star shine star bright

Are we not, therefore, each to other bound

So much the more by nature? by the links

Of blood, of reason? nay, if you will have it,

Even of religion, to be ever one,

One soul, one flesh, one love, one heart, one all?"

— Giovanni, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore

- Sirius never grovels enough when he does disgustingly cruel shit to Regulus. I don't need him down on his knees but he's never held accountable for his own actions, the way Regulus gets so much shit for being a death eater.

The lack of bigotry seems to be used as a justification for abusive behavior towards Regulus. Regulus is never written awfully enough for him to deserve the shit treatment he gets :( Let this guy nuke a city first before Sirius decides to irrigate his knuckles with his brother's blood, please? Otherwise, we just have a confusingly abusive Sirius which I'm simply not compelled to like.

And because of this, most conflicts when resolved feel cheap. No one's ever quite willing to acknowledge what they've written Sirius do, and the things he apologizes for, somewhere down the line, becomes Regulus' fault. Weird.

Asking me this on my starcest sideblog means you get a starcest answer btw...

I'd like to think that Sirius ends up pushing Regulus against a wall in one of the castle's many winding hallways, arm on his brother's throat because he needs to speak and Regulus needs to shut up, telling him that he'll never forgive him if he ends up dying. He rips himself away from his brother before doing something stupid like kiss him. But he makes his brother understand that his words are a threat not a reassurance (there's no affection to be found in his words). He can't be choosing himself by staying only to join a war and die — Sirius simply won't allow it. Nothing would make him hate his brother more than if he were to actually die. He lets Regulus know.

Regulus almost nearly claws Sirius' eye out at his brother's audacity because Sirius has no right, to anything, anymore. Much less what he does to his life.

This, in line with a canon compliant take from me, would just be irrefutable distance from both sides. Like, we have to remember that these two die away from each other and are not on speaking terms :( Sirius doesn't even know what the fuck happened to Regulus.

Going with my headcanon that Sirius asks Regulus to come with him before he leaves at a point in their relationship where they are fundamentally at odds with each other, their meeting at Hogwarts following this would just be... Them not being together.

Regulus is still reeling from actually being left behind (despite refusing to come with Sirius. The point for him was that he never wanted Sirius to leave, not for Sirius to ask him to come with him). And Sirius is just as hurt with Regulus choosing to stay, thinking that it's as good as abandonment — him leaving alone.

When you look at it this way, both Sirius and Regulus are choosing their own safety and it looks different.

Do they fight once they get there? Does Sirius follow Regulus to antagonize him? Does Regulus refute Sirius' attempts at reaching out? I don't know. I'm not sure.

But I think that their relationship dies into a painful, ever yearning heartbreak the moment they stop living in the same house. Even moreso once Regulus gets the mark during his sixth year. There's definitely enough time left for them at Hogwarts for one off encounters, I imagine they'd be tense or maybe fraught. No, they are not okay. Yes, it hurts like hell.

Selfishness and hypocrisy. I think they might have the tendency to think of each other as limbs. Neither are truly ever separate from each other and their upbringing has them believing the most of the world belongs to them. That they can and will always find a way to get what they want.

And sometimes that entitlement bleeds into aspects of their relationship. It's not just about wealth or inheritance. It's a specific kind of mindset where you are taught to think that people owe you what you want. They feel entitled to one another as they also exist as people who were socialized to value power and that unfortunately comes with a generous amount of inconsideration towards others.

Sirius really learns to be a better person (or learns to mask his own skewed tendencies) because a lot of people are putting in the effort to help him grow outside of his upbringing. However, I think he can't quite shake off his own feelings of entitlement towards Regulus, so he's either putting his brother up on a pedestal or is incandescent when he realizes that Regulus isn't an exact mirror of himself. It's a vicious cycle with him.

He's sometimes blind towards the efforts and kindness people have given him that have allowed him to be a better person, because the same flawed upbringing will rear its nasty head. Why can't Regulus simply mirror his own thoughts and beliefs? Blind to the fact that Regulus has had very different lived experiences with people very, very different from the ones Sirius is with.

The Black brothers are echoes of each other not mirrors. But they have a hard time dealing with their own differences because they tend to think of themselves as one and whole.

Regulus struggles with sharing Sirius. While Sirius is raring to have a go at the world simply because he believes Regulus will follow his every step, Regulus is unwilling to have his brother's attention on anyone else but him. He wants to be worshipped and cared for. Wants to have Sirius provide what he needs and gets mad when Sirius is unable to, out of his own failure to communicate.

Sirius expects Regulus to mirror his every thought and want; Regulus expects to encapsulate his brother's world.

Regulus chafes at Sirius' unmet expectations. Sirius feels as if he's slowly being smothered.