Hey Metalo!!! I don’t know how this works or If you’ll ever read this, but I figured It’s worth trying to reach out and ask some questions that have been, honestly, haunting me after reading the most recent It runs chapter.
I can’t even begin to describe how much I adore “It runs in the blood”. It has forever changed my perspective of the Black family and pureblood culture, because instead of simplifying them to abusive, rich bastards, you give them so much more depth than any writer I’ve ever seen in this fandom. The way you write the Black’s toxic dynamics and their cult-like obsession with legacy it’s quite remarkable 😂 I can FEEL their greatness and why they think themselves superior; I find my self in awe reading about their beloved traditions and history, even while knowing they’re all cruel bigots. I think writers nowadays are afraid to confuse readers, so they tend to portray Death Eaters and canonical bad people pretty poorly, to say the least. Some try to justify the unjustifiable while others simplify morally gray, complex characters into more digestible versions that fit within acceptable moral standards. I don’t think you do any of those things, and I respect you so much for it! A great example of this is the way you write Walburga Black: a character who has no one’s sympathy in the fandom, to the point she is just the crazy abusive, cruel mother who cares nothing about her kids, especially her first born. Your Wally is still a bad mother, but I have so much sympathy for her… I don’t even know how you did that! 😪 I can see why Sirius hates her and ALSO why Wally treated him the way she did. They feel like real people, with complex issues and relationships. Your Sirius is perfect in every way: he is canon Sirius, but more morally BLACK than gray (Morally Black… lol 😂) and It’s a breath of fresh air because there are no fics with masculine cruel Sirius nowadays… He is my favorite character so I suffer to find content about him that satisfies me, so thank you for that!
Ok, that was LONG 😭 I just had the need to let you know how much I love your work. You don’t have to really respond to all of that if you don’t want to. Anyways, here go the questions I guess 😭:
1. We are told the only way to break the curse the Blacks suffer, is by killing their child, so why is Walburga so sure that Orion, the man who died for said curse, killed little Lyra?
2. What Is Harry (and Orion and Marvolo) hearing about Sirius at Hogwarts? How did that change their perception of him? I ask because I didn’t think Sirius’ war crimes would be of public knowledge, but Harry claims Sirius has done “some questionable things” so that left me thinking. Also, what has Dumbledore been telling him about the Blacks and Sirius?
3. Can Sirius really hear his father? He mentioned before that he feels as if his ancestors judge and watch him. I remember Sirius used to hear a voice inside his head that he said “sounded like father’s”, and it stopped after he used the resurrection stone to talk to him.
4. About Sirius’ straight relationships: Does Astrid love Sirius? Even a little? And would you ever write a Blackinnon centered fic? Maybe unpopular opinion… I loved them in IRITB ❤️ It got to the point I had to stop reading for a while when she died.
5. I saw a different post around here where you said Lucius and Sirius have a crush on eachother and I couldn’t stop looking for it. I found some moments on Sirius’ part ofc but I’m yet to find one on Lucius’ part... Does he ever show it? You also said Voldemort noticed it 🤨 Excuse me?! Am I blind or what? I don’t remember him ever alluding to it 😭
6. Sirius tells V he would’ve killed James if he had been a threat for Voldy back then. Ngl, this broke my heart 💔 was he serious? I don’t think it makes much sense but maybe I’m biased 😪
7. (OPTIONAL) Ok, this one is optional because I like the other questions more and I know the length of this is getting annoying. Voldemort mentions, and I quote: MANY Death Eaters want to fuck Sirius… Could you give us names? 😶
I know I got a little carried away with this, but these are THE questions that have been roaming in my head since I finished reading the last chapter of It runs two days ago. I’m particularly curious of your answer reguarding question two, because I really want to understand Harry’s perspective and what’s going on inside his head. Anyways, I love your fic, thank you sm for writing it!!! ❤️❤️ (Also, if there is any mistake in my grammar I apologize, english is not my 1st language. I know my punctuation is atrocious so I apologize if that makes it difficult for you to read this too).
Thank you so much for your kind words! I do enjoy writing characters as people, with all the flaws people have. The Blacks and their entourage in It runs are not good people, not by a mile, but they are still people, complex ones that can be horribly bigoted and self-obsessed but also love their own, have their own moral compass they operate by, even if it is a very different one from the rest of the world.
I don't have any interest in writing flat, two dimensional characters, so I don't. Even if they were flat in canon (Voldemort, Walburga) I would not have much to write about them if I keep them that way, would I?
---"I think writers nowadays are afraid to confuse readers"--- Yes, you are right. This recent purity culture gripping the fandom has led to a visible decrees in quality writing, as some younger writers are terrified of their stories being perceived as 'immoral' and 'dangerous'.
I had a couple of confused readers that thought me writing about the Blacks or Voldemort means I think they are good people and I condone their actions, but generally I am very lucky that 99% of the people who read my fics understand the subtext, and that this is not a story about good people.
I do trust the readers, especially since the type of fics I write (dark-ish rare pairs) tend to attract an older demographic, that is less reactive.
I believe that's the duty of an author, and the only way to write a good story: to have confidence in the reader's comprehensive skills.
Walburga doesn't think Orion killed Lyra. She knows, logically, that Lyra was doomed to die, but her bitterness towards Orion for taking Lyra from her in such a way, refusing to allow her to say good bye on her own terms, refusing to even mention the girl or engage with Walburga's grief over the loss in a way that would have soothed her, has led her to say these awful things, throw them in Arcturus' face, as a way to hurt. Typical Walburga defence mechanism. But yes, she knows Orion is not really responsible for her daughter's death. It's just that the grief of it is too great, and neither she nor Orion were great at communicating or comforting each other through it.
2. Sirius' war crimes are public knowledge- or less 'knowledge' and more rumours. Sirius made sure rumours of what he did in France would reach the Brits, as a warning 'do not try to mess with my family or you will be slaughtered'. He also made sure people would believe that he was behind the several Aurors that died, the ones that arrested his mother or held him in Azkaban. He doesn't deny the rumours that he has Greenback under his thumb. He wants the population to fear him, because he has now reached the belief that is the only way to keep them safe. Also, of course, his arrest and incarceration really are public knowledge, and he never tried to hide that he was a Death Eater- he even mentions that Lucius does his best to disavow of it, and is eliminating those that dare say it, but that Sirius is more comfortable with people speaking about his own Death Eater past. After Azkaban (and how his family took him out, and how he took Bella out) he fully went into 'the world hates Blacks anyway, might as well let them fear us, I will make them fear us so much, so they won't dare move against us'. Sirius learned very bad lessons from his Azkaban experience and the great public injustice that was his, Bella ,Lucius, Corban, Avey etc pardons.
So Harry and Orion learn all of this at Hogwarts. Kids talk, some kids have Aurors parents, some kids have parents that were at least political victims of Sirius and Lucius etc. The boys learned in more detail of the reputation Sirius has with the general public, and heard whispers of his war crimes. They probably heard worse than it actually was, what with how rumours find a way to become even more outrageous than reality. Orion was also disturbed, momentarily, but ofc he was more prepared for this sort of knowledge (from Arcturus) and he swiftly decided that he should take pride in Sirius' might, and if a rumours was too distressful for him, chose to dismiss it as slander or untrue or gossip. Harry is not so blinded, and also he's in Gryffindor, different crowd of people there, with different beliefs. Harry can't discount his friends as 'liars' or 'filled with envy' the way Orion does, because Harry loves and knows his friends are not, in fact, any of those things.
And, of course, while kids can be easily dismissed...Orion has never spoken to Dumbledore more than a greeting, while Harry had. Dumbledore told Harry the truth of the prophecy and Voldemort's intent on that Halloween night. He didn't 'badmouth' Sirius, nor the Blacks, only told Harry the truth about why he was targeted that night, and why Albus still thinks Harry will be targeted. He told Harry Voldemort is back, to warn him to be on his guard. When Harry asked if Albus believes Sirius is serving Voldemort again, Albus said that he believes Sirius did return to Voldemort.
3. No, Sirius could never hear his father. The 'voice' stopped after he used the Stone, because that was Sirius' guilt, finally put at rest by Orion reaffirming his love for Sirius, and offering forgiveness for the 'betrayal' Sirius thought himself guilty of.
He also stopped hearing his father then, because that's when he stops being Sirius and he commits to being Mr Black. In a way, that's the timelines where Sirius decides he's done playing around with Voldemort or friends, or morals: that from then on, he will be all about family. He fully accepts his role as Head of House.
He no longer needs the imaginary presence of his father, because he turns into his father; Sirius is no longer a young teen/adult seeking protection, and has become the Protector, instead.
It symbolises that the 'voice' that was his father ( Sirius recreating or crafting advice he knew his father would give, that so greatly different from Sirius' own thoughts) has now blended with Sirius' inner thoughts. Does that make sense? He is now thinking like his father: 'Blacks have no friends, just family' . 'It's us against the world'. etc. There is now no more differences between how Sirius thinks and what he knows/guessed his father would think. They have blended together into Mr Black.
(It's why Voldemort insults him, that he no longer knows Sirius, that he has become a copy of Orion and Arcturus).
4. Astrid was fond of Sirius, and there was that familial love between them, a form of love that grew through the years. Let's put it this way: Astrid's love comes through trust. She loved that she could trust Sirius, that she believed Sirius will always place her and her kids above anything else, and look after them to her standards and satisfaction.
She no longer trusts him.
To tie it with the previous answer, Astrid loved (never *in love* but a type of love) Mr Black. That version of Sirius was what she wanted, what she married, what she was promised.
Of course she does not like rebel, blood-traitor, Voldemort fucking Sirius. She liked Mr Black, who was all about family.
I don't think I would ever write a sirius/marlene centric fic, but I do like to pare them up in all my fics with Sirius haha. They're so great together, aren't they?
5. It's Sirius that has a crush on Lucius.
Lucius, while he considers Sirius a great friend, family even, and has respect and love for him, is very straight in It runs. He does enjoy that Sirius has a crush on him, finds it flattering (and safe, cause he knows it's best for him to be on Sirius' list of preferred people), and so he plays into it. They both enjoy their dynamic a lot, and are very close to each other. Let's say, if Lucius were to have a crush, it would be a platonic crush on Sirius, as in he's in awe with how Sirius turned his life around, and with the values Sirius holds, how fierce and dependable he is.
Sirius simply finds Lucius very attractive 😂, though even he is not aware of the extent of his crush on his best friend.
Voldemort is aware of the crush, most everyone is, with the blatant way Sirius favours Sirius above all others (outside his blood family and Voldemort) but knows it is a harmless thing. (He once thought Abraxas was attractive, so he understands that Malfoys are just good looking people and it's natural to eye them, from time to time haha).
Voldemort doesn't allude to it in It runs, not exactly. It was me answering a question outside the text, I believe, that you saw. He does spit out Bella and Lucius' name with some measure of contempt on a few occasions, because he knows those are Sirius' fave people and he's attracted to both of them 😂
6. Sirius meant what he said about killing James if he were a threat. He meant it, however, in present times. Sirius that exists now, would act like that. The memory of James has faded, the extremely close bond that they had is no longer there, because James is dead, has been for more than a decade.
However, no- Sirius is fooling himself. Back then, that Sirius, would have never killed James. Even this Sirius, while he believes what he says, would most likely hesitate if James was to pop back into existence, if Sirius would have him in the flesh again, remember his smile, have that incredible bond again, have James' pure, unconditional, brotherly love that he never again got from anyone else after James died. Alas he already lost that, long ago, so it's easy for him to tell Voldemort "I would have killed James for you" and mean it, because he knows it's not something he'll ever have to do or prove, what with James dead, anyway.
7. Hahah, we can just imagine there are plenty people that would not throw Sirius out of their beds. It doesn't really matter to the plot, so they don't need to be named.
Same for Voldemort- surely some Death Eaters are obsessed with him (we know a few that are absolutely devoted mind, body and soul) and would have fantasies about their lord showing them this type of favour, but yeah, it doesn't matter. None would act on it, just harmless fantasies and dreams. Well Dolohov acted on it, but he's much braver and much closer to V than your usual run of the mill Death Eater 😂
Thank you for the ask! I hope I answered what you wanted to know! Have a great day/night ❤️