Also, why gloss over Harry's need to cope with his internalised guilt this way?
I agree with this, especially in the more general sense. Like ishtar79 above, I generally could care less whether a ship is more "canonical" than another. I think that may have more to do with my general fandom/fanfic attitudes than specific ship opinions, though. OTOH, it seems that when people use the relationship between characters to support "oh, look, they're obviously in love," it really can undermine the analysis or actual importance of one or both characters. To use an above example, I think it's valid to suggest that Draco's obsession with Harry and constant attempts to needle him are because he's got a crush that he can't admit to himself. Doing so, however, may lead a lot of people to say that this is the *only* reason or main reason Draco does all this, which leads them to stop looking for other causes. It can also provide a convenient excuse for why he's so unsuccessful at it -- he doesn't *really* want to hurt Harry. In turn, this lets them "write off" this behavior, which is a big reason why we have fanon!Draco who's schemes are always successful when he wants, and who can immediately get over his prior (apparent) dislike of Harry.
I think this is why I generally prefer subtler "evidence" that suggests a future between a pair; it tends to takes their relationship *outside* of a possible romance more seriously, in what I've seen, and leads to more accurate characterization and realistic relationship growth. Of course, more current "evidence" of a ship can be good if the shippers aren't using it to ignore other important things. It may be especially useful when it shows the characters who are more obviously in or interested in having a relationship -- R/H, for instance.
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Date: 2004-07-07 07:52 am (UTC)I agree with this, especially in the more general sense. Like
I think this is why I generally prefer subtler "evidence" that suggests a future between a pair; it tends to takes their relationship *outside* of a possible romance more seriously, in what I've seen, and leads to more accurate characterization and realistic relationship growth. Of course, more current "evidence" of a ship can be good if the shippers aren't using it to ignore other important things. It may be especially useful when it shows the characters who are more obviously in or interested in having a relationship -- R/H, for instance.