So, Today I Was Studying The Plato's Cave Myth During My Prep Classes And I Noticed Something That I

impromptu character analysis of one regulus arcturus black

i think the key to regulus as a character – at least my version of him, since there isn’t really a canon – is that all his life he’s been searching for somewhere to belong; somewhere that would foster him and allow him to thrive; somewhere that needed him as much as he needed it, even if he didn’t know that’s what he wanted.

both at first and till the end, he clung to his family as his place, but he was the second son, so he wasn’t truly needed. this led to some possible resentment of sirius, who was the heir and got that special place all to himself just by merit of being born first, but didn’t even want it; in fact, actively rejected it. this led, i think, to reg damaging himself to become the perfect son in every way: to be everything that sirius wasn’t. this meant his parents were happy with him bc he was perfect, but no matter what he did, no matter how hard he worked, no matter how perfect he was, he’d never have that place. not like sirius.

and then sirius got himself sorted into gryffindor and reg saw, fleetingly, a chance. now he was even more obviously the perfect son. he did everything right. but to his frustration, sirius went out and found himself ANOTHER place – another family – and reg still couldn’t even grab a place within his own because sirius still had it. so he burned and he burned, hoping to carve himself into what they wanted – hoping that he could rebuild a new him, a better him, from the ashes of his old self, and then maybe they would give him a place… a place in their hearts. in their minds.

i think regulus just really wanted to be loved; to be cared about. and that was a common problem throughout his life – mom and dad don’t care about me, all they care about is sirius; now they’re yelling at him and i hate it and i love it but they’re still not paying attention to me because i’m neither bad enough or good enough to not fade to the background (i am nothing, i am no one); sirius doesn’t care about me, clearly, because he left me, and yes, he asked if i wanted to come with, but i can’t and he knows i can’t because i have a duty to this family even if he decides to shirk his. i don’t have that luxury. i don’t have the ability to fit in wherever i go; to charm people’s faces off until they’d die for me. i could go with you, sirius, but i know i wouldn’t fit in where you’re going. i don’t entirely fit in here, either, but at least here, i’m not a stranger. it’s a case of bad thing vs worse thing.

and then came the death eaters. i don’t think regulus had any love for muggles/muggleborns, but i don’t think he hated them either. he just got so caught up in trying to be who his parents wanted him to be that he went and did what was expected of him. perhaps he would find somewhere to belong within this group of people like him – purebloods; people with lost or buried souls; even several members of his extended family. plus, i think he always had at least some interest in the dark arts and being a death eater would allow him to explore that.

but it wasn’t what he thought it would be. he was horrified when he found out what the dark lord was willing to do, because although regulus appears to be fairly neutral, he still has a line. horcruxes and horrific treatment of his house elf – one of the only creatures who really cared about him – definitely crossed that line. and then, suddenly, he once again found himself on the outside looking in. he now knew that he did not belong here, which made him a lone sheep in a pack of wolves, saved only by the wolf skin he drapes himself in. he knew he had to do something about this, but he had nowhere to go – his family still more or less supported voldemort, he had no true friends, and his brother hated him (or so he thought).

and so he walked straight to his death; and so he drowned.

i think that regulus also felt like nothing fairly often. all of his family had niches that they carved out for themselves (sirius as the spirited rebel with his heart beating proudly on his sleeve; his father standing tall and emotionless, always in control, a cold, solid wall of stoicism; his mother with her icy eyes and sharp tongue and terrifying beauty), but regulus? regulus was just the second son. he tried his best to be perfect, but perfection is not a personality trait; it just made him even more of a blank slate on which his mother could draw. at school, if he was anything, he was sirius’s younger brother. being a black gave him automatic reverence in some circles and contempt in others, but no matter how much it defined his identity, it never helped him find it. being a death eater felt right for his surname, but not for him. as much as he raved about the dark lord’s ideals (hoping that if he talked it up enough, he could convince himself), he always felt at least slightly out of place in that group. so he wasn’t really regulus the death eater and he wasn’t really regulus, perfect son and heir to the noble and most ancient house of black, but he wore both like masks because without them, he was just regulus. and just regulus was nothing to both himself and everyone else. and i think that’s why he was so willing to lay down his life to get rid of the horcrux – because he hoped that maybe if his death meant something, it would be enough to counteract being nothing all his life.

Let talk about all the lines in the Grishaverse that are the most poetic, and that I would get tattooed to my forehead in a heartbeat

“What is infinite? the universe and the greed of men.”

“When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.”

“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”

“I am not ruined. I am ruination.”

“Fear is a Phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return.” (One of my favorite)

“I’m the Sun Summoner, It gets dark when I say it does.”

“No mourners, No Funerals.”

“I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together-Knifes drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.”

I could definitely make a Pt.2

PSA (because I know we’re all so excited for Nico but this needs to be said): YOU CANNOT PUT NICO’S IDENTITY ONTO THE SMOL BOY WHOS GOING TO PLAY HIM.

IF THE ACTOR TURNS OUT NOT TO BE GAY AS THE YEARS GO BY WE ARE GOING TO LOVE AND RESPECT HIM REGARDLESS!!

IF ANYONE IN THIS FANDOM KIT CONNORS A FRIGGIN TEN YEAR OLD I WILL FIND YOU AND RIP OUT YOUR SPINE!!!!

EVERYONE’S EXCITED FOR OUR GAY DISNEY PRINCE BUT PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE ACTOR ISN’T NICO, AND WILL HAVE HIS OWN IDENTITY THAT HE NEEDS TO FIND OUT FOR HIMSELF AND NOT SHOVED ON HIM BY A BUNCH OF RANDOM FANS THAT DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM!!!

Please I know everyone is excited but I am so scared for this kid

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The rest of the queers aren't allowed to exclude asexuals anymore; we've got the JK Rowling Seal of Disapproval! It's official, we belong!

Kirishima: When Bakugou was born, the gods said, "He’s too perfect for this world."

Midoriya: Please. When he was born, the devil said, "Oh, competition."

GUYS I FIGURED IT OUT

Clint in the vents and that’s his whole personality because he wasn’t fleshed out in the movies → Ava in the walls and that’s her whole personality because she wasn’t fleshed out in the movies

Thor eating poptarts and overusing proper words because English isn’t his first language and he’s the comedic relief → Alexei eating Wheaties and overusing proper words because English isn’t his first language and he’s the comedic relief

Natasha pranking and laughing at everyone from the sidelines because fanon decided she’s just silly like that → Yelena pranking and laughing at everyone from the sidelines because canon decided she’s just silly like that

Bruce being a sweet, soft-spoken, unassuming guy but also the most fucking unhinged monstrosity if you catch him on a bad day → Bob being a sweet, soft-spoken, unassuming guy but also the most fucking unhinged monstrosity if you catch him on a sad day

Steve being handed the de facto title of goody two shoes leader despite being the LAST person on board with this → Bucky being handed the de facto title of goody two shoes leader despite being the last person on board with this

Tony being a big-mouthed asshole that’s secretly haunted by his past mistakes which involved publicly supporting the US military via PR stunts as a weapons manufacturer → John being a big-mouthed asshole that’s secretly haunted by his past mistakes which involved publicly supporting the US military via PR stunts as a weapon himself

oh, don't mind me. Just thinking about how Percy canonically used nature magic even though that shouldn't have been possible for a normal demigod. (in the lightning thief on gabe, I swear)

oh don't mind me, i'm just thinking about how Sally seems to get younger when she's near the sea and her eyes change colors as well.

oh don't mind me, i'm just thinking about how Percy described the sea nymph his father sent to talk to him as looking exactly like his mother.

oh don't mind me, i'm just thinking about how Percy is part sea nymph and nobody fucking noticed.

EDIT: no I don't think sally is a full blooded sea nymph I still think she is more human than mythological creature. I just think it might explain a few things

lotr but nobody knows anything about the other races

Pippin thinks Legolas is a woman

Boromir is convinced that the hobbits are all 15 max

Everyone thinks that Merry and Pippin are twins, except for Legolas, who is convinced the hobbits are quadruplets

Sam thinks that Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas don't have to eat to survive

Legolas doesn't mention things he sees or hears because he thinks the others have noticed them too and just assumes they have a plan

Pippin complains that he is hungry and Legolas just gives him a handful of grass. Pippin is so confused that he just takes it, and now Legolas tries to figure out what hobbits can eat by just giving them random shit, like

Things the hobbits have accepted and likely eaten later (a list by legolas)

-Grass - Leaves

-Stones - a hair tie

-A feather - one of Gimli's shoes

The hobbits and Gimli just assume that this is what elves eat

Some more kid!bkdk 🫶🥰

Based on that Lilo and Stitch scene