Weasley Is My King

[rynne]

Having spent about an hour several days ago making a Master List of Can't Stand and Debate Threads, and then looking at VENOM today, I have come to the conclusion that there are TOO MANY CAN'T STAND THREADS. There were four new ones today alone, and one of them has the audacity to be a Can't Stand Ron thread. Original poster talks about how Ron prefers fame and fortune over family and friends (What. The. Fuck?) and about how he's so jealous, and gaaahhhhh. When I first saw that, I wished like hell that it wasn't a Can't Stand thread so I could link her to Dicey's essay (posted by narcissam here, for those of you who don't want to go searching HPfGU for it) and just generally go insane in defense of Ron. I don't understand how people can say that it's only because Ron is defended so often that there seems to be so much Ron-hate--he's the first of the Trio to get his own Can't Stand thread, and there's all these Ron hatelistings, and wah. I don't get it.

I love Ron. I adore Ron. I want to wave little "Weasley is my King" flags, ones with no sarcasm whatsoever. He's not my favorite character, but he's close, and the only reason I don't read fanfic about him is that no one can get him as perfect as JKR can, and he's prominent enough that I can always go back to the books for my Ron-fix, the way I can't with Remus and Sirius and James.

Every time someone describes Ron as average, I want to go ARGH NO RON IS EXTRAORDINARY! I mean, honestly. Ron is twelve years old, a first year, and he beats his seventy-year-old teacher's gigantic chess set. I assume that McGonagall is very good at chess, considering she makes it her defense for the PS/SS, and Ron, a twelve-year-old, beats it. And by sacrificing himself. He's been watching the white chessmen brutally hit the blacks practically the whole game long, and he knows what's coming if he does it, and he does it anyway, even though Harry and Hermione try to talk him out of it.

Obviously, yes, Ron is average with his schoolwork. But then, so is Harry, and when compared to Hermione (or Ernie MacMillan!), practically everyone is average, and you know, I can't really fault Ron for not being all that interested in much of his schoolwork (nope, no senioritis here. *whistles innocently*). Besides, it's not like being average in school equates to being average everywhere. Ron's average at school because he concentrates on other things, like, you know, his best friend who the most feared person in Britain (if not the world) is personally trying to kill. And making said best friend laugh, because Ron is quite good at that, and if anyone needs a laugh, it's Harry.

And of course, that famous line, "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" That was what made me fall in love with Ron. There he is, trying to stand on a broken leg, facing the man who broke his leg in the first place and who is, to the best of his knowledge, a man able to kill thirteen people with a single curse and betray his best friend, his best friend's wife, and his godson to Voldemort without compunction, and he stands on his own feet, despite the pain he must be in due to his broken bone, and says that Sirius will have to go through him to get to Harry. My GOD. I like to think I would have been able to do the same, but I doubt it. Ron does it without thinking about it. That just amazes me.

Ron's just so human. He's passionate and loyal and eager and lazy and stubborn and has self-esteem issues and sometimes I can identify so clearly with him, and just oh my God I love him. He's not super-logical and books-smart the way Hermione is, and he doesn't have this scary destiny that Harry does, but how anyone can call him ordinary or average just because he's not what his friends are (and there's a reason for that, you know--it's the Trio, and each makes up what another lacks), but he's funny, and adorable (I've always found the belching slugs scene one of the cutest in the series, despite the slugs) and just...just...ineffably Ron, and I love him for it. There's a reason he's what Harry would miss the most, after all.

If I didn't have an eight am class tomorrow and a quiz in there that I have to study for, I'd go a lot more in-depth about how extraordinary Ron is and why I love him, but alas, there is class, and so maybe I will do it another time.

Comments

[blacksatinrose.livejournal.com]

Ron is one of my absolute favorite characters; I am right there with you. I do not even understand how anyone can hate him, and I don't mean that in the facetious "why doesn't everyone like what I like wah" sort of way. I mean, I love Sirius, but I can see why people would dislike him. Same with James, and Remus and Harry. But RON? I can understand why people might not like his character type (I have a friend who thinks he's boring because he's too good a guy, and I disagree but hey, mileage and all), but thinking he's a bastard? Thinking he's selfish?

No, I don't get it. He's an amazing guy. He doesn't have to be the best at everything to be perfect in his way. If someone can really think he's a selfish asshole because he has a VERY HUMAN spat of jealousy at living in Harry's shadows constantly for four freaking years... augh. I just have to wonder because this is someone who... like you said, he went up against someone who was, as far as he knew, not just a murderer but an insane mass murderer. Someone who took down his own best friend and 12 others with a single spell.

And Ron stood up to him. For his friend.

Just thinking about it makes me tear up. I love him so. ><

*FLAILS* AUGH SHUTTING UP NOW! I love Ron!

[mellafe.livejournal.com]

You know what? I think most people who hate Ron are the Harry/Hermione shippers. There has to be a reason why they read him different.

[jurhael.livejournal.com]

Oh I adore Ron. His greatest asset is his sense of humor. :D

[rynne.livejournal.com]

:D He certainly makes me laugh! Though of course, I don't like it when he's just reduced to the comic relief...

[ariastar.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I'm feeling the Ron love. I really really don't appreciate Ron enough, though I certainly am very fond of him (especially OotP Ron, in fact, who is intelligent in ways that he isn't in GoF). And I really must thank you for linking that essay; I was completely blown away at the excellence of that reasoning, and makes me very happy, as I've never really thought on that fight but I never really thought of it as jealousy either. I feel justified and happy and Ron-fangirly now.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

I love that essay. It just makes so much sense, when you think about it in relation to all the rest of the books. Remus is still my favorite character, and probably always will be, but ohhhh, I love Ron.

[idroppedarice.livejournal.com]

I never found that Ron was one of my favourite characters at all, but I do agree with the qualities you've listed here. Ron is brave. He's loyal, trustworthy and has his heart in exactly the right place. He doesn't always know the best thing to say, but hell, not many people would if they had Harry as a friend.

I'm so glad I decided to re-read the series, my appreciation for Ron, Harry and Hermione is back intact, as well as my appreciation for Tonks. I think that people get so carried away with fanon ideas of characters that they just don't know who they're talking about anymore, which is what that original poster you mentioned seems like.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Anyone who starts getting too much into the fanon side of things needs to go back and read canon. It's why we're all here, isn't it? It always just reaffirms my love of these characters...

(Now if only I could find my copy of GoF...)

[ant-power.livejournal.com]

*huggles*

You are so right. Ron is just the perfect Gryffindor, the perfect friend and (to me at least), the heart of the books. This is why I can't understand Dark!Ron fic, because I can't understand him ever turning on Harry. He's not unnaturally jealous, I mean, it took him four years to show jealousy toward Harry whereas most people it would've gotten to them alot earlier. And I think he's clever in a way that Hermione isn't, and I think that's going to be important at the end too.

*loves*

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Ron is love. :D

Though I'm not convinced he was even jealous at all. Did you read that essay I linked to in the post? It's brilliant.

[ceilidh]

AMEN. I have to go to work right now or I would say more, but AMEN. Ron has a damn lot more depth than people give him credit for, and it really pisses me off.

And I totally agree with you about too many CS threads. GAH a CS Ron thread. How can I look at that forum today. -_-

[ceilidh]

And hrmph. You know, some people take that 'if you want to kill Harry' line and twist it into cowardice. You know, becuase if Ron was a REAL man he wouldn't have said 'kill us', dragging Hermione into it, he'd have said 'kill me', putting only himself on the line. That's about as low as I've seen people sink to bash him. And they love to use that scene in movie!PoA where Harry is (uncanonically) bawling under the Invisibility Cloak) and Hermione's all in his face - they use teh fact that Ron's off to the side as 'foreshadowing' of Ron going 'ebil' or something. *sporks*

[krabapple.livejournal.com]

You know, becuase if Ron was a REAL man he wouldn't have said 'kill us', dragging Hermione into it, he'd have said 'kill me', putting only himself on the line.

Dude. DUDE. People say that? That is so odd to me. OF COURSE Ron would include Hermione--this is the TRIO, after all.

Plus, I'm sure Ron knew that if he was struck down (and he thought he would be killed! *wibble*), Hermione would be the next to stand between Harry and Sirius. He was just speaking what he knew to be true, through common sense

Sheesh. People are the strangest people.

[marauderthesn.livejournal.com]

As the person who started the Can't Stand James/Sirius thread recently: Sorry, I don't mean to be negative. I just needed somewhere to rant about that ship and be understood.

There are people who can't stand Ron????? What sort of highly terrifying drugs are they taking?

[rynne.livejournal.com]

:p I'm actually not quibbling about that thread--I've been tempted to start it myself, and maybe would have if I didn't feel it a bit unprofessional as a mod of that forum. (And every time I get a notification that the CS Remus/Tonks thread was posted on, I grin.)

I do get a bit tired of all the negativity, but I knew it would be there when I volunteered to mod the forum. It's just...Ron...*wibbles* Highly terrifying drugs indeed...

[sandy-phoenix.livejournal.com]

Erg... Can't Stand Threads. I know you can discuss pretty much anything on the Park and that is a wonderful thing, but couldn't there be a moritorium on Can't Stand Threads for just a few days or something? Sheesh.

And the very idea that anyone can't stand Ron!!! Ron is wonderful! Harry wouldn't be Harry without Ron! Hermione wouldn't have anyone to nag without Ron!

Weasley is our king! You tell 'em Rynne!

[rynne.livejournal.com]

:p I wish there could be a moritorium on the Can't Stand threads for a few days, but people would probably get up in arms about it. *sigh* They really like having their places to vent...

*loves on Ron so much* :D

[krabapple.livejournal.com]

Oh, Ron. RON. I *heart* Ron.

First of all, you and the other posters are so right about the trio dynamic--they all make up what the other ones lack; they fill in spaces and smooth over bumpy patches with each other. Ron is loyal and common sense smart in a way Hermione isn't; Ron is the pureblooded wizard of the group--he can provide history and information and a comfort with the wizarding world that Hermione and Harry don't have.

I read in a review of the PS/SS movie that the reviewer said it was RON who performed the bravest deed of the moving--staying behind and playing chess. And no disrespect to Harry, whom I also adore, the reviewer was RIGHT.

And this is coming from someone who expects there to be more friction and conflict between the trio in books six and seven; to reference Buffy, I think there's going to be some "Yoko Factor" type happenings going on. But in the end, I also think Rowling's going to, to reference Buffy again, pull something of the heart/hand/mind/soul bit, and it will take the three of them to defeat Voldemort--Harry's hand my be the one to do it, but he's always stronger with his friends than without them.

I said it in a fic, and I'll say it here: Who do you think is going to be the last person standing between Voldemort and Harry?

That's right: RON.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Not that I know anything at all about Buffy (and I'm guessing Yoko Factor is originally referring to the Beatles anyway?), but yeah, I think there's going to be some tension in the trio. But it's not going to split them up; it's going to make them stronger. All three of them, including Ron.

I love Ron. I just...love Ron.

[sullacat.livejournal.com]

Ron & me = OTP

I love Ron. He is everything that is good and right and JKR created him for a reason. I'm really too drunk right now to talk intelligibly about this, but i do love Ron. Who could hate Ron...
really...

[rynne.livejournal.com]

I'm not even going to pretend to understand how people can hate Ron. Ron = LOVE, people.

[mellafe.livejournal.com]

Here here damnit!! Ron is my fav character (from this generation) and I've been hearing a lot of hatred towards him these past few weeks, with really annoying reasons. So I thank you for writing this, you're totally right about fanfic and people just not being able to get him and how fantastic he is.

I think the hatred, somehow, has a lot to do with the movies, though.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Stupid movies. I've only seen the first two once each, and haven't even seen PoA at all, but I've heard how he keeps getting reduced to comic relief or something like that, and it pisses me off. Ron's the heart of the Trio. Hermione's the mind and Harry's the soul, but Ron is the heart, and the three of them need each other. I don't understand how anyone could hate Ron that much, and I don't really want to...

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

What I so love about Ron is that it's his being "average" that makes him extrordinary. He doesn't have any super speshul powers, and he has to deal with the kind of ordinary problems we all have to deal with knowing the universe isn't going to arrange itself magically so that he comes out on top.

I don't really get the idea that he's "jealous" in some sort of sinister way. Pointing out the inequalities in the world does not necessarily mean you're jealous. I mean, why shouldn't he recognize that Harry isn't fundamentally better than he is, but just happens to have been blessed with special importance? He's still willing to stand by Harry and sacrifice for him, even when he's probably going to be overlooked doing it.

Bah. I loved that Ron often winds up just dealing with his own problems because they're not "serious" enough to be the main plot or whatever. Ron's awesome! And somehow, disliking him because he's "average" seems to say something kind of interesting about readers more than something about Ron.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Word to all of that. He's the type that doesn't stand out unless you look deeper, and I love that. Hermione stands out because she's absolutely brilliant and logical, Harry stands out because...he's Harry, but Ron is just Ron, and that's what makes me love him.

[alazysod.livejournal.com]

(Here from daily_snitch)

Hear, hear! I'm annoyed at people hating Ron––how can you? He just rocks. I'm linking to this post in my journal. :)

(And I agree with you on the Can't Stand Threads. It's nice for people to rant and all, but there really doesn't seem to be a point to them.)

[rynne.livejournal.com]

I love Ron so much--writing this post really reawakened my Ron love. (The puppies are so loud they often drown him out. *g*)

I want to just say "Bugger the Can't Stand threads" sometimes. Honestly, if you want to rant about a character or pairing, get a LJ and do it there--you'd certainly be less restricted than at FA, where there are so many rules about the CS threads...

*sigh* People are really silly sometimes.

[netbyrd.livejournal.com]

Also off the snitch. THANK YOU for this. THe amount of Ron-hate and general weasley hate, (esp. Ron, Ginny and Molly) just kills me. I had no clue that so many people hated him until I went online. It always seems like people are willing to write off Harry or Hermione's negative qualities, and yet, Ron is crucified for his. WHY IS THAT?

[rynne.livejournal.com]

I don't think I will ever understand how people can hate the Weasleys so much. Sure, they have their flaws, but that's part of what makes them so interesting. They're Harry's surrogate family and they're not evil! *sigh* Ron's got his flaws too, but he's one of the best characters in the series, and I adore him.

[prettyveela.livejournal.com]

The same people who hate Ron are the same people who hate Molly. Ron reminds them of themselves or of someone in their life and that annoys them so they decide to hate him. Ron is the boy in 7th grade who broke their heart or Molly is their mother in RL so OMG I HATE THEM! Any part of the book that reminds them of RL is hated. :\

And I'm just going to say it and yes I know there are exceptions so *face palm*. In my two years of having been in the fandom I've never seen R/Hr shippers hate on Hermione or Harry as much as Ron is by H/Hr's shippers.

Ron does get the most hate, hands down.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Ron does get the most hate! AND HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT!

*hugs Ron closely*

[overloved.livejournal.com]

people who don't like ron eat babies. thanks for sticking up for him.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that they eat babies, but I don't understand that thinking. I love Ron. :)

[zoepaleologa.livejournal.com]

Here via daily_snitch

Oh, bravo, to everything you just said. When I see people bashing Ron, I always want to ask, "Why the eff are you reading these books, then?"

I love Ron. Think of it a moment, put yourself in the place of an 11 year old boy who had never ever had a friend. You are plucked from your life, enter a new world, and you must be terrified. And into your life steps this homely, jolly boy who makes you completely welcome. He's heard of you, too, but he's not starstruck, he's just you first ever friend from the minute you clap eyes on him.

Sure, you and him have your ups and downs, but generally, you rise above them. That's how Harry sees Ron.

And I'm delighted you mentioned the chess thing. He played chess for his life and the life of his friends, at aged 12 - and won. Does that look stupid?

Forget those awful film versions of Ron. I love the canon Ron. Good to see someone defending him. FWIW, my daughter ID's with Ron when we've read the books and she would NOT ID with someone who had no class!

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Most people forget about the chess thing, so I made a point to mention it. :D Especially as it so clearly illustrates part of why I love Ron. Stupid movies...I'm glad I've only seen the first two once and haven't even seen the third. What they do to Ron...*shakes head in dismay*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_lavinia_/]

Point taken about the chessboard.

[azaelia-culnamo.livejournal.com]

*Claps* THANK YOU!

And no, he's not the stupid sidekick. That's movie canon (if you will).

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Stupid movie canon. He's the smart, loyal, funny sidekick! The one Harry and Hermione both love and are best friends with! People who pay too much attention to the movies need to go back and read the books.

[esmaraldo.livejournal.com]

I love you! and I love Ron because :despite the pain he must be in due to his broken bone, and says that Sirius will have to go through him to get to Harry: and he's funny and snuggly and sometimes you just want to kick him in the head, and then hug him, of course.

Did I mention that I want to hug him?

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Hee. I want to hug him too.

*hugs Ron*

[alyndra]

(via D_S)

So, shall we start a Can't Stand Ron-Haters thread, or a Can't Stand "Can't-Stand Threads" thread?

*g* just kidding. Seriously, I agree completely with what you're saying. I've wondered, in the past, why so many people have such a twisted view of Ron, and other than Teh Dreaded Movie-Canon, the only thing I can think of is that lots of people entered the fandom between GoF and OotP, due to the exploding popularity and the long gap between books. This led to a strengthened impression of Ron at his worst, as GoF is Ron's low point in the series.

GoF is Ron's book for going through the irrationality of puberty. Hermione had hers in PoA (exacerbated by the stress of the Time-Turner; maybe those who jump on Ron have considered that to be sufficient excuse). Harry saved his until OotP, when Ron and Hermione were both mature enough not to let his moodiness result in a major argument, as had happened the previous two years: Hermione alienated both Ron and Harry in PoA, while in GoF, having worked through her own issues, Hermione manages to remain neutral when Ron fights with Harry, and to forgive Ron fairly quickly when he again acts irrational over the Yule Ball.

Ron is a shining star of a good friend in the first three books, and Harry (and the readers) are all the more shocked when he suddenly, and apparently inexplicably, starts a fight. Ron's good nature and loyalty to Harry has been so reliable and certain as to be taken for granted: and now he's suddenly neither good-natured nor, for the moment, loyal. We experience with Harry the shock, hurt, and betrayal. And although they later make up, this experience remains the most vivid impression of Ron through the long, long gap between book four and book five, when many fans turn to the world of fanfic.

Book five, of course, establishes Ron as even more good-natured and loyal than ever, but somehow I have the impression that OotP has never been assimilated quite as thoroughly into fanon as the previous books are. Fans have spent so long thinking about Ron's behavior in GoF, it's hard to change their opinions of him.

All this is, of course, only a hypothesis. Maybe all the hullabaloo is really due to insistent prejudices within society against freckles; I'm just a clueless theorizer. Who knows?

[rynne.livejournal.com]

(TOO MANY CAN'T STAND THREADS! They're really bloody annoying sometimes...)

Though I understand your post, and it makes sense. It's only that, after reading Dicey's essay (which I linked to in my post above) I can't really see Ron as having been jealous in GoF. *sigh*

[of-evangeline.livejournal.com]

Oh my cow. I had no idea you shared the Ron love. You are lovely!

[rynne.livejournal.com]

I love Ron. Ron's just so...so...Ron. *squishes him* :D

here from d_s

[arseaboutface.livejournal.com]

Hallelujah and amen, sister. Preach the Ron love. :}

[barbed-whispers.livejournal.com]

WORD.

(I don't have a regular Ron icon, so this will have to do.)