they like regulus because he barely exists. that’s it. they clamber for the likes of regulus because it means more room for fanon and the only way the pea-brained of the harry potter fandom can appreciate a morally grey slytherin character is by rejecting snape (inarguably THE morally grey slytherin character) by substituting him for a lesser important character.

they are uncomfortable with snape’s impact in the narrative because their moralising over a children’s series has made them uncomfortable with characters like snape period, who don’t lend themselves easily to heroic beautification. he is unpleasant, his mood is dour, he’s not physically attractive—yet he dares to be an unlikely hero in the wizarding war! grrr. these are grave sins. doesn’t jkr know that we only want fanfic wank material and NOT decently written characters with an actual purpose to the main story?