Your comment is more than thoughtful enough, and very interesting! I'm glad I gave you some things to think about :)
I always despised canon!Draco until he lowered his wand on the Astronomy Tower...
I was bullied a lot at school. Because I was the only non-white girl in the entire place, because I inadvertantly blurted out the fact that I liked girls, for my mental illness, for my strangely literal way of looking at things, you name it, I was picked on for it. And you know how they say that if you act like it doesn't affect you, the bullies will eventually leave you alone? Well, that didn't work for one particular boy. It didn't matter what I did, he kept on, for five. fucking. years He was absolutely horrible to me, calling me out on everything from my frizzy hair to my - unfortunately very public - suicide attempt, he just wouldn't let up. Then, a few years after high school, we bumped into each other in the middle of London, and he apologised for how he'd behaved towards me. When I asked him why, he said, "because I had everything. I was popular, people looked up to me, I had loads of friends and girlfriends, and I wasn't happy. But you were, even though you had none of that, and it just felt so unfair at the time."
So now, whenever I come across a character like that, I always think about that boy. It doesn't excuse what he put me through, but it does explain it. He had reasons for why he behaved the way he did, as does everyone, and although those reasons don't excuse the way we act, I find that knowing that makes it easier to understand people. When it comes to Draco, we don't know his reasons - maybe he was unhappy, maybe he was really just an asshole - but I do find it interesting to think about what those possible reasons may be, which is why I find the character so fascinating.
But again, this might just be my strangely literal way of looking at things, haha!
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Date: 2014-11-26 11:31 pm (UTC)I always despised canon!Draco until he lowered his wand on the Astronomy Tower...
I was bullied a lot at school. Because I was the only non-white girl in the entire place, because I inadvertantly blurted out the fact that I liked girls, for my mental illness, for my strangely literal way of looking at things, you name it, I was picked on for it. And you know how they say that if you act like it doesn't affect you, the bullies will eventually leave you alone? Well, that didn't work for one particular boy. It didn't matter what I did, he kept on, for five. fucking. years He was absolutely horrible to me, calling me out on everything from my frizzy hair to my - unfortunately very public - suicide attempt, he just wouldn't let up. Then, a few years after high school, we bumped into each other in the middle of London, and he apologised for how he'd behaved towards me. When I asked him why, he said, "because I had everything. I was popular, people looked up to me, I had loads of friends and girlfriends, and I wasn't happy. But you were, even though you had none of that, and it just felt so unfair at the time."
So now, whenever I come across a character like that, I always think about that boy. It doesn't excuse what he put me through, but it does explain it. He had reasons for why he behaved the way he did, as does everyone, and although those reasons don't excuse the way we act, I find that knowing that makes it easier to understand people. When it comes to Draco, we don't know his reasons - maybe he was unhappy, maybe he was really just an asshole - but I do find it interesting to think about what those possible reasons may be, which is why I find the character so fascinating.
But again, this might just be my strangely literal way of looking at things, haha!