#like would fanon Sirius even care enough about James or Harry?

[neverenoughmarauders]

I am trying to imagine fanon Sirius Black living on rats in a cave to stay close to James Potter’s son during GOF… I am trying… I can’t see it.

[forestdeath1]

According to you Sirius was Walburga's favourite son and they had quite a lovable normal mother son relationship before all the rebel drama.

And in the books he kept Buckbeak in his mother's bedroom and spend hours locked inside that room.

But it is canon he later in life hated her.

What do you think was going through his mind all those times? Was he hating it? Or was he trying to find atleast one good memory with her? Or he didn't even care?

(Also I like to think Sirius looked uncannily similar to his mother. So much so that if he was a woman anybody could have sold him as Walburga herself.)

He wasn't trying to FIND good memories with her. He was trying to FORGET the good memories with her. Poor Sirius argued with Kreacher as if he was arguing with his mother, they were so heavily dependent on each other in their toxicity. Terribly complex and unhealthy relationships.

I think Sirius always deep down couldn't fully understand whether leaving his family was the right thing to do, and whether staying would have changed anything. He hates Grimmauld Place 12 not just because it was a bad place for him; he hates it because it's a living reminder of everything lost - his family, his childhood, his brother, father, and mother, the Blacks. He doesn't want to regret it, so he prefers to think only ill of them. He constantly convinces himself of how much he hates them. But Sirius himself approaches the tapestry and starts conversations about them all. He's always drawn there.

Yes, he will never forgive their blood purism and fanaticism. He ran away to be with James, with Dumbledore, to stand against everything his family had done for centuries, but deep down he knew he left his family, and it was an unhealing wound he tried to mend by trying to be even more useful in the fight against evil, trying to be needed and valuable, constantly reminding himself of who the Blacks really were and what Sirius was fighting against and why he ran away.

Sirius was also so attached to James because James replaced everything for him - literally his entire family. But James couldn't fully heal his wound; he was with Lily. Sirius was always lonely. Without roots, without clan, without a past. A blank slate, on which nothing appeared except for an endless and very deep feeling of loneliness and attempts to become important, valuable, and needed to someone. The only one who somewhat filled this void for him was James. Then Harry.

But Sirius always felt he wasn't worthy enough of all these good people because he was a Black, and the Blacks were one of the reasons why all these good people were dying. He wanted to draw a line between himself and the Blacks, to distance himself as much as possible from them, to not feel all that guilt and shame. This is very similar to feelings towards one's homeland, if your country starts an aggressive war or becomes a dictatorship (this is very well described in the diaries of Germans who fled during fascism or defectors from the USSR). You love your country, but you hate it and want to dissociate from it as much as possible, want to forget that you are of that nation, but that country, that homeland - it's forever in you, in your soul, in your blood, and you'll never get rid of it. This country raised you, it's where you belonged, and in a new one - you're forever a stranger. And no matter how much you're ashamed of it, hate it, your heart will always beat harder when your country is mentioned somewhere.

Don't get me wrong, the feeling of unworthiness wasn't his evident trait, it's very much a deep-seated belief that activated in the toughest situations. The way Sirius sheepishly offers Harry to live with him... it breaks my heart every time.

Sirius is one of the strongest and most tragic figures in the entire series, with one of the most complex fates and characters. Few in the entire series can compare with him in strength of character (there are only three characters who are as strong a character as he is). Fanon Sirius doesn't carry a drop of the tragedy and complexity of character that canon Sirius does. Canon Sirius has so much depth, pain, passion, love, loneliness, that I still discover something new about him every time I reread the books.

As for him resembling Walburga in terms of appearance - I don't know. I always imagined him as a male version of Bella. But perhaps he really does resemble Walburga.

[ifyouknowmenahyoudontt]

canon sucks in the sense that there should be more characters of color than we can count on our fingers, more canonically queer characters, more disabled or neurodivergent characters. not everyone should be cishet, white, and neurotypical. ( and the "erm but actually dumbledore was gay and hermione was black!" bullshit doesn't satisfy this ) and i applaud the old fans for getting over the old faceclaims ( aaron taylor johnson, andrew garfield, ben barnes... i salute the many edits of them ) and the new age fandom for keeping up the poc headcanons!!

canon sucks in the sense that while we can have complex characters, morally grey leaning dark characters, those characters should not try to be slotted into "good or bad." those characters shouldn't have very brief redemptions that suddenly make them heroes and epic good guys after entire books of assholery and even bigotry. two guesses as to who i'm talking about here!

canon does not suck in the "my favorite character may have maybe a sentence of plot relevance doesn't get enough attention, so i'm going to ignore all the canon things that point to them being a bigot and instead woobify them and try to make them more important than they actually were" way.

like, fanon regulus black my ABHORRED. while he wasn't abused himself, was canonically the favorite of his parents because he aligned with their ideals, it's interesting to explore sirius' complicated thoughts on his little brother. one that many mistreated and abused older siblings have when it comes to their younger- could i have done more, could i have saved him, changed him, etc. but acting like regulus wouldn't have hated his guts and wanted sirius dead, literally became a death eater and fully agreed with voldemort's ideals?? did we read the same books?

and canon does not suck in the "i'm going to take these cool complex characters and dumb them down to a single personality trait or stereotype, and pretend they're not a complex person with flaws" way.

like, i love james and sirius, literally my favorite characters! they were not always the good guys. canonically, even if he turned out to be an exponentially worse person, they were the villains in someone's story. they used to be bullies, just for the sake of it. they used to be asshole teenage boys with big egos and privilege ( both coming from wealthy pureblood households ). and they don't have to use that privilege AGAINST anyone! they obviously wouldn't, both of them are considered "blood traitors" for a reason ( james marrying a muggleborn and sirius even associating with james and lily and remus ).

it's so much more interesting to explore how they would have been as privileged little dickheads in the 70s in the midst of war, rather than "sunshine himbo james" and "femboy twink sirius" ( or if we wanna go back to old fandom shit, "sexy, lady-killer, has fucked everyone and their mom sirius" ). i also just hate "big sexy strict alpha remus," i can stand him being sarcastic because it's funny but i can't with people who take away his shyness and kindness. give us quiet bookworm remus back PLEASSEEE

even peter, and i used to be a victim of this as well- THEY LIKED HIM! peter was a marauder, he was part of the group, he was their best friend too. i understand people who try to erase him altogether just out of hating him, but those who pretend that james, sirius, and remus didn't care for him are just wrong. it's okay to not like a character, but don't rewrite canon in a way that fully fucks up the story. peter's betrayal sucked from all angles, because he was their friend too.

and reading what you and multiple other people have said about lily is so right, she gets the "jealous straight girl that wants james but HATES REGULUS for stealing jamie!!" treatment, or is just cast out altogether. like, sorry, who did harry get his striking green eyes from? who brought him into the goddamn world? james sure as hell didn't do it alone, and last i checked, regulus was dead by then if we wanna be real about it.

this turned out to be an insane rant, SO sorry, but hp is my special interest and i LOVE the marauders era just as much as i love the golden trio era. they're interesting to explore as characters, ESPECIALLY james, in the same way a lot of people like rose quartz from steven universe? he's spoken about as this infamous, talented, really good dude who died protecting his wife and son and helped bring upon the savior of the wizarding world. but he was also like a huge asshole when he was in school, and harry probably would have hated to meet james and sirius from back then! but people dumb all of them down in the marauders era works just because we don't get explicit descriptions or tellings of what they were like. and it's so annoying!!

i strongly agree with this.

tbh regulus being one of the most popular character speaks a lot about this fandom. bigotry is a broad term and those who criticize JKR (rightfully tho) but go on again to do that to women? or the poc? hypocritical

and the fanon remus thing pisses me off so bad because the point of his character was that he was a soft and sensitive person contrasting with his “condition”!!!! he was human!!!!!!

i agree w this sm

[iwriteasfotini]

The Marauders: Canon, Fanon, and the Battlegrounds Between

I know there is fierce contention between various camps within the Marauders fandom. Whether it revolves around ships, characterizations, or who knows what else, it’s out there. Everyone is fully entitled to their own opinion. And I’m personally unsure why there is so much animosity. People like what they like, and no one should be made to feel shame over the way they enjoy a character. 

There are things about the living Marauders era characters we can glean from canon. However, as the story is told through a single character’s POV, we have to take the narration with a grain of salt. Is it horribly inaccurate and unreliable, no. But is it biased? Absolutely. And thus how Harry views Sirius, Remus, and Severus during his teen years is not the end all be all to these characters. 

For James, Lily, Regulus, and anyone else who died during the first round against Voldemort, SO much is left open for interpretation. And there are many arguments to be made which have solid canon derived ground to stand on, arguments which at times even contradict each other. And I think this is what is so enticing and exciting about the Marauders. There is a lot of possibility depending on how you view a single character or a single event. It’s how so much fanfiction can exist without it all just being copies of the exact same story. And even when the plot lines follow a similar theme, people still love it because everyone throws their own little dash of pizzazz on these characters. 

How I relate to and then project the cast is heavily influenced by ME. Who I am as a person. And for you, the characterizations I portray may not be your cup of tea. Awesome! We shall continue to both enjoy the fandom gleaning what we love from the creativity of those who contribute. But it means I can’t complain when you don’t love my work, and you can’t complain when not enough people write about your ship or the characterization you connect with. We have to amiably agree to disagree, and find common ground from which to base our shallow internet understanding of the other. 

Even fanon is contested, as it should be. Maybe a majority of us agree Wolfstar is fanon, but people who ship Prongsfoot would heartily disagree. What I’d love to see is more posts about what you love about a character, rather than what you hate about the general characterization adopted by the fandom or a specific characterization. I think my mind would be opened to a wider array of ships if I could understand what it is about James and Sirius’ personalities which draws them together romantically rather than just platonically. I won’t necessarily agree about how those characters manifest to make that relationship take shape, but at least I can say “ah, I can see that.” It is far preferable over someone degrading a person’s characterization of James or Sirius. 

Even when a characterization goes rouge and totally doesn’t align with canon, who cares! That fic probably won’t get super popular as many people will be scratching their heads thinking “this is the [insert name] I know and love.” But if someone wanted to write it, good for them. They connected and reshaped a character to suit their own liking. No one says this is illegal. 

I feel like the broader Harry Potter fandom accepts that fanfiction does not necessarily have to be canon compliant or even canon relevant all the time. But for some reason, with the Marauders this sentiment is pushed to the recesses of our minds. People will climb the mountain of their ships and die on that hill. It could be generational (social media has changed how we interact with each other and how people interact virtually through fandoms as a result), it could be the nature of the characters themselves, it could be the ships. I don’t know what the catalyst is, but the things I read sometimes just make me shake my head. Thankfully tumblr’s algorithm keeps that stuff far from my feed. But sometimes people I follow reblog or post about this contention. 

I will never understand why someone feels the urge to go out of their way to write a terribly negative comment on someone’s work or a negative post about a ship they hate. Don’t like the tags, DON’T READ! Don’t like a ship, find and follow people who share your preferred ship. Don’t like the direction the fandom is headed? Dig, create, and stop complaining about how the ‘modern’ Marauders are nothing like how they are portrayed in canon. 

And accept that as the fandom grows, the way people interpret tags broadens. I’m sure fifteen years ago, a canon compliant tagged work looks a bit different from a current canon compliant tag. We can debate the minute details of canon and each of our individual interpretations or we can say, “you like the world of Harry Potter? So do I!” The only REAL rift should be between people who support JKR’s personal beliefs and those who do not. That shite’s real life folks. Not some fantasy world thought up by a single mom in the nineties. 

So spread the love! Not STD’s though cause that shite is also real. Practice consent and protection people. 

In unrelated notes, my tumblr timer app timed out for the day, kicked me off on my phone, and I promptly went to my computer and wrote this little rant. Also, it's election day and I've been avoiding the news/media/everything all day to wait until tomorrow to see the hopefully more stable 'results.'

Alright, enough for now. Night all!

Except I just saw some Drarry pirate AU art I'm probably going to go reblog because for some reason it really hit home. And by home I mean it was f*$%ing hot. :-)

[vinatintasupernovita]

Tell me your hp hot takes I desperately need to know (and i am not a marauders stan so I won't care if you're negative)

i have a lot of takes so i’ll keep it to my top 10!

1) I cannot STAND regulus black. he’s barely an idea of a guy, his fanbase is a timothee chalamet circle jerk coated w the same milquetoast white sad boy w a heart of gold character they give to every run of the mill YA-male protagonist. y’all just want a pretty boy and i would respect it if y’all didn’t act like he was the messiah of the era, he fucked up his ONE moment of redemption and didn’t even do it right infact it just made Harry’s time trying to save the world harder than it had to be

2) majority of fans of the marauders just like them bc they’re aesthetics of vaguely gay best friends in a partially idealized 80s where they do not do anything but chain smoke, have relationship problems, and die. they are frat boys, they’re doing a lot of dumb shit constantly and very minor are their problems dating related

3) i don’t like the idea Sirius and Regulus were physically abused by their parents. i actually think until Sirius was placed in gryffindor he was the family golden child and relentlessly spoiled, in the same way dudley was but with his bitchy mom who was not loving but more.. like instigatey and let him get away w stuff? i do think Walburga was emotionally abusive and clearly unstable, but i cannot see her laying a hand on her precious heir to the family name, esp since we Know the black family held that in Very high regard. Sirius was different fundamentally from his family but not to the point Walburga was Beating it out of him, he was given just enough room to push until he actively chose to run away at 16

4) Pandora Lovegood Was A Ravenclaw. Only Ravenclaw Parents like That have a kid like Luna. Xenophilius also was a Malfoy, he was like Sirius and fundamentally different but only Kicked Out when he Chose to marry into the Lovegood family, taking her name. he and lucius LOOK like brothers like cmon

5) Moody is a hufflepuff that is just important to me, also i don’t think he’s that old tbh war just does that to you, but again that’s more for personal reasons

6) Peter loved his friends more than anything and never once WANTED to hurt them. him ratting out the potters was more him ratting out Harry and hoping that Voldemort would Only kill Harry, leaving Lily and James bc he couldn’t imagine a life without them, but they could Have another child (bit fucked up but he was also looking for the easy way out)

7) I think Narcissa and Sirius were the closest cousins besides Sirius and Andromeda. Narcissa was the clear favorite of her family branch and so was Sirius, they’re also the closest two in age, i think they’d get along well at least before hogwarts

8) The Black Family are BROKE as fuck! I’ve told you abt this but for the sake of the post: Grimmauld Place is Ratty and Dirty and Ugly in the middle of muggle row houses! Why would the MAIN family branch of the black family live there if they had a choice? they have no money (at least substantially) and they’re just kinda lying about it and hoping for the best, slowly becoming like the Gaunts

9) I don’t ship wolfstar bc i think Sirius is noncommittal and Remus is too depressed to do this shit rn but during hogwarts all the marauders did kiss a lil bit but in a bro way (also most marauders fans think sirius is bi and remus is gay, i see it the other way around, that’s just me tho. i feel like a lot of wolfstar fans shoehorn them into outdated mildly homophobic character types (the slutty bi, the inexperienced gay, etc)

10) James Potter is Indian and this isn’t so much a hot take as it is a fact bc Harry is brown in most fanon bc he kinda accidentally was written as brown-coded but not a lot of marauders fans seem to equate that with James. However i do think Harry is mixed in the way that he’s half indian, quarter east-asian, quarter white. (Lily is wasian and she and petunia are half sisters. you can guess what ethnicity Petunia is)

bonus: i cannot see Andrew Garfield as Remus in any context i think y’all are insane for that cus it looks nothing like him, just use his actual actor’s younger photos/movie clips??

[padfootastic]

hiii i had a question - how do you think other people saw sirius? like at his time at hogwarts, what was his reputation like? what impression did he give off? and also i feel like there are a lot of parallels between bella and sirius, and so what do you think their similarities and differences are? anyway sorry for the word vomit and the wildly contrasting questions

hello <3 do not worry, friend, here at padfootastic’s blog we specialise in word vomit. ur amongst ur own here ;)

for the first part, i swear my opinion on this has changed so much recently since i started leaning into the cold, arrogant Black heir type characterisation for sirius as well as looking at the black family as a bit more like,,,royalty among the WW type thing ykno?

so i think that all wizard raised kids have at least heard about the black family, mostly as a cautionary tale, almost always in tones of reverent fear/awe, and sometimes incredulously—sirius black, therefore, would’ve come into hogwarts with a lot of expectations/eyes on him. he almost immediately bucks all of it with his gryffindor sorting but people are still wary (bc the WW is so essentialist) so i think that like—lingering hesitance would’ve followed him throughout the 7 years, something sirius would be very conscious of too.

i’m also of the opinion that the black kids all received like,,,etiquette training and pureblood lessons etc etc so they all have a poker face/mask that they use in public as well as being learnt how to control their emotions (think fanon legilimency) and sirius tended to default to that, which ended up making people nervous.

so, basically, he gave off the impression that he was better than everyone else (he was); thought himself superior (lowkey yes but he was working on unlearning that, promise); didn’t care for the general public (absolutely true); and was a bit of a terrifying bastard who never got close enough to most people to dispel rumours/legends ykno?

(and ik i keep banging on this like a dead horse, but i think that most people, including those who knew him, were also a bit wary of his ~dark side bc of his upbringing and family’s actions wrt voldy. like, even remus and peter, on some level had that in the back of their mind. it was only james who never ever held it against him or treated it like an innate part of him/a flaw)

re bella & sirius, whooooo. i’m rly not a bella expert (that’s @narcissa-black-supermacy and i would love to hear ur thoughts on this, dani) but let’s see:

- both of them r very intense, very passionate people. translates into extreme, almost unhealthy loyalty for the people they choose as their own. also makes them very entrenched in & involved with whatever they choose to do- like bella being a death eater, and sirius being a part of the order/harry’s godfather etc etc.

- i think both of them were great at magic, on an intuitive level. like, it’s one thing to work hard at it, but for these, magic was like an extension of their hand, not a tool. this made them terrifying in battles and displays of power bc they just had. so much potential. (duels b/w bella & sirius were also some of the most explosive & entertaining)

- very arrogant, very ‘most people r sheep, and we’re better than them’ (which is almost a Black prerequisite, ik ik) and i can totally see them hanging out just to sneer at people lol

- also this is v random but both bella and sirius lowkey give me aromantic vibes? like, they don’t much care for romance or relationships as much as they do about a cause/person/dynamic, yeah?

for their differences, hm. i actually think those two were much more similar than not (being firstborn heirs) but i really think bella’s morality was way more skewed than sirius’, for one. also think she defaults to magic/violence/physical fights in disagreements whereas sirius prefers using his words. i don’t think i can ever see bellatrix like, slumming it, ykno? she grew up with the finest and she’s very happy to continue using it. sirius, on the other hand, takes it almost as a way to be rebellious and doesn’t mind living minimal & using whatever.

[alastorseye]

About Remadora

When I say I really hate the HP fandom, I'm talking about the "fans" that hate everything about the saga, but still having Harry Potter accounts. They change the original story, claim that fanonical facts are canon, and launch hatred and death threats at those who simply like HARRY POTTER JUST THE WAY IT IS. Yes, I'm mostly talking about Marauders fans, which I joined after reading the books because I thought it would be interesting and funny. I suddenly realized how toxic and hateful that fandom was, it's like a cult dedicated to deifying Remus, Sirius, James and Regulus, and it seems that hating Snape, Dumbledore, and Remadora is a requirement to be a part of it.

At the beginning I used to consider Wolfstar as something funny, a bromance, it never bothered me, I mean... every fandom has fanon ships and I respect that, but the way they always hate Remadora and their shippers is something that MUST stop.

"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely -"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front ofLupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times. . . ." And the meaning of Tonks's Patronus and her mouse-colored hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumor someone had been attacked by Greyback, all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all."

"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes,staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor . . . too dangerous. . ."

When I read this part of the HBP I realized that Remadora was my favorite Harry Potter ship. Of course I wasn't aware of the death threats I'd receive later. I've read some "reasons" why some fans hate Remadora.

"Tonks forced him!"

We all know how insecure Remus was. I don't have to explain what's written in Wizarding World (Pottermore). This is the Remus bio:

Well, we can read that Remus was really attracted to Dora.

"Remus, so often melancholy and lonely, was first amused, then impressed, then seriously smitten by the young witch. He had never fallen in love before. If it had happened in peacetime, Remus would have simply taken himself off to a new place and a new job, so that he did not have to endure the pain of watching Tonks fall in love with a handsome, young wizard in the Auror office, which was what he expected to happen. However, this was war; they were both needed in the Order of the Phoenix, and nobody knew what the next day would bring. Remus felt justified in remaining exactly where he was, keeping his feelings to himself but secretly rejoicing every time somebody paired him with Tonks on some overnight mission".

This is so sad and cute, and that's undeniable. I cried when I read it. If someone still thinking that Dora forced Remus to marry her after reading this paragraph... I mean... they're probably talking about another book series.

"The age gap!"

I'm so satisfied to know that some Remadora shippers have explained this. When it's about a kid and an adult... OF COURSE IS HORRENDOUS! Because children are not physically and mentally prepared to have romantic relationships. Wizards are legally adults at 17, REMUS MET TONKS WHEN SHE WAS 21!

I mean, many old people abuses of young people innocence, or something. But we all know that Remus wasn't one of those! He really loved Tonks, and that's canon. I don't know what's doing in the fandom people who denies canon facts.

Remus and Tonks were two physically, mentally, and legally adults loving each other.

"Remus didn't love her!"

He was an introvert, Tonks was an extrovert, she made his life better. And of course, I loved the way he introduced himself when he was trying to prove he wasn't a Death Eater:

"I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag." (Remus Lupin, DH)

Maybe I'm not the only one who perceive he was proud to be Nymphadora Tonks husband.

"I.. I made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks. I did it against my better judgment and have regretted it very much every since". (Remus Lupin, DH)

This phrase makes more sense after reading Remus bio. He used to think that he was "too poor, too dangerous" for her. He thought he wasn't enough for her. He never imagined that she would love him back. He was a werewolf, and of course he knew he was dangerous, you only need to be emphatic to realize he tried to get away from Tonks because he loved her, he didn't want to hurt his beloved woman!

If you don't believe me, read this again. It's in the chapter 11 of Deathly Hallows:

"Don't you understand what I've done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast!"

So, if Remus was trying to escape it's because he loved them, he thought he spoiled their lives. And of course, no one likes to feel that their influence is bad for someone they love!

"Their relationship came from nowhere! They don't have a development"

Well, the saga's name is HARRY POTTER, not The Love Life of Remus Lupin. The story is about the tragic life of this kid and everything he went through to save the world of a cruel and dark villain. I know many readers are young people in love, and they only want to ship everything, but that's not the main topic here, maybe mother's love would be the topic. Of course Ron and Hermione had a development because they were HARRY'S BEST FRIENDS, and they were always with him, from Philosopher's Stone to Cursed Child. Remus and Tonks are minor characters, and it's funny the fact that this usually comes from Wolfstar shippers, so... is Wolfstar more developed than Remadora?! I mean... they can ship whatever they want, Snape and the Sorting Hat, Dobby and Voldemort, anything, but that does not give them the right to disrespect such a cute, tragic and beautiful canon ship as Remadora.

"They are queercoded! Their relationship is homophobic!"

It's surprising to hear this. It's like... people gets angry just because the author doesn't make queer their favourite characters? I will explain why I don't think Remus and Tonks are "queercoded":

Whether through their dress, their behavior, their language, or other subtle forms of implication, queer characters were written or designed to communicate their unstated queerness to those who were searching for representation.

And this is the definition on the website Pride.com:

"Using LGBTQIA tropes and stereotypes to allude to a character's sexuality without explicitly confirming it in the text."

We all know that Disney used queercoding on characters like Ursula, Scar, Jaffar. And why do we know that? Because DISNEY WANTED TO PORTRAY THEM LIKE THAT, get it? Disney, THE CREATORS MADE THESE CHARACTERS INTENTIONALLY QUEER. How? BASED ON STEREOTYPES.

And going back to Remadora, I was really happy to see by first time a bada*ass woman, with short hair who wasn't portrayed as a lesbian just because the way she looks. This character didn't follow the: "Straight women have long hair and are girly", and "short dyied hair is for lesbians". I'm very very very surprised the fandom follows these stereotypes.

About Remus: I don't know how the phrase "being a werewolf is a metaphor about people with HIV AIDS" means "he's gay". Fenrir Greyback bit him when he was a kid. Many people interpret this as "r4pe". Okay, even thinking that it is the meaning of the "bite", I still cannot understand how being "r4ped" and "infected" makes him queer. Is this (again) a stereotype about people with AIDS and gay?

"JK Rowling created Remadora because she didn't like people shipping Wolfstar!"

It is true that fans love shipping everything, they queerbait and queercode everything. That's great, that's not the problem. The problem is when people starts bashing fans who ship canon straight couples. A very good example is the polemic on Falcon and Bucky relationship, some fans wanted them to be a gay couple, Anthony Mackie said that two men can only be friends, and there is no need to always give them a romantic connotation. People cancelled him, they called him homophobic. Yes, just because a person with authority (on the story they're following") didn't like the fact of queercoding their favourite characters. It's the same about Remadora.

Grindeldore is a very interesting and underrated couple by the way. You can love or hate JK Rowling, but the truth is that Harry Potter story is hers, and even if Remadora was "because she didn't like Wolfstar", she is the author, it was her mind where these characters first appeared, as a big Harry Potter fan I respect and like the original story, that's not a sin. An author has the right to make some changes if some characters were misunderstood by the readers.

(Yes, I wrote this a bit angrily since I've seen too much hate towards Remadora shippers)

[toujourspur13]

The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.

As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?

I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?

This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.

Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:

Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)

he ran away from home

he was severely depressed in OoTP

Kreacher

Portrait

So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.

But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.

Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.

We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.

I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape  immediately  recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…

And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -

So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.

And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.

Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart?  JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.  

The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?

Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).

To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away,  how he saw the situation.

There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.

Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.

Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.

And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».

And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.

Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?

I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder  that he was the last one.  

“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”. 

I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.

Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.

You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side.  However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.

To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war.  No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).

All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.

[hklnvgl]

Hi! I have a totally random question lol. I've seen a few people compare Pynch to Wolfstar (and Adam and Ronan to Lupin and Sirius as people too). What I don't get it folks saying that Wolfstar was a 'better' (stronger? more interesting? idk) ship than Pynch. I mean..? I don't see it, personally. What am I missing here?

👋 hi! i’m gonna begin this (i’m guessing it’s gonna get long—i’ve actually filled two pages of handwritten notes to try and make sense of my many opinions about this) with a disclaimer: my approach to shipping is very different when it comes to pynch and other fandoms. normally, i’m not actually a very active shipper—when i read fics for other fandoms i normally look for plot and feelings and, because most of the time there’s shipping involved, i usually don’t mind if a ship is there and might actually enjoy it but it’s not something i tend to go out of my way to search for. i just don’t usually ship fictional couples romantically! it’s all the same for me if they’re canon or not (though if they’re canon they will have more canon scenes together so that might help me to eventually ship them? idk i’m just the least romantic person you can find out there 🤣)

so that’s why i haven’t read a lot of wolfstar fics (i think maybe 2 or 3 where the focus was on their relationship? i remember a quite lovely texting au) and even less meta—when i read hp fics i will look for explorations of harry’s abuse, which is what gives me feelings, and in those wolfstar is usually there bc they adopt harry or something like that.

that said, and having therefore canon!wolfstar in mind (perhaps the similarities are stronger in fanon, i just don’t know enough to say!), i really don’t see why people would compare them either (apart from the fact that they’re popular mlm ships?) and i do have to agree with you that pynch is a more interesting ship (for me!)

and, yes, i can see there are a few traits remus and adam might share if you squint, but imo once you start really thinking about it they’re two very different characters! they’re both said to be poor on text, but in adam’s case that comes from the family he was born into and if i remember correctly remus’ dad was middle class (i can’t remember exactly but i think he worked for the ministry?) and remus was poor only because he couldn’t hold a job due to him being a werewolf. idk if people’s comparisons go further and they see cabeswater as a parallel to the werewolf thing? but if that’s the case adam made that choice himself and he embraced it eventually and it’s actually crucial for the resoultion of the series’ plot! remus being a werewolf was great for book 3′s plot twists and for shunning him out of society and little else. personality-wise i guess they’re both smart? i do think remus is more the type to give up after a while but 🤷‍♀️ (oh is it bc if wolfstar were canon it’d be implied that remus is bisexual bc of tonks??)

now when people compare ronan and sirius they only look at the surface which makes me super mad! they say they’re the same just bc they’re brash? and wear leather? and were born in rich families?? but sirius was abused as a child and left his family bc he was the odd one out (which in the lynch family would actually be more accurate to say declan is??) and ronan’s trauma comes from a wildly different place! arguably niall (and aurora? apparently from that little snippet of mister impossible i haven’t read yet) were also abusive to him but definitely not in sirius’ way? (that’s actually closer to adam’s family’s brand of abuse!)

i’ve also seen people say the gangsey’s dynamic is the same as the marauders’! and i’m sorry but i really think that’s not true! for starters we only see the marauders as a whole in flashbacks! and not even then bc lily was not part of the group yet (i guess people compare her to blue bc they’re the only girls??) imo the marauders (or what we see of them) do not inspire healthy friendship feelings! james is the leader and a big asshole and only sees sirius as his equal—he is very happy with peter’s (apparent) worship and i guess they all were super happy to believe remus was the traitor bc they didn’t trust him enough (a werewolf will always be a werewolf) and everyone completely oversaw peter (which i guess is why he did what he did but he’s too plain of a character to have had believable motivations when he turned to voldemort) and he was considered second-class among the group. also that scene with snape in book 5, where we see them all together, is not the gangsey’s dynamic at all??

anyway. back to wolfstar/pynch. the only canon moments in which they give me similar vibes are, for wolfstar, in book 5 when harry firecalls grimauld place from umbridge’s office (i think it was that moment) and we kind of can guess sirius and remus are spending time together at the house and have this caramaderie going (that i guess could be interpreted as shippy) and, for pynch, back in trb when ronan is driving adam to the trailer park for the last time and he says: “man, you don’t have to go back in there” (and i remember thinking in my first read something long the lines of “aw, they are friends after all!).

so. because adam and ronan are part of the main cast of their series they are more flashed out as character (i’ll always think sirius and remus did have potential but everything was too tangled in the plot and, besides, hp is harry’s story!) and i actually do care more about what happens to them as individual characters! but i also ship them! their relationship and their dynamic simply appeals more to my personal tastes! i believe they are perfect for each other and i could read a thousand alternative first meetings and soulmate aus with them as protagonists and i’d never get bored.

as of wolfstar, well, as i said i don’t mind if i go into a fic and they’re a couple in there (they’re cute, sure!), and they’re great friends and obviously care for each other, but we do see too little of them together and how they would counter their respective differences for me to say they’re a perfect couple (they might have been in a different universe and i’m sure there are plenty of fics out there that explore that, which i personally have not read simply bc i lack the motivation to do so).

tl;dr: i like adam and ronan more as separate characters and i just love the dynamic they have in canon, which is why i enjoy reading/writing about them as a ship. imo, wolfstar had potential but hp was not about them and if people say they ship them i nod as i do when a friend tells me irl they’re seeing someone new and i hope they make each other happy.

perhaps someone who’s more deeply in the wolfstar fandom can add a different view to this?

[retvenkos]

“this world isn’t ready for us”

requested

HOW I IMAGINE THE BASICS OF THE  MARAUDER ERA HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS…

James Potter

hogwarts years 1971-1978

james potter is indian, you cannot convince me otherwise

he has the greatest hair ever - it’s black and fluffy, and even though his father literally invented hair products, he doesn’t style it

it just naturally falls in a really beautiful way and sirius hates it

james potter is left handed, you cannot convince me otherwise

he always has smudges all over his hand and he’ll wipe the ink on remus’ face when he wants to be annoying

he’s 5′11″ (180 cm) and he had the majority of his growth spurt in his third year

he was awkward and gangly all year, and that mixed with his new crush on lily was hell in a handbasket

he eventually filled out, though, and by 5th year he wore it well

he had big round glasses because without them he’s blinder than a bat

he also  n e v e r  wore his tie - mcgonagall hated it more than anything and she would always fix his tie (with magic!) in class

she would also lecture him in that mom™ way

lily laughed at him one time because the end of the tie hit him in the face and that’s when james realized he loved the sound

also, most people have this idea that james was suave and flirted with lily all the time, but i disagree

he was an awkward mess when talking to girls and would make the most corny jokes, hoping lily would laugh

he only got good at flirting in his seventh year, after a summer of sirius teaching him how to be cool

but talking with his mates, james was an arrogant idiot.

but always respectful.

he was really good at transfiguration but absolutely terrible when it came to potions

also, i know he’s canonically an only child, but i think he has a younger sibling - probably a sister. he just has the older brother vibes. adopting his friends the way he did? only an older sibling, mom friend would ever.

Remus Lupin

hogwarts years 1971-1978

so i’ve already covered a lot about remus here but i’ll go off again

so i like to think that remus is secretly really good at drawing

we all took him for a writer but i am adamant in the idea that sirius is the poet, not him.

he can also do calligraphy - the writing on the marauders map was all him, fam

he’s also ambidextrous or at the very least able to use both hands pretty well

he’s definitely the tallest of all the marauders, coming in at a whopping 6′3″ (190.5 cm)

he was always lanky, too. james swore that one day he would be taller than remus, but it never happened

and i know we all like to think of remus as being the most studious child there ever was, but honestly,,, he was struggling every day and the reason he was constantly doing homework was because he was chronically behind in school work

i’m talking like at least a week out at all times

of course, the teachers knew why, and so they allowed him some slack, but still, he had the same expectations

but he was interested in most of his classes, and he worked on all of them equally

i think how he and lily met was that he needed a tutor because he was behind and she offered to help him

he just generally has this sad air around him, too

it was kind of a thing that he and snape shared for a while - two sad boys who were desperate to prove they belonged

and then, in their later years, they both take very different routes

oh, and because i haven’t said it enough, i love the idea of latino!remus lupin

and he could be bilingual!!!!

Sirius Black

hogwarts years 1971-1978

okay, here. is. the. thing. sirius is average height. i cannot emphasize this enough. i always see things about him being tall, but you are incorrect. he’s not super short, but he’s  a v e r a g e .

5′8″ (173 cm)

that’s still pretty good.

and while he can whine about how short he is, he is the most handsome out of all of the marauders

he has that regal look that makes his so attractive.

if he had an awkward phase, hogwarts never saw it. sirius just always looked really good.

and he did everything else to make himself look as chaotic as he could

he never once wore his school uniform correctly.

there were always buttons undone, ties pulled loose, shoe laces untied

and he acted chaotic, too

laughing overly loud

making unnecessary comments

every day he tried his hardest to be everything that his mother never let him be

as for classes, he’s one of those kids who is naturally gifted in everything (you can thank his mother for drilling him in the years prior to hogwarts) and just really doesn’t care that he has a natural aptitude

the only class he got really excited about was dada

also, i’ve seen the idea that he’s a womanizer be a thing, but,,, no?

i mean, he definitely flirts (most of the time jokingly) because it’s just another thing that can make his family upset and separate him from that image, but i don’t think he’s especially promiscuous

he’s literally a kid, guys

oh, and with every passing day, the lily and sirius friendship goes glaringly underdeveloped and it pains me - they could have been so close to each other but we just sleep on that, i guess

Peter Pettigrew

hogwarts years 1971-1978

so i get why fanon leaves peter underdeveloped, but he was important

first of all, peter is the same height as sirius 5′8″ (173 cm) and the two of them constantly argue over who is taller

they are also constantly aiming short jokes at the other, even though they are the same height??? they’re just insulting themselves.

at the very least, peter is a half-blood (i think he might have been muggleborn but then why would voldemort tolerate him, y’know?)

i like to think that he is really in touch with his muggle side - he and remus talk about muggle stuff all the time and play jokes on sirius and james who are oblivious but want to learn

peter was also really good at finding secret passages

he found the better part of the ones on the map, and maybe he knows about a few others, too

he was definitely the cartographer of the marauders map. who else would have had the skill?

he was definitely more awkward like james, and he never quite grew out of it like the rest of them

but it was okay, because his friends were fiercely loyal to him

even if it screwed them over in the end...

i also have this idea that peter was really good at games? like, gobstones and chess were his area of expertise

it’s definitely something that he would do with the other marauders when they were stressed out or sad

and he would sneak them food from the kitchens and they would just sit up and play games for a while

i think that peter was also that marauder that would check their schedules, seeing what classes they had together, and which ones they could all bail on to hang out in the forbidden forest

i also think that peter was a huge music enthusiast

he and james definitely talked about music a lot - he took james to his first concert and it was really precious

james would sing at any an all times, and peter would know all of the lyrics, singing more quietly but supplying all the words.

Lily Evans

hogwarts years 1971-1978

lily was a nervous wreck in her first year of hogwarts

but also vvv excited - she wanted to learn everything

she had a natural talent for dada and was also pretty good at potions, thanks to snape being her bff

she struggled when it came to history of magic because, y’know, she’s brand new to all of it

lily had really long, beautiful red hair ever since her first year

and, of course, those eyes

she was always very pretty, but she also got a lot of hatred because she was a muggleborn, so she struggled with herself - especially in the later years

i imagine she’s average height or maybe a little tall, definitely not short, since harry was his dad’s height

probably 5′5″ (165 cm)

also, lily was the one who gave harry all of his sass

she definitely was the one to sass james (who loved it, despite being taken aback the first few times) and she was very adamant in her beliefs

she loved her friends more than anything, of course, but she would put her foot down when she had to

i also feel like lily was a thrill seeker

it’s why she and james got along in their seventh year when they were head boy and head girl together

he probably showed her secret passages or shortcuts to places and she couldn’t bring herself to reprimand him

she’s also a little impatient

she always sips at her tea too soon, burning her tongue

or she’s tapping her foot five minutes before class ends because she’s raring to go

she also walks fast

Severus Snape

hogwarts years 1971-1978

so snape’s biggest thing is that he will not be the small fish in the big pond - he will not be picked on

and so that has screwed up some of his relationships because he will do anything to not be the last kid picked

this also means that his loyalty is only with himself (and lily, previously, but when it was him or her that had to take the fall, it was her) so he’s definitely a lone wolf

i think his slow way of talking didn’t manifest until he was in his sixth year

it was a way to be calculating - see how people react to what he’s going to say before he says it

he was definitely a wide-eyed kid

really big, sad eyes that would have made anyone feel bad for him

they went away during the end of his third year and beginning of his fourth

he traded it for pushing his head down, not allowing anyone to look him in the eye

snape was definitely a book nerd, and he used to spend all of his time in the library with lily

but after the marauders started hanging out in there (thanks, remus and lily), he had to find a new place

he wore his robes properly, and with a lot of care since he was pretty poor growing up and he was determined to wear them as long as he could

that’s where a lot of his formal aesthetic came from

also, it was a stark contrast to the marauders - where they were carefree he was uptight, where they were informal he was not. the recipe for disaster.

also, he was pretty short up until his fifth year, where he grew like a weed

at full height, he was 6′1″ (185 cm) - just tall enough to look down at james

Dorcas Meadowes

hogwarts years 1971-1978

i’m pretty sure canon agrees with me when i say that dorcas was black, and a pureblood.

her family weren’t blood supremacists, tho, they were vehemently against voldemort and she grew up with those ideals

she was sorted into ravenclaw but quickly became a friend of lily’s because they both had so much interest in school

dorcas would help her study for history of magic, and in return lily would talk to her about the muggle world

and when i say dorcas was talented, she was talented

i mean, it’s literally canon that voldemort killed dorcas personally, so she had to be a particularly skilled witch

i like to think that in her spare time, dorcas would even make her own spells - similar to snape, they were both inventors

she was very studious - studying long into the night and always reading a book or doing homework during lunch

she was definitely taking many n.e.w.t. level classes when she had the chance

she was probably the model student that the teachers were all very impressed by - she was going places

she was head girl and a prefect, sometimes working alongside remus lupin

i also think that she had a crush on marlene mckinnon

and she thought she was being obvious about it, too - going to quidditch matches? since when had she ever done anything remotely social?

she was planning on being an auror, and she was made one almost immediately after leaving school

james would always ask her for notes, and if he said they were for remus she would always give them to him because remus was a sweet kid and he wouldn’t ruin them

5′4″ (163 cm) but she packed a punch

also, she had great cheekbones. you can’t convince me otherwise.

Regulus Black

hogwarts years 1972-1979

if you were wondering where all of the tall genes went in the family, then look no further

he’s still not super tall, but he surpasses his brother, coming in at 5′11″ (180 cm), the same height as james

he also hit his growth spurt sooner, in his second year, when sirius was still short

and where sirius is overly handsome, regulus is a little less so

he’s still handsome (don’t get me wrong), just in a more... quiet way.

he’s always been a more sombre boy, with sadder eyes and lips less inclined to smile

i think he was always the more plain boy, the more overlooked boy, and that really got into his psyche at a young age

he’s also bookish - this, again, stemming back to his childhood

he was always looking for a way to top sirius, be better than him

if you wanted a boy to speak french in the hp universe, this is him

i feel like regulus would have just been really gifted with languages? he probably knows multiple and reads a lot of literature (including muggle literature - sirius got him a book once, please don’t tell his mother)

he excels in school - went all the way with potions and fell in love with alchemy in his sixth year

but while he’s intelligent, there’s a lot on his mind so he’s never super present in lectures and he doesn’t over participate

he cuts his hair short, always clean and the perfect image that his family wants

in his first two years, he tried to talk to sirius a lot and keep their relationship at something like brothers, but sirius could never understand him and regulus could never understand sirius so they drift apart by his third year

he still feels guilty about that, after all this time

oh! also! regulus is seeker for the slytherin quidditch team. it’s just a thing he does, he doesn’t super love it or anything.

Mary MacDonald

hogwarts years 1972-1979

so mary is a gryffindor a year below lily and the rest of the gang, friends with lily because she, too, was a muggleborn and lily stood up for her against some mean older boys

i headcanon mary as being latina, or maybe just from spain

either way, she comes from a big family and is a middle child

and she speaks spanish.

she’s 5′1″ (155 cm) and you know her friends use it against her all the time, short jokes galore

and she’s very outspoken amongst her friends, making giraffe jokes in retaliation, but it just never really stuck the way short jokes did

she excelled in healing magic and was definitely an ace at potions

she also really loved divination, mostly because it worked in ways that were very different than other magic

she was always braiding hair and definitely taught lily how to braid that long hair of hers

her favorite place was the gryffindor common room because it was always so alive? it reminded her of her big family, that’s for sure

oh, and if james does have a younger sister, when he meets mary macdonald, she immediately reminds him of his sister

and so the two of them quickly become a chaotic duo, singing muggle songs together but also getting on each other’s nerves just for the fun of it

Marlene McKinnon

hogwarts years 1970-1977

she’s one year older than lily but immediately sees this cute first year, lost on the stairs and adopts her

marlene is definitely the reason that lily can be so sassy, too. she’s a terrible influence, really, especially with that mouth

marlene is a gryffindor, too, and she’s definitely on the quidditch team

a chaser, probably - she most likely helped train james when he joined the team and that’s how she knows all about his crush on lily and teases them both

and she 100% gives james tips on how to talk to lily, shhh, no one tell

she has masses of curly, blonde hair and it’s constantly being pulled into a messy top knot or ponytail

she did a dare in fifth year that involved shaving her head and she did it, but immediately freaked out afterward. lily had to find her a hair growing potion, but for a week she had a shaved head that sirius teased her about mercilessly

in her defense, she thought it would be fine at the time.

she was a talented witch, but she struggled in care of magical creatures

she just wasn’t an animal person, okay?

she swears that unicorn was going to gore her.

her favorite class was astronomy - she liked to be outside, and being in the astronomy tower was pretty close to flying.

oh, and she was tall for a girl - 5′9″ (175 cm) and taller than sirius. it was a thing

she was fiercely loyal of her friends and would have been down to duel with anyone if they said anything about lily

she had a lot of siblings and she was the oldest, so it was kind of a given

marlene would have punched death eaters if given the chance

she wanted to punch snape a solid three (3) times during her school years but lily always held her back

Frank Longbottom

hogwarts years 1969-1976

frank was a gryffindor, and a rather sweet one at that

he was a pretty social guy - he had lots of friends, despite being pretty shy. he was just a generally great person to be around and he cared about people a lot. it got him places.

he was pretty tall - 6′0″ (183 cm) - and he had a kind of dorky look to him

but he cleaned up nicely, and every year he got a little better looking

neville got his awkward phase from his dad, and when alice was pregnant, frank said he would have to apologize to his boy for inheriting those longbottom genes, one day.

he really loved movies - he and alice were kind of pop culture nerds

he was a little before remus lupin’s time at hogwarts, but they would have gotten along famously, had they been closer in age

but he definitely had a soft spot for the marauders - those younger gryffindors who were funny and bright and made living in these dark times a little easier

his best class was definitely charms

he loved that class and hoped to one day teach it.

going back to hogwarts one day was always a dream of his

he was terrible at divination, though. something about looking into the future just never felt right.

Alice Longbottom

hogwarts years 1969-1976

so we never get confirmation on what alice’s maiden name was, but i’ve seen in the fandom that it’s widely regarded that it could have been alice fortescue, and i thought that was sweet and kind of just absorbed the idea

alice was a hufflepuff, and a pretty social one at that

she was constantly chewing bubble gum and talking with her large group of friends

i like to think that she always had short hair in school - a dark brown bob that kind of bounced whenever she walked

she was short - 5′2″ (157 cm) - and when she and frank got together in their sixth year, he would always hold her hand and guide her through the crowded halls

she got where she was going so much faster that way

i like to think she’s east asian, or maybe half, on her mother’s side

she was best at herbology, and it surprised everyone when she turned out to be really good at combat magic?

turns out she was great at non-verbal magic and doing magic without her wand

she had lots of practice when helping the plants thrive in herbology - she unwittingly used magic a lot to help them grow

she had so much magical potential, neville definitely inherited that

i also think that she was the more forgetful one out of her and frank, and that’s why neville’s also kind of forgetful, himself.

Narcissa Malfoy

hogwarts years 1966-1973

so let’s get one thing straight - draco gets his incredible bone structure from his mother

this girl had the greatest cheekbones this world has ever seen

and it gave her a very regal look that would have appeared cold on anyone else

but narcissa was kind, okay? she was soft.

also narcissa is queen at wizards chess and strategy - she beat amos diggory’s winning streak in her third year - but she’s also really great at history

and it interests her!

even though lucius was a year ahead of her, he’d always ask her if he didn’t want to do his homework, offering her anything in return

most of the time it was white chocolate or some kind of cream filled pastry - she always had a bit of a sweet tooth, and lucius is her greatest enabler

her worst class was probably herbology or care of magical creatures

she didn’t like working with her hands. she said it wasn’t very “becoming”

andromeda taught narcissa how to do her makeup in her third year, and she picked it up fairly quick, very partial to a dark lip

andromeda also taught her how to do hair, but narcissa preferred to wear it down when she was younger

she’s said to be tall, so i imagine she clocks in at about 5′8″ (173 cm), taller with her usual heels

Lucius Malfoy

hogwarts years 1965-1972

lucius malfoy... where to begin

lucius was really good at reading people. it was one of his strongest talents, and it, interestingly enough, made him really good at divination and other intuitive magics like charms

and even those classes he didn’t like, he did his best to excel in because 1) expectations, and 2) lucius knew there was power in knowledge. and he wanted all of the power he could get.

but he was also great at charming people so when he didn’t want to do his homework, he was all over everyone else, not so much asking for help as just getting it after a word or two.

yes, he always had that long hair

narcissa would sometimes give him little braids when they were in the slytherin common room, but if you were present to witness it, you didn’t ever mention it

he would know and your life would be over. it’s just the facts

and did he always have impeccable style? mostly, yes.

he was always very neat with his clothes - things were always in their rightful place, no matter what

he didn’t get the pimp cane until later, though. it was a graduation gift.

and lucius isn’t actually super tall? i mean, he’s tall, but not super tall

he’s 5′10″ (178 cm)

and he never hated how narcissa and him where basically the same height? (she liked to wear heels) supportive husband, i guess.

and i guess i should tell you - they got together in their 6th year

Amos Diggory

hogwarts years 1963-1970

amos diggory was a hufflepuff, and honestly, he was really cool in his day

he’s the oldest out of everyone on this list, but he went to school with lucius malfoy and xenophilius, leaving before the marauders ever came to school

he was head boy in his 7th year and a prefect prior to

he was kind and worked hard, so the teachers thought he was a good fit

he was particularly gifted in care of magical creatures and transfiguration

he was also really good at wizards chess - he was unbeatable for a while - even against lucius

narcissa beat him in his sixth year, though, and she became the new student to beat

he had a lot of freckles - especially on his arms. they faded a bit with age but he still has quite a few

and he was really good looking?

plenty of people had crushes on him and it may have went to his head just a bit

but he was still very kind and humbled because he wasn’t the most talented or bright, but dedicated to what he loved

whoever he gets with definitely brings out more of his humility and it’s a good match for him

he’s so whipped.

he’s 5′9″ (175 cm)

Other Characters:

Mafalda Hopkirk

hogwarts years 1963-1970

mafalda is portuguese and spoke the language in her home. she mostly learned english for the first time at hogwarts. she had a few exposures before that, but hogwarts was really her first place to learn it.

she was a hufflepuff and honestly exemplified the “hard working” and “kind” traits. truly a friend to all.

she was great at flying and became a chaser for the hufflepuff team almost right away

she also really loved divination - she got into xylomancy early on and was super skilled

she loved making up omens too just to scare her friends

she teased her friends a lot tbh

she’s 5′0″ (152 cm)

oh! and in the hufflepuff common room she basically claimed one of the couches for herself - she’s a bit of a night owl so she perpetually claims the same chair and ends up falls asleep in it.

and since she went to hogwarts during amos diggory’s time, i kind of think the two probably dated at one point. it didn’t last, but maybe in their sixth year the two went on a couple of dates

Xenophilius Lovegood

hogwarts years 1965-1972

xenophilius was a ravenclaw who honestly had a handful of friends and managed to get one in every house  - including slytherin

yes, he could be weird, but he was honestly fun to talk to and gave a lot of interesting insights that weren’t technically wrong, but kind of sounded like it

he was made fun of for it, don’t get me wrong, but his oddities gave him a couple of friends that would let him just ramble

he mostly stuck to himself and his small group of friends, so nothing big ever came of his teasing

plus, when he was younger he wasn’t nearly as out there. that came with age and isolation.

he was actually really intelligent and, like narcissa, had a knack for history

he was also really good at charms - he could do non-verbal spells sooner than most

i imagine he started to grow his hair out in his fourth year, but before then it was short.

all fourth year it was at this really awkward length, but by fifth year it was longer and more natural looking

he only gained his odd fashion taste in his seventh year onward.

Edgar Bones

hogwarts years 1965-1972

edgar bones is a ravenclaw with the biggest fascination with space - more than anyone else you’ll ever know

he was really interested in it when he was younger, and when he went to hogwarts for the first time, his love for astronomy just skyrocketed

good luck getting him down from his tower, because it’s a near impossible feat

he has freckles all over his face (his mom used to tell them they were constellations) and brown eyes hidden behind a pair of square glasses

he actually wears them really well, he’s pretty good looking not going to lie

and for height, he’s pretty average at 5′7″ (170 cm)

he’s italian. idk why, but i just really think he’s italian.

sports aren’t really his thing, but he grew up in a family that lives for quidditch, so he’s a pretty decent chaser if you ever put him up to it.

he’s also really good at potions, although he doesn’t really have a love for it.

if you partner up with him, it’s great because you’ll get your work done fast, but you will end up talking with him about astronomy and divination for the rest of the class.

Bathsheda Babbling

hogwarts years 1966-1973

bathsheda was average height - 5′5″ (165 cm) - with wide, peach color glasses that sort of made her look perpetually surprised

she was black with dark, coily hair that was usually kept short.

she was incredibly gifted in arithmancy and study of ancient runes - the latter which she would one day teach

she was a hufflepuff who set the standard for kindness, always helping the younger students

which made her realize she would love to be a teacher

i don’t think that she was ever given a blood status in canon, but i’ve always thought her to be a halfblood who’s pretty in touch with both the muggle and magical world

i also imagined her to have a younger siblings in ravenclaw, so she could be seen cheering for them at quidditch matches

Fabian Prewett

hogwarts years 1968-1975

fabian and his brother are more well known, so i’ll just hit the basics

so fabian and gideon are clearly twins (don’t @ me with canon, it’s not valid, here), but i also think they were in different houses

fabian was in hufflepuff, and if he ever wore his tie (he was perpetually without it) you would have been able to use it to distinguish the two of them

he was on the quidditch team - a keeper - and was actually really good despite being kind of clumsy on the ground

he was really good at charms and dada but he sucked at transfiguration

gideon was great at transfiguration, though, so it was a constant argument as to who was smarter

fabian definitely gave off younger sibling vibes - he was always joking around and teasing, but he was also very soft hearted when he wanted to be.

he gave terrible life advice, though, go see gideon for that.

i feel like he and gideon had really great hair, although idk why. i just really want them to have nice, curly red hair.

they both kept it short, though. they hated when the curls would get into their eyes.

Gideon Prewett

hogwarts years 1968-1975

now gideon was the brother who was sorted into gryffindor, and you could tell why once you noticed his reckless behavior

if there was anyone the marauders looked up to, it was probably gideon prewett

he definitely helped them set up their first prank and he created such a beautiful legacy, tbh

he was on the gryffindor quidditch team, but he was a beater

the sibling rivalry was really palpable but it made the game so much more fun

like i mentioned, he was great at transfiguration but also had a knack for potions

he was terrible at herbology, though. a plastic plant could die in his care.

gideon is the older twin, but he honestly feels like the younger one sometimes just because he’s so impulsive

but he’s fiercely loyal of his family - don’t even look in their direction or so help him...

also, i forgot to mention that they’re identical twins (because that runs in families and fred and george had to get it from somewhere, right?) and they are both 5′9″ (175 cm)

the tall™ genes came from arthurs side of the family

Bertha Jorkins

hogwarts years 1968-1975

so i know that canon says bertha jorkins isn’t very bright, but i think she was in ravenclaw

i don’t have much on bertha other than she was really curious and loved to listen to gossip

if you ever wanted the good kind of gossip, you went to her because she knew it all

she had connections, y’know?

and i like to think she was creative - probably a writer of some sort, something that would make her want to be a reporter when she left hogwarts

i also think she was a pretty girl. not super gorgeous, but pretty in a more natural, soft way.

Amelia Bones

hogwarts years 1968-1975

amelia bones is the younger sister of edgar bones, and she was a hufflepuff

an athletic girl, she was the seeker for the hufflepuff quidditch team and wanted to be a professional quidditch player for a while, although she eventually turned her gaze to becoming an auror

she was a sweet girl and had a great relationship with her brother - she could sometimes be found in the ravenclaw common room rather than her own, studying with her brother because if he didn’t keep an eye on her, she wouldn’t do her transfiguration homework

she was really good at astronomy, since her brother had been teaching her about the stars since she was little, but her real interest lay in the more tangible magics

again, i like to think that her family is from italy, so she has a really big family and she’s the youngest, which makes her a little pampered, but it’s not too bad.

Sturgis Podmore

hogwarts years 1968-1975

sturgis podmore was a slytherin in hogwarts who mostly kept his head down through his hogwarts years, never really bothering anyone

he had this habit of being able to just slip into the background, no one really noticing him or anything

he was pretty good looking at 5′8″ (173 cm) with a square jaw and a soft demeanor

but again, he had the sneaky ability to just not be seen, so he wasn’t a heartthrob or anything

he was a halfblood and sympathetic to muggleborn students, often helping them in quiet ways so that he wouldn’t get singled out by certain members in his house

he joined the order of the phoenix because he hated feeling like he couldn’t help anyone or do anything that made a difference

he was a really agreeable sort of guy - kind, intelligent, talented.

he should have been the model slytherin, but he was mostly overlooked.

sturgis podmore deserved better, smh

Florence

hogwarts years 1968-1975

florence taylor was a slytherin halfblood who mostly kept to herself

she was friends with sturgis podmore and had a couple of other friends.

she was perfectly kind to others, but she could be a bit curt with acquaintances.

but with her friends, she is the most loyal and would kill for them.

she was made head girl in her seventh year due to her high intellect and generally kind demeanor

she had a secret artsy side - she loved photography and painting, and she had that kind of dark academia aesthetic in all of her work

she liked history of magic and care of magical creatures

she loves animals and is actually really sweet with them?

sturgis may have a bit of a crush on her and there might be a bit of a friends-to-lovers storyline involving the two of them

they are honestly very sweet together - he gives her his sweaters and everything.

and she kind of sucked at potions, but it’s okay because she partnered with sturgis and he absolutely kills it in that class.

they could often be found studying together in the common room, books spread out between them as they worked on the floor

she was 5′4″ ( 163 cm) and had beautiful, brown skin

oh, and she had dimples. that’s important.

Mulciber II

hogwarts years 1970-1977

this sadistic little punk.

his full name is xavier mulciber and he’s in slytherin (obviously)

the leader of his pack (w/ avery and rosier), he’s the most well spoken out of the three of them, and was the one to scout out snape and get him to join them

he was an only child and knew how to work people from a young age

he’s 6′2″ (188 cm) and it helps with his intimidation, even though he’d much rather just talk things out

he was also pretty smart, too, and knew a lot of hexes and jinxes

when he’s cornered someone, he’ll talk to them while walking in a circle, never quite making eye contact because he thinks you’re less than.

he had black hair that he slicked back and sharp, green eyes

Avery II

hogwarts years 1970-1977

punk #2, douglass avery was another slytherin crony of mulciber

now, avery is a bit more complicated

he came from one of those pureblooded slytherin homes, but he himself wasn’t super prejudiced or terrible. he was actually kind of sweet in his first five years at hogwarts.

BUT, his family found out about his muggleborn sympathies and weren’t having it. terrible stuff went down at his house, and when he came to school for his sixth year, he was just as terrible as his summer

in his fifth year he was made prefect, but it was revoked half way through his sixth year when he started becoming nasty to students

he’s 5′10″ (178 cm)

he had brown hair and sort of big, brown eyes

Evan Rosier

hogwarts years 1970-1977

and now we have punk #3, our third sadistic slytherin

now evan rosier was the traditional broad chested, strong bully who looked like he could snap you in half without breaking a sweat

standing at 5′11″ (180 cm), he was a beater on the slytherin quidditch team, and was extremely loyal to voldemort’s cause, even then

he was more aggressive than his friends when it came to negotiations, but he still deferred to Mulciber, knowing his place.

he always had his reservations about avery, and he’d pick on him since avery was objectively lower on the pecking order, but he was also aware that everyone served a purpose

not the dumb jock archetype because while he was always ready for a fight, he knew when he had to wait things out

he was blonde with blue eyes

Dirk Cresswell

hogwarts years 1971-1978

dirk cresswell was a muggleborn hufflepuff who embodied the idea of hard working

he was really talented at everything, and it honestly can be attributed to his work ethic

he was really good at potions and was frequently the partner of dorcas meadowes

they both worked really well together, and dorcas said that she wouldn’t have any other partner because no one else was half as smart and kind as dirk

he was a commentator for quidditch in his fifth year of hogwarts but said he didn’t love it too much - the sport is much funner when you can just watch

he was 5′5″ (165 cm) and was teased for being short (and a muggleborn, but that’s not the point)

he had sandy brown hair and freckles

Greta Catchlove

hogwarts years 1971-1978

greta catchlove was a ravenclaw who mostly kept a low profile during her school years

if you did see her, she was most likely sneaking into the hogwarts kitchens where she learned how to cook from the house elves

a lot of their secrets would be told when she wrote her book “charm your own cheese”

i also feel like she probably had an entire cookbook lineup - not just one about how to make cheese

anyway there’s not much to say about greta

she’s blonde and kind of short at 5′3″ (160 cm)

she was perfectly kind

Farley

hogwarts years 1971-1979

theodore farley was a half-blood slytherin who had to work rather hard to get where he was

he was quidditch captain for his last 2 years of hogwarts, and he was a beater - and a pretty good one, too

he nearly took out james a few times, but it was all in good fun 

because what is key to theodore farley is that he’s noble.

ambitious, sure, but not underhanded or sneaky. he’s the youngest out of a fairly big family, so he’s determined to prove himself, but not at the expense of what he believes

he has honor and dignity

theo was pretty strong, seeing as he’s a beater, and he stands at 5′7″ (170 cm)

he’s half brazilian and had really nice hair - you would not believe

he was very into slicking it back

he was absolutely amazing at charms and actually really enjoyed arithmancy

he struggled in potions, though, and was one time partnered with severus snape

it was horrible. he’ll never do that again.

Emmeline Vance

hogwarts years 1971-1978

emmeline vance was a ravenclaw, and a talented one at that

she was top of the class at charms and she was really good at dada, too. she was a really great spell caster and was good at dueling, too.

she’s half-veela, making her very gorgeous, but she wanted to make a name for herself outside of that beauty, y’know?

she was extremely competitive when it came to school, and she would do anything to get there

but she had a soft spot for her younger brother and would honestly do anything for him.

she was 5′9″ (175 cm) with long, blonde hair that was even more hair goals than sirius black, which is saying something.

Corner

hogwarts years 1973-1980

apolline corner was the younger sister of a few older brothers, sorted into ravenclaw

she was more of an artsy ravenclaw - she played the cello in the music class they had at hogwarts and did the art class, too, although she mostly doodled

she started doing calligraphy and she got okay at it. it didn’t last.

being a half blood, she took muggle studies as an easy class, but she ended up really liking it because it talked about some things she didn’t know or it deepened her understanding of what she already knew

plus, y’know, it helps that it was easy

she was really good in potions, too, something that her whole family was good at because her mom was a potions master and taught them all at a young age

she was absolutely terrible at astronomy for some reason, always messing up the skies by a long shot

she was 5′6″ (168 cm) and had long, black hair and brown eyes

-- taglist: @musicallisto, @babyplutoszx2, @locke-writes, @randomfandomimagine

[aidanchaser]

Character Profile: Harry James Potter

Canon: son of James and Lily, The Boy Who Lived, orphaned by Voldemort, protected by Lily’s self-sacrifice, abused by the Dursleys, manipulated by Dumbledore, hero of the Wizarding World

AU: There were so many questions when this AU began, and they all centered around how Harry would change. I wasn’t concerned with the plot -- Voldemort could continue as he had in canon, regardless of who survived in Godric’s Hollow. But Harry? Who would Harry become with a large estate to roam, with two loving parents and two loving “uncles” to support him and guide him? Would he have siblings? What would they be like? What influence would they have on him? Would be still be in Gryffindor? Would he still be the savior of the Wizarding World?

The first question I answered was would Harry have siblings, and I pretty quickly came up with “No.” I had skimmed through other AUs like this one, seeking out more Marauders content, and had seen what it was like for Harry to have siblings. As someone who has two siblings, I knew that giving Harry siblings would complicate the plot so much. To truly flesh out these characters, to understand what it would be like to grow up in the shadow of an older brother who was the savior of the wizarding world, to understand the dynamics between siblings and how they shape us and how we shape them, and to track those changes over seven years at Hogwarts -- I wasn’t up to the challenge. In those early days of the AU, I just wanted to focus on the Marauders and who they were. I didn’t want to complicate Harry’s world. 

If I were to go back, I think that I have grown enough that I could tell the story with siblings. But I still don’t know if I want to.

Rowling had said that Lily was definitely not pregnant when she died, but it was such a strong fanon theory that I had numerous comments in those early days of the AU asking about it. I crafted the miscarriage arc in response to those comments, but I think I would have landed on infertility for James and Lily eventually, even without those comments. Harry needed to be the focus of the story, and I couldn’t do him or a sibling justice if I was splitting my time in the structure I had set up.

So that left me with two real questions: How was Harry different from canon and would he still go into Gryffindor?

I never cared much for Harry in canon, honestly, and you can thank @ageofzero​, who always connected with Harry, for helping me understand his motivations and his desires better than I did on my first few reads of Harry Potter. They helped me identify Harry’s sense of justice, his defiance of authority, and his overwhelming compassion for those in need. All of these things would stay, because I knew they existed in his parents already.

I planned early on that each Marauder would teach Harry something vital to his story. James taught him Quidditch, Lily taught him her protective charm & helped him with Potions, Remus taught him Defense and dueling, and Sirius taught him healing charms. I also knew that each character was going to pass on their personality. I never expected the running theme of James and Lily actively discussing how Harry inherited their strengths and flaws, but I found that I enjoyed it, because most often they’re discussing decisions that parallel or are even lifted straight from canon. It’s like we get a glimpse of how they would have felt about Harry’s original story, which was always the purpose of this AU.

In the end, I made three big, conscious changes to Harry: 

he would have a greater knowledge of the wizarding world (which works only because my readers share that knowledge)

he would have a greater trust of authority, thanks to having a stable home life (but not too much, because his parents were still rebels)

he would have a bit more emotional maturity -- nothing too much, but having been raised with people he could trust and talk to, he would be more willing to trust and talk to people

But nothing else had to go. He could keep all of James’ humor. He could keep all of Lily’s compassion. He could keep Sirius’ defiance and Remus’ wit. He could keep their anger and indignation and he could also carry their trauma.

Lastly, I always knew he would go Gryffindor. It’s a similar question to should Harry have siblings -- how much of Harry did I want to change? And the answer is very little. The tension, the nuance, to Harry going into any other house was not worth exploring. And, ultimately, on rereading canon!Harry’s decision, it’s not so much about him choosing Gryffindor over Slytherin. He chooses Ron Weasley over Draco Malfoy. Since there was nothing I had set up -- and nothing that I thought made sense to set up -- to change that, of course Harry would stay Gryffindor. Why shouldn’t he choose to follow his parents’ path?

This post is already longer than it needs to be, but I have to talk about how Harry has changed and grown. I love looking back at the letters eleven-year-old Harry wrote home, and then reading his letters to Cedric in Half-Blood Prince. I love seeing the way his wit and humor has evolved, and his compassion.

It’s also been an absolute blast to lean into the bi-Harry fanon. I never really planned on changing canon ships, but I wanted leave myself open to possibility. Then in Goblet of Fire, I decided on a whim that every moment Harry shared with Cho, he would share an equitable moment with Cedric Diggory. I came out of Goblet of Fire shipping Harry and Cedric so painfully, but knowing that it absolutely could not be endgame! I loved Ginny, and I didn’t have time to tease out a relationship and breakup for Harry and Cedric while also giving Ginny more depth and nuance. So instead I continued through Order of the Phoenix giving every Ginny or Cho-attractive moment an equal moment with Cedric, as if that would somehow fix the problem? And when I got to Half-Blood Prince and realized how crucial Cedric was to the quest, how key a support he was for Harry, and knowing that Ginny would be unavailable to Harry for most of the book, I threw a boyfriend at Cedric, hoping that would ease my frustration.

It only worked a little. I still love Cedric and Harry and like to think about how different the AU could have been if I had just allowed them a few stolen kisses after DA meetings in Order of the Phoenix. But I would have had to break them up and I don’t think I could have handled that.

Not to worry, though. Harry and Cedric’s arc is nowhere near finished.

Character Notes: I have no notes about Harry. I scoured three documents and scattered pages, but anything for the future is spoilers, and anything from the past you already knew, and there just are no little character notes for him. Either I know him too well or I trust my betas to know him too much. I’m sorry.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Do you like James's attitude? Rich, narcissistic boy, who attacks everything he doesn't like, Lily said no, and as a rich boy, he didn't stop until he got it and after that, behind her back, he kept teasing, for fun.He is the closest thing to Draco, but Draco has his abusive father, at least. I am Lorena, greetings.- PS: When the Author, I will not mention her name, was benevolent with Snape or any of its main characters?

I have soooooooo many thoughts and opinions on this ask, and I COULD theoretically make a huge long post showing how you’re wrong in basically every respect, but since I uh....just can’t summon up enough effort to care, you get angry bullet points instead of thoughtful meta:

I’ve been a Jily stan since I was in middle school. I am now 24. My perspective on their relationship has drastically changed as I have gotten older (what 10-year-old looks at a relationship the same way as a 24-year-old, after all?), but my love for it has not. This isn’t new. This isn’t novel information about me. If that makes you uncomfortable, you’re welcome to unfollow.

People are allowed to grow out of being an asshole, especially if those behaviors occurred when they were literally a teenager. God knows that if everyone remained exactly who they were in high school the world would be a much worse-off place.

Am I excusing James’ actions? Absolutely not. They were terrible, but uh....importantly, those actions were treated as terrible by the narrative. Harry is horrified by how his father acted, and rightly so. And then Sirius and Remus assure him that he grew up and grew out of it. This isn’t that hard to understand.

Also just saying I have absolutely zero problem forgiving a 15-year-old for being an arrogant jerk and a bully but growing out of it into a better person, especially given that his “vicious schooldays rivalry” is with a boy who gave just as good as he got but promptly refused to grow up and be mature about it later. Snape aimed a cutting curse at James’s neck in that flashback by the lake. “Levicorpus” is a spell Snape created. There is absolutely zero chance that James just happened to know how to use it on Snape that day at the lake without Snape using it on him at some point before that.

We get ONE GLIMPSE of 15-year-old James being an absolute dick while asking Lily out on a date, where she said no and he textually took her at her word. There is zero textual evidence to support the idea that he “didn’t stop until he got it” or that he refused to stop asking her. Fanon is not canon.

All of this fanon that surrounds the relationship between James, Lily, and Snape is just that–fanon. We have a very tiny window into their relationship before their relationship was even a thing, and people can change a lot in two years. All we know about their relationship is that they started going out in seventh year after James “deflated his head,” “stopped hexing people for fun,” and “grew up a bit.”

The difference between James and Draco, TEXTUALLY, is that James canonically:

a) risked his life and did something highly illegal simply to make a friend’s life happier and easier, 

b) aided his best friend in escaping from a toxic and abusive household, 

c) didn’t regularly use racial slurs towards persecuted populations

d) re-evaluated his life choices, acknowledged that he was being a bully, and GREW THE FUCK UP freely and of his own accord,

e) fought in a war for the sake of what was right (protecting a persecuted population) even though he could have totally sat it out or joined up with the Death Eaters because he was a pureblood, and

f) went out to face Voldemort with the absolute surety that he would die on the off-chance that his wife and child would get away and live. He had zero hope for himself but chose to selflessly die to help others escape. That tiny snapshot is more than enough to convince me that James did major growing up. 

Meanwhile...Malfoy quite literally tried to two-time both sides during the Battle of Hogwarts by convincing each side that he was “really on their side” so neither side would kill him.

You want to talk to me about how he’s “close” or “worse than” Draco Malfoy???????? Okay. Come back when you’ve actually read the books and taken a look at how Malfoy acts, loser.

Like, James had a friend facing bigotry and he became an illegal animagus to help make that friend’s life better at a high potential cost to himself, and then joined a war effort to protect people facing bigotry.

Snape had a friend facing bigotry and he called her slurs & joined up with the bigots.

Malfoy came from a family of bigots and wholeheartedly embraced that bigotry until he had a direct, in-person window into the legitimate terror that said bigotry inspired and realized he was in over his head, at which point his response was not “defect and join the other side” but “work on the Bad Guy’s side while trying not to particularly help or hurt the Light Side’s efforts.” 

End of contest. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

[dreamingbrownie]

Tagging games part 4

Stole this from @potter-at-the-disco and as sure as heck nobody will ask me all of this bunch but I wanted to answer them all the same, I’m doing them in their entirety now. Tagging @fandom-glazed and @luckymoony (I can’t properly tag you for some reason, http://luckymoony.tumblr.com/) if you guys want to do this. 1. Which Hogwarts house are you? Ravenclaw, proudly so. 2. Who is your favourite professor at Hogwarts? Remus. By far. He’s the kind of teacher that we would need a hundred times over and more in our schools. 3. Would you have an owl, cat, or toad? ohmygod give me an owl to pet and send my letters, I still want to have my much loved black cat Nonny at home back tho 4. Favourite character and why? Ufff, tough one. Albus Dumbledore is turning more and more into my favourite at the time because Fantastic Beasts gives him even more depths, aspects of the Harry Potter books make more sense now and I’ve developed a good many headcanons about him and his feelings over the decades by now. On the other hand, I still adore Luna to pieces because she’s so loving and the special kind of person that I tend to gravitate to in reality. Also, I sure as heck relate to being bullied all your damned school career. Can’t really decide, honestly. 5. Pro or anti Marauders? Okay, this is a direct contradiction to having been bullied for 7 years: I’m a bit conflicted about them. I love the Marauders as a concept of very strong male friendship, coming of age, growing up in war times... Still, I’m well aware how shitty a person James and Sirius had been towards Severus, and man, I was so sorry to see him dangle upside down in 7.2, but it’s that friendship aspect that fascinates me. (And Wolfstar, Remus and Sirius, will forever be my OTP that I consider very much in tune with the canon and you can pry it from my cold dead hands.) Even if I never got the whole enemies to lovers between Lily and James. Until somebody explains to me how that happened, I’ll be a bit sceptic about that. I mean, a guy pestering you for a date who just won’t get the hint to leave you bloody alone already? Meh. 6. Avada Kedavra, Crucio, or Imperio? Man, this is a cruel one. Imperio, I’d say, cause it’s the most “““harmless”““ one. Take this with a huge grain of salt. 7. Favourite book and why? At the moment, Jane Eyre. Read it just before Christmas last year for uni and adored it from start to finish for all its directness, unmasked honesty of the conditions of early victorian times, Jane being the most self-respecting person I have ever encountered in a book and the tender love story between her and Mister Rochester. 8. Who do you think was the best father figure towards Harry? Remus. I still wish he could have grown up under his tender care. 9. Favourite movie and why? Interstellar. No unnecessary love story despite the fact that the setting very much would have allowed one between the main character Cooper and the female young Doctor Brand, for once, secondly, I’ve been in love with realistic space movies for ages and this one is by far the best in my opinion. The relationship between Cooper and his daughter Murphy is so heartbreakingly loving from start to finish, I always, ALWAYS cry during the last half hour and frankly, the director Christopher Nolan is a genius. To finish it all perfectly, the score comes from Hans Zimmer. And if Nolan and Zimmer in combination aren’t reason enough to watch a movie, I don’t know what. ... Ah, wait, you asked about my favourite Harry Potter movie, right? That would be 7.1 for the terrors of war displayed realistically for the first time and the Shell Cottage scenes with Dobby that moved me to tears. Also, riding a majestic dragon will get me every time. 10. Which character do you relate to most, and why? A mixture of Luna and Hermione. People say I’m like the latter one all the time due to my perfectionism in History and Literature (that honestly only developed when I started uni last semester, I was a mixture of okay and shit at school) and, as I said, being bullied makes you like the bullied characters more. But she’s unbroken. I admire that a lot in her. It sure as hell didn’t leave me as untouched... 11. Who was the most evil character? Umbridge. Discussion over. No, seriously, I’m well aware that Voldemort was a fascist, killing people, using Black Magic, yada yada, and Bellatrix was mad and cruel, the Dursleys abused and neglected Harry... but who didn’t hate Umbridge the most? Let’s be entirely honest there. :D 12. Thoughts on Severus Snape? Misunderstood arsehole. His character is fascinating and I loved his redemption ark, but I’d never in a lifetime want him anywhere near children to teach because he was the picture example of How Not To Be A Teacher At All. Being amused by scaring students, a fucking cynic (which stems from his character, yes, but keep that out of the class room please), favouring and mistreating certain students due to their House (or parents, for that matter)... Nope. I’ve had enough of that type in my school time, thank you very much. But as a character, he’s very interesting indeed. If you want to read a Snape that’s just as grumpy, magically capable, dark and dangerous but very much lovable in the end, read Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Trust me. The wizard the Dragon is Snape 1:1 and it’s just so hilarious how blatant the adaption was done, I loved it. 13. Who was the bravest character in Harry Potter and why? Harry himself, I think. To sacrifice yourself so that others can live is the greatest act of bravery in my opinion. He stood up for others time and time again, somehow survived years of neglect and difficult years in school at the best of times, he would have had every right to throw it all to hell at one point, turn his back on everybody and leave. But he didn’t. 14. Best subject at Hogwarts? Transfiguration and Charms would fascinate me the most, I think, because essentially it’s the core of everyday magic. It fascinates me infinitely what one could do with Magic in Harry Potter. 15. Worst subject at Hogwarts? Potions, by far. I can’t cook, I’d be shite at Potions. xD 16. Who would be your enemy or enemies at Hogwarts? I absolutely agree with Harry that Draco was the worst, although I ship the two to death in a fanon sense and in the movies. I hate bullies and Draco was precisely that. Yes, he was scared, forced to do horrible things and under a lot of pressure by his parents, but he was arrogant and said horrible things from the very beginning until he finally grew up in book 7. You asked for my enemy, not for the worst character, because he’s absolutely not. 17. Who would be your best friend at Hogwarts? I’d probably gravitate towards Luna, Seamus, Hermione... Those are the people I’d like to have as friends. 18. If available, would you use a love potion on someone? Nope. 19. Favourite Weasley? The twins. By far. I love them so much. :D 20. Favourite Death Eater? O.o Uhm, ehrm, Snape? If he counts? Because he’s not murderous and mad and all, you know? 21. What would your boggart be? Either a very big spider, Aragog would make me scream like a child, or my math teacher from 10th grade. Yeah, no. The giant spider. Definetely the spider. 22. What is your patronus? An applemare horse according to Pottermore, personally I’m fine with that, but it wouldn’t be the first animal to come to my mind as a patronus. It’s supposed to represent me as a person, isn’t it? That would be a cat without any doubt. :D 23. Fuck, marry, kill *Insert 3 characters* Fuck Gellert Grindelwald (don’t ask me, honestly), marry Luna, kill Dolores Umbridge a dozen times over. Torturing children is Not Cool. 24. How do you feel about Cursed Child? Meeeeeeh. 25. How do you feel about Fantastic Beasts? Fucking loved it from the start, still hyping it and very much looking forward to the next movies.

[lytefoot]

Sirius Black for the ask game

So this is surprisingly difficult, because Sirius is such a fan favorite, so it’s hard to ignore fanon!Sirius. I’m not being entirely successful, and I’m not sure I really want to. (And I’m gonna tell you a deep, dark fandom secret: I don’t even really care about the Marauders era.)

Why I like them: So I love that Sirius didn’t have to be 100% okay or flawless in order to be a positive presence in Harry’s life. Like, Sirius is a walking disaster, but he so obviously loves Harry, and knowing that Sirius loves him is enough for Harry to value him.

Why I don’t: He was honestly kind of a jerk, though. Like, didn’t really understand treating people well or why you should.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Okay, so I have to pick one from the actual books. The Black family tree, I think. It gives us a surprising amount of insight into both Sirius and wizard society.

Favorite season/movie: Goblet of Fire. I love the lengths Sirius is willing to go to in order to be there for Harry. And I love that the narrative treats it as an act of love and values it for that reason, even though coming back and living in a cave in Hogsmede is objectively incredibly stupid of him. Like, at no point in the plot is it, “Wow, good thing Sirius is here, everything would go to heck if he wasn’t.” All he accomplished was to demonstrate that he cared about Harry.

Favorite line: Okay, I feel terrible, because this was only in the movies, and usually I totally reject the movies where they differ from the books? But “Nice one, James!” hits me right in the feels.

Favorite outfit: I can’t really do one from the books here, because we never really have any described. But I love fanon’s punk leather jacket with the buttons.

OTP: So I ship Wolfstar, though no disrespect to those who don’t (just don’t try to tell me my boy Sirius was straight). Mostly because the fanon around it is so strong. I think they could have had something if the first war hadn’t ruined that entire generation’s lives. And, because they are were both walking disasters, I think they would have tried to make it work post-Azkaban. Who knows, they might even have managed eventually if Sirius hadn’t died.

Brotp: James, obviously.

Head Canon: Just one? Okay, here’s one I don’t see everywhere. (This comes from @nonasuch in her excellent Dogfather AU.) The reason Dumbledore was content to see Sirius chucked in prison after a sham trial was that he saw echoes of himself and Grindelwald in Remus and Sirius, and was ready to believe the worst of Sirius as a result.

Unpopular opinion: Sirius was always a disaster. There was no huge blow-up among the marauders after The Prank, because that was the kind of stupid s*** people expected of Sirius, and if you were still his friend at age 15, you knew what to expect.

A wish: That he hadn’t died, obviously.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Any substantial Marauders-era content from JKR. 

5 words to best describe them: Reckless, loyal, disaster, damaged, rebel

My nickname for them: Don’t really do nicknames.

[we-pay-for-everything]

James and Sirius for that ship meme if you're up for more asks? Thanks!

Of course! Thank you.

James/Sirius  

insists that they are an awesome dancer even though they’re terrible

Both? They’re so similar: cocky and competitive, I think, as teenagers at the very least. I say they would both do this. 

likes to watch reality tv

Maybe Sirius? They both come from Pureblood families so they probably weren’t very familiar with a TV, but Sirius was more interested in the Muggles, and he was a rebel! 

refuses to wear pants when they’re home alone

Probably James. Sirius is a bit more formal, because of his strict upbringing. His language was more careful and eloquent and he wore robes, so I doubt that he walked around pantless even by himself. 

is the jealous / protective one?

They’re both extremely loyal and protective - don’t know about jealous though. 

Goes all out on the holidays?

James. His family was decent, whereas Sirius’s was too formal and cruel for the holidays to be anything less than torture. 

cries over books

We don’t have enough information to answer this! Judging from fanon, James and Sirius both are the crying types, haha. 

is terrible with kids

Sirius probably. James had Harry (and Sirius wasn’t around much when Harry was a baby, I think). 

drinks too much caffeine

Do Wizards drink caffeine? Sirius, probably. He drank alcohol so maybe he was a fan of coffee? Don’t ask me how these two things are connected, haha. We don’t have enough info to answer these questions with logic! 

could sleep for twenty-four hours straight

James? I imagine Sirius had insomnia. 

never wears matching socks

James? Sirius is too proper, like I said above. He’s too disciplined even if he’s impulsive and temperamental. 

punches a tree when they’re angry

James, maybe. He was more physical (with hexes and curses) whereas Sirius is fond of well placed insults. 

gets scared by the toaster

BOTH. They’re Pureblood Wizards! 

Thanks for the ask! I really need to reread Harry Potter! 

[crimsonrevolt]

Congratulations Dani you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Sirius Black!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

Dani you’re back! And we’re so excited to have you back! Sirius is so important to this group, especially with the most recent plot drop and we’re so excited to see you play him out and cause a little trouble. As usual, your writing is wonderful and your characterization is lovely.

application beneath the cut (tw: slurs, mentions of body dysphoria)

INTRODUCTION

Dani here (again, finally!) and I’m 25 now. My preferred pronouns are she/her and I am from Michigan in the US, so EST timezone.

ACTIVITY

I’m going to low-ball and say like 5-6/10 ???  I have a few weeknights free, and then more time on the weekends.

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

Old member, but initially it was through the marauder’s rp tag, I believe.

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

Funnily enough, I’ve always hardcore connected with Sirius. Our personality types are very similar, and I’ve always been the ‘Padfoot’ in groups of friends. And growing older I’ve identified similarities between his upbringing and home life and my own, so yeah. But I also identified with Harry, Hermione, and Luna when I was younger. I don’t exactly remember why, but I did ?  Maybe it was the outcast factor or whatever, but those are all tied for second after Sirius, I think

ANYTHING ELSE?

This group is legit the best group ever.

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

Sirius Orion Black III ——– He is named for the Dog Star, the most brilliant star in the sky, visible from anywhere on Earth - an actuality he embraces and carries with him from the moment he is able to understand its meaning. Ancient namings signify he is scorching, sparkling, bringing destruction and rebirth. He is important, and his name informs everyone of such.

But he is the point of Canis Major, a hunting dog, ever looking towards his master, Orion. Later, he would think it ironic that he was intended to obediently follow the hunter across the sky. When he was young, though, he did follow his father, his master, with wide eyes and a thirst to learn, to emulate. He did, after all, carry his father’s name as one of his own. He thought it only right that he be his hunter. He learned quickly enough to leave Orion Black be.

His name embraces the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black - a reality he despises when he is older. He is taught to believe that to be a Black, to be a Pureblood is to be royalty. He believes it.

He spends the majority of his childhood being trained to be the perfect Pureblood heir, to be the perfect Black. He attends many Pureblood-only balls and events, and is taught the proper way to mingle with other Purebloods. He learns manners and etiquette, and he is expected to be a proper child. There are never many other children at the balls, but he is reminded that it is improper to run about and make a fool of oneself like ordinary children; he is, after all, anything but ordinary.

How could he be? His name attests to his brilliance.

FACE CLAIM

Miles McMillan is my boi, okay

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER (tw: mania, depression, alcohol)

This is long, I’m so sorry but not really. But Sirius Black has been one of my favorite literary characters since I was in 3rd grade and first read Prisoner of Azkaban. There was just always something about him, and I don’t even know how to put into words how much I love Sirius Black. I remember the moment I fell in love with him, though, was when I was reading PoA and this man who had just spent the last twelve years wrongly imprisoned for an horrific crime he didn’t commit, and who had just spent the last year on the run with his godson thinking him responsible for betraying James and Lily, offers for Harry to leave the Dursley’s and move in with him. Even after everything he had been through, he was still willing to immediately take in Harry and take his place as his rightful guardian. It breaks my heart that they were never able to be a proper family, but that’s discourse for another time!

Sirius was really the first character I ever really roleplayed, and he’s been living and growing in my head for six or seven years now, as silly as that sounds. My Sirius muse is always active and talkative and ready for action, and I love being able to put him out there and develop him further and still learn new things about him even after all this time (reference, yus!). I’ve always just felt a real connection with him. Maybe it’s because I see parts of myself in him, or maybe it’s because it’s just always been really natural and easy for me to get into his head and way of thinking. He’s always been more than just a character to me.

His personality, for me, has developed a lot since the early days. I think it’s easy to get sucked into fanon interpretation early on, especially with characters that have a really strong fandom presence. But I’m really proud of the character he’s become, and I think he strays from a lot of typical fanon stereotypes. One of the biggest stereotypes - and one that really bothers me - is that Sirius is some kind of Don Juan-Lothario-playboy-heartbreaker-type.

“With another shock of excitement, Harry saw Sirius give James the thumbs-up….a girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn’t seem to have noticed.”

Sirius’ main concern has always been, and will always be, his friends. He cares far more for his Marauders and their pranks than he does for birds and sleeping around. He’s a flirt, yes, but only because he’s charming and needs to grace everyone with that charm. It’s harmless flirting, and it’s not his fault if anyone takes it as anything other than that.

I also love dabbling in the Black side of Sirius. While Sirius is a very good person, I think a lot of that is due to him being sorted in Gryffindor and befriending James Potter. Without his influence, I think Sirius would be a very different person. Not all of that is inherent, but Sirius definitely has a cruel, cunning streak in him (i.e. that time he almost killed Snape). A lot of it is in his nature, and some remains from his upbringing; our early years and development have a huge impact on the people we become. So, I think it’s interesting, especially in the state of the world as it currently is, to play with just what parts of Sirius’ personality become more dominant. Add to that Sirius being part of the Aversio, and I think it’s a really great combination of ruthless, cunning cruelty and the person the Marauders helped him become to create something new all together. I’d be really interested to see how that changes him and, maybe, influences a shift to the Sirius he could have been had he not met James and the Marauders.

In my headcanon, as well, Sirius is living with undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder. It won’t ever be diagnosed or named in-game since they’re living in 1979 (it’s still fairly misunderstood now), but it definitely affects him. I feel like his upswings are pretty intense, and it usually results in him wanting to be out all the time and doing things, and he feels infallible and invincible, and he’s a lot more likely to be reckless and make snap decisions. He definitely has a tendency towards dangerous ideas that he thinks are absolutely brilliant (see: the Prank with Snape). On the other end of it, though, Sirius’ lows are very low, and he self-medicates with alcohol when he ’s suffering from the worst of his depression (see: pretty much all of Order of the Phoenix). But I don’t think that Sirius recognizes the depression as such. It’s a lot easier for him to acknowledge when he’s feeling great and on top of the world as opposed to when he’s feeling like shit and struggles with getting out of bed in the morning. He’s a lot more likely to hide that side of himself, too, and play it off with a smirk and light-hearted joke at someone else’s expense.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS   (tw: slurs, mentions of body dysphoria)

If someone were to ask Sirius his gender and sexuality, though, he would quirk a brow and scoff and let out a bark of laughter because, obviously, he’s got a cock and he’s not a queer, what sort of daft question is that? But his closest friends know that he enjoys the company of both men and women, although lately he’s sought out men more often than not.

Sirius doesn’t remember the exact moment when he realized that he was attracted to men. Maybe it was sometime in his third year, when he had accompanied James to watch the Quidditch team practice. Maybe he had caught himself staring at one of the seventh years - a boy with shaggy brown hair and a strong jaw - as he flew around the Pitch. Maybe he had felt the distinct swoop in his stomach as he had watched, and maybe he had imagined what it would be like to kiss the older boy.

But Sirius only really remembers being too afraid to say anything to James, Remus, and Peter, being afraid that it would change everything and they would think him a freak, a faggot they didn’t want to be friends with, anymore. James found out, though, and nothing changed between them, and soon after so did Remus and Peter. It became much easier after that to accept that part of himself. He doesn’t hide that amongst his friends or the Order; although the muggle world is less accepting of his sexuality, he doesn’t pay much attention to anyone who gives him shit. He flips them the bird and continues on his way.

What he would never admit to, however, is the many times he has passed frilly shop windows and imagined being able to wear whatever clothes he wants that he sees, or wished he could be as comfortable in his own skin as David Bowie, or Freddie Mercury. Sirius doesn’t always feel exactly right in the body he has, and he doesn’t understand it even a little bit. After all, it’s hard enough to deal with the war; he doesn’t want to even begin to focus on the whole gender bit.

The other thing he would never, ever admit to is the feelings he has harbored for Remus since they were realized in roughly fifth year. He remembers it was an ordinary moment; Remus had been working on an essay and nibbling on the end of his quill, and Sirius had been watching him, entirely too distracted, and it had just…hit him. But, of course, he wasn’t deserving of Remus. He would never be deserving of Remus. Sirius wrestled with the feelings for a good year or so, but he has long since accepted them without hope for it ever changing.

In modern terminology, he would identify as a gender-fluid demiromantic pansexual, but that’s too fancy and way ahead of his time, so all he knows is that he’s queer - just another way in which he would have disappointed his family.

As far as ships go, I’m def wolfstar trash. They were my first real ship and I love them to pieces. That being said, Sirius/Chemistry is my #1 jam. The only thing is that he isn’t always into serious relationships unless he’s good friends with the person first. In my headcanon, he’s never had a real, serious relationship (although every relationship is most certainly a Sirius one, lmao), but he doesn’t feel wanting, necessarily. Relationships aren’t exactly a priority right now when there are bigger things to worry about.

EXTRAS

&;;—— PERSONALITY TRAITS (tw: alcohol, mentioned violence/blood)

✓ Funny ——- “Did you like question ten, Moony?”

He is barking laughter and poorly timed jokes, puns upon puns - seriously. A grin as wide as the day is long, carefree and easy. Light in the black of war; white sheep in the Black family. His good humor has covered him and carried him through all that he’s seen. It’s as much a shield for himself as it is those with whom he surrounds himself.

✓ Loyal | Loving ——- “Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!”

He is fierce, heart full for those he holds dear. Not many are kept that close, but there is no hesitation when asked to give his life. Warmth and comfort, in the crook of his smile and the corners of his eyes. Brilliance and steadfast companionship: a dog is man’s best friend.

✓/✕ Strong-minded | Judgemental ——- “Besides, the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters. We’ve all got both light and dark inside us.”

He is a tree rooted to the earth, tall and proud. Unmoving and firm against the hailing storm. Beliefs, unwavering, unwilling to hear. Opposition is wrong, and he knows it as well as he knows the stories written in the night sky. He is strong-willed and stubborn; a brick wall would be more receptive. He thinks himself open-minded, but it is only another belief.

✕ Doesn’t think through consequences ——- “What is life without a little risk?”

He is snap decisions made in the heat of the moment. Turbulent and emotional, judgement shifts as easily as debris caught in the tide. Words, biting, leaving scars as easily as laughter erases them from his mind. Passing thoughts in an endless stream of chaos - why waste time paying mind to outcomes when you can just act?

✕ Hellacious attitude ——- “There are things worth dying for!”

He is 2 am, leather, and a mess of discarded liquor bottles scattered about the floor. Blood-kissed knuckles and knuckle-kissed jaw. Smirks and sighs toppling from carved lips. Caught in a tempest, winds whipping his hair about his face, unable to see, blindly stumbling along, deafening roars threaten to consume him - one foot in front of the other. Raw magic crackling in the air, electricity against your skin; a beautiful sight when it implodes.

&;;—— WAND: As badly as Sirius sometimes wishes his wand was made from Dogwood (think of the irony! the puns! the beauty of the universe!), he was chosen by a Cypress wood wand with a Dragon Heartstring core, 15 inches, rigid.

“Cypress wands are associated with nobility. The great medieval wandmaker, Geraint Ollivander, wrote that he was always honoured to match a cypress wand, for he knew he was meeting a witch or wizard who would die a heroic death. Fortunately, in these less blood-thirsty times, the possessors of cypress wands are rarely called upon to lay down their lives, though doubtless many of them would do so if required. Wands of cypress find their soul mates among the brave, the bold and the self-sacrificing: those who are unafraid to confront the shadows in their own and others’ natures.”

Sirius won’t think about the wandlore behind cypress wands and their masters dying a heroic death until the fleeting, infinite moment in which he begins to fall in the Department of Mysteries. He will think it ironic, then, that his death is hardly heroic at all; that, naturally, James and Lily had far more heroic deaths than him. (He will also think about finally, finally reuniting with them again, and he will think of how sorry he is for leaving Remus and Harry behind, but James, here I come.)

“As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner. The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.”

It is of interest to note that dragon wands tend to be easily swayed towards the Dark Arts. Sirius thinks it should be noted, and then he will tell it to fuck right off, thank you very much. He knows that, had things gone just a little differently, he wouldn’t have had any difficulty using Dark Magic; in fact, he’d have been rather adept at it. Sirius laughs at the notion - and would like to tell the Dark Lord that he can fuck right off, too.

Sirius is a very quick learner. He is intelligent and, when he puts his mind to a task, he is able to stay determined and focused. Magic runs strong in his veins, so it’s only natural he be paired with a wand that is able to keep up with him and his raw power. That being said, however, Sirius’ magic is - too often - unpredictable. It has been since he was a child, and he still experiences outbursts of unintentional magic when his emotions get the better of him; the dragon wand nurtures his accidental magic, at times.

&;;—— PATRONUS: It’s commonplace that a Patronus will match a witch or wizard’s Animagus form, if they happen to be such, and Sirius is no exception. His Patronus takes the form of a dog, matching that of his Animagus counterpart: a bear-like German Shepherd. German Shepherds are known for being intelligent, loyal, and fiercely over-protective. Any close friend of his would attest to the fact that Sirius exemplifies those qualities. He is a bright wizard, and he would do anything for those he cares about.

&;;—— The best thing that has ever happened: ”I know that you will make us proud, Sirius.”

No one ever expected Sirius to be a Gryffindor; he certainly hadn’t when he had stepped up to the stool to be sorted his first year at Hogwarts. His entire family had come from Slytherin. He even knew that, somewhere in his lineage, he was related to Salazar Slytherin himself. But as Sirius’ attention had drifted to the far table of green and silver, he had felt a tug in his stomach that he hadn’t really understood.

….“GRYFFINDOR!”

He ignored the shouts and jests coming from the Slytherin table to rightfully take his place amongst the lions of Hogwarts. He was joined, thankfully, by James and the redhead he had met with the greasy boy (he was grateful - and always would be - that the greasy one ended up in Slytherin).

It wasn’t before he was whisked away to his dorm and he got to know his fellow dormmates: one sickly-looking boy named Remus and a short, ordinary boy named Peter. Sirius thought he could do without Remus and Peter. Who needed them when he had James, his best friend? But Remus and Peter did prove themselves when they turned the greasy boy’s hair a bright shade of pink for a week. That, Sirius decided, was enough to earn his respect.

The four of them quickly became inseparable, and Sirius decided that being a Lion was worth the consequent Howlers he received, even if meant returning from the Christmas hols with bruises hidden beneath scratchy sweaters.

&;;—— And the worst: “Blood traitor! Filth! Scum!“

He tried not to cry out as he was punished him one final time for being an insolent disgrace; he wouldn’t give them the pleasure. He was worse for the wear, however, when they finished with him and sent him off to think about his disobedience. Again. Sirius sat, on the edge of his bed, trembling; it was out of his control. He thought, but it didn’t take long for him to realize what he must do.

He needed to leave.

He hastily threw what belongings he could into his school trunk, gathering up anything he deemed important. He was able to perform a simple expansion and levitation charm - he decided he could deal with the Ministry later - and led his trunk out of his room. But he knew he needed to stop at his brother’s room before he left.

Sirius loved his brother and he has always loved his brother, but Regulus was not like him. He was weak-minded and bent to the wishes of their parents. Sirius always wanted to keep Regulus safe from them, from Mother, but he went to school and was sorted into Gryffindor and it changed. He became the disgrace, and it had been up to Regulus to be the perfect son. Sirius never wanted that for him, and he didn’t want that for him now. So he tried to bring Regulus with him. He wanted to ask, wanted him to leave and escape the hell they had grown up in.

But Regulus didn’t leave with him. He wasn’t like Sirius. He was an idiot, and he didn’t leave. So Sirius goes. But not before he watched as his mother blasted his name from the family tree.

(Sirius still regrets not making Regulus leave with him.)

&;;—— AESTHETICS here [x] and here [x]

&;;—— PLOT POINTS    ~ I really want to explore the conflict that Sirius is facing between his loyalty to his friends and his allegiance to Aversio. He very, very strongly believes that the Order isn’t doing enough, but he knows that a lot of Aversio’s tactics and such clash with the Order. He knows that there are many friends and allies that would look down on his involvement in the group, and he loathes to disappoint them. But Sirius is firm in his convictions. He isn’t one to waver in his decisions, and he truly believes that Aversio is the action the world needs. Again, however, that contradicts his closest friends, and I want to explore how Sirius reacts in such a situation. I want to push his loyalty to the limits and see what he does when it really comes down to it.

~  On the same note, I would love to have some of his closer friends find out about his involvement in the rogue organization. I feel like I know Sirius fairly well, but I honestly don’t know how he would react in such a situation that calls to question where his loyalties truly lie. I think it would be an interesting bit of character development to really put the pressure on him like that.

~  Sirius has a dark side, whether he would like to admit to it or not. It’s part of who he is, so deeply ingrained in his being that he doesn’t recognize it in the slightest. But it’s there. War tends to bring out the worst in people, and I want it to do so to Sirius. I want to mess him up, to play with his mind and pit him against himself until he no longer knows what he is or where he stands. I want to dive into the more psychological aspects of the affect of the war, especially since this is full AU now. If he doesn’t end up getting messed up in Azkaban, I have to mess him up somehow  =)

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it: “S’pose I’d make one that’d be able to track the greater London area,” Sirius answers with a smirk, wand twirling between slender fingers. He shifts, eyebrows flashing. “Y’know, something along the lines of magical cartography, but…big. Large scale. Easy spell, I’d imagine, if you could figure out the scale.” If they put their minds to it, Sirius is sure he, James, Remus, and Peter could come up with something. “Be able to locate anyone anywhere in all of London just by looking at a map. Imagine how bloody brilliant it’d be!”

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you: “James, Remus, and Peter. Package deal, yeah?” He quirks a brow. “Probably bring James’ cloak - usually do. It’s a bloody miracle, that thing. Gotten us outta loads of trouble over the years.”

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make? Sirius grins, back straightening - pride rolling off square shoulders. “Well thought out ones. That’s what I’m told, anyhow. I’m better at the quick ones, the real difficult ones.”

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you? He hesitates, smile faltering - though he catches it, corrects it before it can be noticed (he hopes). “I dunno,” he says, gaze averted, a shoulder shrugging. A pause. A flash of an image behind his eyes - his friends, hollow-eyed, telling him that he’s a Black, through and through, just like them, can never escape it, terrible awful cruel heartless Black. “That I’m like them. Because I’m not. I’m so much better than they are.”

REACTION TO LAST EVENT DROP

Okay so, I really love that the last plot drop has some conflict between Sirius and those he’s closest to. It’s about time for things to come to a head with him and his juxtaposed involvement in the two groups, and I think he’s about ready to begin the process of separating himself from the Order and their non-action. It will also be really interesting to throw him into another party that resonates so closely to him, but under the guise of not himself. I think, with how things have been playing out in his mind in regards to the war, that it could be very interesting to see how well he’s able to keep himself under control and not make rash decisions when it comes to being in the middle of the Death Eaters and their little party.

WRITING SAMPLE

(this is from an old post on here, i hope that’s okay! i’m just hella fond of this one, tbh)

In his youth, when the sky had appeared infinitely brighter and the days seemingly endless, when everywhere could bring forth a new adventure with little to no warning, when the silken tendrils of optimism wound around his body, weaving between pale fingers, toes - gently cradling and protecting; then, Knockturn Alley had not frightened him. But he had been young, naive. He hadn’t known the manner of the witches and wizards who frequented the cobbled street and dark, slanted buildings. They had towered over him, then, and he had stared back, challenging whatever authority they wordlessly claimed. He had challenged the world.

But, as it so often is, childhood naivety gave way to harsh truths, and accompanying his father to Knockturn Alley no longer offered boundless adventure. Instead, he saw the buildings for what they were, the witches and wizards as the cruel people they had always been. He saw the shadowed sky, tucked away behind pointed rooftops, and just how unlike its neighbor, Diagon Alley, it was. The Alley was no place for decent witches or wizards, which was why he supposed the Blacks held such fondness for it.

Now, Sirius had no need to traverse the uneven, dismal avenue, and yet… here he was. Hands stuffed into pockets, fist firm around his wand, Sirius averted his eyes, silently cursing the bloody wanker who had volunteered him for this bloody “mission,” although he was loath to describe it as such. Inquire about such and such item at some shoddy shite-hole shop, speaking only to Git McWanker blah, blah, blah. It was a fucking waste of time, was what it was.

Yet, here he was, pointedly staring at books on a shelf in some corner of Knockturn Alley - many of which he recognized as titles from the walls of the Black family library. They dredge up images of the study and lessons and evenings spent pouring over texts he had no care for, all in the name of properly educating the heir, or some bollocks. He almost scoffed at the thought, adjusting his jacket as he eyed the shopkeeper. Feign interest, then approach him for information; it was a decent enough plan, but Sirius was stopped in his tracks by the woman that rounded the corner.

Eyes locked, drinking up the vision before him - something out of a dream, a nightmare - and he was suddenly eight beneath her gaze, frightened and angry and improper, insolent, yet again. Hands balled at his sides, shoulders tense, and he resisted the visceral pull to back away, run away, get away from her. Instead, his jaw set and he held her gaze - challenging her command over him, because she now had none.

“It’s comforting to know that some things never change,” he remarked brazenly, determination settling squarely atop his shoulders. “Seeing you here, I mean. Of all places. Picking up a new addition to the library, hmm? Perhaps a copy of Magick Moste Pure: Grimoire of Pureblood Fuckery? I hear that’s been selling quite nicely with your crowd.” He sneered, arms crossing over his chest - tight. “Oughta be careful who sees you walking around with that shite. Hear the Ministry’s got eyes and ears everywhere these days. You’d hate to be caught up in all that, now, wouldn’t you, Mother?” The word was spat, harsh and mocking; she was nothing to him now.