poppyofthemilk

[poppyofthemilk]

a beautiful little family.

He was about to go home, about to return to the place where he had had a family […] The life he had lost had hardly ever seemed so real to him as at this moment, when he knew he was about to see the place where it had been taken from him. (chapter 16, dh)

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I'm currently reading we few, we happy few (I'm about to start chapter 10), and I was ready hoping you had a Tumblr so I could reach out.

First off, AHHHHHHHHHH. Everything about the story is utterly fantastic! Ellis is an extremely fascinating character, and I love that she doesn't fit the traditional Slytherin stereotype. I love seeing her hanging out with the Gryffindors and helping younger students. I love that she doesn't necessarily like all her housemates as well!

Secondly, someone actually recommended that I read this because of your characterization of Regulus. I like that he acknowledges that he willingly joined the Death Eaters. He is so complex and has always been one of my favorite HP characters (even before I got into the Marauders fandom, I thought his story was intriguing based purely off what we know from she-who-must-not-be-named). You've done a wonderful job writing him!

Lastly, while I like the Jegulus dynamic, I feel that it can sometimes be overused, so it's refreshing to read a Regulus/Female OC.

Thank you so much for blessing us with such a wonderful fic!! I can't wait to read more!

Hi! I'm thrilled to hear that you're enjoying the story.

Ellis was a character that I really wanted to use to show how the sorting system in Hogwarts really fails. She has traits from all four houses, but really pushed the Sorting Hat to give more credit to her ambition than anything else. Also, i wanted to show that it's not always 'evil' or 'greed' that drive people to greatness but other things like love and curiosity, etc. I think she could've very easily fit into the other houses, but specifically wanted Slytherin because she felt that it would be the most familar to her since both her parents were in it.

I admittedly read a lot less fanfiction than I write (if you've got recs, let me know!), so I'm not very up to date with the characterizations within the fandom, but I've loved Regulus since he first came up in the canon and was so fascinated by his character. He's going to go through a lot in this story as it picks up pace toward more encounters with the Death Eaters and such. I'm excited for the current arc because it sets up some things in the future, but also really has Regulus coming into his own.

One thing I really wanted to make clear with Regulus was that he really did choose to join on his own. Like, yes there was influence from his parents, but at the end of the day, he was really deep in it on his own too. And we're going to investigate how deep rooted those prejudices are in society.

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when i started reading we few, we happy few i thought it was regulus who was like the main one simping, but man, oh man, Ellis is out here acknowleding his childhood traumas, redecorating his room, buying him ice-cream and jewelry. i know you said we would get her pov of her hogwarts years too and i really think its gonna be like "i liked him since we met" 😂😂😂

Lol, Ellis had a lot more experience in sitting with and understanding her feelings and believe it or not, but she would go home and talk to her mom about it. I don't know if she necessarily liked him in the romantic sense as she does now, but she's always cared about Regulus. It's actually in the summer when he wasn't answering that it started to shift toward more romantic territory and part of it was just growing up and trying to figure out what that even meant.

Ellis' POVs aren't her always thinking about their relationship in the same sense that Regulus thinks about her, but I think her actions speak for her feelings pretty clearly.

[poppyofthemilk]

Tweets

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Did some bird flap its wings over in Dorne ? 🥀

[poppyofthemilk]

editing your own writing is just you vs. the demon who wrote it at 2 a.m. six months ago. and the demon was DRAMATIC

[poppyofthemilk]

Caspar David Friedrich (1774 - 1840)

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Do not write fanfiction. One second you're normal and the next you're downloading a calendar from 2004 and tearing your hair out over what specific date every event in your fic happens

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i’m such a whore for everlasting eternal love that transcends all realities through space and time

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this next chapter is 18k--i'm sorry ahead of time 😂

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wait, do u have any fun ellis facts that didn’t make it into the fic?? i’m actually losing it over the fact that we’re just casually getting 10k+ word chapters like every week?? also. DID U KNOW U HIT 200K????? that’s so unreal omg, haven’t felt this kinda fandom energy in foreverrrr 😭🙌

Lol, I did not realize that at all. We'll think about whether that's healthy at a later date 😅😅

Honestly, I don't write to hit a specific target, it just ends up that way. The next chapter is in Ellis' dad's POV and it's very fun to write--let's just say it involves Orion Black in a muggle restaurant.

As for fun facts, there are a lot of things I cut out of the story but sometimes mention:

Dancing Lessons--there was a scene where her and Regulus teach the fifth years to dance in preparation for the Yule Ball. Ellis is actually a pretty good dancer and took lessons as a child, so did Regulus, but we'll get more into that at the Yule Ball.

Care of Magical Creatures: Ellis is Kettleburn's biggest annoyance. She's both scared and fascinated by the creatures and ends up spending most of the time complaining during the lessons, but is consistent enough that Kettleburn's learned to tune her out.

Ellis is very particular about the Christmas Decor--it's her favorite holiday and she dislikes other people's suggestions, so a lot of the Yule Ball meetings was her arguing with people about ribbon colors and ornaments. Regulus' is the same about his own space, so he appreciates that Ellis has an exact vision and isn't just vibing, so they put up a united front.

This isn’t something I cut out, but more something I hoped would come through naturally. Ellis starts the story being super precise about neatness and keeping up appearances, but as she gets more comfortable around Regulus, we see that start to loosen up too.

There's probably a lot more that I'm missing, but these are just a few.

[poppyofthemilk]

*thinks about The Character too hard and starts taking poison damage*

[poppyofthemilk]

so genius of you to immediately give us Sirius after having Ellis come to the realization she'd do anything for reg and then it's like cut to the boy who wants to be that person, but physically can't because morality outweighs love and he hates Reg but he clearly doesn't and its so crazy to me to think how much it reflects their morals as a slytherin and gryffindor so well

Lol, Sirius' POV was a long time coming. We'll see more of him in the chapters to come. I think for Ellis, it's not even a question of morality, but one of opportunity. I think for her, she's always sort of believed that Regulus would come to realization that everything he's been told was a lie on his own, but she's also okay with nudging him toward that and being patient with him as he learns more about the world on his own. Whereas with Sirius, I think what hurts the most is that he's seen Regulus defend their parents and their beliefs, suffered first hand what that kind of isolation and bigotry turns you into, and he doesn't see the side that Ellis does. All he knows is that his brother joined the Death Eaters and Regulus isn't at the point where he'd tell him that he regrets it yet or even ask for help, so it's a lot of silence doing the talking on both sides and that's never good.

Regulus actually talks to Ellis, which is a huge difference. And they really are friends, like real friends, much as they are other things too.

[poppyofthemilk]

lol, i know i just updated, but i feel like i should update again to celebrate finishing my semester today

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Balrog: Why do I hear boss music

Based on this post

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dying on Easter when you’re the Pope after telling JD Vance to go fuck himself, in a year where there’s a fandom for a movie about a Conclave, is pure aura farming honestly