#when she was the one to remove rapunzel from the narrating family

[ghostlycoyote0]

Remember that ask from the other day that said to ramble about anything I want, and I ended up oversharing and then deleting the post because I didn’t instantly think of a topic?

I thought of one. Let’s talk about the fourth wall break in Into The Woods. Not the version with James Cordon that butchered the second act, the actual musical as seen on stage

Into The Woods has a Narrator. In act 1, he’s your standard fairytale Narrator, nothing out of the ordinary

Act 2 is after the Happily Ever After. What happens next? Cinderella isn’t totally happy with the life of a princess, Jack is set for life but he misses his adventure, and the Baker and his Wife are happy with their child but now don’t have enough room. And unfortunately, one extra magic bean was thrown to the ground.. and the Giant had a wife (not capitalised because it’s not what she’s called by all of the characters)

The second Giant is now rampaging across the kingdom, and people are trying to find safety. The Bakers, Little Red, the Witch, and the royal family all bump into each other in the woods when the Giant arrives to demand they hand over Jack so she can have revenge. He’s not there. The Narrator notes that the Giant is nearsighted, and had lost her glasses, so she can’t be persuaded that Jack isn’t there. She will not leave until someone is handed over as a sacrifice

So who do they kill? No one wants to die, obviously, so cue some arguing. While this is happening, the Narrator starts talking to the audience about something he finds fascinating about the structure of fairytales and how none of the characters have ever actually needed to make a decision on their own. He’s cut off before he can say much when he realises the entire cast is staring at him

He looks at them, looks at the Giant, and steps into the scene to argue why he shouldn’t be sacrificed. There has to be someone to pass the story along, someone on the outside to tell it and guide it to a happy ending. Everyone agrees that it would be really, really bad for them if he died. Except the Witch, who really isn’t happy with her karmic punishment of a happily ever after, and shoves him into the Giant’s arms anyway

The Giant realises he’s not Jack. And drops him

And this is the moment that no one is safe anymore. Jack’s Mother arrives on the scene to tell the Giant she’ll defend her son no matter what. The Steward kills her before she can anger the Giant. Rapunzel arrives, sees the Witch - who has abused her since childhood - and sprints away in a panic, only to be trampled

For the first time, the characters have no one to guide their stories to a happy ending. No one who knows what’s going to happen. They’re completely on their own, and there’s an angry Giant on the loose

Unfortunately, in the film adaptation, there is no Narrator, so characters suddenly start dying for NO GOOD REASON, because there was NEVER anyone guiding the story along in the first place, and THEY ALSO REMOVED THE OLD MAN WHO’S BASICALLY THE EMOTIONAL CATALYST FOR THE BAKER’S ENTIRE ARC-

Anyway. That’s the best fourth wall break I’ve seen in a musical; the moment they kill the Narrator!

[pocketramblr]

Free ask, rant about anything you want

i just woke up and m y heart is already going weirdly fast so i think i will answer this, write some, then pass out again, then finish packing tonight lets go

ok so im going to rant about uh, why cutting out your moral musical number in you movie musical adaptation is stupid and dumb and why you shouldn't do it

ok so into the woods, a story about stories and families and how those connect. there's a LOT of talking about legacy and tales. The Narrator and the baker's Father is played by the same actor for a reason. the whole baker line is a line of storytellers, and thats important.

In the opening song, there are three households- three stories. Cinderella, Jack the Giant Slayer, and The Baker and His Wife. yes little red is also a character, but shes... not one of the big three. we'll put a pin in her. So, the big three. The Narrator/Mystery Man is the narrator of Jack's story.

The baker's Wife is the narrator of Cinderella

and the Baker is the narrator of his own story

So, Mystery Man shows up and meets Jack after he starts his story going to sell his cow, and mocks him, tells him that he values his cow more than a sack of beans. Later, the Baker and Wife will show up to actually convince him to sell him the cow for just less than a sack of beans (all of the beans, minus one.) The Narrator sets up a point to the Main Character (Jack), and another character in the story he's Narrating picks it up later.

The baker's Wife does the same thing- she shows up right after Cinderella's story properly starts, right after she runs from the first night of the ball, and asks her about the very nice prince. she specifically asks if he's "sensitive, clever, well-mannered, considerate, passionate, charming, as kind as he's handsome"

Later, after the (lowercase n) narrator of Cinderella sets that line up for the Main Character (Cinderella), another character of the story picks it up when cinderella's Prince asks the exact same list of things, though he then goes on his own way.

After Act 1 though, when the stories 'end', the Narrator and narrator get in trouble in the same way for trying to continue narrating them. The Narrator (capital n) gets sacrificed to the Giantess when the other characters claim he's the one she's looking for. He got mistaken for the main character of the story he told, and died for not actually being that mc. the baker's Wife, also a narrator, ends up dying after cinderella's Prince has a tyrst with her- she took the spot of her main character and even alluded "wait, what am i doing, i'm in the wrong story". After the affair, she has a Moral Song, Moments in the Woods, and then gets killed by the Giantess.

BUT

as Narrator and narrator, the baker's Father and Wife can still provide insight onto the story after they die. And they do. The Wife sings in the finale, and the Father has 'no more', which doubles as the Moral Song for both Narrator ghost dad and narrator baker son. Because, of course, the Baker narrates his own story.

BUT

THE MOVIE

COMPLETELY CUT OUT NO MORE

which

1- takes out more connections of the storyteller baker line, leaving the Narrator and Baker's Wife as far less obvious counterparts

2- completely takes out the Baker learning from his father BOTH AS FATHER and as STORYTELLER. theres a reason that at the end he starts telling the baby the same way the Narrator did, its supposed to connect and aaargnn it doesnt now

3- defeats the purpose of a musical?? which is to express emotions through song? instead the baker just sits there sadly for a second after maybe seeing the ghost of his dad (who isn't even a Narrator here!!! whyyyyy YES i know how you could have adapted a narrator into the movie medium. i know its different than stage. its not impossible and it could have been so cool but they didn't even try.) and listens to the background music of 'no more' and then just gets up and decides to go back. WHY DID HE NOT EXPRESS EMOTION THROUGH SONG. this is his BIG DEFINING CHARACTER MOMENT. its IMPORTANT. that means that in a musical its supposed to be MARKED WITH A SONG

anyway the 'adaptation' of into the woods was afraid to actually make changes so instead of properly adapting the story to the medium they just chopped off a couple of chunks that didn't fit into the runtime and then shoved it together. they didn't think about the ramifications of the changes!! you could argue that rapunzel's story was a 'change' but honestly to me it just feels like like just a 'cut out' the ending because they didn't think about how changing rapunzel's ending WOULD CHANGE THE WITCH'S. because she ONLY ACTED LIKE SHE DID because rapunzel DIED. rapunzel, happy, safe, away from the giantess?? she would have had to be forced to face the fact that she was wrong! which she didn't do! because in the play! her whole lamment was "I WAS RIGHT". she thought she was RIGHT to lock rapunzel away bc as soon as she left, she died. she wouldn't have had the truama of desert childbirth (twice.) and gone mad and gotten crushed by a giantess if she had completely remained in the tower! and thats why the witch doesn't come around until after the finale after she. dies(?) it gets to be ambigous with her. BUT NO NOT HERE. just lop of bits of the story it doesnt matter

it doesn't matter if the three of Witch's Mother, Witch, and Rapunzel is supposed to very much be a foil to Baker's Father, Baker, and Baby Son. who cares if storytelling and narrating was important! we're disney, we can do whatever!

anyway "No More" is my absolute favorite song from into the woods and i'll never forgive its absence or MOCKING ME WITH IT in the background music.

thank you for coming to my ted talk, i'll leave you with a parting question. was the un-fridging of rapunzel a total #win for feminism, or did the defanging of the story totally ruin the witch as a #girlboss?

[llamasgotoheaven]

In Celebration of Cassandra: The Princess With No Happily Ever After

(Quick Note: This essay contains major Tangled The Series spoilers. Read at your own risk.) 

I really appreciate Tangled The Series so much.

In more than a dozen ways.

My favorite thing though, is the way it wrote Cassandra, and juxtaposes her against her sister Rapunzel. 

Lemme explain:

Since the very dawn of disney princess movies... Since Snow White and Cinderella and Aurora sang about what they wanted and wished for, and pushed themselves to endure in their hardest moments, we always saw them being rewarded by fate for it.

They get a found family, and a prince who rides off with them into the sunset, they become a beloved queen in their kingdom, lavished with love and riches. 

That is a narrative so many young girls grow up being spoon fed. It’s the feminized version of the American Dream that was born of an era when war was so overwhelming nobody really knew wtf else to do other than survive the horrors and anxiety engulfing them. I can appreciate that for how motivational and powerful it is as a message.

That said, there is a bitter reality many of us know. Whether you’re a girl, any kind of minority, or a white man, odds are you’ve possibly had the experience of several consecutive horrible years, or you will have that experience sometime in your life. 

We all at some point have the experience of doing our damndest every day, of toiling to reach our goals, and to be the best version of ourselves, hoping deep inside of ourselves that it will pay off.

What happens when it doesn’t? What happens when somebody you love gets everything you ever dreamed of? What if it looks like they had it handed to them, while you had to bust your ass and get next to nothing in return? 

What happens when you have a character like Cassandra? A girl who from the start, was just as goodhearted as any disney princess is, and you as narrator throw so much pain and hardship at her, while she has next to no emotional support to encourage her through it all? A disney protagonist like Cass, who still does her damndest and then watches her best friend get everything she’s dreamed of, while not getting any of it herself? In fact she’s actively blocked from some of her wishes by Rapunzel’s victories.

Cassandra’s vengeful, understandably upset character arc happens. 

To top it all off she is being manipulated by an evil ancient spirit to be even more bitter. Of course she’s pissed and afraid by the end of the show. 

The brilliance of this lies in the fact that disney is again being self-conscious and reflecting upon how hokey their repetitive, somewhat commercial optimistic messages can get. This particular character arc is disney taking its old “dreams do come true if you don’t stop believing” mantra and turning it on its head. It’s subverting our expectations. What if they don’t come true for so long that you have a harder and harder time believing, until you give up? What if your friend is the one who has it all, who is a really good friend but still cannot possibly understand or conceive of the layers and layers pain you’ve been through?

I think this is something true of many of us who grew up indoctrinated by disney rhetoric. Particularly millenials, who had access to a lot of movies growing up.

A lot of us feel like Cassandra. Many of us didn’t get a happy ending once we grew out of our adolescent years, even if we did our best most of the time. This happened to some of us while we grew up in an americanized culture that told us we could have anything if we work our hardest and preservere through pain. Tangled The Series effectively said: “Y’know what? Those girls and those people deserve to be seen as well. They deserve to have their story told, they deserve to be empathized with.” They became self-aware of the fact that not everybody will or can feel a deep connection with characters like Eugene and Rapunzel, who always seem to bounce back into a chipper optimistic mindset.

To wrap this commentary up I want to end on a more positive note: While it’s true that Cassandra has suffered incredibly, and as is put in a place where she inflicts pain on the people who care on her herself... She manages to forgive herself, and to move on to carve her own path. She removes herself from the life that’s making her miserable. She’s also incredibly resilient, indomitable and capable because of her negative experiences. They turned into opportunities for growth, maturity and self-reflection. I’m convinced that because Cassandra is so powerful when she’s self-isolating and bitter, she can be unbeatable once she accepts the help and love she deserves. 

Hopefully we can all bounce back the way Cass does in the finale, and gradually let go of the pain to become less cynical and more wise individuals.

Maybe we can let love in again, and accept that we’re incredible with our without our dreams coming true, 

We should by no means overglamorize hardship, or seek it out, but maybe our fairy godmother not showing up to save us is a different type of happily ever after. It’s a happily ever after that is nuanced, self made, and realistic. It’s one that prepares us for the volatility of life outside of traditional fairy tales, and doesn’t disappoint us when the universe is unfair.

[gaamagirl565]

Matters of the heart S3 ep1

Matters of the heart Season 3 Episode 1 Outrun the shadow {OPENING CREDITS}

Narration: As winter draws near and the green of summer fades the world enters a time of sacrifice. The leaves release their grasp on branches and flutter to the ground to feed the soil of the earth. In return, the earth produces plants to feed the animals. Everything in our world sacrifices every day. And although Humans may be at the top of nature’s chain, We are not exempt from sacrifice. {Fade down to Isaiah looking conflicted as he watches men working in Old Corona’s graveyard with Gaia next to him} Lily: Isaiah? Isaiah: Oh! Hey guys… Akina: You okay? Isaiah:  what? yeah, I'm fine why? Nathaniel:  not going to lie... You look like you just watched a group full of Orphans get hit by a carriage. Isaiah:  that's a lovely image... but no really I'm fine it's just... a little weird to be watching people remove a tombstone from the graveyard with my name on it. Nathaniel:  at least we're prepared for the real deal now!  we have the stone and everything! {Akina kicks him} Nathaniel: Ow! Lily:  what we’re trying to say is we're glad to have you back. Isaiah:  I'm glad to have you guys back too… Akina: Awww! {lily blushes and Nathaniel gags; cut to Varian’s house where Zapada is attempting to feed her son with Verbena next to her} Zapada: Sterling, please do not fuss! Verbena: hehe! Fussy baby! Eugene: At least you know he’s truly Varian’s kid...Stubborn to the end! Varian: har har...can we get back to business? Rapunzel: Sorry Varian but he’s sooo cute! Lance: he really is! Adira can we have another baby? {Pan to Adira having her earring pulled by her 1-year-old son} Adira:....no. Varian: ….okay yes my son is incredibly cute but we have a serious issue here. Eugene: alright fine...you were saying? {Varian lays out a map on the dining room table} Varian: We know that the cult’s hideout was near the mountains in an abandoned mine.  the entrance to the mine collapsed when we were leaving but I doubt that'll hold them. they could be on their way here right now we need to make a battle plan. Rapunzel:  I'm not normally one to be negative but what are we going to do?  I don't have my hair anymore and you told me that they basically made a corrupt version of the Moonstone using only a Shard from its remains.  do we even know the full extent of their power now? Varian:  that's the tricky part... we don't. my family and I hightailed it out of there before they could do anything. Lancel: What does this mean for Cassandra? {Varian bites his lip and looks at Eugene who nods} Varian:  Cassandra... her mind has completely been taken over by the power she possesses...Her original conscience is gone. {Rapunzel gasps and tears up} Eugene: oh no...Sunshine c’mere… {he holds her close} Varian: i’m sorry Rapunzel… {Isaiah rushes in with the others and accidentally hits Ruddiger with the door} Isaiah: Dad! Do you Smell that!? {Varian sniffs the air and his eyes widen} Varian: sulfur... Eugene: cannons...something’s coming... {Zapada instinctively clutches Benny and Sterling; Varian and Eugene run out to the road; at the entrance, Larkspur stands with a cold staring purple-eyed Cassandra and an army of cult members behind her} Larkspur: Hi! Hope you don’t mind but I thought I’d just drop in...and take what’s mine. {Rapunzel stands in front of them} Rapunzel: You aren’t taking anything from us! Larkspur: AWWW! That’s so cute! Like you have a choice. Oh, sweet Vessel! Show them we mean business. {Cassandra steps forward} Rapunzel: Cass! Wait! It’s me! fi-AHH! {Rapunzel is pulled out of the way as Cass Forces a contorted discolored rock from the ground} Eugene: oh no… Isaiah: Dad w-what is that? {Varian’s eyes dilate in horror} Larkspur: Like I said...We’re not taking no for an answer… {She turns to her army} Larkspur: Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Corona! Some of you have been here before but- {She gasps as an arrow zips past her and hits a cult member killing him; She turns around and sees Adira with her bow at the ready} Larkspur:...ya know what? Screw the speech! ATTACK! DESTROY ANYONE YOU SEE! {The army cheers and charges; People begin running screaming} Isaiah: Dad!? Nathaniel: MOM! {Everyone runs to gather their families; The cult starts throwing small orbs; once they hit the ground a gas flows out choking various people; Isaiah watches his father fight with the king and queen and out of the corner of his he sees an orb head for Nathaniel’s family} Isaiah: NATHANIEL! {He is hit directly and begins coughing and sputtering; Isaiah covers his nose and mouth and runs out to help him to his house; in the confusion they here people grunting and shouting in pain; The cult have begun targeting civilians with their swords} Rapunzel: We have to get everyone out of here! {Varian, Eugene, and Rapunzel help various villagers to run into Varian’s house and barricade the door} Varaian: Zapada Grab the kids!  Lets get everyone to the escape route! Zapada: come on children! {Varian leads them to a hole in his office} Eugene: seriously? Varian: It leads to the underground tunnels of old Corona!  we can escape to the forest through here! Isaiah: but we'll be leaving everything! Rapunzel: We have to… Varian: Women & Children First! {Isaiah helps Lily and the royal siblings into the hole and then helps Nathaniel} Varian:  you next buddy! {Isaiah climbs down into the dark dirt tunnels; he slowly helps people into them; Once everyone is inside Varian himself climbs into the hole taking one last look at his home before the main door starts cracking open; he grabs the lid to the hole and covers it as he descends into the tunnel.} Akina: it’s really dark down here Benny:  clearly you've never been to the dark Kingdom. Villagers:  what do we do now?  how do we get back to the surface? our home is gone!  what about everybody else in the Kingdom!? Rapunzel:  everyone calm down!  I'm sure our Royal engineer has a plan! Right? Varian:  of course I do I didn't just build this thing for kicks.  the tunnel itself is about 5 miles long and at least out into the forest.  the exit is in a campsite that I have spent time creating in case the should ever happen.  when we get there we can set up camp as for the rest of the people in Corona... we can only pray for their safety. Perhaps at a future date we can save them. {the small crowd murmurs to each other; Varian takes out small glowing orbs and passes them around} Eugene:  everyone Stay Together!  Varian will lead the way. {They begin walking in the direction they’re being lead} Benny: ‘Saiah?  are we going to be okay? Isaiah:.... yeah totally!  there's one thing I know about my dad is he has a plan for everything. even the worst-case scenario. Akina: Mama I’m frightened… Adira: we’re alright small one Lance: yeah... the important thing is we're all here together. {As they walk small rumbles shake the tunnels but Rapunzel encourages them to keep moving; Varian looks over a map with his glowing orb before pointing down a corridor; Everyone follows; Cut to Lily’s brother Cyrus running a hand along the dirt wall} Cyrus: I'm simply amazed Mr.Varian... how did you manage to carve these? Varian:  there were already tunnels here from when I was younger I just simply expanded them so that they would run into the forest. I figured it was a good idea to have an Escape Route.  especially one that they wouldn't be able to find. Cyrus:  still this must have taken years! Varian:  I began Construction once I returned to Corona shortly before Isaiah was born.   I figured if I was going to stay in Old Corona they would end up coming for me at some point.  I wanted a safe way for my villagers to escape. {A thud and is heard followed by a shattering of glass and a scream; Eugene whips around to see a woman on the ground; he runs over} Eugene:  what's going on!? Child: My mother! S-she fell! She isn’t saying anything! {Varian runs over and kneels next to her} Varian: ... flip her over! {They do so and reveal reddish-purple dots on her skin} Varian:...was your mother sick before!?  did anything happen during The Invasion I could have injured her in any way? Child: no! She was fine! She wasn’t even injured in The Invasion!  we only got hit by one of those weird ball thingies! Isaiah:... those gas bombs! If she was near one when it blew then, you don't think that maybe… Varian:  those bombs must have been filled with some sort of biological compound... it's making anybody who came into contact with the gas sick. Rapunzel:  a lot of people here were exposed to those. Eugene:  everyone check yourselves for reddish-purple spots! {The people look at themselves and several shout in fear as they look at their spotted skin; Nathaniel looks at his wrist in fear and dots cover his arm} Rapunzel: okay calm down!  if you were sick we will find a way to get you treated we just have to find out what exactly this is! Varian:  Rapunzel that's easier said than done without a lab.  in the time being we have to make it to the campsite we use whatever medicine we have to try and get you better until then we'll have to observe your symptoms. Villager 1:  how much longer to this campsite? my wife is very sick! Varian:  we just passed the north corridor  so I'm guessing we should be there within the next 10 minutes. in the meantime everybody please try and stay calm. {everyone moves on} Lily:  Nathaniel are you okay? {he holds up his wrist; Akina gasps} Isaiah:  don't be scared, Akina... I don't think it's contagious otherwise we'd all have it by now. Lily:  what about you you ran to the gas cloud that he was in! Isaiah: Nathaniel and everybody else experiencing symptoms had a direct hit or breathed in a lot of the gas. I had my mouth and nose covered when I went to go grab him. Nathaniel: Stop!  let's do what they told us and stay calm.  I don't know what this stuff is going to do to me but we shouldn't focus on that. we have bigger fish to fry. come on… {He walks ahead of them} Benny: Isaiah? Can I have a ride? Isaiah: you tired? Okay… {He bends down and lets her climb on his back; they keep walking to they see a light peering through the top of the tunnel} Varian: Angry? Cat? {a rope is dropped down} Varian:  again Women & Children First! { everyone begins climbing up the Rope one by one;  finally Varian pulls himself up} Keira: welcome to the upper world! Varian: you've been waiting for years to say that haven't you? Cat:  she really has you have no idea… Keira:  we did exactly as you said we saw the commotion from our treehouse and opened up the tunnel. Lance: thats my girls! Eugene:  is everything secure? Cat: yeah Varian: and how is...he doing? { Cat looks distressed for a moment and kiera puts an arm around her} Kiera:  he's not doing good to say the least… Cat:  we have him in the camp right now resting but his wound recently got infected.  The Physician helped some with the internal damage... but he said ultimately there's not much you can do. we just have to hope he makes it through this. Kiera:  nevermind! we have some visitors in the camp… Varian: Visitors!? WHO!? {Cut to the camp with Varian walking in; pan to hector sitting with his daughter Juniper and son Bjørn} Varian: Uncle? Adira: Hector!? Hector: hello sister… Adira: what are you doing here? Juniper:  it was so weird!  dad said he had to come here! Hector:  something happened... and judging from what I'm seeing something big.  I felt a familiar feeling... but this time..it was evil. Adira:  they took The Shard of the Moonstone and they corrupted it into a new stone. trust me I felt it too. Bjørn: What happened to all these people? Varian: we don't exactly know yet. Eugene:  okay attention everyone!  all those who are sick please rest until we can find a designated area for you everybody else start helping set up camp Villager 1:  but what about us!? are you sure they won't find us here!? Varian: as of right now all the cult knows is that we disappeared inside my house. They have no knowledge of the underground tunnels nor do they have any knowledge of this campsite.  soon strict rules are going to be enforced in order to assure everyone safety.  I know the situation isn't ideal and I prayed that it would never happen. Villager 2:  isn't this basically your fault!?  you should have been protecting us from these people! {The crowd shouts in anger; Isaiah puts Benny down and runs over} Isaiah:  knock it off! Varian: Isaiah? Isaiah:  there was no way my Dad could have stopped the cult from doing this!  with or without the Moonstone Shard they would have attacked eventually just as they have before.  instead of blaming other people for what happened, we should focus on Surviving! Rapunzel:  Isaiah is right. getting angry will solve nothing.   please everyone just started helping set up camp once we get a new sense of normal it won't seem so bad I promise. {The crowd disperses} Isaiah: phew… Varian: Thats my boy! Zapada: Copilul meu, that was so brave! Isaiah:  I couldn't just stand there and let them bad-mouths my family. the cult members are insane plain and simple once they have something in their head it can't be stopped. Zapada:  I'm going to go help the other women set up. Isaiah, would you mind taking your brother for a bit? {she hands Sterling to Isaiah} Isaiah:  what do you say little guy? you ready to spend some time with your awesome big bro? Sterling: ppthh! Lily: Ha! Isaiah:  I'm choosing to take that as a compliment… {Isaiah walks around camp watching the sick be tended to and tents being set up} Isaiah:  and I got so used to sleeping in a bed again as well… Benny:  speak for yourself! this is my element! {They look over and see Cat walk into a ten that was already set up} Isaiah: what is she doing? Benny: ooohh spy time! Lets go.. {They sneak up to the tent and look in; Noremoth lies on a makeshift bed with bandages wrapped around his torso; Cat dips a cloth in water and puts it on his head} Noremoth: ghh...h-hey.. Cat: hi..just rest okay? Noremoth:..you got it..boss. {She chuckles} Cat: just sleep okay? {Start the song “twisting trees} {Catalina} Deep in the forest, the flowers bloom Don’t fear the dark The moon will rise soon Let the breeze caress your face And fall into the branches embrace Twisting trees keep me safe Twisting trees I fear not this place As they cast their shadows below The moon it rises ever so slow It’s face of Ivory glowing above It bathes the land its pure white love fall into the branches embrace Twisting trees keep me safe And fear not this place. Oh, fear not this place. {end song; Isaiah walks away with Benny and Sterling} Isaiah: He's not looking good… Benny:  well that wasn't fun that was just straight-up depressing... {Isaiah sits up against a tree with Sterling} Akina: you okay? Isaiah: Oh...hi Akina... yeah I'm fine just... rough way to start a day. Akina: yeah... never thought I'd see Uncle Hector here. What do you think they meant by saying they sensed something? Isaiah: promote my grandpa told me your mom and…” uncle” Hector used to be part of a group called the Brotherhood. from what he told me they were loyal to the moonstone given that this new corruption is made from A Shard of the Moonstone I'm guessing they felt a disturbance or something when it was corrupted. it's the only thing I can think of. Akina: We're going to take back Corona right? I like it there! Isaiah:  don't you worry we're not just going to sit back and let this happen.  we're going to take back our Kingdom… Lily:  good luck with that we’ll need a small army. Akina:  I heard the grown-up saying that too!  something about we're going to have to go around asking other kingdoms to join the fight! Isaiah:  well yeah... you think they're just going to stop at our kingdom? we're going to need to ask for help from a lot of peo-... wait...I GOT IT! { everyone in the camp jumps out of surprise} Isaiah:... oops!  sorry!... anyway I need a piece of paper and a quill. Lily:  one second I saw some by the supplies! {She runs over and grabs the items before handing them to Isaiah;  Isaiah leans against the tree and begins writing his letter} Isaiah: S.O.S...Corona compromised.  please help.  your former Cabin Boy Isaiah... okay it's written!  but how do we send it? Lily: I... I have an idea… {Cut to Hamuel hanging  upside down from a tree branch} Isaiah: you can't be serious… Lily:  hey my grandfather and Dad have been exchanging letters for ages using this bird. Isaiah:  this bird has to be at least 15 years old! maybe more! on top of that look at him! {Hamuel falls to the ground with a pained caw} Isaiah: HMM!? *points at him* Lily:  I know it's not ideal but he's gotten the messages there every single time. Benny:  I'm surprised he hasn't taken the messages to the north pole rather than the dark Kingdom. {Lily attaches the letter to Hamuel’s leg} Isaiah:... I can't believe I'm doing this I'm talking to a bird...Hamuel  listen very closely to me I need you to find a ship called the SS. Salvador. Take this note to the captain.  and if you fail...uh...Draki will eat you. {Draki hisses and wiggles his tail} Lily: Isaiah no! Isaiah: Isaiah yes! { He lets Hamuel go; cut to Corona Castle; Larkspur walks into the throne room} Larkspur:  I can't believe I'm finally here… Vergus:  yes mistress you finally made it.  Corona is destroyed and at our feet.  and soon we will find The Alchemist and where he is hiding. Larkspur:  look at this place... such power wasted. {She goes up and sits on the throne} Larkspur: hehe!!  I've waited for years to sit on this chair!  I was kind of hoping that the king and queens heads would be under my feet as well but you take what you can get. Vergus: shall we start moving on to the other kingdoms as well mistress? now that we've taken down Corona we can move on to others and spread our message! Larkspur:  everything is finally coming together… Vergus: Mistress? {begin song “i don’t care”} {Larkspur} You know some time ago I was just a little girl I was hopeless, aimless, nameless But then a dream had struck my mind It was brighter than any kind And now that dream is mine Just look now where I walk A hall of Kings and Queens And all it took was some blood and a bit of screams! Well, I don’t care, If it isn’t fair! This land is mine Let’s not waste our time! Let’s make them bleed! Oh let’s make them bleed! Ohhh...he chose his path and ran away Even when welcome to stay… He chose...to Betray~! But I don’t care! I’ve let down my hair! This land is mine! Oh, finally mine! Now to make them bleed Oh let’s make them (x3) Let’s make them bleed! {End song} {END CREDITS}

[sandalaris]

For the writer asks: 5, 10, 17, 22, 23, 30, 45, & 54!! :D

Finally getting around to answering these XD

5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most.

I read so much I feel like I can’t narrow it down. My favorite author is Ilona Andrews but they write almost exclusively in first person and have their fair share of action in their novels that I don’t think they’re that much of an influence on me. I’m trying to think of who I read that did the whole “people usually feel a mix of emotions over just one” thing that I know I’ve adopted, but I can’t think of who it is. (I can think of an author, who I do love the books of, who did the opposite and I found myself always confused about a character was supposed to be feeling/thinking and they probably influenced me to not do that, but I do like their books and that seems too much like I’m trying to be negative about them.)

10. Pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about.

If I got to pick anyone, it’d be Marissa Meyer who wrote the Lunar Chronicles. It would be for one novel/novella, because I feel like the Lunar Chronicles has one more sort of side story in it and would want so badly for it to fit what the author has already written. If you haven’t read the series, it’s basically a retelling of various fairy tales just set in the future, like Cinderella has a metal prosthetic foot that keeps falling off and Rapunzel is a hacker living in a satellite orbiting earth. Everything is set up to perfectly fit a Beauty and the Beast side-story. Genetically altered super soldiers who are big and hairy and given animal aggression and had all their teeth surgically replaced with fangs for failing to pass a test as a child? Check! Now all we need is to write a story about the bookish daughter of a geneticist who gets blackmailed into staying with the “beast” and slowly learns that there’s a man inside of the monster and ends up figuring out how to reverse some of the alterations (because we already got the “I love him just as he is, fangs and all” thing from Scarlet and Wolf so we can have a little “curse breaking” this time around.) It can be set post-series, when some of the wolf-soldiers ran off and disappeared into various countries.

I once co-write a novel with my best friend about an evil warlock who fell in insta-love with a ditzy elf and spent the rest of the novel trying to avoid her so he could dodge his fate of retiring from villainy like his father and grandfather before him. He was determined to be the one villain in his family who actually went through with his evil master plan, dammit! It was a comedy, and kind of a spoof since we were at that age where romance novels were the thing to make fun of, but it still ended with him deciding he could do evil masterminding later and running off with the elf. What can I say, we were like twelve.

17. On average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

Eek, the problem with averages is that any sort of outlier knocks everything else off, and I have a lot of outliers, lol. I go through writing spurts, sitting down and all but knocking out an entire chapter/one-shot in one sitting followed by days where I won’t even open a word document. And then there’s sort of my inbetween times where I’m usually typing away on something, but it’s more editing than actual writing, so maybe 100 or so new words might get written, but what I’ve previously written looks better by the end, lol. This has been the norm especially lately with school and work taking up the majority of my time. And then it hits me and I just need to let the story flow out of me? Between 2k-5k a sit down session.

22. How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied and a project is ultimately done for you?

I don’t really do true drafts. I write, I edit, I post, and then I suddenly see all my typos. On the rare occasion editing doesn’t fix the issue, I might cut the scene into chunks and sort of look for the line(s) that don’t fit and start branching off from there (like maybe someone’s acting out of character *glares at current chapter* and I just needed to look at it in smaller incriments to see where they started to veer off). Only once have I ever just completely reworked the extremely extremely rough draft I had written, but that was an original work I did for Nano and so was more concern with getting words on a page than editing as I go.

I suppose editing could count as a second draft, so two? Maybe three? What is considered One Editing? If I leave off and come back, is it an all new edit/draft, or am I picking up where I left off?

23. Single or multi POV, and why?

Nine times out of ten I seem to veer towards single, although I’ve had some fun with multiple POVs before.

Not really sure why. Maybe I just find it easier to burrow into one person’s headspace and go from there? I know there are times when I want to jump to another character for one specific scene, but I always feel like I’m already committed to telling things from the one character’s POV. Or maybe I just like the limited narrator thing.

30. Favorite line you’ve ever written.

Err.. I don’t know that I have one. How about a line I rather like? This is from a kind of Amaru/Brasa fic (kinda sorta. He’s got that whole mix of love and hate and resentment and worship thing going on, and she has her own twisted attachment to him) set in those six months between seasons. These lines are from a moment where Kate surfaces and Brasa fantasizes about taking out some of his resentment of Amaru on Kate. (He never actually physically harms her, Amaru would never allow someone to mark her vessel simply because its hers, but he likes to imagine.)

He thinks about wide green eyes looking up at him with fear, filling with tears as she whimpers out a “Please.” Imagines pressing a hand to her shoulder, pressing down down down until she’s kneeling before him, trembling as he cups her jaw, forcing her head back. He wants to press his thumb to the plump swell of her bottom lip, dig his nail in until the blood, her soul, comes to the surface. Filling the flesh with color until it spill across her chin in a vibrant slash.

and to give you an idea of how Kate is handling Brasa’s attempts to take his issues out on her...

He can see the muscle at the hinge of her jaw tighten, hear the harsh edge of every exhale, as she turns to look up at him mere inches away.  

“My name,” she clips, “is Kate.” She bites off the last, harsh sound, almost snapping her teeth at him.

45. Worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten.

I’m trying to think of actual feedback and not just like angry comments/reviews from people who didn’t like my fics (which tbh I haven’t gotten that much of because people aren’t generally that big of a dick to leave flames on fics these days.)

Someone tried to tell me that a character dropping the f-bomb was unnecessary and jarring and I should remove it from one of my fics. And hey, to each their own, but I personally felt it fit both the character (who cursed in canon) and the story and so kept it in. People certainly can write great literature without every putting down a single curse word, but there’s also great stories that wouldn’t be the same without a bit of foul language. What bugged me most about it was their insistence I should remove it.

Besides that the only other bad feedback I’ve gotten (besides obvious flames and people not liking the direction I’m going/have gone with a story), was someone who said that my clearly labeled unhealthy relationship fic was romanticizing abuse and they didn’t appreciate the one character manipulating the other character like that. They were actually fairly nice about it (if a bit of an anti about the whole thing), I just remember being a little bugged at the time because I had already tagged it as unhealthy/manipulative.

54. Any writing advice you want to share?

Don’t be afraid to experiment! And in that same vein, try out writing rules and discard them just as quickly if they aren’t for you, because there’s no set in stone way to doing things. Break all the rules if you want, the point is just to write. XD

Thanks!!

[theotherbackgrounder]

Ever After High: Deviations. What if...Cerise took her hood off?

There’s a theory of Quantum realities, a concept of infinite possibility where anything that can happen, does happen somewhere in the universe. A single decision can change the fate of those that live there. A simple turn to the left can avert catastrophe while the right turn can trigger an apocalypse.

In this story, in this moment, a small child was scared…

What really happened…

Less than ten years ago there was two young girls, they were Raven Queen and Ginger Witch. Out casted by their peers because of who their parents were, it was destined that they were to lead a childhood that was filled with isolation. To hide their nature, to hide who they really were, it was not a life one wanted to live.

But there was a third child. This child was scared, fearful of others and how they would treat her. Scared, she could only watch from the distance, watch as the other two were badly treated and ultimately were forced away and into their isolation. She continued to watching behind a mask of created by her own isolation. Because she was scared that others would treat herself the same just because of who her father is. She was scared to be so alone that she forced her own form of isolation…scared to be free.

So what if she wasn’t scared?

What if in their moment of need, that Cerise hood had taken them by the hand. What if she had the courage that she needed to show who she really was? What if she reached out to both Raven Queen and Ginger Witch?

What if Cerise took off her hood?

-The basic Change

First these three girls would have become friends and while the gazes they would have on them might be filled with disgust, to these three it wouldn’t matter, they would be friends – they had one another. While they wouldn’t interact with those outside of their group, they didn’t mind. Now that they had one another to rely on, they don’t actually find their destinies that scary because they will always be there for one another.

For a while it was just the three Cerise, Ginger, and Raven, it was around middle school when Faybelle joined the group. At first it was more of a pride thing for the soon to be ‘Dark Fairy,’ why lead a group of fairies when you could be the leader of what would essentially be a group of the most famous fairy tale villains ever: The Dark Fairy, The Evil Queen, The Big Bad Wolf, and The Gingerbread Witch.

Perhaps it was more of a need of “acceptance” between the three girl, and that Ginger already had been friends with Faybelle when they were younger, but the three decided to bring Faybelle into the fold. As Faybelle herself had become a bit of a bad influence on the others, in return it was the others that had been able to get her to chill. At first there was some kind of aggression towards Raven because of her mother, but as time went on their relationship almost became a bit of “frenemy” territory. Throughout middle school it was the four of them always hanging out or getting into some mischief, it didn’t matter what they did as long as they did it together.

In Highschool it was still mainly their group that they did stick too, but they were able to reach out some and had some friends from outside of their circle. Some of these would be characters like Melody Piper as well as Apple White.

Together, these groups of girls have a chant they say together. “We’re villain, We take what we want! And if there is someone we don’t like? We crush them!”

-The Timeline

Because of the promise between these four girls to always be together no matter what, Raven was no longer afraid of her future. Sure, she would still do her own thing, but she had no problem with playing the part of the Evil Queen so long as her friends were there. Because of this, everybody signs the fake “storybook of destiny” and no one realizes it’s a fake, Briar would never have a reason to look for it in her bedroom, as well as they would have never taken a trip to wonderland and be able to heal it from what the Evil Queen did – but Raven did decide she would try to find a spell to undo what her mother had done. There is a strong possibility that Courtly took over wonderland.

Because that Raven did decide to follow her destiny and ultimately help Apple, Apple was never coursed into helping the Evil Queen and Dragon Games never happened. Because that never happened, The Snow King never was turned evil and Krystal never learned to tie her own god damn shoes.

-The Characters

---Raven Queen

In this new timeline, Raven is the one that probably hasn’t changed that much, appearance and personality wise she is still mainly the same. Since being friends with the others, Raven has come to accept some of the darker side of her blood and because of this she has much grander control then she currently has.

Raven also has a better relationship with her mother now that she isn’t afraid of the darkness. She has even had moments where she would go against the schedule that was set up and just talk to her mother in the mirror, but still, she wouldn’t dream to ever free her mother.

Raven’s relationship with Apple is a lot rockier than it was now then it was before as now it seems that Raven had been so connected to the circle of friends she had in the original timeline and seem to come off as colder to her new roommate now than she was before

Original: Nice try, Apple. But I’m rooming with Maddie this year.

Now: Nice try, Princess. But I’m rooming with Cerise this year.

But of course time heals everything and Raven even learns to open up to Apple even more. Even a better chance for a relationship to bud.

---Ginger Breadhouse

Ginger is the second one to mostly change in this timeline. Since she was never bullied out of school when she was young; she had neither changed her name, dyed her hair, or pretended to be someone she was not. Now the green haired Ginger Witch she always was (if memory serves correctly, she dyed her hair) she was able to live a more enjoyable childhood with Raven and Cerise and never once had to worry about lying to everyone around her.

Now that she was able to be more herself she finds herself once in a while making a joke like her mother, though of course, like her mother, she always made sure to let others know she was just joking. Perhaps it was because of having a negative influence around her (Faybelle) but Ginger does have a bit of a short temper when it comes to her mother and friends that she is willing to protect, but it is her friends (even Faybelle) that tells her that “it’s okay” or “It’s not worth your time.”

She kind of likes picking on the Crumbs.

---Cerise Hood

Out of the three girls Cerise is probably the one that had the most extensive change in both personality and appearance. Now that she no longer has her secret that hindered herself throughout her life time she is able to live her life with her hood down and not be bogged down. So looking at “what may happen” to cerise in terms of appearance might be hard to get a grasp on, but in terms of what we have seen the closest thing would be a cross between Ramona and Cerise Wolf’s outfit. Cerise would also wear a hood, but it would be a hooded jacket. As for the personality, Cerise’s personality would be more closer to that of Ramona’s personality, a type that would prop up her feet on the lunch table.

Now that the wolf is no longer trying to be a sheep, she no longer holds back her own thoughts and concerns. She would often be one to tell Ginger to “calm down,” and then be the one to turn around and knock out the one responsible.

Currently, Cerise is in a prank war with Kitty. There may be no survivors.

---Faybelle Thorn

Not much of a difference here. Since being friends with the others Faybelle definitely has become more chill and open to those around as compared to her original timeline self. She still sometimes gets tricked by the Evil Queen, but only as for her frenemy rivalry with Raven to escalate.

-the others

---Giles Grimm/Milton Grimm

Since Raven signed the book the situation between royal and rebel never started. Giles Grimm would never have that babble spell removed, Milton Grimm would never be able to accept that perhaps a little change was good.

---Darling Charming

As Raven would have never inspired others neither would have she of inspired Darling. Darling would still be pretending who she wasn’t, acting as a doll for her family legacy. Since Raven never inspired her, she never would have been “out there” and neither would that kiss happen.

---Apple White

While not much of a change happens per se’ she would probably be more of the same from episode one. But the issue would be that because Raven never “rebelled” in the first place, when Raven poisons Apple and Daring comes to wake her up, she never awakens. Every knight in the kingdom comes to wake up princess Apple, but because of the above with darling never happened, Apple White is stuck in an eternal sleep.

---O’hair Twins

Since Raven signed the book, influence on others never happened. When the O’hair twins found out that they were switched at birth, they probably confessed. Now Poppy is Rapunzel and Holly’s dream is shattered.

---Lizzie Hearts

Lizzie is never to return home. She is never to see her mother ever again.

---Madeline Hatter

Madeline knows that the narration is wrong. She knows that the story that she is in isn’t the right one. She was never able to meet the isolated little girl that one faithful day that would have become her bffa. And you know what? That’s alright to her.

From her perspective, Raven is happier now than she ever was before. Raven has a smiled on her face and a gleam in her eye that Maddie had never seen before. And you know what? To Maddie, that is 100% okay. She is just happy to know that her friend is happy. She doesn’t mind watching from afar.

She doesn’t mind she isn’t sitting right next to Raven. She doesn’t mind that Raven doesn’t even know her name. She doesn’t even mind that she may never to return home. As long as Raven Queen was happy, Maddie was happy.

---Crystal Winter

She never learned to tie her own goddamn shoes.