unspeakable3

just a minor obsession with the house of black recent fics: stars shine more darkly, canon-compliant, mwpp era, regulus pov sanctuary, regulus lives, post-war, regulus pov not like the rest of them, canon-adjacent, mwpp era, andromeda pov currently writing: [redacted] for black brothers fest, canon-adjacent, 1st war, sirius pov [redacted] for first wizarding war fest, canon-adjacent, mwpp era, sirius pov [redacted] for sirius black fest, canon-adjacent, ootp era, sirius pov meta: hogwarts curriculums hogwarts school calendar

[unspeakable3]

2022 roundup

the years just seem to get tougher, don't they? fandom and writing have been bright spots in an increasingly bleak year for me, so thank you for being here 💛

here are some things i wrote in 2022:

total words written: 401k total words published: 115k (goal for 2023: finish those wips!!)

published fics:

stars shine darkly (complete: 190k, canon-compliant, regulus pov) how regulus became and unbecame a death eater. this is pt.1, and covers the summer before regulus begins at hogwarts to the winter sirius leaves home.

stars shine more darkly (in progress: 19k, canon-compliant, regulus pov) how regulus became and unbecame a death eater, pt.2. covers the aftermath of sirius leaving home to the winter regulus receives the dark mark. currently posting a new chapter on the last day of the month.

i am terribly sorry for dying (complete: 24k, ghost!regulus, regulus pov) written for @regulusblackfest after his death, regulus became a ghost and returned to grimmauld place. to maintain a level of sanity, he keeps a diary.

december, 1983 (in progress: 58k, regulus lives, regulus pov) written for @hp-yuletide-bliss the happy alternate ending to stars: regulus is alive and in love.

unpublished wips:

is this hell pt.3 regulus goes to university and helps the order to defeat voldemort.

untitled professor black regulus survives the war and becomes potions master instead of snape. he has to endure a parents' evening with all his students' parents who he's been trying to ignore for the past 10+ years.

untitled first wizarding war multi-pov (regulus, sirius, narcissa, walburga) beginning with regulus fleeing britain with the locket horcrux.

untitled tedromeda canon-compliant: how andromeda fell in love so hard she decided to leave her family. hoping to eventually make this a triptych with narcissa and bellatrix's love stories woven through it.

[unspeakable3]

heyy! sorry for asking, but i’m really in love with your “stars shine more darkly” fanfiction. it is really the best fanfiction i’ve ever read and i cannot really wait for part 3. when will you update it? of course take your time. just wondering when part 3 will come. sorry my english

hello! thank you so much that's so kind of you to say!! 💛💛

pt.3 is currently in the very early draft stages, but realistically it's probably not going to be until late 2024 when i'm ready to start posting it.

tbh i actually haven't written a single word of fiction since september - house move + job change + a bunch of family things have taken up all my free time recently. but i'm hoping to get back into it over the winter break and do some ~fun~ writing before tackling what is going to be a v sad stars pt.3!

[unspeakable3]

Sorry for asking, but did you forget to post last week's chapter?

oh god I DID! i moved house last week and completely forgot, sorry! just posted it now: stars shine more darkly ch.17

(tbh i didn't think anyone was still reading so this was a lovely message to receive, thank you!! 💛)

[unspeakable3]

I had a dream about Stars Shine Darkly last night. Unfortunately, I remember very little of it. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought "I better write this down!" and then immediately fell back asleep 😔

There was some kind of danger - I want to say an airborne poison? - at Hogwarts and Diana got horribly sick, so Regulus was completely distraught. While she was sick, Diana was delirious and saying some completely insane and hilarious things, I wish I could remember them! And Regulus was like "yes, of course, makes perfect sense" to every bizarre thing she said. I'm also pretty sure Evan was partially responsible for the airborne toxic event or whatever it was.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that your fic has seeped into my subconscious lol

omg i am obsessed with this YOUR MIND

if you see me steal this as a future plot point, no you didn’t 😂😂

no but this is genius bc diana could be going full on lovegood style conspiracy theories and rab would nod like, yes i suppose that does make sense you are so right

and then she’d be like, omg you are so pretty did you know you are so pretty regulus??? and THEN he’d be convinced she was ill and drag her to pomfrey faster than anything

[dufrau]

COMMENT ON OLD FICS, I BEG YOU!

I swear to god after like a week people will still be reading but nobody leaves comments anymore and I just want to make it absolutely clear that I would be excited and elated to get a comment on these fics one hundred years after I post them.

A FIC IS NEVER TOO OLD TO LEAVE A NICE COMMENT ON. GO FORTH AND COMMENT!

[altschmerzes]

gen fic appreciation post. i love you gen fic. i love you serious, plot-heavy gen fic. i love you funny, lighthearted gen fic. i love you angsty whump and h/c gen fic. i love you emotionally complex and intimate gen fic. i love you super long chaptered gen fic. i love you oneshot gen fic. i love you strictly canon adherent gen fic. i love you alternate universe gen fic. i love you crossover gen fic. i love you gen fic about queer identity and relationships. i love you found family gen fic. i love you gen fic.

[felixantares]

Hello, 4 and 14 please for the recs ask game!!

Oooo fun ones! thank you @allalrightagain 💚

4. 👀 A fic you love a normal amount

i've never thought of an answer faster and that's Never Grow a Wishbone by @shanastoryteller like not only is it just some fantastic Drarry content, but the worldbuilding and the politics????? oh my god I think about it so much. I think I've read it like 4 times and every time I'm completely normal about it I may be a little obsessed it's been one of my favourites since the first time I read it 💕

14. 🤩 A fic that made you SLAM that “subscribe” button

this one made me subscribe so fast and also read every fic she'd ever posted but He Can't Hurt You if You're Already Dead by @unspeakable3 is truly just a masterpiece. I'm so so so picky with my Regulus content and she just nails his personality every damn time (Regulus and also just like every other member of the House of Black honestly, idk how she does it). Truly can't recommend it highly enough 🥰

ask for more fic recs!

[unspeakable3]

this put such a big fat smile on my face THANK YOU FELIX (and now i'm just one scene into @shanastoryteller's fic and HOOKED this was not what i was supposed to be doing this evening but fuck it, we're drarrying)

[unspeakable3]

idk whether this is a universal thing or a me thing but i feel so FREE when i've finished a longfic/Big Writing Project!!

i'm enjoying spending some time drifting about between short(er) fics: this week i finished something for the black brothers fest + started drafting something for @firstwizardingwarfest + thought up some ideas for another FWW fic + for 2 or 3 @siriusblackfest fics.

idk if i'll get any more of them finished (i'm putting off claiming until i've done a rough draft, at least - minimum pressure, maximum fun!) but it feels nice to be working on something/s different after spending so much time in an anxious regulus's head ✨

[unspeakable3]

god i haven't posted here in forever

BUT

wanted to share that i've finally finished writing ✨ stars shine more darkly ✨ and will now be updating it weekly!! (i think? is that still the frequency people prefer? or twice-weekly? i feel so out of the loop idk 🥲)

and i've also started writing ✨ stars shine most darkly ✨ which is v exciting but also v sad so. there.

my goal was to finish both by the end of the year so ig i'm kind of still on track? who knows!

[unspeakable3]

Chapter Eight: The Club

Someone - something - tapped Regulus’s knee beneath the table. He jolted and jerked his head around. Diana was watching the Head Girl talk about their duties but her eyes flickered to Regulus, just briefly. The tapping came again.

As Regulus’s heart tried to beat its way out of his chest, he reached down. His fingertips brushed against something soft, something cool, and he jolted again. Diana made a quiet noise in her throat and withdrew her hand, leaving a crumpled scrap of parchment between Regulus’s fingers.

He brought the parchment to the edge of the table and smoothed it out so he could read it without anyone else seeing it.

I’m sorry.

He swallowed past the tightness in his throat and pulled a short, stubby quill from one of his inner pockets. It was an ugly thing, but convenient: a self-refilling quill that he had once spotted in Scrivenshafts and had carried about his person ever since, just in case an occasion such as this should arise.

Beneath Diana’s words he wrote, as neatly as he could whilst using his hand as a rudimentary writing desk, an even briefer note.

Why?

He passed the note back to Diana. He watched her read it, look back at him, and then glance, deliberately, with a tilt of her head, towards Lupin. He sighed and took the parchment back to add a brief explanation, wishing he found it as easy to admit his faults in speech as he did in writing.

I’m an idiot.

He showed her the parchment again. She gifted him with a smile, but shook her head. Regulus frowned and wrote, quite adamantly, with the brass nib of his quill almost stabbing him through the parchment:

I am. And I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?

She took the parchment from him to add her reply. He almost choked when she reached beneath the table to give his hand a quick, tight squeeze, before leaving the scrap of parchment behind again.

Regulus turned it over; she’d written on the back, this time.

Always.

chapter 8 on ao3 ✨

[silvercistern-deactivated202307]

i’m going to say something that might make me seem ungrateful, but i think it’s true of many fic writers:

we want you to leave comments ON ao3.

we’re not angry or disappointed or anything like that when you leave qrts or lots of tags on our fic posts, not at all. we don’t NOT want you to message us to tell us how a fic touched you. but in addition to that, please consider just copying those words and posting them on ao3 as a comment.

why?

the reason is simple: leaving commentary in other places is ephemeral. story posts get pushed down. chats get pushed down in the list of chats, or worse, pushed up in lists of messages as the conversation continues. but comments on ao3 are easily accessible. and this is important because writers read and reread these comments regularly.

writing, especially writing longfics, is exhausting and drains your confidence over time. having a collection of people who enjoyed your past work at your fingertips is an excellent way to build yourself up when you’re feeling down. fic writers need this a lot.

i know over the past few years there’s this trend to be very descriptive with what is an “acceptable” comment. that’s all nonsense, as long as you’re not being an asshole, just say what’s on your heart.

but post it on ao3. please.

[eemamminy-art]

Also something I see a lot: people gushing to their friends in discord about a fic but not commenting on it to the author themselves. It's reassuring to find out secondhand that people gushed about your creation, but it's so much better when someone tells you directly! Reaching out directly on AO3 also helps to curb any lingering doubt of like... Is this something they'd only admit to in private but don't want their name connected to mine on AO3? Since there's a lot of weirdness around who someone associates with in fandom these days

[unspeakable3]

get to know me tag game

rules: tag 10 people you want to get to know better

thanks for the tags @safefromheartbreak & @yletylyf !!

relationship status: married m8

favourite colour: saffron yellow

stuck in my head: who the hell is edgar (poe poe poepoepoe)

last song i listened to: [redacted] by my husband

3 favourite foods: oh help. i'm on my period rn so i'm sure if you ask me in a week it'll be different but lets go with my fave comfort foods of mint choc chip ice cream, dal makhani, margherita pizza

last thing i googled: 'why are there loads of flies on my greenhouse roof'. v unhelpful results.

dream trip: i went interrailing around central/eastern europe in my late teens with my ex and even though we were poor af and argued constantly, the joy of waking up in a different country every other day is really hard to beat. i'd like to go again, but with a bit more money in my pocket and a person i actually like!!! would love to do a tour of the countries around the mediterranean and black sea to soak up all that ancient stuff 💛 alternatively, costa rica looks dead lush

tagging anyone who hasn't been tagged and wants to join in!!

[unspeakable3]

I really need you to elaborate on "Rule" being the correct nickname for Regulus lol

idk if it's like, universal, but

i went to st andrews uni and one of the halls was named after st regulus who used to knock about that way being a monk or whatever and his nickname was rule! there's a teetery tottery tower there called st rule's tower that i climbed up on graduation ✨

(st regulus hall was also colloquially called regs so!!!)

st regulus hall:

st rule's tower:

[unspeakable3]

(i started writing a sequel to this is hell where regulus gets sent undercover to muggle university purely so i could write him getting put in st regulus hall and being annoyed about it)

[unspeakable3]

I really need you to elaborate on "Rule" being the correct nickname for Regulus lol

idk if it's like, universal, but

i went to st andrews uni and one of the halls was named after st regulus who used to knock about that way being a monk or whatever and his nickname was rule! there's a teetery tottery tower there called st rule's tower that i climbed up on graduation ✨

(st regulus hall was also colloquially called regs so!!!)

st regulus hall:

st rule's tower:

[deadcatwithaflamethrower]

people I still want to stab over a decade later:

Creative Writing Professor at a former college: Welcome to creative writing! By the way, you will not write fantasy, ghost stories, pranormal, or science fiction in this class, as this is a creative writing course.”

[morgynleri]

What the ever loving fuck is with “creative” writing professors who think that speculative fiction of any stripe ISN’T CREATIVE?

[thebibliosphere]

I still remember my own creative writing teacher telling me this because he saw the Terry Pratchett book on my desk and got this smug smirk on his face like “aha, gotcha”. He had the nerve to pick it up and call it “popularist fiction”, like somehow being popular and easily accessible made it less inherent in intellectual value.

I had it in my back pack because I did my final thesis on the evolution of mythology and folk tails into fantasy and sci-fi and the societal importance of telling stories (before anyone asks, no I don’t have it, I lost it when I moved continents), and I used Terry Pratchett because there wasn’t a single humanitarian issue the man did not touch on.

Which I told him. And then he kind of floundered and went “ah, well but, it’s…well I mean it’s not exactly high brow”, like neither the fuck was Shakespeare or Dickens you self-important turnip. Dickens was literally selling his stories by the chapter. He was the popular author of his time. Shakespeare was too, he fucking made up words and phrases all the time because the language he needed to express himself didn’t exist in the way he needed it too.

Intellectual elitism is nothing more than a hold over from class warfare and the belief that only certain people should get to be truly educated. And it needs to be smashed.

[limetimo]

I haven't seen one yet and I'm procrastinating

WHAT IS THE CORRECT CASUAL NICKNAME FOR REGULUS BLACK

Reg

Regs

Reggie (soft G)

Reggie (hard G)

Rex (join me!)

something else

Voting ended onMay 9, 2023

reblog for bigger data pool

[unspeakable3]

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE GAME

‘We must get to the heart of this anti-pureblood sentiment at Hogwarts,’ Lucius said. ‘We must tear it out, root and branch, before it takes hold and spreads any further.’

‘Yes.’ said Regulus. ‘Of course. I won’t let you down, I promise.’

‘And perhaps…’ Cygnus added. ‘Perhaps you might agree to keep this all a secret?’

‘A— a secret?’

‘This little conversation we’ve had tonight, the training you will undertake and the meetings you will attend and your investigation at Hogwarts…’

‘Keep it a secret from… my friend?’

‘From everyone, my dear nephew.’

‘Oh.’

He glanced back down at the pack of cards again, frowning.

‘And especially from your parents.’

→ chapter 7 on ao3 💛✨