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Thinking about how Riddlish is handled in cannon and in fics. I've seen people just put random things that happen to ryhm anytime they want someone to be speaking Riddlish and it's like, a minor pet peeve of mine? But every time we see Riddlish spoken in cannon, it kind of makes sense in a way? Like, if you think about what is said, and try to piece together any symbolism based on context, you can kind of understand what they're saying. Like Maddie said, "Riddlish is not an exact language". Putting together the metaphor and symbolism gives you the general idea of what they're getting across. And whenever a fic does this well, it's like an instant favorite.

Let's look at and dicect some cannon examples (I've always kind of found these facinating):

"Feathers and Friends, together alone!"

"Feathers" could refer to Raven, since she's named after a bird. She also has feathers fairly prominent in her character design, so it'd make sense for Giles to say this even though he doesn't know her name yet.

"and Friends" probably refers to Maddie, since she's known him for a while and is presumably his friend. It could also refer to their friendship, and maybe even be a way of including Raven in.

"together, alone" They're here with him, joining him in his solitude.

Putting it all together we get "Raven and Maddie, you're here! You came to visit me!" Which lines up pretty well with Maddie's translation of "he says it's nice to have us here!"

"Can a musical chair change its tone, when the tablet of granite is inscribed with a bone?"

"Can a musical chair change it's tone" The music in musical chairs is integral to the game, yet the song played does not come from the chair, but from the people playing. The tone of a musical chair is something fundamental about itself, and also something imposed by something outside itself. Can it change? Can something change something about itself that someone else has decided is fundamental?

"When the tablet of granite is inscribed with a bone?" A tablet of granite inscribed with something is literally that thing being written in stone, another reference to destiny and inevitability. And what's written on that stone is a bone, is death. Death is what is written in stone. Death is supposedly inevitable here.

From Raven's tone and terrified body language when asking Maddie to translate for her, it's fairly clear that the thing that wants to change is referring to Raven.

Putting it all together we get "Can Raven change from what others have said she's supposed to be, or is death the inevitable consequence of that like we've been told it is?" Which lines up pretty well with what Maddie was asked to translate: "What'll happen to me if I don't sign the book, am I really gonna disapear?"

"The king that sings with pages of sky fears too much the dawn that rises with lies"

"pages of sky" is in reference to the book, and maybe the fairytales themselves. The sky is often used to symbolically reference heaven and the divine. The book, determining people's destinies, fits fairly well into that category. It's almost like he's referring to the book as being from above.

"The king that sings with pages of sky" would then be Headmaster Grim. He's in a position of authority over the students like a king is to his subjects. He "sings with" the book/the stories with his constant insistence that people must sign the book and follow their stories, speaking in unison with them.

"fears too much" this part is fairly clear, Milton's paranoid. The consequences he thinks are inevitable aren't as inevitable as he claims.

"the dawn that rises with" would mean something like "the consequences of" or "the fallout from". Then there's one of two ways the rest could be. "lies" could refer to that which is contrary to what the stories say will happen. If you take the stories as "truth" then changing the stories would be "lies". Or, "rises with lies" could mean the consequences coming from Milton's lies being brought to light. The dawn rises as Milton's lies rise.

Yet the whole thing sounds rather foreboding, giving the impression that something is seriously wrong.

Bringing it all together, we either get "Headmaster Grim told you to follow your destiny because he's paranoid about what'll happen if you don't. But those fears are unfounded. Also something is very wrong." or "Headmaster Grim told you to follow your destiny because he's afraid of what will happen when people find out why you don't need to (and its emplied that that reason is something very bad)" This lines up fairly well with Maddie's translation of "There's something wrong with the book, and if you don't sign, your story will continue... I think". I like the touch that Maddie wasn't as confident in this translation, since the last phrase is more ambiguous. It's not really clear how the foreboding tone integrates into the message without more context than Maddie has, so Maddie doesn't really know what it means.

"The baby bird flies. The snake, it slithers. But the cage holds both, to die and to wither."

"The baby bird flies. The snake, it slithers." The baby bird and the snake are two very different creatures, they move and interact with the world in two totally different ways. Most people also would look more favorably on the baby bird than on the snake.

"but the cage holds both, to die and to wither." the cage doesn't care what is inside of it, it will indiscriminately hold them both captive. The things that make the baby bird different from the snake, and the adorable charms of the baby bird will not free the baby bird from the cage, nor will they protect the baby bird from the grisly fate that awaits it in the cage.

The context is also relevant, since she's talking to Alastair and Bunny, two of her subjects who have just been arrested, but also two of her daughter's friends.

Putting this all together we get "Yes, you enjoy privileges that others do not have, but my affection for you will not compromise my judgement. You are not above the law. I am not above punishing you like I would anynother citizen." While we don't have a cannon translation to compare this to, it seems to make sense. Its immediately followed up with her letting them off with a warning, and despite this interaction, Bunny later tells Lizzie that her mom really is a good queen, but that the curse has stressed her out. I think the Queen of Hearts probably made exploring illegal to protect people from the curse. If she really is a good queen, then this type of objectivity ("I don't care if you're my daughter's friends, crime is crime") would make total sense.

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idk if I wanna participate in ever after high discourse lmao, but I do not hate Apple White, she was just written too well for her purpose 😭. She’s meant to be unlikeable.

She reminds me of those tiktokers that go ‘I was a young teen and had a racist phase like the rest of you :(‘ as if they weren’t oppressing other young teens!!!

Raven was so patient literally humanizing herself to Apple. Apple has interacted with so many rebels that it shouldn’t be hard to respect their right of choice and it’s just so frustrating thinking about the fact that this so obviously has real world implications/ is inspired by our real world.

Apple White isn't this big bad evil villain that needs to be put down, she’s a cog in a system she’s been indoctrinated into believing works. Watching the way she functions is supposed to be frustrating because, a lot of the time, she isn’t right. She’s stubborn and confused and trying to find her place in the world like everyone else.

But I never read the books lol so I might be missing context lmao

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Why you are wrong 😁😁

aka copy paste this to whoever starts acting like these misconceptions are canon so you don’t have to lose brain cells attempting to argue with idiots or to just clear up someone who simply didn’t know

Daring and Apple are not siblings

A lot of people think this because of Prince Charmings being both of their parents however, this is very much NOT canon. The last name Charming is like the last name Smith. Very common. Except of course the last name comes with being royalty. I’d look at it more like a title. Anyways here’s proof from Dexter and Darling’s chapters in once upon a time. There is also a slight explanation in Blondie Branches Out.

Daring’s only siblings are Darling and Dexter not Ashlynn or Briar or Holly or whatever other royal you might think. Only the canon love interests are canonically unrelated (Apple, Raven, Rosa) so technically some of the other royals could be cousins with them. But not first cousins since we meet all of them in Once Upon a Time.

Raven is not Apple’s aunt

Listen I know that maybe some people think from this scene in tsbol and Apple saying the Evil Queen was Snow White’s stepmom, that means Raven’s dad was Apple’s grandpa but no.. just no

Even if there’s no where that explicitly says “Raven and Apple are not related” but please put that brain to use and use some common sense.

This letter from EQ to Raven with her SDCC doll, at least is canon to me that Raven’s dad, the Good King, is not Apple’s grandfather. I’m sure you could still argue that at some point the father of an Evil Queen was the grandfather of a Snow White but since Mattel has used the tag “rapple” and a lot of writers, animators etc ship them .. it’s just weird ok

“A good king” this means Good King isn’t the destiny of Snow White’s father. It’s likely a generic destiny tied last name like Charming. Their marriage being unhexpected means it’s not her destiny it was a border line rebellious marriage.

Anyways hope this helps whoever didn’t know and this will save future me a headache trying to reexplain once a week. I’m sure there’s more misconceptions, I just added the biggest ones but if there’s another you want me to clarify lmk and I’ll add it to this post

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I wish we could just pin a little at the top of the eah tag saying “NO daring is not Apple. And NO he’s not related to Ashlynn either. And NO Raven isn’t Apple’s aunt.” Would make life a lot easier instead of having the tag tainted once a week with someone going “I just discovered the craziest thing about EAH 😱🤯”

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i care because it's not fair.

your story is the swan princess. you're resigned to that fact, ever since you grew when you were little--and your laughs turned into honks, human feet slowly beginning to resemble, transforming into a-a thing along the lines of becoming webbed, parts of your hair coming out when it's brushed--and are those feathers?

it's ugly. you hate it. like your story, like the merciless teasing you've experienced all throughout hexmentary.

maybe that's why you become so bitter.

you don't get a happy ending like all the other girls in your grade, but you're still a royal, so you try and be friendly, making friends.

but you're not an idiot, you can see, feel the scathing whispers behind your back.

"did you hear her laugh? it sounded like a geese!"

"i know right? how is that meant to be a princess?"

...

you grow up, you like dancing. it's something you're good at. you're eventually enrolled in ever after.

so when you see a ginger haired girl, hand in hand with the son of the huntsman, so much love in their eyes--you have a right to be angry. who do they think they are? prancing about like their livelihoods don't depend on the whole structure of what they do, following their destinites.

so yes. you have a right to feel like it's unfair, that this sniveling girl has the gall to spend her days living out a supposed illegal, fairytale romance, like she actually has a choice.

..you care.

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Evil Queen: be my daughter and you will be like me because you have no choice whether you like it or not.

Good king: children can be similar to their mother or father or a mixture and can even be unique.

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eah texting hcs

the charming siblings have a groupchat ofc and dexter is the admin

their gc photo is a blurry picture of their dad midsneeze and they got it from a stock photo website. their dad has tried to sue the photographer's company but lost the suit and it's the trios' favorite photo.

the gc is mostly them sending memes to each other, accusing each other of taking their stuff, or passing messages from their parents to the intended sibling (the charming castle being so massive and all)

their gc names were just their names at first til one day dex got so pissed at daring that he changes his brother's nickname to 'demanding' charming

darling laughed so hard she saw stars and made her twin promise to never change it back

darling's nickname is 'dueling' charming

dexter's nickname is 'dismaying' charming

(he picked it out himself, and daring and darling shared a concerned looked at the other when he did.)

the wonderlandians also have a groupchat. lizzie, maddie and kitty and eventually alistair and bunny

to match all their names, alistair happily changed his nickname to 'allie' and lizzie gave the loudest snort at it

their entire chat is in riddlish and other wonderlandian dialects and theyre happy they get to practice their native tongues even if they're away from home

maddie's messages are sometimes so nonsensical (so wonderlandian) that the kookiness can sometimes short out their mirrorphones

cue to kitty dropping by lizzie and bunny's rooms warning them to not open the groupchat for a while so they don't short out their phones

kitty never warns alistair though, because she thinks it's funny.

alistair just opens that chat with no suspicion and gets flash-banged by maddie's texts and has to spend the rest of the day with no phone, a little hearing loss and dark spots in his vision.

the pink squad also have a groupchat. cupid, briar and hopper, my beloveds.

briar is the admin and the groupchat moves at the speed of light

cupid and briar text rapidfire and send gossip, memes, selfies, screenshots and etc and react as fast to each others' messages as well

hopper wakes up to a massive backread that he has to spend half an hour in the morning catching up or he won't understand what they'll be talking about in lunch

they use that chat to plan events they want to go to and to send photos that they took during the event itself

their gc pic is a group photo of all of them posing pretty cool in front of a mirror during true hearts day (their first party)

they manage to get humphrey to encode some special features into their chat so that:

(a) briar's phone can send a message if she falls asleep alone somewhere to broadcast her location so any one of them can go to her

(b) hopper's phone can also send his location if he becomes a frog and there's no one to turn him back

(c) cupid's phone also sends her location. not because she physically needs help, but because she gets lonely (being further away from home than all of them).

briar and hopper always take this seriously and arrive with hot chocolate, cupcakes and hugs.

anyways this series has been dead for years now but thinking about these kids always gives me the feels and i had to talk about them

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I miss doing fandom events, but when I do them I need to plan ahead, so:

Are you an active part of the EAH fandom, and if so, would you participate in a Secret Santa this Christmas?

The basic idea would be signing up for a gift exchange through a form (probably google docs) in which you would describe your capacities as a gift-giver and a gift-receiver

Ex.

What creative medium would you be able of creating through? (Fanart, Fanfiction, Comics, Edited video)

What relationships would you like to appear on your gift? (Ships, Friendships)

Do you have anything you DON'T want on your gift?

Are there people you'd prefer to avoid as your gift-giver or gift-receiver?

Do you have any prompts for your gift-giver to orient themselves?

What is the highest rating in fanfic you would be comfortable with receiving/giving?

Have you read any of the books? If so, which ones?

Do you value the canon continuity?

Due to the nature of this sort of projects I would also want to have at least one other people to collaborate with me on the administrative stuff.

Reblogs are greatly appreciated as I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

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Roadtrip Playlist

Boyfriend from BTR starts: Drake goes to change it: Can't we listen to something that isn't some stupid boyband song?? Marnie, grabbing his wrist: I have three pop songs on this playlist. You'll live. Besides, I'm in control of the aux. Drake: I was just going to skip to the next- Marnie: We're listening to BTR in this car, or so help me

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the EAH fandom takes things too seriously.

why is everyone getting so offended with a random post 😭😭😭

I didn't imagine the EAH fandm would get so toxic but here we are

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Dizzie angst? 🥺🥺

Look no hate to Dexven buuuutttt I’m kinda glad for a breath of fresh air and what’s better than some good angst

Anyway depending on how many new commissions I get will determine when I post my special announcement but as of right now it should be out by next Saturday

Hope you enjoyed and have a great dayy!!

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Lizzie gathered her things before throwing a glare at Sparrow, shouting “of with your head!” As she pivoted on her heel, stepping on the glass of the broken beaker before she left.

Sparrow rolled his eyes while watching the princess leave. He scoffed, it wasn’t even his fault the piston exploded, Lizzie just didn’t know how to appreciate his music.

Stomping off, he made his way to the table his friends were sat at. He made a big show of throwing his things down as he shouted “I hate Lizzie Hearts!”

What he didn’t realize was that Lizzie had also been heading to a different table near by and heard him say that.

She paused hiding behind a pillar as she saw her boyfriend, Daring perk up. She thought he was going to defend her even if it was just a little.

Just because she said that their relationship had to be kept a secret doesn’t meant that she didn’t expect him to stand up for her at times like this, even if it was a little.

“She’s so entitled and acts like a snooty little princess and because of what!” Lizzie clicked her tongue, carefully watching as Daring straightened.

“I mean I see why you failed at getting her to go on a date with you Daring. She’s a nightmare!” Lizzie felt her blood run cold as she heard what her boyfriend said it return.

“I know right! Total nightmare, I mean talk about being a spoiled brat! How could she resist me!” Lizzie didn’t see it, but as the words left Darings mouth he silently winced.

“You know one time I asked her to move her foot so I can pass by and she yelled- ‘off with your head!’ Like just move your foot.” Everyone at the table laughed at Darings comment, the sound attracting attention from everyone.

“Sometimes I wonder if her voice ever gets tired of all that shrillyness.” As the comments and remarks kept coming in, Lizzie felt herself closing in.

But as she noticed Kitty approaching her, she took a steady breath and held her head high as she walked past Daring and his friends.

As she did from the corner of her eye she could see that fear and anxiety set into Daring, because he knew that she heard and he knew that she’d never forgive him.

But maybe she would have let him explain himself if he stopped his friends from laughing and whispering as she passed by.

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Lizzie slumped against the well of wonders, her head buried in her hands. Sometimes when she was upset she’d sit next to the well of wonders and pretend she was sitting next to her mother.

With the curse on wonderland this really was the closest she could be to her mother, and to Alistair and Bunny she thought.

Generally she tried not to think about her mum or her two friends that were still stuck in wonderland. It only upset her more.

Her peace and thinking were suddenly broken when heavy footsteps approached her. “Lizzie?” Darings voice was hesitant as if she was one of those dragon he had to slay.

She gritted her teeth in annoyance at his disturbance, why couldn’t she just be left alone when she wanted to be?

Daring called her name again, this time sitting beside her but a far away distance. Lizzie caught herself before she could say ‘off with your head!’ His words ringing in her ear.

“Please just let me explain. Lizzie please.” He tried to grab her hand but she snatched it away, her anger simmering rapidly.

“There is nothing to explain you made yourself quite clear.” Daring flinched at her clipped, cold voice yet still continued.

“You have to understand that I had to.” As soon as the words left his mouth Lizzie’s anger reached surface level. The fuck did he mean ‘he had to’?

“I know you did not just say that.” Her voice was but a growl as she now stood, her figure imposing on him.

“You know I had to Lizzie! They would get suspicious if I defended you.” She knew he was right but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

“The funny thing is- is that I felt like you enjoyed dating those things about me. You didn’t stop after the first comment or the second or-.”

“One comment wasn’t going to convince them and you know it.” The bite in Darings voice had Lizzie’s anger now tipping over the edge. She sick and tired of him making excuses for everything he did.

Even if ‘he had to’ say those nasty things about her, she didn’t understand why he was here making excuses for himself rather than apologizing.

It only made it seem that the only reason why he was even here was because he saw she was hurt by it. Lizzie doubted if he would even be here if he didn’t know she heard.

“You know what Daring I’m sick and tired of your- your attitude! You say I’m the entitled, snooty princess get here you are making excuses for yourself!” Daring went to interrupt but she threw him a glare.

“Maybe I wouldn’t be half as mad if you had apologized for what you said instead of making excuses because at the end of the day you could half done something to defend your girlfriend’s honor.”

As the words left her mouth Daring stood while taking slow steps towards her. He had a regretful expression on his handsome face, one nobody was used to seeing.

Lizzie let him take her hand in his own as he pulled her in. “I know. Lizzie you are right and from now on I promise to stop making g excuses for my actions and to defend you against any harmful actions.”

If only Daring Charming was better at keeping promises.

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This is one of my favorite couples to write angst about idk it just works sooo well

Anyway was watching the Olympic ceremony thing and idk you guys I feel like they dragged it on for toooooo long but that’s just my opinion

Hope you enjoyed and have great dayy!!

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Another!

I swear, I have maybe two more. I promise. I won't pull an entire ensemble out of my brain, probably. As always I'll keep linking the thing.

Penelope Pea

Honestly, she reminds me of Princess Pea from Super Why. (God, I feel old. I highly doubt anyone in this fandom even remotely remembers that...)

Just as her name suggests, she's the daughter of the Princess and the Pea. Although a random princess goes to the prince's castle and sleeps on a pea under many mattresses, Penelope inherits the destiny from her mother. An upperclassman like Connie, she also gets a mentee to prepare for their Legacy Day.

Penelope has reservations about her destiny. The Storybook of Legends didn't show her who her prince charming would be, which weighed on her mind considerably. She firmly believes in true love, saving the day, and improving everything. While other princesses get to be woken up by their prince, she has to be tested with vegetables.

From the get-go, Penelope already had back problems. She doesn't need one stupid little pea making everything worse. She also has trouble sleeping. Most nights, she stays awake and draws at the windowsill, daydreaming about who her prince will be. Although her mother understands her worry, Penelope feels that her parents wouldn't accept that she wants to make her own destiny.

She shares a dorm with Connie.

Briar is her mentee, and although she tries to keep Briar from partying to avoid her feelings, she inevitably falls victim to Briar's personality. It isn't that she doesn't want to talk about the future with the underclassmen, but she isn't going to force her mentee to talk about something she doesn't want to talk about.

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And Another OC

If I'm being honest, I'm having so much fun with the character creator. It's probably because I miss all those websites like dressupwho.net, where I would play dress-up games for hours.

I got the stripes by downloading Adobe AIR for the desktop, but it isn't required. The game works on the ruffle emulator; regardless, Adobe AIR isn't needed. (I think that's what it's called).

Marilyn Hare

Daughter of the March Hare and currently attending Wonderland High. She's the best friend Talulah had to leave behind when her father sent her to Ever After. Despite such a distance, they still keep in touch.

Staying in Wonderland isn't keeping her from another opportunity. She would have been heartbroken being forced to leave her father behind.

Both with and without Talulah, she causes chaos for the acting vice principal of Wonderland High. In alchemy, she crafts stink bombs and smoke bombs; in chemythstry class, she whips up all kinds of chaotic concoctions. Her pranks aren't necessarily meant to harm anyone. They're meant to be fun. Since the Evil Queen cursed Wonderland, everyone has been stressed and upset, which is the perfect opportunity to help others feel better.

Destiny and Legacy are a bit different in Wonderland. Marilyn doesn't see herself as obligated to be the next March Hare; it's more of a choice. She wants nothing more than to sit with Madeline Hatter at her merry un-birthday with thousands of cups of tea. But she can wait for her destiny as long as it takes.

While going to a fancy school with princes and princesses may satisfy others, Marilyn is right where she needs to be, regardless of how much she misses her best friend.

She misses Talulah so much.

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Dexter and Hunter have hella T-boy swag, but, here me out. Trans fem Hunter. She keeps her name, and her fuckass haircut. (I Really hate hunter's haircut) She's still heroic, but better than before.

Her dad sees nothing wrong as long as she's still saving damsels in distress and can swing an axe. But, she keeps it a secret and only Ashlynn and very close friends know outside of her family.

In reality, people know, and people don't make a big deal out of it.