#who made me a princess athy

[saneijeijei]

AU, where Lucas is from the world of the Lovely Princess, returns to his world, realizing that Athanasia from his world is his Athanasia which was destined for him by fate. After seeing several hundred worlds and alternative selves, he realized that he was wrong leaving her alone, in search of another Athanasia. But he believed that he would be able to come back and fix everything - to turn a quiet and weak-willed mouse into the very princess he had fallen in love with.

Inspired by his dreams of what a wonderful hero he would look like in the eyes of Athanasia, Lucas returned to his world. But as soon as he stepped on the ground, he realized something was wrong.

The world was.. Not the way he remembered it before he left.

Not finding Athanasius anywhere in the Ruby Palace, he went to the emperor's palace, thinking the worst. Imagine his surprise when he found her in her father's office. Athanasia.. She looked different. The loss and naivety as he remembered it disappeared. Instead of sad and tired eyes, he saw topaz's indifference, which with hidden anger and even resentment.

As soon as Lucas opened his mouth to say something, Athanasia looked away from him and said, "I'm sorry, Wizard of the Dark Tower, but your Athanasia is not here. She hasn't come back since you left. You should continue your journey and look for her further."

"I'm not looking for her anymore. I came back here because of you." Lucas answered. "I wanted to--"

"Because of me?" she smiled bitterly. "What an unfunny joke. You are obviously very tired from the road, since you are talking such nonsense."

"I'm not kidding."

"Oh? So you really thought that coming back here and saying that, I would jump into your arms?"

Lucas was taken aback, not knowing what to say. After all, she was right - he thought so.

Athanasia sighed.

"I am very grateful for the help you have given me, Sir Lucas. But I don't have anything else. I don't want to become a substitute for your dreams of another person. If fate has decided that we should be together, then she has cruelly joked with us. After all, I never intend to be with you together."

Lucas felt something breaking inside him. The throbbing pain did not make him angry at all, oh no, he felt the wild excitement and interest that had awakened in him.

Without a doubt, it was his Athanasia.

[alicehattera03]

This princess was not a little princess that was sheltered and raised with the utmost care like a precious flower within a glass greenhouse; nor was she raised with a golden spoon bedazzled with diamonds in her mouth from birth. 

Was it because it was the complete opposite that she- that everyone- had thought the princess of Obelia was just a dilapidated pawn on a chessboard ready to be disposed of, when in fact: Athanasia de Alger Obelia was a wolf in the guise of a weak rabbit. 

And she had her jaws right at their throats, ready to snap down and end their miserable lives. 

Where once she was a pauper, now she was: a princess. 

The World was cruel to the Nightingale- chapter 8 <-Read now~!

[coolingrosa]

Hi have I ever mentioned my favorite straight couple ever

[lithi]

Athy you are so silly

[ultramarine-spirit]

I'm still not over this...

[mikasenpaidesu]

this lucas with this athy… they look so majestic, i miss my parents so much uwahhh

[sharper-than-a-serpents-tooth]

Jennette & Claude similarities: a preference for sleeping curled up in small spaces that mimic the protective environment of the womb

[hopefulcollectortale]

I'm back hehehe :v

(I just realize that i write jennette MARGARTA not MARGARITA 😭)

[dyinggirldied]

If Spoon ever decides to make a proper individual portrait our girl Athy within WMMAP universe, can I propose some of the model below:

Im begging on my knees 🙏🙏🙏

[sylver-drawer]

Now that the novel is officially being translated, it’s genuinely one of the worst novels I’ve read as a writer (like seriously, the format is that of a middle school grade novel), with a main character who can’t help but irritate. Lee Jihye’s actions are often hypocritical, lacking awareness and acknowledgement of those around her, especially concerning those who appear within the original “Lovely Princess” novel.

She started off with a loose goal of surviving for the first half of the novel, and when that situation is resolved the whole second half of the novel she acts carelessly without a goal or drive. Rather than a main character slowly going through development, for the whole second half of the novel she acts more as a narrator than an actual character with dreams or desires and interacts with others without any sort of meaning or consideration. It’s suddenly at the climax at the very end of the story when she has a very abrupt epitome of “Oh, all of these people who I’ve been treating as fictional characters are actually flawed people with struggles”, before returning to her carefree way of life right as the story closes. However, there is no build up to this realization—rather, it presents as a thought that comes only because the situation called for it. She only seems to easily see people outside of the novel as ‘human’—people like her maids Hannah, Seth, or the wizards of the tower, or even Lucas himself. However, when it comes to the people who appear in the novel of “Lovely Princess” she almost dehumanizes them, reducing them to ‘characters’ who have to play a ‘role’.

This can be seen how despite the amount of times she’s identified signs of Ijekiel’s feelings for her or Jennette’s depression, she brushes them off until it’s too late and Ijekiel is openly expressing his jealousy and Jennette has attempted suicide. It’s easily seen as well when you compare her treatment of Hari to her treatment of Cabel—Hari, who never appears in “Lovely Princess”, she easily forms a bond with and thinks about and mentions quite often fondly like a friend. But when Cabel appears in story, she often calls him ‘puppy-like’ (as direct call backs from her reader standpoint towards the novel) and almost always mention his status as the second male lead, constantly bringing up his role in “Lovely Princess” and acknowledging his presence as if he were still that exact character from a book. Like when she interacts with Ijekiel, she doesn’t seem to acknowledge him as a fellow peer or even the brother of a friend—but rather the ‘second male lead’ in a ‘novel’. The dehumanization is blatant, along with her romanticization of the novel itself and projecting those thoughts onto the real people she’s become acquainted with.

This becomes clear when she deals with Jennette and Ijekiel. Almost every encounter with them, or rather whenever they are together, she seems to view them with rose tinted glasses of that of a reader living through a ‘romantic moment’ between the leads of novel—rather than as a fellow human being. Just as she mentions how it took her so long to see even Claude as a human, to the very end she allows her perception of “the female lead Jennette” and “the male lead Ijekiel” to dictate how she treats the two of them. With Ijekiel, she dismisses his blatant advances because to her, the idea of “perfect male lead Ijekiel” taking a fancy to someone other than “the lovely female lead Jennette” is impossible. It’s to the point that she acknowledges that she had to snuff her own developing feelings for him out because of that perception—that a such a young love would never bloom because Ijekiel is “the male lead”.

This projection of her perception of Ijekiel leads to her inability to acknowledge Ijekiel himself, which worsens the more she interacts with Jennette. Jennette—the lovely female lead of the novel—whom Athy had grown close to as best friends (Lee Jihye’s own quote herself!), but strings along halfheartedly. Her rose tinted perception of Jennette has led to the girls own downfall, acknowledging at the end herself that she had seen the signs of Jennette’s struggling but intentionally kept turning away from it. Simply, it was because she deemed Jennette as the “female lead” of a novel. “If Jennette is in trouble, Jennette can deal with it herself”—because that’s what happens when you’re the female lead. If Jennette is getting picked on by background characters, it’s something the female lead has to deal with on her own—even if Lee Jihye, as Jennette’s best friend, had all the power to intervene. Her fairytale-like perception of Ijekiel and Jennette has led to her physically unable to see Jennette and Ijekiel having complex feelings, be it as humans, or to eachother.

This is why I think the ending for Ijekiel and Jennette in the novel is just so tragic—Lee Jihye encourages Ijekiel to go with Jennette in her exile because she still sees Ijekiel and Jennette’s relationship with rose-tinted novel-reader glasses—that it is Ijekiel’s duty to ‘protect’ Jennette, despite the fact that Jennette’s own state was a result of Ijekiel’s cruel rejection of pent up negative emotions in the first place. She fails to even consider there actually being bad blood between them, or that this perception of hers is in actuality hurting both Jennette and Ijekiel—Jennette, who to us readers has revealed how Ijekiel’s falsity hurts her more than his cruel honesty—and Ijekiel, who never had never honestly spoken to Jennette nor gotten to know her. The sidestories even reveal a bit of this future—that despite the time passed, Ijekiel and Jennette hardly look at each other. Yet, Lee Jihye insists on their repaired relationship because she herself still fully hasn’t comprehended the two of them as flawed humans who had a genuine fall out—she sees it just as it was at the end of the middle school grade novel by the name of Lovely Princess. That to Lee Jihye, despite the turmoil and grief “female lead Jennette” faced, within the arms of “her beloved male lead Ijekiel”, she was comforted and healed. Except this isn’t a novel, and Lee Jihye spoke of a relationship between two people she knew nothing about—the ‘lovely female lead Jennette’ who had been falling apart for years to depression and the lack of genuine affection, and the ‘perfect male lead Ijekiel’ who had fallen almost obsessively in love with her to the point he’d reject his ‘female lead’ in a way he knew would torture his ‘female lead’ best all while silently jealous of everyone Athy loved.

To the end, the female lead by the name of “Athanasia” or “Lee Jihye” hadn’t grown or learned anything more than she had from the start of the novel. I couldn’t in confidence tell you what her goals or intentions were by the end of the story. Rather than Who Made Me A Princess being about her, or having her as the story’s female lead, I don’t think I know any of her desires or what governed her actions in the latter half of the story. I feel as if I could tell you about young Athy/Jihye’s desire and passions, but I have no idea what pubescent Athy/Jihye’s were. She had tea parties. She attended events. She handled flowers, and was wow’d over magic, but she never genuinely took an interest in them, and their presence in a story that’s supposed to be about her is minimal. The story concludes by telling us she continued her studies in preparation as future empress, that she enjoyed certain subjects, but you never feel it nor do they show it enough to make an impact. Who Made Me A Princess’ novel is predominately written through very simple and quirky narration, character interaction and dialogue. Because it’s predominately written in Lee Jihye’s perspective of every paragraph requiring some sort of quip, the novel comes off as almost amateurish and underdeveloped, leaving a bittersweet taste in your mouth. Reading upon each sentence, I can’t help but feel grief over what was clearly an idea and concept, but poorly reflected in the writing quality. Every chapter was draining, and I often found myself asking—“where exactly is this going?”. Reflecting upon it, side by side with my own cliche fifth grade writing, I can’t help but notice the similarities in quality and tone. The novel has much potential, but comes off as a slice-of-life sort of story without a direct goal, instead focusing on aimlessness of the characters dialogue and lighthearted daily life. Perhaps that was the intent, but ultimately, the balance of story elements and the poor quality of writing ruin the story for me, ending the note of Who Made Me A Princess’ novel failing my very raised expectations. A story that had been hyped so much by the fandom, I couldn’t help but see as lackluster in almost every aspect.

[yonokodoesart]

Back to drawing wmmap🫶

[saneijeijei]

🪆First Volume in Russian🪆

[alicehattera03]

Interestingly enough, Roger uses different words to speak of Athy and J... he uses, Obelia's "보배" or, "a rare and precious treasure" and "a very cherished person" for Athy, while using, "보물" or "treasure" or "precious thing" for J.

Perhaps he's hinting at the value Athy has to the empire and thus to Claude...🤔

Or it was probably because it's a more polite word to use in front of someone of such high rank lmao

[fleeingmoonlight]

Time Flows Like Sand

(I'm missing my children)

[lithi]

Claude & Diana, Lucas & Athy, Jennette & Ana, Ijekiel & Athy APT fan art by Spoon!!

Edit: on her Naver blog, Spoon adds:

[ultramarine-spirit]

They are matching...