#this opinion brought to you by the fact i went to la proper today

[stickers-on-a-laptop]

my headcanons on ken sato growing up in "la" are like. i refuse 👍 that man grew up in the fucking suburbs and you can take that headcanon from my dead cold hands

[stella-monstrum]

Rob Zombie; "Why it's time to step outside the confinements of his own box."

For close to four decades,

 Rob Zombie has brought nonstop psychedelic grooves and a rockstar presence while gracing his own music and the silver screen with gut-churning, drug-tripping visuals. He not only commands quite the presence in films (whether his own successes or others’), but also makes appearances within many other horror soundtracks. There’s no denying that Zombie is a bloodied savant who has stayed incredibly consistent. 

[ᴿᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇᶦᵉ. ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ: ᴳᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ᴵᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ⁾]

(Written by Stella, edited by Jacob J.)

(Side note; tumblr’s photo formatting is a pain)

Let’s take a dive into his music before getting into his film library. From 1985-1997, White Zombie released six albums (between studio and compilations). La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One didn’t break into the Billboard 200 chart until a year after its 1992 release. Shortly thereafter, it became the hot and groovy bong success of the band, going on to sell two million copies. Astro Creep 2000, their final and fourth studio release, was their first and only album to chart within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 in 1995. Up to this day in 2020, “White Zombie” has been featured in 47 TV, film, and video game soundtracks, from Beavis & Butthead to Pen15 to Bride Of Chucky (which includes a personal favorite moment of mine), amongst many others.

After the disbandment and separation, Zombie continued on his solo journey. He has gone on to release six studio albums, with a seventh on the way in March 2021, titled The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. A multitude of hits—eight to be exact—sat within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 records. 

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Zombie’s extensive film career is a “Super Beast” on its own. 

He has been very vocal about gaining inspiration from 1920s-1980s horror culture. In many interviews, he’s cited Stan Lee, Bella Lugosi, Alice Cooper, and Steven Speilberg as being responsible for molding the brain that we know today. 

Some of his influences include:

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) 

The Shining (1980)

Zombie’s upbringing in the carnival industry alongside his family is another key influence.

[[I’ll only be focusing on Zombie’s live-action films here.]]

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In 2000, Rob made his directorial and (very memorable) screen debut with House Of 1000 Corpses. 

It took three years to be released because of quarrels with major production companies regarding the film’s majorly aggressive themes of torture, blood, violence, sex—not to mention his arrogance with MGM, fighting to get rights back from Universal. Eventually, Lionsgate bit the bullet, albeit with the major stipulation of having Rob edit it down much further so House could pass with a “tame” R rating. 

[[House of 1000 Corpses: Rainn Wilson as taxidermy merman (Source: Tumblr—and if you’re brave, you can view the scene here.)]]

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In 2005 and 2019, the franchise’s next two installments—Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell—were released. The franchise is heavily influenced by the shocking, sickening, and unforgettable ’70s classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It follows a family of psychotic, sadistic, and bloodthirsty (if I’m being honest) necrophiliacs. They kidnap, kill, torture and brutalize anyone who gets in their way. At the end of Devil’s Rejects, they somehow manage to survive a police shootout, escape prison, and waltz on into Mexico (as seen in the franchise finale 3 from Hell).

Look, it’s all complicated.

Main Characters from the franchise:

Captain Spaulding—Sid Haig

Baby Firefly—Sheri Moon Zombie

Otis B. Driftwood—Bill Moseley 

Momma Firefly—Karen Black (recast as Leslie Easterbrook after Karen’s passing)

(Other notable appearances throughout: Chris Hardwick, Rainn Wilson, Danny Trejo, Dee Wallace, Ken Foree, and Diamond Dallas Page.)

⁽“ʰᵒᵘˢᵉˢ ᵗʳⁱˡᵒᵍʸ”, ᵈᵛᵈ ˢᵉᵗ﹔ ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵗᵃʳᵍᵉᵗ.ᶜᵒᵐ⁾

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The notorious/controversial Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) remakes from 2007 and 2009.

(ᵃ ᵛⁱᵉʷ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇᵒˣ ᵃʳᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ ʳᵉᵐᵃᵏᵉˢ ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵃᵐᵃᶻᵒⁿ⁾)

Look, this is a remake that you either adore or hate with a burning passion. If you’re a horror fanatic, you know what’s up with the original.

I personally adore Zombie’s take. The fact alone that he gave us an entire background story as to why Michael became the psychotic slasher that we’ve come to know and love. Plus, with an increased suspense and gore factor? Worked incredibly well and did justice (in my opinion).

The film made me feel bad for Michael, with moments of child Myers in therapy, particularly his love for making masks to pass the time while he was locked up and the touching family moments between him and his mother Deborah (Sheri Moon).

ᵈᵉᵇᵒʳᵃʰ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐⁱᶜʰᵃᵉˡ ᵐᵉʸᵉʳˢ ⁱⁿ ʲᵃⁱˡ ᵗʰᵉʳᵃᵖʸ. ⁽ˢᶜʳᵉᵉⁿᶜᵃᵖ, ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ. ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ⁾

[Michael’s cell in the 2007 Halloween remake. (Source: Google)]

Add in the supporting cast of Michael McDowell (Loomis), Brad Douriff (Sheriff Leigh), Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie Strode), etc., and I honestly think that it came together very well as a remake.

The films rated relatively low, but they did gross higher than the budgets that they originally had to film on. Again, I’m not going to give much attention to the higher-ups of critical perception—it all comes down to personal taste.

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“Lords of Salem” (2013) 

[[Promotional art for Lords of Salem. (Souce: Google Images)]]

A film that’s centered within Salem, Massachusetts, 

this film—you guessed it—tackles witches, occultism, possession, Satan, and all the usual topics. Heidi (Sherri Moon) is a radio DJ who gets sent a mysterious record that’s labeled as being from “The Lords.” From then on out, shit gets a little dicey and admittedly, very disjointed. You can’t fault the cast here, and I loved the visuals that they were going for. However, with set schedule conflicts and multiple rewrites, which led to essentially running out of time to film? As a whole, what looked great on paper just couldn’t be done justice.

My FAVORITE sequence within the film (SPOILERS): 

I can forgive the disjointedness solely because of how mind-boggling and brilliant the film’s history and proper visuals were. Also, we got to see Dee Wallace, Judy Geeson, and Patricia Quinn as creepy and badass witches who moonlight as Heidi’s landlords. Also Meg Foster who leads their coven? Can we talk about what a femme-fueled power cast that is?!

[[Left to right: Patricia Quinn as Megan, Dee Wallace as Sonny, and Judy Geeson as Lacy Doyle. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source: Google) ]]

[[Meg Foster as coven leader Margaret Morgan. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source; google)]]

Like I said prior, the film gets a little wild. If you’re...well, buzzed prior to watching, it may make a little more sense. 

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“31” (2016)

[[Film poster for 31 (Source: Google)]]

[Synopsis from IMDB; “Five carnival workers are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned, hellish compound where they are forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns.”]

Here, we clearly see that Zombie is invoking his childhood growing up within carnivals. In a 2013 interview with LA Weekly, Zombie divulged more about it:

“When we were kids, my parents would [work at the carnivals], and me and my brother would get dragged along to these things all the time and have to work.”

He went further on to say;

 “Yeah, and it's not the nicest world. As a kid, you get exposed to the crazier underworld of the carnival. Me and my brother, when we were very little, we'd be inside the haunted house playing all day. So, already, what people are paying money to be scared [of], we're just playing in because it's fun. We saw the inner workings behind the machines.”

(”31″ trailer, source; Youtube)

Once again in this film, Zombie brings a powerhouse cast:

Jeff Daniel Phillips as Roscoe Pepper

Meg Foster as Venus Virgo

Malcom McDowell as Father Murder

Judy Geeson as Sister Dragon

Richard Brake as Doom Head

You can view the entire cast at IMDB here.

Set in 1976, Zombie stays true to his nods. Again, depending on taste, this is a huge hit or a wild miss with mindless homicidal violence, campiness, and climbs across the monkey bar of standards that we’re used to seeing from him.

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So at this point, you’re probably wondering why I think that it’s time for Rob Zombie to step out of the confinements of his own box...

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It’s no secret that Zombie sticks to only a small group of tropes: 

Slashers, families or groups of homicidals that lack remorse, the occult, etc. There’s no shame in sticking to what you know. Hell, Zombie has seemingly cracked the code over the past two decades that he’s been in the film industry that so many directors still don’t seem to get.

IMO, despite whatever you personally feel about the films mentioned above- I feel like we’re living a freaky groundhog day repeat within Zombie’s filmography. 

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Now, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Look, I’m not saying that Zombie has to change anything. However, I would love to see him tackle some other nuances that we’ve already seen from him in small doses.

- Children: We haven’t seen Zombie exactly take on what horror films depict kids as. Sure, he made a breakout and impeccable choice with young Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) back in 2007. I personally would adore to see a reimagined (NOT remade) Children of the Corn on acid, one we all know Zombie can tackle and turn every existing view on its head.

- Witchcraft, The Occult, Satan, Voodoo:  Zombie genuinely had a phenomenal concept (on paper) for 2012’s Lords of Salem. It was unfortunate that they ran out of resources and ran into unfortunate circumstances on set while filming. 

The film wasn’t a total tank, though, given how inspiring and insane all the visuals were throughout the 1 hr, 41min film. I am absolutely positive that, given a full-force opportunity, Rob could rectify the mess that was out of his control. We completely saw that he provided visuals that left quite the impression, and he could take those taboo subjects by the goat horns.

- Animals (not the human form): It’s no secret that Rob and his wife Sherri are ethical vegetarians. It would be so tongue and cheek to see them take on such topics as animals getting their revenge, or even vegetarians torturing carnivores. This twist on the formula would make for an interesting viewing.

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2.) In regard to time periods, 

Zombie stays within—and pays homage to—the 1970s and 1980s quite a bit. Obviously, those are the eras that Zombie personally loves the most when it comes to filmmaking. However, it would be very interesting to see him take on current day settings. 

Zombie has such a unique viewpoint. Given changing climates in politics, human decline/growth, the economy, etc., he would do work that could easily put Ryan Murphy to shame.

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3.) He could also do with some different casting every now and then.

Let me preface this by saying that I adore every repeat casting choice that Zombie has made for his films. 

Of course chemistry is a huge thing, and sticking to his friends is a very smart choice. However, he also has the potential to make new stars, boosting the power of those that may be under the radar. He can support those new stars with cameos from classic actors that we haven’t seen in awhile. I can’t begin to even fictionally cast those who fit the bill, but I do believe that with the “Zombie Touch,” he can bring so much more fresh air to the usual casting.

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There’s no doubting what Rob Zombie is clearly very good at. Despite mixed reviews from the horror world and critics, it’s time that his fans open their eyes to new possibilities. Of course, there are die-hards, but digging your feet in further doesn’t allow the growth of horror and its ever evolving themes.

[[ʳᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇⁱᵉ, ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ⁱᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ]]

This theory has been on my mind for a very long time—since 3 from Hell came out. I’m sure, in his usual fashion, we won’t be seeing any new films from Rob anytime soon (what with his new album set to release in March 2021, not to mention the toll that the pandemic has had on Hollywood.)

Still, it never hurts to challenge the set standards and ways.

[beainitaly]

Roma

Hello All! Less than a week left now before I return to the states…. it seems unreal! Seeing as we have just begun July, I think it is the perfect time to talk about the trip I took at the beginning of June :)

As a quick aside- also at the beginning of June I visited the lovely seaside town of Diamante with my host family.

The big trip here was going to Rome!!!! In fact, Mom was even able to come over through lucky opportunities, and we spent four lovely days together in Italy’s capitol. I arrived on Thursday afternoon, which was actually during an italian “Ponte” which means bridge, basically when they have a day of vacation on Thursday or Friday and then they give you school off on Saturday as well. This was just a coincidence planning wise, but it meant that I didn’t actually miss much school, for which I was grateful. It’s a bit of a long journey from Cosenza: 6 to 7 hours depending on how you do it, but I relaxed and listened to some good music on the train. I met Mom at the hotel, and soon thereafter we went for a kind of walking tour with several stops (this is edited, we did too much to include it all!).

First we saw Trajan’s Column, which is next to the Altar della Patria (aka Monument Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuel II, you can see it in the background). 

From there we continued on to the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest church dedicated to Mary in Rome. They had this awesome floor design.

Everything on the walls was gold and white and decorated, and the lighting was gorgeous. 

After that we went to the Imperial Forum, also known as Trajan’s Market, which was really interesting. I guess the best way to describe it is like a mall for ancient romans. It had three levels, and on each there was a long hallway with tons of little rooms branching off. In each one there would be a different trader or little shop set up when it was in use.

We were planning on returning near the hotel for dinner, but were so hungry that we stopped part-way there at Piazza Santa Ignazio for pizza. At the end of the night, we went to the square in front of the Pantheon and had some delicious gelato while taking in the view.

The next morning, after a wonderful breakfast at the hotel (I’m a sucker for buffets), we visited the Doria Pamphilij, a museum that houses the collection of an old roman family who still run the property today. The house was originally owned by Camilo Pamphilij, nephew of Pope Innocent X. As an aside, this nephew was given a cardinalship by the pope his uncle, which is believed to be the origin of the word nepotism. They had a lovely collection, 10/10 would recommend.

In the afternoon we went to the Galleria Borghese, located at the Villa Borghese above the center of the city. Seeing as we had already purchased timed tickets in advance for 5pm, and then at 4:30 realized that it was going to take 50 minutes to walk there, we did the classic Bianco sprint to reach our destination (we made it). This was my absolute favorite painting I saw there:

Portrait of Lady with a Unicorn by Raphael!!

They also had an astonishing number of Caravaggios and Berninis, which I had learned about in my history of art class this year, so it was a treat to see the real objects! 

After exiting the museum, we took a walk through the gardens. On a whim we saw people driving around those bike cars, and remembering certain incidents with those in our past, namely getting stuck on a highway roundabout, we decided to rent one. The bike rental guy asked me if I could drive when he was setting the bike up, and assuming that he just needed to explain the controls and that then I would hand it over to Mom, I said yes (I can, in theory, but don’t have much practice or a license). He proceeded to place me in the drivers seat and then watch after us as we left, which was a bit hilarious because it turns out the thing had a motor and whenever I started to peddle it revved up and we started going veeeery fast. It was a bit of an adventure (read: possibly life threatening and hilarious).

Walking back to the hotel we stopped at the Trevi fountain. The setting sun made everything look beautiful.

Bright and early on the third day we took a cab a ways outside the city to visit the church of San Paulo Fuori le Mora (outside the walls). It was absolutely enormous, and had mosaic portraits of every pope ever lining the upper edge of the walls. From there we walked to the Centrale Montemartini museum which was super cool. It was originally a thermoelectric  plant, producing electricity from 1913-1963, but was converted into a holding space for many archeological finds from the Capitoline Museum undergoing renovations in 1995. After the completion of the renovations in 2005, they decided to keep many of the pieces there. I loved the mix of old and new, the idea of Rome changing over time, and some of the pieces in the museum were fascinating.

After lunch we went to an exhibit called “One Day I Broke a Mirror” of Yoko Ono and Claire Tabouret at the French Academy in Villa Medici. The work was very interesting, and engaging, raising questions about different opportunities in life particularly for women. In Ono’s fluxus style, the work requires your participation to be complete. Here is Mom doing “Yes!” and me doing “Wish Tree”.

On our last day, we went to the Capitoline Museum. It is often considered the oldest museum, ever, home to countless ancient roman, medieval, and renaissance works. The nature of the museum was sprawling, with a confusing (or possibly nonexistent) path through it. While purchasing tickets at the front desk, we randomly decided to rent an iPad guide just for the fun of it, and let me tell you that it was maybe the best decision I’ve ever made. The guide had important works numbered in the order you were supposed to see them, with a little audio clip explaining some history of each one. Because it was nigh impossible to tell which way you were meant to go, we resorted to looking at the thumbnail for the next piece on the tour and then looking for it as a sort of hide and seek, warmer or colder way of finding the recommended path, which in my opinion just added to the fun. This is the classic sculpture of la lupa (mother wolf) with twins romulus and remus, who led to the founding of Rome according to legend.

This was a statue of Athena, 4th-5th century BCE, which I quite liked- can you believe how that fabric is carved!!!

At one point you got to this overlook where you could see all of the Ancient Roman ruins of the Forum

For a change of pace we ate tacos for lunch, the first time since arriving in Italy that I’ve eaten anything not Italian food or sushi. I definitely went overboard on the guac but it was soooooo good!

Because this lunch was so filling, we decided to have gelato from Giolitti for dinner instead of a proper meal. Mine was this fabulous creation with hazelnut, chocolate, and nougat flavored gelato inside with a whipped cream and chopped nut coating.

The next morning I took the train back to Cosenza, and that was also the last week of school. The time flew by! I couldn’t really believe school was over, seeing as it had been a constant here in my life in Italy. On the last day of school we had our earthquake drill (we have to do one each year, and I guess they kept putting it off) which meant all the kids had to go stand outside for like 20 minutes. In this short time period, the whole school descended into chaos. Kids were pulling water balloons and water guns out of their backpacks, others had purchased a six pack of water bottles and just started flinging them at people. There were no teams, no mercy. By the time that 20 minutes were up, everyone was bolting towards the school screaming, soaking wet. As we tried to get in the building, kids leaned out the windows from the upper floors and pelted the others with water balloons or just dumped entire buckets down. Once in the classroom again, visitors kept arriving for the rest of the day to spontaneously throw water at everyone, my class brought in some cake and cracked a bottle of spumante, and then we all went home. That afternoon with my friends they asked me if I had gone to school. I said, “yes, of course, did you?” they replied that no, they hadn’t, because they wanted to avoid the water. This tells me that the water war is a traditional and terrifying last day of school activity that nobody thought to prepare me for :D

That afternoon I went to my friend’s house for lunch. She lives in a village 10 minutes away from the city, but with a lovely view looking down towards the center.

 We baked a chocolate and nutella cake, and everything was good :)

Enjoy the beginning of July! It’s hot as hell here in Cosenza, reaching 103 a few days ago…. hopefully the next post is coming soon!

[thearcanachronicles]

Ever After

Prologue

“Now then, what is that phrase you use? Once upon a time, there lived a young girl, who loved her father very much…”

There hasn’t been a morning that beautiful in a long time. The sun was still low in the sky, drowning the air in a soft golden light, low clouds blocking some rays, these so white, so different from the ones that had been over the land on the couple months before. Flowers were finally starting to blossom, the grass and trees greener than ever. The smell surrounding the country was heavy and rich, as if Earth itself was awakening after a long and profound sleep. April Kepner felt, while sneaking glances at the open window, that God had created that perfect day specially for her, as there was no other way to explain what was happening in her heart than with a soft sunrise after an infinite lifetime of storms.

Her mother had passed away five years ago and not for a single day she hasn’t missed her twinkling eyes and perky smile. Because of her father’s job depended of traveling, most of April’s time was spent on following her mother in and out of the large manor. She was too young to remember the details, but still recalls her laugh, louder when her father returned home, feeding the animals, or reading till she fell asleep. Her father always said that April was the joy of his life, but she knew that wasn’t entirely true. Anyone that had spared a quick glance at Joseph and Karen Kepner knew their love could survive anything, so when her mother died quickly after what began as an innocent flu, the only reason stopping the man to go after her was the fact that he couldn’t abandon his three-year-old innocent daughter more broken than she already was. The light inside of him, though, was lost, and for many years the only thing that seemed to bring back a little of it was to witness his child grow into a small copy of the love of his life. He could see that the girl had not only inherited the red color of her mother’s hair, but her kindness, wit, faith, strong mind and fists.

But, one day, by the time she had just turned seven, he returned and she sensed something had changed. She observed him during dinner and his shoulders seemed relaxed, his walk more free, and he even drank two glasses of wine instead of only one. When he went to her room that night in order to continue reading La Chanson de Roland, as he opened the book she interrogated what could’ve caused the change. That night was the first time she heard about her future step-mother.

“Oh Arizona, it feels just like Christmas! I get a mother and sisters all in one day”

She kept standing on her toes to get a better look at the outside, expecting the second she would finally hear the horses and the carriage down the road and not only the birds chirping. The blond woman knelled behind her was struggling to finish tying the pompous white dress and in order to keep the young lady quiet she had to, more than once, push her back by the ribbons around her waist. Calliope kept coming and going inside the room, setting up the last arrangements for the arrival.

Arizona, Calliope and Owen were already Joseph’s servants years before she was born and held the uttermost respect for their lord. He and his wife were always kind and fair, treating them equally even with their different social standings. When Karen passed away, all of them suffered along and in order to never let April endure the kind of pain that comes with losing a parent more than she had to, they promised to be there for her for whatever she needed. They took care of her while Joseph was away, working harder to provide to his daughter anything she might ever want. She already was being denied a mother, that was enough. Still, being the less strict of the parents, April was treated more freely than most girls her age, and even though she was aware of her position in society and the demands that came with it, she couldn’t care less about them.

“Yes, it’s going to be very exciting here, with the Baroness and all…Oh, hold still!”

The moment the lord announced he was getting married again, to a proper lady no less, they couldn’t be anything but relieved. The man had been so recluse after his grief that in time all gave up the hope that he’d ever fall in love again. As much as they loved April as their own daughter, a lady role-model inside the manor would only benefit the young girl’s education.

“The master deserves some happiness after all this time… bringing up the child on his own” Calliope said as reentering the room, folding towels. “She must be lovely.”

“I hope she likes me.”

“She’ll love you. Just be the little angel I know is in there somewhere.” Arizona smiled, pinching the girl’s cheek.

“And don’t chew on the bones at dinner and give yourself away…”

They were all smiles, standing in front of the long mirror, looking at the small girl as she was finished getting ready. They were so proud of her and only expected the best from this new beginning. They were also aware of how anxious April was, even though she tried to hide it behind all the excitement. The girl confided in them that she missed having a mother sometimes, and her father, having said the most wonderful things about the Baroness, only raised her expectations about the new woman. She would even have sisters to play in the garden with and share secrets beside the fireplace, since Alex never flattered her with this endearment or could visit her at night. She was dreaming about the day her family would be complete.

That moment of quietude was broken by a small rock that came inside the room, making a loud noise against the wooden floor, being followed by a second only a moment after.

“Child, your father arrives any moment!” Arizona sighed as April ran to the parapet, picking at her dress’ sides to not trip over it, and looked down to see her best friend. Young Alexander Karev was standing right down her room’s window with another few rocks in his dirty hands.

“Alex, I told you! Not today!” Many and many times in the weeks before the arrival date, she explained to him how after her father’s new marriage some parts of her routine would change, exactly as Arizona had told her. She argued back when heard that the time with them all would be cut and how the step-mother probably had more strict opinions about her clothes, her schedule, and the kind of games she could join in, especially the ones involving her inside the pigsty or bathing in mud, but ended up granting after understanding that her sisters and other ladies her age didn’t usually behaved like that.

“You look like a girl!”

She rolled her eyes, putting both hands on her hips while giving him an annoyed expression. He would have to accept soon that wearing a dress didn’t forbid her to have clay in her hair, it would only be limited to certain days and times. That shouldn’t change their relationship.

“That’s what I am, halfwit!”

“Yeah, but today you look it!” April Kepner was not going to accept that attitude from him. Her new mother was soon arriving and he should already understand the situation. She could be wearing the most heavy dress she had, but it would not stop her from dipping his head in something if it meant he would learn to respect her no matter what clothes she was in.

“Boy or girl, I can still whip you.”

“Hah!”

She disappeared inside the room in a hurry to avoid to be held back, running down the stairs, ignoring the claims from both Arizona and Calliope. At the same time, the sound of the horses alarmed them as the cortege could finally be seem on the road by the horizon, quickly approaching the manor. They all ran down to stand in proper position by the main entrance as the horses and carriage stopped, pulling her dresses and aprons to place, being joined by the other servants, Owen supervising if they were all in proper attire.

“Look lively, it’s the master.”

“Welcome home, Monsieur le seigneur.” Owen exclaimed, approaching his lord with a smile, shaking hands with him. “I see you have brought us a baroness”

The light-brown haired man dismounted his mane in a swift motion, patting his fancy clothes from all the dust acquired in the trip. He had a proud expression while taking in the entire crew.

“I have brought you an entire household, Owen… But I seem to be missing a daughter”

He kept looking around in the direction of the porch as if his daughter would come to surface in an instant, but had to turn his back against it as his new family started to descend the carriage. The first one was a blonde thin girl, dressed in a red velvet attire, looking up at the manor disappointed. Following her, a bit younger, was a brunette, apparently more pleased by the view, with similar clothes, but green. Helped by a coachmen, the baroness came to view. She was stunning, head high, wearing an expensive silver velvet dress, with a large matching headpiece and jewelry, staring up at the building and the people surrounding her. As she came to full view, while curtsying, the realization that now they would be dealing with a lady with a much higher upbringing fell upon the servants’ heads.

“Oh… Joseph… It’s absolutely charming, really.”

The fact that the lady sounded ironic and the smile didn’t reach her eyes was subtle but evident. Her expression only hardened after April came around the corner running, her white dress covered in what they hoped to be only mud even if the strong smell said otherwise, hair once tied in a charming bun now disheveled, her face could have not been washed in a week.

“Papa!” She jumped in his arms, both father and daughter not bothered by her filthiness, trying to express in a single hug how much they missed each other.

“Oh, look at you, just as I left…. I’ll wager your friend Alexander is around here.”

“No, sir! I slaughtered him.” She smirked as he kneeled and looked deep in her eyes, taking all her assets with pride and joy.

“Well, so you did… I had hoped to present a little lady. I suppose you’ll have to do.” He shrugged, laughing at the servants, not a hint of malice in his voice, and stood up, stepping by his daughter’ side to let her take in the women who was now their family. “April, darling… may I present the Baroness Ellis the Grey and her daughters, Meredith and Alexandra.”

“Hello, April. At last we meet. Your father speaks of nothing else.” The woman came slightly forward, her daughters following each on one side. April instantly regretted having fought with Alex, as she couldn’t feel more out of place. Their first impression of her would be of an ugly, disgusting girl instead of a lady like them. While the brunette indulged her with a kind smile, the blond stood starring down unimpressed at her clothes. “Ladies, say hello to your new stepsister.”

“Mademoiselle” Both girls bowed and April repeated the motion, at least showing that what she lacked at the moment in appearance, she could compensate with education. While staring at their feet, she couldn’t but dream that the trio already loved her as much as she loved them.

“Utopia.”

“It means paradise. This may be a bit thick for an eight-year-old, but we could add it to our library.”

Her father was in her room by sleep time that night for the first time since he arrived one week before, what was unusual, but he had warned her before the wedding that he’d have others responsibilities. But April was happier than in a long time and he couldn’t avoid being proud of how she was behaving. She fell naturally into a routine with the new family. The fact that she woke up earlier than the other women in the house to help in the kitchen or the gardens didn’t bother the Baroness as long as she was cleaned up by the time she descended the stairs with the two other girls for the morning lessons. Ellis was extremely strict with the girl’s education, more than expect, as with their beauty routine and manners. She was decided in creating the most perfect ladies in the entire kingdom, and if sacrifices were supposed to be made, they would be done with a smile in their faces. Trying to get on their good side, April paid deep attention to the way they walked, talked and eat, the utensils dancing between their hands; how they dressed up, bathed, and while making tea parties trained to drink tea with the Queen. It was so different from the life she ever had that most times she kept thinking if she wasn’t playing princess. She was proud, though, when she looked up from the music sheet and saw the impressed face of the Baroness, aware that her hands were more trained with the piano than the others, the same happening with reading and writing. She never got a proper compliment, but Ellis was a woman of few and hard words.

“Will you read some?” She was touching softly the first page of the small book in her hands, tracing the words with love. The reading before sleep was her favorite part of the day when Joseph was home, and even though she was delighted by their new life, she couldn’t help but miss it. Maybe her new mother could join them one day too.

“It’s been a very long day.” He looked tired from setting up the new household, dark bags under his eyes, so she made an effort to ignore the tightening in her heart.

“And you’re a husband now.”

“Yes, I’m a husband, but a father first and forever. We’ve been two peas in a pod, you and I, for a long time… I suppose this will take some time getting used to.” He got closer to her, holding her hands between his much larger ones, his devotion for her in his eyes. Her smile grew as she understood that not for a single moment he didn’t want to read to her, he was only getting on his feet with the new family. He would make time, eventually. Trying to express how she didn’t held it against him, she changed the subject quickly, remembering something she wanted to share.

“Did you see the way they eat their supper? It is perfect, like a dance! And walk!”

“Do you like them?” He shared the girl’s smile, happy that she was not bothered with the new arrangement. If she didn’t like the Baroness, he wouldn’t be able to keep a life with her.

“Very much.”

“Good, good. Because I have to go to Avignon in a fortnight…” He knew that leaving that soon wouldn’t be easy, but he still had to finish some business he had postponed because of the wedding.

“But you just got back!” April sat straight, almost jumping in the bed, as if holding tighter could keep him in place. Her teared up eyes almost made Joseph give up the entire trip.

“I know…”

“For how long?”

“Only… three weeks.”

“One”

“Two.”

“One!”

“T…two… all right, one.” He conceded, rolling his eyes and pushing her shoulders to rest comfortable in bed to sleep again. He kissed her forehead and pulled the blanked, wrapping her in it, the new book besides her bedside table. “Come on, go to sleep. Sleep tight, my darling.”

“I’ve never seen so many gloomy faces around here. I shall be back in a week”

The ladies and the servants were all once more positioned in the front porch for the farewell. His ride was ready to depart, Owen holding it in place while Joseph came out of the door to say goodbye.

“Then go. The sooner you leave, the sooner we can celebrate your return.” Joseph kissed his new wife lovingly on the lips, caressing her face while she made a small pout. “Perhaps by then, the three of you will know each other better.” He patted the two step-daughters in their cheeks and finally knelled in front of April, the girl looking down afraid that her tears might fall.

He gave her a sweet smile while putting a lose strand of hair behind her ear, lifting her chin to make her stare in his eyes. “Huh? I’m counting on you to teach them the ropes around here. The Baroness isn’t used to getting her hands dirty.”

He kissed her in the cheek, April wrapping her arms around his neck to hold onto her father for a bit more. She would miss him, but was content that this time she would have her new mother and sisters to take care of her while he was gone. He let go of her and hopped on his mane, an uncomfortable expression on his face after holding the reins up to turn around, his left arm apparently in pain.

“Come along, ladies. Back to your lessons.”

The Baroness clapped twice to indicate the three of them to hurry inside, Meredith and Alexandra quickly moving, heading to the door with their mother following.

“Wait, It’s tradition. He always waves at the gate.” April exclaimed to them, the servants looking at her with proud smiles, still standing in their places. Ellis simply gave her a disgusted smile, surprising the redhead, and disappeared behind the door. Frowning, confused about the rude attitude, something she had never witnessed in the house, she turned her attention back to her father. Her worries about how she might have gotten into the Baroness dark side after disobeying her were forgotten when Joseph, half way towards the gate fell from the horse and never got back up.

“PAPA!” April was the first to react, running towards him. She couldn’t hear anything but her breathing, the wind against her body, her legs already hurting from the pace, heart hammering against her chest, but not daring to stop for a second to catch a breath. He had fell before, but was quick to get back on his feet again, never letting her worry about he being hurt. The fact that few seconds had passed and he has not yet moved only increased the dreadful feeling in her heart. Was he paralyzed? Was he… He couldn’t be. Dead was not a new conceit to her but her father was a strong healthy man. He could not be working in a second and the next one be dead. God wouldn’t let her have a family for the first time just to tear it apart… Would he?

By the time she reached him and got on the floor by his side, she could finally hear the commotion she had left down the road. The Baroness was also running for her life, followed closed by Owen, the other servants behind them all. She put her hands on his chest, feeling his heartbeat and irregular breaths, his chest apparently making much effort to keep moving, pulling his clothes to make him look at her. His eyes were open, and he blinked a couple times till he finally could focus on her face.

“My darling…” He slowly reached for her face at the same time Ellis felt on his side, touching his chest the same way April had done a few seconds before.

“Joseph… ” She was desperate, pulling him towards her even though he did not move or diverted his attention from April.

“I love you…” The dying man said, once more picking a lose strand of red hair and holding it with love, putting it behind the girl’s ear, stroking her teared cheeks while she sobbed. He and his daughter could not see the hurt in Ellis eyes from the fact that the man she had married never spared her a glance on his dying moments “ I love you…”

“Papa…”

“Joseph, you cannot leave me here…”

His hand fell on the floor and both women over him screamed, holding him to each other. April laid on his chest, holding to his skin and clothes, the Baroness desperate, getting up and throwing herself at Owen to be able to stand.

“You cannot leave me here!”

Arizona and Calliope both picked at one of April’s arm, trying to release her from her father’s dead body, only making the girl to hold him tighter.

“Leave me here!”

“Papa, please come back!”

“It would be ten years before another man would enter her life… A man who was still a boy… in many, many ways.”

A/N: Hello everyone! This is my new ff heavily based on my favorite movie ever (Ever After). Jackson will make his charming entrance next chapter ;) And be ready for many many characters to show up xD I hope you enjoy it! Lots of love 3