"Oh, So You Like Jegulus?" No No, I Don't Just Like Jegulus, I Worship Jegulus.

[at Achilles's funeral] Agamemnon: *places his hand on the pyre and sobs* Agamemnon: How could you do this to me? We are so understaffed.

So beautiful

At one point, Regulus never thought that something could hurt him more than hearing the sentence “you look like Sirius” because even if he loved his brother dearly, he just wanted to be his own person.

Then he heard “you’re nothing like Sirius”, and he almost threw up.

Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 618 words - “coffee”

“He doesn’t like coffee. He likes tea; no milk, two sugars.” James interrupts the random guy that’s been trying to ask Regulus out for coffee for the last ten minutes.

“Oh, okay… well, um…?” The guy looks at James then back to Regulus and raises his eyebrows with an unspoken question. Regulus just gives him a small shrug. “Right… um… I’ll just... I’m going to… yeah…” He mumbles, then just turns and walks away.

“Quite the linguist, that one.” James says with a small laugh.

“How did you…?” Regulus questions as he turns to look at James.

“You looked kind of stuck, so I thought I’d give you an out if you wanted to take it.”

“No, I mean, how did you know my coffee order, or lack thereof?”

“Oh, well, I sort of just pay attention sometimes.” James shrugs.

“You pay attention to me?” Regulus asks as he raises an eyebrow skeptically.

“Maybe… but not in a creepy way… I just like to know what people like, I guess.”

Regulus tilts his head and narrows his eyes at James. “What else do you pay attention to?”

“What do you mean?”

“You pay attention to what people like. What else do I like?” Regulus challenges.

“Um…” James swallows nervously. “Your favorite color is green.” He says it almost as a question.

“Everyone knows that.” Regulus says as he rolls his eyes.

“But you don’t like dark green, you like lighter green better, sort of like the color of a green apple.”

Regulus raises both eyebrows, slightly impressed and takes a step closer to James.

“Hm. What else do I like?”

James still seems slightly nervous but gaining a bit more confidence at the same time. “You don’t like tomatoes, but you love tomato soup.” James’ voice starts to get a bit softer.

Regulus tilts his head and furrows his eyebrows, it’s an odd choice but accurate, nonetheless.

“What else?” He takes another step into James’ space.  

“You like white chocolate more than milk chocolate, but you like that you don’t have it very often because then it’s sort of special when you do have it.” James starts to whisper as Regulus moves even closer.

“What else?” It’s barely a breath as he gazes into James’ eyes.  

“You don’t like when this curl falls forward.” He reaches up to tuck the curl behind Regulus’ ear.

Regulus doesn’t respond, he just hums and leans into James’ hand a bit. James moves his other hand down Regulus’ arm.

“You wear your jumpers a few sizes too big because you like when the sleeves fall over your hands.” He intertwines their fingers and continues-

“You like to paint your nails black, but you like it better when you paint them pink, but you don’t do that very often.” James quickly glances down to Regulus lips then back to his eyes. “You don’t like it when your lips get dry, so you always keep chapstick in your left pocket. You like the mint flavor the best.” James says it so quietly Regulus only hears it because he’s barely an inch away from him.

“James…” Regulus says just as softly. “What else do I like?” He breathes with a heated look in his eyes.

“Do you maybe like…?” He bites his bottom lip with a small smile and before he finishes the question, Regulus is already nodding.

“Yeah.” He says with a soft smile. 

“Can I…” James’ smile grows slightly bigger as he flicks his eyes down to Regulus’ lips again.

“Yeah.” Regulus can’t help but smile back as James closes the final distance between them with a soft, slow kiss. 

When they break apart Regulus smirks slightly and says, “You taste like coffee.”

James’ smile grows impossibly wider.

“Sorry.” But he doesn’t seem sorry at all as he leans in to kiss Regulus again.

y'all know I like Regulus morally gray, prejudiced, etc. If you didn't know that (hi, new followers!), now you do. But I also like him redeemable. I'm all for dragging that boy out of the lake, forcing him to live, and making him deal with the fallout of realizing he was on the wrong side.

But... why Regulus?

By that I don't mean why Regulus and not [insert other morally gray character here], because I don't do the "only my problematic fave is valid" thing. More like why Regulus and not Random Death Eater #5? For a character with such a small role in canon, what makes Regulus specifically so appealing? Because I do think there are reasons he's gotten to be so popular.

First of all, he's not a complete unknown. He's Sirius's brother, and Sirius is a popular character. Also, because he's Sirius's brother, we know a whole lot about his childhood and family. Several chapters in books 5 and 7 are spent in the house where he grew up, and we even see inside his bedroom. There's nowhere near that amount of insight into the backstories of Mulciber, Avery, Rosier, etc.

Being raised by Orion and Walburga probably wins him some sympathy points, as well. While he was apparently the favorite son, it still can't have been pleasant to grow up around such unpleasant people.

When Sirius discusses his family, he is critical of Regulus, but he speaks about him in much softer terms than their parents or Bellatrix. He calls him an "idiot" for joining the Death Eaters and suggests that he was influenced by their parents' ideology. He notably doesn't call him cruel or evil, and given how blunt he is about the rest of the family's shortcomings, it wouldn't seem out-of-place if he did. I know I'm not the only one who interprets his description of Regulus as being just a little bit affectionate, in a begrudging sort of way.

By the way, what did Regulus actually do as a Death Eater? We don't really know. He definitely 1) joined, 2) expressed blood purist views, 3) loaned Kreacher to Voldemort, and 4) betrayed Voldemort. Other than that, anything goes. Which also means that he didn't necessarily kill anyone, use the Unforgivable Curses, etc. Each individual fic writer can pretty much pick and choose to what extent they want him to be guilty of typical Death Eater crimes. (My Regulus is pathetically bad at the Cruciatus Curse for exactly this reason.)

Also, he's not just a blood purist and a Death Eater; he's given positive qualities, too. He's courageous, clearly. He's willing to die rather than keep serving Voldemort after losing his faith in him. He's got a bit of hubris in thinking he could handle the Horcrux all on his own, but it's oddly mixed with humility, realizing that he won't be the one to kill Voldemort and being content to simply make it possible for someone else to do so.

And then there's Kreacher. No, I don't think Regulus was some sort of proto-SPEW activist campaigning for house-elf rights in between Death Eater meetings. But he did drink the potion himself rather than ordering Kreacher to do it. He brought Kreacher along to the cave because he couldn't do it alone, but he did the worst, most painful part himself and made sure Kreacher would survive. This is emphasized when the full story is revealed, with Harry initially assuming he did make Kreacher drink the potion, only to be corrected. There are very few characters who show any amount of decency toward house-elves, so it stands out.

There's another little moment from earlier in the same chapter that I think also does a lot to make Regulus seem more human. And that's the photo of the Quidditch team. It's such a small thing, but the kids in that photo are described as smiling and waving, which is very atypical for Slytherin students. Usually, they're shown scowling, sneering, glaring, and otherwise being unpleasant. A picture of Regulus smiling and waving with his teammates, especially just after they saw his Voldemort collage and the family crest painted on his wall, softens those details somewhat and shows a different side to him.

Oh, and speaking of Quidditch, let's talk about parallels to Harry. Because there are a lot. They both play Seeker, yes, but more importantly, they're both 17-18 year old boys who go to (what they believe will be) their death, hoping to destroy a Horcrux so that Voldemort will be made mortal. Neither of them expects to live, or to kill Voldemort themselves, just to make it possible for someone else to do so. I have criticisms of how Regulus's death is portrayed in the books (namely: redemption-by-heroic-sacrifice kind of falls flat when it doesn't accomplish anything), but his trip to the cave does parallel Harry's walk into the forest in a very poetic way.

And, of course, I think this goes without saying, but he does turn against Voldemort. Whether or not he fully abandons the ideology that led him to join the Death Eaters, it's not what he prioritizes in the end. He turns against Voldemort, presumably knowing that Voldemort's downfall would be a setback for the blood purist cause. Because Horcruxes are a step too far? Because Voldemort hurt his house-elf? Because being a Death Eater isn't all it's cracked up to be? Whatever the reason, there's something that matters to him more than his own life and more than his loyalty to the cause.

And if he survived, what then? How does he move forward? Does he somehow remain a Death Eater? Go into hiding? Join the Order? Does he cling to his prejudice or allow himself to be de-radicalized? Does he regret the things that he did? In a more peaceful world after Voldemort is gone, what sort of man might he grow up to be? How would the events of his youth shape him, for better or for worse?

There's so much to explore.

Again, I'm not saying he's better or worse than any other morally gray character. But he's not just some random first war Death Eater with an attractive fancast. Even with what little bit of characterization exists in canon, there's so much potential to craft an interesting character out of it. He has a backstory, he has hints of a personality, and he's portrayed with a degree of sympathy and nuance that the other background Death Eaters don't get. He's pretty much tailor-made for redemption arc potential, which makes sense, because the story of his death in canon is pretty much framed as a redemption arc. I'm not sure I agree - I think it's more like the beginning of one, cut short before it really gets going - but maybe the feeling that it's not quite all it should be is another thing that makes him so appealing as a fanfic character. After all, a lot of fic comes from a place of "no, canon didn't get it quite right - I'll do it myself."

Calypso: The stars are beautiful tonight.

Odysseus: You know who else is beautiful?

Calypso (blushing): Who?

Odysseus: Penelope.

Yes because THAT'S HOW IT WORKS!

James: It's very unhealthy to bottle up all your negative feelings.

Regulus: I know. That's why I bottle up the positive ones too.

James:

Regulus: So they cancel out.

James:

Jily vs Jegulus

Jily…

Lily: I hate you.

James: I can change that

Jegulus…

Regulus: I hate you

James: oh do you now?

Jily…

Lily: oh dear god… I love you

James: told you so

Jegulus…

Regulus: oh dear god… I love you

James: we’ve been married for three years?!?

Both are good. Both are valid. Both are unique. Stop hating on people for shipping a gay couple. It’s giving homophobia.

Everyone: a heartfelt talk about Jester's doubts and insecurities, her friends backing her up and reassuring her, offering to potentially kill an archfey

Caduceus: i'm so proud of y'all, i only had to sit here and nod, it's amazing! wisdom! wisdom! self realization and more wisdom!