Shipping: Sirius

      Here's another character from Harry Potter who gets some weird ships. Poor Sirius is made out to be some sort of a player from a few short passages in Order of the Phoenix. Just because he winks at girls and has perfect hair doesn't mean he'll sleep with anyone he finds in a broom closet. It just means he's good looking and he knows it. Anyway, some of his ships get as weird as Hermione's. While he hasn't been shipped with a plant, he has been shipped with some strange people.
     First: McGonagall. Where did this one even come from. There's nothing in the story to suggest that anything could have come up between them other Minerva's desire to pummel Sirius over the head. He was probably a very frustrating student to be Head of House over. The only way he could soften her up was helping win at Quidditch. Plus the age gap. The first time we meet Sirius he is thirty-three and Minerva is sixty-eight. That's a thirty-five year gap. McGonagall had already been married and widowed, I don't think she was in the mood to be a cougar. Being a teacher would have beaten those thoughts into a pulp. Too many young people doing stupid things around her, Sirius being one of the worst. I just can't see it happening other than his friends teasing him.

        Second: Remus. I don't know why people are so fond of putting these two together. It's disturbing not because it's a homosexual relationship but because it's Remus guys. Remus obviously has a strained relationship with Sirius. Sirius didn't trust him enough to make him the Potters' real secret keeper. Remus thought Sirius had killed the Potters. Sirius is rash and Remus is not, in fact, he shows some very controlled patience with Sirius as if he's preventing himself from hitting him over the head. (Plus there is the obvious attraction between Remus and Tonks but that's a whole other ship list for later.) Remus and Sirius trust each other but not enough. They are very cautious with each other even after Sirius is cleared by the Golden Trio.

     Third: Marlene McKinnon. More of a random ship I think. There is no suggestion they knew each other in school or were the same age or anything. All we know about Marlene is that she was married with young children and they were all murdered by Death Eaters because she was an Order member. It sounds like someone thought it would make a good story and a lot of people took it as canon or something and went off and wrote their own stories.

    Fourth: Hermione. I know I did Hermione already but lots of people put her with Sirius. I only have one thing to say. If Ron was almost too immature for her, there's no way she'd ever like Sirius that way. She'd kill him first out of irritation. Like him she might but a relationship would end in tears and blood...from Sirius.

    Fifth: Severus. If Hermione would kill Sirius, Severus would torture him...if Sirius didn't get to him first. I cannot figure this ship out anymore than why Hermione would fall in love with the Whomping Willow. While it might make for funny stories, it's just not logical and people who ship this need serious help. They aren't Potterheads. They're confused. Or high. Or both.

    Sixth: The OC...which is probably based off the writer. I've read a lot of stories where Sirius ended up with an OC who was extremely similar to a teenage girl of today. Let's face it lot's of girls have got crushes on Sirius. Why not? He's described as handsome and debonair, any girl would fall for that. Even I have an OC that he gets with (she is however not based off of me. If I were going to do that I would be with Remus but as I like Tonks, I got Albus Severus instead). Some people just didn't like Sirius being the only good marauder who didn't get to have a son so they give him a girl to get that done, regardless of whether he knew or not. Natural if you get hung up on fictional deaths (guilty).

   That ends my Sirius rant. He is one of my favorite characters and he will forever hold a special place in my heart, single or otherwise.

P.S. It's totally ok to comment. Let me know who I should do for the next ship. I know Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Stravanganza, The Avengers, Doctor Who, NCIS, Merlin, Sherlock, Kane Chronicles, etc. I will discuss more than shipping on these too if that is a wish. If you want other stuff, dinosaurs, birds and rocks are good topics too.

Shipping: Hermione

     For my first real post I shall talk about shipping. This will probably continue for a couple of posts because it is a broad topic. I shall start with all the shipping around one Hermione Granger. I have seen some weird stuff in my fan fiction days. A friend of mine found a story centered around her falling in love with the Whomping Willow. I didn't want to know so I didn't ask. There are, however, a few ships that do seem more odd to me than a girl falling in love with a tree.
     First: Hermione and Snape. Disgusting. Whoever thought of this first has some issues. Snape is far too old for her for one thing. For another, he can't stand her. Yes, a lot of romantic comedies start with the couple in question hating each other and age shouldn't matter but let's look at the facts. Snape only ever loved one girl. Lily will forever hold his heart. Hermione had clear feelings for Ron (more on this one later). Snape was a complete jerk to Hermione on countless occasions. The most prominent one in my memory was when either Crabbe or Goyle hit her with a curse when one of them hit with a curse by her friends. Snape let the Slytherin go to the nurse but refused Hermione. Her teeth were growing at an alarming rate and  he said :I see no difference." Let's face it. This could never be.

     Second: Hermione and Draco. Draco's father will definitely not want to hear about this. Draco is too much of a blood purist to want Hermione. Snape is more believable than Draco. Besides his constant bursts of  "Mudblood", Draco has always been rather cruel to Hermione as well. Ron and Harry had to constantly stand up to him for her. It got so bad she punched him in the face. Again. Hermione had clear feelings for Ron. Even Draco noticed and teased them about it.

    Third: Hermione and Harry. Let's face it, even J.K. Rowling face palmed this. She said in an interview that all the Harry/Hermione shippers needed to abandon ship because it was so obviously Ron who had won Hermione's heart. Who can dispute the author? Harry will always be Hermione's best friend.

     Fourth: Hermione and Fred. What? Where did that come from? Why would Fred (or George for that matter) fall for Hermione. She's always threatening to turn them into the teachers and prefects. When she was prefect she threatened to tell their mother what they were up to. There is no way they would fall for her since she was a tattle tale to them.

    For me, Hermione and Ron were obvious from at least the second book. Ron is always very protective of her. He fought Bellatrix to save her. While other may ship Hermione with any of the above...including a tree, it will always be Rominone for me.

Just For Fun

     So I thought I would do this just for fun. Maybe it'll help me with my writer's block. Maybe it won't. Either way, I hope to be an absolute geek and hope others will geek out too. So for starters, what makes me nerd out? First and most important, dinosaurs. I'm going to school them so they should come first. Let me tell you nothing annoys me more than people saying pterodactyl is a dinosaur. It's not and it's pronounced pterodactylus (tear-o-dack-toe-lus). It is in fact a pterosaur or flying reptile. Then there's the whole Brontosaurus thing. Sorry guys, Brontosaurus doesn't exist anymore. His name is Apatosaurus. Anyway, more on that later.
      Next on my list of nerdiness is the one and only Harry Potter. Up until the last movie came out all my birthdays had been Harry Potter themed. I was lost last year. I had no idea what to do for my birthday because I had no movie to see. Pathetic, I know, but hey that's what it means to be a geek. In fact, I took an online quiz to see how many of the 200 or so names of characters I could name in as little time as possible. I got all but like four. For a college student, I really have no life.
      So, without Harry Potter, I needed something else to cling to. That is where Doctor Who came in. I was lost, alone and felt as though I'd lost my best friend and the Doctor swooped in and saved me. I am now an avid fan waiting in desperation for November 23 and the epicness of the 50th anniversary episodes. In fact, I only started watching Doctor Who because one of the Doctor's was in Harry Potter. Even with Harry out of the picture he influences what I watch.
     On a much smaller scale are several other things that keep me quite happy. I love Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard is the bomb. I will watch TOS though. I mean it's the original, why not? I even saw a few episodes of Enterprise. I am a big fan of the Stravanganza series by Mary Hoffman. If you haven't read them you are missing out. The first book is called The City of Masks. Some seriously good summer reading material right there. I am also and avid bird watcher. I took a field ornithology class and now I love identifying not only birds but mammals, reptiles, amphibians and plants. It makes family vacations to Yellowstone and Glacier a lot more entertaining.
     Anywho, I hope people enjoy the nerdiness and where it takes us. To finish off I will prove how much I adore the Harry Potter series.

This is my cat Albus. He didn't have a middle name until my little brother asked so now it's Albus Severus. 

These are Lumos and Nox (recently passed). Very sweet birds. 

This is Pigwidgeon who replaced Nox. 

This is Norbert, my Frilled Lizard.