#though also actually this has been a very gruelling process and maybe it's ok to do comforting and familiar things

[carpe-mamilia]

Tagged by @notyouraveragejulie - thank you!

Favourite colour: blue. Pretty much every article of clothing I own that isn't theatre blacks for backstage is either blue or horizontal stripes or both

Currently reading: Alice Through the Looking Glass, because I re-read Wonderland when we were doing the opera

Last song: Two Worlds (Ebn-Hakia's aria from Iolanta). I have to say that Fedora largely left me cold, but Iolanta is Tchaikovsky and therefore has some bops

Last series: just binged Yonderland again, also showed my assistant Detectorists when she came to stay with me while we were doing alterations

Sweet, savoury or spicy? Would have to go with savoury. There are so many sweets and cakes around backstage, which is very nice and all but does make you rather long for a toastie

Currently working on: Iolanta, the last of the three operas I have been working on as Costume Supervisor this summer. It's been bloody hard work but the end is now in sight, and honestly this one is about a hundred times easier than the other two for various reasons. Assorted pics of Fedora and Alice in Wonderland (by Laima Arlauskaite) below since we haven't had the photos from the Iolanta dress rehearsal through yet.

Tagging: @stoportotouch @fabledquill @mischieffoal @deez-no-relation @aconissa @mothlm @princessprouvaire @truthhux if you'd like to!

[pxper-cranes]

Rewrite Zenix

Ok so with the boy losing the recent polls I thought I'd come and talk about him in my rewrite. I saw others doing it too and thought hey maybe I should talk about my rewrite too, as a treat.

So basically I think that Zenix was very young when he became a shadow knight, like 16 or something.

And before we go on, Shadow Knights in my remake are called Revenants. they are born of people who feel immense negative emotions upon their death, such as fear, anger or sadness (all manifesting in different ways) or people who are killed in the nether or by another Revenant. Its a bit like an infection, once a part of Shad has touched your soul, it just kind of festers unless treated. Revenants also age MUCH slower than mortal people. They basically just age to their prime and then stop, and can only be killed by some higher magics.

So Zenix underwent this process early, and let me tell you, the process to become a revenant is gruelling. Perhaps it was from some event that happened to him, perhaps he sought it out. Point is Zenix has had it rough and ended up dying angry. Once he revived, he basically deserted the nether first chance he could, and ran into the world on his own. Soon enough, he happened upon Phoenix Drop, and looking like a scared and deathly teenager, the newly appointed head guard Garroth basically saw him and took him in immediately.

Over the next five or so years, he trained him into the Zenix that is in the series, all while not knowing his true identity and state. Zenix tried to forget it too, living happily in Phoenix Drop, but something happened after Aphmau arrived.

Zenix eventually realised that due to his pseudo immortality, he would eventually see all those he came to know in the village die, including Garroth, who by now was a very prominent father figure in his life. He knew that Garroth would be at risk living in the world as a mortal, and eventually devised a plan to use Aphmau to cause pain to Garroth (Not sure how though since in my rewrite they aren't romantic interests) with eventually the idea to put him through so much pain that he would become a revenant like Zenix, and therefore be immortal too. Zenix knows that Garroth would disapprove, but he is convinced he'd come around, even if he had to wait a century or so to be forgiven.

Now please remember that Zenix is a bit of an idiot, but he is powered by his emotions. He has been alone for a very long time, so he's latched onto Garroth like a bad cold. When he fights Aphmau in her first time in the nether and reveals himself, we learn most of the reason why he acts and what motivates him for the rest of the series, because he will show up a lot more. (I never knew what happened to him frfr) He really does care for Garroth, but his perception of care is twisted and corrupt. he doesn't really care what's best for Garroth, its just about keeping him safe and present within Zenix's life, even if he has to kill a few people to make that happen.

This is just my way of spinning an underutilised character, and who knows, I might one day rewrite MCD to a point where I separate it completely from the original source material and make it just my own thing, but that all depends of whether or not I can actually get to writing.

this actually war pretty fun, I might talk more about my MCD rewrite characters and how they differ from their original counterparts. if people want it, that is