#alice | ❛ she wears darkness as a queen wears her crown. ❜ ( aesthetic. )

[vvitchraft]

tag dump !

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alice  |   ❛  thread001.  ❜   (  blank.  )

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[sir-adamus]

so, after making some changes, struggling to find character allusions and having to rename one of the team members so i’d have an initial i can fit into a reasonable-ish team name, i have the concept descriptions of this RWBY fan-team down, below the cut, i give you Team HRTS - i am open to any feedback on these:

Team HRTS are a “technically-graduated” Huntress team operating out of Vale; they had rushed back to the school from a mission as the attack began, arriving at the city far too late to do anything but help pick up the pieces.

After a hasty, informal graduation from Acting Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch, they’re taking to their roles as Huntresses in a world now fumbling in the dark, no matter how futile it seems right now.

Alice Heddwyn – Leader, based on Alice in Wonderland. Rabbit Faunus. 21 years old.

Weapon: “Vorpal Blade” – Sword – fitted with grooves that slot different combinations of Dust types in depending on the mode, mode is selected by twisting the handle in combinations only Alice knows. Examples: “Snicker-Snack” mode – Default, no Dust. “Frumious” mode – Fire and Rock Dust. “Slithy” mode – Water and Gravity Dust. “Tulgey” mode – Plant and Wind Dust. “Mimsy” mode – Electricity Dust. Alice utilises a fast series of swings, dealing physical and elemental damage to wear down her opponents defenses.

Semblance: “Wonderland” – by expending Aura, Alice can summon an “imaginary friend” (similar to Weiss’s summons) that acts as an autonomous entity on the battlefield. Only one friend can be summoned at a time, cannot split into multiple entities, and as Alice is not directly in control of the friends, she must be careful who she picks as they may prove to be more a hindrance than a help. Risk factor: if she gets too carried away with her imagination, her Aura drains faster. Optimal usage is in small bursts rather than a continuous battlefield presence.

Personality: Charismatic, friendly and airy (in general, weird girl energy), able to balance the personalities within her team and respond to feedback from her teammates. Has a notable childish streak (she sometimes talks to her imaginary friends, so she seems weird to other people but – understandably – the line where she ends and the imaginary friends her Semblance manifests, and how sapient they are on their own, is blurry), and can be quite stubborn, especially towards authority figures when she believes she knows better. Quite talkative and blunt.

Appearance: Long, white rabbit ears. Short, platinum blonde hair – “punky” hairstyle? Blue eyes. Freckles and a tan due to outdoorsy nature. Shortest member of her team at 5’4’’. Outfit: Azure blue hairband. Blue combat skort (with pockets). White belt – pocket-watch hanging from it (gift/memento from a parent referencing the White Rabbit?) and Pumpkin Pete keychain. Wears black knee and wrist support braces and blue fingerless gloves. Black combat boots with blue lining/laces and cute white bows on the back. White tank top, black high collar crop puffer jacket (blue interior lining, stripes down the arms and accents), sleeves pushed up to her elbows.

Aura Colour: White

Emblem: Keyhole shape - splashed on the back of her jacket in white.

Background: Alice is the daughter of a Faunus and a human – her human parent is from the wealthier side of Vale (befitting the crown imagery and also alluding to original Alice being kind of upper class), she grew up in a large home in Vale, filled with extended family (some of whom she’s not entirely sure she’s actually related to), full of eccentricity and play; encouraging her wild imagination. She wanted to be a Huntress due to her imaginative spirit and romantic ideals about adventures and heroism. Initially she was quite a socially awkward, isolated loner outside of her home as she was often singled out as the weird kid (if she wasn’t being targeted for being a Faunus), while she studied at Pharos Academy, so initially it took a while for her to open up and rely on her team, at which point her more extroverted tendencies became apparent.

Rowena Argentum – based on Treasure Island. Human. 21 years old.

Weapon: “Flint and Bones” - Twin pistols that can combine and extend into an anti-material rifle (“The Captain”) – this mode has a lot of recoil, so Rowena’s prosthetic leg can double as a mount for it for long range shots.

Semblance: None – her Semblance was stolen not long after it unlocked when she was young, as collateral following a hit job by the assassin Marcus Black.

Personality: Cheerful and perhaps overly friendly, Rowena maintains a humble and optimistic outlook, sharing Alice’s eagerness for adventure. Unlike Alice, however, Rowena masks a hard edge, brought on by a life living unprotected by the Kingdoms; she’s an impressive liar, excellent at gathering information and pickpocketing. She has a vengeful streak and her impulsiveness often gets her into trouble, though it has tempered over the years.

Appearance: Long, loose green hair and coal-black irises. 5’8’’. She has a few scars on her arms and face from a rough life outside the Kingdoms, one notable one being a scar extending from the left edge of her mouth in a jagged “smile”. Rowena lost her left leg in the same incident she lost her Semblance; it has since been replaced with a simple prosthesis that she has modified to double as a mount for The Captain. She has a pirate aesthetic, wearing a loose blouse under a long double-breasted coat-jacket. Under her jacket she wears suspenders, which have the holsters for Flint and Bones attached. She wears several belts around her waist, loose-fitting trousers tucked into knee-high buckle boots. Colour scheme primarily green and silver.

Aura Colour: Silver

Emblem: A stylised Hawk from a top-down view, with its wings spread; worn on her belt buckle and tattooed on her right wrist.

Background: Rowena grew up outside the protection of the Kingdoms, hailing from a small seaside town. She saw numerous bandits and pirates coming through town on a daily basis, and would often be regaled with stories of swashbuckling adventure by the friendlier visitors. Until the day came that a notorious pirate made port in the town, and the place was set ablaze after his subsequent assassination by Marcus Black. Rowena’s Semblance was unlocked in the panic, only to be immediately stolen by Marcus on his way through, endangering the child’s life as her home burned around her, and the Grimm set in. She lost her leg as a result. Determined to never let this happen anywhere else, she dedicated her life to becoming a Huntress, traveling all over (including some time spent in Kuchinashi) and fighting to survive, learning whatever skills she had to until she was old enough to take the exam at Beacon Academy – and keeping an ear to the ground in case a certain assassin ever showed his face again.

Titania Ianthe – based on the Fairy Queen. Human. 21 years old.

Weapon: “Graviton Reign” – Glaive weapon, reach for crowd control. Contains a mechanism which uses Gravity Dust inside the blade, furthering crowd control ability, either with repulsing strikes or anchoring opponents as they are swept away.

Semblance: “Attraction” – Titania emits a low-level psychic field that makes everyone and everything pay attention to her. Effect is passive and subtle most of the time, but she can use her Aura to concentrate the effect as a pulse in battle (extending the radius of her Area of Effect to 15 meters); drawing aggro from people and Grimm alike.

Personality: Aloof, confident and proud, Titania didn’t come to Beacon to make friends, but there she found a family. Titania has a lot of walls up, and is often frustrated that her teammates seem determined to clamber over every single one. Despite her exasperation though, she loves her team and would do anything for them, even if it means administering some tough love once in a while. She has difficulty in social situations, and has a tendency to try and shoulder too much responsibility at once. She is also sometimes insecure, due to the nature of her Semblance, whether anyone truly likes her.

Appearance: Wavy, shoulder length dark brown hair, pinned back so it won’t get in her eyes. Dark purple eyes. She has light brown skin, a toned, athletic physique and is noted as the most beautiful of her team. Tallest member of the team at 6’2’’. Outfit: Wears a purple and black sleeveless, hooded top (hood is usually kept up). Black, segmented armoured bracers with silver accents over black gloves. A loose, knee-length faded purple skirt over biker shorts. Heeled black boots with purple laces and zippers.

Aura Colour: Purple

Emblem: A tiara with a large central peak – shaped with interwoven lines and swirls

Background: Titania hails from Vacuo, originally from a small community near the edge of the Kingdom. She grew up hearing old stories about famous Huntsmen and Huntresses, especially enamoured with legendary Huntresses like Opal or the Grimm Reaper. Eager to see the world beyond the sands, and assured in herself that she would one day be talked about in stories too, she trained to fight, traveling to Vale where she could begin her legend. She quickly found recognition and popularity at Beacon; she just wishes people would stop asking her out on dates.

Sable Dunscaith – based on Scáthach. Human. 21 years old.

Weapon: “Nightfall Breach” – a spear with multiple configurations. Its compact form can fire crossbow bolts (charged with explosive Dust) out of the spear tip. The default form functions as a regular spear weapon and can be thrown as a javelin – the spearhead has a hidden function, releasing explosive barbs for additional damage after making contact. The pole-vault form is exactly what it says on the tin, extending out and allowing Sable to pole-vault over or across obstacles, retracting rapidly to allow for aerial manoeuvres whilst she’s in the air. She can also throw Nightfall Breach as a javelin, and relies on martial arts training until she can retrieve it.

Semblance: “Phantom” – able to utilise any shadow within a 40-foot radius as a portal as long as she is stood within the shadow (and it isn’t her own) – she can then appear from any shadow of her choosing (the further away, the higher the cost on her Aura). She can also utilise portals at a distance by throwing objects, such as Nightfall Breach, giving her an advantage in combat by making her hard to predict. Her Semblance’s effectiveness is drastically increased at night, but incredibly diminished in wide open areas, especially during the day when there’s little to cast shadows.

Personality: In contrast to her gloomy appearance, Sable is as much of an excitable nerd as her leader, as well as the de facto team mom. Sable is often on the side-lines in conversations, which suits her just fine, but she’s always watching out for everyone and there to lend a supportive hand when it’s needed. In spite of her quiet appearance, she’s also a bit of a prankster and can be very competitive, especially when her twin is involved. Her calm, warm demeanour however masks a fiery and brutal warrior with a number of tricks up her sleeve that let her control the flow of battle while maintaining a sharp degree of unpredictability.

Appearance: Red hair kept in a short ponytail. Vivid crimson eyes. Pale complexion. In general, she has a very Gothic aesthetic. 5’11’’. Outfit: Sable dresses in mainly black with some silver accents. She wears a long, fishtail coat with a fur-lined collar, long trousers and fur-lined heeled boots.

Aura Colour: Black

Emblem: A Castle – embroidered in silver on the back of her coat.

Background: Sable grew up on the island of Patch off the coast of Vale, and like many, attended Signal Academy in hopes of one day being accepted into Beacon – being a Huntress like her mother and grandmother was the dream. Sable’s twin, Astrid, determined to outshine her, followed her on this path, becoming a rival that pushes Sable to become ever stronger. When initiation put them each on different teams, this rivalry grew even fiercer; now in their fourth year and on the cusp of becoming fully licensed Huntresses, tensions between the twins are edging towards a fever pitch.

[starlight-ascension]

Halloween Party

Nagisa goes as Korra from TLOK

Honoka goes as Asami from the same series

Hikari goes as a bedsheet ghost because she had no time to think about her costume

Nozomi goes as some Disney princess. Probably either Aurora, Ariel, or Rapunzel. Maybe Belle. 

Rin goes as some obscure cryptid she read about online and spends the entire night explaining to various people what she’s dressed as. Some of them think she made it up. 

Urara goes as a pokemon

Komachi goes as a character from Harry Potter

Karen goes as another Harry Potter character, because Komachi insisted

Kurumi goes as the first horror villain she can think of. She actually has 2 costumes: horror villain in human form, Kyubey in fairy form. Really, it’s easy for the latter costume. All she needs is cat ears, yellow ear bangles, a drop or two of red dye, and she looks just like kyubey. Miki has a strange compulsion to stay as far away as possible from her all night for no reason she can think of. 

Love goes as Adora from SPOP

Miki goes as a hot witch

Inori goes as a tiger or leopard

Setsuna goes as Catra from SPOP 

Tsubomi goes as Cure Marine, by Erika’s request

Erika goes as Cure Blossom

Itsuki goes as something cute like a pink bunny or a pink kitten

Yuri goes as some form of classic Halloween entity like a vampire. Whatever allows her to wear lots of black lace and dripping dark red gems. 

We’ve seen the Suite girls’ costumes in canon and imma keep them they’re good. Hibiki is a pirate, Kanade is some pumpkin/witch combo, Ellen is a cute black cat, Ako is a princess. 

Miyuki goes as one of her fave princesses or fairies

Akane does a pun costume that makes everyone roll their eyes

Yayoi goes as one of her favourite superheroes 

Nao goes as her favourite meme

Reika goes as the Swan Princess but like with a huge sword

Mana goes as Miyuki. Just for a joke. 

Rikka goes as an angel. A biblically accurate one. 

Alice goes as the scariest thing she can think of. The Suite team makes it a point to keep Ako away from Alice all night. 

Makoto goes as a dragon. It was going to be Aguri’s costume but when the costume arrived, it was too big for her, and Makoto couldn’t think of a costume anyways so she’s the dragon now. 

Aguri goes as the joker in the card set. It was a dare by Regina. Aguri to this day has no idea why the Smile team avoided her like a lava pool for the entire party. 

Regina goes as Wednesday Addams 

Megumi goes as Captain Marvel

Hime goes as some form of fairytale queen 

Yuko goes as a bee

Iona wears a long swishy galaxy print dress and a star crown and says she’s the goddess of the cosmos. No one disagrees. 

Haruka goes as a princess, like every year. Different dress and tiara every time. 

Minami goes as a Ghostbuster

Kirara goes as any major character from Aikatsu who uses the sexy aesthetic. It took months to recreate that premium rare dress and now she can show it off proudly. 

Towa goes as whatever she was planning to be for halloween when she was little that she never got the chance to wear because she was turned evil

Mirai and Riko do some form of couples costume, probably from Steven Universe because gemstones. Kotoha goes as Madoka Kaname. She’s never actually seen pmmm, she just saw the outfit in the costume shop and loved it. She’s confused as to why everyone wants pictures with her and Milk. 

Ichika wears one of those dresses with a pumpkin shaped skirt

Himari goes as a cat

Aoi goes as her fave rockstar

Yukari and Akira go as the couple they’re based on, Michiru and Haruka. Only Yukari adds fishnet tights and maybe wears a crop top, and Akira wears shorts instead of a skirt. 

Ciel goes as a bat

Pikario goes as Cure Parfait, as a joke

Hana goes as a witch, like she did in the show

Saaya goes as a cryptid, same deal as Rin. 

Homare transforms and says she’s going as her favourite precure. Every other cure at the party pretends to be amazed at how realistic the costume is, the detail, the makeup, she looks JUST LIKE Cure Etoile!!!

Emiru goes as a pirate

Ruru follows in Kirara’s footsteps, but cool instead of sexy. Emiru wishes she’d done that when she sees Ruru. 

Hikaru goes as an alien (duh) and tries to summon demons at the party

Lala goes as Hikaru’s favourite cryptid

Elena and Madoka do that gold and silver cats couples costume they did in the show

Thanks to her perfume, Yuni keeps changing her costume during the night. She has no less than 12 different outfit changes. This ranges from memes to the villains she fights against to characters from the worst movies she can think of to weird puns to whatever other randomness she thinks of. 

Nodoka goes as her favourite meme 

Chiyu goes as Katara from ATLA

Hinata goes as Kirara. But with the addition of a “Women Want Me Fish Fear Me” hat and Shrek crocs. 

Asumi goes as a fairy (i mean like the small flower girl with wings and a cute dress kind, not the mascot kind) 

[lovingsiriusoswald]

Meet Andromeda Mercia!

Here’s to the people who wanted to know!

Andromeda Mercia is the new OC for my Royal Advisor AU aka the au that had been torturing me for days! Andromeda literally means “advisor or ruler of man” and Mercia means “compassion and forbearance.”

Furthermore, people named Andromeda are creative and very expressive in the arts. They have a deep inner desire for order and physical creativity, and want to be involved in conventional, safe activities. Meanwhile, people named Mercia are orderly and dedicated to building their lives on a solid foundation of order and service. They value truth, justice, and discipline, and may be quick-tempered with those who do not. Because of their focus on order and practicality, they may seem overly cautious and conservative at times.

Andromeda Mercia is called the Beautiful Brain, correlated to Lancelot Kingsley's title, Beautiful Beast. She is the Royal Advisor of the Red Army, guiding her King and Queen's decisions and checking their plans for approval or alteration. She also aids in battle strategies with the Jack of Hearts. She is often mistaken as a princess, catching the attention of all the people around her when she passes by. Her beauty is enchanting and ethereal, just like her mother's.

Andromeda Mercia is the only child of a famous seamstress and Royal Advisor of the Red Army, Lady Cassiopeia Windsor-Mercia and Sir Cepheus Mercia.

Lady Cassiopeia had a very difficult time during her pregnancy, she struggled during her 8th month and was forced to travel to the Land of Reason. Leaving Sir Cepheus behind, she and Blanc leaves at the night of the full moon. Unfortunately, she died after giving birth to her only daughter. She whispered her name before passing away peacefully.

Andromeda was taken to a private orphanage and stayed there for four years, until Blanc finally arrived again to send her home. When Sir Cepheus finally meets her only daughter, she cherished her just as much as his late wife. For a year, she was a normal child —playing, laughing, crying, dreaming— until King Arthur Kingsley officially declared that she is the next Royal Advisor.

Andromeda had never stepped foot outside the walls of her home again. Her training was difficult and strict, she was home schooled, and often punished for being tired or showing emotions — and treated very harshly because she was a girl. Whatever she had done was always not enough. After Prince Lancelot's 13th birthday (Andromeda was 7 years old), she was never seen again. Only her instructors and father had seen her growth. This made the King of Hearts concerned, but Sir Cepheus often dismissed it and reassured him that her safety is their top priority and training is going smoothly.

Sixteen years later, several months before the assassination of King Arthur and Sir Cepheus, she visited the Red Army Headquarters to familiarize herself in her future workplace. She did not meet any of the generals, but was formally introduced to Prince Lancelot again. After a week of exploring the headquarters, she retires back to her home.

For an unknown reason, King Arthur orders the previous Jack of Hearts, Claudius Bright, to assassinate Sir Cepheus. A month later, King Arthur is killed at the Black Bridge.

Later on, Prince Lancelot and the orphaned Andromeda took their positions as the rightful heirs of their fathers at the same time.

Birthday: November 4

Age: 23 years old (second youngest in the army)

Features: Alabaster skin, almond-shaped light brown eyes, pointed nose, slender build, dark wavy hair that reached shoulder blades and often ornamented with a pearl and rhinestone studded headpiece, bruised and scarred feet, a tiny simplified crest tattoo below her nape, a tiny maroon diamond tattoo on her left wrist pulse, a tiny heart on the other, 165cm height.

Family Crest: An owl with two suns as eyes, the scales behind the owl with a crown above it.

Uniform: Champagne and red dual toned gown, with feathers of a rufous owl and snowy owl as details. An owl pin rests near her left shoulder. 

Casual Wear: A v-neck burgundy sequin tulle long dress, half sleeved. 

Trivias:

During her trainings, she used ballet shoes to hone her balance and agility.

Versatile in weaponry — archery is her strongest skill.

All of her clothes were tailored by her mother's family business, sometimes too extravagant and luxurious for her taste, but always the most unique and stylish in all of Cradle. The designs were all designed by Lady Cassiopeia during her pregnancy.

She was homeschooled all her life and followed a strict routine. 8 hours of studying, 3 hours total of meals, 2 hours of etiquette training, 2 hours of military training, and an hour break total per day. 

Her breaks include painting, designing or tailoring. 

She inherited the items her mother used and received from the Land of Reason, but was kept away in a small treasure chest that was beside her mother's urn. She also kept a hat given to her from the Land of Reason before she left from the orphanage. 

She had never been to Central Quarter or beyond the area of her family residence. 

Journals, typewriters, and baby's breath flowers are her favorites or "aesthetic." 

Moon sign is Capricorn, Sun sign is Scorpio and Rising sign is Cancer. Her MBTI personality is INTJ-T. 

Personal Notes:

I don’t know if this is considered an au because the Alice is the only one different ahskfhsal 

I actually don’t know who to pair her up with yet oopsies. 

She almost feels like a mix of Lancelot, Edgar, and Oliver.

I’ve been writing about her interactions with everyone and her surroundings and try not to write another lengthy one

I thought about her when I was washing the dishes and the idea of her kept bugging me to the point I wanted a visual of what they looked like and did researches with the names, did personality tests, and went very specific with minor details in the fics that i’d been writing. its that bad

Exaggerated, but I think she’s the prettiest of all the OCs I made and will ever make

Hope you would like to hear more from her soon!

[brightbeautifulthings]

War of the Cards by Colleen Oakes

"Constellations swirled around her, and Dinah knew at once everything inside her was made of the same stuff as the stars, that she was light and also darkness, capable of swallowing everything around her."

Year Read: 2018

Rating: 3/5

Context: I didn't enjoy the first book in this series all that much, and I liked the second one even less. I'd have probably given up if it wasn't Alice in Wonderland, but since it is, I felt compelled to see it through. There are spoilers ahead for Queen of Hearts and Blood of Wonderland. Trigger warnings: violence, decapitation, blood.

About: Dinah is marching on Wonderland with her army of Cards and help from the neighboring Yurkei to depose the King of Hearts and take her rightful place as queen. The rage inside her is well-suited for war, but heavy is the head that wears the crown. Even if she wins, she won't know who to trust, and her court is still a place of secrets, some with the power to break Dinah and her early reign forever.

Thoughts: This book is slow to start with extended footage of Dinah and her unruly army marching on Wonderland, and I stand by my feelings in book two that it would have worked better as a duology. I don't care much for Oakes's take on Wonderland mythology. While her Queen of Hearts is interesting and well-developed (if not altogether likable, as she probably shouldn't be), the rest of the references are more like afterthoughts. The Jabberwocky appears for a page or two as a poorly described war machine, and Alice features randomly toward the end, robbed of all her curiosity and her muchness. The world-building could use fleshing out. Some of the features of Dinah's fantasy world might be interesting if they were given any attention, but she never seems able to explain what they are or why they function the way they do. I don't have to wonder how a waterfall works because I'm familiar with gravity; apparently, Dinah can't say the same about her world. The original Wonderland is a nonsense world, but its characters never seem confused by that; it’s only Alice, the outsider, who finds it strange.

I understand that Dinah isn't supposed to be a likable main character, and while she undergoes some development over the course of the series, she doesn’t come as far as I'd hoped. She's far from a good person, but she's not that interesting of a villain either. Her desire to be a good queen is more professed than acted upon, and she lets her own emotions, whether they’re love, rage, or jealousy, make her decisions for her. I get the sense that we're supposed to forgive her for the horrible things she does, but the novel doesn't manage to take me that far. She doesn't earn forgiveness because she doesn't change her ways; she gets her way, which makes me think she's not as far from the spoiled princess of the first book as she should be. She's also hardcore committed to a love interest who doesn't love her back, and I don't have much patience for that as a plot or a justification for actions. Dignity, girl. Why would you tie yourself forever to someone who doesn't love you?

To its credit, War of the Cards does have more plot than its predecessor. The pace picks up once Dinah and her warriors reach the castle, and from there it's a bloodbath. For all my love of horror, I don't relish in war stories (and, honestly, if you've read one fantasy rebellion, you've read them all). I'm relieved to be done with the series and doubt I'll return to them. The real question is will I continue to let them take up valuable bookshelf space because they're Alice in Wonderland and, aesthetically, so freaking beautiful? Stay tuned for more.