#while her misfortunes play like a melodrama | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lastsonlost · 4 years

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This is what it looks like when you can't see past your own bias.

Aka: what happens when your lived experience is inconvenient to the narrative.

By Andrea Thompson

Watching the movie “Brian Banks” is...awkward. To some extent, it's a classic sports underdog movie, but the struggles Brian Banks had to overcome are anything but conventional. As the movie continually points out, he's exceptional. And he is, in more ways that this movie is aware of.

Based on a true story, which the movie is quick to point out with dramatic music (uh oh), the title character, played by Aldis Hodge, muses on his great love for football, which he was on track to play professionally until he was stopped in his tracks at 16 years old. It's how he was stopped that would make anyone pause; Banks was falsely accused of rape by a classmate.

After some bad legal advice leads to jail time and some years struggling to navigate the conditions of his parole (and having to register as a sex offender), Banks struggles to simply find a job while simultaneously fighting to clear his name and reclaim his life. He also repeatedly writes the Innocence Project and asks them to take his case. Refusing to give up even after they reject him, Banks goes to meet with the lawyers on the project in person, first convincing them to give him advice, then take him on, and finally, actively fight for him.

It's impossible not to get invested in just how much Banks had to overcome, from his poverty-stricken childhood and the various legal road blocks that threaten to end his fight before it even begins. Banks wasn't imprisoned, so he was not a priority for the Innocence Project, and since he took a plea rather than going to trial, he needs completely new evidence rather than simply using what was already discovered. He also has to stay sane in jail, especially when he's put in solitary. Banks even took the initiative and managed to record his accuser recanting her confession.

Except. Except. Well, there was going to be misgivings about this film being released during the #MeToo Era, wasn't there? That the film would fully embrace Brian's perspective and his struggles is natural, even admirable. However, this type of story demands more, and what the movie doesn't say is far more noteworthy than what it does. It doesn't mention that the percentage of false rape accusations are not only incredibly low, the conviction rate for them is even lower. It limits its empathy for what many women have gone through to one scene, where Banks's love interest Karina (Melanie Liburd) reveals she was raped in college, and how devastating the aftermath was for her.

Even if there's little to no doubt of Brian's innocence, it's hard not to wince as his accuser is subjected to the kinds of questions which are used to discredit actual victims, as the men questioning her ask just what she expected to happen when she went off alone with Brian, why she didn't shout, etc. It also doesn't help that Brian and the people assisting him are all easily identifiable as various levels of middle class while his accuser and his family are...not so much, let's just say.

Yes, Brian Banks suffered a terrible injustice, and he proved himself to be exceptional not just for his athletic prowess, but the strength of character it took to fight for the truth over a period of years. The performances are also incredible, and help to elevate this movie above the simplistic melodrama it would otherwise be, although it also depicts faith and how it can be a bedrock for those in pain more respectfully than most mainstream films are typically capable of. It's all in service of someone who deserves to be vindicated, but it shouldn't have to come at the expense of so many other victims.

Rating: C-

Fortunately I wasn't the only one who took issue with this "review".

Cassandra3

This is a disgusting review of a great film. I can not believe that I read what I just read. And also why did you put "(duh duh)" after saying it was a true story. You give Feminism a bad name and I am embarrassed to even have someone like you even pretend to fight for women's rights. SMH

Andree4

This is a wretched review, that quite possibly reveals deep-seated implicit biases, on your part. You didn't review the movie, you made a political statement, rooted in radical feminist, and male-hating rhetoric. This man, along with other men of similar misfortunes, is the victim-not the woman who accused him. He is a human being, that has every right to have his story told, unmolested by contrived issues that would shift the focus off of him, onto a non-victim. And so what if his economic status is above his false accusers status: does it then justify her lies against this man, that resulted in his imprisonment? Nice attempt at a fake out, but I'm sorry-you miserably failed. At the core it appears as if you feel more sorry for false accusers of men, than the men who are falsely accused by these liars. It appears that way, in light of you inserting that jab. This pitiful analysis betrays your binary agenda: all women are truthful and good, in spite of potential liars and deceivers amongst them, whereas all men are just BAD-because they're men. And God help the men if they are assertive, confident and forthright, for then they'll be accused of having TOXIC MASCULINITY, whereas a woman with those same qualities will be labeled a BOSS. Look at the woman in the mirror...

Crystal4

This is a horrible review of the movie. It doesn’t even review the movie. It more about your perspective in the Brian Banks case. I have never seen so much bias. You make it sound like the movie forces you to see Brian Banks as a victim. When in all reality he IS the victim. He was accused of raping his girlfriend and it was completely false. It was prisoned and register as a sex offender. His whole life changed on a lie from a girl who’s family wanted money. What other victims did it come at the cost of ? He just telling his story. SHOULD HE LIE OR WATER IT DOWN, BECAUSE IT HURTS YOUR SENSITIVE IDEALS ? Should he not get justice? Please explain to me what you are trying to say.

Jesse4

Even in the face of a story that proves there are two sides to this extremely challenging issue, you demonstrate that you have no regard for men who can see their lives completely destroyed when false allegations happen. This review is equivalent to me watching The Accused then writing about how it was important to shine a light on violent gang rape, but not if the movie didn’t properly explore situations where men were jailed over false allegations. I also love how you threw in the problem with WHITE MEN when the movie is about a BLACK WOMAN FALSELY ACCUSING A BLACK MAN OF RAPE. Your ideology clouds your vision to where the hierarchy of victimhood drives all understanding of right/wrong and how any narrative should be interpreted. It’s transparent to 90% of us, but your kind lives in an echo chamber. You aren’t more educated...you’re more indoctrinated and I’m looking forward to the cultural shift that sees your viewpoints thrown in the dustpan of history.

Gordon Shumway4

At no point in this cinematic review did you review the movie on its story-telling, 'watchability', acting, or general movie presentation. You took your biased, personal opinion about the story, and decided that it does not fit your false narrative that the female is always the victim.

#brian banks #the Brian Banks movie

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quartusbellum-blog · 5 years

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NICKY for the role of NARCISSA MALFOY, using the faceclaim SARAH GADON.

Reading this application was delightful. You’ve given Narcissa such a strong voice. It’s clear from your app that we’re going to get the ruthless Narcissa we see in the books and so much more! This app is chock full of detail. You’ve considered so many angles of this character and the skeleton which I am extremely eager to see explored on the dash! Welcome, Nicky!

ooc details

Name: Nicky

Age: 32

Pronouns: she/her

Activity Level: medium; I have other writing projects I am going to (hopefully) be working on, but I should be online at least briefly most every day, moreso later in the week/weekend than the beginning.

Other: None, but I really do mean it when I say you can absolutely make use of Narcissa for plots and events and stuff, even the nasty ones! I’m not precious about my characters lol.

Acknowledgement: I absolutely acknowledge and indeed look forward to it all. I am happy to have Narcissa damaged or to have her damage others throughout, and if a tempting plot presents itself, even to have her killed; I will happily app someone else in the aftermath of her (no doubt bloody) demise!

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general ic details

Name: Narcissa Carina Malfoy née Black; nickname “Cissy” but only by those who are family, close friends, or who knew her well in school or childhood before Hogwarts.

Age: 25; born May 20, 1955 (if I did the math right lol)

Ships: I am a huge fan of lucissa which is obviously canon here in that they are married, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in a loving relationship. I have played a great many permutations of the Malfoys’ marriage before and am happy to do so again should whomever apps Lucius prefer not to have a lovey-dovey partnership (or should our takes on the characters simply fail to mesh suitably for that). I do believe that the current set-up with the Silent Daggers requires them to at least be friends and partners who have some level of trust in one another, but whether there’s romance there or not is something to be determined when/if a Lucius player arrives, and I’m good either way!

There are no other ships for Narcissa that I am going to be actively seeking out, but I’m in no way opposed to playing others should they emerge over the course of the game, whether as group affairs with her husband included, acceptable affairs on the side, or not-so-acceptable liaisons or outright betrayals. Narcissa is someone who very much ranks purity (and prettiness) above something as minor as gender (so pansexual, not that she probably knows the label or would use it if she did–”tawdry labels are for idiot muggles, darling, intelligent people don’t bother”) and she’s a shallow, selfish woman, but she wouldn’t be the first Black sister to have her heart betray her… Also, pre-Lucius relationships? Definitely yeah let’s headcanon the shit out of that backstory goodness.

Gender/Pronouns: cisfemale, she/her

Face Claim: 1ST CHOICE: Sarah Gadon SECOND CHOICE: Imogen Poots

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bio questions

Please note, while this game is “canon” up until the start of the Wizarding War it does not stay canon and it’s quite divergent at the start of the game.

biography:

The third and final of the three Black sisters, Narcissa was one last try for a male heir – and she was, obviously, a failure. (She didn’t even merit a family name – not that she’s bitter for not having been named for the stars too, of course not.) That’s the only thing in her life she’s willing to accept failure for, however. Perhaps knowing that she was an unnecessary spare is what drove her towards being such a perfectionist: perfect hair, perfect robes, perfect smile, perfect wandwork, perfect marks, perfect husband…perfect son. The first few years of Narcissa’s life was one steady climb towards the ideal future she had been raised to claim, from her sorting into Slytherin (where else!) to her appointment as prefect to her position as Seeker on the house Quidditch team to her excellent N.E.W.T.s scores all the way through to her marriage to the beautiful and perfectly pure, perfectly socially-positioned Lucius Malfoy…save for one unfortunate hiccup: Andromeda.

Still, one sister is better than none, and at least Narcissa still had someone to stand beside her at her wedding – and a husband who was gracious enough not to think that her former sister’s choices muddied her purity. There were those who whispered otherwise (there are always those who whisper otherwise) especially when little (former) cousin Sirius followed in similar footsteps, but Narcissa kept her head up and clawed her way back to perfection without them. Let the dregs be cast-off and discarded, forgotten; she and Bellatrix and Regulus were doing just fine. Better than fine, in fact; they were going to be heroes, going to be victors. They were going to make the whole world perfect, at long long last. No, Narcissa never went so far as to take the Dark Mark herself – but she was certainly proud to be married to a man who did, proud to have a sister and cousin who bore it (albeit a little worried about Regulus; he’d always been so sensitive as a child, was he really up for this?) and was thrilled to do her part in service to the Dark Lord. She toyed with the idea of stepping into the inner circle many times – certainly the Dark Lord would have welcomed her, given her connections and lineage! – but ultimately it was just a bit too much commitment. She and Lucius were starting a family, after all; better that one of them have a little less time invested in the struggle so they would have more to spare for the eventual heir. Lucius could win them their glory; Narcissa would lay the foundation on which that glory would one day be spent.

When the Dark Lord finally claimed his victory, it seemed like the perfect time to start their perfect family and it didn’t take long for a pregnancy to take root (never mind all those times they’d tried before and couldn’t manage; obviously her womb was just waiting for the perfect time). For an all-too-brief period it seemed like all was well, all was perfect…but it wasn’t. As the flush of victory faded, the reality that it was his victory – not theirs – set in, and set in hard. After everything they had done for the Dark Lord, everything they had sacrificed, everything they had been promised – there was nothing. No glories, no fortunes, no perfect future. After Andromeda and Sirius this was one betrayal too many and with a baby on the way something had to be done. They were Malfoys, Blacks; they deserved better. Their child deserved better. But Voldemort had made one mistake when he had called them all his servants: he had thought that meant they would be as loyal and harmless as House Elves. Foolish man, forgetting that they were wix – wand-carriers, not creatures – and their loyalty had been purchased, not bred; if he failed to carry out his end of the bargain, then the bargain was defunct. And there is no one more dangerous than a Black betrayed…except perhaps for a Malfoy.

Their determination for retribution didn’t mean she and Lucius weren’t still frightened of the Dark Lord, of course; they would be fools not to be, and neither Narcissa nor her husband were fools. But they were well-versed in old magicks and experimental spells, and clever enough to know that merely marking someone was not enough to ensure their loyalty (they themselves were proof of that weren’t they?) but there were other spells and curses that could. It would require the direst of secrecy, the most careful of planning…but they would do it. They would destroy the Dark Lord and claim their true place at the head of wizarding society. And if there were a few more sacrifices yet along the way, well…they would survive those, too.

The fact that one of those sacrifices had nearly been Narcissa’s very life had not been anticipated, but she survived – and perhaps even more importantly, the baby lived too, although Narcissa spent the rest of her pregnancy fretting about what effect her transformation might have on the child in her womb. Fortunately Draco was born with no complications (at least, none that they’ve seen yet) although it was deemed necessary to hire a wet-nurse nanny (not something traditionally done in the Black family, who prefer that their children be nourished only by their own pure bodies, but there was no way of knowing whether Narcissa would be able to give the boy what he needed now) who was passed-off as a decision of fashion and indolence. Narcissa tried not to let it bother her that she couldn’t be mother enough to provide everything her son needed herself (she failed) and took comfort in the fact that at least no one outside the family knew her blood was now tainted – not even dear Bellatrix. There was no knowing how she might react to the news…especially given what’s happened now to Regulus.

He didn’t take the transformation as well as she did, perhaps given the lack of support around him at the time (he didn’t have a few pints generously donated by a doting husband to carry him through that first night, after all) or perhaps there were other circumstances involved in his condition…or maybe he’d always just been a little bit weaker, more inclined toward melodrama. It was hard to say, especially given how secretive he acted about the whole thing – but at least she can trust him to be discreet about her condition. Even if he wasn’t relying on her to keep news of his whereabouts secret from Bellatrix and the Dark Lord, she’d be able to rely on Regulus – and Narcissa wishes she could do more for him, to help him adjust to their shared misfortune…but there’s only so much time in a day (or night).

Narcissa has to concentrate on other things right now: in addition to Draco (her primary focus and motivating factor in all things now) she had the Silent Daggers to found and control, a task admittedly made easier now that she had access to a very particular sort of blood-based magic…not that any of their allies needed to know that. (Conveniently their not-knowing will make it even harder for any of them to break the binding spell should they be tempted to try…and conveniently even if her secret does come out, none of them can turn their backs on her now that they’ve been pledged, cut, and bound to the Silent Daggers.) Perhaps it’s just as well she has that nanny to help with the baby…but she’ll never, ever admit that to anyone else – maybe not even to Lucius. Of course, the fact that Draco would be killed as punishment if the Dark Lord ever discovers her and Lucius’s treason looms over her every moment like a bleak black shadow…so it’s a good thing she’s learning to avoid the light.

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my character is:

Please Describe a Belief your character has that is wrong. It can be something we, as players, know is wrong (ex. prejudice against werewolves ). Alternatively: How is your character lying to themselves (and how is is it shown externally).

Narcissa is wrong about a lot of things in this world. One of the biggest, though, has to be her subconscious conviction that her sister would never hurt her. She might have thought better of this whole Silent Daggers thing if not for that delusion – might have been too frightened, too prudent, to take such a reckless risk if she had really believed that Bellatrix would tear the skin from her bones (and that of her child) on the Dark Lord’s command. Narcissa claims to be sensible and realistic in her assessment of Bellatrix, claims that she knows that they’ll come to blows over it eventually…and she does believe that but in her heart of hearts, she doesn’t believe Bella would ever really hurt her. Not badly, not in a way that lasts. Not fatally. And maybe she’s right that the revelation of her vampiric taint wouldn’t be enough to inspire Bellatrix to hurt her; maybe she’s right that her sister would forgive Narcissa for the impurity she didn’t ask for…but betraying Voldemort? Bellatrix would kill her for that…and Narcissa can’t bring herself to believe it. One would think that after Andromeda, she would have no illusions about Bellatrix’s ruthlessness or fanatical loyalty left – but Bellatrix didn’t kill Andromeda either (although she ranted about doing so often enough). Of course, she probably expected Andromeda to come to her senses and come back (certainly Narcissa did) up until the birth of the child (and maybe even a year or two after that – motherhood among the mud? Really!?) and she was quite busy fighting the Dark Lord’s war at the time, far too busy to indulge herself by hunting down their sister…and now Andromeda, wherever she is, is far enough away to be safe (presumably). But Cissy has yet to realize that Andromda isn’t the only one who will need to run, if and when Bellatrix ever finds out what she’s done…

Please Provide a description of either Your Character’s Job (what do they do? how do they feel about it? Do they have any goals or dreams beyond this job) and/or Address the differences between what your character is currently doing and what they would prefer to do?

Celebration, that’s what Narcissa should be doing right now – reveling in their victory, relaxing now that the fighting is over. But it’s not. And if the Dark Lord is left in charge, it never will be. Their grand revolution of purity doesn’t seem to have been his end goal the way it was theirs; or perhaps he just doesn’t know how to let go. Regardless, the rewards that were promised his servants have not come to pass – and they’ve come to realize that servant of the Dark Lord has more in common with the servitude of a House Elf than it does the honor and privilege they were led to believe such a position signified. So instead of resting on her and Lucius’s laurels and smoothing down the last few sharp edges of the world into the perfect future her son deserves, she’s plotting treason.

As joint founder and head of the Silent Daggers, Narcissa is a little more squeamish than her husband about how far into the mud they’re willing to reach if necessary (the Malfoys have always been more pragmatic than the Blacks) but she’ll grit her teeth and force a smile for the filth if that’s what it takes to build a better world for dear Draco. The only problem is the worry teasing at the back of her mind: if the Malfoys turned on the Dark Lord for not keeping his promises, doesn’t that mean they’ll have to keep whatever promises they make to the mud in order to defeat him, or risk the very same thing happening to them? That’s a concern to be dealt with after victory is achieved, though – not today. For today she can shove it to the back of her mind and do her part spreading whispers and recruiting allies and accruing information…and, sometimes, making use of all those things to hurt the Dark Lord they once obeyed so loyally. Bellatrix is another problem for the future – but deep down, Narcissa knows that if (when) it comes down to choosing between her son and her sister…well, she’s already survived the loss of a sister once. She can do it again if she has to, for Draco’s sake.

ooc questions

Writing Sample:

Narcissa forced herself to stand calmly, to keep her eyes from settling on the silver bowl – or more importantly, to stop herself from licking her lips. It was strange how quickly she had adapted to the taste of blood, salty and bitter and somehow more delicious than any lavender cream pastry or herb-crusted quail. It was something she tried not to dwell on – and definitely not something that she could let on about here and now, when they were about to bind the first of the Silent Daggers (what a charming name; Lucius always was so good with words) and take this movement against the Dark Lord from tenuous disgruntlement to active rebellion.

Revealing that half of the couple behind said movement now had vampiric blood in her once-pure veins would have put rather a damper on things, and the baby growing in her belly (unharmed by her recent transformation, she had to hope) needed this. It was their only to build their child the future they deserved…

And if that meant Narcissa had to use her newfound affinity for blood to forcibly bind friends and allies to their cause, so be it. Truth be told it was a convenient tragedy, at least; the spells to hold the tongues and treachery of the Silent Daggers in check would be so much stronger now than they would have been before her brief, bloody death. Not that any of them knew they were binding themselves with vampire blood…but it was too late for any of them to back out now anyway. The time for qualms had come and gone.

Lucius wrapped-up his little speech (if she hadn’t helped him practice it for the past three days, she would have been as enthralled as the rest of the audience, but repetition could make even his dulcet tones run dull) and Narcissa stepped forward with the blade they had spent the last month bespelling. It tingled in her hand and she didn’t know if that was a result of the spells sunk so heavy in its gleaming metal or merely her own anticipation.

The first cut she made was to Lucius’s arm – unlike the Dark Lord, neither Malfoy would hold themselves aloof and above the rest of the Silent Daggers (not so obviously as by keeping their own arms unmarked, at least; obviously they were in charge but it was less obnoxious than it was with the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters) and it was only appropriate that they go first – and the last would be to hers. That was part of the binding spell, using her vampire blood to anchor the magic, although to the others they had merely presented it as appropriately symbolic that the Malfoys should both begin and end the evening’s loyalty pledge.

One by one, they came up to her and bled into the silver bowl; one by one, they presented their arms – marked and unmarked – for her blade, and she fought the urge to salivate at each hot red slash across their skin. No healing spells would be cast until the whole group was done (small, but soon to grow – Narcissa was sure of it) and the spell finalized so they stepped back wincing or stoic as their natures dictated, gripping bloodied arms in bare fingers or pressing handkerchiefs to the warm, delicious wounds.

Narcissa’s stomach grumbled and she nearly dropped the knife, cutting a bit deeper than before with the sudden rush of nerves. She smiled at Marcus and he stepped back without seeming to notice; perhaps for him, pain was still a comfort that let him know he was alive – or something that felt like a bond to his lost family. (Of all the people here tonight, Marcus was one of the last she would have wanted to admit her condition to.) Perhaps he just considered himself too new to their company to complain, or thought she had gored him so deeply on purpose as mute commentary on the necessity of his loyalty now…

A few more tantalizing slices and she was handing the knief to her husband to do the final cut. They raised their wands in unison and the others held their bleeding arms out, showing all eyes that the cuts were true and strong, ruby droplets falling steadily on the stone cellar floor. The words of the spell – some spoken, some not – rose in a cadence as harsh and hollow as the grasping hands of the wind. The blade glowed, the blood boiled, their wounds flashed hot and bright as fire – and it was done. The Silent Daggers were formed, their secrets bound by blood and magic.

Murmured sounds of healing spells rose around the room, interspersed with stilted banter and quiet muttering. It was always awkward, ending a group ritual; magic was not cast like that often, and it always felt somehow artificial or overdone. Narcissa closed her eyes and allowed herself to lick her lips, just once, as though to wet them after the extended bout of spellcasting. She opened them again when she felt Lucius’s fingers on her arm.

“Shall we retire to the study for icebrandy and gin?” Lucius suggested, the room going quiet in response to his brisk and jovial tone. “I mean, I suppose we could have the rest of the meeting down here too, but that seems so unnecessarily bleak to me…”

Laughter, both from amusement and relief, rose in response. “You’ll see to things down here?” Lucius asked her, leaning in close and speaking softly. Narcissa nodded and stepped back, smiling at the others as they filed out past her. She would join the party in a few moments, once everything down here was securely put away and the bespelled blood safely stored for later additions to the alliance.

And if she licked up a few stray drops here and there, well, who would ever know?

Exploration:

Please share three things you’d like to explore. This could be a character changing sides, darker themes, or basic fiction tropes.

Narcissa As Vampire: What does that mean for her physically? (How fortunate that she’s always been the sort to favor parasols and broad-brimmed hats in summer sunlight for the sake of her complexion – and how fortunate that she’s always been so pale! no one will ever notice a difference!) What does that mean for her magically? (She was always such a strong witch; surely she hasn’t lost that power, not with Black blood flowing in her now-tainted veins?) Where does she get the blood she needs to eat? (Is it always pure or is she reduced sometimes to drinking–ugh–muddy blood? Or is that a hardship, or is it easy for her to think of Muggles as food? Does Lucius ever donate to the cause?) What does it mean for Draco? (He wasn’t hurt by it, he can’t have been…he just can’t! Can he?) What does it mean for her internal assessment of purity…or to Lucius? (He says he still loves her just the same, but does he mean it?) Is it a weapon she’s willing to use in their war, or something she’s too ashamed (or afraid) of to risk unsheathing under all but the most dire of circumstances? (True, she used it for the blood-binding, but was that a one-off exception or the start of a trend?) And so on and so on… For that matter, how did she become a vampire? I kept that deliberately vague in her bio because I’m hoping to explore something there involving other player(s) – maybe it was Regulus who was turned first, and he turned Cissy to save her after she was injured? Maybe that vial of blood around his neck came from a not-quite-disowned relative of theirs who’d fallen to the fangs years ago, and Narcissa made use of the same old relation when she was dying? Maybe it was someone in the Radical Alliance (willingly or unwillingly) who turned her as a favor or to pay a debt, or maybe it was vampires who hurt her in the first place and it was Lucius interrupting before they could finish the attack that led to her being turned instead of merely killed…. There are a lot of different ways to run with her “condition,” both in how it happened and how it affects her now, and my only regret is in knowing that I can’t do all of them at once!

Recruitment: It was Narcissa (and her particular familiarity with blood) who came up with the little trick with the knives and the blood to make sure no one could betray them in the first place, but a revolution can’t be run with only a handful of allies – nor without a few disposable tools. Since Narcissa is generally seen (by fools) as the most “harmless” of any of the Blacks and Malfoys, she uses her unassailable social position to whisper and toy and tempt others, sometimes tricking them into doing what the Silent Daggers need and sometimes adding them to her quiver of allies (with a prudent slash of red to make sure they stay there). It makes her someone who can cross the lines of allegiance for interactions more easily than most other characters, too, which should be interesting! And honestly just the chance to have Narcissa be an active part of the fight (if a subtle, secret one) is exciting, since she’s so often reduced to a wallflower (or worse, a reluctant participant who lacks her family’s blood-supremacist convictions) in these sort of games. I’m really looking forward to getting blood on her hands here – both metaphorical and literal! Narcissa is canonically ruthless…so I’m excited for a game where she actually gets to act like it.

Blood-Status & Family: Narcissa is a blood-supremacist. She always has been, always will be. Being turned – being tainted – hasn’t changed how she thinks of Mudbloods nor of animals like werewolves and Muggles…but vampires were always more fashionable, weren’t they? Of course they were. Besides, she might be a vampire but she’s a vampire with Black blood in her veins – that has to still count for something, especially when it comes to a creature for whom blood is so crucial! Yes, she’s still part of the elite even if she does have fangs…and that means she still looks down on everyone who isn’t. (It’s a delicate balance in her head, but one necessary to maintain for her own sense of self to remain steady.) But now she’s turned her back on Voldemort, she might have to ally herself with those who aren’t worthy…and that’s fine, those sort of deals are necessary in a war. But as she’s learned from having the promises she was made broken by the Dark Lord, those “necessary alliances” can’t be simply discarded after the war is won. Not unless you want a new rebellion on your hands. Which means that anything she or Lucius promise to any piece of filth whose allegiance they want to secure, they’ll have to follow through on in the end…which means she might have to get her hands dirty. Is she prepared to do that? Is she prepared…perhaps…to talk to her former cousin? Or worse – her lost sister!? (I know there’s no Andromeda in the game right now, but that doesn’t mean Narcissa can’t entertain the idea of having to face and deal with her – nor for that matter, the idea of having to deal with Bellatrix discovering her secret. Those possibilities will be relevant to her, even though they aren’t going to be applicable in the game as playable plotpoints. Sirius and Regulus, on the other hand – if either or both of those characters get picked up, then those confrontations should be lots of fun from very different angles: Sirius the disgraced, cast-out cousin who betrayed the family but who might be a useful tool in the fight against the Dark Lord…Regulus the “good boy” who got lost, who now shares a certain proclivity for blood and fangs but much more openly than she; much less stable than she too, given how and when he developed the condition…but he’s still her precious little cousin. And he’s no more tainted than her, even if he’s having a few more problems adjusting…but will she accept that, or ignore his issues because it means acknowledging her own lack of perfection though acknowledging his? Should be fun!)

BONUS: The Diary! I’m assuming (hoping!) this is going to come up as a plotpoint eventually, and I’m psyched for it. I’m also psyched for exploring how Narcissa will react to the revelation of Voldemort using Horcruxes – because we know they’re generally regarded as well beyond the pale by most of the magical community, so will Narcissa likewise be disgusted? Or will her upbringing as a Black (notoriously more comfortable with certain types of magic, it appears) and/or her current position as a member of the Silent Daggers make her more pragmatic about the idea? I don’t know, I think it will depend on how the news leaks out (if it does; maybe they’ll find a way to use and/or destroy the diary without ever learning exactly what it is idk) but either way it’s going to be interesting to play with.

Extras:

I have very, very rarely had the privilege of being in a game where both Malfoys are taken characters. Thus I have approached Narcissa’s development largely from the premise of her being on her own and I’ve just gone ahead and stated things as established history that would be better discussed in tandem with Lucius’s player. If there does end up being an app for Lucius I will (after I finish dancing with delight) be very very happy to revise and amend all of this to mesh with their player’s ideas. (Likewise with any eventual Bellatrix or Andromeda players – or for that matter, any family details overlapping with Sirius and Regulus!) I genuinely really enjoy group world building! So please, fellow or potential players: view this as an outline for Narcissa, not as a headcanon that’s set in stone. I’m happy to tweak and twist and rearrange, so don’t hesitate to fling your ideas my way!

#marauders rp #skeleton rp #hp skeleton rp #lsrpg #harry potter rp #quartusbellumaccept #narcissa malfoy #narcissa malfoy bio

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