#also this is supposed to include ursula bc i like her

[tending-the-hearth]

everything i loved about "the little mermaid" live action

Ariel's melody being her siren song!! that little new bit of lore!! i also really liked that it added more depth as to why Ursula wanted her voice in exchange for her becoming human

the way Ariel became almost angry during the bridge of "Part of Your World", she was so frustrated that she couldn't do the things she was dreaming about, like YES let her be mad!!

full body chills during "Part of Your World" + the first reprise

Ariel helping Max onto the boat 😭😭😭

I've mentioned this before, but Ariel hearing Eric's voice before seeing him!!! hearing him sing before seeing him!!! agh!!!!

Eric holding Ariel's hand on the shore after she rescues him 😭

the detail put into each of Ariel's sisters was so stunning, i'm so excited to read more about them in the books! i loved that they each had their own specific vibe

THEY INCLUDED THE FACT THAT URSULA AND TRITON ARE SIBLINGS YES THANK YOU VERY MUCH

"For the First Time" being a voice over, as Ariel's thoughts, and then the scene shifting to complete darkness except for her to represent us being in her head and hearing her thoughts, and the way it gets cut off when she realizes she can't say "hello" to Eric? i cried

The Jodi Benson cameo and her giving Halle!Ariel the fork 😭 literally her passing on the mantel of Ariel 😭😭

Eric and Ariel being total nerds with each other??

The way Ariel "told" Eric her name using the constellations???? and him saying it was written in the stars???? hello????

Also Eric saying "my little mermaid" made me so soft wtf

Eric and Ariel running around and giggling in the castle and being the definition of puppy love like they're so goofy and in love i adore them

the "Part of Your World" reprise after Ariel sees Eric with Vanessa shattered my heart, the MOST heartbreaking song

Grimsby kicking the ring away after it falls near him, my man knew exactly what was going on, he's known Ariel for three days and is already a ride or die

just Ariel and Eric holding each other so tightly after she gets her voice back, and Eric refusing to let her go until Ursula literally has to throw him away

ARIEL BEING THE ONE TO KILL URSULA USING THE SKILLS SHE SAW ERIC USE OH MY GOD IT WORKED SO SO WELL

i like that they added a chunk of time passing between Ursula's death and Eric and Ariel reuniting, it added a little extra drama and emotion when they finally saw each other again!

listen i'm an absolute sucker for a "hug before kiss" reunion and i was SO happy that Eric and Ariel had that, it fit them and their relationship perfectly, the way Eric just clung to her, and Ariel's happy smile as she hugged him back 😭

The mermaid statue and the dress representing the land vs. the sea???? and both returning back to where they're supposed to be but having new meanings????

Ariel's wedding dress being pink to (probably) pay homage to her pink ballgown in the animated movie was such a good touch, and i loved the length!!

Triton and Ariel's goodbye, where he says "you shouldn't have had to give up your voice for me to hear you"???? hello my father issues jumped tf out and had me sobbing in the theater

literally the entire movie was so beautiful, i could talk about it for hours, this is the best live action remake honestly, and Eric and Ariel (specifically the live action version obvi) have moved up to become my favorite Disney Princess/Prince pairing, just behind Belle and Adam (bc let's be honest, nothing can top them)

@queen-with-the-quill bc i know you're seeing it soon! more things i forgot to tell you lol

[horizon-verizon]

TG: jaehaera is important to the plot of the story, she is the only heir of aegon ii

ryan condal: doesn't care about making anyone mention the girl's name all season and she's just a random silver haired girl that no one knows who she is

you can notice who is important to him here, aegon iii and viserys ii had 2/3 scenes, their names are always said, the public knows who they are since season 1, i mean...I'm the only one who realizes how Are rhaenyra's children much more important to ryan? It could be the poor script's fault of course...but they will always be Ryan's focus until the end. Ryan doesn't care that much about the green kids

Can't be bothered to even include Maelor; he claims and wants people to make excuses for his stuff as Ursula K. LeGuin notes in her foreword for her 2001 Tales from Earthsea:

The passionately conceived ideas of the great story-tellers are copied, stereotyped, reduced to toys, molded in bright-colored plastic, advertised, sold, broken, junked, replaceable, interchangeable. What the commodifiers of fantasy count on and exploit is the insuperable imagination of the reader, child or adult, which gives even these dead things life—of a sort, for a while.

and bc they are not thinking abt the differences b/t the canon and the show enough, many show fans of either team or neutral argue that Maelor is not there because it's to either have Aegon declare Jaehaera as his heir (ignoring/forgetting that he never did or would have bc it defeats his own claim as males-first and always AND he himself canonically decided to remarry to get an heir, which is not what Viserys did or intended when he remarried to Alicent) OR something like Helaena would birth him later so it can be that much more "affective" and narratively more effective for an even younger baby to be torn apart by a mob...the same people who castigated people for wanting the canon death for Jaehaerys and said that they were crazy and gross for wanting what they claimed was a terrible death for a child.

Not only that, but:

Aegon would likely have to r*pe Helaena for that supposed non--existing Maelor

but he even can't because he is not even in KL right now, and Helaena is currently flat stomached

Aegon also cannot impregnate Helaena bec he said himself his penis is blown apart

Aemond can't be the one to impregnate her either bc it's already been established in show-world that this sort of relationship (sexual/romantic) cannot exist b/t them from that argument, so if Aemond-Helaena do get together like that, the likelihood is also r*pe or Helaena is pressured to sleep with either man directly from someone else

People seem very willing to sacrifice any "higher" degree of pattern recognition or memory if it serves their headcanon and fanons.

[wr0temyway0ut]

I'm so curious about all of them but the Descendants Au???? I have to know more! Please!

Hi!! I'm sorry it took me so long to answer this but thank you for sending it!

So the descendants au is not a one to one au but it's set in the descendants world and kinda overwrites the descendants movies. The main set up is the same: Princess Julie, whose parents are still Ray and Rose but Ray and Rose are essentially Eric and Ariel, decrees that four VKs will be brought to Auradon. The four she chooses are Luke, son of Ursula (who's first name is Emily but she goes by her middle name Ursula bc it's more menacing), Bobby, son of Drizella, Reggie, the genderfluid youngest child of Gaston, and Flynn, the nonbinary child of Mother Gothel. But the main character is Willie, who is the pixie son of Caleb who is essentially the original evil version of Peter Pan. He forces Willie to sneak over to Auradon with the other VKs and convice them to let him stay bc his mother is supposedly Tinker Bell. (I know way too much about Pixie Hollow lore so this turns out to be false but anyway).

The VKs are supposed to get Willie to Pixie Hollow so he can learn to use his pixie magic to bring down the barrier. But of course they make friends and find romance and learn to be good.

The ships include: Reggie and Willie (Reggie helping Willie learn to make friends and also figure out gender stuff). A lil bit of enemies to lovers with Luke, Julie, and Nick, who is Julie's boyfriend and the son of Rapunzel. And a lot of enemies to lovers plus a healthy dose of love potion shenanigans for Bobby and Alex, who is the son of Sleeping Beauty. Plus some enemies to qpps for Flynn and Julie. Other characters include Carrie, daughter of Cinderella who takes Bobby in as her step cousin, and Kayla, daughter of Belle and the Beast. I have gorgeous moodboards for all of them that I will post eventually.

And here's a snippet below the cut!

Julie steps forward, ignoring the way the guards all draw closer around her. 

“Are you okay?” she calls. 

All the VKs immediately back away from her, their bodies tensing up defensively. Interestingly, Julie notes, the four she actually invited withdraw into each other, leaving Willie exposed in front of them. 

“I–I don’t know,” Willie stutters. He spins around to try to look at his wings like a dog chasing his tail. Pixie dust sheds off of them as he moves. 

“Dude, you must’ve got your magic back,” Lukas says with widened eyes. “Wait, does that mean…” He wraps his hand around his shell necklace and closes his eyes, muttering something under his breath. 

A guard pulls Julie out of the way and throws himself in front of her. However, instead of an explosion or a curse or Julie’s voice magically disappearing from her throat, all that happens is that a bright blue electric guitar appears around Lukas’s shoulders. 

“Wicked,” Lukas breathes, running his hands over the guitar in awe. 

“Of course that’s what you do with your first ever spell,” the non-freckled boy huffs. 

[night-dark-woods]

2023 Book Recap!

i really figured out this year what i like and don't like in a book i think, at least for scifi/fantasy books.

that ursula le guin quote about genre: "Ignoring all this, our novice is just about to reinvent the wheel, the space ship, the space alien, and the mad scientist, with cries of innocent wonder. The cries will not be echoed by the readers. Readers familiar with that genre have met the space ship, the alien, and the mad scientist before. They know more about them than the writer does."

& something one of the boys on the stephen king podcast said, where he described being familiar with a genre or medium as seeing the seams, and then a bit later as being like an erector set, where you can see all the pieces.

and that's really it, like bc i have read so much scifi and fantasy, every novel is an erector set. i know what the pieces of the kit are, and what they're supposed to build, so i can recognize when its built well and when its built poorly, and i can recognize when someone does something really cool and different with those kit pieces. but if someone doesnt do anything good or interesting with them, its just a pile of pieces, and that's not enough for me.

so, in descending rating order, books i read this year:

5/5:

The Broken Earth Trilogy by N K Jemison: spectacularly original worldbuilding, heartwrenching story, delightful narrative devices. getting added to the favorites shelf with Baru.

The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin: very fun hard scifi book. if i don't have to google a math concept while reading your scifi book im not interested. i have not yet read the sequels but will.

Machineries of Empire Trilogy by Yoon Ha Lee: great military space opera with REALLY cool novel worldbuilding (the technology of the empire functions because of a high calendar maintained by ritual sacrifice!!!) and very neatly executed plots.

4/5:

How The Light Gets In by Louise Penney: perfectly enjoyable mystery novel i read to bond with my mother. old ladies who saw it sitting next to my register at work were at first delighted i was reading it and then aghast that i was reading one from the middle of the series out of order.

Dead Silence by S A Barnes: fast-paced scifi psychological horror, delivered exactly what i was expecting.

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner: doctor mechanic fic with the serial numbers scrubbed. also exactly what it says on the tin.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth: fun gay story that jumps around in time and has several cool narrative styles including whatever it is where there are in-universe texts included with the story narrative.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling: scifi cave-diving survival horror with a homoerotic relationship between the caver and her handler. loses a star for an underwhelming ending but overall it ruled i love survival books.

Blindsight by Peter Watts: this book made me the maddest a book has made me since i read The Word for World is Forest in high school and got so upset at one of the characters that i made myself nauseous. on the one hand the worldbuilding was very intricate and interesting and its a truly fascinating first contact story, and on the other hand i want to fight the author in a parking lot for how eco-fascist and misanthropic the thesis statement is. this book pissed me off but its also going to be something i will reread and also think about for a long time, and for that it can get a 4.

3/5:

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon: cool far-future post-apocalypse with ai gods, about bodily horror and autonomy when youre dealing with high tech divine possession. good book but not for me.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar: fine, underwhelming. novel equivalent of a montage and the prose didn't wow me.

Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer: made me realize what i want from him is an actual ecology book i would love that but i hate his fiction.

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd: would have been higher if it had a stronger conclusion, fun concept though and it was fun to see the ways it referenced Hill House. speaking of:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: alright, i havent read enough horror to know what i like but this wasn't it, im glad i read it though.

2/5:

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang: fine, none of the story concepts were compelling to me so it was hard to like any of them, though the Tower of Babylon was fun.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: no stakes, boring, no thought put into the politics of the setting or the plot.

Authority by Jeff Vandermeer: absolute fucking slog of a book with a boring protag.

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan: i dont like historical figures rewritten to be lgbt, i think the pacing and tone was inconsistent, and if youre going to write a book about a military campaign you need to actually care about writing military engagments and logistics. also as my friend Jake said. for a novel trying to do something with gender, there sure arent very many women.

1/5:

none apparently!

[tiffanyachings]

poldark families appreciation week

day 3 >> the Warleggan family

[cecilyneville]

the spanish princess: episode 8

“why are people watching this show if they don’t like it???”

me: 

(i mean hating on this show, not actually watching it - nothing about tsp is fun, the whole thing has been mean-spirited from beginning to end)

ruairi was good as prince henry, but as king henry? awful

“i would not come to help you” so how much more of coa being a cunt are we going to get? bc if this episode is called “peace” i assume she has to...idk...start being a bit nicer

god, fucking finally

if they want us to like catherine bc she’s finally paying attention to mary that isn’t “HMM SHE IS NOT A BOY”, they got another thing coming

catherine was horrible to everyone including her ladies and her daughter, but she’s slightly nicer now so it’s ok!!!!

“men of arran and men of hamilton” the writers have finally realised there are more families in scotland than stewart and douglas

WHY has albany kidnapped james? at first i thought it was a ruse b/w him and meg but apparently not. wouldn’t it make more sense for her to return to scotland to find that angus has kidnapped james?

it makes so much sense for ef to just ignore the fact that margaret douglas exists and keep prince alexander alive

ursula where you been all this time???

finally some semi-accurate headwear on maggie. but ONLY on maggie, not on ursula, bc if it’s anything the costuming on all three series have taught us, only old ladies cover their heads

also finally - laura carmichael is getting some decent material to work with! (relatively speaking)

bessie instructing henry fitzroy is very similar to her tudors counterpart doing the same, bc of course

comb ur fuckin hair dude

i’m not gonna lie, this latin standoff between mary & henry fitzroy is hilarious, like a 16th-century spelling bee

“there’s nothing i can give a girl” except, you know, sending her to ludlow as heirs to the throne were before her, but even that level of nuance is too confusing for fraham

“my brother is more sympathetic to her cause than he has been” this week: henry discovers the concept of divorce

“go to the king anne, smile and win his favour” yet another barely-concealed tudors ripoff

thomas more just like “maggie you’re fucked up bc your life has been so shit”

if henry is speaking about this script then he is 100% correct

oh rosa’s here! so not one but BOTH of catherine’s besties will ditch her, delicious

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, THIS IS THE MOST OBVIOUS, CLUNKY WAY TO DO IT LMAO

oh they’re going for a becket/henry ii vibe here with wolsey & henry, don’t mind this

it bothers me SO much that they keep calling maggie henry’s aunt when they never bothered to include elizabeth’s actual sisters after they put cecily on a bus (which, to be fair, was probably for the best)

i kind of recoil when people say “[insert historical figure] would be so offended by this depiction” because if someone like catherine of aragon were shown any modern depiction of herself, her head would probably explode out of confusion and horror. BUT this is so offensive to the real catherine of aragon

i would like to see laura carmichael as elizabeth of york - it’s the big brown eyes

is she doing this out of hatred for her inability to give the king a son??? what does it all MEAN emma

i mean i guess he’s hotter than angus

i know this hunting scene is supposed to reflect something from part one which i didn’t watch, but it just reminds me of the tudors s1 finale when henry and anne fucked in the woods 

also reminds me very much of the great when peter tries to drown catherine

catherine quoting deuteronomy and unwittingly confessing to consummating her marriage with arthur...CONGRATULATIONS YOU PLAYED YOURSELF

soz to sound like a broken record but the fact that people - even some actual critics - watch CH’s performance and think this is actually good acting will never not be funny to me, she’s atrocious. it’s so jarring looking at behind the scenes footage and seeing her smiling, like couldn’t you actually do this on screen? she plays catherine like the woman’s never felt happiness in her life, or any other emotion for that matter

lina’s not gonna sell catherine out and i’m so mad about it, she has treated you like SHIT for YEARS

god, she can’t even cry believingly

HELL YES MEG, DISCO INFERNO

we won’t have time to see meg’s marriage to henry stewart fail spectacularly, which is probably a good thing bc my heart would break

catherine has been absolutely VILE to lina but it’s ok bc she’s said sorry now

“i would speak with you” / “it seems you already are” LOLLLL

so funny that it’s only NOW that they’re getting french hoods of some kind, but not with actual veils because, like i said, only old dowdy matrons don’t get to show their sexy hair

WHAAAAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

i mean, i’m not surprised, given how much fraham hate anne 

“so, you’re playing anne boleyn. congrats! but you’ll only get, like, one line, and you WILL have to get your tits out”

guys she’s so upset can’t you tell

CH got a taste for holding bows on game of thrones it’s the only thing she’s good at

STELLLAAAAAA

of course meg has to actually fire the cannons rather than just train them on angus and his men, but this is very fun

surprised they didn’t point out that one of scotland’s greatest cannons was called “mons meg”

fuck this nice scene between catherine and lina! she doesn’t deserve your forgiveness lina!!!

i guess catherine’s woke levels need to be maintained by keeping her one black friend who was a slave irl

hahahaha i fucking love her

“i will always be your wife, there is nothing you can do to change that” knock knock it’s the reformation

catherine choosing to leave makes no sense for this show or for the history they’re ~supposed~ to be depicting

“you will never take my place as queen of england” KNOCK KNOCK IT’S THE REFORMATION

catherine is an old lady now so we shall signify this by giving her a gable hood

catherine she just asked if the bird was dead jesus

which it should be by now...it’s been around since like 1510??

ah yes, let’s bring back that other metaphor, the imperialism compass 

if all the disgruntled tories had their way this would be on the end credits of every episode of the crown too

and that’s all folks! let’s all be thankful that this show didn’t submit us to an absolute butchery of catherine’s blackfriars speech

[normadeathmond]

the spanish princess ep 2 thoughts

I’ve been enjoying all the reaction posts so here’s mine (spoilers included):

- I’ve had kind of a revelation this week regarding The Spanish Princess. This show is basically the modern day version of those dubiously accurate medieval historical chronicles.  Not only do we have extra supernatural elements (the cuuuuurse, prophetic dreams), but we also have the contemporary authors’ personal biases inserted all over the place, and the addition of mythical stories about the heroes (Catherine fighting at Flodden this week). For some reason, this has made me a lot more forgiving towards the show. (it probably also helps that my fave Maggie B is dead now, so I don’t have to worry about them shitting all over her anymore, and I don’t have a particularly strong attachment to any of the other historical figures depicted)

- erm wtf, did anyone else catch that scene with Maggie and Edmund de la Pole in the previously on that we’ve never seen before?? I guess this plotline was supposed to be included in episode one as well, which probably would’ve helped it feel a bit more developed and less like something they suddenly remembered had to be tied up from last year. The whole sequence of Edmund being reintroduced and killed off in less than five minutes was very rushed.

- I’m glad baby Henry’s death hasn’t been totally forgotten, but do we really need so many grief-stricken sex scenes between these two? These are supposed to be the years they’re deeply in love, let them have some happier sex

- ehh I’m not sure that Catherine’s big reveal to the council actually changes much. A very early pregnancy, possibly with a girl, doesn’t really make the line secure. I think the focus should have been on Henry’s own desire to prove himself in battle, which would also have added to the humiliation when Catherine successfully defeats the Scots while his military exploits fizzle out.

- I really like General Howard, Peter Egan is fantastic (albeit a bit too polished for a grouchy, uncouth soldier type)

- “and now this book is closed” - god I hope so, bc I hate Maggie’s plotline from last year. It was interminable watching her whinge about how unfair it was that the Tudors suspected her of plotting against them because she had always been the most loyal person ever, as though she was suffering from some kind of selective memory loss about literally being a spy for the Yorkist rebellion in The White Princess. ffs Maggie can be either a completely innocent woman unfairly maligned by the Tudors or she can be a badass Yorkist rebel, not both. 

- it seems her memory problems are back this episode because she goes storming off to complain to Catherine about Edmund de la Pole getting his head chopped off, conveniently forgetting than she was also heavily involved in his plot and her family is only out of the Tower thanks to Catherine interceding for her with Henry. Catherine was 100% in the right here, Edward of Warwick was innocent whereas Edmund de la Pole was a fully cognisant adult who spearheaded a revolt to take the throne (and likely would’ve had both Henry VII and Henry VIII killed if he had succeeded), so the idea that she’s suddenly heartless because she apologised for the former’s death but not the latter’s is ridiculous. The whole scene, including Maggie’s kids’ ‘whoomp here she goes again’ reactions, unintentionally have her coming off as rather hysterical.

- hopefully the rest of her story this season focuses on her mending her relationship with her sad silent son instead and possibly getting her leg over Thomas More

- ahhh Lina’s face when Catherine bitchily says she’ll be having a girl. Catherine’s not going to be able to stop herself from lashing out at her now that she has twin boys.

- first the clothes comment last episode, now they have Ursula saying Charles may not be good-looking but he’s rich as fuck. I guess she’s being set up as a gold-digger.

- is it just me or does the Anne Boleyn’s actress look a little bit like Charlotte Hope? The dress they had her in when Henry returns even looks like something Catherine would’ve worn in season one. I’ve no idea why they’ve brought the Boleyn girls in this early though – are they going to be sent to France then come back later? Henry still has to make his way through Anne Hastings, Bessie Blount and Mary Boleyn before he gets to Anne. The episode summaries make it look like his infidelities won’t start until episode four so he’s going to have to have a new girl every episode to get through them all.

- I’ve kind of come around on the whole Catherine-in-armour thing. Frock Flicks wrote an interesting article this week where they pointed out that while historically battle armour for women did not exist and women very rarely wore armour, depictions of women in armour have been around for a long time and would have existed in the Tudor period. In this pseudo-historical retelling of Catherine’s story mythologizing her as a warrior queen, it does make sense to carry on that visual tradition and have her armoured up.

- Unfortunately I think they did kind of undermine the visual impact of the armour on screen by focusing on it so heavily in the promos for the season. Possibly it wouldn’t have affected a casual viewer so much, but anyone who’s followed the show’s promo cycle has been seeing pictures and clips of Catherine in the armour for weeks now, and when she entered stomping down the corridor in her full battle gear it didn’t blow me away like the first look at that outfit should have done.

- I know this series is never going to have the budget of Game of Thrones, but Flodden was a disappointment, from the rousing speech (“mothers are warriors too, amirite ladies?”) to the battle itself. You can tell they really wanted this to be their big epic action sequence and unfortunately it felt underwhelming. I remember the battles in TWQ/TWP being much more impressive, for what was probably a similar budget.

- as soon as I saw how heavily pregnant Lina was this episode, I knew a  birth/battle juxtaposition was coming. I get what they were trying to do with the whole ‘childbirth is women’s battlefield’ theme, but the attempt to fake-out Lina’s death fell flat - there’s no way they were killing her off. (I’m not sure why she was giving birth in the hallway, with apparently no midwives, but it was inadvertently hilarious watching Maggie - the only one with any childbirth experience - try and talk her through it while the other three were basically no help at all.)

- also everyone being like “omg Princess Mary you can’t possibly be at the birth” felt so out of place given that Meg and Catherine were both hanging around a battlefield at the same time

- on the one hand I did like that Catherine didn’t end up being some amazing warrior just off instinct; she’s almost immediately pulled off her horse, staggers around looking confused as fuck and then is shocked when she actually kills someone. But on the other, what was the point of all the warrior queen build up if she barely even does anything useful on the battlefield? (also why did they have her kill someone who looked so much like James?? I’ve seen several people think she killed James herself and I thought that too until he was shown being taken down afterwards - it was needlessly confusing)

- JAAAAMES. I’m so sad he’s gone. Georgie Henley knocked it out the park this episode, especially in her big mourning scene. Although given how sweet he and Meg were this episode, and her comment about him being her best friend, it just makes the punch last episode seem even stranger.

- I’m so sad we were robbed of seeing Catherine try to send James’ corpse to Henry as a victory gift and have to be talked into sending just the coat. If you’re going to make her ride out in armour let her keep her savage penchant for gruesome war trophies!

- oop, Catherine absolutely fails to sell the lie that she’s pleased about Lina’s two boys, and Lina can definitely tell.

- with Maggie B gone, Wolsey is the new evil religious cockblocker in town!

- I would like twenty more scenes of Lina and Oviedo being cute and bitching about their work days thanks

- I like Catherine defending Howard to Henry. It would have been nice if there was more time to show the development of a begrudging respect between those two.

- overall I found this episode disappointing. The big sequences weren’t impressive in the way last week’s were and there weren’t enough character moments to make up for that. I’m still looking forward to the rest of the season though, especially Meg, Mary and Maggie’s storylines. 

[kingfrumpkin]

kingfrumpkin’s New and Improved map of auradon!

aka i hated the other one and well...

there’s obviously more cities but i got lazy  and didn’t want to include them. i tried to make everything as accurate as i Could but its kind of hard when i shaved down 85% of italy, split the UK into england and scotland, turned belgium and holland into denmark, etc etc

read below the cut for all my changes and explanations for things!!

starting off with New France:

i tried to keep auradon city + area the same, put it in southern france bc thats what beauty and the beast is based off of in location

changed cinderellasburg to cinderstead bc i hate the name cinderellasburg with a passion

her castle is there it looked too ugly making it a separate landmark

cinderella’s manor is the one where she grew up and inherited after lady tremaine was kicked out; it’s their like summer/country home

auroria is the same bc its an ok name tbh

not technically france but briar cottage is the one she grew up in with the fairies

and paris is there for the aristocats and the hunchback and esmerelda, etc

I ALMOST FORGOT THE ENCHANTED LAKE

i regret making france so big but its too late now

New Germany:

i decided to use grimms brothers german ver of snow white bc yeah sure okay even though disney likes to make everything french

i changed charmington to snowblaen bc thats so much cooler are you kidding me

her castle is there too

the dwarf’s cottage and the mines are to the south and they’re in the woods too i just didn’t feel like putting geographical markers

i kept corona the same tbh. realized the castles on an island. fucked up

also realized that tangled’s rapunzel was probably more mediterranean but it was TOO LATE

there’s a forest probably separating snowblaen and corona

grimmsville is there somewhere

ENGLAND:

ok so london is there for rodger & anita & the dalmations, then the peter pan kids, and whoever else is in london idk

oxford for alice in wonderland

sherwood forest, yknow, robin hood

SFU is there too

camelot was theorizes to be in great brit? idk i read sources that said that so. yes

Liberated Scotland:

merida is there

yep

Partial Louisiana:

they only had the bayou in the original map? fucked up. tiana worked for that restaurant

i had a whole plan for an America Island that was louisiana, misourri (lady and the tramp) and floria (dumbo) but it looked ugly and so i scrapped it

back up to New Denmark

i just kinda. repurposed holland and belgium to make New Denmark

i started to see that ariel mightve been french and started crying

anyway i made port ariel for the city bc thats SICK

her castle is nearby and then theres atlantica in the water yay

Reduced Norway:

man disney has no idea how they want arendelle to look like huh

i honestly just kinda slapped everything there

southern isles off the coast. the label is too far way but IDC

i repurposed iceland for it

atahala is somewhere

The Forest(tm):

the wooland creatures gotta go somewhere

its where bambi lives

Italy but 15%:

did i have to include pinocchio? probably not. nevertheless its there

Greece:

the gods are there. yep

i just put mt olympus wherever i wanted to

Polynesian Islands:

i didn’t want to fuck with these too much. not all of them are there tho sorry

.052% of Africa:

i really needed only 2 countries for africa its so small i

disney make more african stories challenge

anyway .. pride rock. yep. i was too lazy to map out the other locations for the lion king

tarzans home in the congos...............................i should have swapped those two countries in their positions huh. oh well

back around to Small China:

i really just took inner mongolia and made do bc i didnt want to take All Of China

and its, like, supposed to be ancient china anyway?

anyway i tried to make the locations of the few landmarks i put accurate but its probably not. better than what disney had

Arabia?:

disney PLEASE pick where the fuck aladdin takes place i beg of you

i took saudi arabia and went with it tbh

tried to keep it the same

i was going to map out all of the cities but the lore around them was?? weird??

ill probably map out more of it later when i do a 2.0 ver

also “”quirkistan”” sounded racist???? but its like some store based in india so

Neverland..........aka ireland

ireland had the resources to become neverland

its north of england bc, yeah. its north of england in the story???

it made NO SENSE!!!! WHERE IT WAS!!!!!!

also skull island is there

last but not least...Isle of the Lost:

i just took part of new zealand and shaped it until it was unrecognizable

i drew the magic bridge and how it would appear bc sure

WATER!!!!

i tried to keep most of the waterways the same and just named the ones that were on the OG map

ursula’s strait is now a bay im sorry

hooks bay is now a channel bc it wasnt a bay but idk what else to call it. i think its too wide to be a channel but whatever i guess

[emospritelet]

Closing Library : Marshall summons Belle for a private interview with Sutherland bc she did kinda ruin his outing so his team wants to take pictures of a peaceful chat and handshakes for press

I intended to include Belle in this but kind of got distracted with Anna convincing Sutherland to do the interview. So that’ll be next if someone wants to prompt me

x

Politicians had to develop thick skins, and Robert Sutherland was no exception. He’d been told in no uncertain terms to go fuck himself by members of the electorate more times than he could count, and so being chewed up one side and down the other by a petite brunette shouldn’t have fazed him. And yet it had. The visit to Avonleigh was supposed to have been a success, a chance to show the Opposition that his party had succeeded where theirs had failed, a chance to get some positive headlines running in election year. He hadn’t reckoned on meeting the librarian of a provincial town with an axe to grind and no sense of decorum. Sutherland was in a bad mood, and his staff sensed it and wisely kept out of his way. Only Anna chose to spend more than a few minutes in his company, but given that she had also told him to go fuck himself more times than he could count, he didn’t mind that.

“Stop tapping your fingers,” she said absently, as she went through some paperwork. “I know you’re angry, but it’s bloody annoying.”

Sutherland grimaced, curling his fingers into a fist to stop them drumming on the arm of the chair. The press conference at Arendelle plc had gone as expected: a few questions on the defence contract and an irritating number of questions about the young woman who had confronted him, and the effect that Government cuts were having on public services. It was now mid-afternoon, and Sutherland and Anna were closeted in his hotel suite, going over the plans for the next day’s visit to a local school and hospital. Which should pass off without incident. Or so he hoped. The way things were going there would be a group of militant eight-year-olds manning barricades and calling for him to be guillotined.

“Any word on how this is playing on the news?” he asked Anna.

“Nothing you want to hear,” she said lightly.

“Fuck!” He pushed up out of the chair, and began to pace again. “So it’s all been for bloody nothing, then! We drag our arses hundreds of miles north to celebrate some good fucking news, and it gets completely derailed by - by…”

“By a young woman who just found out that she’s losing her livelihood, and the town an important public service,” finished Anna, looking up from her papers. “Apparently she got the letter telling her the library would lose its funding about half an hour before she stormed into the market square to tear you a new arsehole.”

“That’s not my fault!” he snapped, aware that he was sounding petulant, and Anna sighed.

“We can try to argue our case for spending constraints, of course, but she’s already won the battle for public opinion,” she said. “The Today programme has asked for someone to do the ten past eight interview tomorrow morning. I was going to tell them no one was available, but if you want to press the issue…” 

Sutherland waved an impatient hand, still pacing.

“If we don’t send anyone at all, we stand no chance of turning press attention back the way we want, do we?” he said. “Maybe we should send Ursula.”

Anna pursed her lips, nodding slowly.

“She’s calm and unlikely to be pushed off course,” she agreed. “I’ll give her a call, tell her to prepare.”

“And what do we know about the young woman herself?” he asked.

“Her name is Belle French,” she said. “She’s twenty-eight, and she’s been librarian in Avonleigh for the past three years.”

“She sounded Australian.”

“Studied at Cambridge, and decided to stay,” she said. “She’s a British citizen now.”

“Is she likely to be giving many interviews?”

“I would, if it was me.”

Sutherland growled under his breath, running a hand through his hair in agitation, and Anna sat back, shuffling her papers.

“Apparently both The Sun and The Mirror are claiming to be running exclusives with her, but there again I’m told she’s given an interview to The Guardian too, so it might just be a load of bollocks from the tabloids as usual.”

“Well, they’ll have moved onto something else tomorrow,” he said dismissively, and she gave him a level look.

“Whether or not that’s true, the focus is still on her, and not on the 2,500 jobs we secured for the town,” she said. “She had the nerve to say to your face what thousands of people are probably moaning about over their pints. The tabloids love her.”

“They bloody would,” he muttered, still pacing.

“Of course,” she added, “it helps that she’s very pretty.”

“Can’t say I noticed,” he lied.

“Hmm.”

She didn’t sound convinced, but let it go.

“Fiona Black’s already been doing the rounds of the broadcasters,” she said, and Sutherland whirled to face her. “Apparently she called Miss French to express her support and to commiserate with her on the harmful effects of Government spending cuts on local services.”

“Oh, I just bet she did,” he muttered. The leader of the Opposition had been a thorn in his side ever since winning her party’s nomination for the leadership. “They’re not gonna let it drop, are they?”

Anna tossed her paperwork onto the coffee table and fixed him with a look, opening her mouth.

“Alright, fine,” he said wearily, and she closed her mouth with a snap.

“You don’t know what I’m gonna say.”

“No, but you’re about to tell me I should do something, it’s probably something I’m not gonna like, and it’s probably the right thing to do, so let’s hear it.”

She smirked a little at that.

“I think you should meet her,” she said, and held up a hand as he let out an indignant noise. “It’s election year. The papers will forget about this, but you know full well that the footage of her calling you a knobhead to your face will be circulating every time you go out on the campaign trail.”

“So I should let her call me a knobhead in private?” he said sarcastically. “Yes, what a wonderful idea!”

“No, you should tell her that you recognise and appreciate her passion for public service, and you want to know what the Government can do to help ensure that people don’t get left behind as the country moves forward.”

Sutherland stopped pacing, fingers tapping against his lips as he thought it over.

“Alright,” he said. “I think it’s probably best to face this thing head on, not run away from it. You’re right, that footage is gonna play every time I leave Downing Street otherwise.”

“It’s already trending on Twitter,” she said. “Hashtag FuckThePM. Not sure if that’s meant as an insult or a suggestion.”

Sutherland’s mouth flattened.

“Oh, you’re fucking hilarious.”

“Come on, where’s your sense of humour?”

“Always disappears when I get chewed out on live television,” growled Sutherland. “I presume you’re intending to make a press opportunity out of this?”

“I was thinking that now she’s had a chance to yell at you, she might be a little calmer,” she said. “Showing that you’re listening to people’s concerns will play well.”

He sighed, letting his head roll back.

“She won’t agree.”

“I think she will,” said Anna. “Just let me talk to her.”

“Time’s tight,” he said. “I want this done before tomorrow’s headlines make the press.”

“I’ll see if she’s willing to meet this evening,” she said. “Cameras outside for the meeting, but the two of you talk in private.”

He hesitated, but nodded.

“Alright,” he said. “See if she’ll meet me.”

[vrenaewrites]

CARAVAL thoughts:

FULL VIDEO HERE.

Confession: I DNFed caraval about 2 years ago. I even included this book in a video called “reading 5 star reviews of books I hate” (either screen record and insert the clip from that vid or link in the cards skip to like 6:40 or both)

 Chapter 1

We open with letters that our main character Scarlett has written to the caraval master Legend

She really wants him to come to her island but he hasn’t 

She finally gets one back with three tickets for her Tella and her fiancé 

Chapter 2

Scarlett’s feelings came in colors “urgent red of burning coals, frenzied yellow of a flapping bird’s feathers” 

She goes to tell her sister Tella and finds her making out with a dude lol 

Julian is his name 

The edges of the paper “blazed a shimmery gold, the color of magic and wishes and promises of the things to come”

Tella hates the count Scarlett is betrothed to but Scarlett wants to leave their home so bad she doesn’t care who she ends up with 

“Gods teeth!” Is the expletive…

The prize of caraval is one wish 

They have to leave the isle within 3 days which would be impossible before getting married 

Tella’s lips “shifted from broken to unbreakable” NO

Last time they left Scarlett’s dad did something terrible to her

Julian offers to smuggle them to the island for caraval on his sailor ship (pirate ship??)

“Goldenrod desire lit up inside her”

Wishes were about as real as unicorns

Their dad shows up with gloves “the shade of bruises” 

Tella accuses Scarlett of hooking up with Julian RUDE!!!!

And Julian agrees!

Ohh because the dad beats the other sister so they’re trying to protect each other by accusing each other 

Her marriage is 10 days away

Chapter 3

Her fathers perfume smelled like the color of his gloves 

Julian decides to take them off the isle for free after witnessing this 

Tella says if she leaves she will never return 

“Her world was a grand game board, and her father believed this marriage would be his penultimate move”

“More than your sisters face will bleed” is their dad assaulting them?? Did I just gloss over that when reading this the first time??

“Weather worn white archways” loved 

Governor dragna sounds like judge frollo 

Their mom disappeared 7 years ago - abandoned them 

They have priests and piety and the devil but they don’t use the BC AD calendar instead going by seasons and rulers...why

Chapter 4

She felt the lie from childhood “sneaking into her slippers and moving between her toes” no you didn’t

“A broken dock like a massive tongue jutted out to stones that reminded Scarlett if uneven teeth” 

It was nights like these she could smell the moon - I wrote taste at first and taste fits better imo

A friend tried to help them escape once and the governor drowned him for it, Tella didn’t know about this 

She meets Julian here at midnight and barters all 3 tickets to keep him from helping Tella escape 

Julian and Tella ambush her and knock her out 

Chapter 5

“A pock marked moon winked in the glass”

She has a dream about their nana telling them how legend got his name 

First of all, legend is a bad dumb name and you should feel bad about it, Stephanie Garber. Caraval is also a bad name. 

He was in love with a woman named Annalise and would perform at a coronation to earn her fathers respect, but he needed a witch to grant him a wish of talent 

He had to choose between fame and love

So his name is legend because his magic is legendary? How tf did John legend not sue over this?

“Behind her a cloud drifted over the moon, covering all but two tiny points of light, which hovered behind her silver hair like devil’s horns” love this visual 

I’m calling it now, we’re getting this flashback because somehow, the dragna sisters are related to Annalise or remind legend of Annalise and this is why Tella gets taken 

Chapter 6

She wakes up in a rowboat with Julian after 2 days which is always a good way to pass the 2 days journey it takes without having to make anything happen lol I respect it 

Julian calls her crimson instead of Scarlett - hated it then hate it now 

Trees “rose toward the sky like massive emeralds” and the waterfall “streamed down like melted peacock feathers” no it didn’t because that makes no sense 

Legends private island is called the island of dreams in Spanish 

Tella has set up a kidnapping so Scarlett can go back without getting In trouble

“The image of a purple fire breathing dragon came to mind, coating her vision with ashy shades of anxiety”

I remember stopping very shortly after this and now I remember why - I can do purple prose but DAMN 

Their mom had “vanished taking nothing with her, she disappeared like a broken star leaving the world untouched, save for the missing bits of light but no one would ever see again” Good purple prose 

We get some backstory on how her Nana was more involved after her mother left, and we get to hear again about how great her stories are, even though we just spent a chapter getting that first hand from a flashback

She barters with herself to stay only one day and then go home for her wedding 

There’s a hole in the boat so they swim but she didn’t take her dresses off so she starts to drown

“You deserve this” because of Phillippe, like hands the water pressed her down down down 

Julian saved her and cuts off her dress which she finds very intense 

Chapter 7

So much description of the snowy frosting sand pick one

I get that it’s a magical island but every descriptor up until the sand made it sound like a tropical paradise, and then suddenly the sand is snow and there’s ice and snow on the trees which were just giant emeralds so I’m confused

Because being wet and cold is more scary 

“ The snow on the rooftops rested like dust on abandoned storybooks“

A very diagon alley sitch where there are magical stores but none are open...because it’s caraval guys. They’re at the games 

They go into a clock shop where there are clothes waiting along with food roses and a note from legend 

They change and she sees awful scars on his hot muscly back 

Her dress is lame despite every YA trope about the heroine having a princess moment, that’s fun: just kidding it changed colors and shape to fit her perfect 

And Julian’s outfit is super hot 

He stole a pocket watch 

Scarlett was a pretty girl but she tried to hide it, her eyes were too honest, no one noticed girls in ugly clothes 

“Scarlet wondered if she had found a way to escape her fathers deadly games only to become a well costumed piece on a new game board” no shit Scarlett you came to the island for the game…

Also you were in such a hurry to find Tella and get into the game before it was too late and now you’re waxing poetic about how hot Julian is and how you’re hot but you don’t wanna be 

Chapter 8

“Sage shaded colors of suspicion” I really hate this device she’s using. I’ve used it to describe the colors my mind reading characters see in people's minds. But it’s like twice a book, maybe, to express extreme emotion. Not every time your feelings change. 

Some guy comes in and offers them a portal into caraval and Scarlett is like “sure thing” and Julian is like “ummm dumdum” and he leaves 

The guys like “oh you just gonna listen to that random guy?” And I’m like as opposed to you, another random guy?

He wants her voice okay Ursula 

“A passionate sky made of melting lemons and burning peaches” or say yellows and oranges…

“Until the door was no more” love this, sounds very fairy tale 

She leaves and it's like night already, she only has til midnight 

Scarlett and Julian get in by him pretending to be the count, her fiancé 

They take the path of the players, not the watchers

Chapter 9

“A panicked Vermillion moved inside of her chest as she thought of how specific legends letter had been”

Julian admits he’s played caraval before and Scarlett is like *gasp* but HELLO how did you think he knew all the shit he knew?

He keeps calling her crimson like every time he speaks to her, annoying 

“Julian’s smile turned seductive, all shameless curves and immoral promises” 

Chapter 10

“Soft golden lights licked her arms with gentle kisses of warmth”

I’m very bored when this house is supposed to be EVERYTHING

The guy who was giving them the rules says, “don’t let your eyes or feelings trick you” And then jumps off the balcony and Scarlet freaks out… He just told you not to trust what you see

Scarlett is the most annoying person

Their instructions are to get to the end by sunrise or they’ll be locked out in the streets, but she’s wasting time wanting to look for her sister - and Julian is telling her that her sister is probably staying at the same place and she doesn’t believe him despite the fact that he’s already done this game before, just trust him???

“A searing green door watched Scarlet like a glowing eye”

This just made me figure out why I don’t like that she’s using colors as an emotional device, because the main character is named after a color, and so it’s just way too many color descriptors

Julian got trapped outside noooo

Chapter 11

But it’s fine because she tells the innkeeper they’re guests of legend - which they are - and he’s let in. Great. Glad there are no stakes. They also used legends name to get the boat to the inn for free. 

The hallways in the inn “smelled like the end of the night, sweat and fading fire smoke mixed with lingering breath from words whose ghosts still haunted the air” no

Julian was “poison in an attractive bottle”

Their rooms are actually one room oops

Chapter 12

“But legend saw all during caraval”

She got a message from legend: it’s a key with tella’s name on it 

Lmao tella is having sex behind that door for sure 

“She felt five different shades of berry colored foolish” this is so stupid 

Every time something happens between tella and scar, we get a whole expository moment about how this is related to their mother or their father or the relationship between the sisters… We know. we can tell. we are not stupid.

“Warmth licking her cheek” this metaphor is too specific to keep using it

Some tattooed dude finds her - Dante - and is like “sleep in my room”

He asks her out but she declines because the count 

Damn her dress has transformed to be like see through which is why he was into her lmao 

She has a dream that legend is a creep lol

Chapter 13

Scarlett totally changes her tune re: enjoying herself 

She passes tella’s room and finds a wreck 

“Feathers covered the carnage as if a rebel Angel had gone mad” this is so dumb 

The key she got with tella’s name was a clue, that other people also got 

A pregnant girl offers to help scarlet, and a man steals scarlets favorite earrings from her mother 

Then the pregnant girl steals that stuff 

She realizes there’s a postcard in tella’s room that isn’t hers

Chapter 14

Tella only loved mermaids, and the postcard is of a castle, which was Scarlett’s thing 

The castle is a place on the isle that Julian recognizes 

Dante shows up and Julian is like hell nah 

Dante won last time Julian was here and it cost him a lot

“Shops wrapped in colors like a birthday presents, cerulean blue apricot orange saffron yellow primrose pink while the canals remained midnight dark” SHUT UP dude

This woman got like a color wheel or a color dictionary for her birthday the year she wrote this book 

Time moves fast in the castle 

What’s really annoying about this book is Stephanie Garber spends a lot of time talking about things that are boring, and one sentence on something like hummingbird-sized elephants and tigers

There’s a kissing tent and she’s like fuck yeah let’s go there

You’re engaged

Julian sees where she’s looking and is like yeah??

A tingle of periwinkle curiosity

Chapter 15

She goes into the tent of a half naked dude who could tell her fortune 

This is all very boring 

He has incense that makes people tell the truth and she admits Julian is the hottest guy ever 

She asks what’s the man she will marry really like? 

He’s not a good person 

She’s covered in only pictures he can see instead of pictures only he can see…

She had 2 questions but the way she asked used them up so she doesn’t get to ask about tella 

Chapter 16

He tells her to follow the boy with the heart made of black...obviously Dante, she thinks Julian 

She walks into a potion tent and finds an elixir of protectio

She mentions her father and feels “anise and lavender and rotting plums”

She describe the woman who works in the potion tent as having “bottle green” eyes, but this entire paragraph has the word bottle in it like 1 million times because shes describing a tent full of potions...all these colorful words you’ve used and this is where you use “bottle green”

I don’t mind the descriptor, my own eyes are bottle green, it’s very vivid, but badly placed 

She chases Julian to a decrepit garden with a fountain, and sees a glass button

She also saw a glass button in tella’s room...is this how legend spies on her? Is this where tella is being kept?

“Dreary yellow hopelessness” infected her

She sees the symbol of caraval inside the fountain and touches it, revealing a staircase 

Someone screamed as hot and bright as fire 

It’s madness tunnels 

The inn “smells of laughter and boasts laced with sweetened ale” this doesn’t make seeeeeennnnnnnnse

She finds Julian, but it’s actually Dante and he’s mean to her and she cries but it makes her mad at Julian?????? Stupid 

Chapter 17

Julian finally shows up, super bloody but he just had a head wound

She cleans him up and is getting super horny lol 

He got her earrings back!!!!!

The fire dies sending up a plume of smoke “the color of things better said in whispers” 

She tells him about the tunnels and he says legend treats his prisoners like guests 

Julian’s eyes are the color of “caramel and liquid amber lust”

He almost kisses her and then seems to wake up, leaves and “disappointment wraps around her in cool shades of forget me not blue” STOP

Chapter 18

She wakes up to white roses with red tips 

Julian is supposed to meet her but doesn’t 

A girl shows up “pretty as a watercolor and dressed as bold as a trumpet” DUDE

“Oh poor you, here you are on a magical island, and all you can think of is what you don’t have” get her!

Dante shows up and she realizes he has a black heart tattoo which DUH SCARLETT

chapter 19

The night is “brittle, crisp like the first bite of a chilled apple, smelling just as sweet with hints of burnt sugar weaving through the charcoal night air” THIS IS GOOD PURPLE PROSE! I can taste this!!!!!!!

She’s chasing Dante and finds a cider seller who’s drink will help her see things more clearly, the price is her last lie 

She drinks it and loses the color in her vision 

The game is constantly working against you?????? How?! You’ve stumbled across tons of clues without any work and there are no believable stakes to this game, this drink is the first time you’ve had a struggle…

Iko holds a journal that’s brownish green, “the color of forgotten memories, abandoned dreams, and bitter gossip”

Even in black and white we get this heavy handed color shit 

She realizes anything in color is important

She also sees the red roses on a carousel and the red cravat on a mans neck 

He makes her feel perilous shades of silky black - is Stephanie Garner an artist? Does she have synesthesia or something?? What is with this device!!!!

She looks in Iko’s book and sees pictures of her, the special guest

Sour shades of yellow green made her stomach roil with trepidation - HUH????

She’s like “why would he make the game about me?” You’ve been begging him to bring you caraval your entire life, why do you think? 

I think I remember the nana saying annelise had blonde hair, and so does tella...are they related to her? Is she nana? 

Iko tells her the notebook also holds all the true stories of caraval

Iko will give her the notebook if Scarlett will buy 2 dresses because the changing dress bothers her (??)

Iko takes her to a dress shop where the dresses are “the color of late night laughter, early morning sunshine, and waves crashing around ankles” 

The dresses cost nightmares or secrets or fears

She owes her worst fear and greatest desire, or she can pay 2 days of her life per dress 

It works but her greatest desire isn’t to find her sister, so she pays with 2 days of her life, not at the end of her life but at the end of caraval 

“Panic came in hemlock green, the color of poison and terror” 

“Something acidic and moldy and burnt bubbled up in Scarlett’s throat - the taste of death” like this 

Scarlett’s body dies but her mind will exist in a dream world 

Chapter 20

Dante finds her and drags her into the inn 

Julian hits Dante because he won’t let her go hell yeah

She tells him what happened 

Julian tried to give Scarlett a day of his life by having her drink his blood from his finger and she’s like “I wanna fuck this duuuude”

“His voice is so gentle, made of gentle” I liked this 

Then he drinks her blood from her finger, and the world shatters into a million shards of colored glass 

He lays down with her and holds her while she dies

Chapter 21

Death was the color purple.

She sees tella in the dream world, and tella has a huge dark book that swallows her and Scarlett 

They see young nana in a house similar to the one they entered at caraval, entwined with a young man

Her grandma is Anneliese DUH

Then she’s at the funeral of the woman who died at caraval before

Rosa was in love with legend and he rejected her so she killed herself 

Dante was rosa’s fiancée 

Legend is julian?!?!?

Loved This entire chapter but then it means nothing because none of this is real it’s all part of the game so it’s not really story development

Chapter 22

They both wake up 

Scarlett tries to convince herself the game is messing with her 

Then she remembers what the dream people said about legend loving to make girls fall for him 

She has a grey streak in her hair now 

Her dad is there!

She finally puts it together - her nana is anneliese 

“She could see the sting of her rejection in shades of stormy blue ghosting over his heart like sad morning mist” roll my eyes

But then she remembers that he gave a day of his life for her and is like why would he do that if he was legend 

 Now she’s changed her mind, so she goes after Julian to find him leaving Dante’s room and walking into tella’s 

She goes in after him to hide from her dad but the room is empty 

She finds another secret staircase like the fountain 

She trips over Dante’s dead body and finds Julian standing over it 

Chapter 23

Julian grabs her and is like “I didn't kill him, we were working together” 

He shows her a white rose tattoo he has, Rosa was his sister!!

She asks why he had been acting weird and he basically says he didn’t want to have feelings for her because that wasn’t why he had come to caraval 

Scarlett is like let’s get this fucker back, but she hears her dad’s footsteps in the tunnel  

Chapter 24

They start running, and they hide in a weird alcove from her dad that starts to squish them

She realizes it’s feeding off their fear so they relax and it lets them out

They end up in the sand tunnel and Scarlett is like how could you know I was going to caraval if you were already at our island when I got my tickets 

Julian explains that legend is punishing the descendants of anneliese and he invited her to caraval to stop the wedding

Legend had never responded until she signed her full name on the last letter, mentioning her wedding 

Julian is the fucking count dude calling it 

“His steady gaze reached out to the broken parts of her like a caress, a type of touch that moved through damaged flesh, past fractured bones and into a person's wounded soul.” WOW

Scarlett hears tella’s voice and almost runs straight off a cliff

“Tella loved danger the same way candle wicks loved to burn. It never seemed to scare her that some of the things she lusted for might consume her like a flame” Christ 

Julian knew tella would be taken during caraval 

Chapter 25

She had to find tella before legend consumed her like a flame burning a candle” you just used a candle metaphor like one page ago my dude. 

She gives herself one minute to cry and scream and Julian hears her so he barges in, worried 

He apologizes and she gives him the grace I’ve been waiting for as soon as he said he knew what would happen to tella: he had to avenge his sister. Everything they’re both doing is for their sisters, she should be more understanding 

Julian is “all kinds of tragic and lovely”

The box was “flat black, the color of failure and funerals” shut UP

Like if you wanna use the color device to describe your protagonists feelings stop being so fucking flowery with every single color in the book it is soooooooooooooooo distracting

It’s the other dress Scarlett has bought but now it’s white

Chapter 26

There’s a note in the box from legend that makes “invisible spiders crawl over her skin” ok 

She thinks the dress is the 5th clue - the buttons on the dress reminds her of the buttons leading to the hat store 

Chapter 27

They go to the top hat place and Julian is like “this is all wrong” 

Iko appears looking like “a teardrop the moon had cried” love it

She tells them not to go into the hat shop 

Let me guess, despite both of these omens Scarlett is still gonna go in 

“Scarlett had an emerald green premonition that she would make a discovery inside” sure why tf not gotta keep the story moving somehow 

She sees the store owner and was like LEGEND and he’s like nah dude I’m just wearing a hat 

But he is the guy that was wearing the red cravat and eyepatch from the day her vision went gray 

He is the count!!!!!

Chapter 28

Nicholas Darcy 

And her dad is there!!!!!!!!!!

Julian gets her out but the count chases her and they get on a boat 

She sees her dad and he looks afraid but she blames it on the rain 

They row to the castle and Julian convinces her to get inside to hide from the lightning 

And they argue about if she’s still planning marrying the count and she’s torn which hurts him 

He says “are you sure you want this?” Before kissing her and like is it a consent thing or is it him asking if he’s what she wants either way I love it 

“The boy who had saved her from drowning in more ways than one” explain…

They kiss and “every touch created colors she had never seen” that’s so anticlimactic 

Chapter 29

The stones fall through the hourglass like “drops of falling rose petals” that makes no sense but we have to include it because...

She finally realizes the roses that have been EVERYWHERE are part of the game duh 

She takes Julian to the fountain where the tunnel entrance is

She feels ochre shades of uneasy

Only NOW she’s giving pause at the idea of winning because she could wish them safe...shoulda been your goal all along. Should have been equally as important as finding tella since if you find her you win the wish….I’m signing heavily atm 

The governor and the count are there!!!!! 

Swear to god if Julian dies I’m going to fucking riot 

She wants to split up but Julian is like fuck no 

The count catches up to her and the governor pulls her by her hair up the stairs 

He punches her in the stomach to warn Julian and she gets back up, with the count trying to protect Scarlett

“A slick mud colored feeling coated Scarlett’s insides” because the governor is holding a knife to Julian’s throat

He cuts Julian’s face NOOOOOO

The governor takes Julian to his room and let’s the count sleep in Scarlett’s room because “he’s already paid for her, he can enjoy her a few days early”

Scarlett stands up to her dad!!!! And then she remembers tella’s words: what if the count is worse?

Scarlett tells the count if she makes her dad stop, she’ll be a good wife but if he doesn’t she will never be his obedient wife 

“Do you really want a bride who will only sleep with you because someone will be tortured if she doesn’t?” YES

Chapter 30

The count is like “listen I am NOT like your dad I’m sorry” and she’s like yeah but you’re not Julian 

The count starts undressing and Scarlett aims a poker at his eyeball lmao 

She finally remembers the elixir of protection in that dress from the tent and soaks the count 

The count is like “you’re playing into legends hands” and Scarlett is like “nah he did me a favor by getting rid of you”

Chapter 31

Julian’s cut isn’t that deep thank god but he’s still woozy 

“He tasted like midnight and wind”

Leap of faith - roses - it’s Rosa!!!!! She has to ask how Rosa died and Julian says she jumped off a balcony 

They decide to sneak out using the tunnels to go search all the balconies

Chapter 32

The town during the day looks like a “faded memory”

She hears music from the rose colored carousel 

The musician has been asking for coins the whole time but nothing else cost money

They jump onto the moving carousel and end up in the roses where Scarlett finds the caraval symbol

They have to jump, Julian gives her coordinates to a boat in case they get separated but they run out of time and she has to go in 

She lands in a river and lands at a staircase guarded with statues that are definitely frozen people 

Legend is there ofc 

Chapter 33

She’s a little star struck by legend 

His laugh is a rich spicy sound that echoes until he snaps his fingers 

Homeboy is mad 

Julian ends up there, dry, and...he’s working with legend...NOOOOOOO

Dante and Valentina were also part of the game 

Rosa was not his sister...DUDE

She clutches his pocket watch and legend opens it - Julian’s voice comes out apologizing for betraying her 

He does love her HE IS ENCHANTED!!!!!

LEGEND STABS JULIAN?!?!?!?!?!?

Oh fuck he is spitting blood oh fuck oh no 

Scarlett you got him killed you dumdum 

Chapter 34

I’m FUCKING FURIOUS 

she remembers that she gets one wish, and she wants to use it to bring Julian back and I swear to goooooddddddd if he doesn’t come back I’m gonna throw myself out the window 

Legend is gone, leaving a funeral invitation for tella set for tomorrow this guy is a MONSTER

Chapter 35

She ends up on a huge rooftop way high up 

“The air felt soft and poisonous” 

Tella is there feeling like “softness and sunlight and seeds for growing dreams”

We just used soft a sentence ago!!!!

Tella is like “you’re confused, the game is playing tricks on you”

Scarlett tells her about their grandmas history with legend 

She shows tella the invitation and it now says it’s to a party not a funeral

Chapter 36

Tella has met a boy that’s not legend...it’s a guy she met right before she got taken for the game…

She’s engaged to him??

Scarlett is like maybe tella is right and this is all part of it...Scarlett DUDE 

Scarlett has a bitter yellow puddle of dread in her stomach 

If Daniel is Dante or Julian I’m gonna scream 

Chapter 37

It’s legend of course 

Duh 

He tries to convince tella to tie Scarlett up you better NOT

TELLA

YOU DUMB BITCH

legend dares Scarlett to walk to the edge of the balcony to prove she loves her sister, so that he can feign worry to tella

They tie her up 

The governor and the count show up FUCK

finally legend admits to tella who he is and she just breaks poor baby 

Tella backs up to the ledge and says if the governor or the count touch Scarlett she’ll kill herself!!!!!!!

“Silver slippers sliding” toward the balcony 

Scarlett breaks free but tella FUCKING JUMPS

Chapter 38

So now who is Scarlett gonna use her wish on?!

Her father looks like “a dragon with no fire and broken wings”

The governor slaps Jovan and legend is like imma fuck you UP 

The governor killed Dante!!!!!!

She blackmails her dad with Philippe’s death 

She remembers her wish...but who does she use it on?! 

Which oof, oof, OOF

Tella is a brat lmao 

Legend won’t give her the wish!!!!!

He’s...fading?? 

Scarlett goes to give tella her blood 

She wishes her impossible wish but it doesn’t work

Chapter 39

She goes back up to get tella’s stuff and finds a caraval box with a letter inside from tella to legend that she didn’t know about 

Chapter 40

She goes to see legend and finds out he’s actually some dude named Caspar…that was why he couldn’t grant her wish 

There’s a stack of letter between tella and legend that basically illustrate that tella was willing to die for legend to get them to caraval 

Tella is alive?!?!?!?!?!?

This was all a fucking game?!

Her impossible wish came true, but she had actually died 

Tella orchestrated their dad getting to caraval so he could see her die, and so he would leave Scarlett alone 

Chapter 41

So Julian is not really dead, but tella wanted anyone who made Scarlett love them to be taken out, that way she wouldn’t get hurt by someone who was just pretending 

So she somehow warps this into meaning that Julian didn’t actually love her? Go...ask him??????? The fuck 

God poor Scarlett…

So people can die in caraval, but when the game is over, they come back...so there were no fuckin stakes except for tella’s death

Chapter 42

They go to legends party in the forest and Scarlett sees Julian 

Iko is there like go talk to Julian dumdum 

“Shades of the rich ruby love she’d felt mixed with deep indigo hurt turning everything just a little bit violet” I don’t care I want them to kiss Stephanie 

Julian is so hurt that she thinks she doesn’t know him

He’s related to legend…

Rosa dying changed his opinion of legend 

He tried to leave the game right before this caraval 

Legend is his brother!!!!!!!!!

He couldn’t leave Scarlett because she loved her sister like Julian loved his brother 

He stayed because of Scarlett despite how it hurt him to lie to her 

Yaaaaaay they kiss yay omg 

Epilogue

Tella is dancing drunk at the party and is dancing with a new guy who dances her to the edge of the party...then he’s gone?

He dropped something into her pocket...a coin with a note…

From legend!!!!!

You can see your mom soon if you keep up your end of the bargain!!!!!

[cielospeaks]

i have no idea on the title but f-h shakes themed (dancer) banner

5 person (1 presumably temp trials? prolly morrigan), everyone (with exception) based on a shakespeare play, but loosely so. they all have “play” instead of sing/dance, which is basically the same thing. its supposed to be post musician/bard (ie niles) so with the same sorta dealio

my thought was basically like “welp theyve done everything now next years dancer banner could be renaissance outfits instead” and then that went directly to “shakespeare play banner” so. this wont happen but i love it and its so indulgent (imean 2 of them are my ocs so)

- kasumi (twelfth night)- blue tome, infantry. tome is personal and called “the wind and the rain”, grants the water/wind + at the start of turn and/or to the partner when danced to. kasumi herself is enjoying herself, maybe suggested the idea to the others. mentions how she can feel free to speak her mind while acting.

- fernand (hamlet)- red sword, infantry. weapon is called “poison fencing sword” or something like that and deals effective against infantry. is taking this seriously, stews on the nature of a revenge play for family. probably relates most to laertes out of the play. finds hamlet kinda dishonorable and annoying/hard to read but is dedicated to seeing this through.

- hrid (amnd)- colorless dagger, infantry. weapon is a tambourine and gets really into it in his dance animation. has poofy renaissance pants. the story of the paralogue is either solely these idiots or abt the other nifl sibs showing up for his performance (and none of the other ocs). the animation on his weapon has little donkeys and fairies and flowers. the same sweet and oblivious (bottom) boi we love.

- luci (ro+ju)- green tome, horse. tome is like “garland concoction” or something, based on the poison from the play. my original thought was masqureade lucimorri but this is same idea only better. takes this masked role seriously too. a good bean in any outfit. maybe called “star crossed future”? in reference to original lucis subtitle? bc it sounds so darn awesome.

- morrigan (ro+ju)- color? dagger, infantry. “macabre masquer” maybe? weapon is based on the dagger from the play. super stoked to be playing this role with luci! even if its just for the play its so up her alley- morbid and deadly but also tragic and romantic and gutwrenching. she eagerly says she hopes her parents and friends (johann and orion) are watching the play.

the plot of the paralogue as mentioned in hrids, is prolly his sibs going to the world. like they all 3 got an invitation to the world, wondering where he is. the first map is vs maybe hrid/luci/fern and is like “nobles theme”, whereas the second is “non nobles theme” w morrigan and kasumi. the last one is all of them together ofc. the nifl sibs are the only heroes ocs that appear in it. or the tempest trial for that matter. prolly luci is tt boss

also included but not appearing is (if they were there) caesar represented by kronya and ursula, who have an argument as to who should be cassius, since theyre both more suited to play him. kaze just sits it out and kinda wants to go home. laegjarn represents macbeth, but fits macduff much closer characterwise. she also respects his motives and thinks shed do the same if anyone brought harm to laevetain. idunn just kinda. well shes kinda just watching, but if she wants to join delthea shares the narrator script w her.

[theskyexists]

episode 22

you know what i hate?

when people create a character and she’s all insecure and shit and then she gets up the guts to say an important thing

and then she gets interrupted A THIRD TIME

like.

what the fuck is wrong with trigger for doing this.

just ufkcing hell. so much hatred inside of me. for this stupid ass thing i saw coming. come the fuck on. Where’s akko’s response to Croix being a fuckin traitor anyway.

give me a whole episode of akko dealing with ursula-sensei = chariot. you fucking cowards

oh yeah whatever, akko just go and meetyer friend in town, whatever. that totally wasn’t importatn to tell you or WHATEVER.

holy fuckin shit. are we gonna get an episode long flashback and akko won’t even know the fuckin g story? fuck this. FUCK THIS, TRIGGER!

instead of course, she’s gonna tell Diana the whole damn story bc Diana already knows kinda. Diana is ofc also a fan but like,

UGH

(she doesnt know ok, and that doesnt happen -)

oh shit ok that’s a good twist. she was actually affected by the pollen. which makes sense. but is so terrible and sad : (

fuk u Croix.

somehow akko hadn’t yet realised Croix was a traitorous bastard. But i think she knows now that she’s being beastie murdered. like? huh?? Croix isn’t above taking her magic but she also isn’t above taking her life???

i mean you’ve fallen pretty far. oh she was just subduing her? like that wasn’t even necessary tho

OHHHH CHARIOTTTTT (she didnt get pollen’d?)

(she gonna find out i believe she is).....ah

ok cool so she absorbed people’s magic including lots of akko’s. uh but why though. ya it’s shitty but WHY. methods to what result?

but now i understand why she was so very reluctant to tell akko.

welp i fucking hated this twist

ok so it seems im kinda negative-emotion filled. because i absolutely fucking hated this even thought narratively it was a great twist. I am just...it’s the helplessness of the character(s). Chariot is always a step behind. her past is a burden, she can never fuckin best Croix, she’s always losing or making herself small, unsure, in pain.

I love her when she acts, when she acts as she was supposed to be and act. But that was stolen from her, I bet by Croix.

But this explains how Diana lost her magic. But this also goes to show that if you are willing enough, work hard enough, you can regain that magic. i don’t know how or why....