What do you think of Molly Weasley?

[littleroma]

I really don't like Molly Weasley, she seemed too daft or something, she had seven kids so she been to Platform 9 and three quarters a lot of times and still had to ask the year when Ron and conveniently when the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter was bound to be floating round. I don't really like Ron and Ginny either, yes they are good friends but you can also see where Ron just dropped Harry like a hot potato. Harry and Hermione could arguably be said to have a tougher upbringing, Ron had everything at home just handed to him on a plate (along with the rest of his food) I prefer Harry and Hermione together more

[Kitty279]

Yeah, Ron had everything save money, and that's why he tended to get jealous of Harry for being rich and famous. He never appreciated his family and what it gave him much.

[G. Novella]

Oh I don't know, while Ron may grumble about his family, he tends to be quickest to defend them, which always made me think he does care about them/appreciate them. I think he was reserved quite a bit in his affection for them because he felt they never appreciated him back (except for maybe Bill) I think he understood what they gave him, just never felt that they emotionally supplied him, does that make sense?

As for Hermione, oh Kitty, day by day I'm starting to really get irritated with her. Not only does she put down Lavender and Parvati, she doesn't even attempt to get along with them. It's so damn hypocritical of her. She goes on about acceptance and equal rights but is quickest to ostracize someone based on their beliefs and interests. She thinks of herself as some kind of baby genius and above all the kids in her year. She constantly belittles her own friends.

For the entire thing on Sorting Hat Unity, she was so quick to preach it, but you don't see her going out of her way to enforce it? Sure she starts the DA, but not a single Slytherin got an invite. Nor does she attempt to talk to any of the girls outside of the Gryffindor common room save Ginny. I'd like to see her extend a hand of friendship to Pansy *snorts*.

[Kitty279]

IMO, she bullied talked Harry into teaching the DA because she was worried about her O in the DADA OWLs.

She's such a hypocrite, isn't she? The RtB story a friend and I started turned into quite a Hermione bashfest, to be honest - we didn't even plan it, but she just wouldn't shut up being all arrogant and superior until we gave up and allowed her (mostly) free rein :/

[G. Novella]

I think it's hardest when you start doing an RTB and all these flaws about characters come out, and then the more you try and understand them, the harder it is to come up with something compliant. And since we know nothing about Hermione's home life, other then that she's presumably well off, her family rather likes her and supports her, it's hard to like her. Especially if she was bullied for being awkward and not fitting in in her younger days. Out of the trio, Hermione's the least developed actually when you think about it.

What surprises me is that there are so few bashes on her. Just because she stuck by Harry doesn't mean she was always the best most amazing friend he could have. *Grumbles about Ron getting the short end of the deal* It's actually so depressing, there's over a hundred thousand fics featuring Harry and Hermione, and not even thirty thousand featuring Ron

[physicssquid]

Unfortunately, I think Ron is the easiest character to bash, probably because he lacks common sense and a brain/mouth filter, so generally says stupid things.
Hermione, on the other hand, is so much more complicated, yes she's a stickler for the rules, which gets irritating, but then she goes and talks Harry and Ron into breaking the rules, which makes us like her more. Hermione is a very difficult character to write. Either she comes across as arrogant, or she comes across as a wet rag, with not much in between, but in book 7 she's Harry's rock, and shows how strong she really is by not breaking when Bellatrix tortures her.

[Kitty279]

Same here. I've seen so many stories that bash Ron to the extreme, or both Ron and Hermione, but can barely remember any story where Hermione was on the receiving end while Ron stayed true to Harry. Ok, I enjoy some Ron bashing now and then, but I'd like the other way around now and then, too.

Sure, Hermione didn't turn her back on Harry, but she could be pretty annoying with her superior attitude, and she sometimes treated the boys rather rude. There's plenty of reason to bash her a bit. It would be a nice change. Or when at least someone pointed out her errors. It's annoying when everyone agrees with her against Harry, even when I feel that it wasn't warranted.

[G. Novella]

Poor Ron, *huggles him until he can't breath*

I'm not denying that she has her good qualities, but sometimes I feel like JKR short-sold Ron towards the end. Especially since in the earlier books, Ron was the better friend than Harry. Book four it feels like they flip roles (Ron and Hermione) and then Book five, it somewhat balances between the two. Book six... Book seven, Ron gets his moments, and Hermione gets hers, but Hermione gets the better moments again.

See, the breaking rules thing is somewhat of a double-edged sword. She talks them into it, yes, but she also does it when she gains something, ever notice that?

It's hard to write her for sure, especially when you keep getting irritated with her...

[Kitty279]

Stop, let Ron life!!

The last three books are just strange. Look at how Sirius turned around from GoF to OotP, how Hermione turned into a veritable shrew in HBP etc. - they felt so OOC at times.

Ah ... compare the Hermione of first term PS with the Hermoine who forced the boys into the Polyjuice Potion. Yeah, rule breaking was ok as long as she wanted it/gained something from it. Otherwise, the boys got told off.

Ha, yes. How do you write her when you keep wanting to throttle her?

[G. Novella]

*Let's go* He's a strange blue color now, he's swearing a bit too. It's alright Ron, I've got you

*unsure if rhetorical* Well, usually I have to refer to a list I made of her pros and cons, and then remember that some of her cons are still lovable if you squint a whole lot.

[Kitty279]

*sits Ron down in the fresh air and draws a ward around him to keep gnovella away until he recovers*

As long as it works for you, that list seems a good idea. Though I am not sure I could keep to what is on it if it were me. My muse is a bit stubborn

[G. Novella]

No! *Stares at a somewhat panicked Ron hopefully in case he leaves Kitty's ward*

My muse and I have daily arguments on this. But then, she's a psycho. We've agreed to let her have a few moments of Hermione bash if she concedes to give Hermione her good moments too Of course, she her psychopathy tends to involve her changing her mind on characters at random.

[Kitty279]

Don't worry, you will get your Ron back, but he first needs to catch his breath! You really have a strange way to show your love to him

*grin* Why do I get the feeling that your muse is in contact with mine? Would explain why mine is such a nuissance.

[G. Novella]

*blushes* Yeah, maybe I'm a bit too affectionate...

Would explain where my muse disappears of to when I settle down to write

[physicssquid]

Muses can be most irritating at times.
Mine runs away at the worst times, then comes back again, at the worst times, usually presenting me with a whole new angle on things, and everything changes. Sometimes she brings me new ideas that are only half-formed and doesn't let me write them down before running away again.

[ginnyrules27]

My muse runs away from me, only to show up again with brand new stories when I've got a plethora of stories already needing work. And usually, she only shows up when I'm warming up in Tae-Kwon-Doe.

[G. Novella]

Worst is when they come up with new story beginnings altogether before running off. Then you have the idea and nowhere to go with it. Completely sympathize Squid.

[Kitty279]

Jul 11, 2012 13:17:00 GMT -5 G. Novella said:

Would explain where my muse disappears of to when I settle down to write

*snicker* Yeah, off with mine, obviously, having a party somewhere without us!

Mine tends to visit me mostly when she is of no use - while driving, or on horseback. No chance to take notes of what she tells me before running off again!

[mountaingirl777]

Jul 11, 2012 10:54:57 GMT -5 Kitty279 said:

*sigh* Yes, it is. Plus, don't forget how she tried to prevent said wedding in HBP to begin with. She was downright nasty to Fleur, and Ginny and even Hermione picked that up. (Really, how can that girl complain about how elves are treated, seeing how she herself treats Luna and Fleur?)

There is actually a really good explanation for that. Mothers of sons are usually really protective of them. See, my husband has two older brothers, no sisters. My mother-in-law has stated that she sometimes is jealous of us. Mothers don't want their little boys to grow up, want to always have them with them. most mothers are more possessive of their sons than others. Seeing that Molly only has one girl out of 7 kids, I can totally see that being the case. I bet she was jealous of Hermione, which might be the reason why she believed, or maybe pretended to believe, Rita. Hermione was seeing more of Ron than she was.

My sister -in -law (the one married to my husband's oldest brother) had to lay down the law because my mother-in-law insisted that he call her everyday and such and such. It was interfering with their marriage and my sister-in-law had do something about it.

I don't think Molly's problems with Fleur ended after the wedding. I believe that they had a lot of problems with her, just as my sister-in-laws and I with our mother-in-law. It is just something that goes with married life. the husband's mother is more difficult to work with. My mom has sooooo many problems with her mother-in-law (my grandma) as well. it is just something you deal with.

So, in conclusion, don't be so hard on Molly on this subject. Please. Really, I see a lot of my mother-in-law in her. Actually, she and Molly could probably be sisters. How they raised their family and such. Though one has 7 kids and the other 3. I actually seen a lot of Ron in my husband......not physically, but like inferiority complex and such. kind of weird now that I look at it.

[teehee100]

I think Molly was A) a hypocrite about Fleur since she got married young and B) she couldn't see past the veela label. I think that if she had tried to get to know Fleur first before judging her things might have been better. Though speaking of crazy in-laws has anyone heard of a show about horrible in-laws? I can't remeber what it's called.

[Kaiserin]

This is my view of the 'veela' situation. first Molly probably grew up with a pureblood stereotype of veela and maybe thought of them as syrens. And I am not saying that her view was right nor was she in what she said and did. Ginny, got her views from her mother. Hermione, probably found a book at the library after watching the game and found a biased book that probably said that veela can control the alure, but usually like watching men make fools out of themselves or something, ans since it was in a book it wust be true.

[teehee100]

That would make sense. I like some bash fics, but there are one that just make everything so unrealistic. Such as having Ron being paid by Dumbles to be Harry's friend or the Weasly's being gold diggers. I just can't see that.

[Kaiserin]

To me it matters more if the bashing is written well or not. yeah you have a suspension of disbelief for something, but isn't that what fantasy and sci-fi is all about. what gets me is when a story does not flesh things out at all.

[Kitty279]

Kaiserin, your take on the veela problem makes a lot of sense. Yes, I can see that Molly grew up with these prejudices and Ginny learned them at her knee, like Ron learned the Slytherin=evil prejudice. The same goes for Hermione, who is so convinced that books are true (as an excessive reader, she really should know better!).

[kumainpink]

Here is how I would bash Molly:

First of all, we take into account that Molly is a pure-blood. This means that she would have grown up with certain prejudices and taken them as her own, (not all pure-bloods do, though). While I don't think she'd truly discriminate against muggleborns, I would say that she isn't too fond of muggles, squibs or magical creatures.

The magical creatures instance comes from her unkind behavior toward Fleur. In my eyes, she viewed Fleur as "less than human" for being part Veela, and so not a good choice for her son. The instance for squibs and muggles comes from the mysterious accountant that we heard mention of once. We don't know who he is or why they never talk to him, but in instances of Molly-bashing, it is easy to make her the reason. And the examples of her being annoyed by Arthur's obsession with muggles doesn't shed positive light on her, either.

I would argue that she has no money sense, but I think that goes for the Weasleys as a whole. Pure-bloods are mostly used to having wealth of some sort. I'm sure Arthur and Molly grew up as "respectable" as they could, and were not taught how to be sensible with their money. The Prewett and Weasley lines must have been too loose with their money at some point, resulting in their current lack of money.

Maybe that, combined with excessive inbreeding, is what caused the Gaunts to fall as well.

[physicssquid]

I can see where you're coming from Kuma, but did you take into account the fact that Molly seems to like Remus, despite the fact that he's a werewolf?

[Kitty279]

I'm sure Dumbledore told her he's ok, and Dumbledore's word is law. He didn't stand up for Fleur, however, so Molly can treat them differently.

[brokenquill92]

Jul 12, 2012 7:11:16 GMT -5 physicssquid said:

I can see where you're coming from Kuma, but did you take into account the fact that Molly seems to like Remus, despite the fact that he's a werewolf?

Well the same could be said for my BFF's dad who hates biracial people but "is okay with" me
She may consider him the exception to the rule it's common in people who are prejudice to think there are exceptions

[G. Novella]

But she was also okay with Tonks, who was a metamorphmagus, and I doubt Dumbledore would step in to defend Tonks is ability. The reason I say so is because metamorphs are similar to veelas in that their abilities is linked mostly to their appearance.

Besides, Remus isn't really a stereotypical werewolf, considering he doesn't go around trying to murder people, and is basically the opposite to Fenrir Greyback, the face of werewolf terror.

And another note, Fleur really did nothing to endear herself either, considering she consistently insults Molly's favorite things (the Burrow, Celestina, etc) She tends to come off strong instead of trying to be nice. She's rather loud in her opinions and says things straight. I can picture her first meeting with Molly as being a battle of wills between the two, with both Bill and Arthur completely oblivious or not getting involved. I can also see Bill as catering towards Fleur more to make her comfortable giving off the impression that she's using him, something Molly must have definitely thought.

I'm not on any side in this debate, just want to point out those facts.

[dracosfairmaiden]

I think in that situation, both Molly and Fleur were at fault. Molly for not getting to know her daughter in law and for criticizing her. Fleur was at fault for not defending herself. She probably didn't make a good first impression with her snobby attitude. But at the same time, she was probably homesick and worried at the same time. They're both at fault.