Saturday recs post: a world-class moaner

[lokifan]

This week’s Saturday recs post will be played by my July Ron/Draco recs at crack_broom. Apologies for being so wordy - but you should totally click the cut and check this stuff out, it’s amazing.

Harry Potter fic

Don’t Let’s Start by skoosiepants. Ron/Draco, NC-17, ~35 000 words. Summary: Draco's undead father is trying to kill him.

I’m actually very surprised this fic hasn’t been recced on crack_broom before. ‘Ron needs to protect Draco from something for a few weeks’ is a classic Ron/Draco trope, but usually Ron’s an Auror. Here, he’s given that up in favour of running a magical wildlife refuge. The fic is charming and funny and full of great dialogue; it’s much too old to be DH-compliant, and instead is populated with vividly-drawn minor characters along with Hermione and Harry. Draco’s screwed up and Ron has his own stuff going on, but that never overwhelms even when things get heartstring-tuggy. ~35k goes by in an instant.

Addiction by sabathea / iamisaac. Ron/Draco, PG-13, ~6500 words. Summary: When you've lived with someone for years, it's not precisely easy to turn round and tell them that you've made an awful mistake – that you just don't fancy women. Ron never intended to have an affair, and definitely not with Draco Malfoy. It just... happened.

Ron being oblivious/in denial over his attraction to Draco or men in general is a trope that’s generally played for comedy. Here his denial and closetedness is both very plausible and genuinely sad, although the fic is written with impressive lightness of touch. Both Ron and Draco are perfectly IC, and though the fic never becomes overwrought, the ending is shattering.

Show and Tell by ella_bane and cursescar. Ron/Draco, NC-17, ~6300 words. Summary: To Sophie Richard, whom Aspen and Ella both love, and who requested for the Fantasy Fest: Ron/Draco, established, loving relationship with a very dominant Ron. Public sex as a much-desired punishment for Draco. Mild humiliation.

This fic is one of the hottest PWPs I have ever read. It’s gorgeous established-relationship kink - this Ron enjoys dominating Draco, but he’s doing this exhibitionism thing and getting off on it because of what it does for Draco - very hot and quietly sweet.

And it’s funny. Bratty Draco, eager Hermione, curious Harry, and a Ron whose voice is absolutely perfect - they all come together for hilarity amidst the scorching sex.

The Belly of the Whale by liriaen. Ron/Draco, R, 900 words. Summary: A dystopian fugue in nine movements (so far), written for thrihyrne.

It’s tiny but evokes a whole world, and the language and imagery are simply fantastic - some of the most vivid I’ve read anywhere. Draco is there to torture Ron for Voldemort and there are wince-inducing descriptions, but you should read this anyway; it’s pure magic.

Title: Boiling Point by mad_maudlin. Ron/Draco, R, ~2300 words. Summary: Ron Weasley has always had a problem with anger management.

This is very much Ron’s fic, and he’s gorgeously done: moody, fierce, vulnerable. The fic starts and ends with him at home with Hermione and the kids, compartmentalising everything, a happy grown-up with a life. But he and Draco so clearly need this aggressive, rough sex full of oneupmanship, every so often. This is short but intense and the build-up is fantastic; but truly, check it out for the characterisation alone.

In Eleven Easy Steps by elucreh. Ron/Draco, R, ~4300 words. Summary: Anyone can be your right one in eleven easy steps.

I really enjoy the non-chronological structure here, that alternates Ron and Draco finally coming together with scenes of how they got here. We get to have friendship over Quidditch, distrust during the war, pain over the loss of Hermione, and a respectfully treated Harry/Draco relationship that still falls apart, all in a few well-chosen scenes. And then a very fluffy ending, which is sometimes exactly what you need.

The Beg Me For It series by icarusancalion. Ron/Draco, NC-17, ~69 000 words overall. Summary: Voldemort’s forces take over the Ministry by force. Ron, taken prisoner along with his brother Percy, is compelled to work within the bureaucracy (now headed by Lucius Malfoy) until such time as the Light can liberate the Ministry. Ron is forced to collaborate, but is not co-opted. In the process, he comes to know Draco rather better than he did at school.

It feels a little strange to be reccing such an acknowledged classic of Ron/Draco fic. But new people arrive in fandom all the time, and besides, I am perfectly happy to serve as a prompt to reread on this one.

This series is some of the most ambitious fanfic I’ve seen, and it fulfils its ambition. It feels both much longer and much shorter than its actual length, because it so successfully creates a situation and a world that’s utterly compelling and full of intelligent detail, and utterly sucks you in with its plot. The six stories (not counting the drabbles) that make up Beg Me For It shift genre and tone and POV and yet are seamlessly part of a whole, and the smut and wild night are just as fantastic as the extended action sequence.

I love that it takes a very dark premise and deals with it so minimalistically: Ron and Percy are prisoners of Lucius Malfoy’s Ministry, and by extension of Voldemort, forced to work for the Death Eaters. But they’re collobarators grown semi-comfortable, eating chocolates given by Lucius. Ron’s sense of humour remains intact - he’s gorgeously characterised throughout, his bravery and his desire to impress and his determination and his wish for an easy life. His need to protect his family is also paramount, and Percy and Lucius are also fantastically written. And Draco - he’s funny and exasperating and heartbreaking, for Ron and the reader.

Ron and Draco never feel easy in this fic, despite the weird domesticity that follows their terrible reintroduction to each other. It’s not fic written from the POV of a shipper who assumes they must, inevitably, fall in love. It’s peculiar and difficult, but they are shown giving each other what they need over and over throughout, and I was never less than thoroughly convinced.

More Than You Can Chew by gypsyflame. Ron/Draco, NC-17, 4000 words. Summary: Ron takes Draco hostage to try to force Lucius Malfoy into Azkaban. It doesn’t quite go as planned.

I have a thing about a messed-up Ron trying to have his revenge on Malfoy, and biting off more than he chew. Mostly because I haven’t read that much of it, and what little I have read has been glorious. This Ron is constantly angry post-war, and furious that Lucius Malfoy got off, and his rage and impulsiveness and a vague idea of justice all come together to cause tying Draco Malfoy to a wall. :D The sex is intensely hot, and Draco is well characterised, and Hermione’s brief appearances are wonderfully IC. Plus, the twist in the tail is great.

Harry Potter art

Title: Contrarian Captivation by vividescent. Ron/Draco, PG-13.

It tells a story even if you haven’t read the fic it illustrates; I love vividscent’s style, and her art is beautiful; and the boys both look utterly gorgeous. Freckled, high-cheekboned, startled Ron, and slightly dishevelled, vulnerable Draco... SO PRETTY.

Title: Merry Christmas by alex_zoe. Ron/Draco, PG-13.

alex_zoe’s art is always beautiful, with gorgeous colouring and use of light, and that’s very true of this piece. It’s also erotic without showing more skin than Ron’s bare shoulders: the ribbon collaring Ron as well as showing him off, Draco’s possessive, pleased gaze, and the sense of voyeurism that comes from meeting Draco’s eyes.

Priceless by cugami. Ron/Draco, PG.

It’s incredibly beautiful, with glowing colouring. The kiss comes across as both loving (Draco’s smile, Ron’s hand on his bare hip) and passionate (their grasping at each other’s shirts). The animated version is lovely. And in a ship that has class issues and financial disparity at the heart of it, it seemed perfect to end my month of Ron/Draco reccing on a piece titled Priceless.