#morally grey james potter

[musicoftheheart]

hiiiiiiii dori

i’ve written a prompt for you and it feels like something you may enjoy writing so i’m sharing it with you:

“Goodbye, James.”

Thats was the last time he’d heard Regulus’ voice

The first time he saw the Dark Mark across his lover’s arm

And the moment he decided to go against everything he’d ever learned.

Ever treasured.

Ever believed in.

Just to see his lover again.

omg hiii! thank you so much for this, it was so much fun to write <33

word count: 658

“Goodbye, James.”

That was the last time he’d heard Regulus’ voice.

The first time he saw the Dark Mark across his lover’s arm.

And the moment he decided to go against everything he’d ever learned.

Ever treasured.

Ever believed in.

Just to see his lover again.

As much as it shamed him to admit it, James was almost glad his parents weren’t around to see it; to see the deep black ink marring his forearm. He wasn’t sure he could’ve stomached seeing them realise that their son — the boy they’d cradled in their arms, the boy they’d raised to be kind and thoughtful and loving — had branded himself the same as murderous blood purists.

But that was just it, wasn’t it? James had been raised to love and to protect the people closest to him. And nobody had been as close to him as Regulus Black.

He could still feel the ghost of his touch, when he thought hard enough. It was all that kept him going when he’d thrown his first Avada Kedavra; it was all for Regulus. To protect him. To show him that no matter what he did, he was never ‘too cruel’ or ‘too monsterous’ for James. Because anything Regulus had done, James had too, now.

James was yet to see Regulus at any meetings, though. Or missions. Crouch Jr. said it was because James wasn’t very high in the ranks, yet.

So he rose.

He rose and he rose until even Bellatrix Lestrange was beneath him. She feared him, even. The Dark Lord was letting James lead missions; letting him plan them and decide who to bring and who to kill and who to curse until they forgot their own name. It pained him, at first. These were his friends, and he had to treat them like enemies. Marlene, Dorcas. Alice and Frank. Lily, Peter, Remus. Sirius.

For Regulus, James reminded himself, flinging a slicing hex at one of the Prewett brothers.

For Regulus, James thought, using his animagus form to spy on Order meetings.

For Regulus, James thought, facing down children on the battlefield.

He was slowly becoming more and more numb to it. Eventually, he wasn’t sure he felt anything at all.

But then.

It was a meeting like any other. The Dark Lord’s inner circle sat at the table, while lower ranking Death Eaters stood around the room. One seat eternally empty — Regulus’ — between The Dark Lord and Lucius Malfoy, and directly opposite James. James had resigned himself to another hour of missing his love when, moments before the meeting was to begin, the doors swung open.

There, moving across the large manor dining room with the grace and presence of royalty, was Regulus Black. Perfect black curls smoothed back from his face, showing his sharp cheekbones and icy cold eyes and pursed lips.

James couldn’t wait to feel them again.

Regulus didn’t seem to notice him, at first, but James could see it the moment he did. Those gorgeous eyes widened just a touch, his lips fell apart. It took all of James’ self control not to throw himself across the table and invade them with his tongue.

At a guess, James reckoned Regulus took in as little of the meeting as he did himself. Their eyes had locked across the table and it seemed like nothing at all could break their stares, not until The Dark Lord announced the meeting’s conclusion and Regulus all but ran from the room like it was on fire.

By the time James caught up to him, Regulus had hidden himself away in a small drawing room and was pacing, hands tugging at his hair. He turned abruptly when James shut the door behind himself.

”James,” he breathed, running into James’ arms. Everything James had done — the curses he’d thrown, the lives he’d ended — it all fell away into nothing. All that was left was the love cradled in his arms.

”Hello, love.”

[beautyoftheships]

I need feral James recs!! I want James who goes absolutely feral over Regulus. Who is morally grey, bordering on unhinged for Regulus! Please send all the recs you have!!

[olivers-cocoapuffs]

Morally grey James who joins the Death Eaters for his boyfriends

[saddramaqueensworld]

I need a more morally grey James Potter who is ready to destroy or kill someone for Regulus Black with Sirius overprotective of his brother Black by his side.

[axolizabeth]

been thinking about morally grey James Potter that faked his death to search for horcruxes with regulus who also faked his death a lot recently

[anauro]

roc you are my favorite person on this app. You are also the voice of reason cause morally grey james potter >>>>> and forgive me my sins but atj as james potter is,,,😫❤️‍🔥🫦 I HAVE THOUGHTS OKAY?!

WHY, THANK YOU BABE!!!

Morally grey James Potter is the peak content, especially in fics where he’s also a Gryffindor, also appears to be the sparkling ray of sunshine…. When in fact he’s a menace. James who becomes an animagus to help a friend betrayed by the system… but if you aren’t on his good side expect to be hurt. 😈

I haven’t sadly come across fics like that, most that feature morally grey James also have morally grey Regulus, but if you know of any… please let me know!!!

And yes, atj as James is hot af 💅

[snugglechase]

Morally grey James Potter is my weak spot 😩

[darkcademiasss]

When its 3am but the grumpy morally grey character had a 'oh, oh' moment as they stare at the sunshine character all while trying not to have a panic attack.

[loverboy-lover]

regulus catching peter and sending his body to the rest of the marauders with the note “caught a rat. RAB.” is honestly one of the sexiest things i’ve ever read…

regulus black the man that you are…

[sspadfoot]

“The eyes chico. They never lie.”

But it’s Regulus looking at James after slaughtering hundreds of people for him.

[littleliterarylesbian]

my fav kind of jegulus is "Slightly Evil and has Definitely Killed a Man" x "Saw the Other Covered in Blood and Thought it was Hot."

[hyperfocuscentre]

guys see the light!! morally grey james potter!! i need you to see the light and understand that he’s not a perfect angel, PLEASE.

[casurlaub]

Can we please agree that liking a character doesn't mean you have to explain away their every bad call? And that disliking a character doesn't mean you have to overlook their good qualities to have them fit your narrative? No one is just this or that. It's always a range.

The lack of nuance in parts of this fandom annoys me so much. And let's please drop the double standards - finding excuses for every 'bad' thing character A does while demonizing character B.

Dumbledore is no super villain. Yes, he put defeating Voldemort over Harry's (emotional) needs. He isn't some supportive father figure, but he's not responsible for the war nor everyone's decision to join in. 'He raised an army of children' - um no? Because if so, he, the greatest wizard of the age, did a shitty job. In both wizarding wars it was just one group of friends joining the Order, not a huge number of former students. So either super-smart Dumbledore seriously sucked at recruiting, or maybe he didn't try all that hard?

James wasn't some prime example of social justice warrior from the very beginning. Yes, he had - to some extent - a set moral code, he hated the Dark Arts, and he certainly never used dark curses on others. But he found it entertaining to hex students at random. He was a classic bully; he did it because he could and because he found it funny. He enjoyed it. But that doesn't mean he had no good traits - he cared for his friends, befriended Remus (practically an outcast), and later he changed. I can't get over the people who find excuses for Snape's bullying of his students, of literal children when he's an adult, but seem to think James was the worst person to ever exist.

Sirius has a ton of good qualities; I could write an essay about it. But guess what, that doesn't make the prank thing okay (no matter if Remus cared about it). The same goes for the Snape bullying and his condescending (cruel) behavior towards Peter. And his treatment of Kreacher, who was oppressed, not the oppressor. And why do we applaud him for 'forgiving' Remus in PoA for not trying to get him out of Azkaban? What's there to applaud? He was in Azkaban because he thought Remus was the spy, did we forget that? How do we expect Remus to suss out that Sirius thought himself clever enough to outsmart not only Voldemort but also Dumbledore? Sirius isn't on some moral high ground here. He wasn't in Azkaban because of Remus but because of his own arrogance and lapse of judgement.

Remus isn't some impersonated moral code. He isn't 'the sensible one' by default. He makes a ton of shitty, truly awful decisions (roaming Hogsmeade while a werewolf, not telling Dumbledore about the secret passages or Sirius's animagus form in PoA even after Sirius, the alleged mass murderer with an agenda of killing Harry, broke into Harry's dorm, abandoning Tonks...). But he isn't some master manipulator with a hidden agenda either. He was driven by his self-loathing first and foremost. And when did it become worse to be a bystander than to participate in the actual bullying? (I'm not saying it's okay, but how can we find excuses for James and Sirius, but Remus is super evil for doing... nothing? When it's stated that Snape was following him and trying to uncover his secret to get him expelled? Shocking he didn't feel all that sympathetic.) Of course he is passive-aggressive, of course he was selfish/cowardish, I don't know, but he isn't evil? He's usually kind (ffs, he even felt pity for Greyback), and his issues are in the end all rooted in his endless self-loathing. That doesn't excuse it. It doesn't. But it doesn't mean he's acting like he does because he's an inherently bad person. This idea of inherently 'bad' or 'good' people is naive and harmful anyhow. Besides - I feel some standards imposed on him are impossible to meet, when the same people are quick to explain away James's/Sirius's/Snape's flaws. Remus is suffering from massive childhood trauma that he's forced to relive every month, he's stigmatized for it by society his whole life, but he himself is supposed to just 'let it go'? Without therapy or anything? Right...

And even Lily isn't a saint. She's fighting back a smile when James is bullying her (supposedly) best friend?

Snape is no tragic hero whose every wrong is justified because he turned around and sacrificed himself. Of course, he was brave. Of course, he had a shitty childhood. That doesn't give him a free pass. He was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts when he arrived at Hogwarts already, he invented curses like Sectumsempra while at Hogwarts, he sold the 'love of his life' to Voldemort. And even after he 'changed' and overcame his fascist views, he bullied children he was supposed to take care of - as a grown man. Not only Harry, but also Neville, Hermione, Ron, who knows how many others. So, yeah, cool, he protected their lives 'when it counted' - 'when it counted'??? You don't belittle your students, you don't insult them, you don't threaten to poison their pets no matter what happened to you when you were a kid. You're an adult, take responsibility. Easy as that. What happened to you may be an explanation, but not an excuse. And do we really think he didn't strike back at James and Sirius? That it was just James and Sirius and him taking it lying down without doing anything himself? I don't.

It's entirely natural to relate more to one character than another and to feel more sympathetic towards them. But let's move away from this 'all or nothing' way of thinking.

To me, they're all beautiful because they're flawed. It makes them real. I don't want them to be stripped of their flaws, not even my favorite characters.

Don't take Sirius's darkness away, don't turn Remus into the ever gentle voice of reason or the super selfish master manipulator (same goes for Dumbledore) and ffs don't excuse Snape's fascist views and bullying of children.

[adh-james-version]

you know what I hate, when people are like “morally grey James is just bartylus just ship Bartylus, u js don’t like bartylus”

“….and?? Ur point??”

James dosent always have to be sunshine and rainbows. He’s a fictional character with no defined personality out side of the fact that he’s BRAVE AND LOYAL.

I don’t understand that if someone wants to write James as anything other than sunshine with a moral compass, sum bartylus shippers see it it’s a problem.

No ones hating on u for liking bartylus, so don’t hage on people who like morally grey James with regulus

And I don’t even like bartylus like AT ALL but I’m not gonna hate on the people who like it.

At the end of the day they’re all fictional, dead, white wizards. so let’s calm down.

[drowninkystar]

was just thinking about this fanfic where james kills walburga and orion and i NEED more morally grey james doing shit like this and no one suspects him bc he looks like a puppy

[noasmirrorball]

fanfic idea: police man regulus and imprisoned james