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lls_mutantYou know, I didn't think you could be sick of bodily functions. But I swear, if I have to pee one more time... ::sigh:: Honestly. But that's hardly a new complaint, I'm sure.
The 'rents are coming for the weekend, which will be nice. They haven't been down since Grandma had her stroke back in January- hubby and I have gone up every single time. I think Mom needs to get away from Grandma for a bit. She's pretty much a saint about the whole thing, but it does drain her, and when you consider Grandma isn't even her mother.... Anyway, should be a nice weekend, but I'll be glad when the housecleaning is done! (On the bright side, I needed to clean the house. Badly.)
So I was bored and surfing on LJ, and kind of going to some journals I don't go to much because the owners are R/T shippers- or at least ship defenders. It's not that I find those journals offensive, it's just kind of like the ship threads and can't stand threads at FAP, y'know? If you're a shipper and want to defend a particular ship, you should be able to do so in your LJ without people coming around and telling you why they don't like that ship. But there was actually a really good discussion going on FAP between a few people (the Order of the Phoenix forum on the Tonks thread) that, y'know, actually had INTELLIGENT conversation. So I started surfing journals, and I came across this amusing little piece by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
snorkackcatcher. It features both het and slash, and while it has a successful R/T it actually gives Tonks her dignity, and has a twist that really cracked me up. But anyway. That wasn't my point. (Although you should go read it anyway, as long as you don't feel the need to start any sort of ship wars when you read R/T stuff.)
In the comments, I mentioned that rather than the stereotypes of lesbians, Tonks struck me more as the stereotype of a college student, a commentsnorkackcatcher agreed with. And that got me thinking about Tonks.
You know the kind of college student I'm thinking when I think of Tonks. The kind who is full of fire to change the world, and determined that SHE is going to make a difference. I can see Tonks having that fire and passion... and that idealism. I can see her maintaining that all through her Auror training, especially since she seems to have a close association with Moody. Moody might be kind of creepy in his way, but I can see where a young Auror would idolize him. Heck, I have Sirius do it to an extent, although in my stuff he tends to idolize Damien Lupin more. But in GoF, Sirius talks about what a fantastic Auror Moody is, and how he refused to use the Unforgivable Curses if he could help it. (Or at least that's implied.) So anyway, I can see where Tonks would have this deep-seated belief that she's out to change the world and she can do it, and being an Auror is a great way to do so.
Then Voldemort comes back.
A lot has been made about Tonks's depression being about her being a green Auror and getting into something she didn't really anticipate. Let's say screw that for a moment, because that really IS very degrading to her as a woman (since we don't have a man having the same problem), and say that maybe it's something else... maybe it's Tonks realizing that her ideals are WRONG.
Not wrong in that she shouldn't believe in them. She should. But wrong in that she thinks she herself can save the world, that she can convince people of the way the world should be, and that all those she comes in contact with- especially those that outrank her- are worthy of her respect. But she can't change the world alone. Bellatrix defeated her and killed Sirius. She can't convince people of the way the world should be. No one is really listening to her, and she's basically having to follow orders she doesn't agree with. And those that outrank her are not always worthy of her respect. Even as early as OotP we saw that Tonks didn't totally trust Scrimgeour when she was worried about him asking questions, and then in HBP....
One of my predictions for HBP was that Amos Diggory would be the new Minister of Magic. I was wrong about the identity, but I was close to right about the reasons. I thought that JKR would chose someone who was anti-Voldemort, but who wasn't necessarily pro-Dumbledore, or behaving like Harry would think a Minister of Magic should. And we definitely see that, particularly in the case of Stan Shunpike, where it's obvious, even to the most casual reader, that Stan Shunpike is not a Death Eater, pretty much from the get-go.
We see that case, but it's insinuated that there's more. I'm writing this without having my book, so there might even be more cases mentioned that I'm forgetting. (I really need to do a reread.) But as an Auror- and one of the people being required to arrest these people- Tonks is, without a doubt, seeing things that aren't all that kosher in the Ministry. Now here's where I'm making a jump a bit. It's not canon, but I think it's not unreasonable, either. Tonks is having her ideal picture of being an Auror stripped away layer by layer, very rapidly, as she's being told to do things she doesn't agree with. And she can't stop it, because it doesn't seem like she's got enough power to change anyone's mind (I wouldn't expect her to, at her age). And she can't just up and quit, because a lot of what she is doing IS valuable and is what she wants to do. But we see her losing a lot of her more collegiate stereotypes, particularly the pink hair. (Of course, she gets it back at the end, but...)
The thing about the green Auror thing is that we don't see Tonks losing her nerve. If I remember rightly (and I very well may not), she does fine at the battle at Hogwarts at the end, and she doesn't seem to be having any real trouble with her post. But an Auror losing her idealism... now that I can buy.
It also adds a new layer to Tonks/Lupin. Both of them are being asked to do something they don't want to do. There's a difference, of course. Tonks is being asked to do something she believes is wrong, whereas Lupin is being asked to do something that must be extraordinarily painful. I've wondered how various characters feel about Lupin being asked to do his spying job. (And perhaps Tonks is losing some faith in Dumbledore as well? But really, I see no evidence for that one.) But at least it gives them something in common.
Sadly, this is all my thoughts. I still firmly believe that none of these layers that fandom is rapidly building onto Tonks are really clearly built on by JKR, but hey. I really liked Tonks in OotP and one of the big reasons Lupin/Tonks pissed me off was I HATED what it did to her character. So if I can find some rationalizations, at least for now.... I still, for the record, think that she would have been better off with Charlie Weasley. Someone (I want to say it might have even beensnorkackchaser again) pointed out in the FAP discussion that while Tonks might not have been behaving well, Lupin was pretty darn manipulative too, bringing up Dumbledore's death as a shield against a conversation he didn't want to have. Very true. The man is a passive-agressive, manipulative, lying bastard when he wants to be. He really is. And he is old, poor, and dangerous- and even if Tonks doesn't believe these are issues, they will become issues because they are important in his mind. Tonks should have gone for Charlie Weasley, who has a strong attachment to his family but the courage, independence, and interest to go gallivanting off to Romania to do what he really wants to do. Of course, that requires them MEETING on the page, but what do you want? ;)
Anyway, I should get back to work. Not that I'm getting far anyway, which is why I'm writing this. ::Sigh::
ETA: Two pieces of writing posted: my Hitch Review, which I was actually fairly pleased with this time, and (Pooly, look away please) a little PWP. Which I shouldn't have been writing since it's NOT on my list, but at least the Hitch review was (although JUSTIN added the slashy comments to the picture captions. Not me. I only did the first one- the one about going up the stairs and down the banisters, which was really lame. But I suck at captions.)
The 'rents are coming for the weekend, which will be nice. They haven't been down since Grandma had her stroke back in January- hubby and I have gone up every single time. I think Mom needs to get away from Grandma for a bit. She's pretty much a saint about the whole thing, but it does drain her, and when you consider Grandma isn't even her mother.... Anyway, should be a nice weekend, but I'll be glad when the housecleaning is done! (On the bright side, I needed to clean the house. Badly.)
So I was bored and surfing on LJ, and kind of going to some journals I don't go to much because the owners are R/T shippers- or at least ship defenders. It's not that I find those journals offensive, it's just kind of like the ship threads and can't stand threads at FAP, y'know? If you're a shipper and want to defend a particular ship, you should be able to do so in your LJ without people coming around and telling you why they don't like that ship. But there was actually a really good discussion going on FAP between a few people (the Order of the Phoenix forum on the Tonks thread) that, y'know, actually had INTELLIGENT conversation. So I started surfing journals, and I came across this amusing little piece by
snorkackcatcher. It features both het and slash, and while it has a successful R/T it actually gives Tonks her dignity, and has a twist that really cracked me up. But anyway. That wasn't my point. (Although you should go read it anyway, as long as you don't feel the need to start any sort of ship wars when you read R/T stuff.)In the comments, I mentioned that rather than the stereotypes of lesbians, Tonks struck me more as the stereotype of a college student, a comment
snorkackcatcher agreed with. And that got me thinking about Tonks.You know the kind of college student I'm thinking when I think of Tonks. The kind who is full of fire to change the world, and determined that SHE is going to make a difference. I can see Tonks having that fire and passion... and that idealism. I can see her maintaining that all through her Auror training, especially since she seems to have a close association with Moody. Moody might be kind of creepy in his way, but I can see where a young Auror would idolize him. Heck, I have Sirius do it to an extent, although in my stuff he tends to idolize Damien Lupin more. But in GoF, Sirius talks about what a fantastic Auror Moody is, and how he refused to use the Unforgivable Curses if he could help it. (Or at least that's implied.) So anyway, I can see where Tonks would have this deep-seated belief that she's out to change the world and she can do it, and being an Auror is a great way to do so.
Then Voldemort comes back.
A lot has been made about Tonks's depression being about her being a green Auror and getting into something she didn't really anticipate. Let's say screw that for a moment, because that really IS very degrading to her as a woman (since we don't have a man having the same problem), and say that maybe it's something else... maybe it's Tonks realizing that her ideals are WRONG.
Not wrong in that she shouldn't believe in them. She should. But wrong in that she thinks she herself can save the world, that she can convince people of the way the world should be, and that all those she comes in contact with- especially those that outrank her- are worthy of her respect. But she can't change the world alone. Bellatrix defeated her and killed Sirius. She can't convince people of the way the world should be. No one is really listening to her, and she's basically having to follow orders she doesn't agree with. And those that outrank her are not always worthy of her respect. Even as early as OotP we saw that Tonks didn't totally trust Scrimgeour when she was worried about him asking questions, and then in HBP....
One of my predictions for HBP was that Amos Diggory would be the new Minister of Magic. I was wrong about the identity, but I was close to right about the reasons. I thought that JKR would chose someone who was anti-Voldemort, but who wasn't necessarily pro-Dumbledore, or behaving like Harry would think a Minister of Magic should. And we definitely see that, particularly in the case of Stan Shunpike, where it's obvious, even to the most casual reader, that Stan Shunpike is not a Death Eater, pretty much from the get-go.
We see that case, but it's insinuated that there's more. I'm writing this without having my book, so there might even be more cases mentioned that I'm forgetting. (I really need to do a reread.) But as an Auror- and one of the people being required to arrest these people- Tonks is, without a doubt, seeing things that aren't all that kosher in the Ministry. Now here's where I'm making a jump a bit. It's not canon, but I think it's not unreasonable, either. Tonks is having her ideal picture of being an Auror stripped away layer by layer, very rapidly, as she's being told to do things she doesn't agree with. And she can't stop it, because it doesn't seem like she's got enough power to change anyone's mind (I wouldn't expect her to, at her age). And she can't just up and quit, because a lot of what she is doing IS valuable and is what she wants to do. But we see her losing a lot of her more collegiate stereotypes, particularly the pink hair. (Of course, she gets it back at the end, but...)
The thing about the green Auror thing is that we don't see Tonks losing her nerve. If I remember rightly (and I very well may not), she does fine at the battle at Hogwarts at the end, and she doesn't seem to be having any real trouble with her post. But an Auror losing her idealism... now that I can buy.
It also adds a new layer to Tonks/Lupin. Both of them are being asked to do something they don't want to do. There's a difference, of course. Tonks is being asked to do something she believes is wrong, whereas Lupin is being asked to do something that must be extraordinarily painful. I've wondered how various characters feel about Lupin being asked to do his spying job. (And perhaps Tonks is losing some faith in Dumbledore as well? But really, I see no evidence for that one.) But at least it gives them something in common.
Sadly, this is all my thoughts. I still firmly believe that none of these layers that fandom is rapidly building onto Tonks are really clearly built on by JKR, but hey. I really liked Tonks in OotP and one of the big reasons Lupin/Tonks pissed me off was I HATED what it did to her character. So if I can find some rationalizations, at least for now.... I still, for the record, think that she would have been better off with Charlie Weasley. Someone (I want to say it might have even been
snorkackchaser again) pointed out in the FAP discussion that while Tonks might not have been behaving well, Lupin was pretty darn manipulative too, bringing up Dumbledore's death as a shield against a conversation he didn't want to have. Very true. The man is a passive-agressive, manipulative, lying bastard when he wants to be. He really is. And he is old, poor, and dangerous- and even if Tonks doesn't believe these are issues, they will become issues because they are important in his mind. Tonks should have gone for Charlie Weasley, who has a strong attachment to his family but the courage, independence, and interest to go gallivanting off to Romania to do what he really wants to do. Of course, that requires them MEETING on the page, but what do you want? ;) Anyway, I should get back to work. Not that I'm getting far anyway, which is why I'm writing this. ::Sigh::
ETA: Two pieces of writing posted: my Hitch Review, which I was actually fairly pleased with this time, and (Pooly, look away please) a little PWP. Which I shouldn't have been writing since it's NOT on my list, but at least the Hitch review was (although JUSTIN added the slashy comments to the picture captions. Not me. I only did the first one- the one about going up the stairs and down the banisters, which was really lame. But I suck at captions.)
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Date: 2005-08-31 11:57 am (UTC)Oh, why can't R/T and R/S get along? R/T is so perfectly imperfect and fraught with passive-aggressiveness and one-sided obsession! Not kittens and puppies and baby bunny rabbits.
Got me! Sirius is dead. They don't even conflict. I can even get away with my version of Remus deciding he's gay when he's 15, because he gets into a relationship with Sirius by 17 and stays there until 21. How's he supposed to figure out he's bi when he's focused on one person? I'm not much for R/T in general, but I suspect I might like it better if I read a non-smut, non-cute piece of fanfic. (I'm actually writing an R/S-->R/T one for a challenge, which baffles me, but hey.)
She does remind me of someone so much like myself, going into your dreams with all kind of great moral integrity and coming out utterly disillusioned, hateful and misanthropic.
There's not a lot in canon to really suggest that JKR thought of it, but yeah. I think a lot of people go through that to some degree, and with the way Scrimgeour is acting.... She's just at the right age, too.
Anyway, no worries about rambling. I'm not overly coherent myself. (In fact, I'm quite ready to go back to bed :P )