Romance in Novels (In My Opinion)

A bit intro: this post basically says how bad I am at giving a title for my posts. I'm terribly sorry T_T

Alright. I'm going to talk about what I think of romance in (Young Adult) novels.

I think I am the kind of reader who likes romance in novels. In fact, I think I'm a sucker of that kind of stuff. However, there are two authors (who are my favorites) who can't write romance nicely because of one particular reason: they write it in the way they're not good at. The authors are J. K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. That's okay if you disagree with me because people have different opinions. :)

As I've mentioned in my previous posts, I don't like what Rowling did in her Harry Potter books when she wrote romance. It is either she really can't write romance or she's bad at writing romance from a man's POV. In my opinion, Rowling tried way too hard in making her readers to like her romance writing or (as in fangirl's language) ship the couples she created. Not to mention her lame attempts in the INTERVIEWS (oh God... I kinda hate that word now because of her >_>); it's like she was screaming to her readers: "YEAH? HMMM??? DO YOU SEE IT NOW? YOU SEE WHY HARRY/GINNY AND RON/HERMIONE ARE PERFECT (in my head)?? DO YOU LIKE THEM AS COUPLES? I BET YOU DO; I KNOW I AM AWESOME AT THIS STUFF." Rowling even messed up Harry, Hermione, and Ginny's characterizations that she'd built from the beginning just because she didn't want to rewrite the epilogue and admit that she'd screwed up.

If I had a time machine and a ticket to where she lives, I'd go back in time and try to convince her that she should rewrite her epilogue. I'm not saying that an author shouldn't write the epilogue from the beginning; I don't know it's a bad thing or not anyway. However, Rowling has screwed up her ending in the epilogue by herself. I don't know if it's true or not, but there are some people who said that Rowling wrote the epilogue before she started writing Philosopher's Stone. In fact, they said that original epilogue was longer than the published one. The thing is, it feels like Rowling didn't want to admit that she had screwed up her story and characters in the romance part. She had written Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley and Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger in the epilogue; it turned out that the only couple who had the best chemistry was Harry and Hermione. And Daniel/Bonnie and Rupert/Emma's lack of chemistry weren't helping. At all. Or maybe it's just me. Well, I don't know about you, but I have shipped Harry and Hermione since I read the books-and-cleverness scene in Philosopher's Stone. The moment Hermione hugged Harry was the moment I was like:

They were still young at the moment, I know. However, there are many Harry/Ginny shippers who think that the moment Ginny fangirled when she saw Harry for the first time in King's Cross (which, in my opinion, is not a romantic scene at all :p) in Philosopher's Stone is a shippy moment, right? :p

If only Rowling rewrote the epilogue, I am absolutely sure that Rowling would've had one of the most memorable love stories/romances in literature history. I don't know if she knows about this, but in my opinion, she didn't have to work too hard if she chose Harry and Hermione. Rowling had had many Harry/Hermione moments in the first five Harry Potter books, so why didn't she write them as a couple? I have no fudging idea. As for Ron and Hermione, I think they have the potential as well. However, Rowling had screwed up again by making them bicker for... oh, I don't know, seven books. I find that bickering couples could be cute, but I won't if they keep bickering like they really hate each other and there's no closure. With Ron and Hermione, Rowling STILL made them bicker even until the sixth book, the book which is supposed to be the... I don't know, probably the romance book of Harry Potter series. I don't even think RoMione's bickering is cute or lovely. You think it's cute when Ron and Hermione bickered to the point Hermione just couldn't take it anymore and she cried at times? Well, that's okay if that's what you think of romantic couples. I just don't and will not find Ron and Hermione cute because of the way Rowling treat them.

Now let's talk about Rick Riordan. I really loved what he did in the first Percy Jackson series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians. When I read the romance part in the fourth book of the series, The Battle of the Labyrinth, I was like:

He did it perfectly that I cared about two things: what would happen to Percy and the others & who Percy was gonna end up with. He also did it perfectly that the romance didn't dominate the story. It was still there, but he made you care about other stuff happened in the story. He even convinced me that Percy was gonna end up with that girl instead of the girl I'd shipped Percy with. How did he do that? In my opinion, that (maybe only for me) happened because Riordan had mentioned and made her in the story in the previous book, The Titan's Curse. It's like what J. K. Rowling did with Harry and Cho Chang in Prisoner of Azkaban until Order of the Phoenix; the only difference was that Rowling handled it nicely in the beginning but badly in the middle and the end. Riordan managed to convince me that there was a possibility that Percy really would end up with this girl. It felt like he was saying,"Hey, you do know that Percy actually also has a crush on this girl, right? Not only on that girl? Because Percy's either too stupid to realize or is blind about love? Or maybe it's just me who's trolling you guys.".

Everytime there was a moment between Percy and the-girl-I-ship-Percy-with, I really love and appreciate it. By appreciating it, I mean that I was smiling and/or even giggling while reading the part. I would love to see it more, but not too much or all over the place. I appreciated the romantic moments between Percy and the-girl-I-ship-Percy-with because they didn't dominate the story. Like, there were not many shippy/romantic moments between Percy and her in one book, but in my opinion it was the best that way. It made me appreciate every moment between the two of them in each book of the series. Oh, I think I have to mention that Percy and this girl sometimes bickered, argued, or disagreed about stuff, but they had a kind of closure. Sometimes they would not talk to each other for a while or they still did but casually because they were still mad at each other. Still, they had a closure. Ooh yes, Rowling, I'm talking what you never did with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

However, in the second series, Heroes of Olympus, I didn't like what Riordan did in Mark of Athena, the third book of the series. In fact, I kind of hate it. What did he do? Didn't I say that I like his writing about romance? Well, in my opinion, Riordan has the same problem Rowling has: writing the romance from the wrong POV. I think Riordan wrote the romance in Percy Jackson & the Olympians series nicely because he wrote it from Percy's POV. He's a guy (DUH), right? That's why I think he did it perfectly. He knows how boys would feel, react, or do when they have a crush on someone or are in a relationship. He also knows how a boy would describe his feelings toward a girl (the boy likes the girl, considers her as a friend, or still doesn't realize about his feelings) and he writes it perfectly.

In Mark of Athena, what happened was a disaster. Or maybe it's just me who exaggerate it. It was obvious that Riordan wanted to try to write the romance from the girl's POV that he tried to explore a girl's feelings when she fell in love with someone. However, it felt like Riordan browsed stuff about romance from a girl's POV or interviewed some girls about stuff they do when they fall in love. It did not feel natural at all. It was like,"Oh, I just found out that a girl does this thing when she falls in love or is in a relationship. Very well. I will make this girl does this in my novel. All the time. Every two or three pages.".

What Riordan did in Mark of Athena made me think,"Oh, no... again?!", "Haha, yeah, sure. Whatever. *rolls eyes*", "For fudge's sake, girl, there are more important things you need to solve and think about!!", etc. There were too many romantic moments in the book that I have a feeling this book would be the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince of the series. This is unusual for me because technically, I should've loved every romantic moments of the couples in Heroes of Olympus series because I ship them except Jason Grace and Piper McLean, of course. I hope they will do me a favor by disappearing for no apparent reason. For good. In my opinion, even if Riordan still wants to write the romance from the girl's POV, he shouldn't write it too much. Just a bit. He needs to explore the romance part more from the boy's POV because that's what he's really good at. Riordan doesn't have to try too hard in writing the romance part from the girl's POV because he would screw up again if he does it.

It wouldn't be a big problem if Mark of Athena almost made me didn't want to continue reading the next two books. It was so bad that I was like,"Do I really want to read House of Hades? Would Rick Riordan screw up again?". I know that it could be Riordan's (lame) attempt to shut the shippers' mouths up, but it ended up badly. To be honest, the cliffhanger in Mark of Athena which involved a particular pairing did shock me but it didn't really affect me the way I reacted after reading The Battle of Labyrinth. I know Riordan would never mess with this couple. Well, he might kill one of them in the end (I don't know why, but I just have a feeling it would happen), but he would never mess with them at least until the end of the series. So I don't know why many people freaked out because of the cliffhanger. If there is a cliffhanger involving a couple that drove me crazy, it was the one Suzanne Collins wrote in the end of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire book. Still, I did care about other things as well that might happen in the last book, Mockingjay, not only who the main character would end up with. That's what I love; that's what Riordan did in the first series and I loved it.

The problem could be either the author writes the romance from the wrong POV or he/she just can't write romance. I don't know what would it be if Rowling writes romance from a girl's POV one day. I have a feeling, though, that she would still screw up because the way she handles and ends her romance story. I still ship Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, of course. To be honest, though, I don't think I would love it even if she chose Harry/Hermione because of the way she writes romance.

Thank you for your attention :)

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Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley

Contrary to popular belief, I do not ship Harry Potter and Hermione Granger (Harmony) just because of the movies aka Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson's chemistry. Nope. It's only a bonus; it won't be the main reason why I ship (always will) Harry/Hermione. Many people also said that Harmony shippers (or Harmonians) hate Ron and Ginny for no apparent reason, or just because they end up together with Harry and Hermione. Um...

Wut.

SIRIUSLY. It's like saying I hate Harry Potter just because there's no Logan Lerman in it. It means whenever I see Harry Potter, I'll say,"UGH. Why do we have to watch this movie? It sucks! I hate Harry Potter. Why? Because there's no my baby Logan in it!" Sounds silly right?

"Hate" is a strong word, I won't use that word if you ask me something about Ron and Ginny. However, if you insist, I'd choose Ginny because of what Rowling did to her character in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" to "Deathly Hallows". It's a shame that Rowling wrote her as a fangirl (Philosopher's Stone until OotP), a girl who always saw Harry as "The Hero" and not himself, someone who didn't really understand/know Harry, and someone who became perfect in (almost, I think) everything in "Half-Blood Prince". Harry is the main character. That's why I think that if Rowling had always planned Harry to be with Ginny, she shouldn't write Ginny as a character who was basically only in the background or not important after "Chamber of Secrets". I think no one would complain if Ginny interacted with or had a role in Harry's adventures or life after CoS. Instead, Rowling chose Hermione, a girl who had always been with Harry when people around him weren't, no matter what happened.

As for Ron, I do not hate him, but I dislike him. Yep, I'm one of those people who think that there's a big difference between hating and disliking. Sure, Ron is a loyal and great friend, but I'm talking about Ron as a guy to be with Hermione. You really think that Ron and Hemione's bickering and fights are lovely? Their fights scream 'true love'? Fine, if that's what you think. In my opinion, their bickering is not romantic or lovely at all. Ron is immature, and it seems he still is in the last two books. Everytime Ron and Hermione bicker, Ron always wants to win. How many times has Ron made Hermione cry in the books? And how many times has Harry made Hermione cry? Oh please, do tell me. Sure, bickering couple can be cute sometimes. However, it's cute if the couple bicker over silly things, and then each of them will realize that it's stupid. Then, one or both of them will apologize to each other and they will be fine again. What about Ron and Hermione? I don't think that their fights are cute or lovely. And what about Hermione herself? She once tried to mention Ron's good traits/qualities, but she had a hard time in doing it. And Hermione's opinion about Harry? She praises Harry easily and oftenly, and vice versa.

If you think Harry/Ginny's undeveloped that does not make sense and Ron/Hermione's abusive (emotionally, verbally, even physically <HBP>) are romantic, lovely, and true love... fine. You accept everything Rowling said in her INTERVIEWS or wrote? Fine. Harmony shippers and I will always ship Harry/Hermione no matter what happened. You say that we ship Harmony just because of the movies? Nope, you're wrong. We have many proofs that Rowling herself wrote in the books (that I think she considered as something that made people didn't know about Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione). You throw the platonic quote and Rowling's INTERVIEWS at us? Well, we have loads of Harmony moments from THE BOOKS, not THE MOVIES. You say that we're delusional and crazy? Harmony shippers and I are proud to be delusional and crazy people.

Thank you for your attention~

READ MORE » Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley

How to Win a Debate Against Harry Potter/Hermione Granger (Harmony) Shippers aka Harmonians

First of all, I want to emphasize that the brother-sister relationship between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger is SO OBVIOUS. If you don't see why, then you are clearly delusional, crazy, dangerous..... you name it.

Alright. In this post, I just wanna mention some steps that you have to do if you wanna win any debate against those delusional people aka Harmony shippers or Harmonians. I mean, COME ON. 

First, explain how Ron Weasley & Hermione Granger and Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley are always meant to be together. As for Ron and Hermione (Romione), they are always so in love that we can see it clearly from they bickerings or fights. Of course, they always wanna hurt, don't respect or treat each other nicely, and even abuse each other verbally or physically. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is TRUE LOVE. Oh my God... I feel like I wanna cry because Ron/Hermione hurting each other's feelings is beautiful and lovely. Basically, bickering and hurting each other is the foundation of a healthy relationship! If the delusional shippers ask for proof why Romione's bickerings are lovely, just ignore them. Note to self: if there's someone who doesn't treat you nicely (and he/she is also immature), he or she is obviously your true love!

As for Harry and Ginny (Hinny), it is blatantly obvious that they are the definition of true love. Can't you see it? Harry basically ignored Ginny's existence after Chamber of Secrets; she's always in the background. Ginny said that she was over Harry *awwh* in Order of Phoenix and he didn't give a damn! Come on... they absolutely loved each other, right? It totally made sense that: Ginny said that she was over Harry and dated two guys, then she said she actually wasn't! I mean, there's no way Ginny only 'used' Michael and Dean only to make Harry jealous or to forget about him. Plus, Ginny's character doesn't have any flaws in Half-Blood Prince! Yeah, she IS that awesome. If any delusional people say that Ginny Weasley is a Mary Sue and they love the old Ginny, just ignore them. It also totally makes sense that Queen Rowling basically ignored her character in the first books and...BAM. She was suddenly perfect in Half-Blood Prince! Man, that is really true love. Note to self: if one day I fangirl over a guy, I only have to don't care if he ignores me and just wait because one day he will be my true love! *squee*

Second, if those delusional people aka Harmonians start giving and explaining good points, just use those beautiful and cool words utterred by our one and only, Emerson Spartz (from Mugglenet): delusional! Even Melissa Anelli (from The Leaky Cauldron) agreed, and Queen J.K. Rowling did too! I mean, Queen Rowling laughed along with Emerson and Melissa in that interview. She didn't even defend those delusional people or say anything to stop Emerson calling the Harmony shippers delusional! I agree, they are delusional and indeed crazy. I love that Emerson sort of *giggles* apologized to Harmonians for calling them delusional. Why? Because he must not be serious! Why should he apologize anyway? He was nice, kind, hilarious, and not mean for calling Harmony shippers delusional just because they have different opinion and criticize Queen Rowling's works. I bet Emerson was more like:

"Alright, alright... there, I say I'm sorry. That'll do? You forgive me? You love me again now? We're friends again? Yay."

With a facial expression like:

Ha! So evil~ <3

Who cares if those delusional people are hurt by J.K. Rowling, Melissa, and Emerson's words? Why should they, especially our Queen Rowling, apologize to those delusional people? Queen Rowling is always right, she is a genius! I think it's great that J.K. Rowling didn't (and still doesn't) apologize or clear things up. In fact, she also basically said that Harry-and-Hermione-could-have-been-a-couple. I don't think it's confusing, she's J.K. Rowling, remember? No one should criticize and point out her works' flaws & plot holes. She IS always right. If there's anyone to blame, it's Harry Potter/Hermione Granger shippers. I agree with everything in the interview: the delusional people have to reread the books! In fact, I also agree that these delusional people don't read the books. Ha. It also makes sense that J.K. Rowling thought (and still does!) Harmonians should reread the books, but Queen Rowling herself doesn't. Why? Like I said: she IS always right.

Third, if the delusional shippers say that Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny shippers are always double standards, just ignore them! Any Harry/Hermione scenes, in the books or movies, are always brother-sister or platonic. If these delusional and crazy shippers start swapping Harry with Ron or Hermione with Ginny, just ignore them. If any scene involves Harry/Hermione, it is platonic. It HAS to be. Why? Well, because it is what Queen Rowling always says. However, if those Harry/Hermione scenes (in form of pictures, dialogues, or passages) are swapped (Harry is swapped with Ron / Hermione is swapped with Ginny), OF COURSE those Harry/Hermione scenes scream true love! Those platonic/brother-sister scenes will be shippy moments as long as they are swapped to be Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny. Does it mean Romione and Hinny are always double standards? Of course not. :3

Fourth, if you start losing the debate against these delusional people, you should find the she-is-like-my-sister quote by Harry from the book. I am sure that platonic quote will win against the proofs Harmonians have. Siriusly. I am absolutely freaking sure that she-is-like-my-sister = she-and-I-are-totally-from-the-same-parents. So, if Harry/Hermione got together, they'd be incest! These delusional people may say that they have many proofs in forms of dialogues and quotations from the book, or even from Harry Potter movies. They even say that Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson had a greater chemistry compared to Emma/Rupert Grint and Daniel/Bonnie Wright! Well, guess what... we have that platonic quote from the book! Still don't work?? You should find the related-with-Hinny-and-Romione interviews which involve J.K. Rowling, and quote them! I mean, who cares if Harmony shippers say that they want Queen Rowling to actually write Hinny/Romione's romances and character development in the books? J.K. Rowling had explained all of them in THE INTERVIEWS! Who cares about character development? Who cares if Harmonians say that Rowling violates or ignores the "show, don't tell" writing rule? Like I said, Queen Rowling IS always right! Hinny and Ronmione happened in the books and are canon anyway. Who cares if it's just that Harmony shippers have different opinions? They are wrong, delusional, and crazy!

All you have to do is do the steps I've mentioned and explained, then those delusional people will look stupid! Who cares if they have good points or proofs? Who cares if they try to explain their essays nicely? Who cares if most Harry Potter movie directors and crews ship Harry/Hermione? Who cares if Daniel and Emma have a great chemistry? Who cares about incontinuity in Queen Rowling's writing? Hinny and Romione happened, they're canon, they're what J.K. Rowling wrote. Bickering and fangirling obsession are obviously true love. You have a different opinion? You are no doubt, crazy, delusional, and even dangerous. End of story. Let's call these Harry/Hermione shippers delusional and crazy even though Romione and Hinny happened & canon. It's not enough that we got what we wanted and we've basically won the ship war, but these delusional people didn't, isn't it? Why? Well, Queen Rowling loves ship wars, so why shouldn't we? Let's mock and hate the Harmonians, shall we? :3

Oh my God. I can not believe what I just typed.

I know that I exaggerate some parts but come on... I can't help it. The TEMPTATION.

Huh.

Me: "Hey, Harry, Hermione!"

Harry and Hermione: "Yeah?"

Me: "I still ship and love you guys."

Harry and Hermione: "Really? But you just posted about..."

Me: "Ah, I see. Well, pretty sure you know that I was just...um..."

Harry and Hermione: "Ooh!"

Me: "Yup!"

Harry and Hermione: "So you still ship us? We're still your OTP?"

Me: "Of course! :3" *squee*

READ MORE » How to Win a Debate Against Harry Potter/Hermione Granger (Harmony) Shippers aka Harmonians

Harry Potter dan Hermione Granger = Cuma Sebatas Hubungan Kakak-Adik.....Yang Bener Aja.

[SPOILER ALERT untuk yang belum membaca novel seri Harry Potter sampai tamat :)]

Pada dasarnya, yang aku mau katakan adalah hubungan Harry Potter dan Hermione Granger bukan seperti kakak-adik. Sampai kapanpun. Ada sedikit kecurigaan yang muncul di pikiranku bahwa tadinya Rowling memang kepengen akhirnya Harry sama Hermione, tapi... ya, tau lah. Jelas banget kalo Rowling pengeeeeeeen banget setiap novel2 Harry Potter punya plot yang ya-ampun-ternyata-kayak-begini-toh-jadinya-nggak-nyangka-yah-ya-ampuuuuun. Bukan rahasia lagi kan kalo Rowling sering ngecek2 teori2 para fans, khususnya Potterheads, di internet? Jadi ya gitu, dugaanku adalah ada yang menebak Harry-pasti-akhirnya-bakal-jadian-sama-Hermione, trus Rowling kelabakan, akhirnya terciptalah ide konyol yang disebut Satu Keluarga Besar Weasley Yang Bahagia alias OBHWF. 

Permisi, mau muntah dulu ya...

READ MORE » Harry Potter dan Hermione Granger = Cuma Sebatas Hubungan Kakak-Adik.....Yang Bener Aja.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger's Relationship = Brother-Sister...NOT.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Things I’d do if they did get together in the end... *sighs* Unfortunately, Rowling cared (and still does) about the stupid idea called as One Big Happy Weasley Family or OBHWF more compared to actually created a (logical) form of true love or pairings. I admit that I didn’t ship any couple before I read Half-Blood Prince. I didn’t even know that the book, which is called as Half-Arsed Plot by fellow Harmony shippers, was about twu lurv.

Yeah, twu lurv!

I don’t really remember the details of the plot because I haven’t read the book for a long time, but many people say that it’s actually bad because of info dumps, the twu lurvs, the OOC-ness of the characters (mainly Hermione), and most importantly........the one and only, Ginevra “Ginny” Sue Weasley. Pretty sure I don’t have to explain why I put “Sue” as Ginny’s middle name :P

I knew that Harry would get another love interest from the synopsis, but I did not expect that romance would be the main focus of this book. On top of that, Harry’s new love interest was Ginny Weasley... who was suddenly a Mary Sue. I remember correctly what happened when I read that Harry suddenly had a crush on Ginny. I was like:

READ MORE » Harry Potter and Hermione Granger's Relationship = Brother-Sister...NOT.

A [Indonesian] Fanfiction Review: "Just Breathe"

Harry dan Hermione, OTP non-canon (apa benar itu istilahnya? ._.) yang selalu menjadi pilihan utama ku dalam pairings di seri Harry Potter. Kapan-kapan, aku bakal mencurahkan (?) perasaan dan pendapatku soal mereka dan Hinny (EWWW. Sorry, I have to say it ._.). Dua orang ini membuatku terkadang berandai2: seandainya ada mesin waktu dan aku punya pintu kemana saja, aku bakal kembali ke masa lalu untuk membombardir J.K. Rowling dengan jutaan alasan kenapa mereka musti jadian.

Siriusly, man. Kupikir hanya karena Rowling (kayaknya) kepengen: 1. Tidak mengikuti stereotip kalo tokoh utama cowok bakal jadian dengan tokoh utama cewek atau 2. Membuat Harry dekat dengan keluarga Weasley, bukan berarti bakalan berhasil/bisa ditangani dengan baik. IMHO, kalau ada salah satu kekurangan yang menonjol dari Rowling adalah romance. Mengenai kemungkinan yang no. 2, apakah kalo Harry nggak menikah dengan Ginny, apa itu artinya dia bakal menjauh dari keluarga Weasley? Nope.

READ MORE » A [Indonesian] Fanfiction Review: "Just Breathe"