Stasis

Stasis by Andromeda311

Summary: There is no hero. There is no villain. There is only redemption and damnation, success and failure. Oneshot, 5,137 Words.

Why You Should Care: Because it’s the Regulus everyone writes except that it’s so much better.  This characterisation is everything I’ve been missing in Regulus fics — darker, harsher, more bitter, and on a path clearly marked by self-destruction.  This is a character sketch I can sink my teeth into, and one that is sure to be enjoyed by darkfic readers.

Why You Might Not Care: You might like seeing Regulus as more a victim of circumstance than this portrays.  Like Snape, Regulus makes his own bed in this one.

If I’m A Fool For You

If I’m A Fool For You by Esinde Nayrall

Summary: On New Year’s Eve, Remus Lupin makes a promise to Sirius Black. Five days later, Remus Lupin makes a promise to himself. If he keeps them both, it will be the hardest thing he’s ever done. Romance, 84, 000 Words.

Why You Should Care: It’s hard to write Remus/Sirius originally: it’s all been done before, but this fic feels fresh. The author has very clear characterisations of Remus and Sirius and they’re quite out of the norm, and yet they fit perfectly with the adults we know they will grow into. But this fic is more than heartbreaking (which it is, by the way. There’s a whole load of angst. I cried. I never cry at fic.). James and Peter are also really well characterised; these feel like real people and the way they react to different situations is also very real. Not to be missed.

Why You Might Not Care: There’s slash. Lots of slash. Some NC-17 slash. Quite a bit of NC-17 slash, actually. And also, angst that makes you want to die, just to stop it. And a rubbish attempt at using the Black Family Tree. As in, Sirius’ mother is Cassiopeia and his uncle Alphard is dating a guy called Marius. But yes. Read this fic, it’s fabulous.

Enter Stage Left

Enter Stage Left by Thirty2Flavors

Summary: “You’re a dreadful actor, Black.” // While waiting for their cue, two actors discuss their profession. Oneshot, 769 Words.

Why You Should Care: It’s a brave writer who can find a metaphor and turn their entire fic over to it. Trust thirty2flavors, then, to do it awesomely. She’s seen the behind the masks of Death Eaters and seen the how masquerade continues to take place. What’s incredible here is that in a fic with a metaphor for acting, she doesn’t use a script form. That would be obvious. But she manipulates language so that her prose is scriptlike. Every time I read this fic I am in awe.

Why You Might Not Care: You’re sick of thirty2flavors being recced here.

Genesis

Genesis by Andromeda311

Summary: The last eight days of Regulus Black’s life. Dark, psychological, vaguely religious. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he whispers that his brother would be proud of him. 1,765 Words.

Why You Should Care: There’s a novel called Lolita – I’m sure you’ve all read it – which is described as the author’s love letter to the English language. This fic is Andromeda311’s love letter to the English language. This fic is beautiful, animated, exquisite, with this fabulous phraseology like terror-red miasma and the swooping wings of Azrael. A lot of love wrote this fic, and a lot of thought. Read for the sheer pleasure of words.

Why You Might Not Care: There’s not a lot in this fic past the raw emotion and the incredible use of structuring and language, and if you feel like something plot-heavy and interesting then stay well away. But seriously. This fic is unbelievable.

Two Men To Make One Brother

Two Men To Make One Brother by Jamesly

Summary: He, Sirius, he is the heir; he is the one to carry the name and the fortune and the status, not Regulus, with his runny nose, curling toes, and doughy cheeks. Oneshot, 3,120 Words.

Why You Should Care: This is an excellent story about two brothers who both love and hate each other for reasons that only make sense to siblings. Mostly, though, it’s the story of the younger of the two; Sirius’ POV provides us with both prologue and epilogue like bookends, but Regulus is the one we get to know the best. They experience the range of emotions most siblings do — jealously, affection, fraternity — and Regulus struggles as he tries not to notice Sirius drift farther and farther away. In the end, though, no matter how much we’d like to hate our family, we still somehow love them anyway, because they are family; Jamesly nails the mix perfectly.

Why You Might Not Care: There is some Remus/Sirius slash used to drive the wedge even further. Personally, I don’t think it was needed — I think the piece would have been more powerful without something so taboo and anvilicious to sink the nail, but if it could have been simply the drift of choice that sent Sirius and Regulus in two different directions. The slash is there, however, for better or worse, though it isn’t the focus by any stretch.

The Black Cold

The Black Cold by Falling Damps

Summary: In the heat of the summer, Regulus Black relives his past, avoids the present, and looks forward into a future that may not be as unchangeable as it seems. Oneshot, 4,733 Words.

Why You Should Care: Regulus Black is surrounded by mystery, even through to the end of the books. We only know a few things for sure, and it paints a very vague picture of the boy who was left to be heir of the Black Family by Sirius. Here, Falling Damps gives us a little peak inside Regulus Black and the events just before and just after Sirius ran away and turned his back on his family for good, and Regulus is on the very cusp of regretting his own choice of allegiance.

Why You Might Not Care: Regulus here is resoundingly normal, and for some people perhaps too much so. Regulus has several incarnations — most recently his canon one — and Falling Damps creates another. This Black Family (Walburga especially) is not as severe and militant as I am used to seeing them, and I found myself wishing for a little stronger characterizations in places to better accent the piece. Everyone just seems a little duller than they should be.