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varian-wonder · 2 days ago

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Quick thoughts on Bleakwatch Chronicles: Tink and the Lost City (spoilers of the heaviest amount)

And on the Ring of Belief riddle, I will reveal more about Silvermist's quest soon, then I will do more riddles on the other character quests and general post. Just know that Silvermist's early characterization is not what it seems for a Water fairy!

General thoughts of Book 1

Worldbuilding:

-The touches of worldbuilding are just extremely well done. The writer really dug deep in the movie lore and did a good job bringing magic to the movie universe. Zach remembered the moonstone being the source of pixie dust and how it transmuted pixie dust from the moonlight. Even touches like Bartleby being a Tinker Bell type who wanted to prove Tinkers had a place and had a private audience with Clarion to do so. (unlike Tinker Bell's fuck around and find out approach) Supposedly.

-Bleakwatch is a capitalistic society, with a commerce system. There is a lower and upper class, the aeronauts with the suppressed talents with magic bracelets. Suppressed who suffer from "dust deperivation" meaning their wings are brittle, and do not have touch with their talent. Then there's an upper class with technology with an artistic side. It is very interesting these undertones in an 8-12 *Disney Fairies* book when you see Tinker Bell question what being a fairy really means to her and how different Pixie Hollow is from Bleakwatch/Clockwork Capital. How she is surprised by the commerce existence. but it just shows how much the author realized how much could be done with the original movie series. including using deleted concepts and a supposed early plot rumor from the early Pirate Fairy (Mythical Island) into the story. It makes me think he recieved archives and art from now defunct Disneytoons. A while ago I thought how a flying machine could be involved in Tink Meets Peter, because like how did Peter become an elf sprite thing in this universe? It's up to question what kind of adventure could have happened, so I imagined Tink building a flying machine for him, a regular child later turned mythical.

-Bleakwatchers do not trust the Never Fairies and view them as "rustic" hippie types, Quin teases her with these stereotypes even though it would be better for them NOT to know about Never Fairies. It's to control them. Think about it. Like its not even city/country in the way you'd expect as they are characterized literally as nature folk who run their society poorly. I believe this is the one of the strongest concepts in the book. I believe this society (or rather Bartleby) believes human society is the best way to run society, to decieve and lie and put up a front. Knowing he was a mastermind behind the talent supression, I think he was able to manipulate the magic as a Tinker and was a rouge fairy like Zarina. I believe he was a Tinker, but his analytical mind wanted more and he wanted to manipulate the talent ceremonies in Pixie Hollow and wanted to "fix" things that were not objects. There is a ruse happening here, and I believe Bartleby got in touch with magic manipulation (fairy magic is a thing stated in TLT) behind talents and such and figured out to way to basically start his own society by basically creating his own moonstone that can transmute light into (blue) pixie dust. He seems the type to believe certain talents are better than others, yet lies and acts shock letting Maddox, his proxy (I dont know how that term is really used) take the fall for him. Maybe between books we will see Bartleby take more of the authoritative position (aka rise to "full official dictatorship"), and play 4d chess with the fairies of Bleakwatch/CC. Maybe he will release Maddox, and we will find out whether or not he was in on it or not. Do they have like... a magic crystal ball that predicts the rebellion of the fairies and who is loyal to who? How will this unfold.

-Not traditional steampunk which I love! It is very fairycore, natural steampunk. It feels both a fairy society and a humanistic society, combining both attributes. They feel like they are repressing their fairy selves, but it shows up in their architecture, industrialization, and overall consumption habits. Feels like an improvement from what we could have had.

-Very happy to know finally what happens with the laughs that don't make it to Pixie Hollow. But also, very sad.

-There's the idea clearly shown of repression vs freedom. The people of Bleakwatch and to an extent the elites no one can trust themselves and each other. Everyone is out for themselves. Yet those eccentric Never Fairies, are able to realize their truest selves and use the tools of nature to the advantage such as insects as commonly used as alarm clocks, volleyballs, lighting etc. Yet, Bleakwatch only uses a little but of fireflies and bioluminsent mushrooms heavily, and Bartleby has a connection to mushrooms with the Golden Dustcap. And they don't believe the Pixie Hollowians are accomplished and hardworking, that division is already sown.

-Dream talents and shadow talents as the "new talents" is getting me taking notes.

-The fairy doors, and how all the bracelets lead to Bleakwatch is interesting because the upper class fairies dont wear them and presumably live only in the capital, yet they are an integral piece of technology for the Bleakwatchers.

-The key to the talent bracelets was cold to the touch when Tink touched it and gave her a literal shock, almost like it has a security system or some arcane power

-The bracelets show "true self" when unlocked, oddly

-Bracelets reminding me of those Disney magic bands

-Gnome lore is cool, but probably a time issue with Big Ben maybe... him

Bartleby:

-Pixie Hollow exiles are canonically a thing? Was Tink almost one then? I suppose so, but it seems like the condition for exile is being 1. rejected by your talent group 2. leaving after feeling rejected by society. Maybe we will see shall it truly means to be a Pixie Hollow exile in book two.

-Dream manipulation/dream dross. Oh my gosh. What is with that. What does he know. Will this connect to the greater Peter Pan/DF lore of Never Land basically being a dream pocket dimension. Will they finally explain the connection to Neverland as like the magic pocket dimension and the Mainland and the oceans as lost human objects always appear there. I really hope they expand on that in a future installment.

-Disabled villain trope?? Bartleby has mechanical wings and has others do his work for them. But his wings almost seem prosthetic, and this makes sense as his weakness surviving in the human world, when Quin's makes her wings go fast.

-Bartleby might be more powerful, and possible a Tinker that can manipulate fairies, magic, and society. I believe she views Clarion is so sensitive, especially with the whole Milori thing which happened when Pixie Hollow was "very young".

-Weirdly conservative energy from him. He calls Tinker Bell a "reformer", this slip up shows his nature as an antagonist. And he uses the term "isolation" from PH instead of "protective measures"

-He called Pixie Hollow a Never Land colony (🤔🤨‼️💭⁉️)

Maddox

-I call the nature of his birth into question heavily, and believe he is either a creation of Bartleby (through dream energy) or his accomplice, a very talented dust keeper just like Zarina who worked with him closely. The parallels of Tink and Terence and her and Zarina to them are very high then.

-He is an interesting character, who seems to pride in "necessity" and "necessary evils"

-He takes a liking to Quin, perhaps he has some perceptive ability because he seems to pick them out as someone who will be loyal but also confused. I don't see any romantic undertones there just condesention.

-He targets people who he believed are the most useless in the society, and calls out garden and water talents but words it differently, calling water "water shaping." Humanization or just blatant ignorance?

-Seemed to have direct control of the talent ceremony, and limited the amount of talents a fairy could be. Dust talents play a crucial role in arrival day

Quin

-Best character here to me no question

-The unloyal soldier

-Heavy shipping material with Tinker Bell

-Definition of "keep your friends close and enemies closer"

-Wants the best for everyone, but is tired and exausted

-Leader of the Flutterpunks, emotionally fragile, untrusting, confused

-A dreamer who won't admit it

-Backstory was especially interesting

-Six is a crowd hmm

-Flutterpunks are family

-Has a weird "business relationship with Maddox", but its not an equal partnership and she's basically being spied on and making unfair trades. Possibly Maddox playing with his food, believing the Flutterpunks could desent one day

-Attached to their coat and pocket watch named Little Ben, given by Maddox to "pay off a debt"??

-"Even a stopped clock is nice twice a day." Stop. OMG.

-Modified wings for speed (?), shows how talented they are as a fairy

-Will write Tinkquin fanfic now.

-Calls Tinker Bell "sprocket" which is just so cute

-Got a cool little fairy loft

Danveers and Darwin

-Cuties

-Same but different trope (i eat that up)

-Their wings didnt glow because of the talent supression, meaning talents and wing glow are of the same magic.

-One is a shadow talent and one is a light talent. Is shadow a natural byproduct of living on the mainland?

-Fashion oriented

-Twintuition

-Fira and Iridessa as sibling dynamic

-One of my favorites

-A package, do not seperate

-Light talents hair has a natural glow and shadow talents have a natural aura in their hair

-Easily scare

-The glue in the group

Ozwald

-Nerd who overanalzyes

-Perceptive

-Book smart

-Scribe talent, specifically code breaking?! Good non nature talents focused on for once. And I wish he was just called a cipher talent or something but its movie universe rules so

-Dismissed as the nerd in the group (by the twins mostly) and just wants someone to listen to him, who's intellectually curious

-Nickname is Oz to who he lets in

-Gives paper hairclip to tinkerbell, even when they didnt have a good haul which could mean... things

-Enjoys mystery novels, which might not exist in Pixie Hollow bc no robbers ig??

-Close to Quin

-Tink makes a comparison to scribble

Axel

-Hate the way he was written, or at least Tink's narration of "even feeling this" as a very stoic guy. It's giving the quiet kid phenomena from many US public schools, when extroverted kids are surprised when people who dont normally talk actually do and are all surprised when it's common for someone in that environment to just not want to talk cause it sucks to be there. As a result, i initially hated many aspects of how he was written as Tink was always surprised when he expressed any sort of emotion. He was always feeling a certain way, but TB was always surprised that he was which just took me out of the story a few times

-Described to be sort of a "gentle giant"

-Theatre enjoyer

-Wanted to see the masked singer who rebelled, who is likely Elmira

-Dream talent, possibly secretive and naturally perceptive because of this

-Private fairy who keeps to himself, independent

-Works out possibly to fight back and protect himself

-Mechanical hand?

Elmira

-Voice was supressed as a singing talent

-A storyteller singing talent allegedly who sung tragic songs, storytelling is considered unnessary

-A key player in this story (get it)

-Seems to be related to Elips from early Pirate Fairy rumors

-Hoping she isnt forgotten because of the lack of official art

-Can work a plane despite being a music talent

-Knows more but has a plot related injury

Tinker Bell

-Just taking it all in

-Ignorance and culture clash

-Trying to blend in

-Made me actually interested in her character

-Awkward

-The right way to do a Tinker Bell solo story (looks at TLT who used friends as plot device instead of a little world dressing..)

-Rule breaker who's curious

-Invented balloon carriers which are used throughout the hollow

Other characters

-Clank and Bobble show up at the beginning and were very cute

-Someone told me they were setting up Clank and Tink but i really dont see it, he just complemented her literal bedhead (also thanks for lending me your book scans!)

-Terence is Tink's best friend. He's in the friend zone honestly because Tink is a natually anxious person and so his he. They will not be canon ever on that basis I'm sure

-Friends are mentioned and show up in the end. Certain characters id if they found out she was going to the mainland alone, would tie her to her bed. Love it

Comparisons to other media

-The story reminds me heavily of the story of Arcane, havent played LOL at all but in Arcane there are two societies of the rich and poor and the way both are described in the book reminds me of Arcane, and I'll basically be calling this Fairy Arcane now. Quin specifically reminds me of Vi, of meeting an outsider and not understanding what to do in this sort of society suffering from exaustion. The ambassors and higher power reminds me of Maddox

-Bartleby reminds me of Belos from the Owl House, and Maddox feels like his Golden Guard. Got control of his (own) society basically to have others speak his messages with his own agenda, having his inner circle receieve all the benefits. And Tink reminds me of Luz here in this scenario, being manipulated. So does Quin, who reminds me of Amity too.

-Bartleby reminds me of Principal Reverend from Monster High's Haunted movie. In this movie, the worlds of the ghost world and monster world are far apart. Reverend is being punished and uses chains on everyone to make her punishment easier, and lies who she is. The ghosts are afraid of the "solids" from the monster world. When Spectra, a ghost investigator tells her about Monster High, a multiple monster school she calls Monster High a "progressive" school with a sneer under her breath. Tink is also like Spectra here, fish out of water.

-The fashion sense of many Bleakwatchers reminds me of the Capital from Hunger Games, and of the elaborate looks as the colors are very saturated, it seems like the beauty and the shopping confuses people. A lot of people dress boldy but also do very difficult technician work, it seems to be a lot like our society and I think that's on purpose.

Overall thoughts:

This is a wonderful book with a confusing marketing campaign and unfortunate release timing. It has so much depth, and if I have to emphasize, for a book of it's kind and it does a lot to elevate the existing material. I was surprised at the "French" clothier fairy a little. I loved the use of imagery and was surprised on the twists in turns, expressions (one I feel like didnt have a family friendly equivalent which is funny- they say "just jam it" like jammed gears and i was like wha). I would give the book a number rating of 9.9 out of 10 and a star rating of 4.8 stars. I'm confused on the illustration aspects especially with what we have and what we don't. I hope with AI taking such a strong hold in the industry, AI wasn't considered for imagery in the boom to which their is very little.

What I wish will happen in the next installment(s)

-Tinker Bell and company being a private investigator team in Pixie Hollow

-Involvement of Zarina and another character

-Fixes and expansions on Pixie Hollow lore

-Lore for islands outside of Neverland past the second star

-Expanded Pirate Fairy lore

-Expanded Lost Treasure lore (like the mirror shipwreck etc) and fairy magic

-Battle between the others

-Close calls

-Bleakwatchers in balloon carriers and seeking refuge in Pixie Hollow

-More illustration

-Others seeking refuge in the hollow