RON. No but seriously! There’s Luna as well, but Ron is just – Rowling inadvertently made him the perfectman!
Supportive? You betcha. But he’s not going to support anything blindly, no siree. He’s going to be critical about it! He’s not going to support something that contradicts his morality – and he’s got a strong sense of morality, make no mistake. He didn’t support S.P.E.W. because it tried to free the house-elves without taking their feelings and preferences into account. He didn’t approve of Harry using Sectumsempra but was able to recognize that the Prince’s book helped save his life and thus, that it is important and genuinely useful.
Caring? Come on now there’s so many examples through the books. He’s the one who gets Hermione out of the library or brings her things to eat when she’s in her “exams-craze” mood. Hehelps Harry put on his pajamas in the second book, like a parent would. He comforts his friends, and stands up to bullying, no matter who’s doing it. And remember how Ginny, in second year, went to Ron instead of any of her brothers to talk to him about the diary, because she knows he’s going to care?
Sexuality? Please. He had a crush on Fleur, who is quarter-Veela, and on Hermione Granger. He had a crush on Viktor Krum. Ron is at the very least bi-curious and at most a full-blown bisexual disaster; why do you think his middle name is Bilius?
Loyal? There’s no one more loyal and faithful than Ron. His little sister pretty much made it her mission to break his self-esteem during sixth year and he still loves her with all his heart. Hermione could be rotten to him and he was still willing to forgive her and compromise. Harry put him and his family in danger too many times to bother to count and Ron was there every step of the way, and if he left he came back always. It’s not in his nature to cheat or conceal things. He’s so very open and true.
Will fight for his happy ending, will even fight his partner for the happily ever after? Yes! Ron’s entire arc involves dealing with his insecurity but also getting Hermione to see him as an equal (rather than “make him worthy of Hermione”; go step on a lego, Rowling). Hermione is very much in love with Ron but she’s also got this very nasty habit to overlook his achievements and to want to control him. But you can’t control someone you claim to love (aside from all those consensual kinks in the bedroom that I won’t talk about because I’m ace damnit). Ron works on himself to be the man he thinks Hermione deserves. But he isn’t afraid to call out his partner on their ish either – he’s a very balancing person, and practically a certified therapist with the way he’s handled Harry over the years.
Of course he has his shortcomings. Everyone does. But Ron makes a fantastic partner, because unlike Hermione – or Harry to a lesser extent – he’swilling to compromise and discuss. And he knows that a relationship doesn’t end after a simple argument.
remember in goblet of fire when minerva says ‘potter’s a boy, not a piece of meat!’
imagine harry telling her everything after the battle of hogwarts, telling her about how dumbledore raised him like a pig for slaughter, and how he had to die and mcgonagall gets so goddamned mad
she loses control for the first time that harry’s EVER seen and she’s actually yelling, she’s so pissed that harry was seventeen and he had to accept death and dumbledore KNEW he would have to die and NEVER TOLD HIM
and harry’s about to cry because yeah his friends would be devastated if he was gone but NO ONE got this damn pissed that dumbledore had raised him so that he could die at the right time and mcgonagall’s in the middle of a rant and he just shoots up and hugs her and she’s stunned into silence but after a moment she hugs back and it’s great
and then she goes up to her office and starts screaming at dumbledore’s portrait because ‘i don’t care if it had to happen, albus, he is a CHILD-’
Having Mr. Weasley as a father-in-law must have been the easiest thing in the world. Whenever Harry wanted to score points, he just needed to do any of the following:
drive him to a carwash
take him on a field trip to the Muggle post office
HARDWARE STORE OMFG
“I hope you like your new outdoor barbecue, dad!”
vending machines
first plane ride (making sure Mr. Weasley gets his junior pilot wings)
Segway tours. Mr. Weasley on a Segway is now my new favorite visual.
any as-seen-on-TV gadget: Slap-Chop, Super Shammy, Paint Zoom, Mr. Lid, NuWave
get him one of those banks that automatically separates the Muggle coins according to type
leaf blower. just show him a fricking leaf blower.
I’ve got this wonderful image of Mark Williams in-character as Arthur Weasley riding down the street on a Segway. The most wholesome mental image ever.
“Ron’s anxieties and senses of inadequacy… are the inspiration for some of Rowling’s best writing across the series. Not all of these fears stem from being the rather more ordinary best friend to someone who is Chosen. Ron is ashamed of his family’s financial limitations, which leave him with broken wands, hand-me-down pets, and ragged dress robes, all of which stand up poorly to Harry’s magical tools, his beloved Hedwig, and his sleek party outfit. The moment in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire when Ron discovers that the gold he used to pay Harry back for the Omniculars Harry purchased for him as a treat at the Quidditch World Cup vanished, and that Harry didn’t notice because he has so much money, is one of the sharpest depictions of the awkwardness of financial inequality in a friendship that I can remember. Their gap in Quidditch skills is another area of friction. And the scene in Deathly Hallows in which Ron, having made tremendous efforts to return to the friends he abandoned, confronts his terror that Harry is more desirable than Ron in every area, whether as a son to Mrs. Weasley or a potential lover to Hermione, is a beautiful illustration of how difficult it is to love someone who constantly eclipses you.”
“She never loved Ron as much as she loved Harry and Hermione.”
Dearest J.K Rowling,
ALL OF THIS!
The quote from the original post is just so good and accurate and utterly heartbreaking. But it’s such an important point to make. Ron is one of the best written, multifaceted, and complex characters in the entire story and his arc is just so damn good. For any person who can read the books and still find a way to completely disregard him, or worse, misunderstand, underestimate, and abuse him? It will continue to boggle my mind for the rest of my life.
Headcanonsandmore 