Care of Magical Shippers Episode 8 - Parsley: Certified Organic

1:03AM Aug 12, 2021

Speakers:

Care of Magical Shippers Podcast

Nathan

Megs

Keywords:

pansy

ron

hermione

ship

feel

draco

moment

fic

canon

hogwarts

harry

character

person

people

situation

potentially

thinking

happen

fanfic

episode

Hello there listener. Yes, you specifically, you should know that sometimes due to the things we discuss on the pod, it might contain potentially triggering content. But the good news is you can always review the episode descriptions for a full list of the warnings applicable to this episode. Oh, and just so you know, this podcast is rated R for really filthy. It includes adult themes and explicit content. So if you're an adult, buckle up, Gird your loins and prepare to flood the basement because we are going down with the ships. BST. Big sexual tension.

EDT. Eating dick tomorrow or today. Eat dick today.

This is your public health announcement. Have you had your five a day?

[Intro song] You're on the canon ground, I'm up in crackship space. Let's start a shipping war, don't care if I get hate. Don't like my parings? Well, then you can hit the bricks. This is my OTP, I'll go down with this ship! I don't care, I ship it, I don't care, I ship it, I ship it....

Welcome to Care of Magical Shippers. It's a Harry Potter ship culture podcast. I'm Nathan.

And I'm Megs. And this week it is all about Ron and Pansy

Yeah! Yeah it is. As I only recently discovered, it is called Parsley, and I'm all about this herby goodness. I want to plant it in my garden. Let that parsley grow!

When I was thinking about that, I was like, Okay, what could work? Okay, we have Ransey, which I'm like, okay, so I guess that's kind of like getting randy.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one, right?

And then prawn which of course now I can only think of the Muppets like the prawn. What's his name? Oh, yeah. You know who I'm talking about? Like something the prawn. What is his name, but he's like Pepe, Pepe. Pepe? Pepe the Prawn?

I don't know. Probably Muppets fans are like screaming at their podcast app right now, being like, "How can you be so stupid?"

"How do you not know!"

I didn't prep Muppet knowledge in advance of this recording. I'm really sorry about that. But I feel very seen right now. And I would like —

It is Pepe. It is actually Pepe the King Prawn.

Ooh, how regal.

Yeah. Fancy. Yeah. So anyway, so Muppets aside anyway. So yeah, that's Parsley to me. Parkinson and Weasley I just thought was the cutest and funniest thing. I don't know if it already existed, but I feel really clever right now. And I'm just gonna pat myself on the back and just be like, Yeah, I thought of it. It's It's mine.

It feels organic.

Yes. (laughter) Oh, Lord, okay. Okay. Yes. Organic.

I'm sorry. I'm just gonna take five while we laugh at our own genius. Feel free to join in. You can ask it's okay to want a slice everybody does. Oh, my. We're vegan-friendly here. We're a vegan-friendly pod.

Parsley, so now that we're talking about parsley, I'm like okay, so you know how parsley is usually like an added thing? Yeah. Like your dish like it does go in things but you're like oh, you get a fancy dish and then has some parsley on top. So that's the ship it's like you didn't know you needed it and it's just that little extra something that makes it seem better. So whether that works I'm gonna say it works that totally made sense.

From garish to garnish, right there.

Oh my god. Wow, there's something in the water today. Just losing our minds. Maybe it's the tea. I don't know.

Whether it's the tea or the heat. I yeah, I'm so yes, you if you hear any odd noises today, listeners, I am quietly melting into the microphone. There might not be very much if we left by the time we finished this recording but I'm feeling I'm feeling hopped up on something. Let's jump right in to this ship. What do we think of parsley? Okay.

Okay. So for me, I, you know, when it comes to me — obviously like Ron and Hermione is seen as a very like, accepted canon ship. Like when we think Ron and Hermione, we kind of we picture them together they're often a really common side ship. So it's shipping either of them with other people. A lot of people do it. But when I think of romione, I see Ron and Pansy as like — Pansy has things and elements that Hermione doesn't. Like, Hermione is kind of like the level headed. Ron is very like wild and opinionated and hot-headed and just kind of go out there and her mind he grounds him. So that's where you can see them working and not working because of it because you could see Hermione as like a very like motherly maternal character versus like an equal for Ron. That's just one point of view. But with Pansy, she's like the Slytherin!Ron if you think about it, like when we look at the trio as like Harry, Ron and Hermione, we think of the — what do they call it? Like, the silver trio instead of the Golden Trio? It's Draco, Blaise and Pansy.

Oh! I hadn't heard that before. Oh, that is so cool. I love that.

Right? So we have those three characters versus the other three. So if you're a Drarry person, you're like, Okay, Draco and Harry and then we could potentially see Blaze and Hermione. and then Ron and Pansy so it's just that that parallel there, but Pansy is definitely in canon we see her as obviously a bitch. I mean, she's rude. She's described as like pug faced, not necessarily attractive. However, let's be real. Draco is vain as hell there is no way he would take some potentially socially seen as unattractive person. It's just like, Oh, she's pug faced like maybe she just has a little nose like it's just doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. It's JK's bad for being like, "Oh, Petunia's horse-faced or oh...." you know I don't know what her deal is.

Yeah, there are some very suspect animal analogies going on there.

Umbridge as a toad, all of that — and it's always women! Okay, so now this is a tangent. Why the fuck is it only women? And all the men handsome!

Well, Dudley is always a pig.

Yeah,

Dudley is always piggish.

That's true.

You have Hagrid who is codified as you know, very effeminate. And he had and this is like, I think Hagrid is actually one of the only characters she does this with, where it's not inherently given negative connotations. Where his effeminate, you know, flowery pink umbrella and his apron and his constant crying, they aren't like detrimental to his character. And of course they aren't because they're qualities that make Hagrid as lovable as he is. I mean, would Hagrid be Hagrid without his impossible-to-eat rock buns?

Rock cakes! Yeah, I was just gonna say that. Yes, the rock cakes. Yes,

But you're right. I do feel like especially with women. JKR has a tendency to codify them in these really, really problematic ways. And you're right. I don't think Draco would settle. He doesn't strike me.... And I'm talking like in fanfic, or in canon here. He is definitely the guy that is like, I know I'm a nine. And I'm not I'm not batting below my average. And even if he's like a seven, he has this overinflated overinflated sense of ego and self importance. That is those going to be like I know what I'm worth. Right. This is me. I I have got it. And I'm going to flaunt it, and whoever I'm flaunting it, right has to match me on that level. So I totally agree with you that like there is no way that he'd even be remotely entertaining the possibility of being with Pansy if she didn't, right, validate him in some way. And the and the way she's going to do that is — because it's JKR — is because she has to appeal to his vanity and therefore also be vain herself.

Right, exactly. And I don't know, it's not really in canon but I feel like in Fanon, it's been directed that she's of Asian descent, right? So you could see her as like a very like petite adorable like, you know, Asian girl that I mean, yeah, I don't I don't see why she couldn't be this complete babe. Like just because you have like a tiny little you know, squish nose. Like, squished-faced pugs and cats are adorable, like she's cute. But um, so anyway, you know, attraction aside.

I'm just picturing her, like, slow motion walk down the great hall with her hair flowing. And like "moving in stereo" by the cars is playing and it's like, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo-doo, doo-doo. She's like slowly removing sunglasses. This is my headcanon for Pansy now.

Oh my goodness. Love it. Why are we here again? Oh yeah, Ron.

Yeah, we have to talk about Ron and Pansy. So, one of the reasons I think it's so good is because it takes Pansy out of I mean, potentially it puts her in another toxic dynamic, we'll come to that later. It takes Pansy out of the Draco equation, and I feel I do feel like especially in canon Draco overshadows her because he's a powerful personality, right? So he has to always have the spotlight. So I feel like when the dynamic shifts away from Draco, you really get to see in fanfic and in fanon Pansy's side of things. And you know, how that's expressed really depends on the fic you read because I've looked at some fic that is more suspect than others, but it's usually all smutty. You know, when that when the smut is earned and it's written well, I am just all over it because it's me that's who I am it's us that's who I am as a person and I need it in my life so I so I really like you know I of course I'm here for the thirst but I'm also here low key for the character development as well and I feel like when Pansy's personality can shine however it shines it gives us that view into that character that we haven't had because it's always been the Draco show, right?

Mm-hmm. And for me, when I picture, Pansy I cuz I feel like if Draco and Pansy were meant to be together, they would have ended up together. It wouldn't have been Draco and Astoria. Like, it literally would have been Pansy and Draco. I see Draco as — when I think of Pansy, like when I'm getting into her headspace and her as a character, if I think of an fic like I do for all Slytherin, it's like let's go into their their pressures or trauma that makes them into who they are. So Pansy obviously has the same pressures that Draco does where her family wants her to be perfect and wants her to uphold the family name and make a good pure blood match and all of that stuff. So I can only imagine and and find a beautiful husband who's going to take care of her and have a bunch of babies and all of that. And I could just see her kind of potentially crumbling under that pressure but not showing it because she's she has this tough exterior, she is going to come off as like, I don't care what you think. I don't care what you say, I'm going to say what I say and it's fine. But inside she's like, man, I have like I have so much low self esteem. Like I could just see that in her. And I could see her chasing after Draco and Draco being like, Oh yeah, you're fun for now. But you're not my like — you're not long term. Like, her as an object or something like that. And she's trying so hard to get his attention. And it just nothing is coming of it. I could see her like having this blow up with Draco or something like that and realizing that nothing was going to happen and she's either like run off somewhere and is crying or whatever. And then Ron comes across her. And at first, he's like, Oh, Pansy's crying. Like, good. Like she's, you know, she's a bitch and she does you know — whatever happened to her, she deserves. But then all of a sudden his, like, compassionate nature comes out. Like, you know what? I'm going to see what's up. And then that could be an opportunity for them to kind of breach that gap. But I can also see it as like a Drarry instance where like, she could just be like, Weasley like don't talk to me. Like, y'know — doesn't want to be vulnerable in front of him, because she sees them as lesser than. Even though he's a pureblood even though he's, you know, he doesn't come from good stock.

The Weasleys are blood-traitors, right?

Yes, exactly. Exactly. So I could see that being her pushing back against him for a long time. And of course, Ron too, like they I could see a lot of relationships and ships have at least one character who is going to just have that denial for a long time with angsty ships. Not all ships, fluffy ships, you're like, Okay, yeah, they want to be together or just takes time. But when it comes to angst like that, I could see them both. Once they became aware of each other be that a situation such as this, all of a sudden they notice each other. It's kind of like when you you discover a — I don't know. Once you see something and you can't unsee it. when Ron sees her in class, all he's gonna think is, I saw her not as this cold-hearted individual human being. And then noticing things. Like, I could see him tuning in and being like, She does and says these things because she has a wall up.

yeah absolutely

Like she's mean. She says these nasty things because she doesn't want anyone to come for her in that way. Like it's more like a guard. A wall. And this is obviously from school point of view. Like, you have those, you know, school time crushes and things like that. And I don't know, I just could see it blossoming into this forbidden love situation of secretly seeing one another and not wanting either of them to know because, A) Harry and Hermione not that they would necessarily judge him but look down on him for...

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, it would sort of be taboo.

Yes, yes. And then of course, there is no way in hell that Pansy is going to tell anybody that she's kissing a Weasley. Yeah, there's no way that she will tell anybody. And I just I think it's and they're both so potentially strong personalities that when they fight it's got to be epic. Like it just has to be this explosive.... whatever, that I just think of like the Mr. and Mrs. Smith situation.

Yes! That is so perfect! But both like with their wands out, like sending knives at each other. But then suddenly, it gets steamy. And you know, you don't know where the violence ends and of the love begins and it's so messed up, but it's — so you warned me off using this word, but I'm gonna say it: The catharsis is so good! Yeah, yes. Catharsis, catharsis, catharsis. Like, it's like, Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice! Yes. Oh, my gosh, crap. What was I —? Mr. and Mrs. Smith thing. So it's definitely a very passionate focus ship, like there could be very violent, like vulnerable, tense tendencies of being able to open and break down walls that couldn't otherwise be broken down by anyone else. But it's definitely going to have that conflict and passion, which I think makes it I mean, just we've talked about this before, like, in the, you know, the golden trio episode on how we see Ron as the passionate one. Like, if, if he's involved in this relationship, like he's gonna bring the fire, he's gonna bring the passion to the to the group, whereas Pansy would be that for whoever else she was with, and together that can either benefit them or cause conflict and which isn't, you know, which isn't a bad thing. But I yeah, so all of the angsty, violent, fiery steamy sex.

Yes. Yeah. And sometimes, you know, sometimes that is just what you need. Just as much as the characters need to blow off steam. Occasionally, listener, I know you will agree with this. Like, sometimes you just need to read that thing and feel it in your soul and go, yes, this connects with me on a deep, deep level, right now.

I'm not gonna say how deep.

I mean, I don't think we need — i think i think the listeners get it and understand. You know, we —

That's why we're here. That's why we're here. That's why you're here.

Exactly. You're here to to have fun and blow off steam. Yeah. And if you could do both at once, that's also good.

And, yeah, I have some thoughts. But I feel like I've been talking a lot. So I have some thoughts about post Hogwarts. But as far as remaining in the Hogwarts arena, what are your thoughts as far as the ship, or how it happened or whatnot?

So yeah, so before we before we go off into post Hogwarts, I just wanted to quickly say, we've talked about Pansy and how she can blossom and come into her own through this ship. But I also feel like the ship frees Ron up. Because, like you say, Ron is most typically paired with Hermione. And while that pairing is sweet, it doesn't lend itself to an awful lot of conflict or volatility, because when it happens, if it happens, it usually involves Harry and there's all that, you know, we've talked about that before as well. But I feel like Ron... So, Ron's part of a big family. He's part of a big, Pureblood family. And in his family, he is used to feeling overshadowed, either by people with greater intellectual capacity or people who are funnier. And he's always felt like there's this thing with him where he's had to feel like he's had to struggle against his own inadequacies. So when he's paired with Pansy, he can, like I feel like it allows him to let to turn that baggage into like a space to vent his frustration, I feel like this is where, like his physical side and his passionate side can really come to the front. Because I feel like a lot of the time, it's, you know, in canon as specially it's tempered against either something that he has to do, or an obstacle that he has to overcome. And in fanon in fanfic when he's with Pansy, he could be like, this is a real, you know, balls to the wall moment where I could just let go of everything, and be who I need to be for this, you know, five minutes, half an hour, two hours, however long it needs to be you know, and I love that because it frees the characterization of Ron up from being a Weasley, it frees him up from from these feelings of being from having to think about his financial situation or his, his standing within the family. You know, he's allowed in those moments to be himself and to not be in Harry's shadow either. And, you know, that is massive for Ron, because I'm sure you know, as much as he's grateful for the friendship, but he also has this yearning to be his own person and go off and explore and do whatever it is that he needs to do. And I'm sure that while you know his pairing with her mind, he is sweet in its own way. In being paired with Pansy, he can go to places that he wouldn't necessarily go with Hermione.

Oh, for sure. And something I was just thinking about, like getting toward the like, Battle of Hogwarts like, obviously, one of the most notable Pansy moments is when Pansy says, "Well, there's Harry! Everyone grab — someone grab him." Because Voldemort is threatening to, if Harry doesn't show up, like I'm coming out and sending my people and we're, we're coming to kill like we're coming to kill. So on one point of view, as a reader normally would be like, Oh, she's a shitty person, because she wants to, you know, she's obviously a Death Eater, or Death Eater family or whatever. But a lot of times with Fanon and fic. And that redemption arc for Pansy is the fact that she's like I saw so many of my friends get attacked, or killed or are in are in danger. And what I want to do is stand up and fight for them. And if I'm given an opportunity to do so I'm going to take it and as soon as she notices that, hey, it's either Harry, or literally everyone give up Harry, like seriously like this is one person in comparison to the masses. So it could be seen as potentially her making this brave choice to come forward and stand up for collectively everyone because she's like, why are we protecting one dude? Why are we protecting one person, when hundreds of us could die or be in danger?

Exactly. It's her Spock moment. So I don't know if you're familiar with this, but like, so there's a really famous saying of Spock's where it's like, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And I don't know that it's necessarily written like this in the books, but you could certainly as a fan interpret her actions as she's trying to be egalitarian. She's trying to think pragmatically about like, what will cause the least loss of life? What will you know, benefit the most people? And, of course, she has no guarantee that even if she gives Harry up, and she's successful in what she wants to do, that Voldemort's going to keep his word. And I think that's, you know, another problem issue there. But assuming that she's only thought that far ahead, you can at least say her motivations aren't entirely selfish. Like when I read that passage in the book — I know it is in the book, right? It's not just one of those movie inserts? Yeah, I know the books. I promise I'm a fan. I've read the books. I listened to the audiobooks all the time, but you know, the way so... Something happens to me though, when I read fanfiction, and then I listen to the audiobooks, and I watched the movies — they, like, all blend into one homogenous ball. I don't know. I don't know who said what, in what form. So I'm like, I'm pretty sure this happened in canon, but I don't know 100%. And I apologize if you're screaming at me going like, "No, Pansy didn't say that in the book! Why are you talking about this?" But like, but so Okay, so when she when she says that in the book, I did sort of do a double-take mentally and go, Well, clearly, her motivations are just selfish. Yes. But having said that, like you can take that whole moment, turn it on its head and infuse it with new meaning or like give it more possibilities, which is really what IMO good fanfic does. One of the things I love about fanfic, and because I was having this discussion with a friend of mine last week, who was like, I'm just not sure that I get fanfic, I'm not sure that I understand what it's doing. And instead of seeing it as questioning canon, and like, like taking canon, and just smashing it into little pieces, you can see it as expanding on canon and taking it in all these new and interesting directions. And this is just exactly one of those examples. Yeah. Where I because I don't feel like it's beyond the realm of possibility to go, Of course, Pansy has a strong self-preservation instinct, right? Like I said, She's from, she's from a Pureblood family, she has a lineage to think about, as well as potentially her place post-Hogwarts. So I do think that this legitimately would be going through her mind, you know, whether or not you believe she's honorably motivated that way.

And so with that moment, I picture like, let's say she and Ron have a secret relationship. And Ron's been gone, doing the Horcrux thing for however long, and this would probably be the first time of them to see each other, and maybe not be able to interact, but kind of that like, Oh my god, you're alive. Oh, my god, you're alive sort of thing. But in that moment, I could just see Ron feeling a sense of betrayal. Do you know like, if she were to be like, oh, give Harry up, then he would see it from the aspect of I've been spending almost a year trying to keep this dude alive so that he can get rid of Voldemort, and he's the only opportunity to do so. And then all of a sudden, he just had to be shattered by it. And then after everything, you know, so now I'm going to get into post Hogwarts like, I could see them having something that moment kind of shattering everything, and then them going their separate ways for however long and then that re-meet situation, I picture them becoming Auror partners.

Ooh.... Ooh, tell me more. I'm intrigued.

Yeah, so I so once again, we're kind of getting into Mr. and Mrs. Smith, even though they have two separate jobs or whatever. But yeah, yeah, I love that where it's, you know, it was it, like in Drarry. Those are fanfics when it's like, oh, Draco and Harry — you're partners. And they're like, I can't work with this person or whatever. And so the same thing would be in the Ron/Pansy situation, if they had a history and then all of a sudden had to be put together. But they're not going to like own up to the fact that they had a history. So like, even whoever the head Auror —

They're both so stubborn,

yeah, like the head Auror is like, "You're gonna be with Pansy." And then they're like, oh, but we shouldn't be together because we have a romantic history. But they're not going to own up to that, you know what I mean? So it's that learning to work together. But also having that difficulty the whole time of being like, you have to watch my back like no, like, they just don't get along whatsoever. But there's that moment, I just picture this and of course, now this is what I want to write.

Paint that moment for me. This is what I live for.

I want to write this so bad. So there's that moment that whatever they're on a sting or they're trying to catch a dark wizard or criminal or whatever, and Pansy gets hurt or Ron gets hurt. And then all of a sudden, the opposite is just like devastated. You know, it's like it reopens emotions, and that feelings and that caring that they had for that person and be that like, hey, this could be a soulmate story. And then so this whole time they've been fighting against the inevitable of them being together anyway, but then that being exposing them and their true feelings for each other in a heat of like a traumatic situation or they could even not be together and Ron or Pansy could have had something happen and ended up in St. Mungo's and their partner finds out about it second hand, and they freak out and then they go. And then they show up at St. Mungo's. Say it's Ron. All the Weasleys are there, Harry's there, Hermione's there. And Pansy just comes blowing in and they're like family only. And she's like, "Fuck you. I am gonna see him. He's my partner" or whatever. And then goes in and it's just like, sees him and whether she like hugs him or is like devastated and is crying or both of them are crying and they're just having their moment. I just see that as their like reconciliation and then everyone's just obviously in shock, like everyone's just gobsmacked. They're like, I don't know how to handle this right now. What the heck is she doing here? And whatever

Especially Harry. Like, Harry is having a meltdown in this moment.

I know. And then who knows if there was kind of like that rocky thing between Ron and Hermione... Like maybe they were dating like maybe Ron and Hermione were having their thing post all the Pansy stuff because either it was expected or something like that. And then all of a sudden he realized, you know what? That's not what I want, this is what I've always wanted. And now it's here for me, and it can be a thing. And so yeah, that's just that's one big like epic headcanon of mine is that moment of like intensity that just breaks them down and makes them see sense again.

Yeah, I do, I do absolutely live for those moments where you're expecting an explosion and things to go flying. And instead of having this, you know, gigantic Mr. or Mrs. Smith moment where, you know, they're both fighting to the death, what you actually get is a sort of emotional implosion, where they realize that they're connected to each other through a sort of a mutual vulnerability. And that really, this shared feeling of animosity has built on something on top of something which is much deeper, which is that really, they're so they're like, vulnerable, because they've had to — they've had to defend these positions that they were in, in school, right? So how often have you matured on an issue or a topic since you were in school? Because I know, a lot of my personal views and philosophies and thoughts about life and things have changed so much from when I was like 16 or 17 and still figuring out what to do with myself. And really, when we talk about these characters, the only canon basis we have for them is when they're still in Hogwarts. But you're so right, you know, when we're talking about them in a post-Hogwarts context, you're also dealing with them as emotionally more mature, well-rounded (or more-rounded, anyway) human beings potentially. And I feel like this gives you a lot more actual credible room to play around with them understanding each other's emotions a lot better. And we know I live for this.

Yes, absolutely. Because a lot of that post-Hogwarts for any of the — you know — like, the Trio or the good-versus-bad side of the redemption, the forgiveness and not branding, be it Draco, or Pansy or whoever as like: You were bad, so you're bad forever. Yeah. And getting over that prejudice and being able to be like, you're adults now. Like, what are you doing holding on to a childhood rivalry or different things like that, like, they're not the same person. It's not the same person. And it's time to open your minds open your heart and all of that. Something else now? I was just thinking about as another situation that would be fun is so back in school, Ron and Pansy bond or find themselves to have their secret relationship. What if Ron or Pansy discovers some sort of intense trauma that they had been through, or something that kind of like upsets, or triggers them in some kind of way, and they understand that of each other and then say, as an as adults, either be that there are partners or they work together, or they know one another in whatever situation, and that specific trigger or whatever happens, and everyone else doesn't realize that it's a problem or upsetting to that person except for Ron or Pansy and then they immediately step in, as like, "Whoa, whoa, back off" or like "Don't say that" or "Don't call her that" or something. Because they understand why that would affect them in a certain way. Even if they don't show it, like they could just be like, I'm going to ignore this and I'm fine. And I'm okay. But the other person knows that inside, they're not okay and becomes that support system for them. So it's just having the ability to know someone better than everyone else just makes a relationship so powerful, because that allows you to rely on them for support, because you cannot handle it, you know, around everyone else, I guess. If that makes sense.

Yeah. So two quick notes about that. First of all, I love the Auror partners trope, and I love it so much. I feel like we need to do an episode — a trope episode about that. And like who we want to see as Auror partners because I just love like the crime fighting duos. It's just, it ticks my boxesr right? Because we don't have to talk about, like, romantic pairings all the time. And sometimes what I want is a good buddy cop fic where two people are thrown together and that happens so so yes, random side note number one and random side note number two is where you're talking about the potentially one of them being triggered by something.... The best stories, in my opinion, that that happens with, are with characters that are usually standoffish or emotionally closed off. That we don't get a glimpse into that world. Because, with Pansy, she has this sort of Meredith Brooks bitch image to overcome, right? She's constantly projecting an aura of cool, calm detachment. She's a little bit haughty. She's like Draco-light, right? Like, I don't want to tar all Slytherins with the same brush. But it's roughly fair to say that that the general feeling in that group at large is a sort of a sense of pride and status, certainly. And so she's always like, she always has to have those shields up. It's like Slytherins have extra points in Occlumency before they start, because they, they have to keep the image that that set image up and running. And so I really love, I really love that this ship in particular can let us look under the bonnet, look under the hood of Pansy and see, oh, that, you know, there's actually all this internal stuff going on. And the reason she's not more vulnerable, or hasn't been more vulnerable is because she's had to pander to all these social external pressures. But whenever she's just in that situation with that, you know, being always together with Ron, and, you know, whatever happens, she has no choice. She has to, she has to open that up and give vent to those feelings. And those are the sorts of things that I like to read. Because ultimately, I like fic that humanizes people, even and perhaps especially those people, who we don't credit with having an awful lot of humanity at the start of getting to know them.

Mm-hmm! So now I'm also thinking I am just coming up with all these stories in my head because I just love I'm loving this pairing so much. Plus there's not a lot of fic out there. So I mean, I read a bunch and a lot of things are really like WIP or it's really like a limited availability. So if it doesn't exist, my brain makes it so that's just that's what happens. But so, now I'm picturing we've talked about before post-Hogwarts careers, like with Ron like we didn't necessarily think Ron would be an Auror. We talked about weasleys wizard wheezes. What if he went to Romania with Charlie as a possibility? Yeah, so let's say that post war obviously probably Draco and his mom and dad or whatever go through the trials and all of that and there's people who are involved on the other side that have to go through their thing. Pansy's family be it that maybe her family's involved I I'm not really sure if her dad was a Death Eater or not. I don't know what the situation is with the Parkinsons I don't remember like I don't remember hearing that name when like at the graveyard. Like, Book 4. I don't remember hearing Parkinson?

Yeah, yeah, I don't remember that doesn't mean it doesn't it didn't happen, but I don't remember it. So for the time, but yeah, but

but just because you're pure blood elitists doesn't mean you're instantly a Death Eater, you know? Like, it's just, it's not necessarily — because you look at the Blacks. Like, the Black family. They were just pro-Pureblood. They're just like, You marry a Pureblood person and that's just you just continue your Purelood life. They empathized with and like supported the Voldemort movement and then obviously Regulus goes on that, and ya blah blah blah. Anyway, rolling back. So with Pansy I could see her obviously not having to go through that. Doesn't have to deal with, like, probation or can't travel or things like that. Like you see that like oh, Draco's stuck in the UK. Like you can't go anywhere because you're under probation or whatever. So she but she also gets cuz she, I mean, in front of the entire school, therefore, the future generations of the wizarding world. I mean, you think about the UK and the wizards at large and the number of students at Hogwarts, you would imagine these are the people that you see work with and are going to interact with on the regular, like, as an adult. You're just gonna see these people, if you think about it. Yeah, absolutely. So everyone's gonna know that moment where she tried to give up Harry. So imagine how that affects her future and how people see her and look at her. I could see her wanting to go abroad and do something and be somewhere and have no one know who she is. So what if they were like, just happened to be at some town or city in Romania and like, ran into each other? And it was like this whole moment? And what if it was just some like foreign like, I don't know, serendipitous situation of them, just finding each other and that hatred growing into understanding and then building relationship and then Christmas comes along. And the Weasleys are like hey, you know, Charlie, and Ron, are you coming back? Like yeah, and I'm bringing my girl with me. And they show up, and he has Pansy Parkinson on his arm. I think that would be absolutely fantastic.

Yeah, I can see, in that situation, you know, when they first meet, Pansy is going to be so disgusted because she's like, I literally went halfway across the world to try and get away from my past. And here you are confronting me, you know, like a big slap in the face. Yeah. And then But yeah, I can sort of see it transitioning into where she's finding she almost finds comfort in the familiarity of seeing Ron there. And then it's so it's you know, it's definitely love/hate. There are so many things about that, that you? I mean, I definitely see parallels with Drarry there. I mean, it has it has its own sort of feisty kinetic energy, where I just sort of feel like the minute you put these two in a room, something interesting is going to happen, you know whether or not they get together. I feel like you know, I always feel like I'm going to be entertained. I'm going to be excited. I never feel I never feel like I'm in for a dull read when I read a Ron/Pansy. I live for the excitement. You know, I'm a I'm a fanfic thrill seeker. I love the highs and lows and the chills. So I you know, I just, I feel like I personally tend to prefer ships that give me the full gamut, the full sort of color wheel of emotion, the full range of everything that can possibly be explored, because then I feel honestly like being really candid about it, then I feel like the smut is earned like some fics. Some fics just start smutty, stay smutty, and it's all on one level. But if I arrive at a moment of emotional connectivity, or smut, or where there's a satisfying conclusion where that's been earned, because the characters have gone through something, I'm so much more satisfied. Yeah, I feel like this pairing has so many opportunities and chances to do that particularly with your you know, Romania scenario. Yeah. So because I have to say as well, there are so many like interesting ideas for fic, and then I've gone to try and read it, and it's not been there or it's been removed because it was written ages ago. And it's so it's like having a carrot dangled in front of your nose and then snatched away at the last minute, you know, because I get so sad like, I understand that maybe authors have moved on you know, you don't always want to be associated with what you've written or whatever. But you should want that, because it's golden. And even if you're embarrassed, like, we will love it. Also, I suppose what I'm low-key saying is, listeners, if you want to write some Ron/Pansy, I'm not going to be averse to reading it if you want to. Send that to us at careofmagicalshippers@gmail.com. Go ahead and do that.

We're also on AO3. We do have a Care of Magical Shippers account, so you can always gift us all the fic. Yeah, I forgot about that. We talked about all our other accounts and also I'm going to apologize for the content that we do have up on our account because in the discord we have a — whoops, I just hit my mic — I apologize because in the discord that we have for the Care of Magical Shippers, we have a writing game where people take turns writing a story and it always gets cracky and smutty.

Oh, it's the best thing ever. It's crack/smut loveliness. Honestly, it's disturbing in the best way. Who was it that said art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed? Yeah, I definitely feel like I'm disturbed enough as an individual to be comforted by what we create. I really feel like it resonates with me. I mean, I know smut isn't for everybody. I just want to say that I think this can only be improved by more people taking part. Yes. So if you like that, you read those, and you think, Hey, I want to join in with some of these. We do do those on the regular. So come and join us.

Yeah, join us. Absolutely. So yeah, anyway, those are up there. So you'll see them you'll be like, Oh my god, these people are crazy. No, we are just unfiltered. We have fun. It is all fiction. It's just, we're just letting go. And it's the shock factor like because you're handing it off to someone else. You're just like, what can I write that's gonna make them pee their pants or spit out their their water or whatever, something like that. But anyway, Care of Magical Shippers is an account on AO3. So you are more than welcome to. Please, any and every pairing. Write it, and then let us know, tell us. Because we want it, obviously, there's not enough of it, and you're more than welcome to steal my ideas. I mean, the chance of me actually taking the time to write this thing? I'm totally down for any of that stuff that I was talking about.

I mean, you do write at lightning speed. I don't know how you find the time. You're just like, Oh, yeah, I wrote 11,000 words on my lunch break. You literally messaged me with that the other day. How do you do this on a lunch break? What is happening?

I love to write. Anyway.

So, yeah. Send us anything and everything that you've written and that you love, because, you know, we'll love it too. And it might also give us ideas for ships to feature in upcoming episodes. So if there's a pairing that we, or a trope, or anything that we haven't featured, that you think, "Do you know what'd be good on that Care of Magical Shippers podcast I love?" Get in touch with us, and tell us about it. And we will take that under advisement so hard. Yeah, we will.

Because we care about — we're caring shippers, we care about you, our magical shippers. Want to give you the content that you want. Obviously, we're here to talk about everything and to show you and sometimes convince you to ship it too. Because we go in being like, "What?" and then we leave "Oh my god!"

Yeah. I know this will happen with more ships, but that did not happen more dramatically than with Tomarry. It was huge. Yeah, cuz it cuz you know, I, and I'm not sorry about it. I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed that whole journey. And if that can happen with more things... if you feel like, Oh, I know just what Nathan will like. Or, I think Megs will be blown away by this, send that stuff to us. Because I love coming away from my preconceptions going, Oh, that was completely wrong. Or like, this blew me away. I just I live for those moments. And then I get to be enthusiastic and excited about it and share it with you. And the circle of life is complete. So you know, no pressure or anything.

[singing] The circle of life! Of shipping! Can you feel the love tonight, in this fic we read...

[singing] The world to us, it's an endless wonderland of shipping potential.

This is where we go into our like crazy half hour of like, all the all the weird songs. We're gonna have to come up with a playlist and start to put all this music stuff, you know, somewhere, because there are far too many musical interludes. Not sorry! Sorry not sorry!

Definitely not sorry whatsoever. But yeah, so. Ron? Yeah, Ron, Ron and Pansy. You know, that thing that we're supposed to talk about? Oh, okay. So if, let's say Hermione finds out about Ron and Pansy. What do you think? Like, especially if it's like kinda canon where Hermione is denying the fact that she is starting to have feelings for Ron or whatever. Like, you see her mind he has kind of she does have her judgments. She does kind of jump to conclusions. She can get really confrontational. It just depends on the situation. Like I just could see her like, I don't know. Lose it.

Yeah. Yeah. It's good to give Hermione those moments of being fierce in the defense of something she believes to be absolutely unassailable. Like, that is her pedestal. And, you know, she's not going to tolerate being knocked off that at all. I mean, I feel like she maybe possibly get herself into a situation where she overidolizes the relationship. Or maybe Ron feels like he can't explore some things with Hermione that he can with Pansy, however it unfolds. I feel like Hermione's moment of, like, retribution and her sense of anger at the potential loss of something as well just gives that character so much to work with. And we know that she we've seen little snatches of that in Book Six when Ron and Lavender —

Oh, right, yeah.

It was Ron and Lavender, wasn't it? Yeah, her thing. And you know when she she gets her chance to do little snatches of that then. But I feel like just as you have the potential to get more emotionally mature when you become an adult, you also have the potential to go the other way, where there's a whole load of stuff that you didn't deal with from school age and that still playing out in your adulthood only now it's affecting you in stronger ways so that when Hermione gets jealous or vengeful or angry that that we see that tenfold because she's so powerful magically. I mean, I feel for poor Pansy in that moment.

Yes, that's very true. Yeah, so now I'm thinking like of the Yule Ball. Because it's all Yule Ball stuff. So now I'm thinking of the Yule Ball. Like, Pansy's obviously there with Draco and all this, like it could totally go a different way. And so maybe Ron had his dramatic meltdown, but in regards to Pansy. So kind of like an alternate, you know, storyline sort of thing canon, like, oh, gosh, that would be something else. And then of course, he couldn't fess up to it. Like either Hermione or maybe Harry thinks it's because of Hermione and Krum. Maybe he thinks it's because he's jealous of them. When really, it's all about Pansy and Draco.

Exactly. Wow, he's giving himself like, I can see Ron using the excuse of Hermione and Krume to give himself the sort of emotional get out clause of being, "Well, now I can I can go and you know, have these fully justified feelings for Pansy." And you know, and I feel like he would absolutely flaunt that in that moment, because he would see it as, you know, justice in a way in a weird way. He'd see it as the right thing to do. I think Ron is a really moral character. And even though you know, he can do things in the books that we don't necessarily agree with. All of his actions are rooted in this like really strong moral center. So if Ron's thrown off balance, that can go in really interesting directions.

Nathan. Nathan.

What do you want to tell me?

They're both prefects, aren't they?

Are they? Are they?

I believe so. I think it's Pansy and Draco are the Slytherin prefects, and then Hermione and Ron... Dude, the prefect bathroom sex?

Oh my god. Now, all I'm thinking of, is the fairground attraction song. Except it's like, [singing], "It's got to be... prefect."

Oh my gosh. Any opportunity to make the prefect bathroom a centerpiece is — I am all about and that is, I mean, because it could be a situation literally where like, Pansy's already there or Ron's already there, and then they just happen — the other person shows up. aAnd it's like, oh, my gosh, you're here and things. And, yeah. Oh, I love it.

They do also have the, you know, they're gonna have to watch out not just only for the other prefects, but also like the members of the Quidditch? Quidditch captains also get access. So there's, I mean, it's not as public but it's still like, if either if either of them have a thing about, you know, flaunting their love in public. They could be like, oh, let's meet in the prefect bathroom. Because you know, it's it's secluded, but not really. And then I could totally see a situation where one of them is hoping they get caught as well. So they're like trying to like progressively get louder and burn off things.

Oh, Lord. Oh, yeah, I do declare. Okay, cuz now Yeah. So it'd be there would be four Quidditch captains. And then Fifth Year is the first year that there are prefects correct? Yes. So. So it'd be for Quidditch captains... four times three years times, four houses, and then Head Girl, Head Boy. That's a lot of potentially people that could roll up into the prefects bathroom.

Right?, Yeah, I don't know what the policy is on like staff using prefect bathrooms. But I'm assuming that like if there was an emergency or somebody really needed to use the loo, that nobody would bat an eyelid at a staff number using the prefects bathroom to just attend to an emergency, let's say. But, like, there's a lot of through traffic to say that it's supposed to be an exclusive... You know, it's like the the first class airport lounge, except more exclusive. But there's still quite a bit of through traffic. And I mean, I can see that appealing to to one or both of their voyeuristic tendencies.

Yes. Also Room of Requirement sex dungeon?

Oh, well. I know, I know that has been written a lot, but I don't know if that's been done in a Ron/Pansy specific context yet? Okay. Question for you then, though. Who do you think would be the dominant person in that situation?

Pansy! Pansy.

See, do you think so? Cuz I disagree with that. I think Ron would take the lead, because I think well, not that, not that I'm saying that this is from my personal experience or anything. Like that. It that, you know, it's been my observation, that the person that needs to feel that they need to take control more of their own life in the external and to do with everything else tends to be more submissive in the bedroom. Right. And the person that that is more, you know, laissez faire and turns the other cheek and is more sort of like laid back, they then become dominant. So I think in my head in my headcanon anyway, it gives Ron a chance to be the, the the sort of the claimant, if we will, you know?

Yeah. So for me, mainly, because it's like, oh, yeah, I want to see a Dom Pansy, like, tear the heck out of Ron. But with Ron, it's funny, you kind of say that I get a picture in my head, how we've talked before, that he feels overshadowed by people that he doesn't have to bring, like he's seen as I don't know, like, doesn't have enough in comparison to like all his brothers or things like that. So I could see him getting validation from Pansy. Like getting that saying like, oh, you're like you're — be that like, oh, you're the best lover or daddy or whatever, like the space to be like, wow, like you're, you're the best at what you do or whatever. And that makes him feel like special and seen and have what he never had in that regard to like his real life.

Right. And he doesn't know he needs it as well. I feel like there's a sort of an innocence to Ron, where because he's been overshadowed for so long. He hasn't really had — it hasn't occurred to him that he wants to explore those feelings. So when someone like Pansy appears, who is you know, outwardly forthright and really adventurous, are sort of knows what she wants. Anyway, I see Pansy as a sort of a straight shooter. And she will not beat about the bush. You know, if there's if there's something that she wants to get done, she will do it. She will. She has that big Slytherin energy. So I feel I feel like it could maybe start off with her instigating a lot of this stuff, and then actually going, Oh, shit, I'm into this.

Yes, yes! No, I'm totally behind this. I was just Yes, I am totally behind that 100%. Like, she just kind of like plays around with like, you know, like, I think it'd be really cool of you to like, overpower me or something. And like, I'm just _

Not that I've given this a lot of thought or anything.

I know, I haven't. I just like, I'm just throwing it out there. Whatever. And then he would probably feel like it as you say, like, might be a little bit awkward or weird. And he's like, No, I don't want to you know, whatever. Like, I don't want to hurt you. And she's just like, fucking slap me already. Like, yeah, yeah. She would definitely direct she would hold the reins per se. But I could see her enjoying and relishing in kind of like that submissive role. And then him, as you say, discovering that he is all about it. And it gives him the power and feeling that, yeah, that validation. He feels empowered to be wanted or have control over something and something that he can have and be his. Yeah, yeah. So, there we go.

Also, it's it's really wholesome in a way because it will, it allows both of them to get to a stage where they feel more self confident. I mean, I don't think we touched on it earlier. But they're both coming from a place of lower self esteem than might be considered normal, because they've both been in situations where they've been overshadowed by stronger personalities. And getting this time to explore with each other and find out what it's really all about seems to me to be a great way to actually push the envelope, that — certainly in Ron's case, anyway — he didn't know he needed it pushed. You know? There is a certain amount of, Okay, now that I know that this is out there I am falling in love with it. It's like my relationship with fanfiction, you know? Like I said, I used to be this ridiculous, you know, canon-only, text-only purist. And then once I discovered what fanfiction could do, I was like, Yes, actually, I'm all about this because it satisfies my deep need for whimsy first and foremost. And I just — there are so many people out there with such great imaginations and such forbidable writing talent that you know, I just... There are certain situations where I'll never stop being thankful for — is it Rule 22? Which is: If you can think of it, there's been a porn made of it somewhere.

Oh my. Yeah.

Obviously I'm not only about the smut. But, you know, sometimes it's just what I need, and I'm not here to apologize for that.

Same! I love feel, I love like drama. I want to feel empathy and sympathy for a character. I want to be sucked in. But then I want them to just go at it. But I'm just, like, ready for — I need that. I need it. It's just so the like the burn the slow burn. And with Ron and Pansy. Yeah, I feel like I need that. It's just I feel like it's it's it's the journey in which it would go on. There's no way it couldn't lead up to some, like, steamy, you know, happenings. So. Yeah. All right. So now that we're closing up on Ron and Pansy, unfortunately, we have no idea yet what we're going to be doing next time. We're recorded well out ahead of time. So we just haven't made plans yet. So we will let you know, either we'll tag it on on to this after this, and we'll say —

You know how to check by now. You know what our tags are. You know how to find us. We'll post it there. We know, ultimately, whatever we, whatever it is that we do next time, it's going to be great. And we know that you'll love it, because we can get excited about it. So you know, just come back next time for more goodness, yeah,

For... ta-da!

[robot voice] Insert name of ship here.

And as we said, so crap. As we said before, if there are ships you want us to talk about, please let us know. Send us an email, shoot us a tweet, reach out to us. I might have made a form? I was in process of making a form. So it'll probably be in the description. So you might be able to might be able to submit your ship requests and recommendations. Probably a favorite fic or something like that. And then maybe a little blurb. Like why you ship what you ship. And that helps us a lot because we can pick whatever, but we want to give you what you want too. But it has to interest us as well. We're not just gonna like be like, yeah, we'll talk about this thing. And we don't get it. We tried, we still don't get it. It's gonna happen. And we apologize for it. But we all we did we do what we can.

Yeah, we're not here to flame. We're not here to you know, run anyone else's ship aground or sink anyone else's ships. But also, there are always going to be those ones that we prefer. So ultimately, we'll talk about those. But if there's anything you haven't heard that you want to hear, please don't be shy about getting in touch. I mean, of course, we're both gonna think that we're awesome people. But we hope that we've given you enough of an impression that we're not going to you know, bite your heads off if you see something that we maybe haven't brought up before. So please reach out to us because we absolutely love you. And we want to feature more of your weird and wonderful ideas on our little pod.

Yes. And oh and something I wanted to share which I don't know if I'll add this to previous episodes or not. But I have been helping out with another podcast called Snapechat. So that's another one that —

Oh yeah! You've been getting famous!

So, so far beyond two episodes, one being a fanfic-specific episode and then the second one being Snarry driven. I might become a semi-regular person. I don't know. It's been a lot of fun. So obviously people who are curious about Snape or like him or don't like him, I don't care. It's a lot of fun. So that's another place that you can hop over to, to hear more of my nonsense. So that's also a thing.

Go do that thing.

So yeah, well anyways, this has been wonderful, and we look forward to our next ramblings of nonsense and please reach out to us. We look forward to interacting with you on all the socials. We talked about our discord, and there's Patreon stuff and lots of things bonus content you want there's so much we have more for you. Like just just come and have it just come eat it up. We we love giving you stuff.

It's all very squid-pro-quo. No tentacle unturned. I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry.

So anyway, we love you.

Yeah, yeah we do. Thanks for putting up with us. Bye!

See you next time. Oh, so good.

Hello, listeners. It's Nathan here again, coming to you from beyond space and time to tell you that we do, in fact, know what we're doing next week. It is Kromione, which is Hermione/Ron/Victor. And we are really excited to share that with you. So tune in next week for that one. I am very excited to do this. It's the first of what I hope will be many. But we have to thank Trurina, who is one of our patrons who have to give a special shout out to. Thank you so much for all your support over what I believe is eight months that you have been donating to us. We really appreciate all the support. In fact, we recently just bought some Google Drive space with your lovely funds. So thank you so much for that. And we hope that you love the pod and will keep listening to our wonderful episodes. Thank you very much.

While you're waiting for the next episode, all the shipping fun can continue online. You can head over to all of our social media platforms, like MagicalShipPod on Twitter and Instagram, and care of magical shippers on Tumblr. You can get in touch with us by email at CareofMagicalShippers@gmail.com. Or you can leave us a voice message with all of your ship and fic thoughts and feels and have the chance to be featured on a future pod episode. We are also live on Patreon Patrons have access to early episodes, bonus content, extended uncut episodes with all of our nonsense, ficlets written by me exclusive merch and a patron discord. Another easy way to show your love for the pod is by leaving a review on Apple podcasts. And thank you so much for listening