mother fuck, while doing research for my james potter essay for @annabtg, I came across THIS quote:

Madam Rosmerta: “Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I’d have thought … I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you’d told me what he was going to become, I’d have said you’d had too much mead.”

Sirius Black was, even to someone who barely knew him, SUCH a deeply good person that he was the last person you'd have thought would become a death eater. THE LAST PERSON. Not the loyal, Gryffindor-bred James Potter, not quiet Prefect Remus Lupin, SIRIUS FUCKING BLACK, the firstborn son of a blood supremacist family with several family members who actively served Voldemort.

Young Sirius Black was so full of goodness that if someone said he was going to be a death eater, Rosmerta would have thought they must be drunk.

And Remus and McGonagall and Dumbledore and everyone else who knew him so much better let him go to Azkaban without a trial, never tried to get him out, never gave this boy the benefit of the doubt.

And then what did he do when he broke himself out of Azkaban? He forgave Remus in an instant. He rejoined the Order. He trusted Dumbledore enough to willingly stay locked up again. He handed his house over to be used for the Order, welcomed people to come and go as they pleased, to stay long-term if they needed -- even Snape, who had recently been eager to have him killed. And in a matter of two years, showed Harry more parental love and support than anyone had before -- to the point of dying for him, exactly as his parents did.

So when you actually look at canon Sirius, I think it's very clear why he was the last person you'd expect.

I’m half asleep and overworked but suddenly missing Marauders fics marauders fics when it was still not mainstream, marauders fics where they were all a little fucked up but they tried to be better nonetheless, marauders fics where the wars left you aching and where Sirius and James’ devotion to each other was the only absolute rule, marauders fics where James was painted in shades of red and grey and marauders fics where Sirius blazed like a thousand stars, just. Them.

The most outrageous thing about all this is just how smart Sirius canonically is. He’s living in a cave nicking papers from bins is almost entirely starved and pretty much put the plot of GoF together with nothing but scarce information, conjecture and extraordinary leaps of logic.

He’s triggered, traumatised, guilty and lonely but still so on top of his game that he can laugh while duelling death eaters twelve years out of practice and I’m fairly certain at this point that Voldemort would have been a better caregiver and rehabilitator to his released convicts than the Order was to Sirius.

Sirius is constantly dealing with So Much and is still overperforming. He comes up with the ingenious double cross that would have worked if “Wormy” hadn’t screwed them over. He’s the one who was so brilliant that Fudge was certain it would take a team of trained hit wizards to take him down at age 21.

The fact that he’s a threat at all after being in Azkaban’s most secure cell for twelve years and that he figures out what kind of thoughts to cling to maintain his sanity, to have the clarity of thought amongst dementors to be able to formulate thoughts and make plans and stick to them in itself is so indicative of his brilliance.

But Ofc, he can’t pass potions without Remus ‘I read a book once’ Lupin

I love that we see Remus with a book one (1) time in SWM (that he literally is only pretending to read) and y’all were like “he is a voracious reader he loves to read, he should own a bookstore, he is very smart and studious”

sometimes you just have to let yourself be a bit neurodivergent.

i hate going out, it gives me a lot of anxiety and sensory input that i dont like, and i am often forced to talk to people.

so i do this thing on more difficult days, or sometimes just for fun, where i "bring a fictional character with me". i walk and imagine Fictional Character walking next to me. they talk to me, reassure me, hype me up, whatever i need them to do.

today dean winchester came christmas shopping with me. he went over the list with me of stuff i needed to get, told me i was doing a good job every time i finished in a certain shop, reminded me to take a deep breath when i got a little overwhelmed.

and yea. its kinda silly. and i know its just me talking to myself in a different voice, but it Works! especially since all of my special interests/hyperfixations tend to be tv/movie related.

so do what you gotta do to Get Shit Done. stop holding yourself to neurotypical standards. if you need Fictional Character to tell you you're doing a good job, do it! if you need Favourite Singer to walk you to school, do it! yea it might feel silly but you're literally fighting against your own brain to get stuff done every single day. you can have a little self indulgent daydream, as a treat.

Fanon Remus is the bane of my existence. I want to gouge my eyeballs out every time I see it. Who is this asshole that behaves as though he's superior to everyone else around him? This aloof imposter that rolls his eyes constantly and says intentionally hurtful things to Sirius for shits and giggles? Who is this edgy, streetwise, Cool Dude™ natural genius with chiseled muscles and superhuman strength that towers over everyone else both physically and intellectually? He's so far removed from the actual Remus Lupin it would be laughable if it weren't so infuriating.

I'm on the 9th Temeraire book and finally came across something that made me legitimately angry so I'm back in my hater era! It's good to be back!

What is with all these posts on my dash declaring that Remus is kind and gentle??? Where is the textual evidence for that? Send it to me. Was it when he scolded Harry in POA and used his parents' deaths against him? When he never checked up on Harry? When his first lesson as a teacher was to use his students' worst fears against them? When he put Harry in danger by not telling Dumbles about Padfoot? When he left Sirius to rot in prison? When he threw Harry into a wall?

Ah yes so kind and gentle.

I still find it interesting how so much of the perception of Sirius as a character is swayed by his haughty expression.

Most metas (this is not a dog against those btw, I love Sirius metas, just want to add my own) etc I've seen go with this, his ultra love for james, and his derision towards Peter as the most prominent shows of his character, and infer meaning into every other relationship he has from that point out.

And I think these are outliers.

He looks haughty? Some people are born with resting bitch face, what of it?

And I'll discard any mention of James and Harry right now, bc these are outliers of the greatest magnitude, and looking at every relationship Sirius as extensions of his love for james imo just cheapens his bond to him.

His derision towards Peter is very reasonable, and also the most obvious outlier, and I don't think I need to explain it further. Instead I'll add snape and mundungus fletcher into the mix here, and go on to talk about the often-talked-about usage of certain descriptors within the black family towards people they don't like. As others have pointed out before me, the preferred way to insult people within this family is to insinuate uncleanliness. Walburgas portrait, kreacher and I think also Phineas nigellus use these kinds of insults on a pretty regular basis - many of which go against Sirius as well. And Sirius has adopted these insults, and uses them when he really wants to cut deep. He has many people to be angry with, is surrounded by a whole lot of poor people (for example the entire weasley clan, Remus, and mundungus fletcher), and we even see him in battle.

But he notably uses these cleanliness based insults on two specific people: Peter, and snape. What do these two men have in common? For one, obviously, they all went to hogwarts at the same time. For another, Sirius has, or had had obvious respect for both. Peter as one of his closest friends, as a person he confided in and cared for, and who he then expected to care for him in return (and we know how that turned out). And snape as a rival. As much as Sirius likes to insult snape to his face, he also never misses an opportunity to praise his intellect. Similarly to the way he praises and goads bella in his last duel.

Meanwhile, again, he purposefully surrounds himself with people, who the malfoys regularly call dirty ( the weasleys, hagrid, Remus, hermione), and is also on notably good terms with mundungus fletcher, who everyone from the order likes to call these things too. All of which Harry has described in several shades of dirt as well, tbh. And I'm saying this not in a 'oh wow, the rich boy lowers himself to the commoners' kind of way, bc to me he never gives anything close to this impression. The weasleys come closer to this kind of mindset toward any kind of marginalized person lbr.

What we do see, though, is sirius being incredibly forthcoming and caring towards literally everyone.

He has discussions with hermione about elf rights and their projections of the coming year. He obviously cares about Ron's well-being, long after he mauled him. He jokes around with the twins, and helps them with their inventions. He forgives Remus for thinking Sirius was the spy. He makes a considerable effort to be friendly with Molly after their fight. He adheres to dumbledores bs orders. (I think he told ginny about the repellant charm on the doors but don't quote me on that.) He had the most emotionally honest relationship with lily we see in the text. He cared so much about Peter that lily notified him of his emotional state as something Sirius should see to. He organizes the best Christmas he can manage to keep everyone's mind off of their worry for Arthur. He came close enough to kingsley for inside jokes to develop - jokes urgent enough to be passed to him as quickly as possible.

In my eyes Sirius Black is singular in the way he develops relationships, and in the way he cares for everyone he surrounds himself with.

Even with those he hates.

Once a week the Sirius Black feels come back and I browse through your blog lol. I love every single post you made about him!

Have a a nice day

Oh anon this is so sweet 🥺 Thankyou

OMG what happened? Are you okay? Get well soon. Take care. Rest all you need. And have a nice day.

It’s nothing major! Just your usual fire hazard stupidity (by me). I’ll get better in no time ☺️

I like to think Sirius actually killed the muggles. That he went after Peter, cast a Blasting Curse at the traitor, but Peter transformed in the last second, and the curse went into a gas pipe or whatever and BOOM. Twelve muggles dead, the street blown up. Peter flees the scene, the lil' lucky rat, and Sirius stands there, shocked, hysterical, laughing.

When they come for him, he says "I killed them", only he doesn't mean James and Lily, he means the poor muggles.

The Aurors check his wand, and they see the last curse he performed was a Blasting Curse. More than proof enough. They don't imprison him for being a Death Eater (he has no Dark Mark, after all) and betraying James and Lily isn't actually a crime, but they have proof he murdered a street of muggles, and he confessed to it, too, refuses to elaborate, just laughs like a maniac.

Dumbledore does come to the Ministry when he hears they arrested Sirius, but when faced with this proof- well, what is there to do? It's clear as day Sirius actually killed the muggles.

I think I'll go with this from now on; it makes the Ministry look less incompetent, it solves the dilemma of 'why wouldn't Dumbledore even attempt to ask for a trial for Sirius', and while it's still heart breaking Sirius wasted away in Azkaban, at least now he's actually guilty of something, and it isn't just incredibly unfair. Sirius spends 12 years in hell, one year for each of his muggle victims.

Even after Dumbledore learns in Harry's third year that Sirius isn't actually a Death Eater, it's not like he can overturn the guilty verdict or ask for a trial. They are well aware Sirius would be found guilty at a trial, anyway. They all know it, hence why they don't try to clear Sirius' name. Because he's guilty. So Sirius stays on the run. They decide not to tell Harry, because ...well, because he just gained a godfather that loves him dearly, wouldn't do to find out he actually managed to slaughter muggles by accident.

After Sirius dies, the Ministry decides to pardon him, since he's already dead and no longer a threat to the public, and Dumbledore convinces them to do it, as a sort of comfort for Harry.

Now, I'm gonna write a fic about it.

Sorry for disappearing on everyone (again) I had a small accident a couple of weeks back and am recuperating currently. I still have those asks to respond to 😭 I’ll get to them soon

Sorry to the lovely folks in my inbox and sorry for not replying yet. Been rather busy with Diwali this Sunday 🙏

Sirius feels are coming back on the occasion of his birthday lol. He deserved so much better. His trauma deserved to be acknowledged! He deserved to be appreciated, he is smart and intelligent and emotional intelligent as well. He deserved so much better! He deserved a quiet life in a cottage at the edge of a forest with Harry. The OOTP is so unemphatetic to Sirius I think it should be addressed. I like to think when Harry grew older he realised how the Order was so rude and unempathetic to Sirius and kind of holds them accountable for it.

Have a nice day!

Oh anon how I feel you. I alternate between wanting Sirius to have a gentle retirement and then going “fuck it he deserves to rule the planet” me being me, the second half usually wins

Also the lack of empathy amongst OOTP characters is definitely something that needs to be addressed. Like… was everyone just okay with insulting and belittling their host?? Did the people in the order who knew Sirius in the past have nothing to say about all this? Did anyone ever tell Harry he didn’t deserve to see his parent treated that way??? I’d love to read a take on this.

HADES LIVING IN POSEIDON’S BASEMENT IM WEEPING

Poseidon really has the ocean and the ground in his domain that's pretty much the entire earths surface who is doing it like him

honestly i was telling my friend about this the other day but if you piss off zeus but not enough that he'll electrocute you into ash immediately, it's like, great, you can't fly. you can live your entire life without flying. you can just not be in the air and it's fine. and if you piss off hades, you don't have to worry about that until you're dead, right. that's a later you problem. you'll cross that bridge when you get to it, right? you'll get there, and you've even got time to plot amends, too. but if you piss off poseidon, you can't exactly not be in his realm, his realm is the all of it. poseidon tells you to get the fuck out of his realm and it's like...... okay? guess i'll become an astronaut? sorry dude your realm is all of the usuable living space that exists can you be a little more forgiving? which is so phenomenally hilarious to me, because poseidon would be the thot that is so monumentally offended by the existence of an annoying person in his domain he's like, fuck off and go to space. just stay in fucking space because i don't like you.

you know how percy doesn't really do super great in the air because his dad drew the second longest straw and that means, genetically, the sky hates him? do thalia and nico feel that way........ all the time? percy whines about feeling weird in the sky and thalia's like i could, personally, punt you into hell. do you know how much worse that makes thalia having a fear of heights? her domain, the place where her dumb godblood aligns and she feels at peace, and she can't look down. poor kid. nico stays in the underworld and he's like oh is this what having energy is like?

furthermore the implications are hilarious because technically hades just lives in poseidon's basement for all eternity, and poseidon's just the brother that's blasting death metal all hours of the day and night. i read this one translation that involved hades getting pissed the fuck off because poseidon kept shaking the earth and the earth is hades's ROOF, that's his ROOF and also HIS WALLS and also his FLOOR. hades has to deal with so much bullshit. hades trying to vent to zeus about how annoying poseidon's weird moods are and zeus is like, "oh yes! i completely understand! he will come here and speak to me angrily..... the disrespect." and hades just stares........ like poseidon just cracks hades's domain in half every so often because he feels like it, and hades just has to shut up and deal. i feel for hades.

and then hades gets his ass kicked by poseidon's dickweasel son and GOD i need to make a masterpost of all of the reasons percy kicking hades's ass in TLO is beyond goddamn hilarious

Just another gem from @nopunattempted

I 👏 LOVE 👏 THEM 👏

bonus walker and dior picture bc they're giving me the clarisse and percy big sister/little brother vibes we deserve:

Seeing your ootp posts awakened something in me lol. I feel so bad for Sirius and Harry both of them were so traumatized but nobody understood them. Literally nobody could empathize with them but each other. I just feel so sad.

Have a nice day

It is *so* frustrating. It annoys me all the more cause fandom doesn’t talk about it either. It’s always just “Yeah, Sirius was throwing a fit.” No he fucking wasn’t 😭

You have a good day too Anon