How the Dementors Came to Being (Veela girl, R)

[catsintheattic]

Title: How the Dementors Came to Being
Autor: catsintheattic
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: R
Warnings: character death, soul-sucking aplenty
Prompt: Promp no. 35: Some people are still unaware that reality contains unparalleled beauties. The fantastic and unexpected, the ever-changing and renewing is nowhere so exemplified as in real life itself. (Berenice

Comments

[redsnake05]

That was... incredibly powerful. I feel itchy and a bit dirty all over, after reading that, but feel like I should read it again because there were bits I missed the first time. I really liked the slow journey of the first Dementor, the way she grew into her role. I thought there were some really interesting feminist themes and images to think on in it - it is a really thinky piece!

I will definitely be reccing this in my LJ, because it is a gem that should be read by lots and lots of people. Thank you for writing it and sharing it.

[catsintheattic]

Wow! I'm speechless and happy and blushing like mad.

It's wonderful to receive a review like yours, that tells me what you liked and what the story did to you. I had so much fun writing that fic and am thrilled to hear that you find the themes and images worth to think on.

Thank you so much for your review and for reccing the story in your journal. :-)

[redsnake05]

Not at all! A comment that tells the writer something useful is a small price to pay for the pleasure of reading.

[catsintheattic]

&hearts

[iamshadow]

Here via redsnake05.

What an utterly chilling and believable tale! Covetousness of the beauty around her lead her down a dark, dark road until the humanity was stripped away from her. Voldemort walked a similar path, and that turned him equally hard and cold.

[catsintheattic]

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the story. :-)

I didn't think of the parallels to Voldemort's obsession about eternal life *headdesk*, but you are so right!

[shiiki]

Ooh, that was creepy! And I mean that is a complimentary way, of course! The imagery here was really vivid, and the morals came across nicely, without sounding forced.

Nice job! Really gave me some food for thought!

[catsintheattic]

Thank you so much! Creepy sounds just right to me. :-)

I'm really happy that you like the story and it's imagery. Glad that the morals didn't sound forced as well.

[miss_morland]

I feel as if I have read a fairy-tale, only in reverse (if you know what I mean). The corruption of the Veela girl, her perverted idea of beauty, the way the story comes full-circle, what with her attacking her own family, the ones whose beauty she envied in the first place - it's all very heartbreaking, and utterly chilling.

Well done!

[catsintheattic]

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm thrilled by the term "fairy-tale" because that was exactly what I felt I had written. *beams*

To be honest, the story almost wrote itself without my doing, and when I reached the end, it felt only natural to let her come back to her family, taking revenge without even realising what she was doing.

[lareinenoire]

Wow. This piece has a fairy-tale quality both in terms of plot and narrative voice. I love how you combine the few snippets we have about Veela and Dementors -- I hadn't even thought of connecting the two -- into this simple, haunting story that also manages to be incredibly creepy. And, of course, the theme of searching for beauty, whatever the cost, is so powerful. Well done!

[catsintheattic]

Thank you so much for reading and for sharing your thoughts! I'm delighted that you named this piece a fairy-tale in terms of plot and narrative voice, because I had the impression that I was writing just that: a dark fairy-tale. I had very much fun to come up with ideas to explain the transformation from Veela to Dementor and some parts of the story simply wrote themselves, once I knew what I wanted to say.

To be beautiful whatever the cost - I'm confident that, even though beauty is still an issue, women today have other options as well to feel competent and accepted. I sincerely hope that many girls do experience this lesson early and repeatedly in life.