"I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfilment.”

[inverarity]

As someone who never really cared who Harry or Hermione ended up with, all I can say is: Bwahahahahaha!!!!

"I know, I'm sorry, I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I'm absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that,” she said.

Actually, I think this is pretty awesome. Rowling is still thinking about her stories and her characters and able to revisit her writing decisions with a critical eye years after the fact. I've talked a little bit about how some of the things I've done in my stories I might have done differently if I had them to do over again, and it's great that someone as notable as Rowling can say "Yeah, in retrospect maybe I should have written that differently." Especially knowing, as I'm sure she does, that Ron/Hermione/Harry shipping was one of the most controversial and hugely absorbing issues in the fandom for many years and that saying this now will probably create more reaction than when she announced Dumbledore was gay.

I expect some people will accuse her of just trying to get attention again now that HP is fading from memory, which is pretty much what they said when she dropped the infamous Dumbledore bombshell. I don't get these accusations. JK Rowling has never struck me as a woman who's desperately in need of being in the spotlight or who courts controversy for the sake of controversy. She sometimes makes bad decisions and she admits it, but she seems quite down to earth and I think she just says whatever comes to her mind, even if it causes an uproar among her fans.

Anyway, this should be amusing to watch in those corners of the fandom still deeply invested in shipping and JK Rowling's after-the-fact pronouncements. Break out the popcorn!

Comments

[kith-koby.livejournal.com]

To quote a friend on Tumblr: "could you explain what's going on with the Harry Potter fandom, please? I really don't understand...
ofhouseadama: this would take me explaining a very dark period of time on fansites that are no longer around like empires crumbling into dust and a time when mugglenet prospered and the leaky cauldron was the happening place and shipping wars made shit that happens on tumblr look tame because the way sites were set up back then fans garnered political and social capital like ancient tyrants."

[agogobell.livejournal.com]

Oh my god yes.

[tealterror0.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it's impossible to understand Harry Potter fandom if you weren't there. Hell, I was there and I still don't really understand it.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting now for George R.R. Martin to announce that he now regrets having killed off so-and-so, who would probably have made Westeros a better place.

The book's out. You don't get backsies. I've found it's the same way with real life.

I choose to believe Hermione brought out the best in Ron, got him to settle down and make something of his life. He also got her to loosen up and be a little less neurotic. 'Cause thinking anything else would be pointless.

[conuly]

"The book's out. You don't get backsies. I've found it's the same way with real life."

Sherlock Holmes did.

[inverarity.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not like she's revising what actually happened. Just saying in retrospect maybe she would have written something different.

I'm just going to enjoy the table-flipping. Shippers be crazy.

[marly youmans (from livejournal.com)]

Little toss in the pot: http://thepalaceat2.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-cupboard-child.html

Cheers,
Marly

[graeme sutton (from livejournal.com)]

And yet another Torpedo below the water line to my Harry/Luna ship... sigh.

[tealterror0.livejournal.com]

You know, despite the titles going around, we don't yet have a direct quote from her saying Harry and Hermione should've ended up together, just that Ron and Hermione shouldn't have. Keep the hope alive!! :p

[indigo-mouse.livejournal.com]

I always liked that long look between Harry and Hermione after they dance in Deathly Hallows Part 1. Its as if all the thoughts of what could be if they kissed occur to them and then they decide... no.

Hermione as portrayed in the book is too shrill and screeches too much for me to ever see her with Harry, but the movie Hermione... yes. They should have been together.