Notes on A Rudimentary Body
Table of Contents
- Chapter-Specific Trigger Warnings (for those who wish to avoid reading specific content)
- Scrapped Chapters (for those who interested in 'what could have been's)
- Pre- and Peri-Writing Outline (for those looking for a glimpse of the writing process)
- Potential Sequel Ideas (for those who wish to know what might happen next)
I. Chapter-Specific Trigger Warnings (format is "chapter title, warnings" & feel free to let me know if you think I missed anything)
- A Little Out of the Ordinary, abduction & possession
- Nowhere to Run, possession, assault (being knocked unconscious), torture (Cruciatus curse)
- Hair's Breadth from Death, possession, dissociation, identity crisis, abduction (of a mother in her home with her toddler son as witness)
- Dead on Your Feet, possession
- Every Whumpee's Needs, possession, dissociation, snakes, attempted suicide by hanging
- Proof of Life, off-screen rape of an adult woman by a possessed adult man, a child (12) auditorily (not visually) witnessing a rape
- The Way You Shake and Shiver, discussion of rape, misplaced self-blame, potentially unfounded fear of rape, potentially unfounded fear of parent/child incest, self-harm (hitting) as a coping mechanism
- Everything Hurts and I'm Dying, threat of future violence (temporary mutilation), threat of future abduction, threat of future death of a secondary character, discussion of forcible impregnation of a secondary character, possession
- The Very Noisy Night, possession, depression, loss of time during dissociation
- Poor Unfortunate Souls, possession, sadism, torture (Cruciatus Curse on-screen, implications of worse happening off-screen), objectification (of a daughter by her father)
- "9-1-1, What's Your Emergency?", referenced abuse (physical & emotion/psychological) of a house elf (i.e., a slave)
- What Could Go Wrong?, possession, threat of future murder, threat of future rape and forced impregnation, potential threat of future incest, mentions of miscarriage, attempted suicide (neck stabbing), threat of (temporary?) amputation, threat of inhumane imprisonment of a kidnapping victim
- Can't Make an Omelet without Breaking a Few Legs, possession, potential threat of losing individual personhood, parents worrying about their child's safety, implications of future sexual manipulation, threat of future murder, implications of objectification (of a daughter by her father)
- Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to Become a Villain, emotional breakdown (uncontrollable crying, thoughts of despair), signs of depression (reduced capacity for hygiene), potential threat of future parent/child incest, failed/aborted escape attempt
- Emotional Damage, deception (a character speaks to another about ongoing abuse without realizing that they're actually talking to their abuser), victim blaming, suicidal ideation, threats of murder (an abuser threatening to kill their victim and/or their victim's loved ones to keep their victim in line)
- No Way Out, possession, inhumane imprisonment of a kidnapping victim, mentions of past suicide attempts, forced impregnation
- Hanging by a Threat, possession, murder fantasies (a kidnapping and rape victim fantasizes about killing the people who were forced to kidnap and rape her), forced nonsexual voyeurism & exhibitionism (a character is forced to strip and bathe in front of another character who is being forced to chaperone), mentions of rape, signs of (forced) pregnancy
- Let's Break the Ice, possession, threats of future abduction and murder, references to misogyny (a specific family's expectation of obligatory motherhood for women), prejudice (negative language applied to muggle/wizard relationships and mixed offspring), misogynism (disregard for a woman by the father of her child), possible references to infanticide/filicide or other harm to a child, dissociation, emotional abuse (swift mood swings resulting in extreme wrath after minor slights)
- Enough is Enough, possession, potential threat of losing individual personhood, (magical) psychological abuse (forcible destruction of mental boundaries and protections), on-screen vomiting, a child (12) witnessing her father's dreams (including those of a sexual nature), dreams involving all of the following: past sex and rape (between a male character and a female character or victim), inaccurate portrayals of past rapes as enjoyable and/or consensual sex (between a male character and a female victim), an implied asexuality-spectrum character (male, non-repulsed) choosing to have sex (and rape), past sexual manipulation (of women by a male serial killer), possible implications of sexual attraction from a father toward his daughter, a child (12) auditorily (not visually) witnessing a rape, mentions of pregnancy, possible threat of future incest
- It's Been a Long Day, references to vomit and vomiting, vaguely-described implied unwanted sexual arousal (in the aftermath of what could be interpreted as a metaphorical father/daughter molestation), ineffective caregivers (a mother-figure and legal guardian failing to adequately protect a child), insomnia as a symptom of trauma, nightmares involving rape (from the perspective of the victim) and mutual rape (from the perspective of the unwilling perpetrator), nightmares involving father/daughter incest
- Famous Last Words, references to nightmares involving murder and torture and rape, ongoing fear of parent/child incest and rape, PTSD (implied hyperarousal), domestic violence and abuse dynamics (a victim seeking to be close to their abuser in hopes of securing their own safety & an abuser offering a shallow non-apology), threats of murder, possession, threats of unspecified violence including possible rape
- Pick Your Poison, possession, forced pregnancy, implied difficult or life-risking pregnancy, attempted suicide (poison), accidental self-mutilation (during a suicide attempt), physical violence against a pregnant person (hair-pulling, dragging, & shoving or throwing)
- At the End of Their Rope, traumatic birth (C-section), forced nonsexual voyeurism/exhibitionism (a pregnant person is stripped against their will during a traumatic forced birth with other people in the room who also do not want to be there), body horror (a magically mutated fetus, as canonically implied in Goblet of Fire)
- Fight, Flight, or Freeze, potentially permanent injury (to the face, mouth, and throat), potentially permanent muteness, implied depressive catatonia, references to loss of memory/identity/personhood (i.e., loss of the soul via dementors), neglect of a disabled (catatonic) person, death of a recently pregnant person (possible suicide, murder, or "natural" causes), snakes, disrespectful body disposal (consumption of a human body by a snake)
- Silence is Golden, child neglect within an abusive household (children being ignored by their caregivers and/or hiding to avoid the risk of physical abuse)
- No One Left Behind, attempted abduction (one victimized child attempts to rescue another but the attempt is unwanted because there could be lethal consequences if it fails), assault on a child (one child is knocked unconscious by another child & multiple adults attempt to knock another child out), attempts to unreasonably restrict a child's freedom (alarms to prevent them from escaping imprisonment or going outside), parents fearing for the safety of their child, destruction of property (loss of a wand), body horror (mention of exposed organs), accidental self-harm and temporary mutilation (splinching), near-death experience
- Pushed to the Limit, post-traumatic coma, nightmares involving: body horror, self-mutilation, metaphorical pregnancy, snakes, running to (unsuccessfully) escape a violent pursuer, mentions of past murders, mentions of past sexual assault, mentions of past forced pregnancy, metaphorical rape (forced penetration of a non-sexual part of the body by a phallic object), being consumed by a snake, implied father/daughter incest and molestation, possible implied forced pregnancy, harm to an animal (snake), animal (snake) death, begging for one's life, accidental harm (on-screen & mildly gory) to a pregnant person, accidental murder (of a pregnant person), suicidal ideation
- It's Just the Tip of the Iceberg, temporary(?) accidental/traumatic body modification (bellybutton removal), recounting traumatic experiences, implications of victim blaming or disbelief from authority (government) figures, emotional breakdown (crying, hyperventilating), victim self-blaming and survivor's guilt, self-hatred and shame, references to possible sexual attraction from a father toward a daughter, references to narcissism, ongoing fear of parent/child incest
- What Doesn't Kill Me, self-harming behavior (sleep deprivation), fear of going to sleep or dreaming, survivor's guilt, fear of judgment after traumatic experiences, fear of abandonment/ostracisation, psychosis (visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations plus delusions), ongoing fear of father/daughter incestuous molestation, implied coerced "consent" (within the context of a non-existent situation created by a psychotic delusion) by someone who cannot actually legally consent (a twelve-year-old girl) to acts that cannot actually legally be consented to (father/daughter incest)
- Note to Self: Don't Get Kidnapped, shame and self-hatred, fear of going to sleep or dreaming, discussions of trauma, references to nightmares involving rape and other violence, fear of abduction, fear of parent/child incest
- A Light at the End of the Tunnel, anxiety, fear of judgment, fear of abandonment, fear of parent/child molestation, shame (regarding both traumatic experiences and parentage), threat of future murder (a victim potentially taking revenge on their abuser)
II. Scrapped Chapters (aka, what could have been)
- Chapter Sixteen | No Way Out | prompt: mind control
- This chapter was originally going to involve the unnamed witch being placed under the Imperius Curse for the rest of the duration of her pregnancy. This idea was scrapped when the premise of chapter twenty-two was changed, but I chose not to write for a different prompt as "mind control" fits almost every chapter in the story anyway.
- Chapter Twenty-Two | Pick Your Poison | prompt: allergic reaction
- I stared at the three prompts for this chapter (allergic reaction, toxic, or withdrawal) and could not come up with fucking anything for the longest time. This, I think, was literally the last chapter premise I came up with, and I knew even as I wrote down my initial plan that I hated it and would replace it in a heartbeat if only I could come up with something else. I eventually did (the witch attempts to kill herself with Nagini's venom, fulfilling the "toxic" prompt), and it's so much better than what I was going to do. My initial plan for this chapter was to fulfill the "allergic reaction" prompt and have Voldemort's scheme nearly get undone by his own attempts at kindness. He's trying to feed the witch well at this point in the story, and I was going to have him make a mistake; Dobby was going to make a meal involving shrimp or something, and the witch was going to nearly die of a shellfish allergy (with the implication that it was her best shot at a suicide attempt while under the Imperius Curse). From there, the story would have proceeded as written.
- Chapter Twenty-Eight | It's Just the Tip of the Iceberg | prompt: anger born of worry
- If you clicked onto this story before, say, the twenty-fifth of the month or so, you may have noticed that it had "Severus Snape" tagged as a character. He does appear in the final version of the story, but I intended to give him a much greater role in this chapter. As a foil to a scene that will be appearing soon in Enemies of the Heir, this chapter was originally planned to revolve around Snape's "anger born of worry" after learning what's happened at the manor over the summer. The premise for this chapter was as follows: "When Delphi wakes, Snape is more furious than she has ever seen him... and he seems to blame her for everything that's happened." It was going to be a scene similar to Snape's reaction to Sirius's escape at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban; Snape was going to be irrational because of extreme emotions, with the implication that he calms down later and doesn't genuinely blame Delphi for Voldemort's possible impending return... but that their relationship is damaged to the point that Delphi will probably never forgive him for the way he reacted when she was at her most vulnerable.
- This Snape-centric idea was scrapped pretty close to the release date for the chapter, actually, simply because I was struggling trying to write the extreme emotions Snape would need to display in the scene. And I decided that since the character didn't seem to be cooperating, it was probably a good hint to me that I would be making him OoC if I pushed through my misgivings, so I scrapped the idea in favor of something else. Ergo, no more "Severus Snape" tag, Dumbledore gets the primary supporting character role in the chapter instead, and I shift over to the "headache" prompt. And while I wish I could've given Snape more of a role in the story, I quite like the way my backup plan worked out.
For context: I personally write my stories in long, continuous drafts in a program called FocusWriter. My drafts begin life as an outline like the one below; they include chapters titles and quotes (or integral notes), prompts or premises, and (usually) bullet points outlining what the chapter will contain. I, unlike a lot of people, write strictly in linear order; I only very rarely (like, less than a half-dozen times ever) write preliminary versions of lynchpin future scenes, and I otherwise almost never write anything out of order. Normally, my process is to slowly remove bullet points of my outline one by one once the corresponding scenes are written (the chapter titles and other extras stay forever); for A Rudimentary Body, though, I did not use my normal bullet point system. My working outline for A Rudimentary Body is posted below in its entirety (with minor edits to strike out plot beats I didn't actually end up including). All details not included in the below outline were spur-of-the-moment decisions made while actually writing.
CHAPTER ONE: A LITTLE OUT OF THE ORDINARY
prompt: "This wasn't supposed to happen."
Lord Voldemort's shade successfully kidnaps Delphini.
CHAPTER TWO: NOWHERE TO RUN
prompt: confrontation
Voldemort-as-Delphi confronts Lucius Malfoy over "abandoning" him.
CHAPTER THREE: HAIR'S BREADTH FROM DEATH
prompt: "Say goodbye."
Voldemort-as-Delphi abducts a witch, and Delphi does not know why.
CHAPTER FOUR: DEAD ON YOUR FEET
prompt: waking up disoriented
Delphi wakes to find that she's no longer possessed; Voldemort is temporarily possessing Lucius.
CHAPTER FIVE: EVERY WHUMPEE'S NEEDS
prompt: running out of air
Voldemort brings Nagini to the mansion; the witch is caught trying to hang herself.
CHAPTER SIX: PROOF OF LIFE
prompt: screams from across the hall
Voldemort-as-Lucius rapes the witch off-screen; Delphi doesn't understand why.
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE WAY YOU SHAKE AND SHIVER
prompt: shaking hands
Panicking, Delphi tries to think through the logic of Voldemort's actions. She can't figure out why he'd do something so heinous, doesn't know whether she's safe herself, and is completely terrified when he reappears to possess her again.
CHAPTER EIGHT: EVERYTHING HURTS AND I'M DYING
prompt: back from the dead
Voldemort-as-Lucius explains his plan to Delphi (the GoF plan) & then possesses her again.
CHAPTER NINE: THE VERY NOISY NIGHT
prompt: tossing and turning
Delphi has the very bizarre experience of mundane life as Lord Voldemort.
CHAPTER TEN: POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS
prompt: whipping
Voldemort-as-Delphi calls the other Death Eaters to him, and their punishment begins.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: "911, WHAT'S YOUR EMERGENCY?"
prompt: sloppy bandages
While Voldemort possesses Lucius again, doing something at the Ministry, Delphi contemplates using Dobby to escape.
CHAPTER TWELVE: WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
prompt: rusty nail
The witch tries to kill herself once again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: CAN'T MAKE AN OMLETTE WITHOUT BREAKING A FEW LEGS
prompt: "Are you here to break me out?"
Draco arrives home for the summer. Voldemort, pretending to be Delphi, plays mind games.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: DIE A HERO OR LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO BECOME A VILLAIN
prompt: failed escape
The next time Voldemort possesses Lucius, Delphi steals Draco's wand and tries to escape.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: EMOTIONAL DAMAGE
prompt: lies
Delphi has a chat with her aunt. Or does she?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: NO WAY OUT
prompt: mind control
The witch is pregnant, and Voldemort-as-Delphi places her under the Imperius.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: HANGING BY A THREAT
prompt: reluctant caretaker
With the exception of Voldemort-as-Delphi, the entire Malfoy household now revolves around the well-being of the witch's fetus. As tension mounts, Delphi fears what might break it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: LET'S BREAK THE ICE
prompt: treading water
Voldemort grows restless waiting. He cannot yet go after his imprisoned Death Eaters or begin his takeover of the Ministry until he has a body of his own.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
prompt: knees buckling
Delphi begins experiencing Voldemort's memories through his dreams. Namely, the witch's assault and vague implications of what he might someday do to Delphi.
CHAPTER TWENTY: IT'S BEEN A LONG DAY
prompt: fetal position
The next time Voldemort leaves her to possess Lucius, Delphi is terrified. Her nightmares—dreams in which she's the one facing the witch's fate—begin.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: FAMOUS LAST WORDS
prompt: "Take me instead."
Delphi is terribly relieved when she is possessed again. When he's in her mind, he's no threat to her. When she's possessed, she is the threat.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: PICK YOUR POISON
prompt: toxic
The witch downs a vial of Nagini's venom, hoping to kill herself and/or the fetus.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: AT THE END OF THEIR ROPE
prompt: tied to a table
Ready to be done with the witch, Voldemort begins the second half of his homunculi ritual; he forces her to give birth to her too-large-for-two-months fetus and takes the rudimentary body for himself. Delphi is no longer possessed… and is utterly terrified.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: FIGHT, FLIGHT, OR FREEZE
prompt: catatonic
The witch didn't die from the birth, and she's not under imperio anymore, but her mind appears completely broken. Delphi doesn't know whether it was the magic that did it or the horror of the situation itself. Her death a few days later comes as a mercy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: SILENCE IS GOLDEN
prompt: lost voice
Delphi retreats into herself. Lucius and Narcissa and Draco are being tasked with attending her father's every whim, but she's mostly being left alone. And, left to her own devices for days on end, she starts formulating a plan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: NO ONE LEFT BEHIND
prompt: separated
Delphi launches her plan to escape. She wants to bring Draco with her but doesn't dare admit what's going on, just in case. To her horror, they end up separated, and her wand gets snapped. Wandless magic and sheer desperation saves her, but she winds up splinched in the middle of Hogsmeade and fully expects to die.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: PUSHED TO THE LIMIT
prompt: magical exhaustion
Delphi manages to escape the mansion without a wand, but she's so drained she may never wake up. And while she's unconscious, her mind makes up the most terrible things.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: IT'S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG
prompt: headache
Delphi has to explain to Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Pomfrey what happened to her, and she would like to be doing anything but that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: WHAT DOESN'T KILL ME...
prompt: sleep deprivation
Delphi can't sleep without increasingly horrific nightmares. Attempting to stay awake only turns the dreams into hallucinations.
CHAPTER THIRTY: NOTE TO SELF: DON'T GET KIDNAPPED
prompt: "Please don't touch me."
Delphi is forced to talk about her dreams.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
prompt: "You can rest now."
Delphi prepares for her first lesson in ducomency. Dumbledore assures her that Harry and her friends will still love her, and the story ends with Delphi finally falling asleep.
- Year Two AU
- The Chamber of Secrets does not open in 1992. If Lucius even had the opportunity to slip Ginny the diary in this 'verse, he certainly didn't take it; even if he doesn't know that the diary is a horcrux, right now he knows better than to give away something with which the Dark Lord entrusted him.
- Instead, our story follows Delphi's journey to becoming a ducomens. It would deal with her ongoing dreams and nightmares, her evolving relationship with Dumbledore, and the fall-out of what happened during the summer. It would likely be a fairly dark storyline; Delphi's insistence that her father would not change her no matter what he did to her would prove false after all. Mastering ducomency, after all, provides absolute power over one's dreamscape—and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
- (This story may or may not span the entirety of year two. Alternately, it may span years two and three... or even more time. Who knows. As I haven't definitely committed to ever writing this yet, those details are still completely up in the air.)
- Year Four(???) AU
- Lord Voldemort's rudimentary body was only ever meant to be a temporary harbor for his soul. He does not plan to stay in it forever, and the sooner he gets out of it, the better. But to get his true body back, he needs the blood of an enemy, the bone of a direct relative, and the flesh of a servant. He can use any Death Eater for the flesh, but he wants the blood to be Harry Potter's, and he wants the bone to be Delphi's. To do that, though, he will have to get his hands on both of them—and that is going to be easier said than done.
- Dumbledore, after all, promised Delphi that her father would never abduct her again.