Andromeda/Bellatrix (Harry Potter)
Sep. 19th, 2004 06:48 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
http://users.livejournal.com/_avluela/ posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ship_manifestoTitle: Not the Perfect Ones
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_avluela
Spoilers: All books, mostly GoF and OotP
Email: avluela_tomoe@hotmail.com
This essay is a day late, I know, but please forgive me. I'm just a ditz when it comes to being on time ;)
My OTP love of Andromeda/Bellatrix began to take seed after I read GoF. At the time, I was suffering from a chronic lack of “my kind of femmeslash”. Harry Potter didn’t have what I wanted. None of the girls had that edge, that something that makes me love or hate (or love to hate) a certain character. Very few of the stories on the ‘net had that dark, screwed up edge that appeals to me. This was upsetting because, generally, I prefer to read and write fanfiction about female characters. I can relate to them better. I’m more comfortable writing about them. I love Harry, of course. He's one of my favourite characters, but I just can’t seem to understand the darn boy. The workings of his mind elude me.
Then came GoF and with it came that wonderful, mysterious glimpse of the enigmatic Mrs. Lestrange:
…A woman, with thick, shining dark hair, and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as if it were a throne… (Pg. 516, GoF, British Edition)
And in the following pages, she proved herself to be proud, beautiful, and brave and above all, twisted. She had that something I was searching for, and she had it in bucket loads.
And I didn’t even know her first name.
Frustrating much?
I read as much femmeslash as I could about her, but the various pairings fell flat for me. I was stuck. That is, until OotP came out.
Mrs. Lestrange was called Bellatrix. She was insane. Her family was dysfunctional as hell and yet very old and very proud. She had two younger sisters, and one of them betrayed her family.
The dark side of her personality brought out by Azkaban was sadistic and cruel and bullying. The side that I had been enchanted with before OotP had been strong even in the face of a fate worse than death. She was a complex piece of work, and I could help but love her.
And Andromeda, the sister who married a Muggle-born and became a blood traitor… I knew so little about her, but I was drawn to her all the same. How could someone have the courage to leave their family, severing all ties? It was a fanfiction waiting to happen.
On the issue of canon: I do have to admit that OotP did not contain much evidence in favour of my favourite pairing. There were no heated, UST wrought conversations, no meaning laden glances or even mentions of how Andromeda and Bellatrix got along. What Andromeda/Bellatrix has, beyond anything else, is possibilities.
Part of the reason for this is the lack of information concerning Andromeda’s character, or even Bellatrix’s opinion of her sister. What is known about her can be gleaned from various quotes from the books:
“So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora,” muttered Tonks. (Pg. 49, OotP, British Edition)
“My mum’s got this knack of getting stuff to fit itself in neatly – she even gets the socks to fold themselves – but I’ve never mastered how she does it…” (Pg. 52, OotP, British Edition)
He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa. (Pg. 105, OotP, British Edition)
“Oh yeah, her mother Andromeda was my favourite cousin.” (Pg. 105, OotP, British Edition)
Though the quotes don’t tell you all that much, there are still some things that you can guess about Andromeda and her relationship with her older sister.
We all know the opposites attract cliché. In a sense, Andromeda and Bellatrix are opposites, at least when it comes to what they believe in. Bellatrix is a Death Eater. Andromeda married a Muggle-born and has an Auror for a daughter. Sirius was also very fond of her, which clearly show where her loyalties lie. The conflict of beliefs is an interesting facet of the pairing, but the similarities between the two girls give it all a more complex edge.
Andromeda and Bellatrix are sisters, which means that they must shares some traits in common. Both seem to be proud of their Black heritage. This is given away by Andromeda’s choice of name for her daughter: Nymphadora (a Black family name if I’ve ever heard one). The Black family comes across as proud, unforgiving, narrow minded and just a tiny bit insane. It is quite possible that Andromeda is just as much an embodiment of the “Black personality” as the rest of her relatives.
Then again, maybe not.
The dynamic of the relationship is really up the interpreter. They could have been very close when they were younger. They could have been fierce enemies. Or they could have had an abusive, messed up, unbalanced relationship, which I personally think is the most likely. Then again, I do have a very particular taste in fiction, so don’t take my word for it.
Another way to figure out a relationship dynamic is to look at their places in the pecking order. Bellatrix was the first born. The first born is usually considered to be the over achiever, the smart one. The youngest child is usually the baby of the family, doted on by all the others. And the middle child is the one everyone ignores. They usually become either the troublemaker or the peacemaker, or so say the online psychology reports (but once again don’t take my word. Can you really trust those things anyway?).
According to those reports, Bellatrix would have been the pride of her family, which I have no doubt she was. She was, after all, the embodiment of everything they believed in. In turn, Andromeda was either a fierce, opinionated girl, antagonising her family at every turn, or a quiet child who did whatever she could to keep the peace. She’s been written both ways in fanfiction, and some writers have even found a middle ground.
I guess it is easy to understand why this pairing doesn’t appeal to many people. Canon dictates that Andromeda is Good and Bellatrix is Evil, and canon has not left much room for a post-Azkaban relationship. Narcissa/Bellatrix, on the other hand, has so many current opportunities now that Lucius is imprisoned. And its two evil women for the price of one, what’s not to like?
But you see, the very reason I like A/B is that in a way, it breaks the black and white boundaries of good and evil. Andromeda is not Good because she is still a Black by blood, and you know, the apple never falls far from the three and all that. In the context of a relationship with Bellatrix, she is not Good because she sleeps with her sister. And maybe (depending on your view of it all) she isn’t Good because in the end she left her. Bellatrix isn’t Evil because (once again, in the context of this relationship) she cared about someone at some point, no matter how twisted that love may have been. She isn’t Evil because she never went out and killed said person that she cared about, even after they betrayed her (though she did take out that instinct on *cough* some else). She isn’t Evil because she is just as loyal to her ideals as anyone on the side of Good, and that certainly can’t be disputed.
What I’m trying to point out is that this pairing brings out the light and dark inside both characters. It shows that both characters, though very different, can be very much the same. They can both be tender or callous, cruel or kind. Andromeda/Bellatrix is a pairing that, for all its wonderfully dysfunctional nature, makes these two characters come across as very human.
The idea of incest in the Black family is not beyond belief. As Sirius pointed out, “all the pureblood families are interrelated.” I’m not saying that sibling incest would be considered acceptable. In fact, I sincerely doubt it. Still, it is worth a mention, if only to point out that purebloods are screwed up as hell, making incest a much likelier occurrence in my mind. The Blacks also seem to be of the opinion that the only people worthy of the attention of the Blacks would be other Blacks. Homosexuality, too, would probably be tolerated, on the basis that if you’re married and producing heirs, you can do whomever you like on the side. As long as you keep it quiet, of course.
Like I’ve pointed out, I love A/B for a lot of reasons: it’s twisted, it’s femmeslash, it’s Blackcest and in some weird kind of way, it feels a little bit real to me. Other than that, I can’t really explain why I love it. I just do. And I can’t make you love it too. I can just hope that you will, because I’m just dying for some more fics and art. There really is far too little for this pairing. It’s enough to make a girl cry, you know?
Andromeda/Bellatrix fanfiction seems to be divided into two categories: the dramatic kind, thick with confrontation and emotion, and the subtle kind, where so much goes unsaid and yet so much is implied that it just takes you breath away. I prefer the subtle lot, so my recs are going to be a bit biased.
An example of one subtle and utterly gorgeous story is The Diviner bykallirhoe. I just can’t describe how much I love this fic. Just. Read it. You’ll understand when you do.
Bells for Her byjudyhazeleyes is such a melancholy little story. Everything written by this author is superb, and if you haven’t read anything by her yet, then what are you waiting for? This is her only A/B fic, though. Like I said. Makes me cry.
If smut is your kind of thing then I would suggest Magic Buried Deep byrzrblade33 because it is just hot. Heed the warnings though.
Last of all, I’m going to suggest Tears by, um, me. Because showing off is fun.
The Memories Section of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
hp_girlslash contains a few more fics. hp_blackcest, blackcest and blackaholics are all good sources of, well, Blackcest I guess. XD
A few Blackcest/Black family websites are listed below. None of them contain any A/B yet though. Hmph.
Black Corruption
Black Slash Archive
Toujours Pur
Author:
_avluelaSpoilers: All books, mostly GoF and OotP
Email: avluela_tomoe@hotmail.com
This essay is a day late, I know, but please forgive me. I'm just a ditz when it comes to being on time ;)
My OTP love of Andromeda/Bellatrix began to take seed after I read GoF. At the time, I was suffering from a chronic lack of “my kind of femmeslash”. Harry Potter didn’t have what I wanted. None of the girls had that edge, that something that makes me love or hate (or love to hate) a certain character. Very few of the stories on the ‘net had that dark, screwed up edge that appeals to me. This was upsetting because, generally, I prefer to read and write fanfiction about female characters. I can relate to them better. I’m more comfortable writing about them. I love Harry, of course. He's one of my favourite characters, but I just can’t seem to understand the darn boy. The workings of his mind elude me.
Then came GoF and with it came that wonderful, mysterious glimpse of the enigmatic Mrs. Lestrange:
…A woman, with thick, shining dark hair, and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as if it were a throne… (Pg. 516, GoF, British Edition)
And in the following pages, she proved herself to be proud, beautiful, and brave and above all, twisted. She had that something I was searching for, and she had it in bucket loads.
And I didn’t even know her first name.
Frustrating much?
I read as much femmeslash as I could about her, but the various pairings fell flat for me. I was stuck. That is, until OotP came out.
Mrs. Lestrange was called Bellatrix. She was insane. Her family was dysfunctional as hell and yet very old and very proud. She had two younger sisters, and one of them betrayed her family.
The dark side of her personality brought out by Azkaban was sadistic and cruel and bullying. The side that I had been enchanted with before OotP had been strong even in the face of a fate worse than death. She was a complex piece of work, and I could help but love her.
And Andromeda, the sister who married a Muggle-born and became a blood traitor… I knew so little about her, but I was drawn to her all the same. How could someone have the courage to leave their family, severing all ties? It was a fanfiction waiting to happen.
On the issue of canon: I do have to admit that OotP did not contain much evidence in favour of my favourite pairing. There were no heated, UST wrought conversations, no meaning laden glances or even mentions of how Andromeda and Bellatrix got along. What Andromeda/Bellatrix has, beyond anything else, is possibilities.
Part of the reason for this is the lack of information concerning Andromeda’s character, or even Bellatrix’s opinion of her sister. What is known about her can be gleaned from various quotes from the books:
“So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora,” muttered Tonks. (Pg. 49, OotP, British Edition)
“My mum’s got this knack of getting stuff to fit itself in neatly – she even gets the socks to fold themselves – but I’ve never mastered how she does it…” (Pg. 52, OotP, British Edition)
He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa. (Pg. 105, OotP, British Edition)
“Oh yeah, her mother Andromeda was my favourite cousin.” (Pg. 105, OotP, British Edition)
Though the quotes don’t tell you all that much, there are still some things that you can guess about Andromeda and her relationship with her older sister.
We all know the opposites attract cliché. In a sense, Andromeda and Bellatrix are opposites, at least when it comes to what they believe in. Bellatrix is a Death Eater. Andromeda married a Muggle-born and has an Auror for a daughter. Sirius was also very fond of her, which clearly show where her loyalties lie. The conflict of beliefs is an interesting facet of the pairing, but the similarities between the two girls give it all a more complex edge.
Andromeda and Bellatrix are sisters, which means that they must shares some traits in common. Both seem to be proud of their Black heritage. This is given away by Andromeda’s choice of name for her daughter: Nymphadora (a Black family name if I’ve ever heard one). The Black family comes across as proud, unforgiving, narrow minded and just a tiny bit insane. It is quite possible that Andromeda is just as much an embodiment of the “Black personality” as the rest of her relatives.
Then again, maybe not.
The dynamic of the relationship is really up the interpreter. They could have been very close when they were younger. They could have been fierce enemies. Or they could have had an abusive, messed up, unbalanced relationship, which I personally think is the most likely. Then again, I do have a very particular taste in fiction, so don’t take my word for it.
Another way to figure out a relationship dynamic is to look at their places in the pecking order. Bellatrix was the first born. The first born is usually considered to be the over achiever, the smart one. The youngest child is usually the baby of the family, doted on by all the others. And the middle child is the one everyone ignores. They usually become either the troublemaker or the peacemaker, or so say the online psychology reports (but once again don’t take my word. Can you really trust those things anyway?).
According to those reports, Bellatrix would have been the pride of her family, which I have no doubt she was. She was, after all, the embodiment of everything they believed in. In turn, Andromeda was either a fierce, opinionated girl, antagonising her family at every turn, or a quiet child who did whatever she could to keep the peace. She’s been written both ways in fanfiction, and some writers have even found a middle ground.
I guess it is easy to understand why this pairing doesn’t appeal to many people. Canon dictates that Andromeda is Good and Bellatrix is Evil, and canon has not left much room for a post-Azkaban relationship. Narcissa/Bellatrix, on the other hand, has so many current opportunities now that Lucius is imprisoned. And its two evil women for the price of one, what’s not to like?
But you see, the very reason I like A/B is that in a way, it breaks the black and white boundaries of good and evil. Andromeda is not Good because she is still a Black by blood, and you know, the apple never falls far from the three and all that. In the context of a relationship with Bellatrix, she is not Good because she sleeps with her sister. And maybe (depending on your view of it all) she isn’t Good because in the end she left her. Bellatrix isn’t Evil because (once again, in the context of this relationship) she cared about someone at some point, no matter how twisted that love may have been. She isn’t Evil because she never went out and killed said person that she cared about, even after they betrayed her (though she did take out that instinct on *cough* some else). She isn’t Evil because she is just as loyal to her ideals as anyone on the side of Good, and that certainly can’t be disputed.
What I’m trying to point out is that this pairing brings out the light and dark inside both characters. It shows that both characters, though very different, can be very much the same. They can both be tender or callous, cruel or kind. Andromeda/Bellatrix is a pairing that, for all its wonderfully dysfunctional nature, makes these two characters come across as very human.
The idea of incest in the Black family is not beyond belief. As Sirius pointed out, “all the pureblood families are interrelated.” I’m not saying that sibling incest would be considered acceptable. In fact, I sincerely doubt it. Still, it is worth a mention, if only to point out that purebloods are screwed up as hell, making incest a much likelier occurrence in my mind. The Blacks also seem to be of the opinion that the only people worthy of the attention of the Blacks would be other Blacks. Homosexuality, too, would probably be tolerated, on the basis that if you’re married and producing heirs, you can do whomever you like on the side. As long as you keep it quiet, of course.
Like I’ve pointed out, I love A/B for a lot of reasons: it’s twisted, it’s femmeslash, it’s Blackcest and in some weird kind of way, it feels a little bit real to me. Other than that, I can’t really explain why I love it. I just do. And I can’t make you love it too. I can just hope that you will, because I’m just dying for some more fics and art. There really is far too little for this pairing. It’s enough to make a girl cry, you know?
Andromeda/Bellatrix fanfiction seems to be divided into two categories: the dramatic kind, thick with confrontation and emotion, and the subtle kind, where so much goes unsaid and yet so much is implied that it just takes you breath away. I prefer the subtle lot, so my recs are going to be a bit biased.
An example of one subtle and utterly gorgeous story is The Diviner by
kallirhoe. I just can’t describe how much I love this fic. Just. Read it. You’ll understand when you do.Bells for Her by
judyhazeleyes is such a melancholy little story. Everything written by this author is superb, and if you haven’t read anything by her yet, then what are you waiting for? This is her only A/B fic, though. Like I said. Makes me cry. If smut is your kind of thing then I would suggest Magic Buried Deep by
rzrblade33 because it is just hot. Heed the warnings though. Last of all, I’m going to suggest Tears by, um, me. Because showing off is fun.
The Memories Section of
hp_girlslash contains a few more fics. hp_blackcest, blackcest and blackaholics are all good sources of, well, Blackcest I guess. XD A few Blackcest/Black family websites are listed below. None of them contain any A/B yet though. Hmph.
Black Corruption
Black Slash Archive
Toujours Pur
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 08:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 06:37 am (UTC)They're just delicious together, really. And dirtywrongbad. Heh.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 08:38 am (UTC)And dirtywrongbad is the best word ever. Seriously XD
no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 07:02 pm (UTC)I've read most of the stories you mentioned. The pairing, although unfavored, has various possibilities. My weakness is BL/GW and BL/NM, to be honest with you.
All in all, good show!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-21 08:40 am (UTC)I agree. I wonder if Bellatrix fluff actually exists?
I'm quite partial to a bit of Bellatrix/Ginny myself. Narcissa/Bellatrix doesn't appeal to me in the same way though. I'm not very sure why.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 10:16 am (UTC)Swatkat
no subject
Date: 2004-10-04 11:32 am (UTC)Lots of Bellatrix pairings intrigue me, but this is a particularly promising one. I'm looking forward to reading all these recs.
Great essay!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-23 07:38 pm (UTC)I found this while rummaging around the comm looking for something else, and I found myself nodding along with pretty much everything you said.
I've written quite a bit of B/A in the roughly 1 year I've been hanging around fandom, and I find that I keep coming back to the pairing. So YAY for this manifesto! *puts in memories*