Ron/Lucius Essay(let) and Recs
May. 18th, 2006 08:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kennahijjaWithout further ado, and at some length because ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lazy_neutrino asked "Why Ron/Lucius?" and because "It's just hot" just won't do as an answer :).
First of all, it's not entirely about the slash - any story that pits those two characters against each other is going to set my little heart aflutter :). It's only that Ron-Lucius gen is an even more elusive thing (see the sole rec below) than Ron/Lucius slash...
But since most of what there is is slash, let's focus on that. Well, I enjoy my slash pairings with as much tension and contrast as possible. Contrast in ideology, power, age, character, and so on. And of course I've come to Ron/Lucius through Harry/Lucius, which is still my favourite 'mainstream' pairing (not that it's remotely mainstream, but a lot more popular than Ron/Lucius). But where Harry/Lucius is the classic youthful hero/older villain conflict, Ron/Lucius is more subtle in several ways.
First of all, they are both overshadowed by powerful figures - Ron by Harry, the hero, and Hermione, the brain, and Lucius by Voldemort. And this second-rate status can rankle. There's the old fandom debate about what would make a man as proud as Lucius Malfoy serve a 'Mudblood' madman like 'Lord Voldemort', a question to which the answer probably lies buried somewhere between 'power' and 'politics'. Ron is certainly not in it for power but for friendship and loyalty, but he can react rather badly to being overshadowed as well. And not totally without reason either, if Harry's incredulous reaction to Ron becoming Prefect in OotP is anything to go with.
That ties in with a characteristic they both share: ambition, or, in Ron's case, a desire for recognition. When not resorting to violence/intimidation as a Death Eater, Lucius attempts to gain status through money and political influence in the wizarding world - the Slytherin way, while Ron only *dreams* of success. He sees himself as head boy and Quidditch captain in the Mirror of Erised, but lacks the self-confidence to actually try and stand out - in asking Fleur to the Yule Ball, or trying out/playing Quidditch keeper.
It's this combination of wanting to be recognised and lacking self-confidence that tempts me most in writing Ron/Lucius. What I want to explore is how Ron would do when he's forced to stand up to Lucius, thrown back on his own resources. He has courage, proven repeatedly in canon, but there always overshadowed by Harry, who is forced by circumstances to display greater courage than anybody else. He is intelligent, although not the kind of ideal school pupil intelligence that would make him stand out academically. Quite like Harry, he doesn't seem to care much about book knowledge, and seems to be unwilling to put much effort into things that don't interest him. He's lazy (I can *so* identify with that). But then he has the kind of strategic mind that allowed him to beat McGonagall's chess trap at age eleven. My subjective inkling is that Ron, *forced* to think on his feet without friends to fall back on, could be *quite* brilliant, and I think that Lucius is the perfect opponent to tease out Ron's strengths.
That said, I think Ron and Lucius share a number of other character traits as well: they both have a volatile temper (think Lucius in CoS with Arthur and Harry...), are outspoken to the point of rudeness, come from pureblood wizarding families (if very different ones), and have an appreciation for material wealth. Which, in Lucius's case, translates into throwing money around offensively and in an exaggerated pride in being wealthy. With Ron, it shows in his resentment of his family's poverty. There's no doubt that Ron loves his family, and rather shares his father's easy-going lack of ambition, but he hates being poor, having only second-rate things, and in particular being taunted about it. Which, come to think about it, is a trait many of the Weasley children seem to share (all being eager to make a career/name for themselves). Though here, again, the Gryffindor/Slytherin contrast comes in: Lucius wants wealth to buy power, Ron would, I assume, be content with being moderately well-off to feel safe and pursue the few interests that matter to him.
And, of course, both have a ruthless side. Lucius's doesn't require any elaboration, but Ron, too, can be aggressive, cruel and violent and has his own set of prejudices and not too many scruples.
As a 'pairing', I can't see them romantically involved without a *very* convincing backstory - it lends itself much more to fics of the non-con or dub-con variety. Lucius isn't the type to fall in love, and Ron is *certainly* not the type to fall in love with Lucius! If they entered a relationship, it would have to be based on something else, from blackmail to chance/sex to a grudging feeling of mutual respect. And under changed political conditions, or alternatively a manipulative relationship during the Voldemort war.
Very subjectively, I can have a hard time buying into stories that give Ron the upper hand in such a relationship/encounter, even more so than with Harry/Lucius. Because much as I love Lucius as a character, what really tickles me about this pairing (hot sex aside, *grin*) is that it allows Ron to develop into a more rounded, intriguing character. Though, granted, Ron's very own 'darker side' lends itself to interesting possibilities here, so it's not a prejudice against bottom!Lucius (either in matters of sex or power) - I just need to bend my preconceptions a little :).
Now, Ron/Lucius is quite a rarepair, but there are a handful of fics which I love to bits, just if you want to get a taste for the pairing (or want to get over the initial horror of the idea, *g*):
SLASH:
Sympathy for the Devil bymad_maudlin [NC-17, one-shot]
Summary: Lust. Fornication. Deceit. There are greater sins.
Nobility bythe_con_cept [NC-17, one-shot]
Summary: Voldemort has all but won, and Ron is given to Lucius Malfoy. It’s nothing like he was expecting.
Recollection by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
switchknife [R, ficlet]
Summary: 'Lucius Malfoy seduces Ron to the dark side...
GEN:
Worthy of Respect bychthonya [PG, one-shot]
Summary: When Ron returns from Egypt, holiday memories and the upcoming Quidditch season push his sister's recent ordeal to the back of his mind ... until he comes face to face with Lucius Malfoy.
While these are my top favourites, I've collected a list of Ron/Luciusfic here. Yep, wrote some to - they're listed there as well, *g*. As always, if you know of others, let me know!
lazy_neutrino asked "Why Ron/Lucius?" and because "It's just hot" just won't do as an answer :).First of all, it's not entirely about the slash - any story that pits those two characters against each other is going to set my little heart aflutter :). It's only that Ron-Lucius gen is an even more elusive thing (see the sole rec below) than Ron/Lucius slash...
But since most of what there is is slash, let's focus on that. Well, I enjoy my slash pairings with as much tension and contrast as possible. Contrast in ideology, power, age, character, and so on. And of course I've come to Ron/Lucius through Harry/Lucius, which is still my favourite 'mainstream' pairing (not that it's remotely mainstream, but a lot more popular than Ron/Lucius). But where Harry/Lucius is the classic youthful hero/older villain conflict, Ron/Lucius is more subtle in several ways.
First of all, they are both overshadowed by powerful figures - Ron by Harry, the hero, and Hermione, the brain, and Lucius by Voldemort. And this second-rate status can rankle. There's the old fandom debate about what would make a man as proud as Lucius Malfoy serve a 'Mudblood' madman like 'Lord Voldemort', a question to which the answer probably lies buried somewhere between 'power' and 'politics'. Ron is certainly not in it for power but for friendship and loyalty, but he can react rather badly to being overshadowed as well. And not totally without reason either, if Harry's incredulous reaction to Ron becoming Prefect in OotP is anything to go with.
That ties in with a characteristic they both share: ambition, or, in Ron's case, a desire for recognition. When not resorting to violence/intimidation as a Death Eater, Lucius attempts to gain status through money and political influence in the wizarding world - the Slytherin way, while Ron only *dreams* of success. He sees himself as head boy and Quidditch captain in the Mirror of Erised, but lacks the self-confidence to actually try and stand out - in asking Fleur to the Yule Ball, or trying out/playing Quidditch keeper.
It's this combination of wanting to be recognised and lacking self-confidence that tempts me most in writing Ron/Lucius. What I want to explore is how Ron would do when he's forced to stand up to Lucius, thrown back on his own resources. He has courage, proven repeatedly in canon, but there always overshadowed by Harry, who is forced by circumstances to display greater courage than anybody else. He is intelligent, although not the kind of ideal school pupil intelligence that would make him stand out academically. Quite like Harry, he doesn't seem to care much about book knowledge, and seems to be unwilling to put much effort into things that don't interest him. He's lazy (I can *so* identify with that). But then he has the kind of strategic mind that allowed him to beat McGonagall's chess trap at age eleven. My subjective inkling is that Ron, *forced* to think on his feet without friends to fall back on, could be *quite* brilliant, and I think that Lucius is the perfect opponent to tease out Ron's strengths.
That said, I think Ron and Lucius share a number of other character traits as well: they both have a volatile temper (think Lucius in CoS with Arthur and Harry...), are outspoken to the point of rudeness, come from pureblood wizarding families (if very different ones), and have an appreciation for material wealth. Which, in Lucius's case, translates into throwing money around offensively and in an exaggerated pride in being wealthy. With Ron, it shows in his resentment of his family's poverty. There's no doubt that Ron loves his family, and rather shares his father's easy-going lack of ambition, but he hates being poor, having only second-rate things, and in particular being taunted about it. Which, come to think about it, is a trait many of the Weasley children seem to share (all being eager to make a career/name for themselves). Though here, again, the Gryffindor/Slytherin contrast comes in: Lucius wants wealth to buy power, Ron would, I assume, be content with being moderately well-off to feel safe and pursue the few interests that matter to him.
And, of course, both have a ruthless side. Lucius's doesn't require any elaboration, but Ron, too, can be aggressive, cruel and violent and has his own set of prejudices and not too many scruples.
As a 'pairing', I can't see them romantically involved without a *very* convincing backstory - it lends itself much more to fics of the non-con or dub-con variety. Lucius isn't the type to fall in love, and Ron is *certainly* not the type to fall in love with Lucius! If they entered a relationship, it would have to be based on something else, from blackmail to chance/sex to a grudging feeling of mutual respect. And under changed political conditions, or alternatively a manipulative relationship during the Voldemort war.
Very subjectively, I can have a hard time buying into stories that give Ron the upper hand in such a relationship/encounter, even more so than with Harry/Lucius. Because much as I love Lucius as a character, what really tickles me about this pairing (hot sex aside, *grin*) is that it allows Ron to develop into a more rounded, intriguing character. Though, granted, Ron's very own 'darker side' lends itself to interesting possibilities here, so it's not a prejudice against bottom!Lucius (either in matters of sex or power) - I just need to bend my preconceptions a little :).
Now, Ron/Lucius is quite a rarepair, but there are a handful of fics which I love to bits, just if you want to get a taste for the pairing (or want to get over the initial horror of the idea, *g*):
SLASH:
Sympathy for the Devil by
mad_maudlin [NC-17, one-shot]Summary: Lust. Fornication. Deceit. There are greater sins.
Nobility by
the_con_cept [NC-17, one-shot]Summary: Voldemort has all but won, and Ron is given to Lucius Malfoy. It’s nothing like he was expecting.
Recollection by
switchknife [R, ficlet]Summary: 'Lucius Malfoy seduces Ron to the dark side...
GEN:
Worthy of Respect by
chthonya [PG, one-shot]Summary: When Ron returns from Egypt, holiday memories and the upcoming Quidditch season push his sister's recent ordeal to the back of his mind ... until he comes face to face with Lucius Malfoy.
While these are my top favourites, I've collected a list of Ron/Luciusfic here. Yep, wrote some to - they're listed there as well, *g*. As always, if you know of others, let me know!
