Believable/Unbelievable Pairings

[themostepotente]

Have you ever looked at a fic pairing and said one of the following;

1.) Oh my GOD, that would SO never happen!

2.) What crack was this person smoking? And where could I get some?

3.) I just canNOT wrap my head around that!

So I must ask...

What pairing(s) do you find ridiculously OOC?

What pairing(s) do you find the most believable?

Let's hear what you have to say!

Comments

[puppy-tenchan.livejournal.com]

People will maybe flock me, but what I find simply ridicolous is Snape/Hermione. As common as this pairing is, I see no justification at all for it. I cannot exactly put in words, why, it is more of a feeling about any lack of dynamic between them.
In slash, which of course is generally OOC, but ah well, let's ignore that for a moment, I am the least convinced by the Remus/Lucius pairing. A Malfoy and a Werewolf, who have absolutely nothing to do with each other. It's just not there.

Most convincing, apart from the obvious Hermione/Ron is in my eyes the Harry/Ginny pairing, on a more companionship-like basis then before when Ginny was still crushing on Harry. Now they are both older (despite not much more mature) and can probably soon take actual responsibility for their actions.
In slash, I am most convinced by James/Sirius and George/Fred (plus Lee, too). Take it as you will, but I believe the extremer the closeness, the more convincing the pairing.

This, by no means, describes my most loved or most hated pairings. I often like a pairing just for its pure hotness, or its lively dynamics, no matter how unconincing it feels to me when I think of canon material.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Here, here! I DESPISE Snape/Hermione.

I'll agree on the Lucius/Remus in later years, but eumenides1 wrote a lovely Lucius/Remus schoolage fic that I enjoyed reading.

[tcregan.livejournal.com]

OOC: Harry/Draco, Draco/Hermione, Sirius/Narcissa, Sirius/Snape, Lucius/Harry, Harry/Narcissa

Most believable: Sirius/Remus, Sirius/James, Lucius/Snape, Lucius/Arthur, Lucius/Voldemort, Harry/Hermione, Snape/Dumbledore, Dumbledore/Tom Riddle

Very nice survey here.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'll agree - Snape/Black is quite a stretch, but fuckin' A, I do love snarky grudgefucky Snack.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Snape/Someone Snape hates. Snape/Harry, Snape/Sirius, etc, take your choice, he hates a lot of people. A lot.

He HATES with such passion, and people do not turn around and want to make made passionate love to people they hate. They just don't.

As I've said before, though, I have written Snape/Someone he hates slash, so I am, as always, a serious hypocrit.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Aren't we all at some point, Bernice? Don't worry, we still love you :-)

[maelwaedd.livejournal.com]

Ridiculously OOC:
Harry/Draco. I've written it, yes, and more than once. But I hate it, and I had to fuck with the characters big time to even make hatesex work. (nb. I can think of one fic where it seems in character, but that's a future fic).
Lucius/Hermione. I really like this pairing. Yet I can't make it work. And why is that? Because it just can't happen in my personal view of canon unless people are writing PWP rape, and then that's just gross. imho.

Most believable.
Bellatrix/Ginny. Hah! I had to say that. Bella's a DE, Ginny's inherently evil, and they're both insane. It's a match made by Merlin.
Sirius/Remus. I don't really believe in Sirius anymore, but that's beside the point. It used to be one of my favourites, and I can see it happening.
Harry/Hermione. *cringe*. It'd probably be more like Ron/Hermione, but it's possible. And I hate it.
Dolohov/Bellatrix. Non-con. Okay, I know that these are such minor characters, but it works. In a really nasty way.

There are more, of course, but my brain's lazy.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Lucius/Hermione I canNOT wrap my brain around. Just, just...no.

[a_belladonna]

OOC-het:
Snape/any girl from Harry's year + Ginny (not at once of course ^-^)
Draco/Hermione
Hermione/any older male (I once read a Hermione/Sirius/Lupin/Snape fic and it really made me uncomfortable)
Draco/Ginny

OOC-slash:
Snape/any boy from Harry's year (but that doesn't mean I don't read them- I just don't think canon!Snape would want to have sex with students)
Draco/Lucius
Harry/any male (not very possible in canon, but fun to read)

Believable het:
Neville/Ginny
Ron/Hermione
Harry/Luna
Lupin/Tonks
Snape/Bellatrix
McGonagall/Dumbledore (but I don't want to read it! *shudder*)

Believable slash:
Sirius/Lupin
Sirius/James
Snape/Hagrid
Snape/Filch
Snape/Lucius
Ron/Harry?

The rest of the pairings are in a grey zone, I think.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

McGonagall/Dumbledore - YES! And, you are sooo right. Great pairing, but I'll pass. *chuckles*

[anathdemalfoy.livejournal.com]

Hm. OOC pairings... This is a hard one. Because I'm often a rare-pair 'shipper & reviewers have often told me that I've made some very unlikely pairings (e.g. Grawp/Dennis Creevey, Tonks/Olympe, Lucius/Moody, Remus/Fridwulfa etc) believable... one of the best compliments a writer can be paid! :D

But the pairings I think are extremely OOC are:

Lucius/anybody Muggle-born. Because he's probably too snooty to want to touch a "Mudblood".

Lucius/any Muggle. See above.

Snape/Tonks. Not just 'cos it's het & I'm not really a het fan, or because I dislike the pairing, but I just can't see it happening.

Any giant/any house-elf. Do the math. ;)

There are probably more, but those are the main ones that come to my mind.

Some believable pairings for me: Lucius/Draco (the ultimate in pure-bloodedness!)
Harry/Hagrid. A lot of emotional closeness there...
Moody/Shacklebolt. Auror bonding...
Lucius/Macnair or Lucius/Snape - Death Eater bonding or Slytherin bonding
Ginny/Tonks - sweet girly closeness. Awww...
Lucius/Arthur. The ultimate love-hate relationship...
Dobby/Winky. Cute despite all the dysfunction.
Filch/Mrs Norris. Hee. Just hee.
Cho/Luna. The Ravenclaw-ness of it all...

Love & Serpents' Kisses,
Anath.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Grawp/Dennis? Well, fuck...you know you gotta shoot me the link now!

[maubast.livejournal.com]

What pairing(s) do you find ridiculously OOC?

Draco/Ron, Snape/Hermione

What pairing(s) do you find the most believable?

Ron/Hermione, Harry/Snape

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Yes - another person that despises Snape/Hermione. I 'really' hate that pairing.

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I find *any* pairing inherently OOC, at least not if time and possible emotional growth/change is taken into account (note here that I'm talking about actual relationships and not rape, because where that's concerned, no connection has to exist).

For example, where Snape's concerned, if I look only at the time frame of the books, then I find it most unlikely that he's going to be touching any of his students (the ones he hates and the ones he hates less (*g*) alike), yet it's possible that given time and space, he and Harry or Hermione or even Draco (although I don't like Snape/Draco at *all*) could find common ground. Generally speaking, though, I think *years* would have to pass before he (or they, for that matter) could imagine it.

Snape/Lucius? I can see it back in his school days or in his early time with the Death Eaters, but not during the 90's. In fact, during the time frame of the books, Snape would be most likely to be involved (if with anyone at all) with Dumbledore or Hagrid or McGonagall (i.e., someone older) or with some imaginary chracter we've never met).

In other words, time and place and maturity and many other factors have everything to do with whether a pairing is believable or not.

Or, you know...a really good writer, because Telanu made me believe in Snape/Young!Harry, and Fabula Rasa made me believe in Snape/Black, and Kaz made me believe in Snape/Hermione - and I thought all those pairings were insanely creepy when I first started reading HP.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Fabula Rasa's Snack reigns supreme.

And you know, Beth, you raise a very good point addressing such factors as time and place. Agreed 100%.

[prillalar]

OOC: Snape/Harry, Remus/Tonks -- Remus/any female, actually, Lucius/Draco

Most believeable: Sirius/Remus, young(Sirius/James), Hermione/Ron, Hermione/(George|Fred)

Most fall somewhere in between, though.

[treelines.livejournal.com]

Fangirling your icon. <3

[riibu.livejournal.com]

OOC: Lucius/Draco, Lucius/Tonks (I've seen people mention this, but IMO it's very much OOC), Draco/Ginny. And probably some others as well.

Believable pairings: Lily/Snape (I believe there has been something between them), Riddle/McGonagall (in their school days), Severus/Remus!

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Lucius/Tonks wouldn't do it for me either.

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

I'll believe anything. Most fanfic transgresses on canon, anyway... so whether or not a pairing is IC or OOC depends entirely on the skill of the writer. For me, anyway. Because sex can happen in the damndest ways to the damndest people, if you know how to work it right.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here :-)

The greatest fanfic writer could write Dumbledore/Harry and nothing they could do would convince me to think otherwise. For me, if I hate a pairing, I hate that pairing. No inbetweens.

[coell.livejournal.com]

As far as being a complete hypocrite, HP/SS is my OTP -- but I cannot ever see, under any circumstances, any plausible way for Harry/Draco. *shakes head vigorously* It would also take some convincing for any Weasley and a Death Eater... particularly Ron/Draco. James or Lily in any slash pairing makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth -- unless it's a juicy non-con and then I look forward to that reaction.

The following ships make perfect sense to me:
Harry/Hermione
Harry/Ginny
Ron/Hermione
Hermione/Ginny
Harry/Neville
and of course, Harry/Severus in that deliciously self-destructive mental-case way. *dodges random objects being thrown across the internet*

Although I can see fandom Snape being into kids, I think he would violently push off any sexual efforts from Slytherin students. He's experienced their motives (and their parents) and would view them as naive and their fumbling disgusting. If he doesn't punishingly fuck Harry for the same reason, I have to suspend that belief to continue my shipping. *blush*

I also think it's awefully convenient for people to ship Lucius/Draco. Just because they're evil doesn't mean they're incestuous pederasts. I need to see real motive behind it, especially delusions of purity and beauty.

In essence, written well, I can believe almost everything. I think Ron is straight.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I personally do not like Ron slashed, and I've written Draco/Ron before. It didn't come easy, and I could only do it non-con style.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

I find Snape/Dumbledore, Snape/Molly Weasley and Snape/Lupin to be totally in left field. I mean, really I cannot believe that....

*looks at fics*

Oh. Um....Snape/Dobby?

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I hate Snape/Dumbledore. Thank you for pointing that out, Dana. Way, way, WAY the fuck out in left field.

[loony-moony.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm...you know, I'm really tempted to say the usual things, but I really want to think this over...

Ridiculously OOC pairings - Hermione/Draco (she's not an idiot to mess with a Dark wizard, and he's really not that nice inside), fluffy!Lucius/Harry (because EURGH I would never ever believe that in a non-AU setting, even if it didn;t make me puke), Hermione/Ginny (it's not canon, it just isn't. Hermione really doesn't come off as lesbian to me, doing dark dids in the shadows of the dormitory), Snape/Draco (no. nononononono. you can say what you want about Snape, but he's not a debaucher on anybody's whim, and Draco is certainly not that stupid)

Most believable pairings - Hermione/Ron (if stupid teenaged angst is JKR's way of saying "yes, they will end up together with lots of little bushy-redheaded children", then I guess this goes), Snape/Harry (because the chamistry is already there, and I always thought there was some sexual layer in their rivalry), Sirius/Remus (they just fit. nothing to do about that), Harry/Hermione (I can see them having a little experimentation, but I don't see this as some epic romance thing. actually I don't see this as anything more than a week-long thing, but still, it's possible), one sided-Parvati/Harry (because I think she has a crush on him :)), angsty!Harry/Draco (again with the teenaged angst. after OotP, fluff is out of the question)

I also think there's some middle point in here, you now, pairings we semi-believe they're true, like Harry/Ron, Crabbe/Goyle, Snape/Lucius, Parvati/Lavender.

Does this answer your question? bSahll you now defriend me? :D

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Fluffy Lucius/Harry would be like throwing holy water on a vampire. It's just...not done :P

[qurinas.livejournal.com]

Well, it was really interesting reading everyone's take. I wish I had more time to go indepth (but I should actually do some work).

So, here are ones that are really OOC to me: Draco/Harry, Draco/Hermione, Snape/Hermione.


Ones that work really well: Parvati/Padma, Hermione/Harry, Ginny/Luna, Snape/Draco (slave-boy).

I used to think Snape/Harry was insanely ooc. However, after OotP, I still find it unlikely, but not impossible.

There is my 2 cents. :)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Snarry is such a grey area. It could go either way.

[anjenue.livejournal.com]

Just want to say this is an awesome question you ask, and I'm really enjoying reading the responses!

That aside, here are my contributions.

Canonically, I think the ones that make the most sense (aside from the ones implicitly mentioned, like James/Lily or whatever) are:

Het: Ron/Hermione, Harry/Luna, Colin/Ginny, Lord Voldemort/Bellatrix, Remus/Tonks
Slash: Severus/Lucius (in the 70s), Lord Voldemort/any of his Death Eaters, Dumbledore/Severus, Sirius/Remus, Sirius/James, Seamus/Dean, Lucius/Draco, Fred/George

The ones I think are least plausible:

Het: Draco/Hermione, Draco/Ginny, Severus/Hermione
Slash: Sirius/Harry, Severus/anyone he hates (at least in the here and now)
plus any interspecies stuff (especially people paired with house elves. ergh. Remus doesn't count in this category. Hagrid only sort of does.)

I'm sure there are more, but it's Friday and I'm braindead.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I love, love, LOVE Snucius in the '70's! You write Snucius, don't you?

Hmm...

[dragonessasmith.livejournal.com]

The ships I find totally impossible? The non-non-con (?) Hermione or Ginny/Lord Voldemort ones. Ginny and Tom, I could see, but even then it's a bit of a stretch...oh, and Dumbledore/anyone, and Hagrid/Anyone but Mdme. Olympe...

Most believable? As In what I think will happen to the books? Then Ron/Hermione and Ginny/Harry. It's so blahvanillaboring but it's coming. I think...

Thank goodness for fanfic...

Re: Hmm...

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

One-hundred percent agreed on Dumbledore/anyone.

But I do cherish my non-con :-)

[mooncharm.livejournal.com]

The ultimate OOC, one that no matter what the premise is I scoff at and cannot force myself to read...SNAGRID! Bleccccch!

*gag, wretch*

I just don't understand it, I don't get it, and I don't think I ever wanna. And anything basically, involving Dumbledore, leave the poor old wizard alone for goodness sakes! And Harry/Hermione, because I hate them together soooooooo much, and Hermione with anyone but Ron just feels so wrong, especially Harry!

As for most believable...definitely Sirius/Remus, there is no canon to the contrary! Is there? I hope not, but perhaps my memory selectively fails me! Oh and Snape/Harry, because it is my OTP (or as close as I will ever get :D), and because I said so! he he...

*snuggles Snarry for all time*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

*huggles Snarry with you*

One of my long standing faves!

[huntress1013.livejournal.com]

Just found your hilarious journal. Concerning your question there are quite a few ships that I believe are totally OOC.

Hagrid/Snape :shudder: actually anything taht involves Hagrid. The idea of Hagrid and Harry really makes me sick

Snape/Hermione - naaaaah

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

You'll find lots of humour and angst here :-)