#doesn't it fit that knave so well?

[fridgimus]

a little swin head i sewed to carry around last week's mini tfnation. he's very good

[edgeray]

Ray! 🍅 anon here, I said I wasn't going to request but there's one idea I've been really, REALLY itching at.

So you know how you reblogged "cold nights" by beiibeii? Yeah about that... I think I cooked an angst idea of this on a related tangent? (If you choose to write this, ofc)

How about Mother!Reader who is faced with the same scenario of Arle neglecting them to the point that she loses hope in their relationship? Think of the angst when the children constantly remind their Father of important dates but she's away or somehow missing most of them because of work. To the point reader just implies for them to stop trying and accepts the fact that they married Arlecchino but is now simply the Knave's wife? Like even the children can see them losing hope which is why they sometimes lowkey plead with their Father to actually pay more attention to Mother. Mother marrying Father means that Mother is strong but behind their strong facade you can see their sadness! You can feel their loneliness! And their sense of isolation and sorrowful acceptance of their new reality. And Arle does not pick up on the subtle signs until it's Too Late. Like. Reader in the coffin Late.

And as the Knave's wife Reader does need to undertake missions like in "I am Fine in Your Arms" but because reader has lost so much hope in living a wife outside of being the Knave's wife, reader does not make an effort to return alive. The angst of the burial, maybe the children blaming their Father etc. The really young ones aside, I don't think they would be actively angry with their Father, just very, VERY, disappointed. HotH would lose its warmth for a while before Lyney, Lynette and Freminet try their best to build it back (but of course, it never becomes as warm as it used to be)

Whether or not you choose to give this one a happy ending is up to you, but on my end the only happy ending that I cooked up for them is that Arle wakes up in the next Samsara with all these memories of losing Reader and prevents the relationship from going South in the first place. (Bonus points if Reader also has the memories and compares it to how they were treated by Arle previously, makes a comparison, and goes "How I wish this were my Arle" without knowing that it actually IS their Arle, just acknowledging she fucked up BIG time and is now making heavy amends for it. and Arle Knows because of that look that Reader gives her, sorrow and joy in a complex blend.)

...I think by now you can tell that I'm an angst writer too HAHSHHSHA Nobody leaves my fics without getting a knife and I promise it's just for the plot (like we always say).

I've still been keeping up with your writings (Beauty and The Beast actually fits, holy-) (Someone send Siren!Arle a whole farmhouse of ham for her consumption please) and yes I agree that you've been pumping out bangers after bangers. (I mean. Given that, you probably can afford to be a little indulgent? If writing this much quality about your muse doesn't give you the OK to put your hands all over them, abs and all, what does?)

As always, prioritise your sanity and schedule first, stay well rested and hydrated!

Lost Warmth

(Arlecchino x GN! Reader)

A/N -  Link to my momma's (@beiibeiii) piece right here. If I see you read this before reading the masterpiece I just linked, know that I am a very disappointed axolotl. 😔  Anyways, you might be able to tell just how long this has been sitting in my inbox… haha… my bad guys. T^T. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write more angst. :3 And thank you for the additional comments 🍅 anon. I do have quite a soft spot for siren! arle, seeing that she was my first request (and requested from my momma :3). Wanted this to be a little longer, but I do have to wake up earlier tomorrow, so this is what you get T^T. Hopefully it's still good. Content warnings / info - angst, character death (duh), reader is referred to as ‘Mother’ but is otherwise GN!, 1.4k words

Cold is a feeling you've long gotten used to. Cold is your husband's dismissal of your existence, with every interaction ending with her blunt words and back towards you, leaving you with a crumbling heart. Cold are the long nights as you anxiously wait for Arlecchino's appearance for a candlelit dinner you spent half the day preparing, only for her never to return until you fell to exhaustion on the couch, a flower bouquet that remains unreceived in your hands. Cold is the creeping loneliness in the late hours of the night, when you've finally grown tired of anticipating someone that will never come, and returned to bed alone. Cold is the way you shiver underneath the thickest of blankets, no one's body warmth to sink into, no one's softly whispered words into your ear to drift you to sleep. Cold is when instead of your husband, only dim stars, a bottle of liquor, and the tears that stream your face join you in bed.

When was the last time you had felt warmth? 

You recall when the Knave first started courting you, how gentlemanly she was for such a rumored cruel Harbinger. You were first just a caretaker of the House of the Hearth, this small orphanage which you quickly found to be home for you. You couldn't help but adore the endearing children, watching as you slowly became a staple in this family. Despite your best efforts of hiding it, Arlecchino noticed when you snuck in the occasional pastry or cake from the town's most lavious bakery for the children, out of your own paycheck as well. It was then, your husband admitted, when she first fell for you. It had taken her months of encouragement from her ‘pestering’ children before she asked you out, and it was impossible to not fall for her charm.

How could you not? Not when she held you like you were her world. Not when she viewed you higher than the Tsaritsa herself. Not when her touch was heavenly, her words silky and sweet. When she proposed to you, your heart leapt with levity, and you thought your life was perfect now. A warm house, fitted with warm parents, that was what you had had, you had never felt so content. 

Then came the long nights. Nights when she trudged home later than usual, where she fell asleep without a word but sunk into your arms still. Then she started forgetting, forgetting about the dates and birthdays, and anniversaries more and more. At first, you chalked it up to her demanding Harbinger duties, but as time grew and the excuses started to run out, the perfect life you knew was crumbling. 

You became aware of this two years after your marriage when you had been preparing dinner for the two of you once she arrived home, slow cooking a steak since the early hours of the morning. Just as you exited the kitchen, you heard some children surrounding your husband before she left for another Harbinger meeting, telling her that you had a surprise for her once she came home and how excited you were for her to enjoy a new recipe you created. Your heart swelled with hope and appreciation for your children, especially when Arlecchino promised she would return in time. 

You should have known better.

You ate your tear-ridden steak alone and went to bed, leaving the steak out for her for whenever she returned home. Just like how you fell asleep, you woke up without your husband's presence, and when you arrived at the kitchen, the meat and the note besides the plate were untouched. 

You tried to eat the cold steak for lunch as well. You threw it away at the first bite. That day, you gathered your children, pleading them not to ‘pester’ Father with more reminders, as she was very busy. All that you gained back from the children was pitied expressions, and the agony in your chest worsened. Your children could pity you, but your husband couldn't? Even with your husband's coldness, you still carried out your Mother role, if only for the children. You cannot deny that the children's antics helped you forget the ever-present void inside you, caused by Arlecchino. 

You never learned the reason for Arlecchino's behavior, why she had grown so cold towards you. Now, you suppose, you would never know.  

Red fills your hazy vision as you lay on the ground, your entire body aching and fatigued, desperate gasps for air while your heart pounds in your eardrums. Your side was sliced, and the crimson liquid quickly poured out of the wound while you tried to stop the bleeding, but to no avail. 

This is your end, you think to yourself as you weakly turn on your side, every nerve in your body protesting against the movement. Your bloodied hand comes into view, your engagement and wedding ring gleaming slightly underneath the blood. The rings bring your thoughts to Arlecchino–oh, how you imagine the common disappointment in her otherwise apathetic expression, disappointment at your mission's failure. Your eyes bubbled and blurred with tears, vivid memories of your wedding flashing through your mind. The wedding ring is beautiful, still polished with that bold scarlet, the same color of her eyes, the same eyes you could never stop drowning in.

Would she even know your absence? Would she ever acknowledge you, treat you properly like her partner even if you did return? You doubt it. Did you want to return a cold bed, to a husband that does not love you, to a house no longer warm? 

It's warm. 

Your body feels like fire courses through your veins as you feel inexplicably hot, yet it's a welcomed heat. It's the first time you've felt this, but it feels familiar, comforting, like a hearth, and you want nothing more than to surrender to it. It soothes your heartbeat and calms your breath, easing your body as if you were to sink into the most plush of beds, swallowed by the thickest of blankets. The warmth coils around you, wrapping you like a cozy embrace, evoking you to sleep. Your eyes flutter shutter, a faint smile plastered on your lips.

It feels just like Peruere's arms. 

— 

Arlecchino receives a letter addressed to her on the third day you've been sent on a mission. The contents make her drop the paper, and she rushes outside, without an additional word, leaving the House. 

The children do not see her until she returns late into the night, a body wrapped in cloth in her arms. Arlecchino raised her children to be smart, to be attentive, to be logical. Whose body it is, they realize with little difficulty. 

The children weep that night. Arlecchino does not. How can she, when her source of emotions is gone? 

The burial takes place soon afterwards. As your body is placed into the ground, Arlecchino can feel the weight of her children's stare on her back. The charged tension between her and the children is palpable without words. She cannot discern which of the two reactions cut deeper. The seething fury underneath the oppressive grief for the young ones, having to lose another parent, or the crushing dismay inhabited by the older ones, specifically the twins and Freminet. 

Their thoughts are clear, even when none of them speak out loud. 

How could you fail Mother?

The House of the Hearth no longer suits the orphanage's name, not with your missing presence. There is no warmth, no matter how much the trio tries to fuel a lost flame. Even with Arlecchin's pyro vision, it is futile.

Arlecchino stands before your gravestone, a bouquet of your favorite flowers in her hand, and she rests it beside the other bouquets by your grave. Six bouquets in total, for each day after your burial. 

��For all the flowers, I should have given you, my love,” she whispers as she addresses you, glancing up to the heavens. The last two words make her feel like a fraud, undeserving of calling you hers, when she had clearly never shown so. 

Arlecchino, the Knave, the Fatui Harbinger, does not plead, does not beg, does not kneel. However, her knees drop to her dirt, and she grovels. “Please… wait for me one more time, my dear. Once I meet you again, I promise I'll never leave you alone, I'll never let you out of my arms again.”

There is no reply. 

Arlecchino feels cold. 

[walkingoneliner]

An analysis of Cater Diamond

(That's mostly me screaming into the void.)

Cater has always had an identity problem. We see this from the very start of the game when he makes it clear how much he hates sweets because of how much his family always had to have them.

We get an idea that his family is a bit...smothering in their ideas and likes. And this is only built upon throughout the game with things such as the "rule of cute" they seem to live by.

Now, I'm not going to say Caters card is definitely him as dorm leader...but it certainly seems it. And if so, you'll notice somthing quite striking.

How different it is from Riddles uniform.

If Riddle's uniform is ouji, Caters is 100% Visual-Kei

It's far from cute, almost general looking.

Now I'm not saying "Oh Cater will be a bad leader and run Heartslabyul to the ground grr grr" as he doesn't seem like the type to do such a thing.

What I am saying, is that in Caters dream, such a uniform is vastly different because in his dream he is likely being himself! The only bad dream we've seen so far was Floyd's! Everyone else has been living their perfect realities, Epel being strong, Kalim being real friends with Jamil, Ruggie's dad coming back for him AND nobody in his village going hungry. So we can presume that in this dream as well we get to see the REAL Cater.

Which brings me to my part two ✌ of this analysis!

Who the heck is Cater?

To figure this out, we have to figure this out from the very core of who inspired him.

Now, I've seen many different guesses, the King of Hearts, the Knave of Hearts and the White Rabbit being the top three.

Well we know he isn't the Knave, that honor is clearly Aces considering he is the one who stole the "tarts upon a summers day." (Google Queen of Hearts poem if you have no idea what I'm talking about)

And honestly? I thought he was the White Rabbit! And i think they wanted us to think this.

We know when the game first released they said the reason Caters eyes were red in some twstunes and classes was because of the fact he originally was supposed to be a rabbit beastman. However, that was changed for an unknown reason.

I believe it was changed because they realized that a better white rabbit would indeed be Trey.

I know what you're thinking.

Trey? As the White Rabbit?

Hear me out.

Trey can fit the role of the White Rabbit very well as he,

Is Riddles right hand man. Many people assumed him to be the King because of this, but really, the Rabbit does far more for the Queen than the King does.

Has an odd obsession with teeth. It was a joke from the get go that none of us even considered.

Has a large family...enough said in the rabbit comparison.

How nervous he is around Riddle! Now every character is nervous around Riddle just as every character is nervous around the Queen. But it's noticeable how much more nervous Trey is than Cater, in the same way the Rabbit fears the Queen more than the King.

Finally, he is the one to smooth things over with the other students when Riddle rampages. Similarly, the White Rabbit is the only one of the Queens court to speak to the others in wonderland.

So what does this leave Cater with?

The role of King.

Now, the King doesn't do much in Alice in Wonderland, nor in the book Alice's Adventures Underground/Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which the flim Alice in Wonderland was based off.

Does that not remind you of Cater who is the most stand offish of the Heartslabyul cast. He doesn't do much at all to impact the story. All we see him do us use the others for his gain painting the roses (somthing I truthfully can't connect to the King despite my best efforts) and we see him try to convince Riddle to go easy on the first years, specifically Ace and Deuce.

I fear if I keep speaking, I'll end up running in circles. But for now, this is where I'll end it.

The fact he was the one to try convincing Riddle to go easy on them was a huge hint he was the King of Hearts the whole time, as one of the kings few lines is "Can't we have a trial?/Oh just a little trial?" And in the book he attempts to calm the Queen by reminding her that Alice is simply a child, so they should go easy on her punishment.

Not to mention he has the gavel that the King of Hearts uses...but that's just a nice little detail.

Cater is indeed the King of Hearts which we can easily trace evidence of back to the start of the story.

Despite this, I don't have any idea what Caters dream could be, but I do know it will be fascinating to see one of the least developed characters of twst finally shine!

If y'all have questions, additions or corrections, comment and let a girl know or send me an ask!

[confusedbyinterface]

Adela's Tarot

Finally back to Chapter 15, and while I don't have any bit stunning revelations about Catherine's wake I did some research into Adela's tarot reading. First, to get a better idea of what the cards might mean, and second to have a better look at the deck Adela's using.

I don't know tarot, so I might be a bit off about the symbolism of the cards, whether 15th or 20th century. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me or add to what I've said!

First, what deck is Adela using?

Looking up tarot decks from that era, these all seem to be from the Cary-Yale Visconti Tarot deck

This set dates back to at least the 1460s, and could be from the 1440s, making it one of the oldest existing sets. While it's incomplete, it has some unusual features you can see here: First, it has six face cards rather than four. Along with King, Queen, Knight and Knave there's also the Horsewoman and Damsel. Here, the Damsel of Swords image is used as the Queen of Swords. Second, like Minchiate decks, it includes Faith, Charity, and Hope as trumps. Here, the virtue of Charity is used for the High Priestess: the Cary-Yale deck is missing the High Priestess/Papesse. It could be that like minchiate it doesn't have that trump, or because it's been lost. It looks like modern reproductions don't try to recreate the High Priestess as they do for, say The Devil, but either don't have one or just rename "Charity" to "The High Priestess".

This is a really cool deck, and I'll be comparing this tarot to the modern Rider-Waite cards as we go through the reading. One thing is clear, if Adela has a deck like this her mum must have been loaded.

So let's start with the reading! First up, Charity (the nun, not the card) was just finishing with a reading. Her present card was Three of Cups, inverted

Adela reads it as "A lack of time to socialize", as Charity says she's too tired to stay up and is going to leave partway through the wake. I'm not sure how much more I can read into it. I am seeing reversed 3 of cups being read as warning of a betrayal or spy, but who knows if that's coming up. Hedwig's certainly a "spy" of sorts, but it's hard to say if that really affects Charity.

Hedwig's Past: The Seven of Cups, Inverted

"It represents illusions, imagination, creativity. But as you can see, it is inverted! ...You spent a lot of time with nobody but yourself. Nothing but your own imagination. Clinging to this past will not help you."

Wishful thinking is one reading, but the Seven of Cups can also represent choice or temptation, as well as self delusion. The Rider-Waite one has the cups offering various visions. Inverted, it can refer to a loss of old goals and closing off choices, or it can reflect a moment of clarity. Old illusions have been cast off, false paths are closed off and you can better see the right choice. I can see both applying to Hedwig: as Adela suggests, leaving her cell means giving up her lifelong vocation as anchoress. But more recently, Hedwig had spent weeks in a depressive fugue, unable to progress on the investigation, and in the village had a vision which she saw as a warning to get back on track. That could fit with the reversed Seven of Cups.

Hedwig's Present: The World, Inverted

"In this reversed position, The World represents your inner torment. You are secluded. You are lonely. You are withdrawn... Because! Something has been troubling you, yes? Something you need to get to the bottom of. Something that has been preoccupying you ever since you left your cell. Am I correct? You were alone in your cell for many years and now you have been set adrift."

I'm also seeing the world inverted as a need for closure, incompleteness, and frustrated goals as Adela says. Waite says The World can represent flight, while an inverted World can be inertia and stagnation.

One thing I find interesting with both the Visconti and Rider-Waite World cards is their relation to Hedwig's vision. Hedwig's first reaction to her vision is that it's a warning about her lack of progress, as the inverted World represents stagnation and incomplete goals. Rider-Waite's World shows a flying woman surrounded by the four biblical Living Creatures, as Ezekiel and John of Patmos saw in their visions. Pamela Smith's illustration quotes depictions of Christ surrounded by the four creatures representing the four evangelists, Matthew being the man. Obviously this is totally outside the text as Waite and Smith won't be born for 400 years, but it's interesting that Hedwig had left the Book of Matthew incomplete. Similarly, she's failed to finish reading Medea, and will never have the full experience of discussing it with Catherine. The play ends with Medea flying away in a chariot.

The Cary-Yale Visconti World card looks very similar to Hedwig's vision. She was taken up, seeing the town of Linbarrow and the lake below, and when she landed on the hill she saw God looking down on her, like the figure in the card. I'm not sure if that figure is meant to be a woman (the hat and very high forehead look a bit feminine to me, but I'm not sure), but if so, it could also be Hedwig flying above the town. But the imagery, and Adela's interpretation, match Hedwig's vision very strongly.

Hedwig's Future: The Queen of Swords, Inverted

"A reversed queen of swords in this position means you will continue to have a hard time moving forward into the future. You must make some decisions, Sister Hedwig! This Queen in reverse suggests to me that you must find some strength inside yourself to move beyond your current predicament. Perhaps there is something small you can think of and change."

Adela is, perhaps, softening things to not scare Hedwig. An upright Queen of Swords is rational judgement, mental clarity and maturity. She puts thought into action. To Waite, she knows sorrow, and is perhaps a widow (Katherine?). In the future, she can represent a guide.

Reversed, then, she can mean emotion overpowering reason, spite, and vindictiveness. As a warning against holding grudges and failing to learn from errors, she fits with Hedwig's vision very well (Proverbs 26:11). A reversed Queen of Swords can be an absent mother, which could fit with Catherine, or Mabel's failings as Mother Superior, but I'm not sure how that belongs in the future. Waite sees a reversed Queen of Swords as warning of malice, bigotry, deceit, and specifically of a woman bearing ill-will towards Hedwig.

Much to think about, but there's more: while the text says Queen of Swords, if we go by the image, just for fun, the Damsel of Swords is equivalent in rank to Page of Swords. Waite suggests a reversed Page of Swords can mean evil coming through spying, or from an authority figure. It could mean some unforeseen events are coming, that you will be unprepared, possibly sickness is in the future. This could definitely come up too.

A paranoid, Pepe-Silvia overreading of this could ask why the Damsel is being mistaken for a Queen. Two similar swords, two similar women. Could this be Urim and Thummim? Could the women be Catherine and Katherine, or Catherine and Hedwig? Could Xeecee have just decided they liked how the Damsel card looked?

"Is this real?": The High Priestess/Charity

"Well... To be honest, I think this card is imbued with such mystery that your answer is... unclear."

"Isn't it funny how every card is imbued with enough mystery to mean whatever you like?"

"The cards have malleable meanings, it is true. That makes them better at their intended purpose, not worse."

Adela, of course, doesn't have the benefit of knowing Hedwig's question. The High Priestess is a symbol of intuition, esoteric knowledge, the subconscious mind. To Waite, she is "the highest and holiest of the Greater Arcana", the future as yet unknown, and mystery. He's a bit heteronormative in saying that to a female querent she must represent the querent herself rather than a love interest, but here I think that fits.

I think the answer is that the tarot will help Hedwig understand the mystery. Is it real? Maybe it is. Maybe it's just a guide for things Hedwig doesn't realise she already knows (as Darcy says of her vision), something that will help her make that intuitive leap to understand how it all fits together.

Now, technically, the card shown is Charity, not the High Priestess. I'm not sure how you might read Charity here ("Hey, Adela's just trying to help you out" maybe?), but when Darcy is helping Hedwig interpret her vision, the name of the track playing is "Caritas". Could be a connection, could be pareidolia.wav.

I included the Morgan-Bergamo Viscont-Sforza Papesse card for historical reasons. It's a depiction of Sister Manfreda, who was elected Pope by a 13th century heretical sect, which believed that in the year 1300 their founder Guglielma of Bohemia would return to earth and found a new church, lead by women. These Guglielmites were charged with heresy and Manfreda was burned at the stake.

As someone who knows little about cartomancy, and less about late medieval Lombard heresies, I'm not sure what to make of that. But I think I've made a decent try at sorting it out.

[lvnesart]

i love your knave!neuvillette art so much! i adore that he has such a soft spot for the HotH orphans ;u; do you feel that he would specifically get along with freminet well, since he has an appreciation for diving under water/water exploration? also, how would his relationships be with the melusines in that AU, since he didn’t really introduce them to fontaine himself? do the melusines eventually fit into fontaine well without his influence?

Freminet is to Neuvillette what Lyney is to Arlecchino in canon. He doesn't see himself ever abandoning the orphanage but he's not so stupid as to assume that the fatui will keep him around forever

And yeah part of why he's endeared to Fremi is cause of his affinity for the sea, but also he's one of the few people who seems to view the world like he does

In this AU, because he never interacted with the melusines before, there is zero familial bond. However when decides to revisit Fontaine for the gnosis he is absolutely Endeared. He has a lot of money so he's constantly offering snacks up to any nearby melusine. They're such hard workers after all.

And I believe that even without Neuvillette, curiosity wouldve won them over and they wouldve gone to the surface eventually. Tho they started out at the bottom of barrel this time around, Furina's executioner does good by them to ensure their survival in modern day Fontaine

[zareleonis]

Furina x Neuvillette Fic Recs

All I ask of You by Lyrecah | rated T, 28.2k words

Some nights, Furina can’t sleep.

Neuvillette has taken notice and decides to address it.

Neither were expecting a bard from Mondstadt to come along and have an effect on the course of the night.

Why I like it: The pining is so sweet and it's so wonderful to see Furina have a friend in Venti.

The Altar of Her Body by Maleficar | rated E, 4.1k words

She devours his obscenities and his holy vows.

Neuvillette and Furina celebrate solving the serial disappearances case.

Why I like it: THE LADDERS IN NEUVILLETTE'S OFFICE ARE A WONDERFUL SUPPORTING CHARACTER!! Really love how this approaches their relationship from a very different angle from most other explicit works for this pairing so far, including this author's other story for them (more on that one later)

As Light Rain Falls by StarTears | rated T, 3.1k words

Furina drowns in self-doubt after the atrocious meeting with the Knave. As light rain falls, Neuvillette, who watched her back fade away from the Opera House, knocks on her door.

Why I like it: Just what I needed to heal my heart after what Furina went through in the 4.1 Archon Quest. And it made me cry! Simply lovely.

bisous amicaux by LKjoghtun | rated G, 800 words

Focalor kept diaries. A lot of diaries, or maybe she just liked to write and then reread what she had written. She was alarmed when she finished another notebook, three-quarters of which was devoted to Neuvillette. Each page described something they'd done at the place during the day or wanted to do.

Why I like it: The only story on this list written pre-4.0, yet it still feels so right for them. Very impressive how well they portray Furina's insecurities despite knowing so little about the characters at the time of writing.

the complete opposite of professionalism by Sakura_Blight | rated E, 300 words

Furina is insatiable.

Why I like it: Unfair how hot this one is. A story that's short by design but leaves you desperate for more.

Dancin’ Closer To The Edge by sillylittlebard | rated E, 1.9k words

Furina wanted Neuvillette. Over, over and over again. He always would. He would always need his estranged lover. No matter how much he hissed and spat, words were never venomous in nature. This was their game, and this was their own duel. This was theirs. Here, Furina could be wanted. Truly, wanted. Touched. Loved. Heard. He could be heard.

Why I like it: Transmasc Furina enthusiasts rise up!!! Makes me a little giddy to read someone else's take on that headcanon for Furina. I love the intensity and friction to their relationship in this story.

Dancing In the Rain by HydroLily | rated G, 1.7k words

Furina is losing control, and she’s still not even close to reversing Fontaine’s horrible prophecy. She retires to her bedroom, resigned to her circumstances.

Neuvillette notices this and decides that it’s time for a change of scenery.

Why I like it: The act Furina puts on to her true feelings and the quiet but steady Neuvillette are wonderful.

étreinte fantomatique by LKjoghtun | rated G, 800 words

If he were younger, he would certainly be upset by Focalor's behavior, but centuries have passed and he has learned to accept many things, even if he doesn't approve or understand the reason for them.

Why I like it: Glorious prose and my very favorite part, the description of both their fashion sense (I won't spoil, just read it!)

A Fitting Punishment by Maleficar | rated E, 3.9k words

“What are you going to do?” she asks. For all her contrite body language, an impish grin spreads across her lips. “Punish me?”

Neuvillette punishes Furina for nearly condemning an innocent man.

Why I like it: Glorious! Neuvillette is so hot in this I could implode. Love the playful and needy Furina who is a thorn in his side til the end. Can't punish your Archon if your Archon likes it!

Five More Minutes by MissDema | rated G, 1k words (Spanish language version)

Charlotte interviews Neuvillette, Fontaine wants to know about its judge's morning routine. What no one will ever know is that the nation's goddess is actually more present in it than his words say. - minute /ˈmɪnɪt/ 1. a period of time equal to sixty seconds or a sixtieth of an hour.

Why I like it: Easily one of the cutest fics for them out there!!!! Furina so adorable. Now that Charlotte is actually getting her interview with Neuvillette I will pretend it is canon :3

How the Archons Were Tried and Sent to Jail by BookishWanderer | rated T, 15.3k words, ongoing

Why Morax, Barbatos, Beelzebul, and Buer chose the middle of the night to visit Focalors was unknown. The fact is that they did and in doing so, were arrested for crimes related to the honor of the Hydro Archon. Now, their people must navigate the complicated waters of the Fontainian legal system in order to bring their gods home- or at least make sure they are not punished too harshly while grappling with some truths regarding their identities and other things that the archons would rather stay hidden.

Why I like it: Incredibly funny!! Tears of laughter levels of funny. It's so beautiful how enthusiastic the nation is for their love. And the large ensemble cast is handled so deftly.

leisurely times by fukiana | rated T, 4.2k words

With no ongoing court cases and the opera epiclese under construction Furina finds herself quite fidgety with nothing to do, this frustrates her and so she heads to the person she’s closest with.

Why I like it: The gossiping Melusines are adorable and soooo funny. Such a great idea.

Midnight Rain by MissDema | rated T, 1.6k words (Spanish language version)

“But I don't just want you to kiss me, Neuvi…” - Late at night, Neuvillette has still not returned to their chamber. Consequently, Focalors decides to look for him. - midnight /ˈmɪd.naɪt/ 1. twelve o'clock at night.

Why I like it: Adore seeing Furina as the one giving care and comfort. They are so in love!!

Moon, Ahold of All Light, Please Shine Down On Me by AdmireAsunas | rated E, 5.3k words, ongoing

There was an old saying, if you throw coins into the Fountain of Lucine, and make a wish. The Hydro archon will do her best to make it come true. If only the people of the nation of hydro, realize the position their archon puts herself in for their sake.

It's going to take a lot of power and feelings to save the archon, both from herself, and from the group trying to take her out.

Why I like it: Neuvillette hasn't even appeared in this one yet, but the Furina portrayal is downright heartwrenching. Really looking forward to where this story goes.

A Needy God Hates the Rain by LittlestFallenAngel | rated G, 1.2k words

Fearing that Neuvillette has lost faith in her, Furina pays him a visit.

Why I like it: Furina's insecurities hurt my heart, but Neuvillette's love and faith in her heal it :') Love the dialogue in this one.

The reason why by Budget_hrdirector | rated G, 700 words

Furina bounces around Neuvillette's room, loudly complains, sits in his chair and spins around. He wonders why she's doing this.

Why I like it: Very, very cute. The banter between them here is top tier!

Salty and Still Water by WanderingRhyme | rated G, 7.5k words, ongoing (gen fic)

A long time ago, when the island of Erinnyes was inhabited and the fountain of Lucine just a small spring, the youngest of the Lochfolk meets the fallen sovereign of water. Neither of them knew that this meeting would change the fate of the entire nation.

Why I like it: Very imaginative back story for Furina and Neuvillette with characterization that really shines. They're so very different form the Furina and Neuvillette of the present, but still so recognizably them.

ah, a spoonful of sugar by yanderemonoma | rated E, 2.2k words (feat. arle x furi. warning for rape/non-con. please mind the tags.)

Furina neglects to explain to Neuvillette why she's so adamant in having him attend her diplomatic meeting with the Knave.

Perhaps she should have.

Why I like it: A devastatingly self-sacrificing Furina and a Neuvillette who would do anything she ever asks of him, no matter what it costs them both :( Haunted me since the moment I read it.

Summer Rain by SleepyBirdie | rated G, 1.4k words

It rains during a heatwave. Furina wishes there were more sunny days to come.

Why I like it: I love the way they support one another in this one. It's so soft.

Troubled Waters by MissDema | rated E, 1.9k words

“Anything you say can and will be used against you. Now, be a good boy and turn around!” - Focallette pegging fic. That's it. That's the whole plot. - trouble /ˈtrʌbl/ 6. a situation in which one is liable to incur punishment or blame.

Why I like it: TOP FURINA LET'S ALL CELEBRATE!!! Great stuff. It's hot. Also love that there are some bold Fontainians who would dare speculate what the Archon and Chief Justice do in bed.

The Truth, and Nothing But by ThatWindingPath | rate G, 300 words (gen fic)

Boredom is the one and only reason Furina ever visits Neuvillette. That is the whole truth.

Or so Furina pretends, anyway.

Why I like it: Another trans Furina story that I adore. Furina's pride and desperate need to be loved by the public hurts my heart, and the dynamic with Neuvillette, who understands him better than anyone one else, is beautiful.

Woes of Public Transportation by Karmilk | rated E, 1.8k words

“If you are hoping to meet the two figureheads of the Opera Epiclese, I don’t recommend waiting around here. They use their own private transportation, not the aquabus. I doubt this is because they don't wish to associate with the common folk. I suspect they simply don't wish to see their private words and deeds appearing in The Steambird blown out of proportion…” - Elphane

Why I like it: Very funny and delightful exploration of one of the more.... provocative NPC mentions of Furina and Neuvillette.

[brotherdusk]

talk to me about how the great expectation adaption sucks!

anon I hope you know what you've activated here!

I'm gonna preface this by saying - well first of all I should say that I've only watched one and a half episodes of the three that have aired, so who knows, maybe I missed something in episodes 2 or 3 that justifies their choice to completely gut young pip of everything that makes him sympathetic or likeable or even interesting as a protagonist. I doubt it though!

preface #2: I am totally open to adaptations changing things and getting weird with it, especially when it's a story that's already been retold ad nauseam! my favourite adaptation of great expectations is the 1946 david lean version, which strips down huge parts of the story to fit a two hour runtime and alters the ending quite a lot. you could put a cynical bent on it and say they sanitized dickens' rather bittersweet ending in favour of an over-romanticised, old hollywood vision - but I don't care, the final words of that film make me cry every time!

continuing below the cut because I have a shred of self-respect and I'm not gonna clog people's dashes with this any longer 🫡 if you click the readmore then godspeed. spoilers ahead!

so in this essay I'm mostly gonna examine the show's depiction of young pip compared to the original, and then wrap it up with a speedrun of everything else about the show that feels off or rewrites the original intention of the novel for no apparent reason.

the view we get of pip as a young boy is crucial to understanding his actions and relationships for the rest of the story! in the book, he's a polite, sensitive, almost painfully impressionable little kid who lives in fear of pretty much everything - his older sister abuses him, meeting the escaped convict magwitch fills him with mortal terror, he gets criticised and belittled over christmas dinner for the crime of Being A Child, and he's convinced that he's about to be arrested and put in prison forever for stealing one (1) pie from the larder. he has a vivid imagination and it's clear that things leave an impression on him, even if he doesn't realise it himself at the time.

but there's a simplicity to his innocence! he and joe quietly support each other through mrs joe's abuse. they have a mutual respect and understanding. he later becomes apprenticed to joe as a blacksmith, but really he's joe's apprentice in every way. they both live simple, almost childlike existences, with no expectations for themselves, and they're quite happy that way.

Joe and I being fellow-sufferers, and having confidences as such, Joe imparted a confidence to me [...] I always treated him as a larger species of child, and as no more than my equal.

so what's the worst thing that could happen to pip at this point? meeting the beautiful estella and hearing her mock every aspect of his being, of course!

I set off on the four-mile walk to our forge; pondering, as I went along, on all I had seen, and deeply revolving that I was a common labouring-boy; that my hands were coarse; that my boots were thick; that I had fallen into a despicable habit of calling knaves Jacks; that I was much more ignorant than I had considered myself last night, and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way.

[...] I thought long after I laid me down, how common Estella would consider Joe, a mere blacksmith; how thick his boots, and how coarse his hands. I thought how Joe and my sister were then sitting in the kitchen, and how I had come up to bed from the kitchen, and how Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in a kitchen, but were far above the level of such common doings.

this meeting is absolutely catastrophic for pip and makes him irrevocably aware of his class. he is desperate to shed his common-ness and jumps at the chance to get a proper education and become a gentleman. being joe's apprentice in life is no longer enough. he never outright rejects joe, he's too attached to him for that, but pip's deep shame forms an uncomfortable rift between them. it reaches a breaking point when joe later visits him in london;

Let me confess exactly with what feelings I looked forward to Joe’s coming. Not with pleasure, though I was bound to him by so many ties; no; with considerable disturbance, some mortification, and a keen sense of incongruity. If I could have kept him away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money.

so, just to recap on book!pip: he goes through several formative experiences at a very young and impressionable age - threats from magwitch, abuse from his sister that solidifies his bond with joe, and humiliation from miss havisham and estella. these all form deep impressions on his psyche and inform his actions throughout the rest of the story. it's also the catalyst for miss havisham's iconic "what have I done! what have I done!" breakdown later in the novel.

with this in mind, let's look at how bbc great expectations completely fumbles the character of young pip and makes everything outlined above a complete non-event for him:

first of all... why is he so... old?

I have an annotated copy of great expectations (yeah I'm that bitch. sorry) that includes a transcript of charles dickens' original working notes, and he imagined young pip as roughly 7 years old. tom sweet (young pip above) is 18, but he's got a young face so let's be charitable and say they were aiming for 15. that's still such a vast difference? the way a 15 year old reacts to and internalises things is indescribably different to a 7 year old! why!

the show's clearly going for a moodier and more mature take on young pip but he's so fucking boring and insufferable. from the opening moments of the first episode he's quoting shakespeare to get through the tedium of blacksmithing, telling joe he doesn't actually want to be his apprentice, and clapping back at his sister's folk beliefs with #facts and #logic. steven knight has a brave new vision of pip and unfortunately that vision is an atheist redditor.

it's so bad. it's the "overly self aware misfit teen protagonist"-ification of classic literature. I didn't watch the new wednesday series but I imagine this is why it made everyone so mad. this pip's answer to everything is either 1) "k" 2) 😏😏 WELL ACKSHUALLY 😏😏 or 3) read at 8:32pm. why should he care if magwitch threatens to eat his liver or if estella is a bit of a cow? he's already dissatisfied and bored and knows better than everyone else in this backwater village! there's no tragic corruption of innocence to be done here! pack it in! we're done!

the first episode opened with adult pip attempting to commit suicide so I guess the series is going to examine how his dissatisfaction and disconnect from his roots grows and grows until he reaches a breaking point, which is kind of the theme of the novel, but... his connection to joe in particular is so cold and dead on arrival. joe's humbleness and warmth is so central to the book, but here he's just some guy? mrs joe isn't even particularly monstrous, she's just... unpleasant and argumentative and agrees not to beat pip when joe tells her not to. ok? glad that's settled then?

I can't judge estella or miss havisham because their arcs haven't really gotten going yet. I'm interested in the miss havisham drug addict storyline and cautiously optimistic about the prospect of olivia colman acting out miss havisham's final breakdown and decline, but I won't be surprised if the show finds some way to screw it up and remove all emotional depth from it :~)

as for mr jaggers: why is he described as corrupt? I recall he could be a little creative with the rules when required but was fastidiously, obsessively lawful and self-policing whenever possible. what??

wait I just looked ahead at the upcoming episode descriptions and genuinely what the hell is going on with jaggers. what's up with the bbc doing colourblind casting and then making the characters played by people of colour significantly worse than in canon (this is a bbc les mis thénardier subtweet)

and as for herbert pocket, my bestie my sweetie pie the light of my life...... look how they massacred my boy 😭 the real mr pocket would NEVER!!!!

I cannot express how much jairaj varsani was wasted here. he had a recurring role in the first season of foundation and his character, poly, was so much closer in personality to mr pocket than the actual mr pocket of this show. huge heart huge spirit zero self preservation instinct. he could have been perfect here with a script that was actually good!

(I made this meme about the character in 2021 lmao)

I'm mixed on how central they've made the magwitch-compeyson conflict. I'm always down to see more of compey purely because trystan gravelle is very very good at playing deranged 19th century men, but I feel they've reduced the fear and mystery of magwitch's presence by giving them so much backstory so early.

as the for the mr pumblechook/mrs joe sadomasochism subplot.... sure I guess. why not draw a parallel to pip's obsession with estella despite how much she hurts him. put the wwdits guy's naked ass on screen I'm beyond caring at this point

the tragedy is that bbc great expectations could have worked? I'm very into les misérables and have seen enough adaptations of it that the weird ones that didn't quite stick the landing but made an attempt to do something different are much more interesting to me than oversimplified paint-by-numbers adaptation #847594. the same can be said of dracula, or sherlock holmes, or any other classic story that's been retold over and over. I bring this up because there are so many similarities between bbc great expectations (that I don't like) and bbc les mis (which I do like despite its many many faults) that it's a useful comparison to have on hand. they both strayed from the source material and changed character personalities, to the chagrin of a lot of fans, but despite its odd choices bbc les mis never quite lost the heart of the story in the way bbc great expectations did. in my opinion at least.

maybe the show can pull it back and do its own thing with the story, but it's already thrown away so many opportunities for emotional weight that I just can't see it succeeding at this point. rudi dharmalingam as wemmick has piqued my interest so I'll probably go back to it, and get hurt again by whatever the hell they've done to his character.... honestly I'll probably skim through the whole series out of curiosity to see where miss havisham's plot goes, if nothing else, and angrily liveblog it when I'm inevitably disappointed 😭

hope this satisfied your curiosity anon! this answer was probably more than you bargained for haha. I just adore this story and have many feelings about it ✨

[grapecaseschoices]

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer ok go

Top 5 ocs of yours? I'm so curious 👀👀

LMAO. yall so cute <3 so good for my ego and self-esteem.

I've been creating ocs since I was like 14? 15?, bb. That's a lot LMAO. And that doesn't include one off characters from shows/books that I made my own when I played panfandom games. And if I were to do a somewhat honest list [lmao bc top five is genuinely hard.] I'd have to add ocs yall don't know.

But let's see. Um. In no order.

Tai Aeothryn: I don't even remember her. Don't even ask me to say her last name, because I made that SHIT UP. Tai started from a self-insert that became more energetic and meddling and pushy and etc than me. I played her in a Dark Hunters [yes, by Sherrilyn Kenyon] group. Totally lied about my age to get in [DON'T DO THIS KIDS!] and her FC was that actress from Passions. ROFLMAO. This is so funny, because I DON'T remember a lot but so much is coming back to me. ROFLMAO. Psychic damage right now. Tai was 19. And partially Haitian. BECAUSE OF COURSE! [Even tho her FC wasn't.] She was short and mouthy and probably could've done with more fear. She was probably the prototype of a lot of my OCs. She had a few cute nicknames that I don't recall. I know one was 'the Meddler' and I think the other was 'imp'?

So, Ima admit. I very much had a HP phase. A lot of my rp time was HP. It wasn't where I started [see above] but it is where i did most of my writing/met a lot of the people I still write with. THAT. SAAAAID. One OC that ended up surviving That Time was Maxwell B. He had too many surnames, one being Bianchi. How do I solve a problem like Max? Max was charming. I don't usually like to call my characters charming because I feel it's a matter of perspective. If I can get you to feel a character I see/hope will be charming as charming, then job well done. But Max was CHARMING. I feel in an olden days, people would call Max a knave or a rapascallion, but in an 'oh, you!!' sort of way. But the thing is, the most important thing, is Max wasn't half as charming as HE believed himself to be. He was a silly guy. And he knew it. It was part of his personality but it was also on purpose. He was "lazy" and a bit of a prankster, and seemingly, didn't take a lot of thing seriously, so don't go taking him seriously. Which often lead to underestimation of his character and his values [both a matter of his fault and people not looking beyond the surface]; but he was a flirt who was very respectful of boundaries and other's relationships, he was extremely loyal, and while not entirely book smart he was very observant and intelligent. I miss Max a lot sometimes. [Max while not the prototype, he was the culmination of previous prototypes lmao. I haven't done a character like him in a minute tho. Amos and Ferryn are the closest but Amos is an asshole. And Ferryn is -- not a good person. And Max was GOOD. I also don't play either a lot, lmao.]

Andy Yasar.

Kendis [in all their variations]

I don't know who I would give the fifth spot to. There are OCs who I still roll in my head and who's dynamics and exploration still mean a lot to me [like Mason and Desiree, that I still tag. And Mason was proto-Irvin in a sense]. Others whose names I don't remember but who still gut punch me [I don't remembeer my own ocs names werw lmao. I don't remember any names]. However, I think I would have to give this to Spencer

Spencer, I've played in various forms. I loved her because she was basically my bitter, grizzled white man in a young woman's body. She had the daddy issues, the sarcasm, the dislike for socializing, the sharp brain. But she also CARED about her job and was SOFT with like the three [mostly one] people she cared about. She had scars physical and interal, but she still wanted to help people. She had a wicked sweet tooth, lmao. Lollipops were her cigarette. I kind of miss her. I want to write her somewhere but I can never quite get her to fit.

[soraavalon]

DM: Rymer speaks for you all.

Rymer: Cricket, we were hoping to see my mother and father to get aid in returning to the Material Plane.

DM: The Starlight Prince eyes you all again, still everyone, you can see his retenue of fairy knights are all very uncomfortable around the Lord of the Hunt, who is just standing there. Is just there, he's a scary dude, he's 12 feet tall after the antlers, he's scary.

Marigold (OOC): No, that's my dad.

Hunt (OOC): He's a cool dude.

DM: He's standing as passively as he is able. The Starlight Price repeats to him in Sylvan, you know, 'Apologies for our rude welcome', 'This is why we're being cautious.' Does he know that the Knave is...

Hunt (OOC): No.

DM: So you guys didn't actually end up knowing that, right.

Hunt (OOC): Lord of the Hunt doesn't know, but Mistletoe does.

Ethan: [in chat] ya'll didn't tell him

Mistletoe (OOC): I do?

Hunt (OOC): Yeah.

Mistletoe (OOC): I'm drawing such a blank.

Hunt (OOC): Yeah, we told Mistletoe that the Flickering Knave was killed by a pawn of the Summer Knight.

DM: Okay, so you guys do know this, that's right.

Hunt (OOC): Marigold just didn't tell the Lord of the Hunt.

Mistletoe (OOC): Right. Right.

Marigold (OOC): Well when you say it like that it makes it sound like I'm lying to him and I'm not.

Hunt (OOC): I mean, you omitted a very important detail.

Marigold (OOC): Perhaps. It just seemed like it would make people sad.

DM: Do you all mention this to the prince or...?

Hunt: I'm gonna wait to see who would bring this up, but if no one does, Hunt will.

DM: Okay.

Mistletoe: I think Mistletoe's kind of looking at Marigold to lead on whether or not we're saying anything.

Marigold: I'm looking at someone else. I see you looking at me for direction and I try and find someone else.

DM: Looks like it's you Hunt.

Hunt: If it is pertaining to the Flickering Knave--

DM: Everyone looks at you, all of the knight and the prince.

Hunt: "We are aware of what happened. A frog beast-folk by the name of Jeremiah Greenwillow had murdered the Flickering Knave presuming to keep Primrose" I gesture to Primrose, Marigold, "away from His Lordship, the Lord of the Hunt. And that is the extent of what we know regarding his untimely demise."

Starlight Prince: I see. Helping those outside of the court, flickering, unconstant as always. We cannot survive a war with Summer, I hope this animosity is not between our court and theirs.

DM: He kind of narrows his eyes at the Lord of the Hunt, who simply shakes his head and sets a hand to his chest.

Ethan: [in chat] no it's 100% the LoH's fault.

DM: The prince seems hesitant, but looks to Rymer who nods and,

Starlight Prince: Fine, follow me and I will show you to the palace.

DM: He gets back astride his cricket and

Tark (OOC): [in chat] no its not

DM: calls out in Sylvan to the knights to stand down. There's about 12-14 of them here and maybe 5 break off to accompany you to the palace while the others return patrolling.

Hunt (OOC): [in chat] It's Summer's fault

Marigold (OOC): Sorry, are we following [something] right?

Hunt (OOC): [in chat] They could've just let Mary reunite with his dad, but no they threw a hissy fit.

DM: Yeah, you guys are following the, presumably unless you don't want to go, but--

Marigold (OOC): No no, that's what I was just checking.

DM: Yeah, the Starlight Prince has offered to escort you back to the palace. He's a ways ahead, again the retinue kind of surrounds you guys, the Lord of the Hunt who has been walking at the front of the party this time now falls to the back and is doing everything he can to appear 'I'm just here. It's chill. We're chill.' Rymer is walking ahead with the Starlight Prince and they're talking to one another and you can see them sort of teasing each other, sort of laughing and joking, clearly grateful to be seeing each other again, but the rest of you are surrounded by these knights, you can chat if you wish, presumably they don't speak Common but...

Mistletoe: Mistletoe's just going to pick somebody and just start asking questions as if they're a tour guide. Just trying to be as annoying as possible basically.

DM: Yeah, it works. You start chatting up this one female knight who has this dark black hair and purple eyes and is sort of rolling her eyes and answering your questions and bluntly and briefly as possible.

[wandringaesthetic]

More Rubicante thoughts: he's naked under the cloak because he doesn't wear armor because he has such an unfair advantage over his opponents. But he wears the cloak because he does not want to tempt any ladies who might look upon his fine form. He keeps artfully flashing anyone (usually male) who he's fighting in earnest, though. He might be doomed if he were fighting a woman who's a physical fighter, because he would go to extreme lengths to make sure the cloak doesn't gap and expose his exquisitely tempting masculine form. He somehow never exposes his dick this way. Does he have one? CAN he fuck? Jury's out on that one. Is having sex ever sufficiently honorable and chivalrous to actually engage in the deed? Probably not. (Having sex with girls is gay and all that)

(Barbariccia, by contrast, definitely has fully functional anatomy, and whether she fights with her pussy fully out or has herself artfully covered by her hair but just barely, burlesque style, varies by which one she thinks will fuck with her opponent most)

(god I bet those two annoy each other SO MUCH)

We seem to have collectively decided that Barbariccia sexually harasses/(assaults?) Kain for kicks, would Rubicante do the same, since I've decided that he's subtly kind of fruity?

Well, you see, no. Because he's an inversion, he can never be the seme, as it were. He's all "intricate rituals to touch another man's skin" and artfully showing off his muscular legs and "no homo ;) ;) ;) wait no actually no homo what are you doing you knave unhand me." Like he's all honey trap but if anyone actually falls in the trap he's all "oh my good sir I am so sorry I gave you the wrong impression I was speaking of a Warriors' Bond! a spiritual connection! Not these vile temptations of the flesh!"

So while I think Kain doesn't have to deal with Rubicante as much, because he's in Eblan mostly, when he does, Rubicante is like "come let us sharpen our souls upon each other, let our swords and bodies clash, let us engage in friendly homoerotic competition" and they do and it doesn't even twig to Kain as weird or uncomfortable because he and Cecil do this every Tuesday. It really is a warrior's bond! It's not always a gay thing! Come on! (Alternately, he becomes suddenly extremely uncomfortably self aware that he has been doing this to Cecil for years. He has been acting like a stock joke about how knights are quite often quite secretly quite fond of each other. The mortification.)

Kain has absolutely no chance in hell of beating Rubicante, by the way, because he doesn't have enough of a sense of humor. Rubicante can only be beaten with Looney Tunes logic. He can only be defeated when it's funny.

Edge, likewise, has no chance at beating him because he is very seriously trying to avenge his family and probably isn't in on the joke.

How does all this ridiculousness fit in with Rubicante killing the king and queen of Eblan, by the way? I'm going to have to go back and think about that but I'm thinking:

They were mighty warriors. He gave them an honorable death. And as for Lugae experimenting on them afterwards? Lugae is his comrade, his ally. He could never do anything less than honorable. (There is some twisted logic by which this is honorable)

Rubicante is one of the more fun of the Fiends because of his sexy leg and the "honor before reason" thing but

I have two directions I could go with the Four Fiends for the sake of the fic. One is that they're Lunarian eidolons/deities that Golbez is summoning, and because he's one of the few people who know their story that is currently alive and conscious, he has a great (but not total) influence over who/what they are, so they are twisted versions of the originals. This could be interesting because it could shed some light on Golbez specifically.

My other thought, and the one I'm leaning more toward now, is that they're. Well, they're demons. They're like. Jungian shadows. Dark side of the collective unconscious. They're semi legendary figures that are the opposite side of alleged virtues and ideals. They're maybe specifically Baronian demons. Like, say the ideal Baronian woman is chaste and a wife and mother and bound by duty to her family. But you don't always really, really want that, do you, man? You don't always want to be that woman. So Barbariccia is unbound, sexually forward, perpetually naked, beholden to no one but herself. She's like a Lilith figure.

So Rubicante would be sort of her masculine counterpart. He's like the dark side of chivalry and/or, like, machismo. You're supposed to be strong and good at fighting. For family & country, right? (For family and country, right??) But Rubicante is just a figure who loves fighting for the sake of itself. Competition for competition's sake. For grins. (I think also he should therefore maybe be kinda gay and low-key very proud of his body. Sports. The leggy.)

The question that I originally started this post to ask is: okay, so why is he the fiend of FIRE though? Because fire is generally symbolically about passion and destruction and uncontrollability. So why is this guy like this? Why is he the one of the Fiends that is maybe kinda tolerable and almost an alright guy?

And I answered this for myself while I was writing this: he's the FIEND of fire. He's fire but fucked up. He provides neither light nor warmth. He doesn't even really destroy! He just burns. Therefore him being the guy that insists on you being at full strength before you fight, being the guy who arguably allows you to win because of this, makes a kind of poetic sense. He's the exact point where having a code of honor tips over into idiocy.

[lizardrosen]

For the vibe check ask: circus performer; big fan of lions, D&D, FFVI, and also King Lear!

For you, the BBC Play of the Month King Lear! Edgar is extremely gender in literally all of his personas, Edmund is charming and manipulative but with a lot of softness underneath, and he has such a fascinating dynamic with both sisters. The set is fairly bare bones for most of it, and they cut down the script to fit a two hour time slot, but unlike SOME people (Orson Welles) the plot still makes sense.

this shot from shortly after Cordelia answers "Nothing" really establishes everyone's characters nicely: Cordelia in the foreground looks entirely away; Goneril right behind her is just looking fixedly at the table and does not lift her her head for almost the entire scene; Regan is either looking directly at Lear or she flinches and her eyes dart away, and Cornwall is right behind her in silent support the whole time. Cornwall LOVES his WIFE, which i know is important to you, and he really seems to care for Edmund, too. He's so FRANK when he explains why Edmund can't be there to witness what they do to his father, it's some excellent characterization.

Kent and the Fool are both pretty different than I've seen either of them played - the Fool is in a full face of makeup, which gets washed away in the storm, and he seems deeply bitter at Lear, but he ends up just shivering and afraid, like all the rest of them. Kent seems almost laconic when he's calling Oswald a knave, and doesn't even have a sword, just a stick to try to inconvenience him. In the hovel, Edgar and the fool are really gentle and careful with Lear, trying not to unsettle them, all four of them are just exhausted, but Kent still watches over them because that's his role!

Lear's flower scene is hectic and completely detached from his surroundings, he's just in his own world, it was a lot of fun to see, but iirc, they cut a bunch of his speech too.

(pictured, madmen and fools)

And then everything from 5.3 is brilliantly done: Edmund is bored and officious with Lear and Cordelia and turns to write the writ on their lives right there in front of them but then looks up and quietly Observes them when Lear says "upon such sacrifices".

Regan hears Goneril answer her "sick, oh sick." with "if not, I'll ne'er trust medicine, and Regan just turns to look at her and figures it out, so she knows what Goneril has done and Goneril knows she knows, but Regan isn't even angry, just accepting, like "yeah, i'd have done the same in her position" it's SUCH a neat interaction.

And THEN Albany leaves the tent to have the challenge against Edmund proclaimed, and it's just Goneril and Edmund, and they share this moment where she's silently pleading for him to not face his death, but he has to. Then when the brothers are facing off she blurts out "No!" to warn him, and Edgar stabs Edmund in the side while he's distracted, and they fight some more but it's basically over already. It was a fantastic production!

[metanoiamorii]

Wip Re-Introduction: A Rope In Hand

❛Horror is like a serpent; always shedding its skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can’t be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our subconscious.❜

♧ Title: A Rope In Hand [ARIH]

♧ Status: First Drafting

♧ Point of View: Third Person, flexible between a few

♧ Genre: Dark Fantasy, Supernatural, LGBTQ+, Action, Drama

♧ Warnings: This story revolves around the occult. There will be talk of witch hunts and trials and cults. There will be torture methods used to gain confessions, and these methods will be justified under religious belief. There will be toxic and abusive relationships, particularly family; finding an escape from them, and healing from the trauma. There will be homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and colonization. There will be major character deaths, but I can spoil after the book ends the main characters do get a happy ending. Each chapter and scene posted will have personalized warnings, but these are the main things to expect.

♧ Featuring: The majority of the characters will be LGBTQ+, from pansexual, homosexual, to asexual; genderfluid, agender/nonbinary, and transgender. Each character is complex and morally grey. Yes, they will do things that are blatantly terrible, or actively good. Overall, they will be morally grey and questionable at best. There will be complex world-building, from both the universe it takes place in, and the religious pantheons brought up. The religions brought up will be polytheistic and animism-themed. The romance between the major characters will be slow-burn enemies to friend to lovers, and them learning to love themselves through one another. There will be an exploration on generational healing, and unlearning toxic, and bias believes.

♧ Setting: The setting is influenced by Victorian London, and Medieval Ireland. There will be mention of other places, primarily western Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Ancient Rome, Eastern Asia, and Napoleonic France.

♧ Synopsis:

In the town of Arkaley, in the northwest of the Duchy of Ruairc, the people have been plagued by bad fortune and crime. Attacks of bandits on the road, raids from pirates on the shores, untimely deaths of children and young women, elected officials coming out corrupt; there is no end in Arkaley of the suffering the locals endure.

Rationally, to explain such a bad string of luck, there is only one possible explanation: Witchcraft.

The Duchy of Ruairc already has a history of witchcraft: the Ó Ruaircs turned out to be witches, the Abondé incident in Salem, the Liathain incident in Trakee; the Ruaircs have their record. Perfectly acceptable for everyone to assume the worse of the Ruairish, as they have proved to be nothing but.

To prove his worth, the young Reverend Prudence Clemency Frye, takes up the task of quelling this coven of witches and heading this witch-hunt. Young and naïve, witch only knowledge from books and little hands-on experience, he’s unprepared for this challenge. When he finally leaves the town, well… everyone would rather put this incident behind them.

♧ Tease:

My darling dear, a knave so clear

You appear, so bravely near;

Do you hear my darling dear, sneers of austere jeers?

Behave, my dear, when I am near;

For peers will lear, in their fear,

Allow me o' dear our persevere

So my fave you appear

And volunteer a slave so dear 

in an atmosphere we fear.

my darling dear, wave so clear

Depravely as we leave, and give a souvenir;

My lips to yours, as you crave in these fallin' years. 

Be brave darling dear, and give into hearts o' queer.

For mine you be, your darling dear, 

To the stars you have swore in love, so crystal clear.

My peers shall sneer, but whore I be, and you I crave

Oh so bare. slurs and glares, just listen to my prayers.

Kiss me love, and leave o'they to a'crave 

In this atmosphere that we fear

Their own, o' pure, knave so dear.

♧ Excerpt:

".... This is wrong." Prudence finds the words slipping from his lips, voice a quiet whisper; a breathless tone of voice. He allows his fingertips to falter against scarred skin, watching as Mastema turned his cheek, he pressed himself into the palm of Prudence's hand. Eyes closed, a smile curled on his face. Prudence couldn't help but smile at the scene, but slowly, slowly, slowly, he rescinded his hand; breaking the hold.

"Revered..." Matching his voice, Mastema replied. Maintaining such a soft voice, as he shifted himself forward on the bed. One foot to the ground, the other drawn beneath himself. Over Prudence he leaned, resting one palm to the sheets, the other lifting to seize Prudence's hand before he could recoil back. "You have made me feel something in which I've never felt before..."

From where he laid, Prudence could only form a soft frown. He knew he could draw his hand back, the grip was far from tight. But he didn't. He laid there, allowing Mastema to hold his hand. "... This is wrong, Mastema."

Mastema frowned; he matched the reaction Prudence wore. Through it, he forced a half-smile, tightening his grip on the other's hand, and forward he brought Prudence's hands to kiss the knuckles. "... If this is wrong, I do not wish to be right."

At the response, Prudence shook his head. "It is not for us to be right or wrong, the gods—"

At the angle he sat, Mastema shifted once more. He dropped Prudence's hand, to lean forward; to lean in close. Both of his palms found the other's cheek, as he touched their foreheads to one another. "... Do not force your will onto another." In that soft whisper, he spoke. Eyes closed, breath drawn in. "Is that not a Commandment of our Creator?"

"I..." Prudence faltered. In, he drew his breath, to try to steady himself. "... I did not take you for the religious sorts."

"I'm not." Mastema all too quickly retorted. But as he was, he laid; this proximity. "But you are."

♧ Characters:

The Order of Witchesbane

Prudence Clemency Frye; The Reverend

Half Fae/Half Human • Intersex • Genderfluid • He/They • Homosexual • Homo-demiromantic

The bastard son of Lord Zachariah Frye. Raised by his father, with his mother dying young, he took to following in his footsteps. He became a religious young man and an active witch-hunter. A part of him desires his father’s acceptance, his praises; the other part despises his father and everything the man stands for. In recent years, he has joined the De La Cruz household, becoming an apprentice beneath the famous Witch’s Advocate; upholding the beliefs that not every witch is evil and has foul intentions, and the ones that mean harm are the only ones that should be hunted.

Zachariah Frye; The Bloodhound

Human • Male • He/Him • Bicurious • Aromantic

The oldest living member of the Order. Now he is the man that holds the face of the Order, who you think of when they come to mind. Cold. Vindictive. Despotic. Violent. He is not a good man. He is firm in his beliefs and stubborn to change. Once his mind is made up, he cannot be reasoned with. He is blindly convinced of his beliefs and his cause to eradicate every living witch, unfazed if he has to fill a few innocent thousands in the process.

Calisto Ferzan Hermengildo Melchior Lorencio De La Cruz; The Witch’s Advocate

Half Fae/Half Human • Amab • Nonbinary • Genderfluid • He/They • Asexual • Aromantic

A witch-hunter in title alone, Calisto has been making enemies since he could first talk. He’s always enjoyed being the underdog, going against the expectations of society, being ridiculed by his peers. The sole reason? Proving them wrong. To ridicule his own peers for their outdated beliefs, he’s taken to defending witches, proving them innocent of their ‘crimes’, and going on to help them to set up a life in a country more accepting of witchcraft

The servant of Calisto, never seen far from his side. He is a servant in name alone and is more-or-less an assassin, a hitman for Calisto. Held in contempt by Athylian society for being a foreigner, he often treated by others more as a slave than a servant. To help be unseen, to help the De La Cruz Household, Michelotto endures the treatment and goes as far to be perceived as ignorant, alongside him being born a mute. Keeping his true intents and intelligence duly guarded, only a handful are aware he is also a witch.

Myk'loumihr [Michelotto Dougal] Siavash; The Man-Servant

Witch; Amab • Agender • He/They • Asexual • Aromantic

Austin Duvine; The Lord Without A Ring

Half-Human/Half Fae • Amab • Nonbinary • He/They • Pansexual • Demiromantic

One of the younger members of the order, Austin relies on his father's wealth and name. He doesn't care for responsibilities, he doesn't care for hard work. He's a playboy at heart. He's fit to hold social events, and use his natural talent to gib and fib his way through life. He'll keep his mixed feelings to himself, struggling with doing the right thing or upholding tradition.

Alistair Lavine; The Witchfinder General

Human • Amab • Agender • He/They • Bicurious • Aromantic

The best friend to Zachariah and his right hand. Where Zachariah is business and lacks charms, Alistair can charm a crowd and hold their attention. He knows how to feign being an ideal human, without letting on his own bloodlust; he's a monster in human skin. At the end of the day, unlike Zachariah, Alistair does have morals and standards he will abide by, even if they come back to ruin him.

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The Vakari Coven

Ausrine Baoghal; The Lady

Witch • Female • She/Her • Bisexual • Aromantic

The woman in charge of the town, widowed and inheriting the right to rule as her husband had no heirs. She is a manipulative and dangerous woman, eager to commit any sin or crime for more power. She, in truth, cares only for herself and would feel no remorse if she had to turn on one of her coven to further her own agenda.

The magistrate and also the chief policeman of the town. He maintains a  calm, but manipulative personality. As a front, he presents himself to be fair and just, liked and favored by the people for genuinely caring for them. While in truth he has his own heinous and sinister agenda, aiding Ausrine in her plans.

Leary O'Laoghaire; The Magistrate

Witch • Male • He/Him • Bicurious • Aromantic

The oldest member of the coven, Dairine lives under the guise of an elderly woman, who lives alone with her children and grandchildren already leaving her to live their own lives. She is a kind and understanding woman and cares for the younger witches in the coven. She will not support Baríon with her agenda, nor does she care for the servant girl, she even despises the so-called ally Ausrine claims to have and who they all adhere to.

Dairine Ó Séaghdha; The Crone

Witch • Afab • Agender • She/They • Asexual • Aromantic

The acting servant of Barion, Anisha’s true loyalties lie elsewhere. She stays within the town, serving the coven while acting as the eyes and ears of someone, the person who is truly pulling the strings. She is the one to relay information and letters between the coven and her master.  She is a quiet woman, that keeps her head down and her mind to herself. She only shows her true, confident and demanding, nature behind closed doors with the coven when they dare to question her.

Anisha Kaur; The Servant

Witch • Afab • Demigirl • She/They • Asexual • Aromantic

The charming son of Leary. Many whisper that is part fae, due to his charm, if it’s true or not many are unaware. He is a very sophisticated young man, that has managed to wrap the entire town around his finger. While on the surface he is alike his father is a caring, compassionate, charming young man, something sinister brews beneath. He is devious, demanding, domineering.

Nathir O'Laoghaire; The Magistrate’s Son

Half-Witch/Half-Fae • Amab  • Agender • He/Him • Bisexual • Aromantic

Being the baker's daughter, Liannah helps around the bakery and family business. Unlike the company she keeps, she is a reserved young woman. She is polite and maintains her manners with whomever she is dealing with. She has the patience of a saint and rarely loses her cool. Liannah is a woman with a calm demeanor about her, being a woman many are comfortable around due to her peaceful and calm aura.

Liannah Ó Buachalla; The Baker’s Daughter

Witch • Afab • Genderfluid • She/They • Asexual • Panromantic

Ausrine's bastard son she had with a spirit she bargained with for more power. Since he was young, he was raised by the servants of the house, and the coven, over his own mother; the two have more of a business relationship over a family one. Since he cares less about what his mother does, he spends his time with Liannah and Reyes, either at the bakery or getting into trouble somewhere. With Reyes as an influence, Mastema is a flirtatious man that enjoys scandals and making the most of life

Mastema Baoghal; The Knave

Half-Witch/Half-Spirit • Amab • Genderfluid • He/They • Pansexual • Demiromantic

Rochan Misra; The Charlatan

Half-Witch/Half-Spirit • Amab • Queer • He/She • Pansexual • Aromantic

A foreigner to the Coven, born and raised in the Duchy of Incali. At a young age, he became a traveling charlatan, recently settling within the coven only as he befriended Liannah and Mastema and enjoyed their company. Now, he is the local bad influence: scamming locals out of their money at the taverns, wooing and seducing young men and ladies alike, always trespassing and vandalizing something. He is trouble but has a heart of gold when it matters.

ARIH: : @hekat-ie, @writings-of-a-narwhal, @silent-creed

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Taglist:

General: @endlesshourglass, @writerray, @poore-choice-of-words, @alexwritesfiction, @primusesgiantmetalballbearings

Both: @cecilsstorycorner, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @hazard-writes, @egg-shark

[anzanxious]

You haven't answered yet but I need to get this out of my system before I go to bed so

Icarus, from @phoenix-of-shadows, is a villain who used to have a motive, but now he's in it for fun and attention. See, before he was the Dark Lord of a thriving kingdom, he was a vessel for a deep, dark evil that contorted his morals and made him rash and selfish. He grew up in a bustling yet close village, where he met the girl of his dreams, a studying doctor and healer called Angel, and his best friend, knave of the captain of the town guard, Milo. Well, like any classic origin story, Angel ended up falling for Milo. And Icarus was happy for them! Really! That is, until a dark figure began to appear in his dreams and make him angry, and even jealous.

That's when things changed. It started small- Icarus, because left unsupervised, started practicing necromancy and shadow magic. He came across an enchanted cloak that turned him into a a fearsome beast, the Shadow Phoenix, and to this cloak he became bound by fate. Then, one day, his real crimes began.

Icarus tried to kill Milo.

It was your average trap. A heavy sandbag planted in a certain spot, cut exactly when Milo was underneath it. The poor boy broke his right arm, rendering him unable to train at his post for weeks.

News of Icarus' trap spread across the village. People began to avoid him, talking hushed whispers when he passed by. The darkness festering in him grew stronger, even as his friends remained by his side.

When he came of age, Icarus went on a long journey without warning. He traveled deep into the heart of the thickest forest, said to be the center of the world, following where the darkness was leading him. And there, in a set of ruins, he found an ancient book filled with the strangest yet most powerful spells. Surely he'd win the favor of Angel and the people with this, right? But on his return, Angel and Milo were preparing to be wed. In a fit of rage at this discovery, he shouted a forbidden spell! Taking Angel by the hand, he escaped as the earth began to crumble.

Now alone in a separate realm, Icarus and Angel could watch the universe be destroyed. Icarus assured her that they could rebuild, start anew, with her as his queen. But Angel would have none of it. Tears in her eyes, she wrested the book from his grasp, and flipped through it frantically, looking for a way to reverse the damage Icarus had caused.

He tried to stop her. For he knew something about these spells that she did not. The spells of this book, if cast by someone not well-trained in the dark arts, would drain the user's very life force.

It was too late. Angel found a spell to reverse time, and shouted it clumsily at Icarus. Her final words, in a language neither could truly understand. And it was then that they both were teleported back to their home town, Angel now a lifeless body on the floor.

Icarus stood stock still, the moment flooding into him like a million years. Milo tearfully shouting Angel's name. The town guard taking him by wrists and shoving him into a carriage to be taken to prison. The darkness left him as he began to cry. "What have I done? What have I done?"

He spent a few years in prison- were it not for Captain Milo, he would have gotten the death sentence. And it was during that time that he realized: people feared him, and always would. He had a reputation.

So why not take that into his own hands?

He'd always had full power to escape prison, only never the will. After his time of reflection, however, he had a newfound confidence. He was the Dark Lord Icarus, the Phoenix of Shadows, and he was ready to break the stigma and set things straight.

These days, Icarus rules over his kingdom with a fair judgment and an open mind. It's been years, yes, but now that he's successful, some strangers encouraged him to write to his old friend Milo...

Tomorrow, Icarus' letter will be posted. He doesn't know just how Milo will respond- after all, Icarus was responsible for Angel's death, even though it was her own sacrifice. And furthermore, there's no way Icarus' escape looked good on Milo.

He'll just have to hope Milo either forgives him or never responds.

I love it. They were friends and then jealousy took a hold on Icarus and then he became a villain and the person he loved dies more or less because of him.

I love it.

[fanfaire]

EITHER LYNETTE WAS NOT MADE AT ALL FOR THE STAGE or she was very, very much so. the smile that crawls across the other girl's face is like papier-mâché slowly plastered on, gelled over top a blank expression by brush hand and glue. even the crinkling of eyes suggesting warmth leans more predatory than laughing, and it is difficult to tell if she is nervous, mocking her, or simply wooden.

a bit, she means to reply, but the equally-forced laughter that comes after her doesn't give her the chance. and just as she's wondering what it is about this that feels so strange aside from the bizarre acting, the mention of " father " illuminates some dark corner of the puzzle, fitting the answering piece in seamlessly ; and furina's heart nearly skips a whole beat.

that's what it must be. the piercing, unmoving eyes and the silver smile, sharp as a knife's edge. heavens above, if lynette meant to act as the knave, then this must surely be some play at mockery or threat. had she been sent here? was that why they stood on this stage together at this moment? where the knave couldn't watch, even still eyes were planted to remind her——was that it?

she sits up a little straighter, feeling suddenly the uncomfortable prick of collar at the base of her neck. it's all right, she reassures herself ; nothing said that she couldn't be a little equally unsettled by her " friend ". furina couldn't imagine befriending someone who gazed at her like that, but perhaps the individual whose corpus she embodied very well might. "your f—father? ah, is that who the piece is for. . . why didn't you tell me sooner? i would have——" done what, precisely? who can say. "——dressed in finer clothes for the occasion."

★ * scene three: who, what, where; cont.

STARRING: LYNETTE & FURINA.

[dukereviewsxtra]

Duke Reviews Xtra: Alice In Wonderland (1985) Part 1

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Xtra As We Continue Our Look At The Movies Of Disney...

And On The Next 3 Shows We'll Be Looking At 2 Of My Favorite Adaptations Of The Alice In Wonderland Story, Starting With The 1985 Version Which Was Made By Irwin Allen, Who Created Both Land Of The Giants And Of Course, Lost In Space...

Let's Start With Part 1...

The Movie Starts With Alice (Played By Jenny From Oliver And Company) Helping Her Mother Set The Table For Tea Time, But Despite Asking Her Mother If She Could Join Them For Tea, She Unfortunately Tells Alice No...

This Leads Alice To Go Outside And Talk With Her Sister (Who Is Actually Played By The Actress Plays Alice's Real Life Sister)..

I Know, This Is My 2nd Favorite Version Of The Tale And Even I Didn't Know That...

But Gets Bored Reading A Book With No Pictures, Which Leads Her Sister To Tell Her That Understand More When She Grows Up, Despite Alice Thinking She's Already Grown Up As She's Seven And A Half...

Playing With Her Cat, Dinah, Alice Spots The White Rabbit (Played By Hoagie From Pete's Dragon) And Follows Him To A Rabbit Hole That She Falls Down...

Ok, She Doesn't Fall Like That, But Close Enough..

Eventually Landing, Alice Follows The Rabbit To A Door Which Opens To Another Door And Another And Another Until It Finally Opens To A Hall Of Doors Which Leads To The Scene We All Know...

With Alice Finding A Tiny Door She's Too Big For So She Drinks A Bottle Marked Drink Me Which Her Shrink But She Leaves The Key On The Table Which Leads To Her Eating A Cake Marked Eat Me Which Causes Her To Grow Too Big So She Starts To Cry...

But Unlike The Animated Version, The White Rabbit Appears As She Cries And Accidentally Scares Him Into Dropping His Fan And Gloves Which She Uses To Shrink Again To A Size Small Enough To Fit Through A Crack That Leads Her Outside Into A River Of Her Own Tears...

While Swimming, Alice Briefly Meets The Dodo Bird (Played By Mrs. Gogan From Pete's Dragon) The Lory Bird (Played By Cosmo Brown From Singin' In The Rain) And The Mouse (Played By Mr. Jefferson) Who Takes Us Into Our First Song As He Tells Alice Why He Hates Dogs And Cats...

Leaving Shortly After That Song, Alice Catches Up With The White Rabbit Only To Lead Us To The Scene Where He Mistakes Her For His Housemaid And Sends Her Off To His House To Get A New Fan And Glove Set For Him...

Only To Find Another Bottle Marked Drink Me Which Causes Her To Grow Once Again...

But Unlike The Animated Version, The Dodo Doesn't Show Up, But Instead The Rabbit's Butler Named Pat The Pig (Played By Donald Trump's Number One Supporter, Scott Baio, Who I Think Fits The Role Perfectly With His New Status) Shows Up..

As We Get The Scene With Bill The Lizard Who Goes To Pull Alice Out Of The Chimney Only To Get Kicked Out Of The Chimney By Alice...

This Leads To Pat And The Rabbit To Throw Berries That Turn Into Cakes That Allow Alice To Shrink To Normal Size Again As She Gets Away From The Rabbit And Pat Who Are Still Throwing Berries At Her..

Eventually Losing Them, Alice Soon Meets The Caterpillar (Played By The Candy Man Himself, Sammy Davis Jr.) Who Takes Us Into Our Next Song Called You Are Old Father William...

But Like The Animated Version, Alice Insults The Caterpillar By Saying That 3 Inches High Is Such A Wretched Height And He Disappears Instead Of Becoming A Butterfly...

Walking Toward A House That Is Visited By A Delivery Man For The Queen Of Hearts Who Gives A Frog Footmen With A Familiar Voice An Invitation From The Queen For The Duchess (Who We'll Meet In A Few Minutes) To Play Croquet...

And By Familiar Voice I Think You May Recognize The Voice Actor For Playing This Guy...

That's Right, It's Robert Axelrod Otherwise Known As Lord Zedd (He Also Voiced Finster Too But He's Most Remembered For Zedd RIP)

Visiting The House, The Frog Footman Tells Alice That It's Useless Ringing The Bell On The Outside As He's On The Outside Too, But Going Inside Anyway, Alice Meets The Duchess (Played By Benita Bizzare) And Her Maid (Played By Imogene Coca) Who Take Us Into The Next Song...

But Finding The House To Be Too Violent, Alice Takes The Duchess' Baby Away Only For It To Become A Pig..

After This, She Meets The Cheshire Cat (Played By Kojak) Who Leads Us Into Our Next Song After Telling Her That She Won't Be Able To Leave Wonderland...

Thinking That He's A Bad Cat, Alice Attempts To Leave But Before She Does, The Cheshire Cat Points Alice To The Mad Hatter (Played By Anthony Newley) And The March Hare (Played By Roddy McDowell Who Would Later Play The Batman Villain, Jervis Tetch Otherwise Known As The Mad Hatter On Batman The Animated Series) Before He Disappears...

Walking Along The Road, Alice Finds The Mad Hatter And The March Hare Having Tea With The Doormouse (Played By Arte Johnson) And Sits Down To Join Them...

As A Little Tea Time Entertainment, The Mad Hatter Leads Us Into Our Next Song Because He Doesn't Like Alice's Version Of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...

Eventually Upset By All The Rudeness At The Tea Party, Alice Continues Her Search For The White Rabbit As She Meets A Fawn In The Woods Which Leads To Our Next Song...

Finding A Doorway In The Woods, Alice Opens It And Finds Herself At A Beautiful Rose Garden Where She Meets Some Cards Who Are Painting The Roses Red, Only To Be Confronted By The Queen (Played By Jayne Meadows) And King (Played By Robert Morley) Of Hearts...

Who Arrives With Not Only The White Rabbit But A Whole Entourage Of People And Cards....

Introducing Herself To The Queen, She Asks Alice What's Going On Here Only For Alice To Tell Her That She Doesn't Know Much Of Anything As She's Only Been There For A Few Seconds Which Leads The Queen To Yell Off With Her Head.,.

But The King Defends Alice Believing That There's No Reason To Behead Her When She Doesn't Know Much Of Anything, Which Leads To Our Next Song...

Sparring Alice's Head For Now, The Queen Invites Her To Play A Game Of Croquet, Which Unlike The Disney Version Doesn't End With Alice Getting Her Head Nearly Chopped Off...

But Is Instead Just A Game Of Croquet With Flamingos...

With The Queen Pointing Alice In The Direction Of The Mock Turtle, Alice Goes Down The Path The Queen Suggested And Instead Runs Into The Gryphon (Played By Sid Caeser) Who Takes Alice To Meet The Mock Turtle (Played By Ringo Starr) Who Sings The Next And Probably Favorite Song From Part 1 Of This Movie..

Hearing Someone Yell That The Trial Is Beginning, Alice And The Gryphon Leave The Mock Turtle And Return To The Queen's Garden Where The Knave Of Hearts Is On Trial For Stealing One Of The Queen's Tarts, Despite There Being No Proof That He Did...

Bringing In The First Witness Or Should I Say Witnesses As They Bring In The Mad Hatter, The March Hare And The Doormouse, We Get Our Last Song For This Movie...

They Also Bring In The Duchess' Cook As A Witness As Well But Eventually Alice Argues The Ways Of The Queen's Court Which Leads Her To Grow As The Queen And Alice Continue To Argue...

Having Enough Of Alice's BS, The Queen Shouts Off With Her Head And Has Her Guards Chase Giant Alice But She's Not Afraid Of Them As They're Nothing But A Pack Of Cards...

Returning To Her Original Size As She Runs, Alice Eventually Trips And Falls Which Leads Her To Find Herself Back Home...

Now, This Is Where Things Get Interesting...

Entering Her House, She Finds Nobody There But Hearing And Seeing Her Cat Dinah On The Other Side Of The Mirror, Along With Her Parents Who Can't See Or Hear Alice But Their Own Reflections, Alice Can't Figure Out How To Get Through The Mirror...

So, She Sits In The Chair And Reads A Poem Called Jabberwocky Which Is About A Scary Monster But Getting Very Scared As She Reads It The Room Becomes Dark And The Jabberwocky Appears In The House...

You Know, I Once Saw A Video By James Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd) And He Said That This Scene Scared Him As A Child To The Point He Was In Tears...

Saying That You Spend The Last Half Hour Looking At These Actors In Goofy Costumes Where This Thing Is Huge And Scary Compared To Alice...

Of Course, He Also Said That No Other Scene With The Jabberwocky Tops This Scene In Part 1 Which I Kindly Disagree With As There Are 2 That Could Possibly Be Scary...

To Be Continued...

Tomorrow...

[crayvexador]

So your only gay ship is the angsty one where one of them is dead and you complain that one of them isn't even can only gay because he doesn't fit your standards of "uwu pure sugary back story"

hon all my ships are dead or half dead, all of them. and instead of attacking me and hiding behind anon (where did THAT came from??), claiming you know what’s on my mind when all you do is truely just reading my posts, you could have talked to me? these are just headcanons. just like you can’t force them on me, I don’t intend to force anything on anyone as well. truely disappointed by this behavior, knave. don’t know what caused it, but you could have done better