Metalomagnetic

This is genuinely the first time in my life I hear someone trying to GET Moldavian citizenship hahah.

Learning Romanian isn't easy! Super proud you've been at it for two months! ❤️ Though I suppose it would help if your native language is also a latin one.

We have lots of interesting movies and books! Depending on what genre you prefer, I would recommend any Romanian movie you can find (a few good ones won Cannes festivals) but fair warning, we like our movies depressing, so go into it preparing for existential dread ( one that was a winner at every film festival is called 4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile).

I would advise you to stay away from any Romanian reality TV shows or radio stations. They suck. Truly.

As for books, I recommend Eminescu, Coşbuc, Creanga, Sadoveanu. Bacovia is an amazing poet (but also super depressing, expect that a lot from Romanian literature). You should find most of these translated into English as well.

Best way to get accurate, high quality Romanian subtitles is to have either Netflix or HBO and also VPN, and use Romania as location, select Romanian subtitles, and you should get accurate subtitles to help you learn.

I don't advise going the 🏴‍☠️ way. You won't find good subtitles, Romanians that go to those lengths to get movies are usually already good at English so we rarely 🏴‍☠️movies with subtitles.

(I don't know if you like rock music, but if you do, you can find the bands Phoenix, Cargo and Emeric Imre on YouTube with translations and they are AMAZING).

2. I really love your style of examining a minor detail in the main story, and elaborating it into a whole fic- for example, the mentions of Orion Black, or the dynamic in the Black family. I want to write a fic for a different fandom, but I'm not sure as to what conflict I should centre it on/ how to explore further into the fandom (even though I have a lot of information- as it is a historical fiction movie). How do you pick the conflict(s) your story revolves around?

3. Do you have any tips on writing characters who have multi-layered levels of thinking (Ex: Voldemort) which you don't want to keep narrating to the audience, but you also want to show them the depth of their internal thoughts? This gets difficult when I'm writing from the perspective of the character (as I want to overexpose all their thinking) and from the perspective of the other character (where they just seem to look 2 dimensional, broody and make sudden decisions).

4. You write both short and long fics with so much depth. Is there a difference in your method of outlining each? How do you manage to sustain your motivation to write a long fic? Do you not get exhausted / disinterested?

Thanks for your time! I apologise if this was a long ask

Hello! ❤️

I've been writing all my life, I suppose. Of course, I didn't publish back then, and it was in my native language at first, and then slowly I would do my best to write in languages I was learning, as an exercise in improving my vocabulary. I would say my writing style has improved since I was 10 haha, but it's not necessarily very different at its core. I learned more words, I learned how to pace better, I grew up and learned more about life and people and that is a huge help, but looking back, my style has always been the same, as in I like character driven stories and don't really care about my prose as long as it gets the point across. I don't really care about describing how my characters look, how their clothes or homes look, I like to focus on how they feel and relate to others and I always disliked using convoluted sentences or paragraphs so I avoid those. I just like/do best with brevity, I guess. I love using fewer words to express very large ideas.

How do I pick the conflicts? That's a good question, since I rarely think about that when starting a story. The first thing I think about it's the characters I want to write about, and knowing who they are usually will lead me to the conflict of the story. I never thought about Orion Black or Black family drama when I started It runs in the blood. I thought: oh, Voldemort and Sirius would be very hot and possibly amazing drama and angst, so I started writing. (first thing I wrote for It runs was a sex scene lol, and it only took me 200k words to get to it as I started actually publishing. Keep in mind, when I first started the story I thought it will have 100k AT MOST. boy was I wrong)And, of course, because I was writing Sirius, his family dynamic made itself known, because it's a part of his life, so obviously I had to write his family into the story. And then, for his family to make sense, I needed to expand on their society at large, and how his family would from in that medium. And there you go, 600k and going lol. Life (and fiction) is made by 'minor' details. But I would say Orion or the Black family are not at all minor details when you write Sirius Black. They are quite major things in his life that formed him as a person, regardless of what flavour of Sirius one wants to write (good, evil, neutral blah blah).

All characters should 'have multi-layered levels of thinking'! At least in my view. All humans have that, hence all characters in a story should also have it. So my tip, as always, would be: write a human being. "the depth of internal thought" as you put it, should be present without having to overexpose it; imagine when you tell a story to your friends about someone else you know; you don't have to narrate to them the depth of internal thoughts of that person. That's how you should also write any character, as if you're just speaking about them to a friend of yours. As for when you're writing from that character's POV, it's the same thing; they would think in the same manner you think (I do NOT mean political opinions or preferences, I simply mean the thought process itself is very similar to all human beings.) You don't narrate to yourself what YOU think, you just think. So does your POV character. It's also important to remember that when you are using the character as a POV, their perspective will always be limited, and thus, often, unreliable. YOU, the writer, are omniscient about the story, but your POV character is definitely not. Unless of course you use omniscient perspective as a narration method, but I have no experience with that, so I can't give any tips. So I guess best tip for writing POV characters is...know your character very well. Know everything about them. That will of course help you write the thinking process. Know what they want to achieve, what their personality is like, what they fear the most- and so, their internal thoughts should be easy to grasp in all manner of situation you place that character in. Don't think 'but will the reader understand this, will it make sense to the reader?''; think, instead 'does this make sense for my character?' For example, I know (hope) that Voldemort, since you used him as an example, makes no sense to my readers or to me, but he makes sense to himself. And because the reader and me are omniscient, as opposed to Voldemort, it will still makes sense to us, in the grand scheme of things, because we also know the rest of the story, even if Voldemort doesn't. When Voldemort kept asking Sirius about Harry before that Halloween, WE knew why he was asking, and the prophecy was coming, but Sirius had no way of knowing that, so he very easily dismissed those questions as simply oddities or fears that Voldemort might think Sirius would want kids now that he's around baby Harry. It has to make sense for your POV character, not for anyone else.

I don't outline my stories (that's how I end up with monster chapters and monster stories, because I just let them take me places). The only difference between a long story or a one shot is what moment I want to capture. For a one-shot, it's one specific thing, that wouldn't require a lot of set up. For example, one night of forest sex between Greyback and Sirius doesn't require much set up other then : have them in the woods and make them have sexy sex. For a Voldemort and Sirius fall in love, you obviously need a LOT of set up. As for the depth (and I am very happy to hear you consider my short one shots also have depth ❤️) I believe it always comes from the fact that even if I don't write it all in that fic, I still know my characters; Greyback in my short fic has no written backstory, but it is in my head, so even if he only has like 5 lines of dialogue, they do come from a coherent place, because I have his whole backstory and personality in my head, so he acts in a consistent manner, even if it is only for a couple paragraphs.

All in all, I know it's a very cliche saying, but no less true for me: 'the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself' (William Faulkner). So that's how I pick my conflicts. I'm not interested in external conflicts so much, I only use them as a prop for what I am most interested in: the internal conflict of the heart. That's also why I write character driven stories, and I am less interested in general, epic conflicts like wars, or politics or whatever (though, of course, you need to include those as well, to set the scene in which your character can flourish/wilt).

How do I sustain my motivation? It's probably due to the lovely feedback I receive. Some of my fics have amazing engagement, and it makes me want to share more of my story since it seems it brings so much joy to people.

I just finished reading Ouros and I'm curious is Dolohov story the same as in IRITB?

Also for EMD, who can Delphini end up with at the end? I have a feeling that Rabastan is a possible option 😂

Yes, Dolohov's back story is the same in Oruo and It runs!

I like Harry just fine! He's the reason I was obsessed with Harry Potter books as a child, at least until Sirius was introduced. And after Sirius died, I kept reading for Harry.

He's not getting the short end of the sticks 'most times'. He only got that in Either must die. And that is not because I don't like Harry, but because I believe he would always get the short end of the stick in a relationship with Voldemort. And not just because I like Voldemort better, as a character (though I do), but because Voldemort is more compelling for me to write, since he's a genius with issues who doesn't understand and will never understand that the world doesn't revolve around him, who always tries to control everything in his vicinity.

I am happy with the way Rowling wrote Harry- he's her strongest character, the most consistent. I love Harry's determination, goodness, selflessness. It's just that because he is already a complete character, and basically Jesus, I don't feel as interested in exploring him, as opposed to Voldemort who is at most a two dimensional villain in the books, but one with a LOT of potential to expand and play with.

"So I do wonder what compels you to write him"- I am not generally compelled to write him. That's why I don't have many stories with him (though I might publish a one shot with his POV). I explained above why I am not so compelled to write him. I am satisfied already with his canon self. He's a good, moral guy. He doesn't have moral dilemmas. There's not much to 'improve' with him (in my opinion, of course). He's great as he is.

I *did* feel compelled to write Either Must Die, simply out of curiosity; I don't read a lot of Tomarry, I don't read it at all, really, but I did when I was much younger, and most of the stories (good ones that I enjoyed) either turned Harry 'dark' or turned Voldemort good. Usually Voldemort's character was sacrificed for the relationship to work. So I wanted to try the opposite; I wanted to explore what happens when a narcissistic, evil genius gets stuck with a much younger, empathic 'giver', a man already broken down by the burdens he carried during the war. I know the fandom disagrees, and that's fine, but in my understanding of the books, Harry was never Voldemort's equal in power or intellect. Harry is WAY better at being a human, though, with strong values that he adheres to. So I wanted to see what would win: hyper intelligence and ridiculous magical power over Harry's empathy and love. In canon, we have the fairytale ending: Harry's love and self sacrifice won over Voldemort's power, ambition, greed and paranoia. Which is, of course, how a children's book should end. In reality, tragically, it seldomly goes that way.

I see Harry having a relationship as in Turmoil, to pick your example, with Draco. I did enjoy some draco/harry story when I was younger. I think they can work, there's enough for drama there, and of course, Harry would probably have the upper hand there, or at the very least be equal to Draco. It could be turbulent, but certainly a much 'healthier' relationship than he'd have with someone like Voldemort.

But I think Harry would also be happier with a woman, with kids. It's what he always craved most, what he missed most: family. I am also one of the few that actually liked Harry ending up with Ginny and finally getting not only a family of his own, but the Weasley family is now his, the family he most liked and cherished and that always had his back in the books.

As to how would you write a character whose actions you don't always agree with, or you don't like: it's simple. Remind yourself you are writing a story. You're a story teller. Your characters don't need to be perfect. They can make dumb decisions, they can be cruel, they can be whatever you want the story to be. You're narrating the story, you're not condoning it. I don't agree with most anything my characters do in most of my stories, for example. But I am not writing a book on 'how to behave morally in society' or 'guide on how to be a good person'. I am having fun writing fan-fiction and (hopefully) telling an entertaining story.

So the advice would be, remember you are writing fiction, remember you are not a character in the story, they don't have to reflect your real life moral values, you're just the one that tells the story. And then tell the story you want to tell. And always, always have fun writing it.

"a character for which I want happy endings most of the time, a character that I want to be complex and make mistakes and even be cruel.."- you can write many heroes like that, Harry included. All human beings can be cruel from time to time, that doesn't have to mean they're generally a bad person. You can just make them learn from it, character development where he corrects these flaws. Or retains those flaws, and he's just sort of a dick now and again. No one can be perfect, after all.

Or, of course, you can always just write fluff and feel good stories! Those are very much needed from time to time.

I’m sorry to bother you with questions about Ouros again, but please forgive me because it’s practically one of my favorite stories, and I simply cannot stay away from it 😭 Not that I don’t enjoy reading IRITB, but the dynamics between LV and Tom always melt my heart.

Anyway, back to my curiosity, which you may have to indulge once again haha. While rereading and being completely entranced, several questions came to mind.

First, has Tom ever been courted during his years at Hogwarts? I’m fully convinced he would be even more charismatic than canon!Tom. Like he once discussed with LV, people started liking him when he was “too nice,” and I can imagine that everything his Marvolo gave him only made him more alluring to his classmates, regardless of gender. That’s why I find it so interesting that no one in the story seems to have sent him letters or courting gifts, especially considering how attractive he already was in canon. (Please don’t tell me Wally scared all the pursuers away, did she?)

Second, I know Tom probably wouldn’t care, but I still somehow feel sad for him whenever the story touches on his belief that Marvolo could never care about him as deeply as he cares about Marvolo, or when he jealously thinks LV would choose Bella over him. I know LV cherishes Tom far more deeply than he realizes or initially allows. The daydream (?) LV had while Tom was traveling, where Bella occupied more of a “daughter” role while Tom was clearly in the “partner” position, and the Horcrux around LV’s neck already say so much. Not to mention that we already witnessed how LV’s jealousy pushed him to take action instead of waiting for Tom to initiate their (new) relationship. XD

That said, I was wondering: are there still chances for LV to become jealous even after the last chapter? Since Tom is going to be the politician between them, I’d love to see his attention briefly distracted by some beings like a Veela, or see him forced to act especially polite and charming toward others, only for LV to absolutely hate it—for the sake of my own selfish amusement lol. (Though I know this probably wouldn’t happen since LV has already secured Tom’s love, and based on his personality, I don’t think he would feel genuinely threatened anymore. This is just my personal bias because I like Tom so much, and throughout the story he’s the one who gets jealous over and over again despite knowing LV doesn’t care about anyone.)

Also, is there a chance that someone eventually realizes the true nature of their relationship? After all, publicly they’re still seen as father and son. I would lose an arm just to see certain reactions if the truth ever came out—Rodolphus’ especially.

Lastly, this is another question regarding canon. In your opinion, why do you think canon LV chose to use the Killing Curse on Harry? I never gave it much thought until reading your stories and realizing that LV had traveled around the world even in canon. Theoretically, wouldn’t he have known other forms of magic capable of achieving the same result? I tried to justify it by assuming the Potters and the Order might have had protections, but since LV was able to break directly into their home anyway—“thanks to” Peter—how difficult would it really have been to use another curse or even poison instead of Avada Kedavra? Those methods would arguably have involved less risk. Do you think it was because canon!LV had already mutilated his soul to the point of irrationality, or was it simply Rowling needing the story to happen that way?

Again, thank you so much for staying with me this long and for having the patience to read all my ramblings. I truly can’t express how much anticipation and joy your works bring me. :)

We breeze through Tom's time at Hogwarts in the story, so we miss a lot of mundane experiences. I do recall mentioning that once he hit puberty Tom started to get a lot of attention from the girls at school, which at the time made him uncomfortable. So he wouldn't focus on that, and since we're in his POV, we don't get to see it, but certainly Tom was very popular.

I think, in the future, Tom might 'step out' a few times, sleep with some people here and there (they are immortal, after all, their future is veeeeeery long), but yes, Voldemort wouldn't necessarily care that much, because he knows Tom is only truly devoted to him. That doesn't mean it won't momentarily piss Voldemort off, which is probably why Tom does it.

Yes, Bella is told of the true relationship between Tom and Marvolo, and the fact that Voldemort time travelled and they're the same person.

No one else will ever know, but surely a smart cookie here and there would form some theories, but never be able to prove them.

As for canon, yes, of course when it comes to Voldemort especially some things happened because Rowling needed them to happen. However, I think V used to Killing Curse, because that is the easiest way to kill for a wizard, what he'd use/used often. Of course, using a knife would have served him better, but he's not the type to revert to what he'd see as muggle ways of killing, when he prides himself on his magic.

How does Voldemort feels to Harry? Does he hate him? If he had chance to get close to him like the rest of the boys would he take it or just ignore that he ever exists?

I don't think Voldemort hates Harry in 'It runs'. At most, he has some resentment from time to time, when he remembers Sirius chose Harry over Voldemort back in '81, but even then, it's more resentment for James, because that was really who Sirius picked in that conflict.

Other than that, he thinks now of Harry as another Horcrux that he has gifted to Sirius to take care of. It's easiest for him to think like that.

No, if he had the chance to get close to Harry, he wouldn't. Voldemort doesn't want to be close to anyone other than Sirius, alas he sees Sirius' biological sons as extensions of Sirius, and since Sirius is Voldemort's, the Black boys are also now his as well, in that very convoluted way that Voldemort is able to process relationships/connections to people.

I really love your works and how human you make your characters! I was wondering for IRITB, will Voldemort in the end lose by Harry killing him? Like if Harry does kill him, would Sirius ever forgive him? Bc I know that Orion wouldn't but would Helix ever be able to forgive him? And in the end, Harry would be losing his Black family other than Astrid.

Thank you! ❤️

Harry in It runs could never kill Voldemort.

It was only a very contrived set of circumstances that allowed for that to happen in canon.

Most importantly, Voldemort died by his own killing curse rebounding. In It runs, he will never throw a killing curse at Harry again, firstly because he knows Harry is a Horcrux, secondly because he will not do that to Sirius again.

Then, Voldemort's killing curse only rebounded in canon because Voldemort was using the Elder Wand that was actually owned by Harry, and ofc Harry's wand wouldn't kill him. It it runs, Harry has no way to get his hands on the Elder Wand (in canon he got 'ownership' of it from taking's Draco's wand, while prisoner in Malfoy Manor: that can never happen here, obviously. In this universe Draco will not accidentally become owner of the wand, to later transfer it to Harry.)

Voldemort in canon killed himself; Dumbledore managed to lure him into destroying his own Horcrux first (by 'killing' Harry in the Forbidden Forest) and then by some super weird and nonsensical wand lore, he died by using Harry's wand to cast his final killing curse at Harry.

Voldemort in it runs has Sirius at his side, who already told him Harry is a Horcrux. So Harry will never be attacked by Voldemort, thus those very specific circumstances from canon can never be repeated.

If Harry tries to kill Voldemort, he will lose, like any other wizard that would try to kill Voldemort.

Sirius understands Harry hates Voldemort, and he doesn't blame Harry for it, never would. But just Harry hating Voldemort and not agreeing with him, is a whole different thing that Harry fighting Voldemort; that, Sirius wouldn't forgive. And it's not just because he loves Voldemort, it's because Harry would be going against Sirius.

Part of the reason it took Sirius 10 years to forgive Voldemort for killing James, wasn't just because he loved James. Sirius held more grief and rage at Voldemort, because Voldemort went against Sirius, because Voldemort intentionally hurt Sirius.

Alas, Voldemort has a hold over Sirius that no one else has, not even his children. Bella and his mom are the only other people to have such a hold on Sirius outside Voldemort.

In both cases it's because Bella and Voldemort sunk their claws into Sirius when Sirius was in terribly vulnerable states: Bella, when Sirius was a baby: she was always his hero/his semi mom/his sister/his idol/his protector. He will forgive her anything.

And Voldemort: well, we saw in what state of mind and how vulnerable and alone Sirius was at 19, when he attracted Voldemort's attention.

His father and mother are also on this list. Of course, his father is dead, but Sirius would also forgive his mother anything, as we see.

But no, other than these people, that managed to gain his eternal loyalty when he was young, no one else can hope to earn Sirius' forgiveness if they hurt people he loves.

Obviously for the initial concepts but also for the overall plots, and for building your characters? Do you draw inspiration from other media, from people you know? (I hope for your sake not haha)

You’re my favorite author by far and I am genuinely fascinated by most of what I’ve read so I’d love to hear your thoughts about it!

Thank you! ❤️

I think I get inspiration from everything, really. My life, friends' life, other media, history. Everything is a source of inspiration, when you like writing.

Characters (not their actions!) are all built on real life people, though obviously dramatised. I think I said this before when a readers asked me how I make my characters seem so human and 'real'. If you want to write humans, you kinda have to base them on actual humans you've interacted with. I like giving my characters quirks and personality traits from people I have met or heard about at least, in real life. I think every writer does that.

It's the small things, more than the bigger ones. I don't know anyone that tortured people, for example, but I do give Bella hobbies some of my friends have (like knitting). Her sense of humour, her fashion taste, etc. The small things, like I said. It's what makes a character, at the end of the day.

Relationship of Orion and Walburga is based on some heartbreaking real life examples I know. Really, that goes for all relationships I write, romantic or otherwise. Again, dramatised and involving magic and all that; I don't know any royal-type families in real life, like the Blacks, but sadly I know of toxic relationships and how those affects children.

The kids I write are based on nephews and nieces and real life kids I know and love. Obviously, I only mean their personalities and how someone their age would respond to certain situations, and not that they're magical or that they have parents like Sirius or Harry or whatever. But it really helps, especially when writing children, to actually interact with real life children, otherwise I noticed they would just sound like some creepy infantilised adults.

So, I guess, when it comes to 'building characters' as you put it, it's just a matter of throwing together a bunch of traits from a bunch of people I have interacted with, see what would fit a canon character (if I am writing fanfic, that is) and then just imagine how all that would look like when placed in entirely fictional situations like a magical civil war.

A writer once said that the best way to become better at writing is living. Certainly reading a lot helps, too, but nothing beats lived experiences; going out there, meeting new people from all walks of life, experiencing new things, falling in love, falling out of love, etc. All art comes from life, and that's why art moves us so, because it's very human and relatable.

My prose is not very strong (and If I want it to improve, I need to start reading more, I kinda slacked off on that since started writing) my action scenes are not very strong either (mostly because I obviously never been in a duel or epic battle to draw experience from), but I figure I am confident enough writing my characters, because at least I know that: people. And that's why all my stories are really very heavily character-driven.

I'm genuinely in awe with how you came up with all of this. The world building and characterization is just amazing. When I first saw this fic recommended on tiktok I was like who on earth would write a voldemortxsiruis fic I'm soo glad I gave it a try tbh.

I remember a chapter you wrote where Harry said he'd be okay marrying Draco and I thought it could be a thing but have lost hope since they started hogwarts. My drarry heart broke.

Also can you touch more on bellatrix's character? She's an absolute badass but no matter how hard I try I can never seen to like her and trust me I've tried. She's described as morally grey like most of the characters yet I only see her to be awful and self-serving. Nothing really to consider her morally grey and not just cruel. I've read soo many comments to try to get it cause I hate the feeling of not understanding the nuance of a character. Maybe I'm still holding the grudge of what she did to Marlene and her family.

I also feel like Siruis was too hard on Harry. The situation just reminds me of how single minded the black family can be. They fail to see the perspective of others and how their actions affect anyone who isn't them. They expected Harry to go to school filled with the children of people they murdered or tortured and not think of them as monsters? That is very single minded.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong and have totally missed the point you were trying to make cause I do let my views get in the way of actually enjoying a good book. Tbh I find most of the characters insufferable yet I can't seem to not want to read about them. This is honestly the most enchanting fic I've read. Thank you for writing it, truly it has shaped my brain in soo many ways after reading fics where Walburga and Orion are just monsters for no reason this has allowed me to view the black family in such a different light.

Bella is not described as morally grey. Or at least that was not my intention. I did my best to make her a complex character, but there's nothing grey about her morality: she is a bigot, she is an extremist, she follows a very rigid code, she is cruel, violent, and has no issue with genocide. I...do not see how that would be morally grey, really. Yes, she's loving and helpful with her family, but that's the complexity of a human being- you can be evil, morally bankrupt and still adore your little sister, and die for your cousin. One has little to do with the other.

"like most of the characters"- again, my intention was never for most of the characters to be morally grey. Voldemort's side, the Black's side of the story, loads of them are pretty much horrible people.

I often say I strive to write human characters, and that means complex characters, as in they can be evil but that doesn't take away from their humanity. However, that does not at all mean they are morally grey. Voldemort, I hope, is written as a very complex man, but no one would ever call him 'grey'.

Same for the good guys. Dumbledore in It runs is very much a good guy, with incredible moral compass. But he's still human, so he has flaws. He still makes some bad decisions. That doesn't make him a bad man, or a 'grey' man. It makes him a good man with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, in the middle of a terrible war.

James and Lily were good guys, but they also had some flaws.

Same for the bad guys- they're very much bad, but they still have qualities, like bravery or a twisted set of honour, or ...idk, loving their children and pets.

You don't have to force yourself to like Bella; Sirius likes her, and you can see how his love colours his POV, but she's a very hard person to stomach, if you aren't on her side. It's normal that you hold a grudge against her for, you know, the murder of Marlene and her lil' niece. Of course, in that case, there should also be a grudge against Voldemort, who ordered the death of her entire family. But I noticed Bella always gets more flak than Voldemort, across fandom.

You're right, lots of the characters are insufferable, because they are horrible people. However, because they are fictional, that doesn't mean they aren't fun to read/write about. It's actually why I like to write them.

There's something fascinating about writing an evil character like Voldemort, or Bella, but still writing them as human; because they are humans. It would be amazing if morally bankrupt people wouldn't be humans, wouldn't it? But they are. They love, and suffer, and laugh, and joke around, too. They find ways to explain away their evilness and cruelty in a way that makes sense to them. At least Voldemort knows he's bad, but most purebloods around him don't think of themselves as bad- a lot of them actually believe that what they are doing is good for their families or their country. They view themselves either as righteous or as 'morally grey'. But they aren't. They're bad people, that have zero regard for those that are not exactly like them.

It's also fascinating how the qualities they do have, like honour, bravery, love- how these become twisted with the wrong mindset. Rodolphus, Arcturus, Sirius, Bella- they all have honour, they all are brave, they all love *so* fiercely. But we see how those qualities make them worse people, instead of better. Rodolphus and Bella would murder nations out of love for their lord. Arcturus would sentence babies to death so he can save a family member. Sirius would do literally anything for Voldemort or the Blacks.

And, hopefully, as you read from Sirius' POV, you can see how he explains it away to himself, how he reaches the bottom of the barrel, moral wise, how he loses himself from a good young man, to the Head of House Black, to Voldemort's beloved. I do hope most people that read it can indeed relate to the very human aspects of him, and indulge in this story, but I never meant for these very fun and charismatic people to be morally grey or morally...anything really.

They're just fun, really. In a fascinating, sometimes horrible sort of way.

Sirius is a good man, if you ask his family, his other pureblood friends. He's a hero, holding up their birthright, protecting their lineage.

Now, best not to think how the rest of magical UK views Sirius, though we hear a little, here and there. He, too, is a bad man.

"They expected Harry to go to school filled with the children of people they murdered or tortured and not think of them as monsters? That is very single minded."- these are the Blacks. They expect the same out of all their children. They expect loyalty to the family.

Since we were speaking of morals, Harry is morally in the right, of course. Not only that, but he's also a child. Alas, the Blacks believe Harry is wrong, because he 'betrayed' them. He answered their love and protection with disloyalty. Obviously, that's a very harmful way of thinking, but like I said, there's nothing healthy about the way the Black family raises their children, or what they expect of them.

"after reading fics where Walburga and Orion are just monsters for no reason this has allowed me to view the black family in such a different light.". Thank you! I am glad you like the nuance I tried with the Blacks.

Mind you, in my fic, Orion and Walburga still inflict terrible damage on their sons; sure, not in a cartoon character way, throwing Crucio around at their kids and gleefully laughing, but the abuse is still very much present. Only in more human ways, in more insidious ways.

"Everything they do to you is permanent damage" Voldemort tells Sirius at some point, when Sirius shrugs off the way his mother treats him. And, Voldemort is right.

However, that doesn't mean Orion and Walbruga didn't love their sons; they loved their sons more than anything in the world. Anything except legacy, that is. They adored Sirius and Regulus, but their loyalty is always first to the Black part of the name, and only after that to the individual that is called Black.

And Sirius and Regulus in turn love their parents.

And yet, with all this love, all this loyalty, abuse still happened. Permanent trauma still happened. Vicious circles are still in place, and Sirius is repeating them with Orion Jr.

It's the tragedy and beauty of their family. The Black family is so interesting to write about, but obviously, there's nothing 'grey' about them. They perpetuate a cycle of abuse that not only harms the world at large, but harms every single individual inside their family. All in the name of legacy and power. All in the name of protecting the family.

Still love them, though 😂

Hope you can continue to enjoy 'It runs' for what it is. It is not the type of story where you can look for morals inside it, though. Just a deep dive into how harmful royal-type families are, and how much love two bad people can hold for each other.

i was just stalking going back through your old posts because i am procrastinating, and i saw you answered some questions about WIPs. you already write so much but i was wondering if any of these you mentioned you were planning to publish or were still working on?

Amnesic Voldemort. 

Hermione and Ron realise Harry is a Horcrux and he plans on a suicide mission when he goes in the Forest, so they stop him. Voldemort still loses the war, however. Because he is immortal and deemed too dangerous to contain in any prison, they take away his memories and suppress his magic. 

So when the story starts, he is out there in muggle London, trying to live his life, not knowing who he is or where he came from. He believes he lost his memories in a car crash. However, as years go by, he notices he is being followed (that would be the Aurors keeping an eye on him). He starts coming up with these conspiracy theories and is determined to solve the mystery. 

This will be a Hermione/Voldemort AND a Harry/Voldemort

The sequel to Either Must Die. 

Truth be told, I already wrote a lot for this one. Yet I am trying to contain it in a one-shot, at worst two chapters. Long chapters, of course. I am having trouble deciding what to keep from what I have, and what to throw out, so that is mostly what stopped me from publishing so far. I am trying to make it cohesive.

There’s just so much time I want to cover, and I have to decide on what period to focus more than others.  

you also mentioned a sirius/harry fic and a sirius/draco fic. you've already posted a FANTASTIC sirius/draco fic but the clip you posted here on tumblr was from sirius' POV -- was that an earlier draft? a later chapter we haven't seen yet? another work entirely?

MOST importantly i saw you talking about an orion/walburga one shot that takes place in the IRITB universe and is their relationship which EEK just so perfect

just so curious about these ideas, but ofc no pressure!

I sort of borrowed amnesic Voldemort for my other story, Sirius/Bella/Voldemort.

I still have a lot written for the original idea, but if I ever keep writing or publish, it will only be a Hermione/Voldemort, I am no longer writing Harry with him (and so, no sequel for EMD, either).

Yes, I will eventually do the harry/sirius one!

Draco/Sirius part that I put on Tumblr was an entirely different work from the one I published!

Yes, Orion/Walburga (known as the Egypt cut hahah) will be published, probably when I finish It runs!

Wait, now that I think about it, Remus gave the map to Harry and since the nickname “Padfoot” is written there, he surely must’ve figured out Sirius took part in the creation of the map, right? Has he shown it to Orion or Marvollo?

Sirius has so many fun secrets lol

She thinks it's Sirius or the kids bring strays in (which they do, mind you. Astrid had to reason with Sirius about the amount of animals he and the kids were trying to bring to Grimmauld). Anyway, Walburga thinks the 'padfoot always comes when we need him' thing is a story Sirius told the kids to make them feel better, so when they're sad he brings them a black dog to hug.

Padfoot generally goes to one kid, on his own, in their bedroom to comfort them. Walburga hasn't seen Padfoot very many times.

Sirius did tell her he exchanged blood with a vampire eventually. She was disgusted and very curious at once, called Sirius all sort of vile names then asked him to describe it.

Yes, Harry figured out Sirius was Padfoot when he got the map. He, like Orion, was already suspecting it once he was no longer a little kid haha.