#and an alice in wonderland one that i think has a bit of all the colors im wearing

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The West Passage

medieval fantasy set in a giant crumbling palace of traditions with forgotten origin, ruled by giant eldritch Ladies

when winter weather comes in the middle of summer, and a beast below the palace begins to rise, two teens from Grey who have suddenly gained a lot of responsibilities set out on separate journeys to the other towers to find a way to stop it, and meet all sorts of strange people and creatures along the way

world where pronouns/names are based on people’s roles

tons of cool medieval-style chapter illustrations by the author

[florida3exclamationpoints]

I have to pick my magic band for Disney and unfortunately little customizable things like this are my favorite things ever so this is one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in my life

[vintagecandy]

1920s Edward Nygma, A.K.A -- The Riddler! ( I will try to make this one slightly more brief lmao ) ☆ ETSY // COMMISSIONS

So when it comes to the Riddler, ordinarily, I always struggle with him aesthetically, because he doesn't have as much obvious themeing as "southern halloween" or "the entirety of alice in wonderland", and so I knew I wanted to take advantage of how severely I am rearranging all the rogue's aesthetics to give the Riddler something specific and time period appropriate to visually do, yknow?

In my mind, when I think of the Riddler I think of... technically winnable but highly tilted competitions of wit. Almost like a rigged game. That, combined with a very cocky "wise ass" personality. So! I knew pretty early on I wanted him to be a carnival barker! ( Puzzles and riddles and things of that nature were more common as a pass-time back then ) I considered giving him a straw boater instead of his usual bowler hat... but the bowler hat is so iconic to him and time period appropriate, so I left it. I think it still gives carnival owner, tbh, just a little more greasy than cute. Which fits, frankly. Yes, so although carnival imagery is associated with the Joker, the Joker is, of course, a silent film comedian ( in loving homage to his origin ), thus freeing up the funhouse for Edward. Although, he's no clown, he's more the one making a fool out of you.

Edward Nygma, as an orphan immigrant of Irish descent, came to America with nothing but the clothes on his back and his eyes on that shining city on the hill, the beacon of opportunity, and above all-- the land of meritocracy. Of course, however, reality set in after he stepped foot off the boat. It also didn't help the city he set foot in was Gotham. Despite being an engineering prodigy befit the rapidly industrializing city of the future, he ran into bad luck after bad luck, constantly seeming to stumble on his way up the ladder as opportunities slipped away and seemed to be given to-- in his mind-- less deserving men. With his frustration mounting, and a compulsive mind that never seems to let him let any insults to his pride go, it all comes to a breaking point when one of Gotham's biggest corporations scams him out of the patent for one of his innovations. Its only then does he finally realize what the "land of opportunity" really means.

Giving up on the "honest man" approach, Edward resorts to cheap cons, eventually building enough success to open a carnival of games, mysteries, snake oil, and of course, riddles-- Taking on the performer name "The Riddler" as a face for the event. A big, shiny bauble to lure in the dumb masses to willingly fork up their money to him. After all, if they were stupid enough to fall for it, they deserve whatever happens to them. However, this was all a front for the far grander scheme he constructs to take down the company who wronged him all that time ago. Because who would ever suspect a two-bit carnie could be capable of such a thing?

But, careful as he was, stirring trouble that big was enough to bring the attention of the Bat, eventually-- of course-- leading to the reveal that the Riddler anticipated their arrival and turned his carnival into a puzzle laden death trap. Even though Batman wins, because of course, he does incidentally ( or perhaps on purpose ) reveal to the public that the Ed is the real genius behind his stolen tech, thus leaving Mr. Nygma laughing all the way to the mad house. Even if he still doesn't get to own the patent.

Edward has a more... modern and subtle mental illness, being his OCD and other symptoms, and I feel a corrupt 1920s mad house that only vaguely cares to cure its patients would struggle to even understand exactly what the source of his more erratic behavior is coming from. He's constantly tense, speaks a mile a minute and for long periods, and is prone to sudden and aggressive outbursts of anger. They will likely acknowledge he seems obsessive, hyperactive, and prone to grandiose thinking but consider him a less hopeless case compared to say, Jervis Tetch.

However, his alignment lands him squarely in the anti-society section, thus aligning him with his soon to be sometimes-partners in crime, Jonathan and Jervis.

[xjulixred45x]

I just need to say that I LOVE your work, especially the ones that can be read as platonic.

So as an inverse of the parent Yuu post, let me suggest a child!Yuu, you can decide the age, but I was thinking like under 10 because

1. It is very funny to imagine a kid being involved in all the teenager drama.

The way that thing would go is just so funny. I am a pacifist, guilty, fan of Papa Crowley, but imagine him as a person who still would give Kid!Yuu the tasks as the original one is hilarious.

3. Platonic twist boys, my beloveds.

And I think that Kid!Yuu could be those kids who are a little up on the time; ngl, I like neglect Reader/Mc/Yuu content a lot so lets put a little a bit of it too.

I guess this is it; it sounds more like me divagating than anything else, but okay. Remember to eat something, stay hydrated, and keep up the good work.

-🐦‍⬛✨

Aww, thank you so much! I love the platonic content in any series, but especially in Twisted Wonderland because I relate to many of the characters' struggles (I had a really difficult period of depression as a teenager, among other things), so part of me just wants to go and give them a hug.

Technically, I already have a series of posts as Child! Yuu, but I understand what you're saying and I like it!

Probably Child! Yuu did something rash like letting go of their parents' hands while crossing the street and was hit by the black carriage and transported to TWST. Either way, at first they didn't see the gravity of the situation, precisely because of the childlike mentality of now being in their own version of Alice in Wonderland (not in those exact words, but definitely with that train of thought).

In this way, they quickly becomes friends with Ace, Deuce, and Grim. After all, there isn't much to do while Crowley tries to "bring them back home." So they tries to have fun however they wants, without worrying about anything until the incident with the monster in the mine (perhaps it happens slightly differently here, but with the same essence and result). It's from this point on that Child! Yuu is generally more protected by Deuce, Ace and Grim.

Crowley lets Yuu live within the institution instead of Ramshackle, and is surprisingly present when it comes to the little child from another world. It's not uncommon to see Yuu sleeping in his office, stealing his hat, or even tucked into his coat when there's nothing else to do. When they ask Crowley about it, he simply says he allows them this kind of closeness because he's "very kind," but the truth is everyone can see the clear favoritism (which is why, if any student breaks something, they blame Yuu directly, knowing it will simply be swept under the rug. If it were any other student, it would be an instant detention).

Riddle is sincerely concerned that Ace and Deuce will be bad influences on Yuu, so he lets them know that he won't tolerate any out-of-character behavior with such a young child present (things like rude gestures, swearing, obscene signs, as he says, will be severely punished even without Yuu's presence). However, he also has his restrictions for Yuu, such as a limited amount of candy (he doesn't want the kid to get cavities so early in life), they can only play with the hedgehogs for the same amount of time they studies/reads a book, etc.

Riddle post-Overblot is much softer on Yuu as a child, especially if Yuu themself has a history of neglect from their family in their world. Riddle himself has fresh childhood wounds, so he doesn't want this GOOD child to end up swallowed up by pain and trauma the same way he was. If he can contribute to making Yuu's childhood happier, then he'll gladly do so.

Leona doesn't like children; I think we can consider that a universal truth. At least not loud and nosy children, and Yuu initially counted as loud and nosy, though one thing Leona found funny about them was that the child acted much older than they actually was, as if they could do something to him. Yuu isn't scary, not one bit, but they're not afraid of anything, so Leona respects their courage.

There are some things Yuu says that show they didn't have a good upbringing in their world, and that leads to something new: sympathy. Leona isn't easy on the kid, obviously, but he doesn't leave them to fate (whether it's sending Jack to make sure the kid stays alive or Ruggie to bring em something extra). Let's just say that Yuu and Leona, in a weird way, understand each other.

Azul definitely tries to take advantage of Crowley's favoritism toward Yuu to get him to make a deal with him, but fortunately Yuu understands the concept of "stranger danger" and avoids him at all costs. After Book 3, however, Yuu started stopping by Octavinelle if he wanted something better than cafeteria food (or the food Crowley gave them). Floyd especially loves to play (non-lethal way) with Yuu; it's not uncommon to see him running around campus with Yuu on his shoulders (usually screaming, either from happiness or fear, that is the question).

I don't think Child!Yuu can join the first-year classes for obvious reasons, but Azul is quite willing to give them private lessons so they doesn't stagnate in their education (with a small fee that Crowley has to pay, of course). Though sometimes it seems like it's just an excuse for Yuu to come to Octavinelle when they're too overwhelmed by Crowley's disasters.

Kalim finds Yuu adorable! He has some trouble taking his hands off them—he just wants to squeeze their face, hug them, and GHAAAAA! He totally has bouts of cute aggression. With Kalim's massive amount of siblings, you can expect him to be especially empathetic and protective of younger Yuu; he can't help but see them as his little sibilings.

Kalim gets really sad whenever Yuu mentions anything that implies they didn't have loving parents or a happy childhood in general, which can lead to a cuddle session on his part, assuring Yuu that they'll never want for anything while in Scarabia (and Kalim makes sure he lives up to that promise). If it weren't for Crowley (and his age), Kalim would have already adopted Yuu as a little sibiling.

By the events of Book 5, Yuu is already showing more signs of nostalgia and missing their world than before, even to the point of changing attitude. Vil is probably one of the people who notices this change when he sees them interacting with Ace and Deuce (during their time in Ramshackle). Vil isn't gentle with anyone under any circumstances, but it worries him a little to see this normally cheerful and energetic child suddenly so downcast and sad. That doesn't look good, honey. No child should look so broken.

Vil is probably the only one of the dorm leaders who goes directly to Crowley with his concerns. Even if he takes the director's promises with a grain of salt, he does make it his mission to make sure Yuu is okay, both physically and psychologically. This includes using an outing or event as an excuse for Yuu to have fun, or even turning a blind eye to things he normally wouldn't allow (eating sweets or junk food, getting dirty while playing, etc.).

Idia knew about Yuu from the rumors surrounding them, but he didn't really think they'd ever really interact until the events of Book 6. After that, there's a good chance Ortho and Yuu became good friends (being the closest in age to Yuu), so Idia went from never seeing Yuu to seeing them a few times on an average day. Sometimes the older brother instinct extends to Yuu too (maybe because they reminds him of Ortho in a way), in things like keeping Yuu from touching things they shouldn't, patting them on the head when they gets an answer right, etc.

Idia is...awkward for comfort, but he tries, genuinely tries. Besides, it's very likely that he himself is looking for a way to get Yuu back home, not only because he KNOWS Crowley isn't doing shit, but because there are surely people going crazy looking for Yuu in their world (maybe not the parents, but another family member must surely be very worried about them).

Malleus was always curious about the human child who unexpectedly arrived in his life. Not only was they not afraid of him, but they saw him in a way that Malleus could only describe as fascination and curiosity, something truly incredible to him. For this reason, Malleus constantly followed Yuu, whether to prevent the kid from hurting themself or being hurt by others, but he also ended up enjoying their company, their simple way of seeing the world, even seeing him.

For this reason, Malleus quickly noticed when his young friend began to become more discouraged, struggling to keep up with the tasks the adults assigned them (quite irresponsibly, he could say). Malleus understands to a certain extent (he compares this to how he used to miss Lilia when he went on trips), so if Yuu needs someone to listen to them the way they listens to others, Malleus has his arms open.

________

(ESPAÑOL)

Awwww muchas gracias! Amo el contenido platónico de cualquier serie, pero especialmente en Twisted Wonderland porque me identifico con muchas de las luchas de los personajes (tuve una etapa depresiva muy difícil en la adolescencia, entre otras cosas), por lo que una parte de mí solo quiere ir y darles un abrazo.

Ya tengo técnicamente una serie de posts como Child! Yuu, pero entiendo lo que dices ¡y me gusta!

Probablemente Child!Yuu hizo algo precipitado como soltarse de la mano de sus padres al cruzar la calle y fue golpeado por el carruaje negro y transportado a TWST. De cualquier manera, al principio no veían la gravedad de la situación, justamente por la mentalidad infantil de ahora estar en su propia versión de Alicia en el país de las maravillas (no con esas palabras exactas, pero definitivamente con ese tren de pensamiento).

De esa forma se hace amigo de Ace, Deuce y Grim bastante rápido, después de todo no hay mucho que hacer mientras Crowley trata de “regresarlo a casa”, asi que trata de divertirse como quiera, sin preocuparse por nada hasta el incidente con el monstruo en la mina (talvez aquí pasa de forma ligeramente diferente, pero con la misma esencia y resultado). Es a partir de aquí que Child!Yuu es mas resguardado por Adeuce y Grim en general.

Crowley deja que Yuu viva dentro de la institución en vez de ramshackle, y es sorprendentemente presente cuando se trata del pequeño niño de otro mundo. No es raro ver a Yuu durmiendo en su oficina, robando su sombrero o incluso metido en su abrigo cuando no hay nada que hacer. Cuando le preguntan a Crowley al respecto, el simplemente dice que le permite este tipo de cercanía porque es “muy amable” pero la verdad todos pueden ver que hay un claro favoritismo (por lo mismo, si algún estudiante rompe algo, directamente culpan a Yuu, porque saben que entonces simplemente será barrido bajo la alfombra. Si fuera cualquier otro estudiante seria detención instantánea).

Riddle sinceramente está preocupado de que Ace y Deuce sean unas malas influencias en Yuu, por lo que les hace saber que no va a tolerar ningún comportamiento fuera de lugar con un niño tan joven presente (cosas como gestos groseros, malas palabras, signos obscenos, como él dice, serán severamente castigados incluso sin la presencia de Yuu), sin embargo, también tiene sus restricciones para Yuu, como un número limitado de dulces (no quiere que el nene tenga caries tan temprano en la vida), solo puede jugar con los erizos el mismo tiempo que estudio/leyó un lbro, etc.

Riddle post Overblot es mucho más blando con Yuu niño y más si el propio Yuu tiene un historial de negligencia por parte de su familia en su mundo. Riddle mismo tiene heridas de la infancia frescas, por lo que no quiere que este niño BUENO termine absorbido por el dolor y trauma de la misma forma que él lo hizo, si él puede contribuir que la infancia de Yuu sea más feliz, entonces lo hará encantado.

Leona no le gustan los niños, creo que podemos considerar eso una verdad universal. Al menos los niños ruidosos y entrometidos, y Yuu al principio contaba como ruidoso y entrometido, aunque algo que Leona encontraba gracioso de él es que el niño actuaba como si fuera mucho más grande de lo que realmente era, como si pudiera hacer algo contra EL. Yuu no asusta, ni un poco, pero no le tiene miedo a nada, por lo que Leona respeta sus agallas.

Hay algunas cosas que Yuu dice que dejan ver que no tuvo una buena crianza en su mundo, y eso lleva a algo nuevo, simpatía. Leona no es suave con el niño, obviamente, pero no lo deja a su suerte (ya sea mandando a Jack para asegurarse de que el niño siga vivo o Ruggie para llevarle algo extra). Digamos que Yuu y Leona, de una forma rara, se entienden.

Azul definitivamente trata de aprovecharse del favoritismo de Crowley hacia Yuu para que asi haga un trato con él, pero afortunadamente Yuu conoce el concepto de “peligro extraño” y lo evitaba a cualquier costa. Después del libro 3, sin embargo, Yuu empezó a pasar por Octavinelle si quería algo mejor que la comida de la cafetería (o la comida que le daba Crowley). Floyd especialmente le encanta jugar (de forma no letal) con Yuu, no es raro verlo correr por el campus con Yuu en sus hombros (normalmente gritando, de felicidad o de miedo, esa es la cuestión).

No creo que Child!Yuu pueda unirse a las clases de los de primer año por obvias razones, pero Azul esta bastante dispuesto a darle clases particulares para que no se estanque en su educación (con una pequeña cuota que Crowley tiene que pagar por supuesto). Aunque a veces parece que es solo una excusa para que Yuu venga a Octavinelle cuando esta muy sobrecargado de los desastres de Crowley.

Kalim encuentra a Yuu adorable! Tiene ciertos problemas en quitarle las manos encima ¡simplemente quiere apretarle la cara, abrazarlo y GHAAAAA! Completamente tiene ataques de cute agression. Con la cantidad masiva de hermanos que tiene Kalim, puedes esperar que sea especialmente empático y protector con un Yuu más joven, no puede evitar ver en ellos a sus hermanos pequeños.

Kalim se siente muy mal cada vez que Yuu menciona algo que denota que no tuvo padres amorosos o una infancia feliz en general, lo que puede llevar a una sesión de abrazos por su parte y asegurarle a Yuu que nunca le faltara nada estando en Scarabia (y vaya que Kalim se asegura de cumplir esa parte). Si no fuera por Crowley (y su edad), Kalim ya habría adoptado a Yuu como hermanito.

Para los eventos del libro 5, Yuu ya empieza a tener mas signos de nostalgia y de extrañar su mundo que antes, incluso llegando a cambiar de actitud, y probablemente una de las personas que se da cuenta de este cambio es Vil cuando le ve interactuar con Ace y Deuce (durante el tiempo que estuvieron en ramshackle). Vil no es suave con nadie bajo ninguna circunstancia, pero le preocupa un poco mucho ver a este niño normalmente alegre y enérgico, de la nada, tan desplomado y triste. Eso no se ve bien, cariño, ningún niño debería verse tan acabado.

Vil es probablemente el único de los líderes de dormitorio que va directamente con Crowley con sus preocupaciones, aun si toma con un gran gramo de sal las promesas del director, lo toma en sus manos asegurarse de que Yuu esté bien, tanto física como psicológicamente, ya sea usando de excusa alguna salida o evento para que Yuu se divierta, incluso haciendo la vista gorda de cosas que normalmente no le permitiría (comer dulces o comida chatarra, ensuciarse al jugar, etc.)

Idia sabia de Yuu por los rumores que había a su alrededor, pero realmente no pensó que llegarían a interactuar de verdad hasta los eventos del libro 6. Después de eso, hay una buena posibilidad de que Ortho y Yuu se hicieran buenos amigos (al ser lo más cercano en edad a Yuu), por lo que Idia paso de no ver nunca a Yuu a verle unas cuantas veces en un dia promedio. a veces el instinto de hermano mayor también se extiende a Yuu (talvez porque le recuerda de cierta forma a Ortho), en cosas como evitar que Yuu toque cosas que no debe, darle palmadas en la cabeza cuando dice bien una respuesta, etc.

Idia es…incómodo para el confort, pero lo intenta, genuinamente lo intenta. Además, es muy probable que el mismo este buscando una forma de regresar a Yuu a su casa no solo porque él SABE que Crowley no hace una mierda, sino porque de seguro hay gente que está perdiendo la cabeza buscando a Yuu en su mundo (talvez no sus padres, pero otra familia de seguro debe estar muy preocupada por ellos).

Malleus siempre sintió curiosidad por el niño humano que llego de forma inesperada a su vida, no solo no le tenía miedo, sino que lo veía de una forma que Malleus solo podía decir que era fascinación y curiosidad, algo verdaderamente increíble para él. Por lo mismo, Malleus seguía constantemente a Yuu, ya fuera para evitar que el niño se lastimara o que lo lastimaran, pero también termino disfrutando de su compañía, de su forma simple de ver el mundo, de verlo a él incluso.

Por lo mismo, Malleus noto rápidamente cuando su joven amigo empezó a estar más desanimado, a tener problemas para estar a la altura de las tareas que le dejaban los adultos (de forma bastante irresponsable, podía decir). Malleus entiende hasta cierto punto (compara esto con como el solia extrañar a Lilia cuando se iba de viaje), por lo que, si Yuu necesita a alguien que le escuche de la misma forma que el escucha a los demás, Malleus tiene los brazos abiertos.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[heartslabyuls]

been messing with this for a while, but i think i’ll finally post the first three dorms for my swap au!!

these aren’t necessarily what i think the rsa uniforms would be in canon, just how i’d personally adapt them to the main cast in these positions. i don’t think a dorm based on the lion king would even exist at all in canon rsa.

design notes below the cut!

the pictures above the characters are the iterations/versions where i drew most inspiration for each design, both physical and writing. riddle and ace had the most inspiration taken from different places.

Heartslabyul —> Eccentryul

riddle’s design is painfully obviously ripped off of the alice in wonderland black butler ova. i spent so long sketching out ideas for him then ended up rewatching some black butler episodes and literally stole ciel’s clothes.

since eccentryul doesn’t have a dress code, all students are free to dress as they please. riddle is meant to look like an outlier among the other members of his dorm to highlight his role as the alice of the group while still looking like he belongs there. every character is wearing some kind of coat, however riddle is the only one with something overtop of it. all characters have slightly more muted colors in their clothing whereas riddle’s blues are a bit brighter.

trey and cater, as the third year pair, have flat colored hair without any change. ace and deuce as the first year pair have two colors in their hair. and riddle has no coloring to his hair at all as the only second year.

riddle’s headband is tied to resemble bunny ears! he no longer has his heart ahoge, unfortunately too much damage to his hair has made them recede back into his hair. but! his bangs have the general shape of a heart to make up for it!

deuce’s shoes were inspired by chat noir from ladybug. the paws look is adorable and i use it whenever i can. ace also has pawbs shoes, but they’re slippers! specifically the kind of slippers you could wear outside with the firm bottoms.

Savanaclaw —> Savirvana

i looked at so many possible references and did my research on kenyan clothing trends and traditional styles, but NOTHING i did came out right, so i just ended up basing it off of the outfits from leona’s hometown event. i simplified them a bit more than those, because event outfits tend to be more dramatic and detailed than the base outfits.

leona’s skin was shifted to a darker, more red tone, to match the deeper red tones of his hair. his warmer colors give off a more approachable feeling compared to the cooler, dark tones of his original design. his tattoo is a butterfly to symbolize the change simba experiences in his character arc in the movie.

ruggie is still pale, however he’s now tanned due to his constant time outside in such a hot and sunny environment. his freckles are kind of hard to see in the image quality but they’re still there! ruggie really doesn’t change much, his personality is already very firting to timon and pumba-

jack’s hair color also sees a significant change, mostly because there were too many white-haired characters LMAO. the brown colors give him a calmer look, fitting his personality more than the bright white hair and tail. unlike leona and ruggie, since jack grew up in an environment with a wider variety of temperatures and climates, he isn’t as used to the sun and thus keeps his arms covered and protected to prevent damage from too much uv light. don’t mind how the stripes of his pants look different compared to leona and ruggie’s, they were so annoying to draw and i got sick of it by the time i got to him 💀

Octavinelle —> Sidonis

i got the idea to base the uniform for the dorm of the sea off of sailor outfits/uniforms and that was my peak design moment. i will never reach that level of genius ever again.

sidonis’s uniform consists of light, flowing fabrics in order to not drag them down in water. their shoes resemble water shoes! for obvious reasons, so they aren’t ruined by salt water or just water in general.

jade and floyd still remain opposites, and i tried to portray this more with their hair. jade’s hair is neatly styled, with a black coloring to further symbolize his supposed “maturity.” floyd’s is unkempt, with the same black streak more highlighted among the white, to showcase his unpredictability.

floyd also seems to be missing a tooth. i wonder if jade knows anything about that.

azul’s housewarden uniform has a trail of tulle(? maybe chiffon?) tied into two, flowing tails to replicate ariel’s mermaid fins. he has a lot of diy and homemade jewelry to reflect her creativity and resourcefulness, including the shell necklace.

[champion-of-love]

bunnistair's been said by some to be kinda bland, a little too predictable, too boring. and while i kinda agree, i think the best way to make a ship more interesting is to give it a bit more angst. consider this: in the original story, alice always leaves wonderland. she wakes up from her dream, unsure if wonderland, with all its nonsense, was ever real or if it was just a figment of her imagination. in the eah world, of course it's real, but alice still has to leave. though she did fall in love with wonderland's wonder and magic and charm and riddles, she still had to climb back up that rabbit hole. because she had her family to go back to, her life to return to.

with this, alistair knows that he has to leave wonderland one day too. so he approaches his crush with bunny with so much gusto. he wants to spend all his time with her and confess his love before he has to leave. he wants to dive in 100%. but bunny approaches her own crush the total opposite way. she's hesitant to confront her love for allister because she knows how the story ends. alistair would have to leave and she doesn't know if she can deal with the heartbreak of him being gone from her life. she's convinces herself to never love at all instead of experiencing a love so great and wonderful and then losing it.

[smthstupidlikeily]

as someone who was a theatre kid (still kind of am) I wanna do headcanons of you dragging the LIs into high school theatre

(apologies I tried to keep these generic as possible but some may require more knowledge of the plays referenced, especially Sylus’s)

Xavier

You tell him you’re going to audition for Alice in Wonderland, but you’re nervous and ask Xavier to do it with you

But Xavier cannot act for the life of him, so he offers to join with backstage stuff instead, which you reluctantly agree to (you definitely wanted to see him as the rabbit)

Obviously, he has no experience with stage managing, run crew, or anything like that, but he quickly figures out lighting design

While he can’t be on stage with you, he loves being able to put you in the spotlight you deserves, and it’s comforted knowing he’s watching and helping you

To your dismay and Xavier’s amusement, you got the Rabbit instead and he gets to watch you hop around the stage from the tech booth

Zayne

Theatre was not at all on Zayne’s radar until you pleaded with him to do Frozen with you

He eventually caves, but he doesn’t put too much effort into the audition. He’s too focused on being there to support you to worry about his own performance

He’s put in Ensemble so he has no lines as a party guest in the beginning and maybe one line as a troll later on

This works just as well for him since he dedicates too much time to his assignments to learn lines

When show time finally roles around though Zayne enjoys watching you perform, and if he’s not in the scene with you he’s definitely admiring from the wings

You got Anna so if Zayne is tearing up when she gets frozen and glaring at the poor kid playing Hans, that’s between him and the curtains

Rafayel

When you asked Rafayel to audition for Aladdin with you, he was not at all into it…at first

You go to the auditions and he can sing damn good, so the director casts him as Aladdin and you manage to get Jasmine

Now very enthusiastic, he puts his all into this show. He has all of his lines memorized by 2 weeks and is working well with the rest of the cast

The show flys by and Rafayel is waiting to ask you to audition for The Little Mermaid with him (obviously hoping for another showmance as Ariel and Eric)

Unfortunately, you’re too busy though so he drops it. He had lots of fun, but he’s only interested if it’s with you (much to the disappointment of the director)

Sylus

You recruit Luke and Kieran to help convince Sylus to audition for Little Shop of Horrors with you

He is having NONE of it. He is avoiding you like the plague until auditions time is over. But just on the last day you find him and he gives in

You were praying for him to get the dentist, but much to Sylus’s relief he gets Audrey II so he doesn’t have to actually be on stage

Youre cast as original, human Audrey, so Sylus is left to watch as you get dragged by the dentist boyfriend and as you pretend to swoon over Seymour. It’s torturous.

He’s not the only one working the Audrey II puppet, but he’s always on the other side to steady you after she gets eaten by the plant. It might just be your imagination, but it sounds like there’s a thud every time after Seymour is eaten. And the eating of the dentist’s body parts always sounds very aggressive.

Caleb

You and Caleb are walking to class when you see the auditions poster for Peter Pan and both of you are immediately for it

Caleb is giddy going to the auditions already fantasizing about him and you playing Peter and Wendy together

But things never quite go to plan. He gets cast as Peter, but you end up with Captain Hook.

He is beyond disappointed at first, but after sulking for a bit he grows to appreciate it. The two of you goof off a lot during their sword fights, which frustrates the director to no end.

After closing night, you ask if Caleb wants to do the next play. He says he’ll think about it, but he doesn’t want to take the risk. He couldn’t stand it if you got a romantic part with another guy, and having to act with the Wendy actress was torture when all he could think of was how it could’ve been you.

[k0mmari]

Got any writing tips?

Honestly I could go on forever about all the ways you can improve your own writing, but I'll try to keep it to the things that help me the most

Slight disclaimer: Everything I'll say is in the context of writing with the intent of having an audience read it. Writing for yourself with no intentions of showing it off to anyone is completely free game.

Slight disclaimer 2: I am in no way a professional writer and what works for me might not work for you. Writing is a skill and it comes with a whole lot of trial and error; don't be afraid of failure, or making something bad! We're in a constant journey of figuring things out, and everyone has their own time.

With that said, let's get started!

1- Starting a story

Sometimes the hardest part is the beginning, and as we all know, it can get overwhelming staring at a blank page. Let's say you have the beginning of an idea, but when you sit and think about it, you're not sure where you want to go with it; then let's start simple!

I like to start out with what type of themes I want to explore with the story; do I want to explore familial relationships? Romance? Trauma? How these characters react to external problems? Treat it like your own little research, and ask yourself what you would like your story to be in the vaguest sense possible.

Example: A story about how people deal with grief in different ways, and how that effects their relationships with others, with found family and a bit of dry humor sprinkled in.

If you're struggling in that front, prompts could help you a lot! There's a lot of free-to-claim story prompts floating around, so picking one or three, smash them together, and see what happens from there!

2- Steal like an Artist

When I first started out drawing (and eventually writing), I saw the phrase 'steal like an artist' thrown around a lot, but I never really made sense of it, but I'm here to make it simpler for you now!

Going back to the prompts idea, when struggling to form a story, you can always steal from other stories! Obviously, not literally steal the whole script from a movie and change the names, but pick and choose your favorite things from the media you like.

Grab a scene from your favorite movie. A bit of the character design from your 3 favorite game characters. Get the beginning of the backstory of your favorite book protagonist. Eventually, it'll be like second nature to look at a piece of media and go 'hey, I could do something with that!', and when you smush them all together, you now have your own story in your hands!

Don't worry about originality. It's true when people say that 'nothing is original anymore', but don't take that to mean that nothing can be unique anymore! Let's say, from when you were stealing like an artist, you decided to grab the structure of Alice In Wonderland! Great, but that idea's been sooooooo overused by now, what do I do to make it original?

Well, I don't know how to make it original, but what if I mixed it with Dracula and a bit of Interview With A Vampire, and made it in a modern setting with secret societies of vampires going around? I also think mafia stories are very fun, so why not make it that the vampire hunters are like mafia families, and the Queen of Hearts was one of the bosses? Oh, and to top it off, I really like found families, so why not make Alice the Queen of Hearts daughter that she's trying to protect from the world of vampires!

Boom! Is it original? Not one bit, but it's unique, it's your interpretation of a story, a genre and its characters, and that makes it worth telling too!

3- During the writing process

Great, you have your the idea of your story! You have ideas for the main characters and maybe even a shaky timeline of events in the beginning, middle and end.

You... You do have a timeline of events, don't you?

When writing a story, no matter how long or short I want it to be, I like to begin by making a timeline of all the important parts I NEED to have it in there. The story is guaranteed to change while you're writing it, so having a plan to fall back on can help you from not straying too far from the main idea.

Not to say that you aren't allowed to change anything after you wrote your timeline, but I can keep you grounded on those initial themes that you want to talk about. It's normal to get excited and loose yourself in the characters, but before you know it, your horror thriller suddenly changed into a cheesy romcom and you don't want to delete your 20 pages worth of progress.

Create as many timelines as you need! Make a timeline for your general story, your character arcs, your fighting scenes, everything! Keep it as simple as possible in the beginning to avoid focusing too much on the details– having a clearer idea of the whole narrative will also help you when you get stuck trying to figure out how to transition from Event 1 to Event 2.

Personal Suggestion- Dialogue

This is the most personal 'tip' here yet, and it genuinely depends on what type of story you're writing, but I find that learning how to write natural-ish sounding dialogue is one of the most important things a writer can learn.

It's a skill on its own! Dialogue can carry a lot of weight in your story. It can give the reader a more personal idea of the characters, their feelings and the atmosphere of any given scene, and making it feel natural while also having the characters expose information you need for a story can be quite the juggling act.

Copy from your favorite books, shows, and games! Games I think are the best way to get started in my opinion, as I find it to be in the perfect middle ground between 'book dialogue' and 'movie dialogue'; so pick a game where you really like how the characters speak and try to dissect what exactly makes you like their dialogue.

Another thing to be mindful of is punctuation! Punctuation signifies pauses for your reader, and dialogue can change its feel drastically depending on the punctuation you use in it. Let's take an example:

"I don't know."

"I... Don't know."

"I. Don't. Know!"

The dialogue is the same, but the way you imagine a character saying it drastically changes from one option to the other, so be mindful and take just a little bit more in figuring out how your character feels in any particular scene, and how their speech would be affected by that.

Just to compliment that last part, don't be afraid to break up your dialogue if needed! This is writing we're talking about, it's not everyday you have the luxury of visuals accompanying your story, so describe your characters' actions! Example:

(Person A walks into the room, smiling with their hands in their pockets.

" Hey guys! How are we doing?")

(Person A walks into the room, smiling with their hands in their pockets.

"Hey guys!" They walk to the sofa, sitting down with a huff as they put their legs on the coffee table. They take out a gum packet from their pocket and offer it to the rest of the group. "How are we doing?")

Again, it sets two wildly different scenes, and the second example gives a much clearer picture of the character's movements across the space. Of course, you can always take advantage of your readers not being sure of what the character is doing while talking for reveals and tense situations – it all comes down to what tone you want to set for the scene.

[hurts2think]

Hi, again, you were the first person I asked for a fanfic from and you'll be the second and then I'll ask about the same character again (I don't know if my first request was sent).

Bridget(specifically the Queen of Hearts) x fem!Reader, where the reader is a bit like Alice Kingleigh(except without being underage, of course) and is located at the time of the croquet game, and the Cheshire Cat starts to making fun of the Queen of Hearts and the reader tries to stop it but ends up making everything worse in a romantic way

🌹The Queen of Hearts x Reader🌹

Reader pronouns: she/her

Pairing: The Queen of Hearts x Fem!Reader

Word count: 2.3k

Plot: Reader takes the role of Alice (as an adult of course) and is stuck in Wonderland. She finds her way off to meet the Queen in hopes for help but she only manages to anger the Queen. Fortunately for her, the Queen is fond of pretty women.

Extra: Hello! I just wanted to say I did receive your last request and it is currently in the works. But this idea just struck me with inspiration! I will get to your other one too :) thank you for the request.

It was dark and overwhelming. You sat on a rock and looked into your hands. How could you ever find your way home now? It felt like you'd been stuck in this place for ages. All alone and bothered by everything you touch. All alone yet nothing would leave you alone. So now you had no choice but to sit.

When you were a child, you parents always told you that if you were lost to stay in one place. Someone would surely find you. But how would anyone even think to look for you here? You weren't a child anymore. No one was looking for you like you were one.

"Is something wrong?"

A cheeky voice from behind you speaks up. You turn around and see a pink and purple cat with an unnatural grin. You've run into him before and you're concluded the only thing he's up to is mischief.

"Of course something's wrong. I've been stuck here for so long and I can't find my way." You let out a heavy sigh, looking back at the ground and sulking.

The cat purred and stretched across the branch he was sat on, "Why obviously. It's because you have no way... The only way here is the Queen's way." He says, the grin never leaving his face.

Your head perks up and you look back at the Cheshire Cat, "The Queen? I haven't met any Queen." You say, raising a brow.

Somehow the cat's grin managed to grow larger, "Oh? You haven't? But you simply must! She'd be just mad about you. She loves girls with pretty faces."

You stand up from the rock and face the cat, "How do I find her?" You ask. The Queen surely would know how to get out of here! She could definitely help you!

The cat stands on his two hind legs, "Well... Some people go that way," he mimicked walking to the right, "and some people go this way," he mimicked walking to the left, "But me, personally, I prefer this way." He says, putting his paw on one of the branches and pulling it.

The tree suddenly revealed a door and it opened. Your eyes widened in surprise. Compared to the dark and scary forest you were in now, through the door were hedges of green mazes and beautiful blue skies, "Oh, thank you Cheshire." You say, rushing in through the door and down the maze.

The maze had many paths and turns, all very sharp and abrupt. But it didn't take you long before you heard something. More like, someones.

"No, Two! You have to paint under the petals too or she'll see we painted them!" A voice yelled from around the corner.

You peak your head around the corner of the hedge and see three gardeners dressed in white and black attire. They were all holding paint brushes that dripped with red paint and painted white roses on the bushes.

You grow curious and slowly approach, "Excuse me. Why are you painting the roses?"

The three gardeners turn to you in sync,

"Oh well, because we accidentally planted the white ones and the Queen only likes the red ones. And with a mistake like this, it could be off with our heads!" One of them that had a '3' sewed into his top said, mimicking his head being chopped off with the red covered paint brush.

"Oh dear..." You say, growing concerned over the statement, "Then perhaps I should help you?" You offer, taking an extra paint brush from one of the paint buckets.

But as you pick up a brush you suddenly hear trumpets. The three gardeners begin to panic, snatching the brush out of your hand and hiding the evidence of the painting ever happening.

Then one of the gardeners grab you by the wrist and pull you to the side, gesturing you to follow and bow down.

You do just that, though confused as to what was happening, you still bowed, tilting you head down.

Numerous guards march their way into the garden, standing aside and making way.

Then one announced,

"Her Royal Highness, her grace, her excellency, The empress of Wonderland, The Queen of Hearts."

The Queen walked through. She was beyond beautiful. She had pin straight hair that was red as blood. Her crown was filled with hundreds of diamonds and her dress was more regal than you've ever seen, even in Auradon. Though she wasn't particularly tall, her presence towered over anyone around.

Even her stone cold expression made your chest feel heavy.

"Your majesty," All of the bowed guards and the gardeners said in unison as she walked through.

None of them dared to look at her but you couldn't seem to keep your eyes off of her, even with your head bowed down.

The Queen looked down on everyone around, walking ahead of the guards. Every step she took demanded respect and showed her royal status.

But she suddenly stopped by the rose bush. She silently touched the tip of her index finger to the painted rose, leaving a spot of paint on her finger.

"Who has been painting my roses?" She asks, her voice having the weight of a hundred daggers in your back.

The three gardners stood up, clearly petrified by the question, "Y.. you're majesty, I must say, it was two's idea!" The man labeled as '3' suddenly accused.

"Me? Of course it wasn't! It was Ace!" Two accused the man with an 'A' labeled on his top.

"Silence!" The Queen demanded, her eyes darkening as she approached the four of you. You stayed down, your heart beating faster in fear.

"Please, your majesty, we're very sorry, it will never happen again." Three pleads, dropping to his knees.

"I assigned you such a simple job and you could not even do it correctly? You make a mockery of me. Do you know what I am to do about that?" She asks, her British accent regal and quite attractive. The question was rhetorical. The three men clearly knew what happened next.

But before the Queen was about to scentence them to anything severe, her eyes laid on you, "And who might she be?"

"Oh, uhm—"

"Hush." Despite asking you a question, she immediately shushed you. With one wave of her hand she dismissed the gardners, her focus entirely on you now. She used her index finger, placing it under your chin and tilting you head up to get a good look at you. "You're not from here, and yet you're on royal grounds. Is there a reason for such things?"

You gulp, feeling like you were about to start sweating. You didn't know what it was you were feeling but it was making you feel hot. You twiddled your thumbs and felt you were about to sink into the ground below you, "Well, you see, I'm—"

"Do speak up when you address me." The Queen demanded. "Keep your head up and speak nicely. And don't twiddle your thumbs." She looked you up and down as if judging your appearance. "Point your toes out and curtsey before speaking again."

You do exactly as your told with now hesitation, pointing out the toes of your mary janes, lifting your blue skirt slightly and curtseying.

"Good girl." She said though it sounded more like she was mocking you, "And always say 'Yes, your Majesty.' That is how you shall address me."

"Yes, your majesty." You repeat.

The Queen places a hand on your shoulder. It was light but you felt like her hand would claw off your arm at any moment. She began to walk at a slow pace, urging you to follow her

"Now tell me, where are you from and where are you going?" The Queen questioned.

"Well, your majesty, I'm trying to find my way—"

You then get cut off again by a small laugh from the Queen. Not a real laugh. The kind of laugh that was more of an amused sound that came from her without even opening her mouth. As if what you said offended her.

You tried to think of the right words to not offend her but it was like anything that came out of your mouth had the potential of angering her, "I was just thinking—"

The Queen's eyes rolled in annoyance, "I don't care what you're thinking. With a face like that you're possibly just better off not thinking and just sitting still and looking pretty."

Her constant interruptions should irritate you beyond belief, but her words made your face feel hot and your chest tight, "Yes, your majesty. I just wanted to ask—"

And yet again, you were interrupted with just a wave of her hand to silence you, "I'll be asking the questions, hm?" She declared, stopping in her tracks and looking you up in down again, "Do you play croquet?"

The question caught you off guard. But it made you smile. Finally! A word you could make sense of! "Yes, your majesty. I do play."

"Wonderful." She said, the word dripping off her tongue like poison and a smile laced with venom.

With one demand from the Queen, all of her royal guards set up a game of croquet. It was finally something you could recognize. Something that made sense to you.

The Queen, naturally took her turn first. She picked up the red mallet, a guard placing the matching ball in front of her.

With one light hit, the ball shot through, giving her a perfect score.

She smiled cockily, pleased by her own accomplishment as the guards cheered for her.

"Your turn, dear." She said, walking to where you were standing aside.

You give a small nod and pick up the blue mallet. But, to your surprise, once you were about to hit the ball, your mallet turned into a blue flamingo. Your swing of the mallet was thrown off by the flamingo suddenly flapping it's wings, pulling you in every direction. You yelped at the suddenty of it.

"Stop—! You stupid—" you yell in frustration but couldn't seem to get the flamingo to cooperate. You were then suddenly knocked off your feet and landed on the grass.

The Queen watched in amusement, tapping her fingers against her own mallet. It was as if she found your frustration and misfortune entertaining.

"Well, that was a bit of a sorry turn, wasn't it?" She let out another sound of amusement, taking place on the playing field again.

You wished you could demand how it was unfair but you didn't. You watched as she was about to hit her ball again until the Cheshire Cat suddenly appeared behind her with a grin.

"How are you getting on?" The cat asked.

"Not at all." You huffed, crossing your arms, very frustrated with this whole ordeal.

"Hmm? What?" The Cheshire asked for you to repeat, as if he didn't hear you.

"I said, not at all!" You yelled, having enough of his mischief.

The Queen suddenly spun on her heel to face you, the cat disappearing again, "Who are you talking to?" She demanded.

The cat appeared behind her yet again with a grin,

"The cat, your majesty!" You say, pointing to the Cheshire behind her.

She turned her head to see no cat. She glared back at you, "What cat?" She seemed to be growing angrier.

The Cheshire appeared behind her again, "There!" You pointed again. And yet when she looked he was gone again.

The Queen was furious, assuming you were trying to play some sort of joke, "I'll have you know, I do not tolerate jokes." She marched toward you, grabbing you by the collar of your blue dress.

You wanted to defend yourself but only fell silent and nodded your head.

She turned back to her ball and there was the cat again. Only this time on her shoulder, still somehow unknown to her.

"Ya know, we could make her really mad?" The cat suggested with a grin. He stuck his paw out as if to grab her her crown or her hair or something, you weren't sure.

In a desprate attempt, to stop him from angering her more, you launch to try and grab him, only for him to disappear. And to your horror, you stumble into the Queen of Hearts. You and her both get knocked off your feet.

You fall on top of her, making your face heat up and your face go red. How could you not be flustered? Really, you should be scared. But being so close to such a beautiful woman like her made you feel all hot and bothered.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry, your majesty!" You quickly get off of her, "Please forgive me, I didn't mean to!" You quickly apologize, reaching out to help her up.

"Don't touch me." She demanded, standing up on her own and fixing her dress. She was not happy now.

"Please, forgive me. I was only trying to stop the cat." You plead.

The Queen takes a step closer to you, invading your personal space. You were horrified of what she would do next.

She put a hand on your shoulder and straightened the sleeve of your dress, looking down on you.

"You're lucky that I'd be too ashamed to cut off such a lovely head such as your own."

Your eyes were wide and you felt like you might explode. You definitely did not like the idea of your head being cut off. But it seemed that wasn't what she had in mind for you.

Even the guards seemed shocked she didn't immediately scentence you to be beheaded.

"I may have some use for you." She said, humming in thought for a moment, "Follow me." She demanded, walking back towards the castle and the guards immediately setting back to formation and guiding the two of you to the castle.

You had no idea what she had in store for you but you could only hope it was nothing as bad as your head being removed from your shoulders. Though it seemed that somehow she managed to take a liking to you. You just had to hope it stayed that wa

[conflictofthemind]

Fairytales and the 'Treeflayer'

While doing my investigations for Season 5, I wanted to know which book specifically was underneath this shot (actual shot from the show) of a Wrinkle in Time that Holly is probably reading in class. Thanks to everyone that told me it was the Arthur Rackham Fairy Book I was able to do some digging into it, and this definitely is not some random book they got at a garage sale and threw in the show.

Arthur Rackham was part of the Golden Age of Illustration that happened in the late 1800s to early 1900s. A lot of these illustrators drew for fairy tales, and Rackham's work is distinct for having a dark fantasy feeling and featuring very detailed twisty trees in the majority of his illustrations. In many cases the trees are animate and interacting with the protagonists.

The one that looks the most similar to the dead tree that young UD!Will is falling from in the teaser, and the one he is also looking up to in the recent pictures / also teaser is an illustration he made for Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland. If you've been following along at all you'll know that the entire Holly and Creel thing that's going on in Season 5 (and has breadcrumbs scattered through the rest of the series) is based primarily off of Alice.

His illustrations for Alice in Wonderland actually is the work he is most famous for, alongside one of the Peter Pan novels (Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, basically his origin story). And there's definitely lots of inspiration from that tale as well, referenced multiple times in the show and on the inspo board for Season Four.

It goes a bit deeper - one of the supernatural things that Holly notices in Season Three is the trees moving when the 'Flesh Flayer' is passing through the woods. I talked about this around a week ago but (minor spoilers/leak) Will and Holly will be spending ample time together this season. I think he takes it upon himself as the first victim to try and save another child from being lured in by Vecna, especially when that child is his love's younger sister.

But back to the point, whatever is going on with the tree is definitely important. I have little to no clue what the tree means symbolically (like - why was a tree chosen to become a monster when inanimate things have never been taken control of in this way?). Trees are a big part of fairy tale imagery though, take Into The Woods, or this could be an allusion to Jack and The Beanstalk. A poor boy Jack Will climbs a giant beanstalk tree and outsmarts the ogre demogorgon chasing after him.

Sadly, nobody has archived the specific Treeflayer Pinterest board before it was set to private and the only image remaining is this one:

[houseofripley]

HEYY

Can you do a rhea x fem!reader story where rhea and reader are in Highschool and have both had feeling for eachother for the longest time and both haven’t confessed but all that changes because rhea ask reader to prom and they end up kissing and it leads to something else (ifykyk😏) (smut n a lil bit of fluff too🙏)

Starry Prom Night

Rhea Ripley x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS: 18+ SMUT, Kissing, Vaginal Fingering, Cunnilingus, Scissoring, Praise, Cheek Cupping & Kissing Galore, INSANE PLOT BUILDING FOR NO REASON LOL SORRYYYYYY IM A YEARNER (im serious this is like 67% plot building)

WORD COUNT: 3,731

A/N: this is just pure sapphic yearning on my end LMAO anyways anon i had so much fun writing this even though its all over the place!!!

also can you tell where i got impatient with all the plot building lol

“Rhea, I seriously don’t know how many more of these cheesy signs I can’t take. I think I’m gonna go insane.” You grunted, rolling your eyes to the back of your head. 

Prom season was in full swing. It was third period and you had just witnessed what had to have been the seventh promposal of the day. This year would be the mark of your and your best friend, Rhea’s senior prom. Senior prom was a date thousands of dreamed about, wanting to show up and show out one last time before waving goodbye to their highschool years. 

Every girl except you and Rhea. You both despised the thought of prom. Why would any sane person spend hundreds of dollars on an outfit just to spend their night drenched in sweat in the school gymnasium? 

Fuck that!

“Romeo O Romeo! Will thou spend your Saturday night with I, drinking punch next to the locker rooms?” Rhea mocked, elbowing your arm. 

You shook your head, pressing your lips together trying to keep your laughter silent. The commotion of classmates was soon drowned out by thoughts as your eyes met Rhea’s, causing your tightened lips to curl into a small smile.

Rhea’s blue eyes never failed to warm you. Everytime you gazed into those beachy eyes you were brought back to the day you first met the girl. Seventh grade, first period, language arts. A quiet blonde girl sporting a Pierce The Veil shirt was assigned to sit next to you. Nobody knew anything about the girl besides the fact she had just moved basically across the globe. You spent the entire period thinking of what you could possibly say to her, because what do you even say to a kid that was just relocated from South Australia all the way to some shitty suburban town? 

“Cool shirt.” 

And it fucking worked somehow. You were immediately attached to her hip. The two of you grew closer with each day that passed. You were inseparable. She was everything to you. Sleepovers every weekend. ‘Study’ sessions that were spent play fighting with each other. Singing pop-punk songs at the top of your lungs till your throats were raw. Dying your hair the same shade of blue at three in the morning. She was even at your side while your parents scolded you the morning after for said blue hair. 

Jesus Christ. Lost in her eyes again? Snap out of it already! 

“Yo, Alice in Wonderland, you okay?” Rhea playfully questioned, breaking your trance by poking at your thigh.

“Just…thinking. That’s all.” You softly chuckled. You were telling the truth, you were just thinking. Just thinking about her. Thinking about her touch, her hands, her pierced nose, her lips, her stupid cool shirts. 

══════⋆☆⋆══════

“Jesus, someone’s eager to get out of here.” You laughed, trailing behind Rhea who was booking it over to her small black Lexus.

“Dude, can you blame me? It’s like everyone has some sort of prom fever. I am not letting it catch me.” Rhea complained, ducking into the vehicle. 

You made your way to the passenger side of the car before hopping into the seat next to Rhea. “I counted eighteen of those damn signs today.” You babbled, resting your arm on the center console before trailing on, diffusing the topic, “Anyways, let’s go thrifting or something. I don’t wanna go home.”

Rhea shrugged in agreeance before pulling out of her parking spot. She knew things were tough for you at home. You had recently come out as lesbian to your parents. They weren't unsupportive but they weren't exactly supportive at the same time which had built quite a bit of tension in the household. You came out to Rhea just about two years ago, who was more than supportive. She was your number one defender, always there to threaten whichever classmate that dared to ridicule you.

You knew absolutely nothing about Rhea’s sexuality. Hell, even Rhea knew nothing about her sexuality. She only knew one thing, that she liked you. She didn’t even know when she caught feelings for you, it was like the sentiments were there since the moment you first spoke to her. She hoped as time went on the flutters she’d feel for you would pass on but recently she couldn’t seem to even push the mere thought of you out of her head, it was killing her.

The drive to the nearest thrift shop was comfortably silent…silent if you ignored the Black Veil Brides cd Rhea had blaring…

Entering the store the pair of you let out scoffed laughs as the first thing catching your attention was a large display of second hand dresses. Shaking it out of your heads and ignoring it at first you carried on to wander the isles, grabbing whatever caught your eye to try on later although you’d inevitably end back up to the racks of long dresses. You weren't a big fan of dresses but you wanted to waste as much time as you possibly could, so you decided to browse the gowns with Rhea. 

She pulled a deep maroon dress, the form fitting glittered bodice was paired with a looser, more freeing skirt. “Try it on!” Rhea pushed, shoving the dress into your arms.

“I’d look so stupid in this.” You gave Rhea a bewildered look.

“Oh c’mon just try it!”

“Rhe’ when have you ever given a shit about this stuff?”

“Dude you’re the one that wanted to waste time here…” Rhea playfully scorned, diverting your question.

“Urgh, I hate when you’re right.” You huffed, shuffling towards the dressing room. 

“How ridiculous do I look?” You pouted, opening the door of the changing room before shuffling to the closest mirror.

Rhea stood behind you, peering over your shoulder as you silently studied yourself in the mirror. You looked at Rhea through the mirror as she opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself in her tracks. “I mean it’s cute but where in the world would I wear this?” You shrugged, adjusting the straps as Rhea chewed on her cheeks.

“Wear it to prom.” Rhea timidly broke her silence.

“Why would I go to prom, Rhe’? First of all it would be so lame and second of all I’d have nobody to go with. I’m just gonna put this back.” You mumbled, turning to make your way back into the changing room.

 A hand grabbed your wrist, stopping you in your tracks. “Go with me…” Rhea blurted out, sounding scared of her own words. Her statement caused you to turn to face her with a puzzled expression, Rhea herself even looked surprised at what she just said. Fearing your rejection she quickly added on, “Ya know, like as a joke and stuff. We can make it not lame…”

“As a joke?” Your heart that was skipping beats just seconds ago was immediately let down. 

“Yeah. It’s just a stupid idea we don’t hav-”

“No, let's go…as a joke.” You interrupted Rhea’s nervous deflection. “We’ve got nothing better to do.” You shrugged on watching Rhea’s anxieties fade into the distance as her classic cheeky smile crept upon her face.

After you swapped out of your dress you returned to Rhea who was holding up a silky black dress with a deep slit in the skirt. “This’ll work. I’m too lazy to try anything on.” She chuckled while shrugging.

“That's ballsy Rhe-Rhe.”

══════⋆☆⋆══════

Tonight was the night, you were sat atop Rhea’s bathroom counter, finishing up your makeup while Rhea was shuffling around her closet searching for a pair of shoes. It had been four weeks since Rhea ‘asked’ you to prom and you simply couldn’t keep your mind off it. Although you two planned this whole thing as a joke, something shifted ever so slightly between the two of you, maybe it wasn’t a joke, who knows. Rhea had your heart in your throat at every moment and you were the topic of every thought that popped into Rhea’s head. More than ever the both of you were head over heels for each other, just terrified the other wouldn’t reciprocate those shared feelings.

Your parents were completely unaware you’d be attending prom. You had informed them you were staying with a friend before immediately storming off to Rhea’s house. Rhea’s parents hadn’t a clue either, they were under the impression tonight would be just another night of the two of you doing nothing for hours then sneaking out to go for a drive at three in the morning. There truly wasn’t much reasoning behind this secret, you guys just wanted to have this night for yourselves without pestering parents. 

“Urgh! At this point I’m gonna go barefoot!” You could hear yet another pair of shoes be tossed to the floor. You slid off Rhea’s counter, stepped out of her bathroom and over to her closet. She was already in her dress tearing through a pile of shoes on the floor. “What has gotten into you Rhe’?” You leaned against the doorframe laughing at the fact that Rhea of all people was stressing over shoes. 

 Rhea rolled her eyes ignoring your banter. “Would it make me a hipster if I wore converse?”

“Oh absolutely, I dare you!” 

“You know I will,” Rhea retorted, picking up a black pair of the canvas shoes.

You chuckled before turning to return to the bathroom, letting Rhea know you were gonna change. You got into your dress with ease up until you came to the zipper on the back. You groaned in annoyance, reaching behind to your back attempting to wiggle the zipper to no avail.

“Rhe’, can you help me real quick?” You asked while popping your head out the door.

“Hm? What’s up?” Rhea turned around and questioned before making her way up to you, trying to keep her gaze from falling down to the hand placed on your chest, keeping the dress from completely slipping from your body.

“Zippers stuck,” You pouted, turning around. Rhea’s hand swept across the base of your neck, sweeping your hair to the side. You watched her through the mirror as she began fumbling with the metal, ultimately getting it to slide up your back.

After an awkward exchange of bashful looks the two of you finished getting ready in each other's company. You sat next to Rhea slipping into your shoes while she tied off her converse, took a handful of polaroid pictures together, then eventually snuck out Rhea’s window to begin your hike to the school.

══════⋆☆⋆══════

“Ouu! Ripley’s got a date!” Was whistled out by a classmate as you and Rhea made your way down the congested hallway, making Rhes roll her eyes.

“Shut up dickhead! We’re here as a joke.” Rhea rebutted, flipping the guy off as she carried on down the hall. 

Here as a joke but her flushed cheeks and sweaty hand gripping yours told a slightly different story.

“Dickheads always running their mo-” Rhea muttered, stepping into the crowded gymnasium.

“Shh. It’s fine, you shouldn’t worry about them.” You cut off Rhea, giving her hand a squeeze as you examined the starry night themed room. The area was dimly lit by blue leds and strings of fairy lights. Blue curtains decorated with paper stars draped over the majority of the walls while an array of tables adorned with bottles of fairy lights surrounded a dance floor full of teenagers.

You both seated yourselves near the stage where a live band was playing. Your legs pressed against one another as you fell into an array of conversations. Thirty minutes had managed to sneak by before your meaningless conversation was cut short by your biology teacher.

“You girls gonna sit here and chat all night? Go dance!” 

“But dancing is lame, Mr. Brown.” Rhea groaned while you both turned to face the man.

“I promise you that in ten years you’ll regret not doing anything at your senior prom. Seriously, go dance!” Your teacher stood behind you giving his words of advice. Rhea peeked over to you looking for your opinion. You gave her a ‘why not’ shrug before rising from your seat.

“But I don't even know how to slow dance.” Rhea whined to herself under her breath as she stood up. “If we have to dance, we’re dancing in the corner cause I’m gonna look stupid.” She stipulated.

You guided Rhea over to a secluded section of the dance floor near a wall, reassuring her that you also had no clue on what you were doing. 

“We’ll just do what everyone else is doing, Rhe’.” 

“I think this right,” Rhea unassuredly giggled with a racing heart, taking a hold of your left hand while wrapping her free hand around your waist. You shook your hair to cover your flushing cheeks as you brought your right hand to rest on her shoulder. The pair of you began swaying to the music while trying to hold back laughter, both in slight disbelief at your current situation. Prom was the last place either of you ever expected to be attending.

You were already trailing back into the pit of those sapphire eyes, drowning out all external noise you missed Rhea humming about how beautiful you looked. You were too occupied taking in the essence of your childlike crush to take notice of the grip Rhea had on your waist tightening. You were fully prepared to stare into those eyes all night, but Rhea was eager to run a risk.

A set of warm lips fell onto you abruptly, pulling you by the waist into a desperate kiss. All five senses rushed over your body, sending a rush of adrenaline through your bloodstream, placing you in awe too shocked to move.

Rhea forced herself to pull away, letting a sigh of relief out before the panic settled in, “Shit. I, god I’m so-”

Your thoughts had just now grasped what just happened.

This was a kiss that spent years in the making…you were not just gonna let it end like that.

Your hand slipped to the back of Rhea’s head, pushing Rhea back into the kiss, forcibly putting an end to her apology. She immediately fell back into your lips, closing her dilated eyes. While her tongue slid across your bottom lip begging to deepen the kiss, her hands slid up to cup your cheeks. Time slid away as the two of you fell into each other in your isolated corner of the gymnasium.

Rhea pulled herself from your lips breathless, her parted lips forming an open smile. She wanted more. You attempted to collect your thoughts while catching your breath. Both of you were attempting to draft a response while gazing into each other, because what do you say after tasting your best friend of five years?

“Cool.” You nodded

Rhea shook her head scoffing out a laugh, still making an attempt to regulate her breath. She took grip of your hand, giving it a squeeze before beginning to pull you into the hall without speaking a word.

“Wher-”

“Just follow me!” Rhea cut you off, rushing through the halls as she dragged you behind herself, both of you trying not to stumble over your dresses. 

She halted in front of the nurses office before fiddling with the keypad on the door, “God bless modern technology,” She muttered, managing to get the door open as you watched in disbelief. “Don’t even ask.” She chuckled, scanning the hall to make sure you were in the clear before tugging you into the room.

Once Rhea’s foot forced the door shut her lips directly got to work pinning themselves to your neck, nipping at the delicate skin. 

“Shit Rhe’, there might be cameras.” You pushed through a stunned whine. 

“There's none…” Rhea couldn't even pull her lips away from your skin as she spoke, “Wouldn't stop me either way, I’ve waited too long for this.” She grunted, dragging her kisses to your collarbone. “Now please tell me I can keep going.”

“I don’t think I could ever tell you to stop.” You pulled Rhea’s face to meet your eyes, whispering your confession. There was no need for Rhea to open her mouth, the look on her face alone told you that was exactly what she needed to hear.

“You have no fucking clue how long I’ve waited for this.” Rhea growled, grasping your cheeks as she pulled you over to the nurses twin sized treatment bed. 

She brought her legs to straddle over you, lowering her chest to hover over you. Rhea was attached to you like a dog, her lips were sloppy against yours as her hands snuck to pull up the skirt of your dress. 

Rhea brought herself between your legs, in a rush to finally get a taste of your core.

“Please…I’m begging you, please don't make me wait more than I already have.” Rhea looked up at you pleading.

Your heart was in your throat as you fervently nodded. “I wanna hear your voice,” Rhea begged, whispering out your name.

“Rhea, please just do anything, I need, I need you.”

With that said she hurriedly slid your panties down your legs, tossing them to the foot of the bed. Rhea was making it clear that tonight was her time to shine.

“Fuck, you’re perfect…” Rhea murmured, awed at the sight of your soaked cunt. Her arms tangled themselves around your legs. After years her tongue finally made contact with your delicacy, she preached a string of curses, finally getting what she was after. You propped yourself on your elbows to catch the sight of Rhea exploring your brand new world. You could feel a smirk between your legs as her eyes met yours, thirstily watching you watch.

“Tastes so good.” Rhea praised, sweeping her tongue through your folds before bringing herself to round your clit. You chewed on your cheeks to hush the moans escaping your throat as Rhea wrapped her lips around your sensitivity, allowing her to lightly suck at your skin. Your legs made an unsuccessful attempt at wrapping around Rhea’s head only to be overtaken by her hands, prying them open, giving her full access to devour your aching heat. 

The stealthy addition of two fingers into your emptiness was only amplifying the wobbly knees her mouth alone had created. Her fingers began steadily massaging into you, causing an arch to form over your back. The mixture of Rhea’s roaming tongue and grinding digits already had a knot forming in your stomach.

“Fucking Christ Rhe’, where the fuck did you learn all this.” You struggled out through moans. Rhea let out a soft chuckle as she continued to take your clit into her mouth, rolling her tongue piercing over your sensitivity.

Rhea gave your cunt one last kiss before she brought herself to face you. Now that Rhea had finally gotten a taste of your mouth she couldn't get enough, she had to return for more. Your lips once again blended together, your moans now slipping into Rhea’s mouth as her fingers curled inside your core. 

“God, you sound so beautiful.” Rhea admired, pressing her warmed forehead against yours while her digits continued toying with your clenching walls. Her thumb was soon added to the mixture of pleasure as it rubbed rhythmic circles over your bud. 

“Rhe’, I want to feel you against me,” You opened your eyes, pulling from her kiss while your hips rolled against her working digits. “Please.”

Rhea nodded, her eyes full of adoration, she’d do whatever it took to please you no matter if it took minutes or hours. She let her fingers come to a declined pace before withdrawing from your warmth. She stood up, licking her fingers clean before riding her dress up her legs and dropping her panties. She rushed to return to the bed pulling your leg into the air before propping a leg of hers next to your hip.

Rhea settled her heat against yours, letting out a heavy breath. She gradually started rocking her hips against you, mixing your slick together. You watched as the new sensation of pleasure washed over her, causing her jaw to drop open and her eyes to roll to the back of her head. 

“Just…just like that.” You whimpered as you began to grind your hips at a matching pace, chasing towards your climax. Rhea’s arm clung to your leg that was situated in the air for support as the sound of quiet moans and the rustling of dress fabric bounced around the room. 

“Feels so good, fuck.” Rhea quickened her motions, moaning out the nickname she created for you through heavy breaths.Rhea pushed herself further against you chasing her own high as you squirmed beneath her grinds. 

“Rhe’, I’m gonna cum.” You whined out, reaching for a hand to cling to. Her hand met you halfway, instantly taking you into her grip she pulled you up to meet her face. She was back to those oh-so passionate kisses she could now never get enough of. “Please, Rhe’!” You cried against her, her movements bucking against your cunt.

Rhea nodded into your kiss signaling for your release, her own climax just seconds away. Your series of moans brushed against Rhea’s lips as your orgasm washed over you, hers quickly following. Muffled whines echoed around the room as Rhea’s thrusts against you faltered.

After riding out your highs together, Rhea squeezed herself next to you on the tiny bed and rested her hand on your thigh, giving it a soft squeeze. “I swear to god if you say cool.” Rhea looked over at you giggling. 

“Unfair!” You joked, resting your head against Rhea’s chest. You both fell into silence simply taking in the moment, reflecting on everything that had just happened. Rhea peppered small kisses to the top of your head as you toyed with the fabric of her dress.

“We should probably get outta here before somebody finds us.” Rhea suggested, breaking the silence.

“Wanna go dance again?” You teased as you turned to face her.

Rhea quickly shook her head, “I’m never gonna dance again. I was so bad.” She laughed, “How about we go find a parking lot and makeout under the stars, hm?”

“I seriously would have never expected you to be all smoochy, Rhe’.”

“Look, I have like five years of kisses to make up for!”

[badbugbotblood]

Mini conspiracy to do with lrt actually because this has been rotting my brain. The timeline doesn't necessarily make sense because there is like a small ocean of time between the unplugging of TurboTime and Turbo's incursion into Sugar Rush, BUT HEAR ME OUT!

So we know that the visual design, vocal flair and body language of King Candy is HEAVILY inspired by Disney's Mad Hatter from their original animated Alice in Wonderland (1951). The resemblance is extremely deliberate. The hair, the high collar, the iconic lisp, the presentation.

But if we look at King Candy's visual design when compared to the other human avatars of SUGAR RUSH, our little faux monarch here does NOT STYLISTICALLY MATCH UP!

The racers of Sugar Rush are very clearly emulating a typical cutesy Japanese 'chibi' style. Round heads, big eyes, little noses, and legs that (while not so long as to be anatomically realistic) fit the proportions of their bodies. Their outfits are sleek and their silhouettes are quite thin.

King Candy does not follow this same design philosophy at all (and it's for this reason that I also personally believe that King Candy's appearance as a whole was a fabrication of Turbo's, rather than an unfinished NPC character whose model he commandeered).

I think an interesting in-universe explanation for King Candy's appearance could come from another game. One which Turbo would have known well.

After all, TurboTime had had a neighbor in Fix-It Felix Jr.

While their design language definitely does not line up 1:1, I see more of Felix in King Candy's appearance than I do the likeness of any Sugar Rush avatar. There are some commonalities in the facial proportions of King Candy and Fix-It Felix. Their heads are taller, eyes are smaller, and their mouths are wider. And then there is the nose, which is to me and my delulu brain the most obvious visual similarity between these two.

So. Say you're a societal pariah after doing something seriously taboo, and you need to blend in with a group of newly-arrived strangers in order to avoid being caught and punished for your misdeeds. There's not much time, and you need to get your affairs in order before anyone realizes what you're doing.

I think that, with his take-over of Sugar Rush being an extremely time-sensitive ordeal, Turbo had very little chance to devise the perfect disguise. So he cheated just a bit, took inspiration from a place that was familiar to him.

His own appearance, ghoulish and grey, dressed in blazing red over stark white, that would never fly in such a whimsical world. But he once knew a cast of characters with designs that all the Players found appealing at that time, and he fell back on that knowledge to craft his royal façade. All he knew for sure was that his avatar had to be cute, colorful and coherent.

The end result definitely doesn't scream Sugar Rush when you really scrutinize it, but it held up for fifteen years. Fifteen wonderful years full of racing and ruling and winning to his heart's content. Turbo was satisfied, maybe even truly happy.

I wonder if part of his apparent surprise during the Big Twist Villain Reveal(tm) came from him not immediately recognizing the ashy grey skin beneath the mask he'd built more than a decade ago. After all, he'd spent right around half of his entire life as the one and only King Candy, the benevolent monarch and best racer of Sugar Rush.

He would have been more than happy to leave his loathsome original avatar behind with the rest of the eight-bit era. It had done him no favors even when he wasn't old news just yet.

How unfortunate for him that the pesky Glitch had different ideas.

[rotomartsblog]

I’ve been thinking about my version/rewrite whatever of Ever After High so I’m just gonna list a few lore tidbits about the world and some of the characters

So first things first I want to say that my version of the EAH school is more based on European secondary education than American (since I’ve decided that EAH should logically take place in Europe). Mostly N. Ireland’s secondary school system since that’s what I’m most familiar with. Anyway- EAH students go through seven years of school from around age 11 to age 18 (give or take a bit). EAH officially has two stages of education; the Freedom stage and the Legacy stage. The Freedom stage is the first three years of school and the Legacy stage is the remaining four years. The Legacy stage itself is split into two sub-stages, Pre-Signing and Post-Signing. The story begins in the second year of the Pre-Signing Legacy stage, where Legacy Day will take place at the end of the year. Students also can only room with people from their year.

I wanted to actually establish what the Curse on Wonderland actually is since that never actually gets explained in canon. Basically, the Curse takes the form of an erupting black fountain in the centre of Wonderland that leads up to the sky, “polluting” the atmosphere. It has both a physical and mental effect on the people of Wonderland, making them physically weaker while also “corrupting” their minds I guess? While the people of Wonderland have developed medicine and treatment for the curse, it’s more effective against the physical symptoms than the mental ones and it isn’t widely distributed.

Speaking of Wonderland, the Alice of the story is the only “character” that follows the Legacy system, because the rest of the characters are from Wonderland and don’t follow the same rules as Ever Afterlings. This doesn’t mean that the characters don’t have family legacies and traditions but they operate separately from Ever After’s.

Speaking of Alice, Alistair has been trapped in Wonderland since he was 10 years old. He isn’t as fond of Wonderland as his canon counterpart. Also his last name isn’t Wonderland it’s Adventures. I know that’s sounds equally stupid but it’s makes more sense to me based on the lore I’ve established.

Card people have the ability to go “flat” like a card. Also, they’re made of the same material of a playing card (specifically card stock), and they feel like such whether they’re flat or not.

Card people are limited to only two colours in their designs; white and the second colour depending on what suit they’re from (Clubs are green, Diamonds are blue, Hearts are red, and Spades are purple), except their eyes, which can be any colour. The exception to this is royal cards, which have three colours; white, black, and their suit colours (also their eye colours of course, which in Lizzie’s case is green). The outlier to this entirely is the Joker cards, which have no set rules for how they’re coloured.

There’s never a set number of Jokers for each generation of card people. In the previous generation, the parents generation, there were two: the red joker and the black joker, but in the current generation Courtly is the only Joker card.

Chess people are living chess pieces so they are made of wood.

Card and Chess people aren’t ‘born’, they’re literally made.

Lizzie, Kitty, and Maddie are the first Wonderlandians to attend Ever After High.

When the Evil Queen was imprisoned, all known entrances to Wonderland were closed off. However, new ones can be made either on purpose or accidentally. This is how Darling ends up in Wonderland.

When Ever Afterlings go to Wonderland their colour palette changes because idk I think it looks neat.

Also the Evil Queen cursing Wonderland and being imprisoned would’ve taken place like right before Raven started EAH.

Okay done talking about Wonderland onto something else. King Charming is a piece of shit human being. He’s a bad dad and an unfaithful husband who has a whole lot of illegitimate kids. Blondie is one of them.

Raven ended up rooming with Maddie in their first year at EAH because over half of the students in their year requested to specifically not be roomed with Raven.

Briar’s mum was asleep for 100 years because I don’t want to work out how it’d make sense if she was from the previous generation. Rosabella’s mum is Briar’s mum’s great-niece. Briar and Rosabella call each other cousin because it’s simpler.

Rosabella, despite what is believed, is actually the Beast in the story. The reason it’s believed she’s the Beauty is because the society of EAH is #sexist and #homophobic so the idea of the Beast in BATB being a girl or a boy being the Beauty is unbelievable. Rosabella suspects she’s the Beast because when she was younger she grew horns, though she’s forbidden from telling people this.

Briar and Rosabella’s parents are not on speaking terms because of a situation revolving around Rosabella’s horns. When they grew in, Briar’s parents had offered to babysit Rosabella while her parents were busy. Briar’s dad then dehorned Rosabella (and he wasn’t trained for it so it wasn’t a pleasant experience for Rosabella). Rosabella’s parents were obviously upset about this so they cut ties with Briar’s parents.

By the time the story begins Ashlynn’s mum is dead so she’s kind of going through it. Her dad hasn’t remarried yet.

I’ve messed around with the ages of some characters so while most of the main cast is the second year of the Pre-Signing Legacy stage, some are in different years. I haven’t worked out everyone but the important ones right now are that Dexter and Darling are in the first year of the Pre-Signing Legacy stage and Ramona is in the first year of the Post-Signing Legacy stage (and Justine I guess since they’re roommates).

Also most roommates will probably be the same as in canon since I can’t be bothered to change those.

Despite Legacy Day being when you pledge to follow your destiny, there are expectations on people whose stories typically happen when they’re young (case in point: Alistair being in Wonderland when he’s 10). Cedar often deals with people prodding and asking questions since she’s still a puppet as a teenager, though her dad also started his story late so it isn’t unique to her.

Raven doesn’t listen to Tailor Quick in my version. Sorry to swifties but sometimes you write a character and realise some things don’t work with their personality. Raven listens to goth music and dad rock. Dexter still listens to Tailor Quick though.

Speaking of music tastes, Poppy listens to Ska punk and Holly hates it so much.

Cupid was told to hide her monstrous features when going to EAH, so she’s masquerading as a Cherub. Also for a majority of her first year at EAH she’s faking her personality.

EAH’s school is specifically for European stories and there are different school in other regions for their stories.

Idk how yet but I’m planning on including references to other fairy tale authors and collectors like Andrew Lang.

I’ve planned a few arcs and mini stories for my version, some of them replace canon arcs. A few of these are a story based on A Wonderlandiful World, a rewrite of Way to Wonderland, a rewrite of Dragon Games that features two of the mention regional schools, a story I can only describe as “Cedar gets psychologically tormented by an arm puppet”, the Blood Knight story, and a story that replaces Epic Winter.

While EAH is typically only open for people with legacies to follow, there is a course available for people without legacies. However, it’s incredibly expensive and the course is kept entirely separated from the main course. Non-legacy students aren’t even allowed to be roommates with legacy students and there’s few opportunities for the two courses to interact. Poppy was originally in this course before Holly managed to get Headmaster Grimm to transfer her to the main course and the Charming family have a deal with the school so that none of their children go to the non-legacy course.

That’s all for now I think.

[the-nosy-neighbor]

Toys in the Catalog

I had mentioned Eddie looking at his number and being "stretched thin" so I thought I'd put together all of the catalog images and see if the numbers mean anything to me.

Starting here. Poppy looks dead eyed in this image, while the others have very happy faces. You can't say it is the toy, necessarily, since the others look happy. She seems to have a paper tail and paper feathers on her head. Her feet are super cute.

If you haven't seen one of these, this is how it works. More of a science toy than anything. This one is a bit scarier looking.

Poppy is the same price as Eddie, while the others are a bit higher. I can envision how these toys work by the design. Super cool designs.

We've looked at this a couple of times. Eddie appears to be checking out his price. Wally and Frank pillows are quite a bit more expensive than the other toys. Is this framing them as the most popular? They are more than an entire jack-in-the-box. Barnaby I have mentioned before, because it is another bisected Barn. I think we will see him in pieces before this is over.

This is framed as gifts for your home, like Wally was looking at for Home. The cuckoo clock here is home, and is featured prominently in Eddie's breakdown in Commercials. As we watch Eddie unravel, we see an above view of the clock (and I haven't found anything else in that image, not for a lack of trying) as well as a straight on view, which shows the clock moving, but not smoothly or in time. It starts and stops, pauses longer than you think it should. This says that Wally pops out instead of a cuckoo, though Poppy might have been more traditional. We don't get to see Wally come out of the clock.

The clock reads 3:30. I don't see anything that would designate day or night. This is quite a bit more than most things, because it's a complex clock.

Then we have a tea set, which seems to be the big image it is giving us about Poppy. Doilies and tea. Over and over. We will have to remember. Wally does tap his tea cup at Poppy's in a hidden video. Still trying to figure it out, but they keep showing it to us.

Finally, a tree skirt. It's expensive, but those things always are. I love the design, and all the neighbors. We see this design in a video or still somewhere else, maybe? I will keep an eye out. This features all the neighbors as gingerbread men as well as has cut outs of their symbols. I think it is odd that Home is by Eddie and not Wally, but maybe they are mixing it up.

Final page, with records. On the holiday records: one for $5.89 or all for $15.89. There are five records below on this page and it says "continued on next page," so that is not all. All of the records that we have seen so far are here. A was in the exhibit, as well as the first ad with the missing item. We saw B in the exhibit, and it was on the record player on the Merchandise page; it plays the Alice in Wonderland bit. C is Halloween, D was some of the earliest merch, and E is mentioned, but we are told that we have part of the audio, not the full record. Generally, when it says that, we shouldn't trust it. Something to consider.

Presumably, there are more records. The records are Marlo.

The price on these seem pretty standard and in line with the rest of the catalog. The single and Painting with Wally are cheaper, we assume because it is a shorter album. On the pricing generally, we are seeing a lot of ".89" but I assume this is for the same reason things are priced at the upper end, to be smaller than a dollar increase while practically being at the next dollar amount. Eddie and Poppy's toys are the only ones at $1.89. Given that they are both bullied characters, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of connection there.

One thing I didn't mention, is that Marlo is listed on this page, but it isn't elsewhere. I think I mentioned during a post on "Commercials" that there is a different company for those toys. Pretty sure Marlo did these records and the phones, at least. The other company is named "The You-Won't-Believe-It Company." They did the Wally Ball And Cup. They have other items in the video, I think. I noticed and wondered if there was something going on there, because we have only seen Marlo so far.

[shiny-jr]

Loved all your info about Empyrean with my last ask and left comments/reblog to it, and so sorry to spam your asks especially when you’re still working on this idea, but I’m just curious and want to hear whatever ramblings you’d like to share!

You mentioned Heartslabyul being inspired by Europe with a dash of volcanos via borders and I’m sure there’s going to be lots of references to the regions of origin for the fairytales/Disney movies for each. But are there other places of the world you’re drawing inspiration from, whether in real life or from Genshin too?

You’ve given teasers about Leona and Idia, along with the original premise post for a few of the other archons, are there any other backstories you’ve been developing for the archons or even the other characters?

Again, sorry to spam your asks but the more I look into Genshin, the more I’m excited by Empyrean and wishing you all the best in writing~!

So if y'all recall, my biggest qualm with Genshin Impact was the amalgamation of cultures and cultures as costume. I am NOT trying to do that here. However, here's the problem when it comes to implementing the twst x genshin au: a majority of the stories are based in Europe or have European origins. So that means that most of the world, if we go by that logic, would be European, which doesn't sit right with me.

So for story's sake, I think I'll imply in the story that the seven nations are the ones of the known world, and the most recognized due to their archon's power. I've considered maybe changing the setting of a nation, but that doesn't exactly sit right with me either. So that's why I stated here and like I said, it will be implied in the story, that there is another part of the world not even really known. That being said, I probably won't lean too heavily into the cultural aspect of the story. However, there will be mentions here and there. Keep in mind though, I belong to none of these cultures, so I'll try to research to the best of my ability but it's also why, like I just said, I don't want to heavily into the cultural aspect of the story, because by no means do I want to get something wrong and offend anyone.

Here's my thought process for the inspiration of each. Keep in mind, this is still very much a work in progress.

Heartslabyul: British Isles

If you thought this was gonna be any other place, then what the hell are you thinking? Riddle definitely has a British accent. The tea, the tarts, all that stuff? Very British, if you ask me. Of course there's the fact that the original author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is from Britain.

Savanaclaw: East Africa

After bit of research, I found several things. Such as the fact that many of the names from The Lion King movie are based off the Swahili language. Zulu is apparently also spoken in the opening song, The Circle of Life. Additionally, the Pride Lands are said to be set in either Tanzania or Kenya.

Octavinelle: Scandinavia(?)

I know a lot of people like to debate where The Little Mermaid takes place, but I'm basing this on the origins of the author, as he is Danish. Also, if you recall, I believe there's in game dialogue where one of the Octavinelle characters mentions how ice often makes it difficult for them to return home, thus suggesting that their homeland is very cold. Originally I did want to add a tropical location, but this complicates things.

Scarabia: Arabian Peninsula(?)

Yes, yes, there's the fact that the movie of Aladdin takes inspiration from Indian and other Southeast Asian cultures, but from what I've seen, the story seems to mainly derive from Arabic cultures. Aside for the fact that the story of Aladdin is said to come from the Islamic Golden Age and is from a collection of Middle Eastern folktales. If you research names like Kalim or Jamil, they do have Arabic origins.

Pomefiore: Central/Eastern Europe(?)

We all know the Brothers Grimm, yes? Authors of many fairytales, one of which being Snow White. Well, they're German. And, I mean, the archon is going to be Vil SCHOENHEIT, if that's not German sounding last name, then I dunno what is. Why did I include Eastern Europe? Because I personally HC a lot of the characters with accents and the accent I imagine Epel with is some type of Slavic. God, I love creative freedom.

Ignihyde: Greece

This one isn't even a debate. I don't gotta say why.

Diasomnia: Western Europe(?)

It is said that one of the earliest records of Sleeping Beauty was in a French book. If we look at some of the inspiration from the movie, it's said to take place in a French medieval kingdom. So yeah, it just made sense in my mind.

[rios-bug]

Might I request a little!Lilia mood board please? I think your hc of her reverting to her mother tongue when she's little is adorable, and I'd love to hear your other thoughts on her :)

Little Lilia mood-board!

An older regressor 6-12

Loves old fashion fairytales when she is regressed. Such as “Alice In wonderland” or “The hundred acre woods”

Is a huge classic Disney lover

Still practices her tarot when she regressed but the other treat it like lessons knowing it helps her think of her maestra and helps her headspace.

Doesn’t really call any of them caregiver titles unless she’s 6-9 after that she says their name or their all just “ma.”

Loves tea. Jen makes her a fresh pot everytime she senses one of Lilia’s drops.

As a fascination with dolls. She has some from her old coven she keeps for when she’s little.

Sometimes slips into her mother tounge and tries to speak and the other have learnt bits and pieces of sicilian thanks to it.

Will only eat pasta and bread when she’s 6 or 7.

Is a huge sweet eater when she is regressed.

Clings a lot to Jen when she is little.

If any of the other are regressed while she is still willingly to help which ever caregiver is watching all the littles that day.

Loves to let Agatha run her hands through her hair and read to her.

Makes them all watch Bambi at least once a week.

Thank you for the ask! Btw you can thank @alittlespa-gay-ceforme for the reverting back to Sicilian headcannon! They mentioned it once and had given me brain worms ✨