self-control is a myth

These are actually two close ups from the same drawing but I can't show that whole thing here 😅

Check out the two of them and everything in between on AO3 or Bluesky

13) Worst blorbofication

Characters like Regulus Black, Barty Crouch Jr., and other Death Eaters of that era often get flattened by fandom into soft, misunderstood, tragic figures who were pressured into becoming Death Eaters. The intention is usually to add complexity or sympathy, but in practice it tends to do the opposite. It strips away what little canon actually gives us and replaces it with something far less grounded in the world of the series, smoothing over the harder, more uncomfortable truths about power and choice.

This kind of softening removes their culpability in upholding blood supremacy and participating in violence against others. It reframes ideological commitment as victimhood and, in doing so, undercuts the stakes of their actions.

Regulus's betrayal of Voldemort is frequently interpreted as a moral awakening, but canon doesn’t actually give us clear evidence that he abandoned pure-blood ideology. What we do see is his reaction to what Voldemort does to Kreacher and, more importantly, to the creation of a Horcrux. In Regulus's mind, Voldemort has crossed a line, engaging in a form of magic widely considered unnatural and taboo. There’s also a strong element of personal violation: Voldemort uses Regulus’s house-elf, his property, in the process. Regulus’s actions, then, can be understood as rejecting Voldemort as a leader and his methods as unacceptable, rather than rejecting the ideology that led him to join in the first place.

Barty Crouch Jr., meanwhile, is one of the most capable and dangerous Death Eaters we see in canon, and that often gets lost in softer interpretations. He is intelligent, patient, and extraordinarily skilled. He successfully impersonates Moody for an entire school year, deceiving even Dumbledore, who knows Moody well. He navigates complex magical deceptions, manipulates the Triwizard Tournament, and plays a long game that requires precision and control. At the same time, he is intensely devoted to Voldemort’s cause and fully willing to enact violence in service of it. Reducing him to a coerced or tragic figure diminishes what canon actually shows us: someone both highly competent and deeply committed to a supremacist movement.

All of this sits within a broader context that fandom sometimes downplays. Blood supremacy in the series is not a fringe or underground belief system—it is deeply embedded in wizarding institutions and social norms. Families like the Blacks and the Crouches are not outsiders; they are part of an old, wealthy, and influential class. Even characters aligned against Voldemort can reflect subtler versions of these biases. That context is crucial, because it means Death Eaters are not marginalized individuals lashing out from the edges of society. They are members of a dominant group using violence to maintain and reinforce their power.

What makes these characters compelling isn’t that they are secretly soft or wholly misunderstood, but that they operate within—and actively commit violence—a system that they already benefit from.

24) Topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

Is Snape an unredeemed fascist incel? Or a traumatized child trying to survive his abusers and can't be held responsible for the choices he makes for that survival?