vellum @ September 13 2003, 21:45:39 UTC

world peace, global warming, and the proper way to carve a chicken.

rivendellrose @ Deleted Deleted

Deleted

handful @ September 13 2003, 23:01:12 UTC

Ugh. Wibble. It's September, you two. Get back together already!

bobbery @ September 13 2003, 23:06:19 UTC

But Lucius is all evil and Narcissa isn't. It is destined for failure!

jenicomprispas @ September 13 2003, 23:15:38 UTC

But there have been tiny..baby...itty bitty bits of hints of redemption-if only for her love. Unless I read things in completely the wrong way all of the time.

handful @ September 13 2003, 23:22:36 UTC

Narcissa is plenty evil. And Lucius has his good points. It will too!

*clings to her Looshie plushie* I know it, yup.

Anonymous @ September 14 2003, 00:54:48 UTC

I want a Looshie plushie. I want it.

handful @ September 14 2003, 01:13:25 UTC

No! My own! Precious!

*clones and does give another one though*

dailyplanet @ September 14 2003, 21:04:08 UTC

I like evil Narcissa and wish to purchase her action figure. It can hold hands with the Malfoy Sr. action figure and laugh at the non-brand-name toys.

adolfa @ September 14 2003, 04:20:57 UTC

*sighs*

When Narcissa and Lucius got married, they were both somewhere in their early 20s -- around the time MWPP and co. were graduating from school. Logically, it was *before* (or very early into) their marriage when Lucius became involved in the Death Eaters -- therefore Narcissa knew about it and *agreed* to it before marriage. Forgive me if I'm wrong here, but if she were absolutely opposed to Voldemort, couldn't she pick a different candidate for marriage? Isn't that the way arranged marriage traditionally works, with a bunch of people lined up by the parents -- not this hellhole people use as a plot device?

Also, *certain* aspects of OotP canon are being taken into consideration, so there's no law saying that Narcissa isn't working for Voldemort. (Then again, there's also no law saying that she is.) Don't assume that because she's generally pleasant, she doesn't support Voldemort, or that she's an "innocent wronged" and has no idea what she's getting into. She's a society wife. Judging by what M.B. says, I imagine she's quite the bitch in person. :D (And that wasn't directed at you specifically, either. Just a general note before people start bringing out the ol' good/evil reference.)

sistermagpie @ September 14 2003, 07:54:52 UTC

Word. These people have been married for years. They know each other very well.

jacay @ September 14 2003, 09:45:49 UTC

Perhaps she was so madly in love with him that she was willing to overlook his flaws, and now that she's met Harry and such, she's beginning to question her judgement at the time that they were married.

adolfa @ September 14 2003, 10:45:44 UTC

Or perhaps she's merely putting on a public facade.

jacay @ September 14 2003, 13:15:39 UTC

Hrm. True. I just like the idea that people have changed once they've seen the error of their ways. Not that her ways have error, exactly, or that she's even seen it.

bobbery @ September 14 2003, 11:02:49 UTC

Of course Narcissa isn't a saint, but I believe since her stay at NA has begun her views have changed. Early on in her journal she wrote about how her and Lucius' 'tattoos were freshly gleaming'. She also wrote about bathing in a virgin's blood, and how Death Eater hoods could conceal things. Her views have changed, though, as shown by her reaction to Draco outting Harry, when she used to hold a negative view on gays. She seems to be genuinely concerned for Harry at times, and also is good friends with a 'halfbreed'. Narcissa no longer writes about abusing house-elves, and doesn't drop remarks about Death Eaters left and right anymore.

It is all a matter of opinoin on whether or not Narcissa has actually been reformed. I don't believe she has been putting on a public facade. More than likely she has been milking the lj crowd for attention, and she certainly isn't as innocent as she wants everyone to think she is. Like you said, she had to have known what she was getting into when she married Lucius. Her views have changed, and now they no longer mesh with Lucius' views.

ceilidh @ September 14 2003, 17:01:19 UTC

I seriously doubt Narcissa is milking the lj crowd for attention. I think this comment is crossing the line into player criticism, and uncalled for.

JMHO from a longtime lurker.

bobbery @ September 14 2003, 17:40:40 UTC

You must have misunderstood me. I think Narcissa is wonderfully played, and I would never say anything bad about any of the players. By that comment I meant that the character Narcissa wants the other characters on lj to feel for her. I could be way off, and Narcissa doesn't think about the other characters when she posts, but that's just my opinion.

black_dog @ September 14 2003, 21:06:52 UTC

I love the idea that Narcissa may be putting one over on everyone, and although I'm not sold on it, I like letting it bubble around the back of my mind as an agreeable possibility.

It's certainly true that early Narcissa, say through the summer/early fall of 2002, was much tougher than the current character and much, much tougher than Lucius. I don't know if it's appropriate to ask whether there was a player change, but the old Narcissa was sort of an ass-kicking no-apologies aristo, where the new Narcissa seems more self-consciously genteel and even a bit of a striver. She's also obviously completely cut out her overt expressions of DE sympathy. The question is, are the two Narcissas meant to be the same character, with a plausible motivation for the change? Or is it more of a darque_pansy kind of situation? It's hard to do a long-term analysis of Narcissa without answering that, and I just don't have any idea.

But there's plenty of mystery in the current Narcissa and figuring out what she's about -- whether she's as oblivious as she sometimes seems -- is huge fun. sistermagpie and I debated endlessly whether she was messing with Draco deliberately or genuinely trying to be helpful and couldn't get it right. I've even wondered if her contempt for Lucius is more about him being a weak link in the DE's than anything else. It's easy to feel sometimes, despite the conventions of mythic villany, that the re-animated Voldemort and his remaindered DE crew simply aren't all that impressive, and Narcissa my feel they need a directing hand.

Narcissa's clearly been reaching out to Remus and recently Snape as well. I wonder if, given her past, she's making overtures for some sort of pardon and change of sides, or if she's just being a very, very effective spy. It many not be coincidental that a couple of her stops -- Romania and Nevada -- were also places on Snape's summer itinerary. Perhaps now she is reporting to Lucius, to help him look good to his superiors!

Actually, to be honest, I prefer to see Narcissa as sincerely pursuing some sort of redemption and growth. But it's fun to consider the alternatives.

adolfa @ September 15 2003, 15:15:51 UTC

I don't know if it's appropriate to ask whether there was a player change

That's what I was wondering too! Of course, like you, I deemed it too rude to ask publically and so didn't say anything -- but I saw Narcissa's journal when it was first created, and her second or third post was blatantly walking all over Lucius ("I see you haven't invited me to your DE reunion. TOO BAD, ASSHOLE"), snarking at everything, and, like bobbery said, mentioning kicking house-elves with steel-toed boots and bathing in virgins' blood. Now, she's a bubbly, not-so-bright "everyone's friend" kind of character, and needed independence lessons. (I like both Narcissas, by the way, but sometimes I get nostalgic for the kick-arse Narcissa of old.)


Also, there was a time when Narcissa was on medication and confined to her rooms. I wonder if that was really a player, not character, change...? Or maybe she's simply gotten better at concealing her bitchery.

loony_moony @ Deleted Deleted

Deleted

bobbery @ September 13 2003, 23:04:59 UTC

Or else the conversation 'was enlightening, among other things'. Not to rain on your smut-parade, or anything.

anjenue @ September 13 2003, 23:30:30 UTC

I dunno...I kind of saw that as "enlightening, as well as pissing the hell out of me and making me realize how thick you really are..."

*shrugs* Then again, I tend to be a pessimist. Hee! I immediately thought, 'Narcissa was disgusted with the fact that he really has no idea what he did wrong...'

However, since we're out of Angsty!August...I hope to the Gods of N_A that I'm wrong.

anoni @ September 14 2003, 03:32:25 UTC

Butbutbut... she's "mellow". Can't be that bad... and it's September, you know. ^^;;