#plot twist none of the magical girls are girls

[lilac-gold]

Just wrote some more for that one Magical Girls/Omori AU charismabee and I came up with. Sweetheart's just realised she likes girls (and fought the object of her affections with a mace), Spaceboy's just realised he likes guys (and monologued dramatically about it in a dungeon), the Unbread Twins just destroyed a sprout mole with a crowbar (he used the now-awful kitchen in SWH's castle to make a cake out of dirt and ping pong balls), and Kim is so supportive of Aubrey that she joined a magical girls fanclub (which Aubrey is only a part of because Mari is its founder).

Things are going great :)

[ava-does-dumbassery]

Trying to figure what the Gemstone Gods should look like. Because the other gods had this vague ancient Egyptian thing going with having animal heads, but in my head I can’t see them with animal heads. What I’ve been thinking so far is that they have animal features but are mostly human, and they’re in like togas or whatever, which makes them look more Greek than Egyptian. I think it works tho, because Ancient Greece was a younger civilization than Ancient Egypt, and the Gemstone Gods are like a second generation to the older gods.

Except Citrine ruins this theme by looking more like a pre-Christian European folklore witch so…

[himehomu]

With Walpurgisnacht Rising coming in 2024, I want to talk about something that has been bothering me since Rebellion. It was never the “plot twist” of Homura separating Madoka from her godhood nor her taking those godlike powers for herself thus becoming the devil. It was always people's reactions to Homura doing this and the way they based her entire character around this specific moment that really rubbed me the wrong way. Saying she's a selfish monster who's trapping Madoka in a fake world for her own personal gain or that she's taking Madoka's agency away from her and making decisions for her that directly rebel against what Madoka wants... And, to that, I just want to know.... do literally any of you know what Madoka actually wants or are you just basing her character around her sacrifice?

Yes, it was for the benefit of all Magical Girls and yes it freed them from their cycle of selling their souls in the name of hope just to die at the hands of their own grief and despair, but Madoka didn't plan to abruptly cease to exist at the cost of it?? She didn't want to be stuck between life and death only existing as a deity meant to eradicate Witches for all of time. Madoka wished to erase Witches before they are born from the past, present, and future. Going back years upon years in time, destroying Witches and mercy killing Magical Girls; fighting forever, past and future, for all time. Ceasing to exist as an individual, only able to materialize and interact with someone when they're dying of grief and sadness and pain; relieving them of that pain so that their last moments won't be in agony, so they can die in peace, but there's none of that for Madoka. There's no death, no closure, no release, no freedom from this hell of being a weapon and nothing more.

But, Madoka would never voice these struggles and frustrations. Because Madoka isn't that kind of girl. She's the kind of girl who shoves all of her problems down and bases all of her self worth on how much she can do for others, how happy she can make others, and how useful she can be. She forces a smile and masks her pain because she doesn't want to burden anyone with her problems. She puts herself down constantly, risking her life trying to help others because she cares so little for herself. Without being useful, she believes her life has no value. And Homura knows this. Because Homura knows her. I feel like most people take Madoka's bright pink colors and smile at face value and don't realize she's chronically depressed. That's why in the first timeline, she and Homura naturally got along so well: they were both girls who hated themselves and based their self worth on how they made others around them feel, both self-loathing girls who deem themselves worthless if they're not useful in some way. Madoka was just better at hiding it than Homura was. And she still is by the 100th loop.

But, in Rebellion, when her memories of being a god are taken away from her, and she's given a hypothetical scenario of her fate, she says "wow that sounds awful and scary and lonely and I would never do something like that." The Flower Field scene is one of the most brilliant and misunderstood scenes in all of anime. Majority still to this day argue that, since Madoka doesn't have her memories, her words hold little to no weight, and Homura is simply hearing what she wants to hear. So, naturally, they disregard what Madoka is saying, assuming it's just Homura being selfish. And that's where they mess up. Because, the fact that Madoka doesn't have her memories here is the whole point! Homura is already well-aware that if Madoka had her memories, her self loathing would result in her caring so little for herself that she sacrifices herself every time which is why immediately after Madoka's words, she assures Madoka that she is indeed "strong enough to make that decision." Homura just wanted to confirm if Madoka would still miss her life pre-godhood in spite of that, which she outright says she does.

There are also arguments that Homura was somehow influencing Madoka in the labyrinth aside from just not remembering becoming a god, but Shinbou already stated in an interview that this wasn't the case, and that these were Madoka's honest words. In fact, Madoka's true feelings regarding her godhood are revealed for the first time within the lyrics of Madoka's character song (sung by her VA Aoi Yuuki) that played as the ep 1-2 ED titled ��Mata Ashita”. The song is about Madoka post-series which consists of Madoka wandering around aimlessly, quietly observing as humanity resumes without her, lamenting on the life she lost after becoming a god and wishing she could have been more honest about her feelings to Homura in ep 12, asking her to realize she's lonely.

[I'm pretending that I'm used to being alone, but I'm not really that strong.

The scenery is the same as always, the city is the same as always.

Even though I think everything will stay unchanged.

I still feel like I'm the only one who's tiny. Instead of "See you later."

I should've said, "I'll stay for a little longer."

I wanted and hoped that you would realize it.

But with the words "See you later,"

I lie to myself again.

And hide my true feelings beneath my usual smile. Saying, "See you later," I wave my hand.

Cracking a smile, yet I'm feeling lonely.

The truth is, I still have more to talk about.

But even my voice saying, "See you later"

is so near yet far from you that it can't reach you.

So let me say this like I always do, just once more: "See you tomorrow"]

This is definitive proof that even BEFORE Rebellion, this was already confirmed to be Madoka's true feelings.

The second time Madoka's true feelings post-godhood are adressed is via Madoka and Homura's concept movie quotes explaining that the God (Madoka) is clearly suffering in her “heaven”, which is more like a prison of isolation. The lizard girl (Homura) takes pity on her and separates her humanity from her godhood, thus making her human once more. Here are also some direct quotes from Magia Record which provides even more context for what Madokami is experiencing:

All of this, with the addition of Madoka's words in the Flower Field scene being confirmed to be her real and honest feelings, puts the whole “pulling madokami down from heaven” scene into a different perspective. Considering the entire reason why Madoka even became powerful enough to become God in the first place was because Homura's 100+ time loops linked multiple parallel universes together with Madoka at their center, and it's confirmed Madoka was suffering as a god, I would think people would be happy to see Homura reverting Madoka back to a human being and rewriting the entire universe to be a world where Madoka is happy and free, surrounded by her friends and family???

The fact that Homura's love for Madoka was so strong throughout 12 years of 100+ time loops, it turned Madoka into a goddess but when Homura was able to see just how isolating and lonely godhood was for her, she took her godlike powers for herself because she loved her and was willing to take on the exhaustion and isolation of immortality as the devil to spare her of anymore pain and sadness. Homura freed Madoka from a nonexistential purgatory prison and a decade later she's still demonized for it, how insane is that??

[exitpursuedbyavulcan]

The Silver Dragon (21/?)

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x Original Female Character

Word Count: 2271

Story Summary: Lady Arianwyn Targaryen, the Lady of Runestone, was seeded by her father, the Rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen, in an act of unbridled hatred, and borne of her mother, the late Lady Rhea Royce, as a desperate grasp at revenge.

Ignored by her father, and alone following the death of her mother, she is raised in King’s Landing alongside her cousin, Prince Aemond Targaryen. As they grow, the two find themselves indelibly bonded. But their lives are far from the fairy tales they read, and as tensions in the family rise, they find their paths may diverge.

Will they be pulled apart when the dragons dance?

Chapter Summary: Arianwyn meets Aemond in the Godswood.

Warnings: None

Series Masterlist

Taglist: @thelittleswanao3 @trap-house-homiecide @50svibes @literishdegree99 @dc-marvel-girl96 @henriettadreaming @multiple-fandoms-girl @gyuxmilk

Author's Note: This chapter has some of the first writing I ever did for this fic! The last chapter had a couple lines, but this is where Aemond and Aria's (I really need an official ship name for them) story began. I had to make some changes, as the plot did evolve on its own once I started from the beginning, but the spirit of my initial burst of inspiration is still here.

Beneath the Weirwood Tree

“Marry me.”

Arianwyn’s heart stopped.

“What did you say?” she asked, the question hardly louder than a sigh.

Aemond swallowed and dropped her chin. Flustered, he turned his rapidly blinking eye away from her as he tried to compose himself.

Years ago, in this very spot, she had told him how she feared being married. How she did not want to return to a strange castle with a strange man – a man who may mistreat her.

He knew now that was not all she feared.

She was afraid she would meet the same fate as her mother. Rhea Royce had married a strange man, and it cost her not only her happiness and reputation, but her life.

Throughout their childhood, Aemond had always thought that Arianwyn’s love of legends and fairy tales came from the sincere, romantic belief that her life would be as full of magic and wonder as the stories they read. After all, she had taken to calling herself the “girl in the tower” when she was first confined on Dragonstone. But all along, she had been reading for the same reason as him: to escape from the confines of their grim realities, if even for a moment.

For the precious minutes they spent reading those hallowed words, Aemond was not a forgotten second son whose fate was limited to playing a small part in the grand tales of his more important siblings, but a valiant prince destined for greatness. He was not the sinister one-eyed monster he knew the court and smallfolk thought him to be, but an honorable knight who desired only peace – for his people, for himself, and for his princess.

In the world of their stories, Arianwyn was not a child borne of hatred, eternally haunted by the sins of her father, but the noble daughter of two ancient bloodlines fated to rule her people with kindness and grace. She was not a powerless girl locked in a tower, living in dread of what her future would bring, but a woman able to determine her own fate, and find her true love.

Arianwyn deserved her fairy tale. And though Aemond knew he could not give it to her, he could at least free her from Daemon’s grasp.

He turned back to her. “If you marry me, you will no longer belong to your father.”

“I would belong to you,” Her face was twisted with confusion as her heart resumed its hammering. But it didn’t feel like rage. Her pulse raced, yes, but it carried an exhilarating chill through her body.

Yes,” Aemond breathed, “but I could never command you, Aria. I would never even try. You know that. In all the ways that truly matter, you would be free.”

His face was as open as she had ever seen, his beautiful eye almost pleading, and she knew he didn’t just want this for her.

But now was not the time to confront that look or what it meant. Her mind was racing too fast to acknowledge that her blood was singing in response to his words.

“You would do that for me?” she asked. A Prince’s hand in marriage was one of the most powerful diplomatic tools the Crown had. To marry in secret could have consequences that rippled all the way across the Narrow Sea, not to mention how Daemon would react.

He looked almost hurt that she would ask. Again, he enveloped her hand with his, bringing the other up to brush the tears from her cheeks.

“I would do anything for you, Arianwyn,” he whispered.

The urge to kiss him nearly overwhelmed her. But she summoned all her remaining strength to hold herself back. If his plan worked, she would have the rest of their lives to kiss him as much as she wanted.

Squeezing his hand, she gave her answer. “Then I will happily marry you, Prince Aemond.”

Raising a prayer of thanks to each face of the Seven, Aemond pulled Arianwyn into his chest in an embrace so tight he was sure she would feel his heart pounding. But he did not care. Every wish he had ever made was about to come true.

“My Prince?” Ser Criston’s voice broke them apart. Thankfully, the Kingsguard ignored the impropriety of their embrace, only concerned with their safety. “Is the Lady alright?”

“I’m perfectly well,” she replied, “thank you, Ser.”

Again, she had forgotten the twin trails of blood running down her throat and the beginnings of bruises lining her jaw. But Aemond had not.

“Send a man to fetch Grand Maester Orwyle,” he commanded, lacing his fingers through Arianwyn’s protectively. “And another for Brynna Taler. Have them meet us in the Sept. The rest of you will accompany us to Septon Eustace’s chambers.”

Cole glanced at their held hands and the flush on both their faces. “May I ask for what purpose, my Prince?”

Aemond raised his chin as he answered, challenging the knight to object. “The Lady Arianwyn and I are to be married this night.”

Rather than raise any objection or even question why they were doing this in secret, Cole only smiled and bowed his head. “Of course, my Prince. And may I be the first to offer my sincere congratulations.”

“Ser Criston?” Arianwyn called as he turned away to gather the men. “Not the Sept. The Godswood, and the Weirwood tree.”

Aemond looked down at her with a questioning gaze, and she offered him a thoughtful, sweet smile. “I think it would be wise for us to seek the blessing of as many gods as possible, don’t you?”

They would certainly need all the protection they could manage when Daemon found out. Aemond nodded to her, then to Ser Criston. “The Godswood,” he affirmed.

-

By the time they reached Eustace’s door, Aemond and Arianwyn were both gasping for breath. Though they were accompanied by Ser Criston and ten Runestone guards, they still ran through the Keep for fear of Daemon finding them before they had the protection of their vows.

Aemond pounded on the door, fully aware that the old man was likely deep in sleep. After a moment, the Septon emerged, tired and incredulous.

“What could you possibly want from me at this hour, Prince Aemond?” he asked, though his eyes widened with nervousness when he beheld the near dozen guards surrounding them.

“I need you to marry us,” Aemond replied, his grip on Arianwyn’s hand firm. “Now.”

At first, Eustace looked like the victim of an elaborate prank. Though as Aemond explained his plan, his dark eyes gained a grim clarity.

The Septon sighed, fixing the pair before him with a probing gaze. “You realize that to do this without the permission of the King, or Prince Daemon, would put me in mortal danger?”

“We understand,” Arianwyn said, gripping Aemond’s hand as if her life depended on it. “But we wouldn’t ask this of you if we weren’t desperate.”

Eustace looked at their clasped hands and the wounds on Arianwyn’s neck. “Desperate,” where her father was concerned could be equally dangerous as defying the King. With a sigh leaned back into his quarters, pulling his ceremonial robes off their hook.

“We shall require a cloak.”

-

The full moon set the leaves of the Godswood ablaze with silver as the ceremony began. Arianwyn lingered outside the entrance to the Heart Tree courtyard, Orwyle tending to her wounds while Brynna dabbed at the bloodstains on her dress. Aemond stood before the giant Weirwood with Eustace while the Septon recited the traditional prayers.

Was she really doing this? Marrying in secret in the middle of the night? Shackling herself to one man simply to be free of another?

But this wasn’t just any man. She was not being sold to a stranger, some second son she barely knew, or an old man seeking to use her only for her noble womb.

This was Aemond.

The person in the world she knew better than anyone or anything. She had known him almost her whole life. This was a man she had grown up with, played with, and studied with.

They had discovered and chased their passions together. Spending countless hours together, in the library, in her rooms, and in the Dragonpit.

He had been there the first time she rode Emrys, and she when he claimed Vhagar.

When her father ripped her away to Dragonstone, he had written to her every day, even while healing from the loss of his eye.

It was he who had held her and wiped her tears that very night after her father had come so close to killing her.

This was the man she loved, though it had taken her years admit it.

She loved him. With every beat of her heart and breath in her lungs, she loved him.

It had been that love that had kept her alive on Dragonstone. That fed the wild hope that one day she would see him again, and they would be together until the end of their days. Along with his beautiful letters, that hope had sustained her.

But even before they were separated, she had loved him. Why else would she have gone with him to claim Vhagar? What else but love would have made her fool enough to approach such a massive beast? Could anything else have made her heart soar to the heavens themselves when she watched him finally fulfill a lifelong dream?

All her life, Aemond was there. Alicent once told her that when they first met as babes, they had smiled when they saw each other. Had they somehow known, even then, what they were destined for?

Arianwyn felt like a fool for being so blind for so long. Had she known the true identity of her feelings, she would have fought harder for him. She never would have allowed them to be torn apart.

“Bride, approach.” Eustace’s voice ripped her from her thoughts.

Brynna groaned, “But I have not fixed your hair!”

“That’s alright,” Arianwyn said with a smile for her oldest companion. Though this was not how she imagined her wedding, she was exceedingly grateful for Brynna’s presence. “I believe Aemond likes my hair just the way it is.”

With a light kiss to the girl’s forehead, Brynna stepped aside, allowing her to step forward and take Ser Criston Cole’s hand as he led her into the heart of the Godswood.

Arianwyn tried in vain to calm her racing heart as she climbed to the base of the Heart Tree. She wore no veil, so there was nothing to hide her flush as she faced Aemond.

Seeing her nervousness, he reached out a hand to take hers before remembering himself and pulling it back. Eustace spied the movement and smirked as he instructed Aemond, “You may now cloak the bride and bring her under your protection.”

It was a borrowed cloak. White, as her bride dress should have been. Ser Criston Cole had offered it without prompting and gave it with his blessing.

Now, Arianwyn gazed into Aemond’s violet eye as he swept the cloak around her shoulders, taking an extra moment to make sure her hair lay just right upon the fabric, the silver curls and white cloak aglow in the light of the full moon. She could find no trace of nervousness on his face, only the slight edge of a smile on his lips. It began to reflect on her own before she could help herself.

Eustace continued. “I stand here in the sight of the gods to witness the union of man and wife. One flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever.”

Now with the proper cue, Aemond took her hand, as he had done so many times that night and in all the years before. But this time was different. His hand was so warm against the chill of the air, warmer even than the cloak he had put around her. This time, Arianwyn could not help but notice the way his hand fit perfectly on hers.

The Archmaester began wrapping a ribbon around their joined hands. “Let it be known that Arianwyn of Houses Targaryen and Royce, and Aemond of Houses Targaryen and Hightower are one heart, one flesh, one soul. Cursed be he who would seek to tear them asunder.” A dangerous flash ran through Aemond’s face at the words, though it faded as fast as it appeared.

“In the sight of the Seven, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity.” Orwyle let the ribbon unwind and fall to the grass below them. “Look upon each other and say the words.”

One violet eye met a shining pair of silver, and Aemond and Arianwyn spoke as one.

“Father. Smith. Warrior. Mother. Maiden. Crone. Stranger.”

“I am hers, and she is mine.”

“I am his, and he is mine.”

“From this day until the end of my days.”

They were ritual words, spoken by brides and grooms in Westeros for hundreds of years. But still, they had never rung so true as on this night beneath the Heart Tree in the Godswood of Kings.

Arianwyn did not know what the morning would bring. Whether she would remain here or be taken back across the Blackwater against her will. But it did not matter anymore. She looked at the determination and love on her husband’s face, and she was not afraid.

Dragonstone was not her home; of that she was certain. But neither was the Red Keep nor Runestone her home. Not even the library she loved so dearly was her home.

Aemond was.

Next Chapter

[bookishbethanyerin]

• Review: What the River Knows •

I'm not quite sure how Isabel Ibañez has done it, but she has taken one of my least favorite plot devices – withholding information to purposefully keep someone ignorant of a situation – combined it with the chronic folly that is being a teenage girl, and turned it into an addicting tale that you'll want to devour in one sitting.

The story follows Inez, a railroad heiress who has spent her life in Buenos Aires while her parents largely live in Egypt, funding her uncle's excavations. But when she receives a magical artefact from her father and then the sudden word of her parents’ mysterious deaths, Inez goes to Cairo and inserts herself into their world – only to find that her uncle absolutely does not want her there, and there is Lots of Scheming afoot.

And of course, there is Whitford Hayes, a charming, rakish, British gentleman who works for her uncle. Inez knows she can't trust him, but she is outrageously attracted to him anyway.

Though none of the twists and turns here necessarily came as a surprise to me, Ibañez creates an evocative world of magical realism, and characters that are easy to love – Inez, though young and too trusting, is audacious and amusing, and Whit is very swoony, if a complete mess.

Set during the archaeological boom in Egypt, What the River Knows is an intriguing read that seamlessly blends historical fiction with magical realism, adventure, and a strong dose of mystery. Though the book will likely frustrate you to no end as Inez tries to learn the truth about her parents' fate, what her uncle is up to, and who she can trust, it's a hard book to put down.

And the epilogue? It'll have you screaming.

4.25🌟

0.5🌶️

[oli-reads]

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 "𝐀 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥'𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫" 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

“I’ve already learned my lesson here: when you catch someone lying about a murdered girl, you go ask them why.”

Title A Good Girl's Guide To Murder

Author Holly Jackson

Genre Mystery; Thriller; YA

Pages 433

THIS REVIEW HAS A COUPLE OF SPOILERS, NOTHING TOO SIGNIFICANT.

Hello fellow readers! What I have in my paws today is a review of "A Good Girl's Guide To Murder" by Holly Jackson! This is a YA mystery-thriller with a lot of twists and turns, investigation entry logs, maps, etc, which allow you to get into the whole investigative vibe!

Reading Flow ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Plot ★★★★

Characters ★★★★

Spicy none

“But sometimes remembering isn’t for yourself, sometimes you do it just to make someone else smile. Those lies were allowed.”

Goodreads rating 4.33★ My rating 4.5★

This one had me hooked asf. I went from not wanting to put it down, to reaching the final chapters and not wanting to continue it because I was enjoying myself too much to finish it. 😂

*SPOILER ALERT* I really enjoyed the whole plot and was excited for most of it but I was a little sad and confused with Barney's death. I don't think it was necessary and it actually bummed me out quite a lot.

Aside from that I really was at the edge of my seat at the end of each chapter as the investigation got more and more captivating, I just HAD TO KNOW what happened and so I found it a very easy-to-read book because it flows naturally. It mentions various subjects like mental health, substance use, sexual assault and at some point even racism. It has romance happening in the background but it's never the focus and aside from the characters interactions you don't see much mention of it.

“He kissed her, and she glowed with that feeling. The one with wings. “You bring the rain down on them, Pip.” “I will.”

This book will have a tv show adaptation some time soon! Shooting has already wrapped up yet we don't have a date yet. I'm both excited and scared for this because, well, we know how hard it is to capture a book's magic and expectation, but at least it's not a movie. I think it has more potential if we have several episodes to explore the story.

“women can be just as dangerous as men.”

Anyway, if you made it this far thank you for reading this review! I'll leave you with the synopsis if you'd like to take a look, as well as it's Goodreads link. See you soon! 𓃠

If you'd like, follow Oli's instagram page!

SYNOPSIS

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40916679-a-good-girl-s-guide-to-murder

Everyone in Fairview knows the story.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.

[eskawrites]

i’ve been enabled here ya go

tagging @el-fandom-birb and @hellsfireclub bc you’re both very sweet and i’m sorry the erathia movies aren’t real but here’s the closest thing we can get

outline of tales of erathia, a fake 80s fantasy trilogy from a fake story about robin and nancy from stranger things oh god what is my life

(Robin – Lark. Feral child turned Robin Hood-esque rogue. Proficiency with a bow.

Nancy – Tenar. Princess with a mind of her own. Becomes queen over the course of the movies

Steve – Arren. Your typical dashing fantasy rogue. Head of his and Robin’s band of misfits

Max – Moss. A fast and sneaky street kid who gets in over her head and ends up falling into Steve and Robin’s gang

Dustin – Ged. a young sorcerer with a skill he has yet to fully comprehend)

-

First movie:

Arren, Lark, and Ged have been surviving on their own for as long as any of them can remember. They rely on each other and don’t need anyone else. Arren’s strength and charm, Lark’s quick wit and ability to improvise, and Ged’s unmastered yet awe-inspiring power are all they need to get out of any scrap. And they’ve been in plenty of scraps, but none so intense as the one they’ve stumbled across this time: a secret plot to kidnap the princess and use the kingdom’s distraction to take the throne.

But there’s a twist: the princess knows about this plot, too. Young Tenar is beloved by her people for being a perfectly behaved pretty face, but when she suspects part of her father’s personal guard is hiding something, no one gives her the time of day. She has to take matters into her own hands.

It puts her into the path of Arren, who just so happens to know exactly who she is and why she’s on the run. Cue Arren being overeager to save the princess, Tenar being impatient and determined to put things right, and Lark being exasperated with both of them.

This one’s actually a pretty typical fantasy plot. The beautiful princess teams up with the dashing rogue and his ragtag friends to save the day. Along the way Arren, Lark, and Ged run into Moss, a snarky young girl who tries to pickpocket one of the villains and ends up in way over her head. Ged also continues to learn more about what his powers mean—with the help of Tenar and the royal library, of course. And there’s some flirting between Arren and Tenar, along with some jealousy on Lark’s part. But at the end of the day, the gang stops the villain and saves the kingdom. Hooray!

Second movie:

It’s been a year since they saved the kingdom, and life has changed a lot for our heroes. Tenar, now taken a bit more seriously among her people, sometimes, is starting to take on more courtly duties. She finds herself challenging older advisors on her parents’ council and starts wondering what it would be like to just be able to do things her way for once, without anyone doubting her.

Meanwhile, our ragtag group of rogues has entered proper society. Arren was knighted at the end of the first film, and he spends most of his time on duty in the castle. Ged, too, is thriving with the change of scenery. With proper tutors and near-endless knowledge and resources at his disposal, he’s quickly becoming a master of his magic. But Lark and Moss are struggling. Moss gets away with being snarky and antisocial—after all, she’s still just a kid. But Lark finds herself stuck somewhere in the middle. She isn’t allowed to become a knight along with Arren. She isn’t allowed to do whatever she wants alongside Moss. With Arren so busy, she ends up taking care of Moss and Ged whenever something comes up, which means she spends long days keeping Moss out of trouble on the streets or trying not to fall asleep in the library while Ged explains his research. Meanwhile, the people—from common folk out on the streets to the castle guards who owe her everything—look at her with distrust, knowing her background. And with Arren spending most of his days with fellow soldiers or with Tenar herself, she’s lonelier than ever.

But trouble arises in the kingdom once more. Tenar decides to personally investigate something in a nearby village, and she takes Arren with her. (as a note, this is where the slap scene happens: the original script was a scene about Lark being jealous that Arren was spending all his time with Tenar. There’s also tension stemming from the fact that both girls feel useless in their current position and think if they just had what the other had—if Tenar had Lark’s freedom and if Lark had Tenar’s position of power—they’d have no problem at all. So as Tenar is preparing to leave with Arren, she and Lark find themselves in a room alone. This…doesn’t happen very often. They’re extremely different people with extremely different responsibilities and despite saving the world together, they don’t know each other that well. What starts as overly polite conversation devolves into an argument, with both girls throwing unfair judgment at each other. Lark says something awful to her, something along the lines of calling her the spoiled, naïve princess everyone believes her to be, and Tenar hits her. they both leave the scene feeling hurt and guilty, and Tenar leaves on her mission with Arren before they see each other again)

Almost immediately after Arren and Tenar leave, Ged senses something is wrong. He doesn’t know what it is exactly, but he fears the villains they defeated in the first film aren’t entirely gone. Normally he would go to Arren, but with him gone, he turns to Lark instead. Things only get worse from there, and suddenly Lark, Ged, and Moss have to save the kingdom again—only this time, Arren isn’t with them. In fact, Arren should’ve been back by now.

So, afraid, out of her depth, and jaded about the world she finds herself in, Lark has to take up the mantle of leader. She finds not only Ged and Moss looking to her, but the castle guard as well. Suddenly all those people who looked down on her are relying on her to defeat the evil that threatens their kingdom again. Lark finds herself coordinating with the king’s council, organizing the guard, carrying all the power she envied in Tenar—and all the terrible responsibility that comes with it.

Meanwhile, out of town, Tenar and Arren run into their own issues. Their investigation leads to an ambush, and with no backup and no way of contacting anyone for help, they have to think on their feet and rely on only each other to survive. There are no rules out here, no council to convince, no guards to organize. And at the same time, there’s no one else they can rely on. In fact, most people they meet turn them away or are actively working against them. They are well and truly alone. Tenar finds herself surrounded by the freedom she’s always wanted, and faces the danger and unpredictability she never could have imagined alongside it.

The two groups reunite before the final battle in a very Stranger Things-esque way, and after they save the day again, Tenar and Lark find they have newfound understanding and respect for each other.

Third movie:

Our beloved heroes have grown into themselves wonderfully. Lark was offered knighthood and turned it down, preferring her own agency and control instead. But she still serves as a protector and advisor for the kingdom. Arren is Tenar’s chosen knight, but he balances his time a bit better between his duties to the kingdom and his time with his chosen family. Moss is still a handful, but she serves as Lark’s right hand and always has her back (there’s definitely a scene somewhere toward the end where Moss saves Lark’s life—it probably parallels a scene in the first film where Lark saves Moss. Max and Robin got very into filming it and were both exhausted in the best way possible by the end of the day). Meanwhile, Ged is the kingdom’s most well-respected sorcerer, equal parts powerful and kindhearted. Lark jokes that she doesn’t know where he gets it from.

Tenar and Lark are still a little formal with each other, still living in very different worlds. But they get along well enough, especially when they’re with the rest of the group.

But trouble arrives one day when Lark, Arren, Moss, and Ged are hanging out, having left the capital city to camp beneath the stars for a day or two, just like old times. Arren asks Lark, late at night after the others fall asleep, if she ever thinks about leaving. If she ever wants to disappear from the castle, from this life of rules and formalities, and go back to the way things were. She does, sometimes.

They’re attacked the next day on their way back to the castle, a coordinated ambush that ends with Arren gravely injured and all of them having to run. They manage to get out of there, and that leads to the night shoot scene where Lark is scouting the area and comes across a fleeing Tenar.

Until that moment, Lark doesn’t know what to think about what happened. The attack was too well coordinated, too perfectly planned, to be a coincidence. And the only people who knew where their group was going was, well, the king’s court. She doesn’t know why they would betray their group, but there’s no other explanation. She brings this up to Moss and Ged. Ged outright denies it. Moss also clearly doesn’t want to believe her, but she agrees it makes sense. But there’s nothing they can do right now except survive, so they make camp, patch Arren up to the best of their abilities, and Lark patrols the area to make sure they’re actually safe for now.

She runs into Tenar—dress torn, dirt smudged on her cheeks, seemingly running for her life—and she immediately falls back into that defensive exterior she’s built up all her life. She aims her bow at Tenar and demands to know what she’s doing out here, afraid that Tenar is part of the plot, or is a distraction, or—

But Tenar breaks down. “They killed them all,” she says, and then she just falls apart in Lark’s arms. Lark doesn’t let her guard down for pretty much the rest of the movie, but in that moment, her prickly, angry, painfully cautious defenses expand to include Tenar.

She takes Tenar back to their camp, helps patch her up, assures her that Arren will be fine, if a bit slow on his feet for a while, and slowly, gently, gets Tenar’s story out of her.

The attack was more coordinated than Lark thought. At the same time that a group was ambushing Lark and her friends on the road, an entire army was laying siege to the castle. They had inside help—someone on the king’s court, which proves Lark’s suspicions correct, in a way. Another advisor, someone who had always been on Tenar’s side, hid her just in time. Tenar managed to stay out of danger, for a little while, but she witnessed almost everyone she cares for being killed in front of her—including both of her parents. Knowing she couldn’t hide forever, Tenar grabbed her father’s sword and made a run for it. She had to fight a little bit on the way out, but she escaped the castle and ran for the woods. By sheer luck, she ran straight into Lark.

They have to figure out how to regroup from there. With Arren so badly injured, Tenar and Lark find themselves working directly together for the first time. And it turns out, they do so perfectly. They build off each other, back each other up. They come up with a plan to return to the capital and meet up with whatever survivors there are.

Before they do, Arren asks Lark, late at night again, if they shouldn’t just leave. Flee the kingdom, Tenar can come with them even, but they don’t have to risk everything again. This place was never even their home in the first place. But Lark looks at Tenar—sitting with Ged and Moss—and she shakes her head. “It is now,” she says. “We can’t turn our backs on it.”

So they go. They make their way back to the capital city and manage to find where the few knights and advisors who survived the attack on the castle are hiding. They win small victories, and people start to whisper that their princess—their soon-to-be queen—has returned to save them.

Somewhere in all of this, Tenar hatches a plan to take down the villain for good, but it’s dangerous. It puts herself at risk. For the first time since they started to work together, Lark tries to stop her.

(this is the scene that Robin struggles to film—the one that she says could stay in or could end up cut, and the one that leads to her and Nancy’s argument on set.)

It’s not a big scene. In the script, it’s kind of like a dark before the dawn sort of thing. One bad moment of tension before the battle that leads to victory. Maybe a little bit of a revival of their old rivalry. Lark tries to stop Tenar, Tenar thinks it’s because Lark doesn’t believe in her. Really, it’s because Lark doesn’t want to see anyone else she cares about get hurt. It ends tense and uncertain and they both carry that frustration with them into their respective roles of the final battle.

While filming, Robin is so riddled with anxiety about where she and Nancy stand that she just can’t get it right. She starts by fumbling her lines, messing up her cues, moving out of place, etc. It’s messy. Even after she gets those fundamentals down, she can’t quite hit the emotion of the scene. She can’t snap at Nancy in the sharp way Lark is supposed to be speaking to Tenar. It’s not a long scene, but finding the balance between tension and frustration and urgency and fear and care is difficult, especially when she’s already off-kilter from the events leading up to this point.

They call a break, Nancy and Robin have their argument during lunch, and when they return to set, Robin…isn’t better, really, but her mood has dipped. She’s settled into something sad and hopeless, and maybe a touch desperate. It’s not snark. It’s not thrilling tension that helps build the stakes for the final battle, but Scott decides that’s just not going to happen, so he finishes the scene and lets them both go.

(it’s actually not a terrible scene once they go back and review it, but it isn’t what they wanted tonally and it doesn’t quite fit the way it was supposed to, so it does end up getting cut. But, in a director’s release somewhere down the line—after Robin and Nancy go public with their relationship—the scene gets added back in. with some hindsight, and the increasingly popular idea that there’s something more to Tenar and Lark’s relationship than friendship, the scene reads as Lark desperate for Tenar not to put herself in danger. The sharp words and cutting wit might not be there, but how deeply she cares for Tenar is abundantly clear. And there’s a glance, so brief, of Tenar looking at Lark while Lark is turned away, and she looks frustrated and helpless, like there are a hundred things she just can’t say.)

Anyway, cue the final battle. Some losses, some fearful moments, a shit ton of cool fight choreography and epic music, you get the idea. Tenar is a formidable warrior, Arren, Lark, Moss, and Ged work as a cohesive unit, just as they always have. And at the end of the day, they win. They finally win.

It’s a Lord of the Rings-style epilogue, too. A gorgeous coronation scene for Tenar as she’s crowned queen. Moss and Ged both heading rebuilding efforts in the capital city, and a quiet moment of Arren and Lark looking around at how far they’ve come. they all live happily ever after while their actors go on to lead pretty fucked up lives for the next ten years

A few notes:

The ideas for these films are a weird mishmash of star wars, lotr, and cheesy 80s fantasy stuff (willow, legend, princess bride, etc) with influences from stranger things, the plot of the cfdau itself, and maybe a little bit of legend of zelda and wicked and other personal obsessions thrown in later on

There are obviously romance scenes between Arren and Tenar and Arren and Lark. Arren and Lark are by far the more popular ship, especially after everyone starts suspecting Robin and Steve are together.

Max gets typecast as a kid sister character for a long time, which is why she mostly sticks to theater. She has nothing against the role, it’s just not as fun when she’s not Robin’s kid sister

Nancy gets typecast as a love interest/damsel in distress, which infuriates her because Tenar’s character revolves around breaking free of that archetype. She doesn’t turn down roles, though, so she just gets stuck with parts she’s not that invested in

I always wanted the movie trilogy for this fic to be revolutionary for its time—it would kind of have to be to have 3/5 of the main cast be women and the main love triangle be a guy choosing between two girls rather than a girl choosing between two guys. Nancy and Robin wanting to put more depth into their characters’ relationships—and Scott letting them—added to that idea. I also think Lark getting the chance to become a leader—to go from Arren’s sidekick who doesn’t really want to help the kingdom to being the one calling the shots in the second and third films—is pretty big. That was a later idea, though—one that came after I wrote Doris’s character and had Robin think more about the positive impact she’s been able to have.

I’ve said it before but yes there is a tenlark fandom and yes it grows after Robin comes out and yes it grows even more after Nancy and Robin go public. There’s still backlash, of course, but between Robin and Nancy becoming such big role models in the media and the support of everyone else who was involved in the Erathia films, the ship becomes something of a cultural phenomenon.

[elliespuns]

Little TMI here but honestly I don’t have a label on myself because it STRESSED ME OUT!!! Of course no hate to people who do label themselves I totally support but one thing about me, if I love you I will NOT care what genital you have. We are not totally sure what Dina could actually be but one thing for sure is she’s my baby & I will defend her at all times. The last of us is known for its LGBTQ+ representation as well with beautiful story & visuals, all the characters are my babies but it makes me uncomfortable if when the whole sexuality of the character is confirmed people deny it. Like look I don’t particularly mind if a man likes Ellie or the way a woman likes Abby as long as they are NOT denying their sexuality. Could Abby secretly like girls? Maybe but completely denying that fact that she could absolutely not like men gets on my nerves. Ellie though that’s a different situation it’s quite clear she likes girls & when men say they can change her or sexualize her as a kid it makes me so uncomfortable. As much as I love the last of us fandom there is rude & ignorant people in here & it ruins the wholesome & comforting feeling.

ANYWAY EVERY TLOU CHARACTER IS MY BABY & I WILL DEFEND THEM FOR LIFE, except for David ew…

True. That's why I was trying to say that people shouldn't really dwell on whether to call Dina bisexual or lesbian because there was never a scene where she would tell us how she felt about her sexuality in the first place.

She might as well be pansexual or demisexual, for all we know. So if people are here to pick on straws, or in my case, calling me out on calling Dina a lesbian in one of my posts (I dared to call her and Ellie 'weird ass lesbians' because it was fitting for the situation and it was actually just my humor talking), they should also realize that calling her bisexual might be as 'disrespectful' as calling her lesbian since none of us know how she feels about her sexuality anyway.

I had a few people 'lecturing' me about Dina not being a lesbian but BISEXUAL after I shared the post (I swear, do people even know me and my sense of humor, dammit?). Calling me out on it as if I didn't know she has a damn baby with a guy. Like, thank you for telling me! I've been new to this fandom, and I had no freaking clue when literally one of the storyline's plot twists was that Dina's pregnant. *sigh*

I think people get touchy too easily today. And not even just about themselves, but about fictional characters too. I mean, yeah, I love my babies too, but I've never heard Dina speak up about her sexuality. So unless we know what she labels herself with, I don't really think that people calling her lesbian with a grain of salt is disrespectful. 

What do we know, hm? Maybe she was sick of guys and completely switched? Maybe Ellie's mesmerizing eyes and her magical pussy made her go full-on lesbian. 

I hope I don't need to specify that I am joking (again). But hey, the point still stands. Calling her bisexual or lecturing people online that her actual sexuality is bisexual is also just based on assumptions.

I am open-minded about Dina's sexuality since we don't know how she would label herself. So I did really mean no harm by saying she and Ellie were 'being weird ass lesbians'—I mean, this is the internet and Tumblr. Not everything is meant to be taken so seriously.

[rokkenjimaisland]

Ren's "similar to Umineko" list! (now overhauled)(You're welcome)

Stuff on here reminds me of Umineko for a variety of reasons. If I add to it, I'll just edit this post and add the date I added it to this list. Separated by genre this time.

Under the read-more, with the "why it reminds me of Umineko" blurb after the title rather than a whole plot synopsis like I had done in the previous list

Feel free to rec stuff in tags or in comments etc. if I haven't read/played/watched it it might be hard for me to add it but I'll definitely add it to my own list of things to check out!

VIDEO GAMES The House In Fata Morgana - Visual novel, Unreliable narration, witch haunting an illusory mansion for thousands of years, cycles of abuse and trauma, Gothic setting, romance 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors - Visual novel, "The killer is among us" (lol), murder mystery scoping out paranormal/metaphysical elements and twisting them into its own crazy logic, romance NieR Replicant - It's up to you to find your own happiness whatever that means to you despite the circumstances of the world you're living in or your own birth Alan Wake - Author creates and infers reality around him, horror setting, unreliable narration, creations rallying against their creator Alan Wake 2 - see the above, it's the sequel, except Alan Wake 2 is an actual survival horror. I didn't like Alan Wake 1 much but I'm LOVING 2 so far. The Forgotten City - I haven't played this just saw someone on Twitter say to play it if you like Umineko so I'm trusting their recommendation Pathologic Classic HD - Questions of morality, wishy-washiness on the reality of the fantastical elements of the town's culture, meta universe shenanigans forcing you to contend with "none of this matters, so why do/should I care?" Patho 2 can probably go here too but I am playing that at the moment.

ANIMANGA Naoki Urasawa's Monster - "Why did the culprit do this?" over "Who is the culprit?", murder mystery, cycles of abuse, questions of character identity, the ultimate "victim of circumstances has created the monster" situation Shiki - Sleepy town being annihilated by an unknown threat, humans doing unspeakable things in the name of justice, the question of the antagonist's morality/justice is brought to the forefront and maybe they were right all along...? Princess Tutu - Characters who have been created for a story and are living out a narrative sort of against their will, the narrative as a framing device and also a prison, love love love lots of love, the death of the author and what this means for a tale and the characters within it too--if you can only call them characters I Want To Hold Aono-kun so Badly I Could Die - romantic relationships as a way to combat your personal loneliness, horror and romance and how they intersect...kind of hard to explain this one unless you've finished Umineko but this manga really reads like AU Bato[redacted] to me so far, lots of supernatural elements, learning how to find happiness

TV Succession - Rich people dealing with their abusive and unpredictable father deciding who will be the successor for the family business and dragging everyone else into it, cycles of literally every sort

MOVIES Knives Out (2019) - Rich family called to a house to discuss the ailing patriarch's will only for him to be murdered, murder mystery Haven't seen Glass Onion yet but that too. Decision To Leave (2022) - Confessions of the unspeakable as acts of love, Another time another place maybe it could have worked, I created myself to love you, tragic romance, the sea as a motif representing character worlds Memento (2000) - it's up to the watcher to interpret events as they happen and piece them together, the most unreliable narrator of narrators, just go in blind The Prestige (2006) - Magicians get into a big dick competition and destroy their relationships for the sake of greatness, branches into metaphysical territory for the sake of pursuing magic House (1977) - Group of girls visit an ancient family home, horror setting, love is always enduring for better or for worse, witches, using other bodies to fulfill your own wish

BOOKS The Locked Tomb Quartet - Cites Umineko (and 999!) as an inspiration and Muir is a very very referential reader so it's kind of hard to say stuff without spoiling TLT also so honestly just go read it. Magpie Murders - Murder within a murder And Then There Were None (duh) - Directly inspired Umineko and the murders within Umineko The Last Unicorn - Characters acknowledge they are living in a fairy tale, the unicorn is often called the only 'real' one in the group due to her immortality, dream-like narration and fantastical whimsy, ocean representing character strife House Of Leaves - The metaphysical book of metaphysical books with stories within stories within stories and extremely unconventional formatting, house as a vehicle to tell a horror story IT - Two stories in different times existing side by side to inform the reader how to read it. I never finished reading this either though sorry </3 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - metafiction play about characters and the absurdity of their existence, repeating stories, tragedy is only a story and the characters within only exist to tell that story regardless of their own individuality Wuthering Heights - toxic romance the novel, idk why I didn't have this here yet. Honestly I'm not super big on this book but it's a classic for a reason. Dread, isolated spaces, fucked up romance, ghosts, etc.

[atamascolily]

There's a common misconception that being able to anticipate a plot twist means there's no room for surprises, which has not been true in my experience. How they are executed (heh) makes all the difference, as can be seen with Mami's death in PMMM.

I don't know about anyone else, but on my first viewing of PMMM, I got extremely uncomfortable the moment Mami pressures Madoka into agreeing to become a magical girl (for CAKE, no less!) once Mami finishes her upcoming fight against Charlotte. Since the show had already made it abundantly clear by that point that Madoka wouldn't become a magical girl until the final episode, when she was fully aware of the consequences and repercussions and could make a clearly informed decision, this meant that somehow Madoka would have to get out of her hasty and impulsive promise. And since Madoka is a good girl who hates disappointing others--that's how she got into this situation in the first place--that meant that something would go horribly wrong in Mami's fight.

And the simplest solution to this particular story problem was that Mami straight up wasn't going to survive the battle, thus giving Madoka an easy out.

So I knew all that going in, but even so, the manner of Mami's death caught me off-guard because it was so abrupt. One moment, everything was fine, the next moment she was just… gone, with very little warning. I had expected Mami to defeat the witch, and then get accidentally killed by its death throes, bleeding out in Madoka or Sayaka's arms after a dramatic speech about passing the torch, but there was none of that whatsoever. Instead, it was brutal, it was sudden and it was 100% effective and shocked me to the core even though I was expecting Mami's death. Genius.

I think it just goes to show that plot twists are not so much what happens as how they happen--as with so many things in life, presentation is everything. I think it's very sexy when writers telegraph a big plot twist in advance and still manage to surprise me, which is one reason why I love PMMM so much. It's also why even though I have a pretty good idea of what the big plot twists in Walpurgis no Kaiten are going to be, I still expect to be thoroughly surprised when they happen for precisely this reason.

[submissive-and-readable]

The Absinth Underground by Jamie Pacton

Source: Netgalley ARC

Genre: young adult historical fantasy romance

Release date: 6 February 2024

Content warnings: underage alcohol consumption, self harm for magic purposes, (temporary) imprisonment, blood, (past) death of parent

If you like: faeries, slowburn sapphic romance, 1890s Paris, heists/thieves, friends to lovers

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis

Ever since Esme Rimbaud brought Sybil Clarion back to her flat, the girls have been everything to each other—best friends, found family, and secret crushes. While Esme would rather spend the night tinkering with her clocks and snuggling her cats, Sybil craves excitement and needs money. She plans to get both by stealing the rare posters that crop up around town and selling them to collectors. With rent due, Esme agrees to accompany—and more importantly protect —Sybil.

When they’re caught selling a poster by none other than its subject, Maeve, the glamorous girl doesn’t press charges. Rather, she invites Sybil and Esme to The Absinthe Underground, the exclusive club she co-owns, and reveals herself to be a Green Faerie, trapped in this world. She wants to hire thieves for a daring heist in Fae that would set her free, and is willing to pay enough that Sybil and Esme never have to worry about rent again. It’s too good of an offer to pass up, even if Maeve’s tragic story doesn’t quite add up, and even if Sybil’s personal ties to Fae could jeopardize everything she and Esme have so carefully built.

Review

A quick and easy read! I'm a little older than the target audience, so I found some of the plot to be a bit too simple, and I figured out the twist pretty early on, but I still had fun reading this.

There were a few things that frustrated me about this book. Firstly, other than the plot being simple, I felt that the stakes didn't really feel urgent enough. The characters get through each obstacle pretty easily, so I was never convinced that they were in any real danger. Additionally, the solutions that they come up with just don't make sense to me. No spoilers, but one of the characters is described as a brilliant thief, but all the plans she comes up with boil down to "make a distraction then grab the thing and run".

Secondly, the interactions between the main characters. They both dance around talking about their feelings for most of the book, which is fine, because this is supposed to be a slowburn romance. But what irked me was how secretive Sybil was. Like, I understand being scared of judgement, but she had multiple opportunities to open up to Esme, and she just chose not to. Which bummed me out, because it kind of made it feel like Sybil didn't trust Esme, and they're supposed to be best friends. I'm aware that the above sounds like pretty harsh critique, but I did enjoy the romance! I liked the past glimpses of how Sybil and Esme first met, as well as their dynamic. The way Sybil jumps headfirst into situations, yet always needs Esme to back her up, and the way Esme is scared of risking danger, yet always follows Sybil because she needs to make sure she's safe, created tension in their relationship that I loved reading. I also found the Fae rather interesting, and I wish we got to see more of them. The book establishes the main three Fae courts, as well as some of the lore/myths about the Fae, but the characters don't actually get to explore a lot of the Fae realm. Also, I'm always a sucker for Fae that are depicted as beautiful but also monstrous.

[lilac-gold]

I'm still thinking about the magical girls au Red on AO3 and I came up with for omori where captain spaceboy is called simon earthman, rococo's a transfer student from closeby high and basil has sentient plant friends

[nonnieapple]

⛈ ☂️ Peach Pit, 4- An Apple Core's Cyanide Seed☂️ ⛈

• (Akura-ou x g/n reader x Tomoe)  • r a t i n g: m a t u r e • 1 6 8 4 w o r d s  •  p o s t e d 14.01.2024    🌧  navigation 🍑 previous chapter 🍑 next chapter • s u m m a r y: you're a peaceful farmer in the mountains during the sengoku period. someone starts stealing your peaches, and the thief turns out to be a chaotic oni, and the events that ensue flip your life upside down. • c h a p t e r s u m m a r y: where you go, akura-ou goes, and where he goes, trouble goes. TW: fires.

  The peaches were still aplenty. It was curious. It seemed that he took your words to heart, only taking a few a night. It was fascinating. He didn't seem like someone with much restraint. Did he... tolerate you? No, no, that was a preposterous thought. Probably just planning and plotting to kill you and desecrate your corpse. 

  Enough idiocy. Today you had decided to venture down to a festival in the second nearest town. 

  The journey there was annoying but wasn't the worst thing you've had to endure. 

  You dawned a white kosode, right side over left. From up in the hills the town seemed to be bustling, but now it was a ghost town, and you were the ghost, floating and floating all alone in foggy air. At this rate, you could've stayed in your house and gotten the same experience with fewer leg cramps. 

  A wind blew by. You tensed. Peaches. Iron. Petrichor. And a hint of charred wood. It reminded you of...

  "Humaaaan!" Long, toned arms were thrown around you roughly. You gasped, reaching up to stop him from choking you. He didn't. You frowned. What the hell was that? That was the scariest hug ever. Felt like a chokehold for a moment. Actually, several. 

  "What the hell are you doing here?!" You seethed as you pulled at his arms. 

  Akura-ou let go of you lazily. 

  "I'm here to see if there are any pretty girls in town," He said, placing his hands on his hips. You scowled. You liked him better from afar, like a fireplace. Nice to look at, painful to touch. Well, not that good to look at. It also hurt. He hurt all around, his garish nature blinding. 

  You heard shuffling throughout town as though it had suddenly woken up. Much like bugs under a rock. 

  You reached a hand behind him, snapping your fingers on the other hand which he gingerly followed with his eyes. You wished you had your dagger. 

  "Did you follow me?" You whispered as people gathered around you. 

  "Maybe you followed me, human." Akura smiled, looking at your displeased, sharp eyes. 

  You retracted your hand. 

  The villagers came up to you, old and young, the young anxiously jittery, the old bowing their tired backs. You gazed at them, unimpressed.

  "Thank you for banishing the oni, oh great priest," They said, bowing, none coming too close. They didn't register Akura-ou's presence. His face twisted in a mix of confusion and agitation. 

  "You're welcome. Now let me pass, you're hoggin' the air," You remarked, turning to them briefly as a lock of your updo fell over your eye. 

  They bowed, scattering towards their business, the small stalls filling up. The scent of food and incense filled the air. It was becoming louder, but it was still rather quiet. A festival, close to Obon. 

  "The first time the last of the priests comes here in ages," You heard briefly. Something about human gods and sorcerers, magic, exorcism. Boring. You hummed in displeasure. You strayed from the main path in town, choosing to wade through empty alleys. 

  "Eh? Why didn't they run off when they saw me?" Akura grumbled lowly. 

  "Because they didn't see you. I placed an ofuda on your back to make you invisible." You pointed to his back. He twisted around, reading the ofuda. It read "air". 

  "You are too flashy and inhuman to blend in. The girls will run when they see you." You ran your hand along the wooden houses. 

  "Run to me," He corrected smugly.

  "From you. You're plain awful. Any human would run if they were in their right mind." 

  "You didn't." He leaned down. 

  You laughed hollowly, eyes closing as you flashed your teeth. Your laugh came to a halt, voice low and with a tired rasp. 

  "I said if they were in their right mind."

  You side-eyed him. He didn't wear his coat this time. Only the mesh shirt you had stabbed through and a layer of shiny gold necklaces, and dangly earrings. They swung with each one of his broad steps. 

  You stopped at the corner, leaning on the house. You pointed to a girl with glossy hair and a face like a doll. She was well dressed in a kosode with a chrysanthemum print. 

  "She's pretty. Maybe you should unlatch yourself from me and follow her around," You suggested. 

  Akura shrugged, flicking his hair and tilting his head to the side.

  "No, not my type." His ears lowered. 

  You hummed in deep, deep disappointment. You clicked your tongue.

  "What a pity." 

  You bought food from a stall, giving more coins than needed, and packing the food. 

  "Are you going to eat that?" Akura-ou nagged. 

  "I don't like eating in public." You averted your eyes. 

  "Just turn yourself invisible too. Big deal." He waved a hand. You raised a brow. The smell of the food was savory and tempting. 

  "I doubt I can hide myself from you." 

  "Why hide from me? I'm great!" He tugged on your shoulder. Thankfully if he touched you, no one saw you, so you didn't look like you were pulled by an unseen force. 

  "Where are you- dragging me! You fiend!" You spat, slapping away his claw. He stared straight ahead. You followed his line of sight. A stall full of alcohol. Something dark twisted at your stomach. Not hunger, not fear. Dread and craving were more of a fit.

  "I'm not drinking with a weird guy in a mesh shirt. A weird yokai in a mesh shirt? That idea's dead in the water." You hugged your waist, your shoulders raised tensely. He smiled unnaturally. 

   "Your loss." 

  You had never seen someone drink so quickly. It was like there was no bottom to his stomach. Because there wasn't. It was a void, a vacuum of alcohol. You blanched at the sight. You silently crept away, coming up to a stall with jewelry. They had a multitude of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. You eyed the necklaces. One was of a knife much like your dagger. Maybe you'd commission a necklace with a mini replica of your dagger. So even if an insufferable jerk stole the real thing, you'd have something to remember it by besides your unreliable memories. 

  You picked out a rather pretty set with flowers. Sakura. It was criminally underpriced and you had to reverse haggle with the seller, a nice old woman with brown hair and eyes.

  You left, creeping away.

  "Trying to ditch me?" 

  You jumped, covering your mouth. 

  Akura-ou again. 

  "You must have something better to do." You avoided looking at him. 

  "How 'bout checking in on your kitsune friend for a change?" 

  The wind blew by. It was surprisingly cold, raising goosebumps on your skin. Akura looked fine. Even after so much alcohol, he was fine. 

  "You know Tomoe?" 

  Tomoe? That was his name? 

  Curious. The surprise was evident on your face as you slowed your steps. 

  "I saw him a few times." Correction- you saw him each morning, yet you felt like if you told Akura, he would freak out. You'd freak out. You were freaking out. Always. 

  "A few times?! He can never mind his business!" Akura barked, rolling his golden eyes. 

  "Neither can you," You muttered.

  "There's a brothel over there. Go there, maybe it'll help you... to leave me alone..." You whispered the last part as quietly as you could. 

  Akura looked to the brothel. His black lips were downturned. 

  "I'm bored here." He sounded like a bratty child. You blinked. Why were you even entertaining him? Sure he could kill you any second, but you might as well ignore him until he tries to. 

  You turned away and kept walking. You would be heading home after a few more stops. The reverence the villagers held for you sickened you and brought back unpleasant memories. 

  "Oi! Human! You hear me?" He rushed after you. 

  You kept walking, breathing in the fresh air yet untainted by his dark energy. 

  "This isn't funny." 

  You studied the architecture silently. 

  "What if I set something on fire?" 

  You shooed a butterfly away from your kosode. 

  "I'm going to kill someone. Who should it be? That old man? Or the little girl?" He said, forcing a villainous tone. 

  You stepped over a pebble.

  He huffed loudly. 

  You wondered if Maeda still sold baskets. His house was nearby. You could get some, splurge a little. Which was a depressing thought. A pitiful sign that you were getting old. 

  A glint caught your eye. A bright red one. 

  A fire broke out in a few stalls around you, the flames growing and flickering like blossoms in the wind. Your eyes widened. 

  You grabbed his wrist. He avoided your gaze now.

  "Stop this buffoonery! You're going to get someone killed-" Your heart thumped, fear setting in deep within you, an all too familiar fear of watching everything burn down to the ground. 

  You hadn't realized it until the first tear dropped. You were crying. Akura ou's expression betrayed his surprise. More powerful than any magic were human, stupid human emotions. 

  The fire faded. 

  You wiped your tears. They felt like blood on your hands as you stared into nowhere with static in your head. 

  "Human?" His voice rumbled from behind red locks. 

  You blinked away tears, searching for his eyes. Your vision was blurry.

  "What's your name?" He whispered.

  You said your name as quietly as you could. The wind blew, and it was surely whisked away. 

  You blinked away the last of your tears, shaking your head. 

  In front of you stood nothing but empty space, and your "air" ofuda was attached to your chest. 

  You didn't look at the charred stalls. You marched straight home, invisible and absent, your mind in the clouds and feelings in the doldrums. 

  That night no one showed. 

  You didn't know what to feel or think. 

  You cried in your sleep, and there was no one but your bed to wipe them away. 

  Little did you know, that there was someone who watched, all night, without touching a thing, besides a single peach. 

[veronicaphoenix]

hello hello hello random ass question but you're an English major and I want to know what your favourite books are and why thank you very much 🥰

Dear Laura,

hi hi hi!! You just asked what's probably my favorite question ever and of course, I got carried away. I'm sorry if this is too long!

Surprisingly enough, none of the books I had to read at uni are my favorite 😅 Obviously, I had to read the classics (Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights...) and I'm not a very big fan of those. They also forced Shakespeare down my throat for a couple of years and I ended up having a love/hate relationship with his works and his persona lol (I love the town where he was born, tho, it's my favorite town in England). 🤍

I read a lot, and I read a lot of everything. If you ever see my bookshelf you will see stuff ranging from Nicholas Sparks' novels to Stephen King's works (he's one of my fav authors) to some really fucked up stories like We Need to Talk about Kevin or My Absolute Darling (I actually loved these last two).

If you ever want to know, I have a favorite book for every genre. But my absolute all time favorite books are The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (I literaly cry for days every time I read this one).

The Thirteenth Tale is, most of all, a Gothic novel, and I love all things Gothic. This is definitely my go-to comfort read at any time. It has many classic Gothic elements and it can be somewhat predictable at times, but I was not expecting the plot twist toward the end. I love it for its setting in an abandoned manor and a main character with a quiet nature, who adores books and stories, and is emotionally scarred from childhood trauma.

I would define The Time Traveler's Wife as a romance novel with magical realism, and totally heartbreaking. It's got a touch of sci-fi with the time traveling thing, but it's not exactly what you would expect. I really don't like sci-fi stories and I think one of the reasons why I fell in love with this one is because of the way the author deals with that in the book. To summarize, the story follows Henry and Clare as they navigate life while coping with Henry's genetic condition, which causes him to randomly time travel. The curious thing about his condition is that, when he time travels, he often finds himself meeting Clare at different stages of her life; when she's a little girl, then a teenager, and then when she's an adult and they're married. The first time I read this book, I was a teenager and I found it really beautiful, innovating, and sad. The second time, I had already experienced being in love, so I felt everything between Henry & Clare's relationship on a deeper level, and towards the end, the story gets so heartbreaking that I was crying for days on train journeys, at work, and at home (I have to say that I'm a very sensible person and a crybaby lol).

However, there's also one other book that I read when I was 14 or so called The Wishing Game by Patrick Redmond that I've loved ever since, but its somewhat controversial for me because I fell in love with the 'villain' and was supportive of all his crimes 🫣 I think the reason why I empathized with him was because I read the story while I was in my teenage years, in my glorious high school days, and as most of us, I didn't really fit it, and sometimes I felt really neglected and angry, so I guess it was sort of comforting to read about a boarding school where the bullies start mysteriously dying 😶‍🌫️

What about you? Any favorite books? Oh, I love talking about books! This message put a big smile on my face sfsadfnsdsdfasjn 💞

[lordkingsmith]

Trini Kwan canon children and oc children. Trini's fun. I find her interesting, and I love how even beyond Zack, she is the middle man. She knows how Billy speaks and how to explain it to Jason and Zack. She's a sweet girl with slightly creepy beloved dolls and hobbies. She's super enthusiastic but not in a way you'd immediately notice. I love Trini.

canon children:

unknown father;

Minh Kwan. I like Minh, she's awesome. Her shenanigans with the morpher made me laugh, and her getting to see memories of her mom? I was crying. I like how she's like Trini while also being her own person. But they could have done more. Her entire schtick is revenge and being a teenager. Okay. Well she's nice enough but what are her hobbies? Aside from fighting and visiting her mom's grave???? she...seems fashion oriented? She knows how to drive? she likes the jucie bar? we can do better. But, I do enjoy her character. It’s kinda weird how the dad was never revealed, bur I guess they couldn’t talk about Richie because his actor also died. Richie was meant, originally before cast changes required a change in plot, to be the red herring to who the white ranger was. He was Trini’s love interest and was going to be this mysterious new kid who may or may not be the white ranger before-surprise! It’s Tommy. I personally don’t know if Trini would have gotten with Richie in the end, but I ship it lol. I’m just suggesting him as a possible, but I do have kids for him in the non canon list.

my non canon children for Trini Kwan:

Kimberly Hart;

Xian Linh Hart, aged 16. Xian is the younger half sister of Minh and Olivia. When Tommy disappeared Trini did as well, however a few years after Tommy. She and Kim got close shortly after Minh was born, and later got married. Soon after they had a daughter of their own with the help of in vitro fertilization procedures. Trini later died in a freak accident fighting a villain, and Kim withdrew completely with her daughters. Xian’s a pink ranger to Olivia’s green and Minh’s yellow. She’s the one braincell in the sister group, and a fair balance of her sister’s personalities. Still figuring herself out, trying to do Kim proud while also struggling to figure out how to honor Trini’s memory.

Tommy Oliver;

During the incident where Zedd was twisting a neighbor girl of Trini’s into an evil princess on a magic island, Tommy went to help the girl, confident in Trini’s promise; she’d undo the spell on both of them and save them. When the spell took effect, Zedd was true to his word snd released the other teammates, and the evil duo of Green and Lavender debuted. “Prince Tommy” remembered little but the promise of Trini’s. He and the girl, Hallie, killed Drakkon and terraformed the planet into a nightmarish land of fairytale places. Treacherous mountains, terrifying forests, murderous deserts. Razing cities in their wake, making the planet in the image of Hallie’s twisted obsession. It’s not too different than it was, except that the different biomes don’t encourage cities very much. Each region now sentient to an extent. And willing to punish humanity for city building.

Trini and Tommy entered a strange adversarial relationship. Tommy’s obsession with Trini reaching a fever pitch after a few years. The promise and the hatred of fairytales he has twisting into an odd association with Trini. His saving grace, even if he can’t remember what from . They did have a few nights were no fights took place, and they have two kids, with “Prince Tommy” none the wiser that his “Huntress” often has their kids in tow. Bolin and Su are 16 and 14 respectively. Bolin knows who Tommy is to them, Su does not.

Bolin’s been raised his entire life with the resistance and the sole mission of finding the dumpster Rita’s still stuck in, or some other mystic who’d know how to undo the Venus Island spell. He learned about Tommy being his dad two years ago, after meeting David. It didn’t take a lot to put the pieces together with how much David looks like them and Bolin having never seen David’s brother without his helmet until Tommy confronted David and Trini, where he put Trini under a spell. Up till that point Trini co-parented them with Skull and Bulk, and Bolin likes Skull and Bulk as parents and mentors. An adept marksman with throwing knives. Skilled at potion making, and doesn’t know how to feel about Tommy and Hallie. Yes, it’s a spell, but…well. How many times can one take being nearly murdered by maddened tyrants. Considering joining the tyrant prince and princess’s ranks with Bulk to see if he can’t save them…if he can kill them. He’s not currently associated with a color, but he will be a Mastodon Knight, when he’s undercover. Bulk’s his captain and they’re both doing their best. Trini doesn’t approve when this happens, however when she becomes Tommy’s Power Huntress and right hand, it’s not really up to her.

Su is very much a product of her environment. She wasn’t born before nightmare fairytale world, and she can’t imagine anything else. Her logic hinges on magic, and people she knows. Bartering and being kind and clever and very very good with figuring out how to fight with limited space. She doesn’t get why her brother’s been so moody the last two years, and has been traveling with David and Billy to spread the word about Zack and Kim, who both died fighting Tommy, and try to figure out how to undo everything. She’s not sure if she wants to, this version of the world is all she knows but…it would be cool to meet Rita. A real live wicked witch? You don’t see one of those every day. She assumes Richie, who Tommy tortured and killed very early in hers and Bolin’s lives, is her dad. Is more and more motivated to get the curse on Tommy and Hallie broken in any case, just to get her mom, brother, and honorary uncle back. She misses them. Not associated with a color, nor is she going to be a knight of any sort. If she was, it’d be white.

Jason Lee Scott;

They got together in their teens after putty!Matt got them thinking about it, and after a short time apart, they got back together. Jason and Trini co-parent Minh, and have a kid of their own. Terry Scott is twelve and while deeply enthusiastic over everything, he's rather reserved. Fairly calm, and watchful. He's always pausing before talking. Definitely a mama's boy. However, he likes battle borgs with Jason, and they do watch each new season together. Terry's got no interest in being a power ranger. When Trini died, he had even less interest in it. Kid keeps Jason out of rangerdom, because how could he go back in when Minh's currently a yellow, and Terry's still grieving his mom. Terry and Minh's relationship has gotten really strained, and Jason's trying to keep the family together. Trini'd want him to try.

Billy Cranston;

Minh, in this reality, Billy is the unnamed father. Minh and a younger brother, aged 10. Hao and Minh go to live with Zack after Billy inadvertently gets their mother-his wife-killed. as of course, he tells them the truth. Even after, they don't forgive him, but Minh does somewhat reconcile. Hao, however, needs time. Nobody blames the kids for not being able to forgive, least of all Billy.

Laura (last name unknown);

Laura and Kim were both scout masters to their troop of Angelettes, and Trini got to meet Laura properly during something she’d been invited to help out with for badge earning. She’d met Laura briefly when she and Billy had tried dating, and had developed a crush. Had been relieved when Laura and Billy broke up, for a myriad of reasons. One of which was the crush on Laura, the other was that Laura and Billy’d both realized they were interested in the same sex, and broke up when they came out to each other. Trini still did ask Billy if Billy was ok with her dating an ex; that can be weird no matter the reason. Billy was supportive of the idea, more relieved both of them had a chance to be happy now.

Laura and Trini have two kids, and Billy and Zack are surrogate fathers. Billy wasn’t available or comfortable the second time (he’d just gotten married himself), and Jason was alright with offering. Tate, aged 21, and Linette, aged 15, are their kids. Laura works at the museum as a tour guide, and usually works with the school groups. She sees both her kids about twice a year at her job for the annual trips, but she’s never the guide for their school groups. They want their privacy after all, but she does say hi when she sees them. This had saved Tate a few times over the years; he’s very forgetful, and Laura can just covertly give him items like his lunch while saying hi. She’s gonna miss seeing her kids at work like this when Linette graduates. Trini’s love for doll collecting lead her to making her own dolls, and she sells custom dolls to collectors.

Tate lives as a regular space cadet type person. Literally. He’s going into astronomy as a chosen vocation. Because he’s often mostly concerned with the skies and what’s going on up there, he often forgets things. His homework, his lunch, his shoes once…the skies are just more interesting. However, Trini signed them both up for a cooking class during one of his college breaks, and he’s found making simple meals does center him when he’s spinning his wheels. Tate will make vast quantities of different types of ramen or burgers or soups if he’s studying for a test, and his entire floor of his dorm has learned that around the midterms and finals the best place to get food is Tate Kwan’s room. Is not supposed to be cooking. Everyone knows he is cooking. But you need to catch someone in the act or with pots and pans and the intention to cook, and…there isn’t even so much as a tea bag or kettle in his room whenever anyone looks. Not that anyone looks super hard; this is benefitting everyone. He’s on a scholarship and is doing his best, but best means A’s and B’s and his teachers like him. He’s pleasant, even if he is a little distant, polite, sweet tempered, and willing to explain things in simple terms to anyone who needs it. Given his sister’s aspirations, he has been helping her prepare for applying to colleges, and has been tutoring her in math when needed. Not associated with a color.

Linette, like Laura, is an Angelette. Kimberly is her Angel Leader, and she loves it. Her goal is to collect every badge in the catalogue before she turns 18. This will look good on her college applications. Linette wants to go into the computer sciences. She became fascinated when one of the tasks for a badge required programming a simple website. She went the extra mile and built a simple computer as well, to cover another two badges. She was hooked. She’s built her brother his computer, and Laura one. Either option as a career seems very fun. She’s been helping Trini make little automaton versions of her dolls. They do simple things like write little letters or play music or brush hair. They make people happy, and that makes Linette happy. She wants to be able to do this in a larger scale. A lot more organized and down to earth than her brother. He forgets everything; she forgets nothing. Not associated with a color

Violet Arias;

When Zack and Violet broke up, and then Violet and Billy, Trini had to wait for Violet to recover enough to want to date someone in that friend group again. Or at all. And then they both went to college on opposite sides of the country. They stayed in contact, but it wasn’t the same. Until they were video chatting on Valentine’s, and one thing led to another…and they were long distance dating, to both’s pleasant surprise. When they could finally meet again in person they had a trial run to see if they could be together as a couple, if this would work. It did, and now they have two daughters and run a paint your own pottery place, well, two. The first was so popular they opened the second one in a nearby town. Trini had Minh and was a single mom well before she and Violet got together, but Minh got used to Violet fairly quickly and adores her step mom. Billy offered to help them have a kid together, and they agreed.

Heather Arias-Kwan is eleven. She’s very spunky and opinionated. She likes painting and the pottery (she helped make the little kiln god that her moms use for their kiln when she was a lot younger-you can see her thumbprints in the little guy if you look closely). Trini loves how helpful Heather is, and Heather loves doing tai chi with her in the park each morning before going to school. She’s always scribbling little poems to paint onto cups or plates, and practicing drawing birds or flowers for her projects. She’s often getting into shenanigans when she sees something she wants to use for inspiration, the law does not apply when she wants to take a picture or take a leaf or flower.

Finster kidnapped her once. Nobody knows what he was intending because when they found them she was happily making clay figures in a corner and he was painting ones she’d finished. They only know he was going to do something as he said he’d changed his mind. This, rightfully, freaked out Violet. She and Trini are both a little worried that Heather might want to go back for the magic life giving clay. Not associated with a color. Kept a closer eye on than before after Finster. Hasn’t noticed this yet, she’s too busy doing other things. The attention has led to some friction between Trini and Violet, however. Violet still isn’t a huge fan of the rangers, and doesn’t like the fact this is putting their kid in danger. Trini understands and agrees to a point, but she had told Violet she used to be a ranger; Violet walked into this with eyes open.

Marge (last name unknown);

Trini, Billy, and Marge went to the same camp as kids, and became friends. This unfortunately resulted in Skull hating her. Trini never thought to ask why, until Marge had a lesbian awakening, and stopped trying to ask Billy to different dances. Trini confronted Bulk and Skull over the years long jealousy campaign, and got them to apologize to Marge, tagging along to make sure they did. Marge was having a hard time with her parents so the apology meant a lot. And the fact Trini got them to make the apology meant even more. They got together once Marge had found a somewhat stable place to live to finish school, and had worked on coming to terms with some things a little. After being mistaken for the blue ranger and being rescued by Trini, she loosened up a lot more, and started helping with Bulk and Skull’s podcast. Mostly script writing and holding the camera.

She realized she didn’t want to go to college for a career her parents had picked out for her, and got a vocation degree for plumbing, and then later a community college degree for business. She has a small fleet of plumbers, and Trini, and two adopted boys, and they’re all happy.

Tyar and Francis are international adoptions, Tyar from Indonesia and Francis from England. Tyar was adopted as a toddler, and Francis was adopted at ten. They’re seventeen and fifteen, respectively. Francis got to be ringbearer at his new moms’ wedding, which was cool, and Tyar was Trini’s “second best” man; Zack was official best man for her, to help Tyar with his duties while still letting him be important.

Tyar likes his new brother, though it’s taking some getting used to not being the only child. The adjustment has led to some friction between them, with the two having wildly different personalities. Tyar is the yellow ranger of his team, and this doesn’t help with the friction. He can’t just tell Francis, plus Francis doesn’t really like the insanity of the rangers and monsters and supernatural forces. So Francis is left with his own assumptions about Tyar and constantly disappearing, and Tyar’s just trying to keep everything balanced. He’s a huge horror movie buff, and works at the movie theater. To help the theater with extra income, Friday nights are Freaky Flic nights. They play a small selection of old classics, and a mystery horror movie. Given his tastes, only the really brave who know him buy the tickets to the mystery horror movie. He likes his horror gory and bleak. He’s very good in English class, and gym, and wants to be a screenplay writer one day. He’s already got one he’s working on. Everyone Dies At The End. A slasher comedy. The one thing he and Francis can agree on is their favorite band, Hart and the Bonez. Francis about lost his mind when he found out Kimberly Hart and the Skullovitch brothers were friends with their moms, and that’s definitely fun.

Francis is a livewire with a short fuse who doesn’t have any patience for the utter insanity in this new town. His new brother for the past year or so has been disappearing whenever monsters show up, monsters are a thing, space villains are a thing, hell is apparently a thing…that’s concerning…He’s trying to get a summer job, and is looking for something that doesn’t have anything to do with monsters or his brother. Considering working at the music shop. He knows a lot about violins, and music, and would love to work at the store and maybe tutor kids. He’s pretty sure Tyar is in love with one of the monsters to the point of embarrassment; why else would he disappear whenever the guy showed up? He’s trying to figure out a tactful way to set them up so maybe Tyar can stop flaking on other stuff in the name of his crush. As for Francis, he just wants a week without silly, please. It’s been hard acclimating to being a brother the last few years and this has made it harder.

Matthew Cook;

Trini smacked sense into him after the upteenth pity party. She also forced him to come along for a mission in space with the Solar Rangers. He wanted to be let in on the whole thing? Fine! They could do that! Welcome to space Matt, everyone you meet is going to die or kill you! Have fun!

After, he put the dagger up, and he and Trini actually talked about what happened on the moon. She also retired from being a ranger, and they focused on taking a page from Bulk and Skull; being helpful as civilians. Matt asked Trini to marry him, and Trini said no. They made a game of it for a few years before she finally did say yes, when they were both financially stable.

They have Minh, and do foster parenting. Currently fostering JJ Oliver, due to unforeseen events leading to both Tommy and Kat unable to care for their kid for the time being. It’s hard being s foster family, but it’s nice being able to see the kids go back to their parents or move on to hopefully better situations. Matt’s at peace, and Trini is too. Trini is a plane mechanic; Matt is a fireman.

Eugene Skullovitch;

He kept asking her out until she agreed to go out with him. And actually had a nice time. So she humored him again, and again, it was nice. They weren't seeing seeing each other though, and both of them had their kids around the same time. Skull had Spike, and Trini had Minh, and they liked each other fine and loved each other's kids. They had one more, together. August Kwan. He's thirteen, and a complete introverted social butterfly. He loves showing off and gushing about his interests but he hates dealing with too many people for too long. He's really into piano, like Skull. A composer for video game music sounds like a really fun profession, so maybe when he's older he'll work towards that. But he's thirteen, he's got time. He has a stuffed animal he's been attached to since he was two, is half convinced stuffed animal is sentient, and carries it around in his hoodie or backpack. He's not ready to let it go, and Trini fully understands, supports, and gets this. When he's ready, Banjo the seal plushy, will be put beside her own childhood doll Ticklesneezer. Skull's following along with the gentle parenting; he's a bit out of his depth but he appreciates and loves that their kids are being actively supported. He's working on it, and so far the kids aren't traumatized, so something must be working.

Farkas Bulkmeier;

in one au she's a surrogate mom for Bulk and Tommy, but in another, Bulk and Trini got together after Minh's dad left the picture. Bulk had experience with helping a single parent, and Trini was extremely grateful. Minh loved him, and loved when Spike came over. Bulk and Trini had one more kid together when Minh was around six. Rue Kwan. currently aged 17. Minh is going into law, and Rue is considering being a private detective. Or a rocket scientist. Both would be equally fun challenges. Rue's a quick thinker, and rather politely sassy. She's got a dry sense of humor but her comebacks are scathing and legendary. Rue's on the heavier side, and this leads to some self image issues sometimes, especially around valentine's or dances, though Bulk and Trini and Minh are quick to nip this in the bud as quickly as possible whenever it crops up. Rue knows her own mind, and her own opinions. She's been sent to the principle's office for getting into arguments with her teachers more than once. not associated with a color.

Zack Taylor;

They started dating in space, and it was nice. When Trini became red, it got more serious, and being with each other was always so safe, emotionally. They don’t spent a lot of time on earth, but they do have two kids. The two don’t see their kids much, Jethro, age 16 and Avery, age 15 are on earth and do school on earth. They see their parents on holidays when they can, but mostly live with Kim. They have very distant relationships with their parents, even if they wish their parents would retire. They partially retired until both of them were in Junior High, which makes it extra tough. It feels a little like an abandonment, even if it isn’t.

Jethro is not really open to his parents, and has a better relationship with Kim. He wants to be a DJ, and does DJ’ing stuff for school dances and parties. Annoyed by his parents, has a ton of friends, prefers his friends. He likes Kim just fine, and everyone else. He just thinks his parents are using their duties as an excuse to get out of raising their kids. Jethro tries to avoid talking about his parents and what they do. He’s got his own things to do, they have theirs.

Avery loves her parents. She misses them dearly and wants them to come home. She’s become a bit of a people pleaser, swallowing down anxiety or unhappiness so nobody worries. She worries about them, a lot, and wishes they’d just stay home with their kids, who love them. While she doesn’t get why her parents are always in space, she knows they are doing important work saving people, and thus, tries to be understanding and patient and not worry anyone. Not associated with a color.

Kiya Kyatyl;

Trini was able to head off Kiya’s ptsd breakdown in regards to Tommy Oliver by explaining as they got to earth Drakkon’s never get past being a green ranger, and their Tommy’s currently a white ranger. She has no idea if she’s telling the truth but Kiya clung to this as a lifeline and Trini let her. The two got very close during their time as teammates, and very very close during the Eltaran War. They got together shortly after and now, they have a kid.

Kyrok, another orphan from Khoodjah. They went back briefly to see if things had gotten better, they hadn’t, and there was a young boy in need of rescuing. Kyrok reminded Kiya of her brother, and a little of Trini. They rescued him at eight, he is currently 24. He hasn’t set foot on Khoodjah since, but they all live on Mirinoi.

Kyrok is a bit of an animal lover, and wants to specialize in veterinary for alien animals. His moms are fairly encouraging of the idea, and Trini has suggested he first start with earth animals as earth has some of the widest varieties of animals. Kiya is a bit apprehensive of the idea as, while she doesn’t want to put Tommy’s head on a spike, she still doesn’t fully trust the man. And he lives on earth. But, it would make Kyrok happy, and he knows how to take care of himself. He’s good at hand to hand combat, and lock picking. He can mimic voices fairly well as well as throw his voice (this was deemed as witchcraft on Khoodjah unfortunately, hence his needing to be rescued). Clever and smart and a bit introspective. He’s a bit shy, but he likes new experiences. Doesn’t like sweets, and loves thunderstorms. Not associated with a color.

Richie (last name unknown);

Trini kept falling for this mysterious guy. He was a new student, he was sweet, he always knew the right thing to say to make her whole day. And then Tommy got sick, and lost Green due to Lord Zedd. And suddenly Trini never noticed Richie where the new white ranger was. And when he came back after the fight, it was similar excuses to the ones she often used. Suddenly, it made sense why he worked at the juice bar as a second job. It was a favorite target and the favorite spot of the rangers. Plus, in the white server outfit, he could easily hide the fact he always wore white as part of his work clothes.

Trini confronted him, and he came clean; he WAS the white ranger, but it was only temporary. He was just helping out until Tommy was alright again. Trini was a bit mad he hadn’t said anything, though couldn’t really hold it against him. This was probably for safety reasons as Zedd wanted the white ranger’s power as well as the green. Richie eventually gave the white ranger powers to Tommy, and Trini gave the yellow ranger powers to Aisha. They started dating once they were no longer rangers. They have three children. Isolde, Tobin, and Kai.

Isolde is 27, and she runs a food truck. A little bit of a disaster person, but nobody can say no to her Vietnamese food truck with boba tea. There’s lines for it. She loves it. It gets her everywhere in town, she hears all the interesting gossip, and she can just go to where the people are instead of hope they come to her. Richie gave her the idea, and she’s never not going to be thankful to her dad over it. It’s just when she’s not running the food truck is when things go wonky. Everyone keeps mistaking her as the new ranger showing up in town and she really really isn’t. This is not something that’s going on. She’s not getting involved, no sir. She does, however, sell to any of the villains and rangers who want to get food after the fights. There’s a no fighting by the truck policy she holds to, and it has led to some…interesting scenarios. The spoiled rotten prince of the invading army proposed, as one example. She told him no. He suggested marrying his sister. While sweet even if he was thinking with his stomach…She had to explain what aromantic and asexual was and why she wasn’t going to just marry either of them-and yes lart if it was them attempting to invade earth-but gave them a special discount. This is bragging rights, in any case. Not associated with a color but everyone thinks she’s the Amber ranger running around town. Her parents worry, of course, bur she’s smart and resourceful. She knows how to stay out of situations. Or handle them if she’s in them.

Tobin is 25 and he is the Amber ranger running around town. He feels bad letting his sister get the eyes pointed at her, but it keeps the eyes off of him. It’s imperative he doesn’t let anyone know who he is right now, and so it’s easier if everyone thinks it’s her. He works at the radio station, and the Ranger Eyes program lets civilians call in to the radio to report sightings. He uses this to his upmost advantage. He’s helping a friend, and he’s not going to stop helping a friend. He’s pretty sure Richie has guessed but as his dad isn’t saying anything outright…he feels he’s ok. Calm, collected, charming, unpredictable in fights and doing his best to remain mysterious even though he’s the worst at keeping secrets. Has threatened the two brats attempting to take over the planet for “hitting on the nice food truck woman when she clearly isn’t interested”. That’s his sister, and he’s mad they even tried. However even if he could say anything she’d probably laugh at him, which he knows, but..still. It’s the principle of the thing. Is also trying VERY HARD not to think about how Isolde probably would have taken either two up on it if she wasn’t asexual or aromantic.

Kai is nineteen and is a complete book nerd. High Fantasy his preferred genre, and he runs a d&d group at a friend’s comic store. They’re playing a home brew campaign he’s like, eighty percent certain is based off the current exploits of the newest ranger team. Kai often has to be dragged out of his apartment to do things by siblings or parents when he’s not at the comic store, and he works for his sister at the food truck. He doesn’t have a lot of friends but he’s of the opinion of quality over quantity. Who needs a lot of bad friends when you can have one to three good close friends? Kai wants to develop his own indie video game one day; he just doesn’t know what to make it about. Yet. He’s confident he’ll come up with an idea, and soon.

In a tangential au, Minh is middle sibling, and Richie got Saba after Tommy got the dragon coin working again. Richie and Trini were both killed by Robo Rita. Trini trying to protect an injured Richie who couldn’t move from the spot due to a broken leg. Which leads to Zack and Billy protecting and looking out for and after four young adults with attitude.

In another tangential au, Richie isn’t a ranger at all, nor was he ever. He was confused when Trini confronted him, and it turns out it was Tommy all along. Trini apologies to Richie, who accepts the apology and is the reason Trini ultimately walks away from rangerdom for good. They have their four kids, are happy, and nobody dies.

[witchesoz]

Oz the Great and Powerful: Script VS Movie (1)

If you haven’t kept up with my updates: a long time ago, soon after the release of “Oz: The Great and Powerful”, I heard about one of the original script for the project being passed around the Internet. A script that showed how the movie was originally conceived, a script that showed a movie that was originally much closer to the world of Baum’s books than the final movie, a scrip that actually was better and much less flawed than the movie we ended up with.

At the time I had searched for this script, to no avail, but now, after so many years, I finally found it! And… yes, the script I got to read is actually better than the actual movie (mind you, it still has some flaws, because it was still a script-in-progress, but it also lacked a lot of the problems of the movie) and much closer to Baum’s books. In fact, reading this script while looking at the side at the finished movie is a wild experience – not only do they end up feeling like two different movies with the same plot, but also… the actual movie feels almost like a caricature of the original script. As if someone read the script, went “Let’s add as much stereotypes as we could, and twist the characters so that they became annoying instead of interesting, and let’s reinterpret what the script says in the most negative way possible” and we ended up with this movie, that would be someone’s wrong re-interpretation of the script… But anyway, I’ll let you judge by yourself, because I will break down the differences between the script and the movie.

I) In Kansas

Right ahead, the opening scene. In the movie we have this long sequence that starts with Oscar seducing his new assistant, scenes insisting on him being an unfaithful lying womanizer breaking the heart of all girls, and we are shown how his show is just shoddy tricks and fake magic, with an insistence on the “scam” nature of his show with the whole “girl in a wheelchair” thing. In the original script? NONE OF THAT! The script begins actually with Oscar in the middle of his own show – which is actually a pretty decent and impressive magic show. We begin with Oscar choosing someone in the audience to handcuff him solidly, and then asks the man what time it is – the man looks at his wrist, but his watch is gone, and then Oscar hands him his watch, with his magically un-cuffed hands. And then he proceeds to do a series of “transformations” by having an egg appear in his hand, that turns into a rabbit, then into a dove… Standard but impressive magic tricks. And the thing is that the audience, despite the show being good, is left unimpressed by it. Unphased. Oscar even has to use his ventriloquism to invent enthusiastic audience voices in front of the deafening silence (oh yes, because that’s another point the script took from the book – Oscar is a very good ventriloquist). As the script says, the main problem here Is that Oscar is an “unappreciated artist”, whose magic tricks do not impress an imagination-less audience.

And so, in front of magic tricks doing poorly, Oscar turns to his second business… basically snake oil selling. Given his magic show doesn’t do anything, he starts promoting and selling a fake elixir called “HOME” – the Homeopathic Ontological Miracle Elixir – and there he gets a TON of money and a huge success. This is another good point of the script – it shows that Oscar/Oz isn’t a scam by default, unlike the greedy jerk we see in the movie. The script establishes well that Oscar needs to do scams because his natural talent and initial projects do not work.

As a nod to the MGM movie there is a “Mr. Gulch” in the audience of Oscar’s show plus oil snake sale, in charge of the local bank, and there is also a couple known as the “Hamilton”, with the wife being called “Margaret”. A not-so-subtle nod to the actress of the Wicked Witch of the West in the MGM movie… But an homage that actually would have been REALLY offensive and of poor taste if it had ever been done. You’ll get why when I describe the character of “Mrs. Hamilton”. For you see, Mrs. Hamilton is a very attractive woman that was the only one who applauded when Oscar did his magic tricks, while Mr. Hamilton is a stern, no-nonsense, unhappy man who spends more time with his friends than his wife and is just as unimpressed by Oscar’s tricks as the rest of the audience. And as Mr. Hamilton leaves Mrs. Hamilton alone, she quickly joins Oscar for a passionate embrace. For you see, Oscar is Mrs. Hamilton’s extra-marital lover. We have still the “philanderer” aspect of Oscar there, but interestingly it is downplayed a lot. We do not see him interacting with any other women, we know of his seducing nature by secondary hints. More importantly, the character of Mrs. Hamilton is basically a mix-up of all the conquests of Oscar in the final movie, from the circus girls to Annie. I’ll explain… Mrs. Hamilton has affairs with Oscar whenever he comes to Kansas with the carnival/circus/fair he is part of, and she apparently truly loves him unlike her husband – but she also is aware that he has other “girls” he has adventures with during his tours, and is quite fine with it, especially since as Oscar puts it, all the other girls are just “bauble” compared to the true “jewel” that is Margaret, the only reason he even comes in Kansas anymore. So, while not a perfect relationship, we still have something much more “balanced” somehow than we have in the movie. In the movie, Oscar is a man unable to commit the woman he truly loves and that loves him in return, and would rather abandon her to another than straighten himself up and stop his scheming, devious ways – plus, a man that literally pushes love aside for his dream of glory and being the “greatest man of them all” AND a man that keeps his true loved one in the complete ignorance of his other sexual relationships with women. But in the script? We have a man that is honest with his true loved one about having meaningless sexual affairs when far away from her, and she understands it because she herself is married and cannot be in a full relationship with him, all the while they keep reassuring each other that they do love each other, but that their life conditions prevent them from being together full time and dooms them to occasional times of secret love. Of course, the fact that the whole “lies and scams girls to sleep with them” part is not in the original script also helps – since in the script, Oscar keeps winning the heart of women due to his natural charm, eccentric charisma and random acts of kindness.

The other main change brought to the character, and a very important one, would be the motivations of Oscar. In the movie, Oscar’s whole goal is, in his own words, to become a great, rich and famous man, the greatest wizard ever known – he pursues ambition. He puts career before anything, he is selfishly acting always and only for himself, and he has hatred for honest work and poorness due to seeing his father dying “his face in the dirt” as he worked to the bone to survive. If used well, this motivation could have created a “lovable rogue” character, but unfortunately in the movie Oscar just comes off as a selfish greedy jerk and there is nothing lovable about him. In the script? Oh boy, that’s night and day! The reason Oscar refuses to stay in Kansas despite Mrs. Hamilton’s insistence, is because he actually searches for a “great land”. He doesn’t care about being a great man, in fact during his explaining sections he rarely uses “me” or “I” (unlike the movie character who is all “me me me me”) – he explains that his hatred of Kansas is due to how dull, grey and empty the land and its people are, and upon seeing his father die “face in the dirt”, he didn’t develop a hatred of an humble life and hard work like in the movie, but he rather developed a hatred of Kansas as the land that “grinded to dust” his good father of a man. Oscar’s only goal, and the reason he keeps travelling and he doesn’t settle anywhere, is because he is looking for a land of “color and light and life”, a land of beauty and marvels. He does dream of fortune and glory yes, but only as a side-effect of finding the “perfect land”. Basically, Oscar’s original character was that of a dreamer trying to escape desperately the dreary and grim world he comes from – he was basically a parallel to Dorothy in the original MGM movie, or even better, he was a depiction of what an escapist dreamer like Dorothy could end up in the “wrong” side, if pushed to a more extreme. A man forced into selling snake oil to fuel his dreams, and who lives so much in his dreams that he cannot settle even for the woman he loves. It isn’t that he thinks of him before anyone else, like in the movie, but rather that he is such an extreme optimist that he literally believes there is some paradise on earth waiting somewhere, and that he can reach it one way or another.

Now, Mr. Hamilton and his friends end up discovering Oscar in an embrace with Mrs. Hamilton, and this leads to the chase scene present in the finished movie, but with a few differences. Mrs. Hamilton herself helps Oscar escape ; the other members of the circus (the “freaks and roundabouts”) also help Oscar in his chase, because apparently they are used to him being hunted down by angry husbands, but still like him enough to come to his help ; and finally, instead of having obstacles everywhere he runs, the original script called for a whole set of cartoony acrobatics, as Oscar would have escaped through the big tent, using trapezes and trampolines, before finding the balloon. You see, there is a real “comedy” aspect to the script. In fact, when reading the original characterization of Oz/Oscar, I couldn’t help but have a “Pirate of the Caribbean” vibe – as in, he seems to have made into a sober and less unhinged version of Captain Jack Sparrow. Another part of the script that shows its flows: as he gets into the balloon, Frank, Oscar’s assistant, throws him his hat – just like in the finished movie. But in this script… this is the first and only apparition of Frank, who isn’t even named by the dialogue, and the only indication of who he is and what his relationship to Oscar is, is found in the notes of the scripts. If shot as indicated, it would just be a random man throwing Oscar his hat. This is something that was definitively corrected in the movie, by having Frank’s character be presented and explored in the previous scenes – but this shows one of the bad habits of this original script, it tends to introduce characters or things very abruptly, without any actual explanation or presentation of who they are supposed to be.

II) Arrival in Oz

The whole “tornado” sequence is also very different in the original script. Already it isn’t a true tornado that sweeps up Oscar’s balloon, but rather a heavy and violent storm. And unlike in the movie, where Oscar is terrified and whimpers for his life, begging whatever God there is to spare him while promising to “change”… the script Oscar’s actually enters into a King Lear-like defiance (the scripts’ words) and starts shouting “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Blow!” while confronting the “deathswirl” of thunder, lightning, violent winds and heavy rains.

No “floating” scene like in the movie, and Oscar doesn’t actually arrive immediately into the beautiful scenery of Oz: in the original script, Oscar first arrives above the Deadly Desert, an endless spread of sun-scorched sand, and in front of this place, Oscar starts panicking when he realizes he has no food or drinks. He actually briefly considers killing himself with his pistol (yeah, it had quite some dark parts), but then ditches the idea way by saying he was in “worst predicaments” before – though he later admits to himself he can’t think of any worst predicament on the top of his head. Overall it is a sort of dark-humor which, as you can see, helped in the feeling of a more “Jack Sparrow-like” Oscar. As his engine starts dying out, Oscar insults it and there he has regrets – but due to the shift of goals from the character, instead of regretting “not having accomplished great things”, this Oscar regrets all the things he will never see “Paris and India” and all the great landmarks of the world.

However Oscar is suddenly save by gusts of hot winds from the desert, which sent him above cold, snowy mountains, and then over a rainbow (heavy MGM nod – I also forgot to say Oscar tells the line “I’ve a feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore” while above the desert) and finally he arrives in a fantastical, marvelous Oz… But here’s the twist. It is a yellowish landscape. And as he falls in a river, like in the movie, he is greeted not by Theodora, but by a bunch of odd people all wearing different shades and hues of yellow, while “looking and sounding a lot like the Winkie Guards from the original movie”. Yep, Oscar is actually greeted by the Winkies themselves, who start shouting and cheering, heralding him as the Great Wizard and their Savior, and telling him he is here to defeat the “Wicked Witch”. Before the shocked Oscar can have more explanations from the bowing Winkies, Theodora actually arrives – and she arrives carried by two winged monkeys. Yep, that’s another change from the original script: instead of the “winged baboons” being depicted as the vicious servants of the Wicked Witch, here the winged monkeys are very clearly associated with the “good witches” Evanora and Theodora. Theodora’s only description is: beautiful, dressed in an open-collared white shirt, black pants, and black high-knee boots. She promptly explains to him the basic situation (she is a witch, the wicked witch has to be defeated, yada yada), but with several key differences. For example, the Wicked Witch is here clearly referenced to as “The Wicked Witch of the South” (clearly it is both playing on the MGM canon where there is no southern witch, and also a nod to book-fans about the real identity of the “wicked witch”), and Evanora is already talked about as the “Queen of Oz”. She isn’t some “royal advisor” or keeper of the throne like in the finished movie – she is introduced as the rightful queen of Oz, that the wicked witch tries to overthrow.

Unlike in the movie, where Theodora is a soft, gentle, almost shy character, the script’s Theodora is depicted as fast (quick eyes, quick movements and a lively mind, which is part of why Oscar likes her) and as very insistent – while the Winkies immediately assume he is a Wizard, she keeps asking “Are you a Wizard?”. And unlike in the movie, where Oscar, as the greedy jerk that he is, only plays in the whole Wizard thing because he hears there’s gold and a crown as a price, in the original script, Oscar goes into the whole Wizard thing without hearing about any riches or powers. He simply adores the appreciation these people have of him and his “magic”, and as the script says, the “showman” in him takes over and he decides to play the role of a great Wizard, going on a boastful rant about being a wizard of pyrotechnics and prestidigitation, and the master of illusions – and to show his magic, he does some traditional magic tricks, which impress the Winkies heavily. Oscar is too happy to have finally found people appreciating his magic for him to let go, and he even calls the Winkies an “audience” at the end. But Theodora… and this is another one of the positive “change” compared to the movie (can you call it “change” when it is retrospective, since the script came before the movie?). Theodora doesn’t care so much about the magic tricks themselves – she is not particularly amazed by them – but she pays a close attention to the way they impress the Winkies, and to how they react to the Wizard’s antics. And as she keeps insisting “Are you a Wizard?”, Oscar, not wanting to lie but not wanting to dispel his newfound glory, answers ambiguously, such as “Seeing is believing” in reference to the tricks he just performs and “I wouldn’t want to contradict a lovely lady such as yourself”.

Somehow satisfied, Theodora then, with a smile… get ready for that… sparks lightning out of her fingers to have Oscar’s balloon explode. In front of his shock, she explains that if he is indeed a great Wizard, she cannot let him go, because her sister the Queen needs too much a Great Wizard to help her defeat the Wicked Witch once and for all. She also adds that her sister, Queen of the Emerald City, is a powerful witch that can offer him anything he dreamed of or desired – to encourage him to go with her see Evanora (again, the script heavily parallels Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, with Evanora replacing the promises of the “wonderful wizard of Oz” in the original narrative. Another bit that show the original character of Oscar in the movie: even when it becomes clear he has no choice but follow Theodora, since she literally had his only mean of escape explode, he still keeps up a bravado and declares “Given your kind offer, I will cancel all planned and prior arrangements, to go speak with your sister and see if we can arrange something”.

Theodora insists on travelling by foot, much to Oscar’s indignation – cut to the broom dialogue of the movie. Theodora came carried by two winged monkeys, one is Nikko (from the MGM movie), that she sends back to Theodora with a letter she quickly wrote, and the other is Kala, who carries Oscar’s luggage – he is the equivalent of the little helpful bellhop winged-monkey from the movie I forgot the name of. Except that in this script, the winged monkeys do not speak.

III) Travel down the Yellow Brick Road

Theodora, Oscar and Kala first go through farmlands with “curious-looking houses almost shaped like faces” (a nod to the original illustrations of the Oz houses, from the Baum books), and as they do Theodora explains the whole story of the wicked witch, and due to the shift of power relationships it is quite different from the one we get in the movie. In the original script, Theodora’s story is that the Wicked Witch of the South was an evil sorceress, daughter of the previous king of Oz, himself a powerful wizard and evil king. Despite Evanora being Queen of Oz, she needs all the help she can to fight the Wicked Witch of the South (and this help is resumed to Theodora herself, and the “good people of Oz”) – and finally we get the little fact that Evanora and the Wicked Witch used to be very good friends, but they had no idea “how wicked wickedness could be, and how friendship could be betrayed”.

They arrive in front of a large, wild river, and Theodora uses leaves from a strange bush growing nearby – by rubbing them on people’s feet or shoes, it allows one to walk over water. And while Theodora walks “like a queen”, majestic, Oscar is noted to laugh like a child as he tries to walk on water, slipping like a baby giraffe taking its first steps. This is one of the main differences with the movie-Oscar: script-Oscar actually keeps being amazed and having fun in Oz, truly loving all the wonders and magic of the land, like… well like a child, as I said before. It is only after they crossed the large river that they finally arrive at the Yellow Brick Road – and there Oscar is amazed to discover that the road is paved with pure gold. Theodora just replies “Don’t they have roads, where you come from?” (gold apparently being of no real value in Oz), and Oscar promptly takes off one of the bricks from the road, keeping it from his pocket and justifying his actions by “scientific purposes” – he claims he wants to check if it isn’t the “fool’s gold”, this fake gold produced by alchemists to scam people (that’s a real thing, you can check it out). Down the Yellow Brick Road, they arrive at the “Enchanted Apple Orchard”, a nod to the apple tree segment of the MGM movie – Theodora says that if Oscar wants to take an apple, he has to ask politely the trees first, and while he does so dubitatively, the tree then shakes its branch to let apples fall at his feet so he can eat them. We also get a brief line where Theodora reveals that witches do not need to eat to survive.

We then get to the night scene by the campfire, like in the movie, and here the fire was started by lightning shot out of Theodora’s fingers – in the script Theodora’s element clearly isn’t fire but lightning, and there is also no mention of any glowing ring she might have (unlike the movie where witches power come from gems they wear). Now, Oscar does the whole “give her a music box and offers her to dance” thing from the movie, but there are MAJOR differences. Difference on Oscar’s side, as there is no “this was my grandmother” lie, or any lie at all – he just gives her the music box, and when Theodora asks him why, he explains that he just wanted to make her a gift. It is a random act of kindness, nothing more, with no ulterior motif. And there is also a major difference when it comes to Theodora’s character. As I said previously, the original Theodora was far from the shy, quiet, naïve character is in the movie. She is quiet in the script – but because she is calm, majestic and constantly analyzing the situation. It is notably made clear that she keeps observing Oscar through their travels and trying to figure out what his “deal” is. And when he shows her then offers her the music box, it is the first time she actually shows genuine emotion – a childlike wonder and delight that cracks the cold and statuesque mask she put on. This makes the line “No one ever gave me something because they wanted to” line from the movie much more impactful, as we actually see a cold Theodora warming up to a true act of kindness – and during the dance scene, it is made clear that not only has she never danced with a man before, but the script insists she probably has never touched or been in the presence of a man for this much. Which leads her to get so nervous, when the music box stops she goes into the woods to “collect fire fuel”, just to calm herself all alone.

And here we get a whole new scene, that isn’t present in the final movie, and truly puts things in another perspective. As she is alone in the woods, Theodora is caught up by Nikko, returning with a letter from Evanora, asking her sister to make sure the Wizard is a real wizard. And so to test it, Theodora takes a rabbit in the woods… and transforms it into a ferocious lion she then orders to attack the Wizard. Oscar, in front of a wild lion, while all alone, first pushes it back by making a torch out of the fire, then by using his pistol (the one we saw earlier during his consideration of suicide). He merely wounds the animal, which retreats, and Theodora later returns as if she had been away and knew nothing of the situation. Upon hearing the tale of Oscar, she marvels at such a strangely-shaped “wand” (the pistol), and Oscar, in his bravado, explains he is used to fight off lion where he comes from, and that if he could he would have wrestled him with his bare hands… all while hiding his actual hands, trembling with fear, away from Theodora’s eyes. We also learn that the pistol only had one bullet, so now is completely useless, and… oh yeah, and the lion Oscar wounded is actually the Cowardly Lion. This info is dropped in the notes of the script, and this is another flaw of the writing here – in effect, in neither the dialogues nor the visuals, we do not know it is supposed to be the Cowardly Lion, and if the scene was shot it would not be known except for reading the script. Whoever wrote this scenario forgot that sometimes you need to include info in ways that the audience will know, not just the director.

IV) Meeting Evanora

Finally, our team arrives in the central land of Oz – which is said to be “brown-hued” and they see the Emerald City, described as “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle on steroids”. Interestingly, there is a heavy insistence on dreams in this script – from the Wizard claiming roads paved with gold only existed in dreams, to here reacting in front of the City by saying “I saw this before… In one of my dreams.”. As they go down the Yellow Brick Road, they are surprised by boulders in the field nearby suddenly moving and revealing themselves to be the turtle-shell-shaped shields of an army of gnomes, “short, squat, fierce-looking warriors with skin the color and texture of stone and beards so long they tie them around their waist” and armed with all sorts of broadswords, cutlasses and battle-axes… And as they appear, on the surrounding hillside, other creatures appear – Growleywogs, “silent, half-clad, eight-foot-tall Aboriginals armed with knives, bows, arrows and spears” (*cough cough* maybe it’s a good thing this part got lost) and Whimsies “distinguished by their extraordinarily broad shoulders and enormous crazy-colored papier-mache Mardi Gras masks, wearing over their undersized heads. As you can see, this is a true feast for any book fan.

But much to Oz’s surprise, Theodora explains that these savage warriors are actually here merely to escort them to her sister, Evanora – and they form a march around them, chanting “Oh-we-oh, yo ho!”. The interesting thing with this script is that, unlike with the movie, they didn’t try to make us entirely believe that Evanora and Theodora were purely good before their turn to wickedness, and they didn’t try to play the “Oh, the wicked witch of the west is somewhere, but where?”. Instead, the original script approach was to present these two characters, Theodora and Evanora, that appear good to Oz, but clearly are much more morally ambiguous to the viewer, and who are promptly guessed as the Wicked Witches – from Theodora making the balloon burst into flames, to her testing the Wizard magic with a lion that could have killed him… And another early scene that shows the discrepancy between what Oscar as a character knows and what the audience knows: arriving in the magnificent and beautiful city, Oscar and Theodora are cheered on by all the citizens of the City, who play music and throw rose petals and applaud. The script insists that the citizens of Oz are actually formed of inhabitants taken from the four corners of Oz: Winkies and Munchkins, Gillikins and Quadlings, all dressed “in different regional colors, and all enthusiastically waving green and white flags and pennants”. Oscar is said to “eat up” and wave back at the crowd like a “returning war hero or a campaign politician”… but the audience actually get to see what Oscar doesn’t see – the fact that the palace guards of Evanora, “uniformed bully-boys”, keep passing behind the crowd, making sure the citizens are cheering the wizard’s entrance with “enough gusto”, and overall giving the audience a strong sense that all is not what it quite seems in the Merry Old Land of Oz… (Funnily we also get here the line “What, no fireworks?” from Oscar, delivered to a confused Theodora who asks “What are fireworks?”

Escorted by Theodora, still “grand and glorious”, Oscar finally meets Evanora, Queen of Oz, sitting on the Emerald Throne – older than Theodora, but no less attractive, with a “powerful presence” and “penetrating gaze”. Evanora, curious and amused at the sight of the Wizard, notes that he does not kneel in front of her, and Oz answers that he is American “and Americans kneel to no one”. Evanora, delighted by the Wizard’s character, has him escorted by Munchkin maids to his chambers, and once she is alone with Theodora, she reveals that she saw everything that happened since the Wizard’s arrival in his crystal ball (just like in the movie – and Theodora is also clearly aware of her sister’s surveillance, since earlier she seemed to spoke to her sister despite her not being there, and now it is revealed that it was because she knew she was watching their every move). Evanora also has a “big sister” moment with Theodora, as she points out she noticed how Theodora grew to like the Wizard, and how he “likes” her in return. Theodora is almost blushing and can’t look at her sister in the eyes… And then we are dropped the frightening lines of Evanora: “And who can blame you? You’re still so young… and you still have feelings, don’t you?”. After this ominous line implying that Evanora doesn’t have any feelings anymore herself, she reassures Theodora that she did the right thing by bringing the Wizard here.

After Oscar enjoyed his private chambers and a large meal, he has a private chat with Evanora who, just like in the movie, goes to show her the “Room of Resplendence”, the Crown Jewels of Oz, enormous piles of gemstones and jewels. And just like in the movie, Evanora is trying to play on Oscar’s greed, as she heard from her sister that he liked “shiny things” (a nod to the Yellow Brick incident). But there are some differences here and there in the scene… Such as how Evanora actually slips word about how “pretty” her sister is and how she is fond of the Wizard (clearly trying to put them together), and also how the treasury is actually guarded by both guards AND a curtain of fire that Evanora needs to make disappear by magic (plus a stout wooden door with iron bands and multiple locks that Evanora also opens by magic, with just a wave of her hand).

But then… Things take a dark turn and we go away from the movie’s chronology. Evanora presents to Oz an artefact known as the “Diamond Dagger” – a six inches blade of razor-sharp steel, with a cross guard of filigreed gold, and a hilt encrusted in glittering diamonds. And Evanora says that he will inherit the treasury of Oz if he kills the “Wicked Witches”. Oscar is confused, as he only knew of one Wicked Witch. And Evanora reveals to him that her own sister, Theodora, is actually a Wicked Witch herself, secretly conspiring with the Wicked Witch of the South. Evanora insists that Oscar must use the Diamond Dagger to kill Theodora, and that Theodora only brought him to the city in hope of tricking him into killing her and become the new Queen. She seems convinced that Theodora offered the Wizard to share the crown in exchange for this murder, but Evanora warns him that after obtaining what she wanted, the seducing Theodora will “eat you like a spider”. And as Evanora dematerialize, fading into nothing, she declares “Prove to me you’re the Wizard you say you are, the Wizard we’ve all been waiting for. Kill my sister, then together you and I will defeat the Witch of the South once and for all. Kill my sister, Wizard – and you’ll be King.”

Now, Oz is deeply confused, and he tried to explain to Evanora she was wrong, to no avail. So, hiding the Dagger in his belt and understanding the danger Theodora is in, he promptly goes to her home and tries to convince her to leave the City… But before he can anything else, Evanora promptly appears in Theodora’s room – forming herself out of a moving shadow that was sliding along the wall. Using her magic, Evanora pushes Oscar against the wall and uses some telekinesis to choke him so he can’t speak, and she plays a Reverse Uno card on him. She pretends she is saving Theodora’s life, that Oscar was sent by the Witch of the South to murder her, and she uses the Diamond Dagger he has on him as a proof. Theodora, shocked but unable to truly believe her sister’s accusations, is flabbergasted – and it doesn’t help that Oscar has been knocked out cold by Evanora’s magic. However, playing the card of the subtlety, Evanora agrees that maybe she is wrong – maybe he wasn’t sent by the Witch of the South, but by another, or maybe he wanted to act on his own… and to make sure she isn’t acting “unfairly” here, she promises she will interrogate the Wizard tomorrow and get the truth out of him. But upon seeing Theodora’s horrified face, we understand that for Evanora “interrogating” means something truly awful.