Bonus Content - Tumblr Posts
A Cut Epilogue from "Simony"
Here, I present you with a scrapped epilogue to “Simony” that didn’t quite fit in the fic, or meld well with my characterization of Rafal. His murder of Rhian is supposed to be uncalculated and driven by unrestrained emotion, and it comes across as planned in this:
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The Evil intent, the injurious intent, festered in Rafal’s heart since Rhian had wounded him with his words at the start of the year. Rhian hadn’t paused to see how he’d hurt Rafal. To see how Evil would be useless, futile, lack all purpose to live if everyone was reformed to Good. Did Rhian ever spare a thought as to how he’d affect the other side? And look at his brother. His own brother. A revelation, Rafal thought bitterly. A walking contradiction of the waking world. In other words, for Good, not for Balance like he’d once vowed.
For the sake of the Woods, they’d better not judge by appearances again. Yet, that was how it continued, year after year. The tales became predictable, the bound tomes piling up like stones in his tower.
All the princesses were the same. Vapid but virtuous and beautiful, as beautiful as they were virtuous. It didn’t console him to know that all the lovers would become graves in time.
All the villains were the same. Rafal was more than a bit unnerved, but as such was how the tales went: they were as ugly as they were wicked, and they were woefully sore losers. Every new crop of Nevers was worse, more hideous, incompetent, and pitiable than the last. And just as unloveable as he was. Not that any love was worth the effort. Better to teach them they were incapable of love from the beginning.
"Simony" Analysis and Trivia
If anyone’s interested, this is just a look behind the curtain of my thought process surrounding “Simony,” my speculative, Fall prediction fic. Except, it takes place during Rise, if an alternate series of events were to occur. I would suggest reading my fic before reading this post if you haven't, so you aren’t confused.
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Rhian looked ethereal in the light, like a spirit. - Foreshadowing his death.
The walls behind him looked more the pure white of sugar glass, with distortions and cracks. - Imagery to represent Good’s and Rhian’s corruption.
There’s a lot of light-and-dark, black-and-white, shadow-and-sun imagery. This was intentional because I wanted a literal Halo Effect to apply to Rhian as people who are attractive are often judged as more innocent and honorable. At the same time, he’s also being backlit, so a shadow is cast on his face, to signify his turn. Additionally, when I described him from Rafal’s perspective across the room, I not only wanted to emphasize attractiveness but light that could burn out your corneas, if given the chance. Hence, how Rafal would react to the glaring light. He’d probably squint, or not be able to look at it head on. I also have in mind how when you narrow your eyes at light, you tend to see alternating flashes of red and black in your field of vision. So, that could also extend to literally “seeing red,” conveying anger.
Rafal’s figurative “death” of the soul is by burning alive. I repeatedly used the word burn and the adjacent imagery to signify this. This idea is also associated with the persecution of Evil in the tales through burning witches on pyres.
Rhian’s death is by “drowning,” in a way. He may have choked on his own blood, or I’d prefer the interpretation of Rafal’s fatal blow to the heart ending his life, to serve symbolism around matters of the heart. Rhian’s own figurative heart could have proven fatal one day, if he fell in love with someone worse. Even Vulcan was about to kill him. Also, drowning is the same fate Rafal would have had if he had lost to James Hook in the sea.
When Rafal says: “Where’s your right hand?” I originally intended for it to just be a way to ask Rhian: “Where’s your second-in-command (meaning: Dean Hook)?” The phrase right hand would have been interchangeable with any synonym. Though coincidentally, I discovered that this was an unintentionally fitting choice of words. The original Captain Hook’s right hand in Peter and Wendy was replaced by a hook, so Rhian’s figurative “right hand” has been replaced by a Hook, James Hook.
Rafal felt like he’d been impaled. - A reference to Rafal’s sacrifice in Rise.
“I fix everything.” Rafal berated. “And then what? Do I get any credit? I don’t care whether I do.” - I let Rafal be a hypocrite here because it humanizes him. (Rhian gets his hypocritical moment in the sun later. It’s meant to showcase that they’re both in the wrong.) I think it shows how skewed his perspective has become, maybe, ’cause he does want recognition? But anyway, Rafal is far gone, too steeped in his pride (and his probable superiority complex) as compared to canon Rafal.
Do you want your subordinates to hail and herald you like a martyr, Rhian? - Foreshadowing Rhian’s death, again.
To let rot and turn to dust in the storybooks. - A reference to Rafal’s demise in TLEA.
Approaching smoothly, he loomed over Rhian, and hooked his hand under Rhian’s chin, - A reference to James Hook.
“I almost drowned to know that which you don’t.” He dropped his hand, and Rhian’s head nodded forward like a sodden mass. - Drowning, heavy imagery, and the effects of Rhian's magic-induced paralysis.
Rhian quailed in Rafal’s grip. - Rafal’s bird motif.
Rafal’s suit flickered to black for a moment, burnt and blackened, a scorched figure against the white, and Rhian shook his head vaguely, as if to dislodge water. Surely, he was hallucinating. - Another reference to Rafal’s burning-to-ash death in TLEA, foreshadowing Rafal wearing all-black eventually, and drowning imagery.
He was hollow and numb, like an effigy. - A reference to how Rafal’s influence caused Sophie to feel emotionally-numb in TLEA, except this time it's his own soul cooling. Also, burning imagery in the bit about the effigy.
They were a specter of what they’d once been. - Rhian’s ghost foreshadowing.
And then, clarity in denial:
“I'm not Evil—I can't be," Rhian choked.
“And I'm not Good. I wasn’t, even when I had you.” Rafal’s finger burned with a black glow, blotting out the light in the echoing, empty room. He shot a Stun Spell at Rhian.
“I don't want to die.”
Rafal seized one of Rhian’s wrists to keep him from moving. “You’re human, Rhian,” Rafal said as he touched his brother’s face gently. “As in mortal.” He drew a dagger from his side, and held it steady above Rhian’s heart.
Did anyone catch this book 1 reference I alluded to?
This whole section is a backwards version of Agatha and Sophie’s final conversation in book 1 as Sophie dies. If it’s not a callback, then it’s a “call-forward.” First, Sophie gets over her delusions of Goodness and her denial of her Evil, at least partly by the end. Here, Rhian never has the time for that revelation. Agatha tells Sophie that she’s not Evil, she’s human, and brings her back to life. I decided to have Rafal use a spin on the familiar words. To echo them in a more sinister way because he’s paralyzed Rhian, and is about to kill him, not revive him. Thus, the meaning of human was twisted.
“No, Rafal! I forgive you. I love you,” Rhian gasped. - Time for Rhian’s hypocritical moment! He’s trying to follow the Rules (Defend. Forgive. Help. Give. Love.) again in a slapdash way because he’s desperate to bridge the rift between him and Rafal. It’s too little, too late. This was his mistake. And, he’s coming from the wrong angle because he still believes he’s in the right, and that he’s the victim. To be fair, he is now. But, if anything, what Rafal wants is an apology from him. Though, they should both apologize, really.
Rhian’s body splintered into pure, golden light, dissipating in the air. - A reference to Rhian’s soul during the Circus of Talents. Also, it seemed fitting for him to return to magic, being a sorcerer himself.
The burning, bright blue sky - The imagery of Rafal's surroundings is intended to be unsettling because I think most murders take place under dreary, bleak, overcast skies, or any time the weather is poor, for obvious mirroring of the mood. Yet, a pleasant summer sky would make it seem like Rafal’s murder was impact-less, and hopefully, it would hurt him more to see that nothing has changed, except their relationship and his own internal conflict. In fact, probably something had to stay the same to reveal the internal turmoil and the changes to Rafal’s psyche. I just thought it made for a better contrast.
his face had gone white at the black depths of his soul. - Black and white imagery. And, now, Rafal has to play both roles himself, as one School Master ruling both Evers and Nevers without anyone to mediate him. This also acts as a tribute to the swans of the School crest.
His hands were pale, shaking, and blue-veined. - A nod to James Hook’s blue blood.
Once pillars, that stood for Good and Evil. Stable and constant. - I compared the brothers to pillars because I wanted the act of fratricide to feel like an act of seismic effects/proportions, shaking the Woods to its very core, overturning all existing structures and the preconceived notions of Good and Evil.
Also, I tried to mimic the mood/tone in book 1 from that scene where rain washes the glitter out of Sophie’s skin, and Agatha leaves her, taking the umbrella or something. There’s a rift between the two, and Agatha basically refuses to help Sophie anymore until Sophie listens to her, or helps herself.
Love had burned Rafal, every time, like a sorcerer of the New tales, lashed to a stake. - Burning imagery. Foreshadowing to what Rafal believes the new tales will be like because he's secured Evil’s losing streak. Also, a reference to the New Evil regime in TLEA.
Aside from “Fear and Loathing” by MARINA which I thought fit thematically, I think “the last beautiful thing I saw is the thing that blinded me” has visceral imagery that matched the concept of my imagery. Overall, the song is haunting, cinematic, and climatic.
My foot fell upon your grave
Like a pressure point
Hidden beneath the soil
Down came sheets of pouring hail
I sheltered in a church's arch within
From the shards of glass falling so pale
And I look up, and saw the sun
It separated all the colors
And the ice, into my eyes
It fell and left me blind
That was the last thing that I saw:
The fractured glass and its downpour
I felt the blood mix with the water
And I didn't see no more
The white light features here, as well as the ice in the person’s eyes. I connected this to the figurative ice in Rafal’s eyes. Also, the last beautiful sight a person has blinding them could refer to both Rafal’s “death” and Rhian’s death. They both see the other in their final seconds together, and the remnants of their beautiful relationship before Rafal resorts to extremist actions, subscribing to the weird, self-fulfilling, tragic prophecy that he neglected to tell Rhian about.
I was tempted to include more diction with religious connotations altogether, but mostly, I left it at cathedral and martyr. I thought acolytes in place of followers would be unsubtle, and a stretch to be in character with Rafal’s brand of mocking.
I also almost kept a reference to August Sader in how Rafal could have had a thought about how his brother was under his nose this whole time, his nemesis. And, how they were in a fairy tale. Anything could happen in a fairy tale. But, it felt too intentional, like he had a plan, and reasoning to back it up. So, it had to be cut. Rafal’s decision to kill Rhian was meant to be more of a split-second, impulsive one.
The Brothers' and the School Masters' Futures & Trivia
Note:
I would suggest reading my role reversal fic, "Masters of None," featuring an AU in which Rhian and Rafal are young, kidnapped, Reader students and Sophie and Agatha are the School Masters, before reading this post as this post may be confusing if you haven't.
Here are links to the fic on:
tumblr
AO3
Wattpad
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A Q&A about the characters' futures.
When I posted this fic to another site, I got some questions about the brothers' and the School Masters' futures, and since I have no plans to write a sequel to this fic at the moment, I offered answers about their and other characters' futures. So, if you're interested, that bonus content is ahead!
Also, thank you to everyone who asked questions! If anyone has further questions, feel free to comment them below.
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Fun fact: Sophie says hydrangeas nauseated her in QFG because they resembled brains, so these ones are part of Agatha's interrogation technique.
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Q: So if they're immortal (Sophie and Agatha) can they just eat belladonna berries or poison without effects?
A: Probably, they'd suffer mild side effects from poison, like an upset stomach, nothing major.
For instance, the undiluted scream of a mandrake root is supposed to kill a mortal man instantly when heard. Sophie just gets an aching, throbbing, pounding headache of massive proportions. In the moat, the root's properties are interfered with, and it's sort of waterlogged, so it doesn't kill Rafal, a mortal, when he hears it, luckily.
Considering how Rafal was capable of feeling temporary, mortal pain in the prequels, even when his magic was at full strength, it would only make sense to not make Sophie and Agatha 100% invulnerable in this context.
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Q: What do the Good students think of Agatha? And does anyone have a teacher crush on Sophie, rather than Sophie flirting with them?
A: The Good students are fond of Agatha, but they see her as the exception, not the rule. She's still very unconventional to them as an Ever, but they hold a certain reverence for her anyway, like she's a respectable Lady of the Lake-figure. (There are Camelot letters on Agatha's desk. For a few years, the king of Camelot (Tedros) has been attempting to court Agatha, and Camelot itself, despite its traditionalism, approves of the match, if only Agatha would agree to it, because her status as Good School Master would elevate Camelot even further.)
Yes, Everboys generally have a crush on Sophie from afar, for the first few weeks of school, until they realize she really is as Evil/fatal as they've been told, and stop viewing her as some kind of damsel to be saved. It's a reasonable mistake to be made. Usually, this happens when they hear the screams from the Doom Room, and arrive at the conclusion that the Evil School Master is kind of psychotic, even if she seems perfectly coy, polite, and demure on the outside. They rarely act on their crushes though. The dimmer few that do quickly find out she's Evil the hard way. If they manage to scale the School Masters' tower, and reach the catwalk, they are caught by Sophie's high-security magical wards. The glitter on the walkway, which looks perfectly harmless, adheres to any exposed skin, and causes horrid blisters. The Everboys usually end up sobbing wrecks at that point, and are taken back to their side by Sophie's Stymphs.
The Evergirls in Beautification (which she teaches in Agatha's stead) look up to her, but they don't entirely approve of her either.
The Nevers don't care about how attractive their School Master is. Some of them secretly don't like her because of how un-Never-like she is.
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Q: Would you say Agatha is the type of teacher that can be strict but is also really good? Like people actually learn a lot by being taught by her.
A: Yes! As a teacher, she's kind of like August Sader. She tries to get her students to figure things out for themselves, teach them critical thinking along the way. Though, she does answer questions as she isn't a Seer.
(Also, the Nevers have a point. Sophie's not exactly representative of them as a whole. At the very least, Woods leaders respect Sophie because they're kind of obligated to, even if she seems silly to them, and they're very afraid of her.
Eventually, Agatha reluctantly goes on a date with Tedros. But, she can't be queen and School Master at the same time. (Both are demanding jobs.) So, if she ever were to marry Tedros, she'd take on the position ceremonially, and she'd have to delegate to the household in Camelot from a distance through some kind of correspondence because she's constantly busy at the School.)
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Q: What kind of questions is she asked?
A: Two common dilemmas:
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Ever: School Master Agatha, my Ball date left me! What should I do?!
Agatha: First, take a deep breathe and take my handkerchief. Do you have any reason to believe they indeed left you? [First, to make sure they aren't exaggerating when they explain themselves.] Why do you think they left you? [After listening to their response, she'd either re-direct them to fix things, apologize, or tell them it wasn't their fault but the date's. And lastly:] What do you think you should do?
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Ever: What's the answer to this question I got wrong on my Good Deeds Quiz?
Agatha: Why don't you read it over again and tell me? If you really can't come up with any answers, come back and I'll explain it to you. And remember: there may only be one entrance to the kingdom of Putsi, but there are many, many ways to be Good!
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Q: That sounds like a smart way to handle things. How does Tedros feel about that?
A: Tedros tries to be ok with it, but he's clingy, and sometimes, is at the School to see his wife more than he should be. Often, Camelot has to send multiple envoys to the School, to get him to come back and rule!
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Q: Aww poor Tedros. So how does the wedding work? Was school canceled for the day?
A: The wedding takes place on a School holiday, and Agatha takes a leave of absence for their honeymoon.
Sophie is thrilled to have the Schools all to herself, and would've wreaked havoc, if Agatha hadn't given her Dean precise instructions before she left on how to defuse Sophie. The Dean doesn't manage to interfere with all of Sophie's plans however and was tricked into running errands (a wild goose chase, to get rid of him). When Agatha gets back, all the uniforms (including the Evers') have been redesigned, Evil's front lawn has been filled with man-eating yet beautiful rose bushes, the Blue Forest has been turned pink, and Sophie had a new bathtub and chandelier installed in their tower.
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Q: And how does Agatha react to the.. ahem, renovations?
A: She's not too happy, and gives Sophie a lecture about over-spending. Sophie reasons that Camelot can pay for it all, and Agatha is just... at a loss for words.
Agatha permits most of the changes to stay (The Evers like their new uniforms. The Nevers don't, but Agatha can't do anything for them.), except the Blue Forest is changed back, and the roses have to go because they're a safety hazard.
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Q: Aww the roses actually seemed oddly.. cute?
A: I guess they were cute, to Sophie. But, they were relocated to the Blue Forest, to be part of that year's Trial. And, Sophie replaced the empty patches with lavender and honeysuckle instead, to use for her beauty routines. The honeysuckle attracted a lot of hummingbirds, and Reaper loves them too, for that reason. Only the Nevers themselves hate the new gardens.
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Q: Maybe the insomniac Nevers can use lavender to help them sleep..
A: They could... if only they would listen to their School Master. But they don't, and largely continue to be insomniacs.
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Q: Is Sophie Tedros' ex in this?
A: No, she's not.
I guess Sophie and Agatha would have to be from the Woods, not Readers originally, and I'm not sure if they would've attended the Schools themselves. Plus, Tedros is centuries younger than Agatha, even if he's an adult, so they didn't really all know each other during Sophie's prince-chasing phase.
And, it was Sophie who started the Reader-kidnapping tradition (she flew to Gavaldon while looking for a new tailor), soo actually, yeah, they can't really be Readers themselves. Agatha couldn't have found Gavaldon because, as an Ever, she refuses to use blood magic for flight.
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Q: Like Rafal starting it in the og!
A: Yep! In this AU, Sophie is basically him but with her own typical personality. Hence how she was a shadow at the beginning of this fic.
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Q: So what happens with Kyma and all?
A: She's part of a class in the much more far future, long after Rhian and Rafal's class. She's the only Evergirl known to rival the Good School Master's Goodness, and eventually takes the position of Dean of Good under Agatha. No stupid boys like Aladdin for her!
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Q: WILL Rafal eventually kill the School Masters?
A: No. Agatha got through to him, mostly. Well, it takes him a while to change his mind and turn over a new leaf. By second year, he has other goals.
It's hard to picture him in a job other than School Master, so I think, when he graduates, he either goes off and does his own thing, extorting money, gaining power, assassinating important dignitaries in his way, and maybe, taking a fortress for himself, or he works at the national Bank of Putsi, or becomes a member of the Kingdom Council. Something else that affords him power.
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I don't have any plans for a part two at all, but if inspiration ever strikes, I might write some kind of follow-up. However, if you'd like to know anything about the characters' futures, I can just tell you what I have in mind!
Q: I can imagine! Do tell me what you have in mind. :D
A: Sophie and Agatha continue on as School Masters for the rest of time. No wars are fought. The Woods remain in balance.
By the time the brothers' fourth year rolls around, Sophie is harboring a bit of a petty grudge against Rafal because they had a platonic, student-mentor friendship for a bit, and then he rejected her very outrightly in a no-nonsense, undramatic way, so like any prodigious witch or woman scorned, she sets him up to fail and with luck, end up in a watery grave. So, their dynamic is closer to Tedros' and Sophie's in canon, like friendly-enemies, not even "frenemies" but worse.
Agatha is a little miffed by this turn of events as Rafal had always been such a promising student for his side, and she thinks it's such a waste for Sophie to squander her best student. What on earth was her sister thinking? (Hint: She wasn't. She'd rather settle a score than lead Evil as a whole to greater victory on the shoulders on a boy she "despises." And that small-scale pettiness is probably the greatest Evil of all, denying her side that chance to win.) Nevertheless, Evil students are not within Agatha's sphere of influence, so she can't truly do anything about Rafal's fourth-year questing assignment, which is to parlay with the infamous Night Crawlers that have already killed many a man for centuries. How her sister expects Rafal to confer with inhuman creatures that cannot talk is beyond her. Then again, that must be the point: a roundabout death sentence over Rafal's head, engineered to be a no-win situation for a mortal.
Meanwhile, Rhian is frantic over Rafal's unfair questing assignment and doesn't pay much attention to his own. He literally throws himself at Sophie's feet, but she will not yield. Even Agatha tries to bribe Sophie with jewelry to re-assign Rafal's quest considering that it's causing one of her students severe emotional distress, but Sophie will not reconsider. At all. She does take the diamond earrings though.
Rafal is less worried than Rhian, but everyone (including his own Never classmates) suspects it's a facade, some kind of false bravado, or sheer overconfidence as Class Captain. He's more mad than afraid, actually. Because, he's devised an ingenious way to game the system against all odds. While teaching him sorcery, Sophie had shown him the flesh-over spell (from TLEA), good for mild blemishes and pimples and such. However, he adapted that spell into a regeneration spell, so he would continually have more blood to give and could manually "heal" (temporarily patch up) his wounds so he wouldn't bleed out, meaning, that if he couldn't secure an unfortunate stranger as a decent hostage to trade to the Night Crawlers, he'd be able to use himself as bait/part of the exchange in a controlled manner and still live to tell the tale.
Eventually, tales of his regeneration spell, as the best-known substitute for immortality, are bandied throughout the Woods for decades, but no one ever manages to replicate it. And since he's the only one known to cast it successfully, having withheld the knowledge for his own gain, only a few intrepid souls approach him every year with requests, often, veteran soldiers to gain back a limb, who bring him their weight in gold that they scraped together. So, Rafal is mythologized and becomes a Baba Yaga-type figure because he passes his judgments on the people that seek an audience with him, and either murders them instantly or helps them. The decision always seems sporadic on the outside, but Rafal has his reasons/intuition around who he sees as fit to live.
Anyway, somehow, Rafal negotiates incredibly well, and in return, agrees to help the Night Crawlers reach their lightless paradise at the bottom of the sea, probably below the seafloor. And he does it so well (partly by tricking them/using "exact words") that he is crowned The Sorcerer King of the Night Crawlers and Master of the Inagrotten. Of course, when this news reaches Sophie, it infuriates her, but she finally decides to leave him alone.
She also takes some of the credit for teaching her best student, saying she knew he'd succeed all along and had faith in his talents, but not everyone believes her. The Rot eats up the story when they interview her though. And hers is the only version of the story they have. Rafal doesn't care and flat-out refuses to be interviewed. His refusal does make headlines though. He encased a very talkative reporter in solid ice for his troubles.
With his new, hard-earned, fearsome reputation, Rafal has enough leverage to take up a fight with the Kingdom Council now because no Ever kingdom in the Woods is willing to utter his name for fear of summoning him (an urban myth that's cropped up). So, they call him "Rothbart the Second" as a pseudonym, or refer to him by his illustrious title. Rhian finds all this very funny, but he goes along with the bit whilst in polite company, so no one makes him throw salt over his shoulder.
And, Rafal does Rhian a favor after Rhian wraps up with his more typical fourth-year quest: campaigning for equal marriage rights for all in Pifflepaff Hills (the pink and blue kingdom). More on that later.
Rafal pays off Seers to be one step ahead on rare occasions, extorts money from various emperors, kings, and regents, and doesn't have a permanent fortress/address because that would be too vulnerable to attack, an unchanging place. Soon enough, everyone would figure out where he is and bother him, and he can't have that. (The only person who is aware where Rafal is at any given time, or who knows where he "lives" is Rhian because they post each other letters on the regular.) Rafal lives inside his own Celestium, in a black cloak he enchanted, which is only accessible to him. It's also the only place in the Woods where he's not paranoid because several Ever kingdoms have put a bounty on his head. No one ever manages to kill him though, which is a fact he's extremely smug about. He learns blood magic, and can fly off from any threats, if he has to. And, he takes a life-extension elixir of blood-and-gold to prolong his life even further. He still ages mortally a bit slowly, but Rhian worries that he's cheating death too much and that it might catch up to him one day.
As for Rhian, he never does find the perfect, imaginary True Love that lives up to his ideals, but finds that he's contented by Rafal's monthly visits, especially considering how after his quest reached a successful end, Rafal got him a position on the Kingdom Council (the favor), as a biased "in" for him to exploit (the cover story), but secretly also so he'd know Rhian would have a relatively safe job for the rest of his life, so he wouldn't have to worry about Rhian dying while he's away.
Eventually, Rhian rises in the ranks and becomes a judge of some kind of inter-kingdom court, at Four Point, which is funny because his brother is technically an outlaw, not that Rhian would ever pass a verdict against Rafal, because he can't oversee a trial where someone he knows personally is involved anyway (it's against the rules), but still, it's really strange to see the strait-laced, gold-robed judge have tea with his brother in black. Without fail, the foreign Ever dignitaries scatter from the courtroom when they spot the Inagrotten docked at the nearest port because they know exactly who's arrived.
The END.
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Q: Very curious! What were Rafal's reasons for rejecting Sophie?
A: Like Rafal in Rise, this Rafal has no interest in romance, and probably, still has part of his original impression of this Sophie in his mind, which is "annoying" and "too fussy/difficult/high-maintenance" for him to deal with. He's got enough on his plate with Rhian already, so he doesn't want another "Rhian." He doesn't tell her his reasons though. But, he would like his life to be drama-free, for once.
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Q: That's what I thought! Honestly, I'm not a fan of Rafal x Sophie in general, but I can see how TLEA's Rafal works with her.
A: Yes, they're my favorite ship, but wouldn't have worked well in this context, so they couldn't end up together. Personally, I think they balance each other well, but not in all circumstances. (Probably, because I view Rafal and Agatha as similar, and Agatha and Sophie also balance each other well (platonically).) And TLEA Rafal and Sophie I like because they're in love and in pain, which is just... entertaining and devastating, kind of. They have chemistry there too, I think. The TLEA banter is basically some of my favorite dialogue in the whole series. You can really see contrast in Sophie's line about tea parties and sunlight. Though, I'm just kind of attached to the idea of the ship, haha.
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Q: What happens with Agatha and Sophie after the twins have their own careers and so forth? Hopefully they don't kill each other..
A: Well, like usual, they get another class of students, and the cycle repeats. It's less tumultuous this time around because Sophie is not infatuated with the students. She's probably learned her lesson, but in a couple of centuries, it may just happen again...
And, no, they don't kill each other. There are some close calls, like the time Agatha broke a mirror, the time Agatha fed one of Sophie's leather handbags to a Stymph in retaliation for Sophie's flower arrangements aggravating her hay fever, and the time that she accidentally let Reaper into Sophie's closet (resulting in torn hems and clawed curtains). But, luckily, Sophie does fundamentally love Agatha, so Agatha is never actually murdered. Sophie just screams at her, and gives her the silent treatment for a couple days. Then, Agatha brings her a lavish present, and all is well again.
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Q: What does Rafal's Celestium look like?
A: In this AU, Rafal's Celestium has a deep, velvety, black, midnight sky, and spangles of "stars," white pinpricks of lights, like holes in a swath of fabric, so he can breathe. There are dark, stormy clouds, but all is silent, like he's in a vacuum, like he's safely tucked in the eye of a major storm or within an inkblot. If he wants to, he can adjust the lighting, so it's not too dark. The second light source is these beautiful, phantom flowers that grow from vines that encircle the clouds. They're not real, physical things, just offshoots of magic, ghostly and golden, like some kind of residual effect from spending time around Rhian. There are often more of them when Rafal's close to Rhian, during his visits. And, he likes to watch their constant glow, like nightlights. It's a comforting reminder that Rhian is alive after all. Though, he never touches them or prunes them, just lets them continually take over, or wither in their own time frame because he once found that when he touched one himself, to attempt to pick it and bring it to Rhian, it instantly crumpled to ash in his hand. They're inaccessible to him, the way Good is figuratively inaccessible to him, like a symbol of what he cannot be, but can only do.
(In the universe of TOTSMOV41, his Celestium has more movement/clutter, and a different appearance, but that will be revealed a while later. It does come up in one of the sequels I have planned to TOTSMOV41, if I ever manage to finish it.)
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Q: If Rafal has a Celestium, does Rhian have one too or did he not take up magic as seriously as Rafal? If he does have one, what does it look like? I would imagine he would have something associated with Rafal in there as well.
A: Rhian wouldn't practice his sorcery as frequently as Rafal would. As an Ever, he doesn't have as much cause to, except when he needs to discern the truth at trials, or judge the souls of the convicted. Otherwise, he uses his sorcery for frivolous things, like manifesting clothes, or levitating his luggage and books through the air.
Rhian's Celestium would be found in his gold, judicial robes, or when he's in a pinch, he can access it via his heavily-embroidered cravats.
The robes have mesh-like embroidery embossed on them, with some dimension and real heft to the needlework, from thread of pure spun gold, mostly at the sleeve cuffs and about the wide borders at the bottom hem. This would translate to a fragile-seeming, mesh-like, geodesic dome in his Celestium, that looks as if it could be toppled by a strong wind, as part of its "sky," with very intricate lattice-work done, wrought in twisted gold, the way palace gates often are, with hammered gold leaves and flowers, to match the embroidery work. The space wouldn't exactly have a ceiling, considering how the whole thing is a dome, but a paneled atrium ceiling would also be a similar image to what I have in mind.
Usually, his Celestium would be sunlit and warm, and the voluminous folds of his robes would make up the sky, usually reflecting a sky at sunrise through the gold wire structure, in pale blues and oranges, which would carry over from the deep blue and orangish, bronze-colored, brocade inner lining of his robes. The lighting within the dome mimics the Golden Hour at all times unless he were to tamper with it.
Some of the panels of his sky-dome are just mirrors, like shimmering fish-scales embedded in the sky, so he gets a good view of himself from many angles. Typical Ever vanity and hubris.
Rhian's sign of Rafal in his Celestium are soft, slick feathers, black swan feathers that rain down slowly, floating in the atmosphere, like wisps of smoke. Some just hang there, suspended in the air or blown about by airstreams. They brush Rhian on their way down, and at times, tickle him when they fall past.
If all the feathers were to drop to the ground at once, he'd probably have true cause to worry, believing that Rafal is gravely wounded or even dead. It hasn't happened yet though.
Here are some images, of a geodesic dome and of the gold wrought quality it would have, if you're at all curious:
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Once again, if anyone else has other questions, concerns, or thoughts, I'm perfectly willing to answer them in the comments section!
“Salt & Storybook” Analysis and Trivia
@anobody277642 If you’re interested, I will take your reblog as an invitation to pinpoint some of the other things that went into the whump fic. Sorry in advance about the length. You can disregard this if you want.
If anyone has any questions or would like clarification, don’t hesitate to ask!
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First though:
1. You were absolutely correct about Rafal’s Bird Motif! And yes, there are a few other instances wherein it appears. (I will list and explain the remaining ones later.)
(And I’ll go through everything in a vaguely chronological order after I respond to your points, because, honestly, that’s the easiest way for me to keep track.)
2. You are indeed correct about the bookcase! It was a direct callback to that TLEA moment.
3. Yes, that was intentional. I think I paraphrased a line that occurs around the point of Rafal’s return to the School in Rise, while Rhian’s in exile.
4. Interesting! I will take you at your word on this one since I’ve forgotten how exactly that happened specifically. I thought it happened at the end of AWWP, but Tedros frequently gallivants around shirtless, so I just… don’t know. I’m sure you’re right nonetheless.
5. That section was not intended to evoke the Black Swan gold, but it could. Actually, I had slightly different thoughts around it.
I just invented these hummingbirds because I thought they'd fit and they worked in line with the bird motif. Also, their being "vampiric" parallels Vulcan himself—matching types of villainy and all.
Plus, I had been thinking of the Capitol's biochemical warfare in the Hunger Games, with their Mutts. This could be a less technologically-advanced form of that, in the world of the Endless Woods.
Besides, Akgul was canonically a prosperous kingdom and did mine during the day only to carouse all night, which I think does work with this concept starting up in the first place, with these birds as their "watchmen,” to safeguard all that wealth required to maintain their lifestyles.
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Additional things of note:
1. Foreshadowing of the literal salt that appears later:
“The floor crunched underfoot with every step he took, a mosaic of inedible salt and pepper,”
2. The excerpt of the Vulcan song from Rise, I decided to include:
It exemplifies Rafal’s whimsy and mockery as character traits I sometimes forget about. I do have more to say about this, but instead, it will go into a future post since it would divert too far from this.
3. The shifting frequency at which Rafal drinks and how I tried to narrow the span of time/reduce the number of words between every time he interacts with his wineglass:
Essentially, I wanted to increase the frequency of Rafal reaching for his drink or sipping it and decrease the proximity of those lines in the narration itself to do so, so it would happen more and more often, narrowing the focus as an effect. That way, it’d be as if he’s losing control in the most minor of ways to start us off, down his decline into misery.
The whole decision to try to contextualize and justify the whump in the first place was kind of an interesting phase as well since it seemed to require perhaps more actual thought and reasoning than the pure action sequence sections did? I tried to integrate the tower’s design features into the setting and incorporate nearly every one of Vulcan’s named objects, so overall I’d be accurate to canon, while attempting to sound novel in my slightly altered descriptions of them.
4. This probably unobtrusive line:
“Here, he’d remain, ’til the end of time.”
This thought is stated positively here, yet it is given a negative spin much later, and is turned on its head (around the part about the bandages and musings about living an immortal life).
5. When Rafal burns Vulcan’s things in a pyre:
Rafal burns something; Rafal gets burnt himself—it’s a really loose line of cause and effect, and a close equivalency. I wanted it to seem like it was "an eye for an eye" situation in some sense.
6. Possibly symbolic foreshadowing?:
“the deformed periscope Rafal had knocked the lenses out of,”
This was unintentional, but I realized that this line could be read as Rafal losing his physical sight later, temporarily, and also losing his rational judgment (or “foresight,”) while it's impaired by his drinking. I mean, he does it to himself. It’s not anyone else’s fault.
7. I wanted the thermal imagery I deployed to parallel the state of the plot:
“The rising heat was hellish.”
Like: rising heat? Rising stakes. It’s the start to all the rest of the Hell references since what he goes through is obviously hellish in its own right.
8. Overall, how unreliable Rafal’s narration is:
“Then he set to work, freeing the storybooks.”
Yeah right. He’s an oppressor if anything. Again, true enough yet horrendously biased, acting as if he's the savior, which, that’s fair. He sort of was for a short run in Rise. But still. It's another instance of: look how full of himself this man truly is.
Another such instance of his own biases:
“charting such a course for the students once again under his eminent tutelage.”
And then, there’s several other instances of unreliability in which he either believes he’s shouldering all the responsibility, or in which he devalues Rhian directly and/or makes false statements about Rhian.
The truth is, Rafal won't let anyone else clean up the literal and plot-level messes. He thinks everyone else is incapable, when they're truly not. Except, he's rather earned the right to think that way, given the catastrophes he's had to deal with in the past, only to unfortunately be proven right by his false belief, time and time again, effectively reinforcing it—all due to horrific happenstance. Thus, from a more sympathetic angle, I don't 100% blame him for thinking that way. The problem is: he’s just handicapping himself doing it all solo.
9. These lines and the irony:
“He wasn’t Rhian’s personal manservant. What a degrading role that would be.”
Is he not though? Truly? And yet, Rhian implicitly expected Rafal to clean up for him later on. Well, I’d like to think Rafal’s just in denial about his “role.”
10. Parallel sentence structure:
“He and he alone would restore the storybooks to their former, casual glory in their places of honor, just as the brothers themselves had been restored by the Pen.”
I suppose you could say this relates to the Meleager reference (coming up soon, wait a bit) about lives tied to the storybooks. Thus, the storybooks and the brothers have the same fates. Both fall. Some from the shelves. And those two from power, from the Storian's grace.
11. Reference to how Rafal did this once before in Rise:
“Naturally, Rafal stacked all of Evil’s tales at the top of the tower’s shelves, for his own reference.”
12. A double meaning:
“That batty substitute had no place in his School.”
13. This parallels Rhian's small cut later:
“his pale hand was dotted with pinpricks of blood.”
14. In my opinion? This bit is massively ironic (or that was my intention, at least):
“Rafal tended to cast off pain with ease, like it was just another one of his overcoats.”
15. Could be interpreted as an appearance of the bird motif:
“In a glaring, grandiose script, the tale’s cover read: THE UGLY DUCKLING.”
But actually, it's simply a reference to Vulcan calling Rhian "duckling," which I assumed would and could enrage Rafal.
16. More of Rafal’s bird motif:
“as if he were plucking feathers from a wild fowl to be cooked”
17. This next one, which you pointed out, does a few other things, too:
“It caught on the fireplace’s grate, angled like a broken bird.”
It’s not only the bird motif but foreshadowing. Rafal himself becomes the “broken bird,” of course.
To some extent, what he does to the storybook happens to him. Again, it’s the fairy-tale element of karmic equivalencies, of deeds being paid back or paid forth to the next in a sequence (or there’s Newton’s third law). I just felt like it could be a law of their world or of classic fairy tales as a whole. The balance.
Also, this may be a stretch—but you could view the storybook as functioning like a sinister talisman of a certain kind. It being tossed into the fire right before Rafal’s torture began could be read as similar to Meleager's life being tied to a piece of wood, in classical mythology. He died when it was burnt.
In Rafal's case here, the burning storybook could represent how he's brought punishment onto himself, marking himself as not wholly a victim but as a deeply flawed vandal.
And, fun fact: in the myth, when Meleager's prophesied death came true, his sisters were turned into guineafowl. So, more birds!
18. The Storian’s pov leaking through, taking over the narrative momentarily, at various times, just as it overpowers Rafal:
“The Pen’s tip brightened to a blinding, radiant, white pinprick, as if it were readying itself to defend its tales from the scourge of Evil it had allowed to take up residence in its tower.”
This also serves as one of the demon references, even if it’s indirect. We know Rafal calls the Pen “the little devil,” but what if that sentiment were mutual? Could it be applied in the other direction? Like: that demon! That monster of the School Master! All he does is wreak havoc!
19. Rafal is light-averse and thus, “dark:”
“Rafal squinted at the light.”
Yes, this is only justified situationally in the fic, by the sheer brightness of the Storian in that one moment. I’m fairly sure it’s not actual canon that he avoids bright lights, but it could explain why Evil’s castle was dimly lit, and that could serve as a counterpoint to his typically being insensitive toward most stimuli, however implicit it may be. (Maybe, I’m just projecting because I avoid bright lights under certain circumstances, haha.)
In fact, this was not intentionally set up in this way for the sake of the fic, but I figured it would fit my case to point it out now. The same thing happens later with Rhian’s gold light anyway.
20. Bird motif again:
“The storybook’s binding rocketed out from its resting place, where it had nested in the grate, flying at him like a missile, sizzling through the air, like a shot bird with its flaming wingspan spread, its front and back covers open, its spine cracked.”
21. A distorted view of himself:
“Yet first, Rafal strained his neck and examined his distorted, many-eyed reflections in the shards beneath him,”
For all the eyes present, he truly lacked the foresight that could’ve saved him here. And, his self-image changed, especially after the Rise morality-reversal plot twist and his supposed “Goodness.” So, this is a lead-up to that since that event hasn’t happened yet, considering where I would hypothetically insert this fic into the duology’s timeline.
The reflections could also be read as an indirect reference to the mythological figure Argus Panoptes or to the structure of a panopticon in a prison.
Like: Oh, you live in a tower cell? Isn't that basically a form of imprisonment, aside from the imprisonment of an eternal life?
For reference, here is a definition of “panopticon” from the internet:
“The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be observed by a single corrections officer, without the inmates knowing whether or not they are being watched.”
This would imply the Storian is the brothers' prison warden. And, of course, Rafal didn’t know he was being watched earlier, by the Pen.
22. Evil thorn motif:
“thin rivulets of blood trickling down his neck, criss-crossing in a fine, thorny latticework, ultimately staining his starched, white shirt collar.”
This motif is just common imagery in the series, and I wanted to imitate it here, without the use of literal thorns.
23. Signaling Rafal’s personality through a kind of visual shorthand:
“he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, the one, restrictive one that always pressed against the base of his throat, so he could breathe properly and catch his breath.”
He's often so stiff and buttoned-up in demeanor, so I wanted to make that literal.
24. Every time a thought like this crosses his mind:
“He’d served the absurd, seemingly arbitrary punishment the Pen had dealt him and it was now well over with.”
Every time he thinks it's all over, it's actually the start of a new wave of pain. For the dramatic irony, I just wanted him to be wrong, haha. “Arbitrary” is also incorrect; he’s just not self-aware enough to see everything for himself.
25. Light and dark imagery:
“As it neared, the bookcase grew larger and larger in Rafal’s sightline, rushing forward rapidly, encroaching on him, almost eclipsing him.”
It could connect to Rhian’s light later, the moment Rafal was discovered in the dark.
26. Bird motif:
“his vision dimmed, turning to a feathery blur.”
27. The “suffocating weight of history” fits the Nevers themselves in general, past their not-yet-existent 200-year losing streak. Thus, this could be considered foreshadowing on a larger scale.
28. The final bird motif:
“The structure of the shelf collapsed further, the more he struggled beneath it, like a snare closing in on a bird, threatening to cut off its circulation—”
And this one is specific. It could be considered my very niche reference to the “springes to catch woodcocks" moment in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Huzzah!
29. The Milton reference:
“His students would dance over his grave—dancing in the chequer’d shade… come forth to play, on a sunshine holiday—how’d that line go? And which tale was it from?”
As I was thinking about this line while writing, I realized I had made a mistake, and yet, the mistake actually served to further the story.
First, John Milton was a poet from the 17th century and the most recently dated tales in the world of SGE are from the early 1900s (Peter Pan), meaning, Milton’s body of work could plausibly exist in the Endless Woods, depending on how loose the Woods’ parameters of what a “fairy tale” could cover are.
Here’s the catch though:
As a writer, Milton was hyper-literary, and I’m not sure if he ever did write for children, seeing as there were many fairy tales that were eventually sanitized and assigned morals for children’s consumption. (Back in the day, fairy tales were once considered more low-brow literature, being as scandalous and riveting as they were, like their time period’s “thriller films” or “commercial/genre fiction,” even if a lot of them were told through oral storytelling that could be modified when there were children in the audience.)
Moving on, Milton references classical mythology a lot in his work, which is, in a way, a close relative of fairy tales, or at the very least, part of humanity’s collective folklore. Therefore, could Milton's work exist in the Endless Woods? Quite possibly.
Ok, this part could be controversial, but Rafal literally works in academia, so I think he’d be familiar with some poets. Then, to elaborate on his confusion: he conflates two, entirely different poems while drunk.
And, that line, “[...] dancing in the chequer’d shade [...,]” from the poem “L’ Allegro” stuck with me. Something about it, the imagery probably, just made it take root in my head, so I had Rafal make the same mistake I had momentarily made, attributing that line to the other, second poem, the epic “Paradise Lost,” that recalls the “tale” of Satan's fall.
Here's an excerpt from “L’ Allegro”:
“When the merry bells ring round, And the jocund rebecks sound To many a youth, and many a maid, Dancing in the chequer'd shade; And young and old come forth to play On a sunshine holiday, Till the live-long daylight fail;”
30. The recurring demon, “heathen,” or “monster” in the dark comparisons and more of the Storian’s pov dominating for a second:
“Wrapped in a delirium, he thought of the sprawling tale of Satan’s fall. Demon, chastened and exiled. Hell. What had he gotten himself into? Hell.”
“That was the moment the Storian chose to attack with a new vengeance, redoubling its efforts against Evil incarnate.”
31. The same material the plates in TLEA were made of, which Sophie commented on—a call forward in time (since I can’t call it “foreshadowing” in any meaningful way):
“His ears rang with the strident sounds of shattering bone china”
So, I assumed the brothers would have those plates now since why not?
32. The lack of an apology to Rhian:
“But could apologizing be any worse than where he lay now? Perhaps, he should.”
Rafal doesn't apologize later, mainly because I realized his feeling any kind of remorse would possibly be a step too far and too sympathetic. He can't possibly be that Good, at least not at this point in time?
Also, I wanted the thrill of a potential set-up, like a red herring, only to subvert it in the end. Thus, Rhian gets no apology whatsoever and Rafal mistreats him in return with his harsh, cutting words—just after he was mistreated by the Pen! Ergo, there's an underlying cycle of abuse going on here, like they’re playing pass the parcel (pain).
33. Betrayal:
“In that instant, his vision whirled, reddening, and his body betrayed him, surrendering to the Pen as he blacked out.”
I specifically felt like I just had to use the word "betray" because it fit the recurrent "everyone is a traitor" theme in Rise. Rafal constantly and always betrays and gets betrayed, so why not have it happen on the self level?
34. Another TLEA reference:
“New, youthful skin was already beginning to pave over his cuts,”
This was a call forward to when Excalibur cleaved through his skull, except it’s a different area of his body healing.
35. TLEA zombie/necromancer reference:
“A copious number of bandages dangled from his outstretched arms as he shuffled back into the main chamber of the tower like one of the undead.”
36. Embalming and Sherlock Holmes references:
“At last, when he was partly wrapped up, he resembled a dehydrated corpse that would be preserved for the rest of time, forever bound to his duties, like one of the undead, who hadn’t the mind to know when to let go, tugged along by the colorless skein of an immortal life.”
Here, I riffed at mummification and the general concept of achieving an eternal life of the soul by preserving the corporeal body, and that all marginally related to the concept of immortality in the flesh, not just an immortal soul.
And here is a probably semi-famous Sir Arthur Conan Doyle quotation I drew from:
“There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.”
In truth, I haven't read much of Doyle’s work at all, yet I knew enough to twist this to fit my purposes of alluding to misery, immortality, and the banality of life, of living, of acting for nothing when everything is futile, no matter what you do in a world governed by predestination.
37. The omnipresent thematic idea of literal darkness = hopelessness and misery and Rafal’s aversion to light again:
“He didn’t bother to light a candle.”
This same idea would also apply to the “moonless night” Rhian observes later.
38. Situational/dramatic irony:
“His brother was often a spoilsport and Rhian wouldn’t have been surprised if Rafal had tossed their last bottle.”
Rhian ends up with many subverted expectations. I may’ve exaggerated it a lot, in retrospect. Yet, these expectations demonstrate how the twins aren’t actually in sync, despite being magically-inclined twins.
39. Rhian counting his chickens before they’ve hatched (not technically the bird motif though):
“Indeed, maybe the Pen really was on his side, and Rhian could check that item off his list now.”
40. A very slight nod to Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz (a “fairy tale” in the SGE world iirc):
“the stairwell was coated in dust, like it had been beset by a cyclone of some kind.”
41. Book one reference:
“Now, it wasn’t unlike the Nevers themselves to bathe in dust,”
I think Agatha lied and claimed she took dust baths, when Tedros accused her of being a witch.
42. Biblical reference/Rhian-as-God imagery:
“Rhian lit his fingerglow. It burned with warm, pure, golden light, gilding the stones around him. He would vanquish any threat that lay ahead of him.”
“a scene of total carnage flashed into existence.”
I’d like to think that this particular diction harkens back to God creating the world, like this:
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, and it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness."
Also, later, Rhian is backlit in the doorway and Rafal is blinded.
These bits happened sort of serendipitously while I was writing, when I realized I had a clear set-up to use with Rhian’s light, in contrast to Rafal's "heathen"/dark “monster.”
43. The curtains and Rhian’s wrong-headed assumption:
“the presumably monster-clawed, blood-encrusted, silver curtains”
I imagined that Rhian, as well as Rafal, would’ve become more paranoid about intruders after the Vulcan incident, so that’s why he jumps to the worst possible (conceivable) conclusion (aside from the inconceivable: Rafal literally being the torture victim).
But, all this goes back to Rafal, within his world’s context, being a skeptic, an “atheist,” or a disbelieving "heathen" of some kind, especially because Rhian was always more faithful with his comparatively more unquestioning belief in the Pen.
44. Rhian’s (unconscious) word choice:
“in the confines of his own home.”
Clearly, “home” and “confines” are in conflict, and besides, Rhian is confined to the outer limits of his role as a School Master, to limited human contact, relationships, and possibly, geographical areas. We could assume that both brothers were sort of supposed to remain at the School. Forever.
45. Rhian’s assumptive dialogue:
“Where’s our intruder then? Have you burnt up the corpse?”
Ideally, Rhian's first assumption was intended to characterize both brothers at the same time. I, personally, thought it was a little funny, and ironic that in Rhian’s mind, the blood could never be Rafal’s.
46. The ice:
“Ice. Bring me ice.”
My hope was that this line came across as blisteringly cold, so the ice could work a dual purpose in the story.
Rafal ices Rhian out, symbolically and literally, by not telling him a thing. He leaves Rhian in the dark about what went on while he was gone. And, by ordering him away, to get the actual ice, Rafal literally sends Rhian away.
47. “The Evil School Master” epithet:
“Now,” the Evil School Master cut out caustically. “And not a word about the Pen favoring Good.”
Using “the Evil School Master” reduced the psychic distance between Rhian’s pov and his brother. I felt as if it were a better decision than calling Rafal “Rafal” during that particular moment since he is leaning more into his Storian-given role as opposed to being his more human self.
Rhian may not be as close to Rafal anymore, with this one-day time gap in his knowledge, and I wanted to represent that state in some way, hence the use of the epithet.
Additionally, it’s also the Evil School Master, who, as an authority over his students, reinforces and perpetuates that very same cycle of violence, when he tortures them in Rise. And, considering that this fic slots into a hypothetical space in the canon timeline prior to the Doom Room’s construction, we could say that this torture event theoretically could’ve made him worse. It could’ve led him to inflicting more pain back onto his Never students.
This line is probably one of my favorites, partly because I had the idea to use the verb “cut out,” seeing as Rafal was cut up and figuratively cuts Rhian back. It wouldn’t only be the students as his victims. He dealt back the pain he received to Rhian.
48. Not-Fun Fact: A long time ago, several days or weeks after I had the initial concept for this fic, I somehow walked into and cut my shin on a sharp, metal chair edge. And the interesting thing I learned from that encounter is that certain things can cut through fabric more easily than you’d think.
49. Last line:
“Rafal hadn’t learnt his lesson and never would.”
I wanted to try to go for maximum impact with the last line, so this line played with the idea of: is Rafal more subdued or not by the end of it all? And the answer had to be “no,” which is why I hope it read as ominous or heavy.
I'd like to think nothing of him would change. He’d carry himself with the same defiant, unbreakable spirit as always (probably).
By my interpretation, the actual change in him would be that he leans into being a slightly more extreme version of himself, that he’s more paranoid. Or, at least, that’s how he’s supposed to have changed, over the course of this story.
My second intention with the last line was to allude to future Evil Rhian, worsened by Rafal’s verbal mistreatment of him. So again, we have the theme of Rafal dooming himself!
50. Absurdism and Kurt Vonnegut:
I just learned that apparently this fic could possibly fall under the category of absurdist fiction (because immortality suddenly becomes slightly undesirable to Rafal, unlike in canon):
“Absurdist fiction is often used interchangeably with ‘absurdism.’ What is absurdism? It is a style of writing that calls existential concepts (such as “truth” or “value”) into question. It portrays the experiences of characters in situations who cannot find purpose or meaning in their lives or actions.
Absurdist fiction writing leans into unconventional imagery, plot structures, and formats to convey meaning. It is a book genre defined by pervasive themes of nihilism, existentialism, and purposelessness.
While absurdism aims to derive purpose from a seemingly pointless or meaningless event, this doesn't mean the event is an inconsequential one—in fact, most absurdist fiction is about traumatic experiences.
[...] Traditional storytelling uses systems like setup and payoff, playing on audience expectation and tailoring reality to make a satisfying narrative. But life isn’t like that. Trauma isn’t like that. And neither is absurdist fiction.”
I had tried using an online writing style analyzer on the completed fic, and I got Kurt Vonnegut as a result. I had never read his work, so when I started to do some research about it, I stumbled onto the topic of absurdism, which was apparently a decent match by sheer coincidence.
Here are two sources on absurdism, style, and verbiage:
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/slaughter/style/
Cutie patootie lil Camlann ep 4.5 meme! I guess the G names just hit different 🤷♀️
sons and sonsibility is too fucking good for me not to draw the sisters.. also dont bite me in the ass about the dresses idk regency LOL
[id: a line up of the four sisters from sons and sonsibility of the mothman family. they're all drawn in a simplified chibi way and have their names written above them in cursive. /end id]
Reblogging to save
All exclusive short stories: The Folk of the Air
I decided to collect all exclusive stories I know of. I have done something similar for SJM books . If you know of any other exclusive story, please let me know! THE CRUEL PRINCE A visit to the Impossible Lands Barnes and Noble edition Deleted Scenes From The Cruel Prince (Some of these are alternate storylines) THE WICKED KING deleted scene from The Wicked King, Barnes and Noble edition THE QUEEN OF NOTHING Cardan’s letters from the Queen of Nothing Barnes and Noble edition, should be read after the book deleted scene from The Queen of Nothing , sent via Holly’s official newsletter THE STOLEN HEIR The Walmart Exclusive Stolen Heir content The Stolen Heir Barnes & Noble Bonus Content, author’s personal journal pages and notes on the manuscript, Some posts I found useful: post about True Names A Guide to Holly Black’s Extended Faerie Universe
🚨 SUPER DUPER QUEEN OF NOTHING SPOILER ⚠️
So I’m in a lovely little group on Facebook for The Folk of The Air fans and one of those amazing ladies was kind enough to post Cardan’s letters from the Queen of Nothing Barnes and Noble edition. According to Holly these should be read after the book however I just couldn’t help myself. I’m posting them here in case you’re also like me and have no self control. I haven’t actually read any of Queen of Nothing yet but these letters made my heart ache.
Lol I stg people sub to my OF and then I send them cute surprises and it takes them so long to check back 😂