#andromeda meta

[bluerose5]

On Heleus and the Jardaan

Y'all ever think about how little we actually ventured into the Andromeda galaxy in ME:A? I mean, we only really touch one cluster of the galaxy, and its considered to be "in the outskirts" of Andromeda. We only touch a single corner in all of ME:A. For reference —and yes while not all of them have groundbreaking, plot-relevant locations— ME1 has a total of 17 locations classified as "clusters," according to the fandom wiki. For ME3, there are a total of 34.

I only mention this because it raises so many questions, in my opinion. Questions that I know will likely remain unanswered, but I like to consider them anyways. For instance, the Jardaan. I can't remember whether it was established if they left Andromeda as a whole or if they just left Heleus. And if that's the case, did they evacuate to other clusters after deploying the Scourge, only to quarantine Heleus off? Did they just (wrongly) assume that the remaining angara would die off in their absence, but that was an accepted casualty of a bigger war being waged against an unnamed Big Bad™ or even against the kett? Because, if I remember correctly, it's basically implied in-game that the kett have a larger empire outside of Heleus, so it would make sense for these two major factions —one of whom, their entire way of life is built upon destroying others— to be at war. Maybe the Jardaan thought the kett were foolish for wasting resources in trying to recover Heleus, believed there was no way for them to possibly find anything like Meridian, not knowing what they left behind.

Then, there begs the question, "why make a sentient race?" What would they possibly have to gain from making the Angara? Slightly off-topic from the original point, but I like to consider it nonetheless. My current theory is that, the Angara are the Jardaan, in a way. The Jardaan has had to develop so much advanced technology, has had to incorporate it into their ways of life and into their very being (think of a sort of hybrid species like in the Trilogy's Synthesis ending). But this was done out of necessity. More importantly, to lengthen their lifespans until they are bordering on immortal. Why did they do this? Because the kett are taking more of their people in the galaxy at-large every day than they have ability to replace through reproductive means. They are a dying race, and they are on the verge of extinction.

They don't conduct research in Heleus to make the Angara. They work to make Jardaan, to preserve their people. It is why the Angara are compatible with their tech. It is why they wanted to make more worlds viable via terraforming. It was never meant to be a creator-created relationship. It was meant to be a relationship where they walked as equals, the Angara made in the image of who they were before the war. Because what bigger insult is there to an enemy that wants to destroy everything you are, than to live on in spite of them. Only, the Jardaan left, presumably taking some of their research and some of their people with them, and that is when those who were abandoned split off to form the people that we know as the Angara.

[rawliverandcigarettes]

Thinking about Mass Effect, as you do, and how I'm kind of sad that the way it's been engraved in pop culture has more to do with the way internet reacted to it at the time than what the actual game is about. Yes sure, it's about romance (and not that much all things considered) and it's pulpy (but not solely because of hot lady aliens), but it's also intricate worldbuilding that touches on a lot of sharp ideas, and a complicated tug-of-war between a genuine and vulnerable belief in reconciliation and community VS post 9-11 US military propaganda and steadfast belief in heroic exceptionalism, and the melancholic yet energizing mood, and the daring narrative systems, and so so much more than the 'We'll Bang OKs" and the "There's No Shepard Without Vakarian" and the whole ME3 ending situation

It's all there, but I'm sad the impact of the series is often reduced to (what I think is) the least interesting parts of its sum

[regheart]

i'm thinking about how the characterisation of the black family tends to be really difficult to get right and one of the reasons that i can think of is that we don't know enough of wizarding culture, so we try to convey the atmosphere and the dynamics through codes that are familiar to us

that's why they are so victorian in so many fics. they act and speak like they're inside a victorian novel, they only ever wear black and dark green, the high society/pure blood circle is also composed by meeting for tea, and having balls, and discussing politics, and arranged marriages

and that's not bad!!! i read and love some fics like that, but i think this is an aesthetic that completely ignores some of the things we know about wizards and about the blacks

first of all, the clothes. wizards wear robes. not late 19th century clothes, robes. and they're most often dramatic and colorful. this is something easily observed in the very first chapter of PS. so i think the blacks should wear deep purple and emerald green and silver and burgundy and turquoise, make outfits fun!!!

second, grimmauld place tells us some things about its inhabitants. the fact that it's a muggle house in a muggle neighborhood shows that they must have some level of cognitive dissonance in terms of what elements of muggle culture and lifestyle they hold (but i don't think that applies to holding the same patterns of views and behaviors of high society, again, it's about how the writers tries to convey "rich and uptight" with codes that are familiar to them). the decoration choices for the house are also very telling, family heirlooms, big clocks, tapestry... troll leg and house elf heads??? that's morbid. that's camp.

and my point is, black family characterisation lacks on campiness. wizards are inherently weird. anything in which they're overly polite and too aristocratic is inaccurate. they are bigots and lobbyists and one of them was literally headmaster of hogwarts. they are into the dark arts but they don't torture their children. make them funnier and messier and weirder and more like real people instead of a bunch of lines from downton abbey glued together

[star-rises]

I’m endlessly curious about Andromeda’s interaction with privilege in the wizarding world. She walks away from her family to marry a muggleborn and casts herself out from the epicentre of power, but how much does she still hold as a pureblood witch? She might no longer be welcome at the country houses of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but when facing down some middling Ministry official or a half-blood family she’s still a Black. How much does she lean into that?

As far as we know she doesn’t provide any support for Sirius when he runs away from home nor does she try and get him out of Azkaban. She doesn’t seem to play any part in the First War at all. I think all of this could be justified under an explanation of her cutting herself off from the wizarding world entirely in order to protect her family, but that kind of disconnect doesn’t make sense when Tonks not only goes to Hogwarts but becomes an Auror. So does that mean Andromeda doesn’t have any power or resources to lean into, or just that she doesn’t care about Sirius, or a bit of both?

Then there’s the fact that Auror is the profession Tonks pursues. For someone to choose to be part of upholding such a problematic institution, she has to be normalized to wizarding society’s power structures - enough to accept them, or maybe not question them at all. So that makes me envision an upbringing where Andromeda said her family were the problem, not pureblood power and privilege in itself. (And there’s a whole other conversation in there about the pressure of gender conformity and internalized homophobia that Tonks grapples with tbh.)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Andromeda fan. I actually think these gray areas are what make her fascinating. Like Sirius, she straddles contradictory worlds, and both benefits and suffers from wizarding social power. I think there’s a lot to dig into there.

[youryurigoddess]

On love and sacrifices

There’s so much more to this scapegoating business and big sacrifices referenced in the Good Omens narrative than the literal goats. And they’re only getting bigger, louder, final.

But let’s take it slow and start with the beginning, quite literally — i.e., with the Good Omens 2 title sequence. As we follow Aziraphale and Crowley on their journey, the universe warps and their usual left and right side positioning switches during the magic show (not accidentally an act of trust and sacrifice required both from the angel and the demon). They stay so throughout the next scene, which is their little dance in the air, and after they seemingly get settled on the A. Z. Fell and Co.’s roof and back to normal, the flipped sky in the background suggests that something’s not quite right yet. In the central part of the shot looms a large, humanlike shadow of the Elephant Trunk Nebula.

The nebula is a part of a constellation called Cepheus, after an Ethiopian king from the Greek mythology who agreed to sacrifice his only daughter in order to appease the gods and end a local calamity started by her mother and his wife, Cassiopeia (talk about generational responsibility). With time and a delightfully ironic twist of fate, the name of said daughter, Andromeda, became more famous than that of her father. Although she was chained up to a rock and offered to the sea serpent Cetus, the girl was spotted by the warrior Perseus, casually flying over the sea — either on the back of the Pegasus or thanks to a pair of winged sandals — after his victory over Medusa. He fell in love on the spot, defeated the serpent (with the help of a magical sword or Medusa’s severed head, depending on the varying sources), and freed the princess. That’s not exactly where their story ends, but we won’t be getting into the rest here.

Not surprisingly, Neil has mentioned two parallel child sacrifice stories from the biblical context back in August. The first is one of the big ones — The Binding of Isaac. God's command to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, was a test of Abraham's faith. The angel of the Lord intervenes and provides a ram to be sacrificed in the boy’s place.

The second one isn’t nearly as popular, but you might have heard a variant of it in fairy tales or as the Law of Surprise invoked in The Witcher saga. In exchange for Israel’s victory over its enemies in battle, Jephthah had rashly promised God to repay the debt with the first thing seen on his return back home. The victorious warrior didn’t suspect to see his only child moving innocently "to meet him with timbrels and with dances" though. In horror, Jephthah covered his eyes with his cloak, but to no avail: ultimately, he was forced to honor his vow to God, and the girl was sacrificed. As grisly as it might look like in the Old Master’s paintings, it’s important to remember that human sacrifices weren’t limited to physical offerings only — Jephthah’s daughter might have been offered to God in the sense of officially shunning her family and dedicating her life to service instead, probably sequestered in a temple somewhere.

Interestingly, the main character of a big chunk of the Bible and the reason for the Second Coming happens to be THE most influential child sacrifice in the modern history. You know, a certain 33-year-old carpenter sent by his Heavenly Father to die on a cross for the sins of the mankind? Someone better call Aubrey Thyme ASAP.

Circling back to Aziraphale, he could be also seen as a representative of the concept of filial piety, since Eden willing to personally take a Fall not only for the humanity’s collective or individual transgressions, but the shortcomings of his Ineffable Parental Figure as well. Our favorite angel angel always fights for what is right and good, sure, but why would that be even a thing if God was truly omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent?

If Aziraphale’s medal is anything to go by, it looks like we might get an answer from the way it’s introducing another mythological narrative into the game, that is the story of Daedalus and Icarus. The most absorbing thing about this is the stark contrast to the recurring child sacrifice references for S3 mentioned in this post — Daedalus isn’t a father who wanted to sacrifice his son, it was his attempt to save him from imprisonment that ultimately drove Icarus to his death. The boy ignored his father’s explicit instructions, committing the grave and culturally universal sin of disobedience to one's parents that simply couldn’t go unpunished, one way or another.

But Icarus’s transgression could be seen both as high-flying ambition and striving for personal accomplishment as well as humanitarian sacrifice for knowledge and humanity’s advancement in general.

Similarly to a certain angel who left everything for what superficially seems like a work promotion, but is the ultimate act of love — both for his demon and the children they have been protecting and nurturing together for six thousand years. From the very Beginning, his white wings have been shielding everything he holds dear in this world.

[sk1fanfiction]

blood of the covenant/water of the womb

The Black sisters are so tragic.

I mean, imagine:

As kids, Narcissa is the baby sister that the elder two dote on, while both Narcissa and Andromeda look up to Bellatrix, the proud, beautiful, powerful, accomplished, perfect eldest sister, who has always known who she is and where she's going, but especially Andromeda, since they look so alike she's always been encouraged to act like her too but since Narcissa doesn't have the stereotypical Black looks and her parents didn't follow the Black naming scheme she's encouraged to be her own person a little bit more.

At Hogwarts they're all Sorted into the same House, Slytherin, which only increases their bond. Bella does really well at school, probably the top of her class, which makes Andy, who's only a year or two behind hyperaware of where the bar is. She walks, talks, and dresses like Bella.

Until

Andy follows in Bella's footsteps (who's probably Head Girl by now) and becomes a prefect, but she gets assigned to do rounds with a Muggle-born Hufflepuff. And despite everything she'd been taught, everything she knows to be true, she finds herself falling for him and the worst part is she can't tell anyone, even Bella, the one she has always been able to confide in, always reassured her and set her on the right path.

Meanwhile Druella and Cygnus are arranging Bellatrix's marriage to Roldophus, someone she doesn't even like never mind attracted to but because she's the perfect Black and the perfect daughter she has to do it. And Andromeda sees and fears how she could get trapped, too, how there's another Lestrange boy in her year.

Meanwhile a strange foreign Dark Lord comes to dinner and he's so different to Roldophus and all those other men who think because she's a woman she must be weak and she's just a vessel for their pureblood children. And despite the way she shouldn't feel this way, Bella doesn't care. He listens to Bella's opinions and he takes her seriously and he sees her magical talent and her thirst to prove herself and he's not scared of her in the way others say that she's 'too intense.' And when he offers to train her, and adds that he never does this, she says, one better, I'll follow you.

Andromeda and Narcissa watch this strange man burn the Dark Mark into their sister's arm and they don't know what to think. Narcissa's scared Bella will put herself in danger, that she'll do too much, give too much of herself because she doesn't know when to pull back. And Andy's scared Bella's going down a path she cannot follow, because deep down she can't say she believes in blood supremacy, can't say she hates Ted and she can't figure out a way through so she leaves.

It's like part of Bella's heart has been ripped out. They were all close, the Blacks, but Andy and Bella had a certain je ne sais quoi, they were thick as thieves and inseparable. Bellatrix is the one who burns Andromeda off the tapestry, crying while she does it, the scorned love for her sister, the anger and shame that Andy chose that Mudblood over her turning that love to bottomless hate.

Meanwhile Narcissa, the lucky one, watches it all. Narcissa is the one that gets it all, she's the only one who's able to marry for love and stay with her family but there's also this Andromeda-shaped hole in her and there's a Slytherin resentfulness of being Bellatrix's supporting act.

Every night that Bella is on a mission, Narcissa stays up, even while pregnant with Draco, until she knows her sister is safe.

That fateful Halloween she waits and waits and waits but Bellatrix never comes home. When she finds out her last remaining sister is serving life she completely breaks down. Won't sleep, won't eat. The thought of leaving Draco without a mother is the only thing that helps her hold on. Regulus, Andromeda and Sirius are dead/burned off the tapestry/imprisoned; she and Draco are the last Blacks, that makes their bond even stronger, makes her scared of losing him like she did her sisters. She curses Voldemort for putting her in danger, aware of her feelings for him and that Bella would do anything for them, swears she'll never let that happen to her son.

All the while Andy raises her daughter, who hates the name she gave her in the same way Andy know she would hate the Blacks. Narcissa and Andy watch each other from across crowds; Tonks and Draco are never at school together, never know more than scattered off-hand mentions of a cousin on their mother's side. But both Narcissa and Andy fantasize of a reconcilation, of Tonks babysitting Draco while they rekindle their bond. Neither bridges the gap. That burn, that rift cannot be healed. But they still ache for each other.

When Voldemort returns that fear for Draco grows, but it's tempered with the joy of having Bella back after mourning her for 14 years -- Bella, traumatized, starved, jagged and torn up at the edges, different, but alive.

And just like knowing he was innocent kept Sirius sane, Bella's love and trust of Voldemort is what made her able to hang on. Yes, they're both drastically different physically (the snake face and the emaciation) and mentally (both shaken, less confident), but everything else can be the same. Maybe better.

But everyone is scared. It's not the same world, where the Death Eaters have control and are undefeated. Voldemort is scared of that boy, Narcissa is scared for Draco. It's clear things are not the same, things are not normal. Far from it. Fear makes Voldemort angry, and cold, and distant and nothing she does feels good enough.

And that boy -- lying hateful filthy boy -- he dares suggest that her Voldemort's filthy-blooded like him. No, he must just be taunting her, scaring her. But there are things Voldemort's said, things he's done -- she would notice, the way she hangs on every word he speaks and plays their conversations in her head over and over again in Azkaban -- Bellatrix just does her best to silence it and block it out, all these confusing things, she's a great Occlumens after all.

She'll make things certain, make things right, trim off the weakness, cut out the sickness. Like Sirius. Like that young woman with Andromeda's face and Andromeda's laugh, that filthy half-blood Andy left her to create.

Narcissa can't keep Draco safe like she, the baby sister, couldn't keep Bellatrix safe. When Voldemort burns the Dark Mark into his skin she sees her son emaciated and dead-eyed.

To assuage Narcissa's fears Bellatrix trains Draco like Voldemort trained her; but he's not the same, he's weak, he's moralistic, he looks at her with wide scared eyes and he's a failure. The glory of the Blacks is gone.

All the while, Narcissa's fear grows, when Lucius is imprisoned, when Voldemort's ire turns on her family, on her son, sets him an impossible task. The despair she feels, she hasn't felt for nearly sixteen years -- Bellatrix more interested in eking out morsels of approval from Voldemort and turning her frustration on Draco, and Narcissa by extension.

All the while, Andromeda's fear for her daughter grows, of the danger she puts herself in as an Auror and a member of the Order, and she's reminded of Bellatrix, of how she gives everything of herself and how Nymphadora does too, begging, begging her to hold back.

She's not good enough for him, not with the sickness, the weakness still clinging to her. Bellatrix very much wants to kill the woman with Andy's face. She's always been perfect. It's everyone else around her that's wrong, everyone else who has to go. She'll do better. Try harder.

And when the Snatchers catch that filthy boy, and he slides out of her grasp like a buttered eel, Bellatrix hits the bottom rung of the ladder of despair. She doesn't know who she is, anymore.

Voldemort's retaliation and rejection breaks Bellatrix's heart, but it hardens Narcissa's.

Bellatrix will do anything to make him happy. She finally kills the witch with Andy's face -- do you see -- do you love me now -- but he's still cold, still frightened, still different, and she despairs, but it will be all over when Harry Potter is dead and he can breathe again. They've won. It will be alright. It will go back to normal. She can have it all again -- Voldemort and Narcissa and her perfect, pruned family.

Narcissa will do anything to keep him safe. And so she chooses Draco's life, she lies, her heart in her throat, in front of her beloved sister, to the Dark Lord, with unshed tears in her eyes and Harry Potter's 'corpse' before her.

Bellatrix's death is something Narcissa knew was coming, deep down She mourned her sister sixteen years ago and she mourns her now, but it will all be worth it if Draco survives this ordeal; Potter must win, he must live, Voldemort must die. And Bellatrix will never allow this.

She wishes she could tell Andy that she understands.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

👋👋👋

do you have meta thoughs or/and headcanons about Black sisters? it definitely a lot of to unpack from

Hello 👋

And yes, I have plenty of thoughts about the Black sisters, individually and about their relationships with each other. This isn't like, a super deep dive into either but more just me yapping about my general thoughts.

Now, the first thing I want to note is that in JKR's Black family tree draft, Cygnus Black (the sisters' father) is written to have been born in 1938. As Bellatrix (the eldest) was born in 1951, this would mean Cygnus would be 13 when she was born. I don't think that makes a whole lot of sense, personally, so I chose to believe this was a mistake, and that instead Cygnus was born in 1933 (3 and 8 can look similar in handwriting & JKR is not great at math so it's probably a mistake, just let me dream). 1933 would also make more sense with Cygnus' siblings since Walburga is marked to have been born in 1925, and while it is possible for siblings to have a 13-year age difference, it's not all that common when there are only 3 siblings. So, I chose to believe Cygnus was 18 when Bellatrix was born and not 13. So, he was young, but not that young.

I assume that their mother, Druella Rosier, was similarly young when Bellatrix was born (17-18), though there is no canon information about it, so this is a headcanon.

This means Druella got pregnant with Bellatrix in her final year at Hogwarts or immediately after graduation. This also means that Cygnus and Druella probably had their parents and their house elf more involved in Bellatrix's upbringing than with the latter two daughters since they were pretty young.

So I headcanon Bellatrix is the closest to Pollux and Irma out of the three sisters. (I headcanon Pollux was a former dueling champion and practiced with her, for example. I also headcanon Pollux was born in 1907 and not 1912 so he'd be 18 when his eldest daughter, Walburga, was born and not 13).

Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa are pretty close in age. As Bella and Cissa only have 4 year difference between them, I assume Andromeda was born right in the middle, in 1953. This shows that their parents had somewhat of a plan regarding when each one would be born and planned to only have 3 children. (Which again, indicates Cygnus was probably an adult by that time and not 13)

As they are close in age, they probably were close when they were kids. I imagine when Andy was first born, Bella got jealous of all the attention she was getting, but by the time Andy grew up to be a playmate, she got over it. Narcissa didn't deal with as much jealousy from either of her older sisters, in my headcanon, since they were used to having a sister by that point.

When they were young, as the eldest, Bellatrix took it upon herself to be their protector, to be the responsible one who stood up for her younger sisters. In the conversation in Spinner's End with Narcissa, Bella doesn't mind so much Cissa is betraying the Dark Lord, it's her sister and it's clear she doesn't plan to snitch on her, with all of her loyalty to Voldemort, she shows a lot of care towards Narcissa. She is willing to speak against Voldemort to her sister. She clearly loves Narcissa and cares about her:

“Cissy, you must not do this, you can’t trust him —” “The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn’t he?” “The Dark Lord is . . . I believe . . . mistaken,” Bella panted, and her eyes gleamed momentarily under her hood as she looked around to check that they were indeed alone. “In any case, we were told not to speak of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord’s —”

(HBP, 21)

And, I assume she was like that with Andromeda too before Ted came into the picture.

And it's clear Narcissa cares for Bellatrix too:

“Let go, Bella!” snarled Narcissa, and she drew a wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly in the other’s face. Bella merely laughed. “Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn’t —” “There is nothing I wouldn’t do anymore!” Narcissa breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice

(HBP, 21)

Bellatrix doesn't actually expect Narcissa to attack her or even threaten her. She doesn't understand Draco is more important to Narcissa than everything else. Because Bella still treats Narccissa like Cissy she knew before Azkaban, before Draco, before 14 eventful years of life happened, she doesn't know the current Narcissa. And the current Narcissa doesn't love Bellatrix as much as Cissy from 14 years ago did, even if she still cares about her.

And throughout book 7, and Voldemort's Second War, we see Bella and Cissa growing further apart:

where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longer for closeness

(DH, 14)

As the Malfoys lose their status with Voldemort but Bellatrix doesn't. It's clear even this early on in DH that Narcissa is no fan of Voldemort and it makes sense when she does betray him. Don't get me wrong, I think she is just as fanatic about blood purity as Bellatrix, she's just more polite about it. But I think she is like Regulus, in a way. She is a blood supremacist, but she does not approve of Voldemort's approach or means — especially the moment he went after her son. She could've forgiven him for Lucius ending up in Azkaban, but Draco was a line too far. Like sending Kreacher to his death was a line too far for Regulus — because that hurt them personally, it's not about ideology.

I also headcanon Narcissa was closest to their mother and that Druella was most protective over her youngest daughter.

Then there's Andromeda, Andromeda is really interesting to me (my favorite Black sister, btw). I just find it fascinating she named her daughter Nymphadora — a traditional family name — even after her family disowned her.

We know Andromeda was a Slytherin since Sirius says all his family are and she was sorted before him. So we have a clever Slytherin witch, who grew up around ideals of blood purity, who fell in love with a clearly skilled and charming Hufflepuff muggleborn and chose to run away and elope with said muggleborn. Like, that's such an interesting love story these two got and it's a shame we don't talk about it more.

From the little we see of them in DH, I got the impression they love each other and their daughter a lot. Ted seems to be the more chill and friendly one while Andromeda is more cold and haughty one. I bet Ted's sense of humor was the first thing that really pulled Andromeda in when they first started talking and Ted always adored her laugh.

It also seems Ted completely abandoned the muggle world for the sake of the magical one the way Hermione did:

“...Something go wrong with the bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him and his Muggle contraptions?”

(DH, 60)

He does not think highly of Arthur's "muggle contraptions". He finds it silly. I think Ted went into the wizarding world, learned about magic, and became mesmerized by all the amazing things it can do. I think Ted honestly finds Arthur's fascination with muggles silly in the way of: "Magic is so much better, why would you want to do that?"

It'll explain Nymphadora's name as well. Both Ted and Andromeda are wizards who want to be wizards and have no real ties to the muggle world. And still, Andy's family, who she clearly loved once, disowned her:

“She is no niece of ours, my Lord,” she cried over the outpouring of mirth. “We—Narcissa and I—have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries.”

(DH, 14)

I was always under the impression Andromeda married Ted very soon after graduation, as Nymphadora was born in late 1972 or 1973, it means Andromeda would've been around 20 when she gave birth to her, supporting my impression.

This means Andromeda hasn't spoken to her family (except perhaps Sirius) since she was 18 or 19, and it's kinda crazy.

It's kinda sad too since I'm sure Bellatrix and Andromeda played together as kids and later with Narcissa too. I'm certain they used to love each other and that Bellatrix hates Ted with a passion for "stealing her sister from her" while Andromeda can't make herself hate her sisters or her parents, she just hates the situation, wishing it was different. I'm sure there were nights she thought about what could've been if Ted was a pureblood or even a half-blood, but never once does she regret marrying Ted whom she loves.

Andromeda loves her family so much that she still named her daughter a family name. She was and is proud of being a Black and a witch, these aspects of her are so important to her and how she sees herself.

I lowkey headcanon that when Tonks told her about Remus and that they're getting married, Andromeda didn't like it at first. But then she realized she was doing to her daughter what her family did to her so she did a 180 and became the biggest Remadora shipper.

I think Andromeda is incredibly protective and attached to both Ted and Dora because of how she was cut off from her own family. Family, I think, is incredibly important to her, so she built a new one for herself that she was passionate about. I think she was incredibly heartbroken after Ted, Dora, and Remus died. I like to think she raises Teddy with Harry and both she and Harry bond over losing people. Like, I want a post-war Harry to help Andromeda deal with losing her entire family again.

I also like to think Narcissa and Andromeda got in touch again post-war. It's probably strained, but I think both of them need this reminder of a better, familiar time after everything.

So, these are my general thoughts and headcanons regarding the sisters.

[maxdibert]

oh more of sirius-bellatrix and regulus-narcissa parallels please! andromeda is also an interesting character for me sometimes i wonder as she was someone that grew up in such household what if she happened to fall in love with another pureblood would she be another ‘narcissa’? and a lot of people always automatically assume that before the marriage just like sirius that she was not a pureblood supremacist because she married a muggle-born but what if she was someone that somehow still aligned with the black family’ views but with ted tonks ‘he’s an exception’ but ‘rebellious’ enough to leave her privileges and then able to grow to changed her view after the 1st war and experiencing life with her family(tonks)

I honestly don’t think Andromeda was like Sirius. I also can’t really say how she was or how I imagine her because we know so little about her, but considering that she was in Slytherin, I’d say she probably didn’t have many issues with her family until she decided to marry Ted Tonks. Maybe she didn’t completely agree with her family’s ideas, or maybe she had never considered that blood supremacy was wrong until she started a relationship with Ted. Personally, I prefer this latter version, where she was probably a somewhat alienated person but without very strong convictions, therefore more open to other opinions, and that by meeting and falling in love with Ted, she made a decision. It fits much better with the role of the middle sister between two sisters with very strong personalities, while she had a softer one. But this is pure personal headcanon.

As for the parallel between the cousins, I’ve always thought Sirius has a lot in common with Bellatrix. Both are characters with extremely strong temperaments who hate with a passion and love in an obsessive way. Their feelings blind them. Bellatrix develops a personality marked by quite evident mental instability, which I believe stems first from her fanaticism and later from her years in prison, but her absolute loyalty to Voldemort and that obsession to please and go to the end for the person she holds as her reference is very similar to Sirius’s behavior with James, although Sirius does it in a less corrosive way. Sirius (like his cousin) is completely blinded by the memory of the person to whom he swore loyalty and fidelity. He committed to James in a platonic way, with James being his moral compass and at the same time the person he identified as his new family. Just as Bellatrix sees the Death Eaters as part of herself, the place where she belongs, Sirius does the same with James and everything he represents (the Marauders, the Order, Harry), and he does it in a visceral and totally irrational way that doesn’t heed any kind of coherent reasoning. At the end of the day, Sirius is a dog, and as a dog, he will follow his master to the grave and bite anyone he sees as a threat. To me, Bellatrix represents that darker and corrupted side of the Blacks, that vision of themselves as aristocrats with rights over the rest of the mortals—not just from a social perspective, like Narcissa, but also from a militant one. She is willing to kill and be killed for her ideals, just as Sirius is willing to kill and be killed for his. Both are aggressive, violent, and display a resentful and quite volatile, uncontrollable character. Only Voldemort can control Bellatrix, just as probably only James could control Sirius. They only obey their masters because they don’t recognize any other figure of authority. After all, they are both the eldest siblings.

In the case of Narcissa and Regulus, both are the youngest, and both are on the same side. But they not only coincide ideologically, but also in how they approach their political tendencies. Narcissa embodies the aristocracy that lives in a bubble and simply moves to maintain that bubble of privilege. She has been taught certain values that she doesn’t question, but she also doesn’t have an actively militant or bellicose attitude. She opines from the comfort of her home and is fine with others doing the work to uphold those values. She has a passive attitude, which I also see in Regulus, who probably joined the Death Eaters simply because it was expected of him and because he hadn’t questioned too much the extent to which his decisions might have consequences. Just like Narcissa, both are nobles who feel untouchable and don’t expect the course of events to turn against them. But it does. The events lead them to feel threatened and realize that the game of politics has consequences for everyone, and they are no exception—they aren’t immune to the war. And it’s at that moment that they see that something precious to them could be taken away by those who represent the values they once believed were in their favor. They don’t question their beliefs; they simply oppose those who represent them for strictly personal reasons. Neither Narcissa nor Regulus stop being who they are; they’ve always advocated for an individualistic view of the world, and when things individually go against them, they choose to act to come out as unscathed as possible and preserve what matters to them.

I really enjoy thinking about the dynamics of dysfunctional families because there are always parallels between their members, no matter how much they hate, distance themselves from, or separate from each other. It’s inevitable because, in the end, blood calls to blood.

[whinlatter]

something tells me you don't really like tonks, just a hunch xD

For the relationship ask if you're still doing it: harry and remus, molly and remus, teddy and adromeda. I would love to see what do you think <3

noooo i love tonks! i had a ball writing her and think that @evesaintyves’ rendering of her is one of fandom’s greatest gifts 😭 i just find it very funny that harry thinks she should low key get a grip. and as a clumsy young woman who should myself get a grip, i say: get off her case, hjp.

ok the remus + tonks/black extended family universe... hyped for this one. delicious choices, thank you anon. (i have a few more in the inbox i'm going to take a stab at but am trying to avoid spoilery ones or ones where i risk boring you all again by repeating old talking points, so if i don't get to one pls forgive me...)

right — to business. we begin with everybody looking at remus lupin waiting for him to put his crippling self loathing aside to write (1) singular letter to his dead friend's son:

i jest (to an extent). but i do think the entirety of harry and remus' dynamic is best encapsulated in one singular scene in PoA:

“When they get near me — ” Harry stared at Lupin’s desk, his throat tight. “I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum.” Lupin made a sudden motion with his arm as though to grip Harry’s shoulder, but thought better of it.

i know there's a very understandable move in AUs to imagine what would have happened if remus had raised harry - or, more often, if remus had been 'allowed' to raise harry by dumbledore. but looking past the whole plot-requiring-harry-to-be-at-the-dursleys thing, the truth is, canon remus lupin would never have put himself forward to raise harry, because of his own (not unfounded!) concerns about the precarity of his existence and the dangerousness of his condition. remus' sense of self - more specifically his fear of himself, and his very low self worth - consistently lead him to hold harry at arm's length from the moment he's introduced in the series until its bitter end. i don't think remus at all approves of the way harry is treated at the dursleys. but i can very much imagine that remus thinks it would still be better than the life he could have given harry if he ever had been called upon to serve as his primary caregiver. one of the most interesting implicit dynamics in the series is that harry notices this and does, to some extent, resent it (obviously the fact that he only ever calls him 'lupin' in his narration, though uses remus to his face, and also: 'Harry had received no mail since the start of term; his only regular correspondent was now dead and although he had hoped that Lupin might write occasionally, he had so far been disappointed.') while the harry & remus fight in DH is about harry's view of what remus ought to do re tonks and the baby, it’s also harry coming as close as saying to remus: you're letting your own child down like you let me down. ('I’m pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren’t sticking with your own kid, actually... He had it coming to him,” said Harry. Broken images were racing each other through his mind: Sirius falling through the veil; Dumbledore suspended, broken, in midair; a flash of green light and his mother’s voice, begging for mercy… ‘Parents,’ said Harry, 'shouldn’t leave their kids unless—unless they’ve got to.')

molly and remus: i think this is a very, very underrated relationship! i know there’s a lot of molly-bashing around these days, especially if you’re a marauders and/or sirius and/or wolfstar stan. but i think it is very very overlooked that the person who looks after adult remus the most from 1995 onwards, and who shows him some of the deepest trust and roots for his happiness, is molly. for a man who has plainly known a huge amount of financial/food/housing insecurity, and who is so villainised in wider wizarding society, it is no small gesture for molly to not only provide for remus materially but also to trust him in a house with all of her children and encourage him in a romantic relationship he struggles to feel entitled to and worthy of. (i love sirius, but he is in no fit state to ‘look after’ remus in the last year of his life, and fandom’s continued unwillingness to recognise the importance of domestic/caregiving labour as a vital contribution to the resistance will never not be problematic af). remus clearly values and admires molly in return - the only time he actually ever entertains a parent/guardianship role is when molly is weeping over her boggart, crying onto remus’ shoulder (‘what must you think of me?’) and he assures her that if anything were to happen to her and arthur, he would be a part of the team making sure her children are taken date of (‘what do you think we’d do, let them starve?’) remus’ relationship with molly is often the more mild-mannered translator of her viewpoint to others (especially others with hot tempers), and mediator trying to find middle ground between molly’s protective instincts and the battle/ready instincts of others. (more grist to my sirius & ginny parallels mill — in DH, when a fuming ginny is desperately trying to sneak off to fight in the battle, it’s remus who appeals to molly and ginny to find the compromise of ginny staying in the room of requirement to know what’s going on but not actively fight, a mirror image of his role mediating the dispute between sirius and molly over harry’s right to know what’s going on at grimmauld in ootp…) molly accepts this compromise, a sign that she trusts remus implicitly (she never frets that a werewolf is living among her children in ootp onwards, and invites him to christmas readily even after months undercover with the pack) and also feels able to call him out (‘i’ve always said you’re taking a ridiculous line on this, remus’.) this is too long but basically — justice for molly and remus, unlikely buds!

teddy and andromeda: i weirdly think a lot about teddy lupin these days. i tend to imagine teddy as a very mild-mannered, affable, calm child, like who remus might have been had he not been bitten, with tonks' heart and sociability but also with something of remus' more philosophical disposition. i think he'd slip very naturally into a big brother role because, in part, he does see himself as having a responsibility to take care of people, and i think this would shine through in his relationship with andromeda. we know teddy was raised by his gran, and i imagine she feels enormously protective of him, perhaps bordering on strict in her desire to keep him safe from the harm that came to all the rest of her family. but i like to imagine teddy didn't act out against this too much, in part because he understands where it comes from and in turn feels very protective of andromeda. growing up in the aftermath of the war would make teddy as a child particularly aware of the grief and pain and the silences among the adults around him, and i think teddy would take any compensatory protective strictness on andromeda's part with good grace, and humour her for it. i like to think teenage/young adult teddy serves as the translator for any of his gran's more prickly edges, and that they have a very close relationship that both of them really treasure.

[justaneedle]

They: Percy wouldn't end up like Luke, because there's no way he would hurt a twelve-year-old kid.

Me: ...

Princess Andromeda: ...

Me: ...

Princess Andromeda: 💥💥💥💥💥

[sn0wp1anets]

my take on the black family

ok disclaimer this isn’t going to be super detailed with evidence and quotes from the books because a) i haven’t read them in a while b) all my energy is going into school rn BUT i try to adhere to canon as much as possible and reference it wherever possible

this will be split into these main parts:

abuse + dynamics

politics + ties with voldemort and DEs

wealth + status

CW: abuse mentions, general bigotry

ABUSE + DYNAMICS

THE ABUSE

imo right now most portrayals of the dynamics of the black family, especially surrounding sirius + regulus and later on draco a bit are really black-and-white, and lack the nuance that already exists in canon. there is a common trope of the black family, especially walburga black, being very physically abusive to the point of using unforgivables (the cruciatus most often, but i have seen imperius use too) on sirius and regulus- that there is no love between walburga+orion and their sons.

i disagree with this for several reasons:

a) characters, espcially in a dynamic that is clearly affected by generational trauma are complex and morally grey, and it is unrealistic that walburga weas simply a disney cartoon villain who just enjoyed inflicting torture on her children.

b) there is a quote by kreacher that says that walburga’s heart broke when sirius left- although it is more than likely that kreacher was exaggerating as he was very attached to walburga, it still makes sense that walburga loved sirius to some extent- he is her son.

c) it is canon that there is emotional + psychological abuse, and most instances of these abusive dynamics happening irl are the result of messed up/twisted ideas of love, generational trauma, etc. for example, sirius is referred to multiple times as being a disappointment, and this would probably be due to a combination of the fact that sirius was against the fundamental bigoted values that the family is firmly rooted in- and actively acting against them publicly- humiliating them and their family name and legacy, and the fact that sirius would have disappointed walburga+orion by not conforming to their ideal of a heir. therefore, there treatment of sirius is likely because they wanted “more” for him, and wanted him to fit into their predetermined familial dynamic, rather than just calling him a disappointment for no reason (which makes no sense).

d) there is no canon evidence for physical abuse ever happening to any members of the black family HOWEVER, i believe it is very plausible that there was some degree of violence in the households, but this would probably not have been things such as the cruciatus curse (if it was that extreme it doesn’t make sense that it has never even been implied in canon), but instead minor hexes, or boxing(?) ears, etc. it’s also possible that there were punishments such as being withheld supper, or being made to stand in a corner for extended periods of time (i personally think this is what happened: and it would’ve been done under a misguided notion of teaching resilience and dignity and self-discipline, which seems very in-character for the family). these types of abuse would have been unfortunately quite common for the time period- and walburga+orion would’ve mostly likely viewed them as a form of discipline, punishment, or even ‘tough love’ rather than a genuine attempt at harm. (i am not in any way defending this type of abuse, this is an explanation on how this dynamic would’ve been seen during the period and in the situation)

e) sirius himself says to harry that the reason for him leaving is because he hated them and disagreed with them, rather than being kicked or driven out, or under so much physical torture that he had to leave. the breaking point of him leaving the family was most likely, imo, an argument with the family, and probably comments towards not just himself but also at james (because we all know he is kind of obsessed with him, and would defend him over anyone else).

SIBLING COMPETITION

walburga and orion comparing sirius and regulus in a very harmful way is canonically confirmed: sirius says he is reminded often that regulus is a better son than him.

do i think that the parents always favoured regulus? NO.

sirius is, in canon, probably one of the most powerful and smartest characters in the series. he is a powerful magician that can keep up with bellatrix in duels even while out of practice, he became an illegal animagus while still a teenager, he was part of creating the map and the twin mirros. he is also extremely intelligent, and it is pretty much outright stated that this comes very naturally to him: he is described as exceptionally smart by the teachers, he finds all his exams easy despite never studying etc etc. so he was most likely very bright and gifted from a very young age. he was also the oldest son, making him the heir. this creates a very clear dynamic between sirius and regulus, sirius is the perfect heir, more intelligent, more gifted than regulus could ever be. while it is also true that he has always been independent, and even rebellious (he happily talks abt breaking black tradition on the train with james) he would’ve been preferred by his parents and received lots of attention and favouritism. regulus would have been the spare. although his parents probably liked regulus better as he was more obedient, sirius was the heir, they were proud of sirius.

the problem comes in when sirius is sorted into gryffindor. the black family have traditionally always been in slytherin, and there are clear ties between the house of slythering and wealthy, high-status pureblood families, like the blacks. this is when sirius begins to step out of the mold as the perfect black heir. i personally do not think that sirius’ house was the singular reason while he becomes a disappointment and outcast of his family, but i do believe this event acted as a catalyst. the real problem arises when sirius begins to become dealigned with the values that he grew up with, and he starts to go against his family’s values and politics, and he does so publicly. he befriends well known blood traitors (james potter), half-bloods (remus lupin), muggleborns, and people from families that would not have been highly regarded by the blacks (peter pettigrew). he comes home from hogwarts and starts rebelling against his family by hanging up gryffindor colours, putting up photos of muggle women, and probably getting into disagreements with family members over their bigotry.

there is a common trope of regulus feeling upset at this because he wants to stay with sirius etc. and while i do think they had a relationship as brothers, i believe regulus would have secretly enjoyed sirius becoming more of a disappointment in his parents’ eyes. they are now embarrassed of sirius, and proud of regulus. when sirius left the family, would regulus have been sad? yes, probably, they are still brothers, still family. yet sirius’ departure changes the dynamic completely, in regulus’ favour. sirius is gone now, he isn’t just the embarrassment, he is no longer the heir, regulus is. regulus now has his parents’ undivided attention (i would say love, bc i believe they still loved sirius, but obviously he has just left them so like…), after being the 2nd choice for years and years of his life. regulus is just a child (14?15?) he would have wanted to be loved by his parents, and this is his chance.

ik that people either say that regulus was forced to become a DE or that he did it as an act of rebellion (more on this later). i personally HC that he genuinely was an extreme believer in voldemort’s views, especially as having seen first-hand the way that sirius left him and their family after deciding to go against the views. still, at 16, i don’t think it’s very likely that he joined at such a young age out of pure political views, rather as another attempt to be loved and valued by his parents, and to make himself more different from sirius.

i also think that the dynamics between the black sisters were equally as toxic and harmful. i don’t have too much material to work with, but anyway. after andromeda left, it was .just bellatrix and narcissa. we know that during the era that the books take place, the two have quite a close relationship- they spend time together, use nicknames, seem close generally, however, it also seems kind of strained? or like a bit off idk how to dsecribe it. anyway. i think as children/teenagers there was A LOT of comparison between the sisters, i think especially between andromeda and bellatrix; first, on the surface level, they are described to look very similar to each other, so subconsciously people would be likely to compare the two of them together, and think of narcissa as a separate unit because of how different she looks. secondly, i hc adnromeda and bellatrix would have been very similar in personality and skill: they would both be ambitious, outspoken, very very powerful and intelligent. (narcissa would also be really smart but in a more cunning, discreet way, compared to the two). as a child, i think narcissa would’ve been more obedient, more conforming to traditional gender roles and ideals of a noble, pureblood woman- following from this, i think she’d be more well-liked and more praised by druella+cygnus, the ‘perfect’ daughter. from this, i’d say that andromeda and bellatrix were closer as children, and even later on, until andromeda leaves the family. with andromeda gone, it is just bellatrix and narcissa- they’re both blacks, both intelligent, both powerful, but are so completely different from each other. where narcissa is strategic and restrained, bellatrix is bold and blunt. where narcissa is haughty, bellatrix is arrogant, etc etc. this then relates to how later on, narcissa fulfills exactly what is expected of her: she marries into one of the richest (probably THE richest? if im being honest) wizarding families, she has a son, she is smart and she keeps her family close, and most importantly she works from the inside- this is what the blacks do, and this is something bellatrix cannot do. bellatrix also marries into a rich wizarding family (the lestranges), but then she joins the DE- and furthermore becomes Voldemort’s right-hand not on account of her family name but her power. this causes problems for one main reason: she is now high-profile, and her hands are ‘dirty’ in a sense; the blacks work from the inside, they may agree with voldemort’s ideas, but they would never fight alongside him- they’d pay for the masks but never wear one themselves.

FAMILY RELATIONS

i think by now it is a relatively widespread hc that bellatrix’s favourite cousin was sirius and narcissa’s was regulus. i actually love this hc- i think bellatrix and sirius are mirrors of each other; they have very similar personalities in that they are both arrogant, bold, independent, and most of all they are intensely loyal. bellatrix to her family, sirius to james. sirius, as a child, thinks bellatrix is very much The Shit, he is happy to be like her. they look down on their “soft” siblings. when sirius becomes disillusioned with the family, that’s when things change, because sirius is no longer bellatrix’s parallel, he is andromeda’s, years later, sirius and andromeda are on the right side of the war- they’re proud of this, but one cannot escape their own blood, they are still blacks. when andromeda gets mistaken for bellatrix, when sirius, after decades, looks back at himself, they see bellatrix and they fear they are no better than her. narcissa on the other hand is regulus’ parallel- they are obedient, they grew up in the shadow of their louder, more powerful sibling, and they know in the eyes of their siblings they will forever be the ‘soft’ ones.

i think the previous generation is also interesting in this regard. unfortunately i do not have the brain capacity to understand who is actually related to who because they’re all inbred. i wonder tho; were cygnus and druella jealous of orion and walburga? they produced a male heir to the black fortune, in fact, they produced a spare too. were they actually happy- when sirius left, when regulus joined the DEs and died at 19? that would’ve left bellatrix as the heir(ess), surely. and also alphard is so interesting i wish i had enough energy to look into this more but i do not so.

POLITICS + TIES WITH VOLDEMORT AND THE DEATH EATERS

THEIR VALUES

toujours pur. always pure. the fact that this is their family motto makes it very clear that purity is at the centre of their values. i think in fanon this is kind of tunnel-visioned into just blood purity alot- and while yes, blood purity is a big part of it, i think this is referring to the isolationist nature of the black family- their inbreeding, their social circles. obviously there have been others married into the family, and they are selectively chosen, they will forever be outsiders in the eyes of the blacks. druella black, to them, is still druella rosier. (i can’t think of more examples, which honestly just shows how isolated the blacks are as a family/house). sirius mentions to harry that the blacks were convinced they were some kind of wizarding royalty- whether they are actually of this status or not, i think this is a good example of how the black family functioned- the way normal people are received by the royal family and even the press when they marry into the family.

obviously bigotry is a large part of the black family, mainly blood purity, but i’ll talk about that in the voldemort part. regarding other types of bigotry, although not explicitly stated i think it is pretty clearly implied? for example, sirius is a very queer-coded character, in regards to his family experience. i imagine the blacks have very traditional conservative values, and i think it’s interesting to see the politics of the uk in the 70s and 80s reflected back in the family and the wider scene of the first wizarding war at the time. although i can’t imagine the blacks caring for matters that they probably considered to be very muggle-centric, like feminism, and queer rights, it’s interesting that the first wizarding war- essentially a fascist movement that promotes the supremacy of purebloods coincides with the rise of social conservatism and thatcherite morality, which is largely family centric, which i think makes sense actually? with the black family at least, who care about purity as a means of protecting their own. (if this is incoherent im sorry its 4am)

SUPPORT FOR VOLDEMORT

it’s pretty much stated that the black familyas an institution has basically the exact same values as Voldemort and the DEs. i truly dislike the hc of walburga and orion forcing the dark mark on regulus , and trying on sirius, or even encouraging the idea of joining the DEs because

a) the blacks are a noble, generational-wealth type family. these types of families do not get directly involved in conflict, they are not on the battlefields, on the missions. it’d be unlike them to get their hands dirty or be involved with the DEs in any incriminating way. (if they are caught somehow i’m sure they have good ties to the wizengamot, but the blacks are calculated, they are strategic, they would not want to risk their own blood being spilled, especially in a state of war when the ministry is being headed by people such as moody and barty crouch sr.

b) they would believe it is below them. they don’t concern themsleves with such trivial matters. the blacks are haughty and arrogant if nothing else. the DEs ranks include werewolves, half-bloods, and those from less-respected wizarding families. getting involved would only taint the pure, the pristine reputation of the family.

although they are privately in agreement with voldemort, the blacks would not want to physically lift so much as a finger to support his cause. i do not think they would have liked regulus’ involvement.

do i think as a family they were involved in the war? yes. perhaps not in a physical way, but in OOTP we get a close look at 12GP, and what we see is that the blacks have unparalleled access to the dark arts, dark magic, knowledge, and wealth too. this was probably the extent of the blacks’ involvement with the war (except for bellatrix, regulus, and sirius ofc), and it would only be to further their own interests.

WEALTH AND STATUS

WEALTH

the blacks are extremely rich. this is likely all generational wealth, they are old-money. we can see this through how we do not know anything about where their fortune comes from, it’s certainly not from the hard work of orion, or cygnus. i think a good family to contrast them with is the potters- though they have several prominent ancestors, these ancestors are not wealthy- at least enough to last them through several generations. the potters are rich, but they are part of the nouveau riche- their money primarily comes from fleamont potter’s invention of hair potions; the potters are businessmen! the blacks are simply wealthy.

however, it’s also noteworthy that the blacks were probably wealthy in a combination of connections, status, and estates rather than actual, physical money. in canon, the black vault is well guarded and important, but not as deep or grand as the lestranges’ family vault. many families with generational-wealth are actually not as rich as one may expect, or are even declining, which may be the case with the blacks, especially if you compare the state of 12GP to other homes such as the malfoy manor. yes, 12GP is their traditional home, and has ancient magic etc. but it cannot compare to the size and grandeur of malfor manor, which is a good indicator of their actual financial state.

STATUS

so the blacks obviously were of high status: described as one of the oldest, wealthiest and most prominent families in the wizarding world.

i see some things about the sacred 28 being all nobility and aristocracy- however, in canon, this is literally jsut a list written up by a member of one of these families, and in fact, some of the families such as weasley and gaunt were not of significant financial status. but i do believe that having the claim of being a pureblooded family gave the blacks some type of status, especially among the blood purist families/cicles. the blacks also tend to be intelligent and powerful (sirius, bellatrix, etc.), which helps further to elevate their status and i also hc that they’re all really hot so that helps too. i do think out of tradition, and just because blacks are probably the longest-standing pureblood line, and are connected with every other significant line, the black family are the most highly regarded or prominent wizarding family; linking to sirius’ claims that his family believed themselves to practically be royalty. there is no wizarding royalty, and although the blacks are not the outright wealthiest, due to their status, fame, political power/influence, etc. they are probably as close as you can get. however, the idea that you can get close to being royalty may be problematic, but we also have to remember that the wizarding world mirrors the muggle world- the monarchy is constitutional and they have no real power other than influence- which is what i think the blacks have. sirius’ phrasing, though, is kind of indicative of the idea that maybe the blacks were a little delusional, and perhaps believed their status to be more inflated than it actually was- we don’t actually have any solid evidence of the blacks being of higher status than the malfoys, or the lestranges, or the rosiers, etc.

[sarafangirlart]

Andromeda:

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I'm loving the recent chapters to The Man Who Would Be King! I was wondering with the homophobia in the wizarding world, does anyone has a functioning gaydar?

Would Dumbledore catch on if he didn't think Tom was hellspawn incapable of human emotions? How slow would Alphard's nieces be to figure out Alphard and Tom, on a scale of 1 to Edward Cullen?

The Man Who Would Be King by me and @therealvinelle.

Look, @therealvinelle, praise!

Also, thoughts on homophobia in the wizarding world.

Like all things depends on the character and their upbringing even within the wizarding world.

You have Lily where homosexuality is a nebulous concept that exists, that gay people are somewhere and certainly in the Muggle world, but she would insist she's never seen it personally in the wizarding world due to lack of overt out people/not really having internalized it in terms of the wizarding world.

You have Alphard where he is the gay people that exists, is highly closeted, but is also a bit of a shut-in and family oriented/doesn't have many friends. He'll side eye other people and go "huh, they're acting very similar to me/have very similar life circumstances, aren't they/don't they?" So, he'll look at people like Rabastan who really really really really really don't want to get married even though his brother's over there in his mid-thirties still without an heir and goes "hm, looks familiar" but he would also shrug and accept he's wrong if someone vehemently went "no way!" to him.

But you bring up interesting examples.

Dumbledore is... Dumbledore. He'll never catch on with Tom in particular, or anyone having anything to do with Tom, because as you note Tom is an evil hellspawn with a dark glamour about him. Everything by its nature with Tom is at once both hyper sexual and also completely asexual because that's just what Tom is to Dumbledore. He's a sexy sexy sexy man who isn't sexy at all because he's evil except he is but in a dark way and completely incapable of love and intimacy and what do you mean the way Dumbledore's been describing him is weird?

So, even in a different world, I don't see Dumbledore being different because he's Dumbledore.

As for the nieces, absolutely no idea, none. Now, they wouldn't go Edward about it because but they would have weird reactions because of just who it is. Bellatrix gets to deal with the fact that her father is banging her god (and is it gay if he's banging your god or is that just something anyone would do if their god asked?), Narcissa would also be more :/ about the fact that the dark lord... is... doing things with her beloved uncle-father, and Andromeda of course would lose her goddamn mind. If it weren't Tom I imagine they'd be a bit more "huh" about it and would probably, eventually, shrug it off as an Uncle Alphard quirk of which he has many, on par with things like "Uncle Alphard really likes books!" But the idea that the Dark Lord is banging their uncle-father?

Merlin forbid, the concept is blasphemous and terrifying. They're not going there.

[poetryandbloods-blog]

Black family, at the end of adolescence.

Sirius, Regulus, Andromeda, Nynphadora, Narcissa, Draco, Bellatrix and Delphini.

[not-a-newt]

I keep thinking abt members of other species doing research into the most random, innocuous pools of human knowledge where, like, councilor sparatus will unexpectedly use niche, antiquated human idioms or how director tann randomly dropped that he knows exactly what a kangaroo is...

and it's not something that the writers overlooked either, because they'll provide context TELLING YOU that this niche information is something that the character is individually familiar with —presumably drawn from some kind of extranet Wikipedia-equivalent, rabbit-hole style, personal research into humans that they then consciously decided to make you, the player character, a human, aware of...

Like, I get there's a certain level of research that's expected of political leaders in order to facilitate polite, socially appropriate interactions with alien species, but then there's this step beyond that of them just being nerdily interested in human culture specifically

I don't know how to explain it, it just really kills me. It's so fucking funny imagining one of the pre-eminent leaders of galactic civilization sitting up late at night in bed on his ipad datapad, reading about silly little niche human topics, like, I don't know, ancient sword making techniques (damascus steel) or the deadly molasses flood of 1919

Does anyone else think about this or am I just not normal??

[monabee-draws]

So we're leaving behind class-specific non-combat options? Cool

(Hear me out--)

In DAO and DA2 you only ever really needed a rogue in your party for non-combat access to hidden things like chests (and sometimes even when you had them they couldn't manage it 😮‍💨.) But DAI introduced class-specific tasks for everyone - fixing walkways and barricades for mages, bashing down walls for warriors, and of course, lockpicking for rogues. This meant that for optimal exploration, you need at least 1 of each class in your party. The game knew this: your starting party was balanced around this (Solas/Varric/Cassandra) and you meet a balanced number of extra companions as well. This system works in DAI because you can take any three companions along so long as you maintain the rogue/warrior/mage ratio! It also means you can double-up on a class at your leisure - whether one duplicate of your own, or just any character you always want along. So mage!Inky/Dorian/Cass/Cole works! But so does mage!Inky/Blackwall/Cass/Cole. Etc. Etc.

Having just 2 companions limits you to always choosing characters from the two classes you aren't playing yourself. Mass Effect gets away with it because every level is atomized and you can specifically spec to that encounter (robots? Bring someone with Overload, biotics? Get that Warp.) Open world maps don't work the same way and require a more 'jack of all trades' mentality. This means deprioritising companions of the same class as you🥺 which is honestly a shame. Maybe the combat will encourage more same-class reactions like Mass Effect or allow for cross-class ability building (like ME's mixed classes) to make up for it and give the players more room. Or we all just pick our faves and ignore all the secret rooms instead 😂 we all know no one is keeping Zev around for his abilities with a bobby pin