War wizards and late night ramblings
Jun. 21st, 2006 10:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
averygoodun42If Grindewald was the nasty wizard behind WWII, who were the nasties behind WWI? Or were there any?
Any ideas? (Is relevant to SHMC, so any help will be vastly appreciated.)
On different front, I've been thinking about the fanon role house-elves play. I know that house-elves are a sort of wish fulfillment, little magical beings who cook like a dream, do all the laundry, and, in fanon, will change the dirty nappies.
That lead me to thinking about the nature of love.
There's a good case to be made that love is in the act of caring. We bond with one another as we offer advice, aid, sympathy, food and warmth. The more we share, the stronger the bond grows. In healthy adult relationships it's usually a give and take that's more or less equal, ie: I give you food, you listen to me and such.
With children, though, for the first years there's no give from them. They require so much care, but give nothing back except the occasional coo or smile, which is something they give out indiscriminately.
And yet we love them.
What does this have to do with house-elves? I have seen numerous stories where the house-elves play the role of nanny. They're the ones getting up to feed the tykes in the middle of the night (or at least bringing them to their mother for feeding). They're the ones changing the diapers from hell. They're there to take the screaming baby off mum or dad's hands before infanticide is even considered.
It's a wish come true, right?
And yet...
Maybe the reason we love our children so much is because we have to care for them. We are the ones changing their diapers, while trying not to gag. We're the ones dragging ourselves out of bed at God knows what hours of the night because they have no stomach capacity whatsoever. We're the ones who have to soothe the savage beasts by walking, bouncing, rocking or rubbing them.
Maybe that's why the Weasleys had seven children, whereas the Malfoy's only had one. Molly and Arthur were the sole caretakers of their children; they had no choice but to bond. The Malfoy's... we know very, very little about them in canon except that they had at least one house-elf and only one child, we assume. Maybe the dearth of children was genetic, maybe hierarchical. Before HBP we could even suppose that it was because the Malfoy's found they didn't like children.
But Narcissa does seem rather fond of Draco. She also spent nine months carrying him (we'll assume). We have no clue what Lucius thinks of him, though I expect he's rather fond of the boy as well.
My point? Er... I did say this was a ramble, didn't I?
Oh, and it's DH and my anniversary today (22nd)!
Any ideas? (Is relevant to SHMC, so any help will be vastly appreciated.)
On different front, I've been thinking about the fanon role house-elves play. I know that house-elves are a sort of wish fulfillment, little magical beings who cook like a dream, do all the laundry, and, in fanon, will change the dirty nappies.
That lead me to thinking about the nature of love.
There's a good case to be made that love is in the act of caring. We bond with one another as we offer advice, aid, sympathy, food and warmth. The more we share, the stronger the bond grows. In healthy adult relationships it's usually a give and take that's more or less equal, ie: I give you food, you listen to me and such.
With children, though, for the first years there's no give from them. They require so much care, but give nothing back except the occasional coo or smile, which is something they give out indiscriminately.
And yet we love them.
What does this have to do with house-elves? I have seen numerous stories where the house-elves play the role of nanny. They're the ones getting up to feed the tykes in the middle of the night (or at least bringing them to their mother for feeding). They're the ones changing the diapers from hell. They're there to take the screaming baby off mum or dad's hands before infanticide is even considered.
It's a wish come true, right?
And yet...
Maybe the reason we love our children so much is because we have to care for them. We are the ones changing their diapers, while trying not to gag. We're the ones dragging ourselves out of bed at God knows what hours of the night because they have no stomach capacity whatsoever. We're the ones who have to soothe the savage beasts by walking, bouncing, rocking or rubbing them.
Maybe that's why the Weasleys had seven children, whereas the Malfoy's only had one. Molly and Arthur were the sole caretakers of their children; they had no choice but to bond. The Malfoy's... we know very, very little about them in canon except that they had at least one house-elf and only one child, we assume. Maybe the dearth of children was genetic, maybe hierarchical. Before HBP we could even suppose that it was because the Malfoy's found they didn't like children.
But Narcissa does seem rather fond of Draco. She also spent nine months carrying him (we'll assume). We have no clue what Lucius thinks of him, though I expect he's rather fond of the boy as well.
My point? Er... I did say this was a ramble, didn't I?
Oh, and it's DH and my anniversary today (22nd)!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 04:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 05:55 am (UTC)(could you have a look at the style of your LJ? When I comment from your LJ rather than my flist I can't see what I am typing because the colour is almost white)
There is a point - about care and love, I mean.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 06:36 am (UTC)My Slytherin and I have had some heated discussions regarding the role of house-elves in childrearing. Of course, it is all conjecture, as JKR hasn't given a clue of her thoughts on that particular aspect of wizarding culture -- but hubby does not believe a house-elf would be set to childcare. I don't see why they would not be given the job. Look at how bonded Winky was with Barty Crouch Jr. She even reprimanded him like a nanny would. Just my $0.02 worth ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 07:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 10:58 am (UTC)And I don't like to think that Grindelwald had all that much to do with WWII. The Muggle and Wizarding World seem very separated when it comes to their conflicts. And besides that, the History major in me gets irritated that few people actually remember that WWII is really just a continuation of WWI, because the Treaty of Versailles did a poor job of attending the issues that started that conflict in the first place.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 02:41 pm (UTC)Any ideas on how to change the comment color? I looked through the settings, but didn't see which setting to change (though I did change a couple that seemed relevant... )
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 02:53 pm (UTC)Yes, it is all conjecture, but then again, so is most of the other stuff we fans discuss. *shrug* I expect that house-elves could be the child minders, but the wizards who have house-elves are usually the sort who wouldn't trust their children with them. They're also the ones who have the most to lose (societally) by leaving their children in the care of "inferior" species.
I mean, even the snobbiest of the snobs of the upper classes in RL realized that the nannies they handed their children over to were people. They might have considered the servants as lesser people, but they were still human.
As for Winky and Barty Jr., the question remains on whether she raised him from the get go, or just treated the grown Barty as if she were his nanny because he was her charge and had been for many years.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 03:00 pm (UTC)Well, JK has never explicitly said so, but she has strongly hinted that there's a correlation between the wizarding and Muggle troubles. I'll have to look up that question and answer... *lazy sigh*
And, yes, I am aware that WWII was basically a continuation of the first, but, well, different people were in charge during the two wars... Although with the lifespan of wizards, and the link between the wars, it could be possible that Grindewald was defeated, but not killed at the end of the first, and then rose to greater power for the second. Hmmm. Sorry, thinking aloud. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 03:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 03:31 pm (UTC)That would correlate with LV then. I rather like the idea that history is repeating itself. Perhaps that's how DD knew about the horcruxes. He had already seen something similar with Grindelwald.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-22 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-23 12:37 am (UTC)How long have you been together?
no subject
Date: 2006-06-23 02:18 pm (UTC)We've been married for 4 years, together for 6. =)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-23 02:19 pm (UTC)