Fandom Discussion: Remus/Draco -- The Wolf and the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

[themostepotente]

A considerable amount of people on my friend's list seem to be enchanted with this pairing, and it really hasn't struck a chord with me. Honestly, I can't see that Remus would be bothered by such an arrogant little shite like Draco, or that a Malfoy would want to sully himself with a werewolf. Am I missing something here besides the usual non-con PWP? I almost want to write the pairing myself to try and understand it. Admittedly, there have got to be people on my friend's list going 'she ships Snape and Black and she's asking us what the appeal is?' Yeah, something like that :P

So I guess what I'm trying to ask is 'what's the attraction of this pairing?' What drew you in? Do you see this as having potential for romance, or is this strictly a non-con/dub-con scenario only? Any insight for believable characterization while exploring something deeper?

Recs, people. If you can, rec me Remus/Draco stories with plot. I know it's a vile word for some, but I think I'll require some background to keep an open mind about the pairing.

--P

Comments

[elfflame]

Well, I for one totally agree with you. I mean, I like both of them, and usually if I like both characters, I can ship it, but not this time... I have no idea why it's suddenly become a big pairing.

Now Lucius and Remus, on the other hand... :D

[alazysod.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I have no idea why I like this pairing. I don't ship it as strongly as I do with others; for me, it's just something to read once in awhile because it would be amusing if it actually did happen. I don't see any potential for romance, but in the Remus/Draco fics that I've read, it's more about the exploration of their characters and mindsets –– especially Draco's.

Here's a masterlist () of Remus/Draco stories. I haven't read all of them, so I don't know which ones have actual plot, rather than just hotmansex.

[son-of-darkness.livejournal.com]

Maybe the clash of personalities?? I know Remus is pretty passive most times, but there's the whole werewolf thing which I'm sure is bound to make him much more assertive/aggressive... when two assertive/aggressive personalities clash, there's going to be a power struggle... and er... I don't necessarily mean that in a sexual way.

But yeah... it probably doesn't really work outside of a non-con/dub-con PWP...

[pinkfinity.livejournal.com]

The scenario I've wanted to write involves Remus banding together with Snape, to 'rescue' draco from joining the death eaters because remus is still feeling guilty for Sirius, et al, not doing more to keep Regulus out & safe. And those familiar, familial grey eyes... And it's all guilt & angst and woe!

Wouldn't it have been disturbing & problematic for Remus, seeing the same grey eyes Sirius had in Draco's face all that year when he was teaching DADA?

[inell.livejournal.com]

Here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/inell/244369.html#cutid12) are a few I've read, enjoyed, and recced. Some are pure PWP, but some aren't. It was "Midst of Life" by Anise that got me to sit up and go "Wow, under certain circumstances, this pairing might work" and I now count them as one of many rare slash ships I enjoy. If you want one with actual plot, characterization, and that I, personally, thought was rather believable considering the pairing, I'd say "Midst of Life", which is at the link above.

Inell

Draco/Remus

[djin7.livejournal.com]

Personally, I don't really get it, either. However, one writer has given me a good picture of it.
I speak, of course of the most excellent cursive aka Isolde and the sub plot Draco/Remus in Minor Arcana (http://archive.skyehawke.com/authors.php?no=92).

She writes a plausible reason for it, and makes Remus quite interestingly territorial about Draco, wherein Draco is primarily using Remus to anger his father, and make Snape jealous. Except for when he's not.
*g*

[moshi.livejournal.com]

If you're looking for Remus/Draco fics, I run remus_draco. :) Fics are archived in the memories.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I wrote mine (http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5740) as a Merry Smutmas request, but I approached it as a "how to redeem Draco" pairing. And a hurt/comfort fic, in a way. If you squint.

Being the plot whore I am, it does have plot.

I'll admit, though, there isn't a pairing that, in the hands of a good author, I won't buy.

[flimpy.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I adore Remus/Draco so much :D It works for me on a similar level to Snape/Draco, except there's less mutual snark and more contrast in personality and social status, obviously. I like the idea of Draco bringing out Remus' more 'wolfish' side and Remus in turn breaking through Draco's facade through patience and compassion. Redeemed!Draco gets a bad rap in fandom, which justifiable to an extent, but I'm a fan of the idea within a non-gimmicky context, and Remus/Draco feels refreshing and honest. This collab (http://www.livejournal.com/users/moshes/44848.html) between moshes and glockgal pretty much sums up the appeal. I also recommend Mosh's "A Way Out" (http://www.livejournal.com/users/moshes/52154.html). She writes the pairing wonderfully. "Domestic" (http://www.livejournal.com/users/crimsonclad/15556.html) by crimsonclad is a nice study of Draco and Remus, and slash if you squint. ;)

Also? The image of those two together is is verrah hot. :3

[balfrog.livejournal.com]

Last week, I recc'd ishafel's Black Magic (http://www.livejournal.com/users/ishafel/39053.html), and toscas_kiss gave me a Remus/Draco fic list, made up by slippyslope: (item: one list) (http://www.livejournal.com/users/slippyslope/7003.html). What a round-and round fandom chain.

Alas, I have nothing to offer but a G-rated doodle:


"Boy loves Wolf"

[ariadneelda.livejournal.com]

I can read almost any pairing and I like odd pairings, so I don't have a problem with Remus/Draco. I don't think I can see them romantically involved, but of course, this depends on the skills of a writer to make it believable for me.

As far as I remember I haven't come across more than a couple of Remus/Draco fics, but you might want to check this one out: At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners (http://www.livejournal.com/community/merry_smutmas/57458.html) by geoviki (NC-17). It's beautifully written and hot.

[tarotemp.livejournal.com]

The few Remus/Draco pairings I've read have really mostly been more for curiosities' sake (that and I'll sometimes go with more unusual pairings to mix it up a bit.) And of course for the sake of a good plot - which are sometimes few and far between.

Didn't xylodemon post a few on her Recs Page of Ginormous Proportions, too?

[starkittyn.livejournal.com]

This is one pairing I can't write and rarely read. It doesn't work for me. Remus is too passive and conciliating in my mind. No.

[innerslytherin]

I shall be rather arrogant and pimp my own fic to you. Actually it was co-written with slightlyjillian, and it follows as a sort of sequel to my fic My Immortal, which is Remus post-Veil.

This is very mild slash, so no non-con etc. This is Remus looking at Draco and seeing the similarities to Sirius, and being angry at Dumbledore for not looking at anyone but Harry.

[magdelena1969.livejournal.com]

Hello! modernmouse suggested I pop over here for your question/discussion. She and I were introduced when we traded fic for art in a "tradeoff" and my request was for Remus/Draco artwork.

I had been minimally exposed to the pairing in one fic, and then participated in an RPG where Draco pursued Remus. I personally can only see the pairing happening in a post-Hogwarts situation. Either hurt/comfort where Remus is given the job of taking care of Draco, or purely PWP.

I think Remus would be attracted to the very things in Draco that attracted him to his friends James and Sirius. Both were brash, often mean, and I doubt he'd be turned off by the pampered, rich boy nonsense since I'm sure he had to deal with that with James and Sirius.

My contributions to the pairing have been a co-written fic with goldpemcorgi (NC-17) called The Winter Guest (http://www.thesilversnitch.net/fic/viewstory.php?sid=3722) and one I wrote myself called Silver (http://www.thesilversnitch.net/fic/viewstory.php?sid=4752) (also NC-17).

[ldybastet.livejournal.com]

'she ships Snape and Black and she's asking us what the appeal is?'

LOL yeah... that did strike me at first, and I laughed when I read that line. Just like I can't see Snape with Black, I have trouble seeing Draco with Lupin, but for different reasons of course. With Snape and Black it's on their personal level, with Draco and Lupin, I really doubt that Draco would ever get involved with a semi-human. He's not thrilled about having him as a teacher, so it's a bit of a stretch for me to see the prejudiced pureblood being intimate, or even friendly, to a werewolf.

I might read more of the comments here when I come home from work tonight, and perhaps try reading some of the recs. We'll see. *g* I quite like being prejudiced against some pairing.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Am I missing something here besides the usual non-con PWP?

*looks shifty*

*looks left*

*looks right*

You mean there's more?

[elucreh.livejournal.com]

Ummm...crap...I can't remember where I saw it or what it's called!

There's a beautiful one where Draco goes to live at Grimmauld Place and kleptomania comes into it and it's wonderfulwonderfulwonderful and makes the whole pairing make sense (and normally I'm with you.) But I can't remember any of its contact info!

[fatale.livejournal.com]

All right, so I'm a bit late to the party. But I'll say I'm enchanted by Remus/Draco. The only reason it isn't my OTP is because of the lack of Remus/Draco fic to be found. There just isn't as much, nor are there any huge "shipper" fics out there for the pairing like there is H/D. That said, most of the Draco/Remus fic I read seems to be of a higher caliber than the H/D, but that could just be due to sheer amount. (You'll have to excuse me if I'm repeating myself. I'm exhausted.)

I'm not sure why the pairing holds such an appeal for me--I really don't think I ship it for the same reasons I do H/D. For me, H/D holds a very near-romantic quality for me. Draco/Remus holds a lot of potential for a good H/C fic, which I'm always up for reading. There's just a dynamic, man, that isn't there in other fics.

The first fic and the one that absolutely addicted me to the pairing was Aconite by toscas_kiss. (And it has an equally lovely sequel.)

Hmmm....

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

You've probably read this piece of work
already (http://www.livejournal.com/users/srichard/96424.html)

and perhaps the reasons for the pairing here (http://www.livejournal.com/community/ship_manifesto/38052.html)

I do like most ships if they are written well (such a whore, me is). But the Remus/Draco ship is something that I can accept on one level (like Snupin) but don't really get emotionally involved in (like say Severus/Lucius). I think the appeal is the fact that Draco is supposed to be Remus's chance at redemption that he couldn't give to Sirius Black (as seen in certain circles), and the fact that although Draco Malfoy and Sirius Black are related and share certain characteristics, each man has his own distinct personality (some descriptors are along the lines of 'black' and 'silver'. The only thing though, this is more or less expressed in erotica or chan. I've never really seen a good story with an adult Draco/Remus (unlike say, Harry/Remus) - they all seem to be unadulterated schmoop.

More than likely you've read the Remus/Draco that Switchknife wrote? Where Draco is captured by Remus and a strange relationship is formed between the two men?

Sorry, I got nothin'.

[sine-que-non767.livejournal.com]

Shelter The Foe and its sequel, Devil You Know, are the main ones that spring to mind. Both on Switchknife's site, my links are still for Skyehawke, sorry!

[megstuff.livejournal.com]

Sorry to weigh in so late but can't resist the chance to chatter about Remus/Draco. A lot of the appeal for me is just that I like Draco, and since he doesn't get much development in canon I'm always desperate for scenarios that explore different views of him. The dynamics between him and Remus are so different that they are in Harry/Draco that I find the pairing more interesting. And there are so many different ways to pair them, since Draco is a blank slate and Remus is so ambiguous. Whatever aspect of the character you want to explore, I think you can find a match in the other one.

There also are some really great writers that have written the pairing, and again since they both were left in kind of a grey area at the end of OoTP I think a lot of writers have used the pairing to explore where the Wizard World is going next.

You've been already recced some good stuff, especially the Aconite series and switchknife's stories (which are here (http://www.aeristerra.com/switchknife/fiction/shelterthefoe1.htm) and here (http://notquiteroyal.net/switchknife/fiction/devilyouknow.htm)). Besides those I would also suggest

-cjmarlowe's two stories, here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/cjmarlowe/322254.html) and here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/cjmarlowe/339871.html), for an elegant & lyrical war/postwar view

-blythely's remix of Worthy Prey (http://www.sprunkers.com/prey.htm) for Crazy!Draco (and the original is good for Predator!Remus)

- and donnaimmaculata's After the Storm Has Passed (http://www.livejournal.com/users/donnaimmaculata/9093.html) which is sort of the anti-Remus/Draco; that one is along the lines of what you say here: I can't see that Remus would be bothered by such an arrogant little shite like Draco

and and and I could go on all day but that's probably enough, right?

I hope you do try your hand at writing them; I'd love to see your take on it. (http://remix.illuminatedtext.com/dbfiction.php?fiction_id=196) ()