumatic and his eyes are burning because he wants to -i believe the ONLY time in ALL SEVEN BOOKS he LET HIMSELF CRY in front of others is when he's at his parents' grave. And he cries once when he's alone, after Sirius dies but that's it -and not letting himself weep is hardly healthy especially when his life is so hard :(( (not gonna show the quotes cus I'm too lazy to look for them but I'll link meta about that in the comments if someone wants me to). And he's also uncomfortable when others cry (see: Cho, or the fact that he likes Ginny bc "she doesn't cry" -when she just doesn't do it in front of him bc she wants him to like her).

This, to me, is once again the Dursleys' fault.

imo, Harry started to repress his feelings because he didn't want to be seen as weak or as an easy prey (he gets beat up and bullied at school AND at home).

Now, Harry may act like the Dursleys' view of him doesn't affect him, that they're stupid anyways, but there's no way it doesn't, at least deep down.

And, to me, this is the perfect ground for a repressed sexuality as well.

Harry's desire to have a family and it resulting in Hinny

Harry always wanted to be part of a family (that love and appreciate him).

To me, the fact that he starts "liking Ginny" seemingly out of nowhere is really interesting because it actually makes perfect sense in term of timing.

So. What happens at the end of the 5th book? His Godfather, Sirius -who was the only family that cared specifically about him above everyone else- dies. And the fact that it's a few chapters after that, in the 6th book that his chest monster appears is no coincidence to me (that part is soooo weird but for my argument's sake I'll say it represent Harry's intense and raw longing to belong in a family).

Since Sirius is not here anymore, his 2nd choice of family is the Weasleys, who always cared for him, but at this point there are only 2 years left in school. What if, deep down, Harry is scared that after getting jobs and not living together anymore, Ron (and the other Weasleys) and him will only see each other occasionally? Really, no shade to Ginny but I think whatever her looks or personality was like, he would still have ended up dating her at that point, based on the fact that she's the "Girl Weasley" (hence why the only things he can say he likes about her are that she's good at quidditch, smells good, has red hair and doesn't cry. we don't really know what her other interests are, or her motivations...).

So what better way to make sure he becomes entirely a part of the family he yearns for than to marry into it? btw i don't think narratively a story that has a main theme being "blood doesn't matter" making the mc have to have children with his bff's sister in order to be officially in the family is very satisfying (and yes i do think that it was JKR's reasoning and it's also one main argument from hinny shippers *from what I've seen*)

Now you could say "but he was already a part of the Weasleys family before dating Ginny" except... yes and no?

he doesn't wanna intrude. if he *felt* like he was belonging 100%, he would go with them. that is not to say he doesn't belong : molly goes after him to hug him. what I'm saying is that he doesn't NEED to date Ginny in order for him to be accepted in the family, but he may THINK he needs to, or see it as a security, albeit unconsciously.

Furthermore, even Ron hints that wants him to date her, before Harry even consider it

and it's not because they have undeniable chemistry, he most likely wants the same thing as Harry, I mean, having your BFF become your brother-in-law? Sounds awesome, no?

also, side note, but between that and the fact that Harry never thought of Ginny as particularly pretty/attractive before the slytherins said she was (not just pretty but suddenly one of the hottest girls in school apparently) , it really feels like he needs ppl to take him by the hand and point out that she's supposed to be his love interest.

(side note but am I the only one seeing Ginny as looking like Lindsay Lohan -with brown eyes and brighter hair ?)

Harry and wanting to be someone else

once again, I'll go back to the end of the 5th book, in which Harry learns that he is the one that has to defeat Voldemort because of the prophecy.

And what does Harry say in HBP?

basically, beside stalking Draco, Harry spends most of HBP pretending that his biggest problem is that his best friend could potentially be mad at him if he had it off with his sister (and that Ginny had a boyfriend already).

All Harry wants is to be a normal guy. What's more normal than a guy dating the gorgeous girl in his sport team, that's also his best mate's sister and who's biggest issue is that his bff might not approve?? Whose heteronormative relationship is the hot topic of the school (/pos), that everyone approves of/envies? Compare this to a closeted gay guy who has the weight of all the WW world on his shoulders and gets slandered every other week in the newspaper ? (+ we don't know for sure how homosexuality is seen in the WW, but based on the fact that there isn't a single mention of a queer person/couple on page, it's not unlikely that it's at least stigmatized)

but in the end, he needs to become Harry Potter again and breaks up with Ginny.

When he kisses Ginny -in front of everyone, he doesn't even look at her (which would be logical if you supposedly are very attracted to someone) but to everyone's - and specifically RON's -approval. ONLY THEN WHEN RON APPROVES does the chest monster roars, NOT as he KISSES HER (really, idk what went through JKR's head to write this metaphor, maybe it was the mold).

Anyways, that's my interpretation of Harry relating to his sexuality <3 🏳️‍🌈

[maxdibert]

What are your thoughts on Ron being cheered up by hearing about Harry’s life with the Dursleys?

Was he pleased because Harry didn’t have a perfect life either and Harry was trying to sympathize with him, or pleased he wasn’t spoiled or what.

Like why would he be cheered up by hearing about Harry being mistreated. Children usually aren’t cheered up by such stories.

Ron is a jealous child, and his jealousy towards Harry becomes evident throughout the saga on several occasions. And it makes sense that he is, because he comes from a family with seven siblings, whose parents barely pay any real attention to them and when they do, it’s usually their mother criticizing them constantly or comparing them to one another. Molly clearly has favorites among her children and she shows it all the time. Not to mention the fact that she kept having kids until she finally got her little girl, and Ron is barely a year older than Ginny, which means that even as a small child he had to deal with having older brothers who were constantly held up as examples (like Bill and Charlie), and then with the fact that the youngest sibling was a girl, which was exactly what Molly had always wanted. Ginny not only got more attention for being the youngest, but also because she was the embodiment of her mother’s wishes.

The fact that they are so close in age is also important, because when two siblings are very close in age, the jealousy caused by emotional neglect (or perceived neglect) gets much worse. For example, a five- or six-year-old is already somewhat independent and going through a very different stage than a two-year-old, so their reactions to a baby in the family will be completely different. I think Ron grew up with a lot of emotional deprivation and a strong sense of competitiveness due to being part of such a big family, and he also developed very low self-esteem from never being one of the favorites, something that is painfully obvious when you look at both parental figures (I honestly think Molly and Arthur Weasley are terrible parents). And it didn’t help at all that his best friend was literally a celebrity since birth, or that everything constantly revolved around him, or that even his own mother seemed more interested in Harry than in Ron himself. That’s why Ron’s reaction doesn’t strike me as cruel or something to be condemned, because it’s basically the reaction of a child with emotional wounds and a deep feeling of abandonment and jealousy when faced with the knowledge that this golden boy — rich, famous, admired just for his name — also has problems like he does.

There’s a saying in Spanish that goes “mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos”, which roughly means like misery loves company, but only fools find comfort in that, and I think it kind of applies here.

[iamnmbr3]

If Fred had lived, who do you think he would have ended up with, if anyone?

i mean canonically he dated angelina and it's kinda implied that since he died she ended up with george. i hate this bc i hate jkr treating the twins as interchangeable. tho i can also see george and angelina getting close due to their grief over fred.

[weasleydailyprophet]

When The Weasleys, specially George, were so sad since Fred died, Ron was the only Weasley who could get through it. And he was the only Weasley who made George became himself again, even though it needed taking long enough. Also, thanks to Ron, Weasley's Wizardy Wheezes returned to open. Ron became the heart and spirit for the family.

[fred-weasleys]

You could say I’ve got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy’s a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they’re really funny. 

@hogwartsonline | families — the weasleys 

[sweeethinny]

one of my biggest problems is that i am too ambitious

like, I was looking for houseplants to try to write, and it seems like it's never enough ahahaha

I think it is the part of me that has few things, and that lives in Brazil, that makes me always want many things

I think that’s why I couldn’t come up with the idea of leaving Molly and Arthur living in a precarious house even after the war, because I live in a good house, it’s not that, but we’ve lived in places that were not sooo safe, and I tell you, you want to get out of there as soon as possible

JK may have romanticized the Weasleys' life, because she wrote about the vision of a kid who thought that love was the most important thing, because uncles had money but didn't love him, but I completely understand that Ron gets angry sometimes.

i really undestand.

[hillnerd]

I was wondering how you see Ron's relationship with his parents?

I think that Ron has a very 1970′s relationship with his parents. The kids do their thing in the OTHER room while the adults do THEIR thing- and then they come together for like meals and stuff. As fun as the Weasleys are we don’t see a whole lot of parent/child interactions that aren’t orders- much of this is just because of the perspective of the books being Harry’s- but it’s a bit of an old fashioned ‘parents are never around the kids or talking much to them’ sort of thing? If once infers this to mean how the Weasley family works- it looks like his dad is always busy with work or in his shed- occassionally coming out for meals, being with his wife, and putting an oar in to discipline when needed. His Mum is the ‘eternally overworked mother’ even when she barely has anyone to look over- so she’s much more prone to talk to you about what the schedule is and what chores to do and what food will be served than having a heart to heart.

Ron I picture as a very sensitive younger child- who didn’t get that much one on one attention ever. He internalized it terribly.

He admired and loves his parents- but isn’t quite sure what to do with them when it’s just him and them. Sometimes this is a little saddening to him. He truly gets on well with his parents- there are few fights, few complaints he has- his main thing is that he just always felt a touch of emotional neglect. He might have complained about things like maroon sweaters or somesuch- but the real complaint under all that was ‘I feel a tad bit overlooked and unloved- and like I’ll only get attention/love if I achieve something BIG’- and even then we see that he doesn’t get much attention for it from anyone in the family? Except prefect (which was a double edged sword w/ the jealous twins ready to make him feel worthless over it)

So yeah... That leaves it a loving good relationship on some levels- and a little bit strained in others. 

I think as he got older and had more opportunities to bond with his parents they would grow to have a much better relationship than that of his youth. They’d grow to be able to really talk- from both sides- vs when he was a kid I honestly don’t know how much he talked back and forth with them. I think that was probably a rarity- which is a bit sad.

In no way am I saying Ron ‘had a bad childhood’ or ‘they were bad parents.’ No! They were very very good parents! They just had old fashioned ways of handling the kids, and didn’t put that much thought into emotional repercussions/impacts at times. To me it’s infered they did little to interfere with emotional issues until they came to a head with like spells happening. ‘I’m a bit too harried to deal with you looking sad- OH NO YOU’RE PUNCHING YOUR BROTHER I guess I’ll check in!’ Did they do more than that? I think at times they did- but honestly as working parents (dad working, her homeschooling 7 children and running a full country property basically on her own) there’s not the luxury of time. Mix that with old fashioned parenting tropes/techniques and yeah- there is some strain there.

Ron gets on more naturally with his father. His dad is an easy person to converse with, very understanding, and open and not very judgemental. He is more able to have a friendship with him as the years go on and it’s no longer the parent-child dynamic as he’s an adult.

Ron paterns much of his behavior after his mother in how he cares- but is much more like his dad in how he is able to talk to people. Molly is a highly loving person, but I see her and Ron having an awkward time of it when trying to just TALK- as she’s sort of addicted to ‘I’m too busy to function! :D’ when sometimes she’s not that busy and just doesn’t know how to sit and calmly BE with him? I like the idea of them learning how to do this more over the years. Ron is their magical dreamy sensitive fearsome little boy who they love to death- and who they find the hardest to put in a box and understand sometimes. He’s clueless and insightful. He’s brave but arachnophobic. He loves to laze about, but is quick to action to help people and has actually achieved quite a lot? He’s not trouble like the twins, but he’s in TROUBLE at school every year!  There is SO much love and admiration there between these three- and it’s quite nice. I like to think about how they’d get on in the later years (Waking Up has some of his parents with him in there- and will have more to come)