This was interesting. Thank you for compiling all this and for sharing your thoughts.
I was one of the people who wrote Gen!fic here - rated G, in fact - and I think that you are very correct about Regulus is a character that most people do not know much about. Personally, I've always seen his sexuality as being somewhat ambiguous, although I generally pair him with Snape in my universe. Still, it's a pretty vague pairing. I think that part of the reason that people are unsure is that, frankly, he does not seem to be a character who really gives off any sexuality. Whilst Regulus may be one of the post popular peripheral characters, there doesn't seem to be an obvious pairing (like Ron/Hermione or even Remus/Sirius) nor does there seem to be any underlying sexual tension that could be channeled into a pairing (as there is for Harry/Draco or Harry/Snape.)I've mostly read him paired with James, Snape, or Barty Crouch, but have occasionally encountered a Regulus/Lucius. I think that Regulus/Sirius is perhaps the most common, but that might have more to do with the angst and tragedy of it than any actual pairing-type attraction. After all, Sirius is the only character with whom we really know that Regulus had any sort-of relationship at all. The only het pairing I've really noticed much is the rare Regulus/Narcissa.
Your comments on length were interesting, too. My story was fairly short (2,100 words), but I tend toward stories under 8,000 words, anyway, even for my main pairing (R/S). (Okay, there are exceptions to that, but it is mostly for Big Bangs.) Honestly, though, I think that part of it was that people were busy and perhaps did not have the time/energy to give this fest it's due. That happens often with first-time fests. We write HUGE things for big bangs and sometimes even for competitive games, but this fest struck me as low-key and oriented toward shorter works. In other words, I think it was the structure of the fest rather than the character. I could be wrong there, though.
Just out of curiosity, how do you see Regulus' sexuality?
Cool
I was one of the people who wrote Gen!fic here - rated G, in fact - and I think that you are very correct about Regulus is a character that most people do not know much about. Personally, I've always seen his sexuality as being somewhat ambiguous, although I generally pair him with Snape in my universe. Still, it's a pretty vague pairing. I think that part of the reason that people are unsure is that, frankly, he does not seem to be a character who really gives off any sexuality. Whilst Regulus may be one of the post popular peripheral characters, there doesn't seem to be an obvious pairing (like Ron/Hermione or even Remus/Sirius) nor does there seem to be any underlying sexual tension that could be channeled into a pairing (as there is for Harry/Draco or Harry/Snape.)I've mostly read him paired with James, Snape, or Barty Crouch, but have occasionally encountered a Regulus/Lucius. I think that Regulus/Sirius is perhaps the most common, but that might have more to do with the angst and tragedy of it than any actual pairing-type attraction. After all, Sirius is the only character with whom we really know that Regulus had any sort-of relationship at all. The only het pairing I've really noticed much is the rare Regulus/Narcissa.
Your comments on length were interesting, too. My story was fairly short (2,100 words), but I tend toward stories under 8,000 words, anyway, even for my main pairing (R/S). (Okay, there are exceptions to that, but it is mostly for Big Bangs.) Honestly, though, I think that part of it was that people were busy and perhaps did not have the time/energy to give this fest it's due. That happens often with first-time fests. We write HUGE things for big bangs and sometimes even for competitive games, but this fest struck me as low-key and oriented toward shorter works. In other words, I think it was the structure of the fest rather than the character. I could be wrong there, though.
Just out of curiosity, how do you see Regulus' sexuality?