#cinder's stepsisters
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hello!
In your Yang-is-the-Salem-in-Bees post you mention yang and cinder paralleling each other. Could you talk more about that? 👀
the obvious place to start is the semblances. bc it isn’t just “fire powers,” it’s:
burn: every time she gets hit, it makes her stronger; yang takes the damage, feels the pain, and then hurls it back in bursts of fiery power. the harder she’s pushed, the more ferociously she can push back.
scorching caress: to superheat a liquid, you heat it to a temperature under conditions which prevent it from boiling. specifically, undisturbed water in a very clean container with no nucleation sites. this is an effect of surface tension, which suppresses the formation of bubbles. superheated liquid is in a metastable state and will instantly boil—often explosively—as soon as it’s jostled or otherwise disturbed. in other words, superheating is about heat under pressure. scorching caress isn’t truly superheating in the strict sense, but it IS a metaphorical representation of the concept; heat under intense pressure, pushed beyond the brink of what can be endured, the deceptive calm and the violent explosion that follows. that’s cinder through and through, and that’s scorching caress.
see how they rhyme? one burns, the other boils. fire versus heat. combustion versus surface tension. both of them, in contrasting ways, are empowered by pressure and pain.
this similarity and contrast is also carried through into their relationships with anger:
yang has a fierce temper that she keeps in almost perfect balance; she’s in tune with it and confident in her mastery over it, comfortable letting it out when she needs it and quick to rein it in when it’s not helpful. on the rare occasion she snaps without meaning to, she checks herself instantly. the perception of others that burn is connected to her anger at all is an illusion created by the correlation between moments when yang uses her semblance and when she uses her anger—to protect herself or to protect others she loves.
cinder is angry literally all the time. her anger is sharp and venomous and hungry and she holds it pressed down into a tight little ball underneath the masks she wears because she doesn’t know how to exist without it. like superheated water, her moments of calm or confidence are always one fleeting disturbance away from erupting into unchecked fury. even her fear has an edge that can twist into anger if she’s pushed far enough.
it’s the difference between a controlled bonfire and a subterranean peat fire. one is safe; the other may smolder for years and explode into wildfire if it’s exposed to air. both yang and cinder are, arguably, defined by their anger—there is nothing else that so wholly expresses who yang is than how self-possessed and controlled she is when she chooses to get angry, and likewise that tightly-compressed core of unspeakable rage is the essence of cinder’s character.
both of these characters lose an arm the night beacon falls; yang because she’s furiously leaping to blake’s defense, cinder because she murders a child to soothe her temper.
their recovery arcs in v4 are paralleled, as are their relationships with their parental figures; tai and salem are emotionally disconnected from yang and cinder in contrasting ways, with tai well-meaning but unfamiliar with who yang is and salem in tension between needing cinder to be her tool/weapon but wanting her to be free and safe, as well as not being able to see through cinder’s masks.
(sometimes the tai+yang vs salem+cinder mirroring gets very direct, like
they can’t keep getting away with it!)
the general thrust of tai’s advice to yang is about holding back: he thinks she’s “predictable” and “a little boneheaded” and reads into her use of her semblance in the vytal tournament an over-reliance on brute strength. he tells yang to find ways around obstacles, instead of through.
salem, in contrast, snaps at cinder to stop holding back. the slow pace of this training, cinder’s struggle to achieve mastery over the grimm arm and timidity with her new magic, frustrates her—because she doesn’t understand where it’s coming from—and she becomes impatient. and then, in v8, she implicitly recants that impatience (“here i am holding you back.”)
[whether tai will have a similar moment of reconsidering yang remains to be seen. but on the strength of the paralleling, i bet he will.]
there is something about yang painting her arm yellow and the growth of the grimm arm to cinder’s shoulder as she begins to handle it like her arm rather than a weapon itches in the back of my mind constantly.
there is also a certain rhyming between yang’s feelings of rootlessness and cinder’s intense fear of destiny and desperation to fight what she believes is her fate to be enslaved and hunted; the unease with having no clear purpose vs the pain and terror of being used.
#and through summer ruby and yang are cinder’s evil stepsisters of course#the one who maimed her (she’s forbidden to retaliate) and the one who would die to protect the other#which isn’t a parallel per se but it’s fun
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My Stepmother and Stepsisters Do Not Pick On Me
~
Cinder: I am an orphan and after my mother’s death, I was sent to a decrepit orphanage in the middle of nowhere Anima before I was adopted.
Cinder: My stepmother and her daughters probably hate me, but I’ll take any deal…
~
Straight-Haired Sister: Eeh? You stink too much. And your face is all dirty, too. You’re irritating me with your appearance. Don’t you feel pitiful living like garbage?
Curly-Haired Sister: *chuckled*
Straight-Haired Sister: Come here. *grabs Cinder by the arm*
Cinder: *gets pulled along* Kya!
BATHROOM
Straight-Haired Sister: *washing Cinder’s hair* Your hair is so unkempt. Seriously…I don’t know what that orphanage was thinking, having you live like this.
Curly-Haired Sister: *washing Cinder’s arm* Can you believe it? People think it’s what’s on the inside that’s important. But physical appearance are just as important as what’s on the inside.
Cinder: Eh?
VANITY
Straight-Haired Sister: She’s already pretty as is, let’s just use a ribbon and fix her hair.
Curly-Haired Sister: I don’t want her to have your ugly face. She still has the face of a little girl. She has to make a more adorable impression.
Cinder: Eeeeh? What…?
CLOSET
Straight-Haired Sister: A blouse and a pair of pants would look better on her!
Curly-Haired Sister: No, a big dress would be better!
Cinder: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhh??????????????????
Madame: Girls.
Both Sisters: Mother!
Madame: Stop talking nonsense, just do it.
Straight-Haired Sister: Nothing’s wrong, Mom. Don’t get mad!
Curly-Haired Sister: We weren’t fighting…
Cinder: They both seem very upset…My stepmother really is a scary person…
Madame: Regarding the place where you will sleep. I think there’s some space in the storage room.
Cinder: …The storage room?! Well, I should thank them for not leaving me out in the rain and cold ether way…
Madame: We will carry the furniture from study to the storage room, and we will turn the study into your room!
Cinder: EH~?????????????????
DINING ROOM
Curly-Haired Sister: Let’s go look at flowers after lunch.
Straight-Haired Sister: Let’s go shopping instead. I saw something that would look great on you.
Cinder: *slightly confused* Eh…What…
Madame: Don’t talk at the table.
Cinder: Mom, my new family…it’s very warm.
#rwby#cinder fall#evil stepmother#evil stepsisters#My Stepmother and Stepsisters Do Not Pick On Me#incorrect quotes
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Midnight #6
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These teen retellings of Cinderella add some interesting twists to the story you already know!
Cinder and Glass by Melissa de la Cruz
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Cinder by Marissa Meyers
Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
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#cinderella retelling#cinder and glass#melissa de la cruz#princess of glass#jessica day george#stepsister#jennifer donnelly#cinderella#fairytale retellings#fairytales#ya fantasy#fantasy
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CINDERPOLL FINAL MATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Propaganda Under the Cut:
Ella of Frell:
She’s had a “gift” of obedience placed on her, and her quest is to figure out how to get rid of it. I love her
he’s under a curse that makes her obey any order given to her. She met her Prince Charming (Char) when they kids, and they became friends. Her stepsisters found out about her curse while they were at boarding school, and because of that (and some things they made her do) she ran away to try and find the fairy that cursed her. When she does, the fairy says that she doesn’t do magic anymore, because she realized her gifts were actually curses, and refuses to remove it. Ella goes back, and is eventually demoted from “lord’s daughter” to “maid”. She still writes letters to Char (currently in a foreign kingdom, but before that, when he came to try and talk to her, her sister forbid her from leaving her room so she would have all his attention), but eventually stops and even writes a fake letter from her sister to convince him that she never cared/doesn’t care about him, because she realized it would be too dangerous for them to be together; with her curse, she could easily be made to hurt or kill him. Flash forward, and Char returns home. The king throws balls, and she goes, because even if she can’t be with or let him know who she is, she just wants to see him again. Char is drawn to her, and for a lot of the three balls, they’re together. At the end, her stepsister gets jealous, and right as Char proposes (because Ella, despite having to lie about her identity, is the most honest person at the ball and a friend already), she grabs her mask, revealing her identity. Char reaches her home before she can leave, and there’s a whole scene where he finds out she’s a scullery maid, that the letter was a lie, and says that she doesn’t have to be Ella if she doesn’t want to be, and she says she’s not, and he asks if she loves him, and she does– and then it’s all ruined because he accidentally orders her to marry him, and then her stepmother tells her to, and all the while she’s fighting the curse, because she doesn’t want to endanger him and their nation, and doesn’t want her step family to be rich and powerful, and finally– she says no. She gets so excited to say no, to refuse, that she didn’t even fully realize she broke the curse until Mandy (her fairy godmother) tells her. Anyway, they all lived happily ever after. Ella is one of my favorite Cinderellas ever and I really hope I did a good job of explaining her and what her story is about (it’s been a while since I’ve read the book)
I was so enraptured with this book as a kid, it had such an impact on my young mind. Got me into fantasy.
BEST CINDERELLA!!! please use the picture from the book cover and not the movie 🙏
She breaks her curse spell in such a magnificent way. Like yes she embodies the whole “kindness” and “courageous” characteristics that Cinderellas are known for, but for her she’s been forced to be obedient as well. And while she thinks can rise above anything she soon learns she will just hurt so many more people that way. She chose to be self-sacrificing because it was the one way she could express her love that wouldn’t harm anyone (then). But! But! She also ends up getting to be selfish! And that is also a great kindness! To herself and to those whom love her and she loves in return. All that after she breaks the curse.
She can mimic languages. :) She refused to marry the love of her life and thus broke her curse. :) She fell in love via letters. :) She lied to the royal family that orange carriages are very popular in a nearby city.
brave, smart, a linguist, a nerd, she evolves steadily and beautifully throughout the book, with a sharp voice that never stops being distinctive and fun to hang with.
complex character coool as fuck premise and also. the nostalgia of it all
Cinders:
She spent decades searching every moon and planet trying to find her wife (Rose), who was kidnapped on their wedding day. Eventually, she found Rose, and they embraced, only for Rose to die in Cinder’s arms. And so Cinder killed the king who had kidnapped Rose by punching through his chest and into his heart.
And then Cinder got a somewhat happy ending, in which she met Rose’s clone who had Rose’s memories.
What if Cinderella was a Sci-Fi lesbian? Well here she is. She has a whole love song about searching the stars for her girlfriend after their wedding was interrupted and she was taken away. She spends years searching only to when she finally finds and embraces her watch her be shot. Cinders is so devastated by this that she plunges her wedding ring into the heart of the man who shot her love killing him.
Lesbian space princess who elopes with the terrifying soldier who was previously conquering her planet and spends decades searching for her when they’re separated. Listen to her song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6w9V-gMgBF4
I think the way she punches the evil king through the heart as revenge for her wife is pretty neat.
She’s a revolutionary married to a woman, what’s not to love? From Cinders’ Song: “ When I was a little girl, my mother always told me / “Someday your prince will come, my love” / But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me”.
her girlfriend got cloned and most of said clones were brutally slaughtered in war and she searched for her girlfriend all throughout the galaxy and when they were finally reunited on the battlefield her girlfriend died. and a clone of her girlfriend who due to technical errors retained her memories, so does that count as the same girlfriend? theseus’s girlfriend? anyway vote for cinders she’s been through hell
Lesbian!! Has to search for her lost love Rose with her glass wedding ring that changes color when its near its partner!! Gets to embrace Rose once again for one final moment before the villain kills Rose right in front of her!! So Cinders kills him in return!! And she’s left as (almost) the only surviving main character from her own album but!! She is eventually reunited with a clone of Rose, and while they cannot have a truly ‘happy ever after’ together they are the ones graced with the closest thing to it
SPACE LESBIANS (she’s in love with Rose Red, who gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders searches the galaxy to find her, waiting for her white ring to turn crimson, indicating that its twin was near) She took her name from the ashes of her burning planet <3 She also killed Old King Cole >:)
shes a tragic lesbian and killed a violent dictator shes literally the best
shes gay shes traumatized she dates both rose red and sleeping beauty. badass space wanderer looking for her wife
Her wife Rose gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders spend the next thirty years looking for her. She finds her (:D) and then Rose dies (D:) and then Cinders kills the guy who killed Rose (girlboss).
shes a lesbian. she lost her wife, Rose (yes, as in sleeping beauty) the day they got married bc she was kidnapped. she spent 20 YEARS looking for her. as soon as she found her wife, Rose DIED IN HER ARMS. Cinders has gone through Too Much to lose this poll
(Her info from the wiki) the Princess of a planet burnt by King Cole’s army, after it is ceded by her stepmother. She is imprisoned, meets Rose and plans to marry her. She is released by her godmother for the wedding, then flees when the attack happens, spending thirty years looking for Rose. Her half of the wedding ring will light up when she finds Rose.
“When I was a little girl, my mother always told me 'Someday your prince will come, my love’ But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me I looked to the stars for you, my love” She’s lesbian Cinderella IN SPACE. She fell in love with her wife in prison and they ran away to have a secret marriage but the empire kidnapped Rose on their wedding night and Cinders had to leave her behind. She searches for Rose for decades with the glass ring that guides her to its twin on her wife’s finger. She finally reunites with her love after Rose rips three supersoldiers to pieces with her bare hands (hot) but then then the evil king kills Rose so Cinders fucking punches through his heart. And then a clone of Rose (who is also lesbian Sleeping Beauty IN SPACE) finds her cradling her wife’s body and they have a happy reunion(?) and maybe they didn’t have a happy ending BUT WHAT IF THEY HAD EACH OTHER? HUH? AAAAAH
she’s everything. she’s a princess from a long since conquered planet. she was imprisoned to make a statement of the brutal reign of old king cole. she met her wife while she was in prison, a beautiful brutal soldier covered in scars from battles. cinders and rose fell in love, so cinders’ godmother in white broke her out of jail so rose and cinders could be together. they were going to be married, except that OLD KING COLE intervened and kidnapped rose to make her the genetic base of his unholy army. so cinders spends THIRTY YEARS searching the galaxies for her love (and sings a really cool song about it called “Cinders’ Song”) until finally she arrives during the final battle just in time to see old king cole SHOOT ROSE DEAD. so cinders punches the king so hard (with her wedding ring) that he just Crumples Into Dust. the end! (no we do not talk about the fiction.)
lesbian, for one, and for two i don’t really care i just think it’d be cool if she got in/if she made it past the first round
no one seems to have linked cinder’s song yet, so here [Link]
better yet, listen to the whole album too, for context and also what comes after. it slaps and also tragedy it’s such a good album suhc a good band too
Someone already sent the song as propaganda, so I will provide SPOILER propaganda. [Click link to see spoilers.]
[Link]
#cinderpoll#round 7#finals#ella of frell#ella enchanted#gail carson levine#cinders#once upon a time in space#the mechanisms#cinderella#fairytale#poll tournament#poll bracket#character polls#polls
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Cinderella Doesn’t Believe in Fairytales (pt 5)
(part 1) (part 2) (part 3). (Part 4)
When Cinderella is very young, her mother calls her little Cinder.
“You came to be when your father and I’s love came together,” she explains to her daughter. She brushes Cinderella’s hair from her face with a tender touch. “The fire of our passion gave us you. One day, my little Cinder, you’ll ignite and be a beautiful fire all your own.”
“Our Cinder.” Her father laughs when Cinderella relays the story over dinner. “Our Cinder-ella, hm?”
Little Cinderella refuses to be called anything else. There’s a warm power in her new name that tickles her chest every time one of her parents calls her by it. Her father is concerned, but her mother laughs.
“It is still a name we’ve given her,” her mother says when he voices his concerns. “She is a child. Let her grow into her true name in her own time, dear.”
Her father grudgingly acquiesces. “Nobody is going to take her seriously with that sort of nickname.”
“Perhaps the right people will,” her mother says. She smiles at Cinderella who’s playing in front of the fire. “Time will only tell.”
And so Cinderella becomes her name. She clings to it like a talisman. When her mother dies, nobody calls her Cinder anymore, but Cinderella is just as good when it comes from her father’s mouth, even when it stops bringing the warmth to her chest the way it used to. Him calling her that means he remembers. It means he cares.
Her stepsisters make fun of her for it. Cinder means coal, they say. Soot. Dirt. A fitting name for her who is always so filthy after raking leaves and tending fires. They tell her that it’s no wonder her father doesn’t come back home with dirt for a daughter.
Cinderella still loves her name, but she knows that she’s become sensitive to sharing it. The years of mockery bruised her in a way she didn’t expect. The people she wanted to love her never treated her name with respect. They never asked about the origin of it. So she hoards her name like one of the few possessions she has left, only sharing it when she’s sure she won’t be teased again.
Is it any wonder she never told the boy her name? Half frozen in winter and so vulnerable she thought it better to keep this last bit of warmth to herself than share it with her rescuer? By the time she noticed the gap in their meeting, it was too late. The boy in the tree never gave her his name so, by example, she never gave hers either.
That’s going to make finding him at the ball a little difficult.
Cinderella accepts the gloved hand of the coachman, stepping down onto cobblestone laid so smoothly she knows she won’t have trouble walking through the castle doors alone. The coachman escorts her anyway, placing her hand into the crook of his arm like she’s a real noble lady.
Cinderella keeps her chin up. She’s not a real noble lady, but tonight she must act like one. Isn’t that the point of the invitation? Her back burns from holding her shoulders properly. She looks up at the glittering castle, lit by sconces along the exterior wall, and thinks, I must fit in.
“The Master of Ceremonies is in charge of announcing the arrival of guests,” the coachman says. He’d only given Cinderella one startled look when Helga took her to him and then he’d become impossible to read. His tone is polite, but distant. “Is there a name or title you’d like to go by?”
She can’t be announced. All at once the reality of her decision crashes down on her. Knowing her stepmother and stepsisters, they’re already inside. If Cinderella is announced, they’ll know that she disobeyed them, that she shrugged off their “mischief” and gained some sponsor they knew nothing about to get here.
“…I am simply the daughter of an absent baron,” Cinderella says at last. The entrance is fast approaching, a short line of nobles waiting patiently to be announced and let into the event. “Surely it is too much of an honor to be announced by the same person responsible for announcing the King and Queen.”
The coachman falters. She wouldn’t have caught it if she weren’t looking so closely. His next step is a little too short for Cinderella’s and his arm twitches before relaxing again.
“Many choose to be announced by their titles alone,” he says at last. He glances at Cinderella from the corner of his eye. Is it her imagination or is there interest in his gaze? “If I may offer some advice?”
“I would never turn away advice,” Cinderella says. Her heart is starting to beat too quickly. The nobles in front of her are gorgeous. The fabrics and ornaments adorning them are just as extravagant as those on her own gown. She’s going to the same place as them, may even dance with some of them. She’s nervous, yes, but also excited.
“There will be those who ask for your name,” the coachman says. He sounds as if he’s weighing his words carefully. “You may give it to them, of course, if you choose. However, this is a ball. You aren’t on trial and you owe no debts. You may give them something to call you, as you have just given me, but that is the extent of what is required. Do you understand?”
Cinderella doesn’t. She hums as the line moves forward, twisting his words around in her mind. “I will consider your words.”
The coachman’s lip twitches. “See that you do.”
He is warmer to her than he has been since picking her up from the Emerald Castle. As they wait, he whispers the positions of the nobles around them. Duchess of Blackwood’s son and heir, Earl of Northlake’s child, Viscount Sinset’s daughter—
Cinderella drinks in the information as quickly as she can, grateful for the way matching each name to a face soothes her nerves.
Then, all at once, it’s her turn to go in.
She goes to let go of the coachman’s arm, but he holds onto her hand for a moment. For the first time, he looks at her directly. His eyes are silver and shining in the candlelight, the wrinkles along his mouth tight with determination.
“You owe no debts,” he whispers urgently. Feverishly. His hand squeezes hers and he looks over his shoulder as if afraid of eavesdroppers. “Remember, baron’s daughter.”
Then the moment is over. The coachman straightens, face impassive, and he goes to whisper her title to the Master of Ceremonies. Then, duty done, he slinks back out to the carriage without once meeting Cinderella’s eyes again.
“Baron’s daughter,” the Master of Ceremonies calls. He extends his hand to Cinderella. He helps her over the threshold. “Have fun.”
Cinderella is thrust into a world of color.
The ballroom is huge, the ceiling soaring at the height of her father’s manor. Her father’s manor could fit into this room, in fact. Columns along the edges etched with beautiful faces and vines support the vaulted ceiling. There are strange and fantastic mosaics everywhere she looks. The same night sky that she’d seen in the Emerald Castle curls like a river through depictions of fruit and flowers. The mosaic leaks down from the ceiling to the walls where it bursts into stars.
Tables filled with gold plates and crystal flutes line the hall. Food Cinderella has only ever seen in books fills them. Chicken with flesh so moist it glistens in the candlelight. Fruit tarts and cakes, bite-sized pies, a tower of finger sandwiches. The glasses glitter next to the spread. As she watches, one man fills two with a bubbling liquid the color of ambrosia and then darts away to a waiting lady.
Oh, and the people! The music! The laughter!
A dance is happening already. The nobles look like works of art come to life, swooping and twirling in the center of the hall. Their gowns and suits glitter with every move, their wide smiles gleaming, an inner glow coming through their skin. The music is so sweet that Cinderella almost wants to laugh herself for the joy of it. Some of them are laughing, open and gaily like children experiencing the sun after a long winter.
Cinderella can’t join them yet. It’s an effort to wrestle the bubble of joy rising in her chest back, but she manages it. Cinderella is pragmatic. Cinderella is patient. She keeps to the edges of the hall, putting the buffet tables between herself and the dancing for a moment. She wants to take it all in, to paint this night like a portrait in her mind before she joins.
And, most importantly, she wants to know where her stepfamily is before she loses herself in merriment.
It doesn’t take long to find them. They almost find her first. Cinderella is forced to duck behind a carved column as they pass.
“—asked to dance,” Anastasia is saying. She plucks a glass of champagne from the nearest table and then whines when her mother quickly snatches it away. “Why didn’t you let me accept?”
“It isn’t polite to dance before the Prince arrives,” Stepmother says. She sighs and hands Drizella a handkerchief when she picks up one of the finger sandwiches. “Don’t you dare get anything on your dress, either of you. You must look your best when the Prince is announced.”
“I want to watch the musicians,” Drizella says. She points to the front of the hall, just left of the dais where a small orchestra is concentrating on their instruments. “I’ve never seen a harp before!”
Cinderella steps out from behind the column when she hears their retreating footsteps. It is her first time seeing any of their gowns. They’re beautiful. Drizella’s managed her hair on her own and it shines under the candlelight. Her dress is lilac with silver embroidery. For a moment, Cinderella is worried. No one else in the hall is wearing purple. Is the lighter color enough to not offend the Royalty?
Anastasia is wearing a green gown with a daring back. The green is deeper than Cinderella’s, but bright enough to enhance the glittering blue embroidery along the skirt and bodice. She’s still carrying herself like she’s real nobility, her toes flashing out from under her hem with every step.
Stepmother is more understated. Her steel grey dress is demure enough in color to show that she’s a mother, but the cut is very similar to the fashionable nobles around her. She looks like a portrait from a time gone by with her ruffled collar and pinned hair.
They’re beautiful and the longing resurges brutally. What would it have been like if Cinderella were part of them? If they were family? If they accepted her love and loved her back? Would she be dressed in another color? Would she be laughing with Anastasia at the opulence of the chandeliers above them?
“May I ask you to dance?”
Cinderella doesn’t jump, but it’s a near thing. A young man is at her elbow, gloved hand extended to her. He’s dressed simply compared to other gentlemen she’s seen, his suit a traditional black with only an orange pocket square for color. He’s wearing a mask like he’s at a masquerade and where his suit is simple, his mask is ornate. The orange fabric is coated in translucent gems. Behind it, his eyes are odd. Are his pupils too large? Too narrow?
“Yes,” Cinderella says. She doesn’t think it’s rude to dance before the Prince arrives. If it was, why would the music already be playing? Feeling uncharacteristically bold, she says, “You may ask.”
The man’s smile widens. He sweeps an elegant bow and asks, “May I have this dance?”
Cinderella laughs. She accepts the man’s hand. “We may share this dance. Depending on how it goes, I may let you have it.”
“Clever,” the man says and sweeps her away.
She’s grateful when her dance partner leads her to the opposite side of the hall as her stepfamily. That’s all she has a chance to feel before the dance consumes her.
Cinderella was worried that she wouldn’t be a good dancer. And, she thinks, she’s not. But her partner is and with his gentle guidance, she finds herself remembering the cadence of the steps. The music throbs in her chest. Faster than she thought possible, she’s spinning, twirling, and gliding with her partner. It’s fun. It feels natural.
“You said you were out of practice,” her partner accuses.
“I am,” Cinderella says. Her body is thrumming. She feels so completely present that she can’t help but laugh. She smiles up at him. “This is wonderful.”
The man seems stunned by her sudden joy. He stumbles, falling out of sync with Cinderella on a turn. Cinderella is quickly pulled into the arms of another partner.
“Iz,” her previous partner growls.
Iz, a dark-haired young man, laughs and guides Cinderella into the next song. “There are many young ladies who haven’t been asked for a dance.” He winks at Cinderella and patiently waits for her to adjust to the faster tempo of the song. “We’d best let them have a chance to be swindled, hm?”
“He was very polite,” Cinderella defends without heat. Her previous partner didn’t seem actually upset. Is it common practice to cut in at balls? “Unlike some, he asked me for a dance.”
Iz, rather than being chastised, is delighted. His handsome face splits into a genuine smile, showing Cinderella sharp teeth. “He did, did he? What did you say?”
The song is fast and complicated. Cinderella pauses a moment before answering, focusing on her footwork. When she succeeds in not stepping on his feet, she laughs. “What does it matter? We’re dancing now.”
Iz supports her in a turn that leaves her toes barely skimming the floor. When he sets her back down, he asks, “If I asked you for a dance, what would you say?”
Cinderella considers that. Iz is handsome, his face unobstructed by a mask. He seems less intense than her first partner, but darker. His sharp teeth wink at her and, though she’s not afraid, she doubts she’d have teased him like she teased the masked man. “It might be best you didn’t ask.”
“Ouch.” Iz adjust his hold on her waist. “I suppose I’ll just need to do better than him, hm?”
He certainly tries. Iz is a wonderful dancer, even better than her masked partner. He isn’t as gentle, but he isn’t rough either. When Cinderella is unsure of the steps, he pushes her into them or lifts her to accommodate. The dance feels like a competition rather than a dance at times. The moment Cinderella feels herself catching up to Iz’ pace, he pulls out another trick.
“You’re doing this on purpose,” Cinderella pants after a particularly low dip.
“Forgive an old man his strategies,” Iz says, pulling her back up. He lifts his chin. “I have a reputation here. I can’t have just anybody out dancing me.”
“And yet here I am,” Cinderella teases. Old man? She doesn’t ask.
“Here you are,” Iz agree gravely. He holds her hand as Cinderella passes around him. Their song is ending, seamlessly sliding into the next. “I’ll have to know the name of my conqueror, hm?”
She nearly tells him. “I’m—” she catches his eye and her words falter. There’s a hunger in his gaze that chases some of the warmth from her limbs. She finishes “—a baron’s daughter.”
Iz’ hand tightens on hers. “But surely even baron’s daughters have names—ouch!”
A fan collides with the back of Iz’ head. Surprised, he lets go of Cinderella and, for the second time that night, Cinderella is pulled into another’s arms.
“Better luck next time,” the woman tells Iz. She’s a ray of red from her hair to her dress to the jewels on the toes of her shoes. She uses her full skirts to block Iz from reaching for Cinderella again. “I’ll be taking this dance.”
Luckily the next song is slow. The mysterious woman doesn’t speak to Cinderella for the first quarter of it as Cinderella catches her breath. She picks a gliding step that gets them away from Cinderella’s previous partners. Their skirts, green and red, are striking when they brush against the other.
Finally, the red woman speaks. “We’re supposed to be on our best behavior. Cy and Iz clearly don’t have best in their vocabulary. I hope you weren’t frightened.”
Cinderella’s brow furrows. “Frightened?”
“It’s already such a mess,” the woman continues as if not hearing Cinderella. She’s taller than Cinderella and her eyes are fixed on the ballroom over Cinderella’s head. “What the King and Queen were thinking…”
For the first time, Cinderella looks away from her partner. She doesn’t see anything out of place that could be construed as a “mess.” The guests are still dancing, their jewels and beading flashing in the candlelight. There is still laughter in the air. The tables are full of food and drink. Sure, the laughter is a little strained, but Cinderella can understand that. She’s feeling a little tired herself.
“I don’t understand,” Cinderella says.
The red woman looks down to study Cinderella. Her face is kind, round cheeks and high, arching brows. She purses her lips. “You seem fine.” She seems to think for a long moment. “There are rules that some of the more…provincial nobles aren’t aware of.”
“Like a special etiquette?”
“Exactly. A special sort of etiquette only taught in the Capital.” The red woman examines Cinderella again. “Though you seem to know a few rules?”
Does she? Cinderella hasn’t been doing anything differently than what her mother taught her. Uncomfortable with the intensity of the woman’s stare, Cinderella pulls away before the start of the next song. “This dance has been lovely, but I’m afraid I lack the endurance for another. I’ll excuse myself.”
“Ah, well, I can’t fight exhaustion,” the red woman says. She sweeps a curtsy to Cinderella. “They call me Morrigan, lady. I’d be honored if you did the same.”
Courtesy dictates Cinderella reciprocates, but she’s no longer feeling warm and joyful. The laughter that had been so uplifting is beginning to sound grating and discordant. The sweet music is insistent, pounding at Cinderella’s bones. She does her best to push the sensation away. She begins to feel light-headed. “You honor me. I’m only a mere baron’s daughter.” She turns to go.
The red woman blocks Cinderella before she can leave the dance floor. Her eyes (And are her eyes red?) dart around the floor. She leans in close to Cinderella’s ear. “I like your sense and so I will give you a warning. Don’t stay another night, baron’s daughter. Go home. Tonight.”
“Pardon?” Cinderella asks.
But Morrigan has already been swept away by the dancers again, there and gone in a blink.
Cinderella stumbles past the buffet tables. Her head is ringing. There’s something about the music – she can’t shut it out. No, it’s the laughter. It sounds disingenuous now. She presses a hand to her temple and looks for a patio or something where she can get fresh air.
Behind her, the music is fading. The Master of Ceremonies calls, “All bow for the entrance of her majesty and his majesty, the King and Queen!”
Cinderella doesn’t stop. She ducks down the first hall she finds. The heat that’s been rising in her breaks like a bubble and Cinderella nearly sags to the floor in relief. She didn’t realize how hot she was, how tightly wound, how tense. However, she has better manners than to collapse here and better sense than to be found ignoring the entrance of the King and Queen.
She continues down the hall, looking for a door to a courtyard or a private room. But the flagstone hall is so empty that she can hear the echo of voices from the ballroom even after coming all this way. The first few doors she tries are locked.
Cinderella finds the emptiness of the hall soothing after the sensory overload that was the ballroom. The pictures on the walls are dark in color scheme and impersonal in subject. A bowl of fruit with a handful of grapes scattered around the base. A wonderfully detailed portrait of a lamb and a haystack. A book laid out on a table with a fountain pen propped up on its spine. A tree standing on a hill, the dry grass surrounding it waving in an invisible wind.
The tree. Cinderella wants to talk to her friend. Now, far away from the ball, she feels…unsettled. She’s never been around so many people before. She’d felt so confident and bold in the moment, but she doesn’t know. Is it obvious that she’s never worn a dress like this? Did her dance partners laugh at her when she left? Why did Morrigan warn her away from another night at the ball? Because she could sense Cinderella doesn’t belong?
At last there’s a set of french doors along the hall. One is already partially cracked and the cool breeze that rolls through it feels like a balm against Cinderella’s flushed skin. She slips past the fluttering curtain and into a courtyard.
“Beautiful,” Cinderella breathes. Her breath fogs the air and she rubs her arms against the chill. There’s an oak tree in the center of a square of greenery. Directly overhead, the moon is big and full over the castle’s roofline. Carefully tended flowers frame a stone path directly up to the base of the tree. At the trunk is a small bench, just big enough for two people.
Cinderella follows the path. She doesn’t know if she’s trespassing, but would it matter? Everyone, including the royal family, is at the ball. She just needs a moment here and then she’ll be gone like she was never there. She sits on the bench and closes her eyes in relief. Her feet throb when her weight leaves them. She’s not used to heels.
“Didn’t you have a nice time dancing?”
The chill is chased away. The sound of the breeze through the oak tree vanishes. Without having to open her eyes, Cinderella knows that there are rainbows of magic in the air, twining under the moonlight like phantoms.
Cinderella smiles. “Hello, my friend.”
Her friend’s presence surrounds her, and Cinderella lets the last of her tension go.
-----------
We finally meet her friend again! Next part will be up next week, or is already available on my Patreon (X)
See y’all next week! I’m anticipating two or three more parts to this :)
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A Cinderella Fairytale - Deuce
Author Notes: @miriamladyvoid So this is the selection from my 600 followers event that corresponds to the book you chose (A book that has been lovingly re-covered in now sun-faded fabric). i wrote this while listening to "Lavender Blue" from Disney's Live action Cinderella (2015) OST. I kept this one as a female reader as well since that was what was in your request. I hope you enjoy!
600 followers event!
Type: female reader/ fluff/ romance/ charming fairytale in a book that has been lovingly re-covered in now sun-faded fabric/ Isekai
Word count: 2416
I exhaled, scrubbing the floor that magically seemed to gain more filth each time I blinked.
Never had I so regretted touching a book as I regretted touching the one that had transported me into this fairytale world that was a little bit too much like Cinderella for my liking. Especially considering I was the one in the role of Cinderella.
I should've known to be wary of the enchanted books Crowley had told me to take to the library for safe storage. If I had, then maybe I would have found myself getting transported to a magical world that wasn’t my own or Twisted Wonderland.
Of course, I hadn’t exactly been planning on opening one of the books. One of them had just slid off the top of the stack and fallen to the ground, opening as it did so.
I’d frowned at the book covered in sun-faded fabric that obviously hadn’t been original to it as I sat down on the other books before kneeling and slowly picking the book upright as Deuce had come into the room behind with yet another stack of books.
I’d barely even gotten a chance to glance up at the young man as a flash of light sparked out from the book, causing the young man to shout in surprise before everything had faded into darkness and I’d woke up here.
I hadn’t woken up with no clue as to where I was. The enchantment on the book had been kind enough to give me all of the information regarding my character’s backstory.
And it was almost exactly that of Cinderella. Meaning that I was essentially trapped in a retelling of one of the world’s most famous fairytales known to man.
The only real comfort was that, at the very least, Deuce had no doubt seen me get sucked into the book.
He would go and get help; I knew he would, and as soon as they could figure out how, I trusted that my friends would get me out of this book and back into Twisted Wonderland.
But up until then, my best options seemed to be filling my role and playing the part of Cinderella. Which included servitude to my apparent stepfamily.
“You still haven’t finished cleaning the floor, Ashes? You won’t be able to go to the ball at this right!” My supposed stepsister trilled at me from the upper staircase, and I twisted to look up at her.
I had to hand it to her and my stepmother, who stood behind her with a faux-disappointed expression; they weren’t going with the classic nicknames of ‘Cinderella’ or ‘Cinders.’ Instead, they referred to me as ‘Ashes.’
I watched as my stepmother shook her head, her lips pulled together in a pout, “Really, dear, I would have thought you would know this by now. If you try to clean the floor while covered in filth, then you’re only going to spread filth around.”
I glanced down at my clothes, which were not, in fact, covered in filth but were considerably stained. I nodded nonetheless, my fingers curling into the filthy rag I was using to clean, “Yes, ‘Mother.’”
I heard the tapping of heels, and then my chin was lifted by a fan so that I was looking up into my stepmother’s face, which was just a little bit too red to be colored by blush alone, “I told you to call me ‘Duchess,’ Ashes.”
I pulled my mouth up into a fake smile, “Yes, of course, Duchess.”
She let out a hum before twisting to look up at the clock and tutting lightly, “It is far too late for you to join us at the ball, Ashes. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay behind tonight.”
I twitched slightly at her words, indignant on my character's behalf. For tonight, she said. More like for the rest of your existence.
I wasn't particularly looking forward to meeting the prince charming of this story, but I was looking forward to my entrance at the ball. At the very least, I would get to see her shocked and dismayed face then. Though that was only a little comfort, considering it wasn’t actually going to be ‘Ashes’ who finally bested this woman.
The fan was yanked from under my chin, and she made sure to drag its sharp corner along my skin before finishing pulling it away as she smiled at me, “Be sure to finish your chores, ‘Dear.’”
She stepped away, turning in a swirl of rich but gaudy fabrics as I watched her stalk out of the kitchen and to her smirking daughter’s side, “And remember, tomorrow the prince will be visiting to declare his intentions to my daughter.”
My daughter. Not your sister.
But that was fine. In no way did I want to be accused of being related to the caution orange monstrosity of tulle that was the wicked step-sister of this tale.
I bowed my head, idly wondering what my fairy godmother would look and be like as I murmured my response, “Yes, Duchess.”
The two women left, trailing shrill laughter behind them as they swept out of the room, and I sat back.
As I recalled, the fairy godmother usually showed up right after Cinderella’s heart was broken, which did make me wonder if she would even show up.
According to the plot, she should, but I was hardly heartbroken.
But that was fine. I’d found a dress in the attic that was a perfect match for my size that was no doubt left by the previous lady of this house.
Ashes’s mother.
Changing didn’t take long, and I glanced at the clock as I walked through the house. The only question now was how, exactly, I was going to get to the palace without a pumpkin carriage to take me there.
I stepped out of the house, glancing around and feeling my eyebrows raise as I spotted a carriage that was parked right outside the house. A little bit too handy to be a coincidence, as the man in front waved me over.
“You must be a lady of this house. We’ll have to hurry to get you to the ball on time, my dear,” He smiled warmly, and I felt myself grin back at him before clambering into the carriage and sitting as it took off.
I frowned at the box next to me, though, immediately suspicious as I leaned out the window, “This box… Are you delivering it?”
The man shook his head, “No, ma’am, that would be for you. Some faerie stopped by and left it here, saying the lady who took this carriage to the palace would need it.”
I frowned at it, feeling my eyebrows lift before I carefully opened the box to reveal delicate glass slippers.
I felt myself laugh slightly; I supposed it wouldn’t really be a Cinderella fairytale without at least one gift from a fairy godmother after all.
And, just like a perfect fairytale, they fit like a dream and were impossibly comfortable despite their design.
I found myself shaking my head and smoothing back out the full, layered skirts of my dress, idly wondering about what this prince charming was going to be like.
Probably perfectly handsome, in a brilliant white suit, and totally at odds with the young men I’d gotten so used to being around at NRC. And there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, that would make him someone that I’d want for this story’s protagonist.
Ashes deserved someone who would be good to her in ways that she had experienced since her childhood, when her father and mother were still alive.
It didn’t seem like I’d been in the carriage hardly anytime at all when it rolled to a stop and the coachman leaned around, a smile on his face that somehow reminded me of Cater, even though he looked nothing like the ginger-haired young man, “Here’s your stop, ma’am. And good luck on winning the prince’s heart.”
I felt myself smile at him as I stepped out of the carriage, noticing that its roundness really did make it appear like a pumpkin.
“It looks like I’m going to be fashionably late,” I was surprised to find that I felt oddly nervous as I looked up at the grandiose staircase that led up into the sparkling palace just ahead.
He leaned down, winking at me lightly, “All the better for making an entrance, I say. Now, farewell, my lady.”
And with that, he snapped his reins once, and the carriage pulled away as I started up the staircase, at first slowly and then trotting, as my skirt fanned out around me.
Sets of doors after sets of doors were opened for me as I hurried through the palace, idly checking clocks as I went. Even I knew that the magic would wear off at midnight, and if I wanted this story to move forward, I needed to meet the prince before then, at the ball.
And right now, even as I filled the role of the princess in this story and even looked the part for once, ending this story was still my best chance of returning home outside of relying wholly on my friends to get me out.
I found my pace slowing, though, as I approached a particularly ornate set of double doors in front of which two men stood. Both of them looked my way and nodded slightly before they opened the doors silently for me. Revealing the glittering spectacle of a ball that was spread out in front of me as I walked out on a dais from which two sets of stairs fanned out.
I could see the musicians getting ready, but they obviously hadn’t started playing yet, which meant I’d made it before the prince had made his choice of partner.
I swallowed thickly, letting one hand rest on the stair’s gently curving rail while the other reached to lift my skirts, just enough for me to slowly step down the stairs and the rest of the way into the brightly lit ballroom.
I exhaled softly, bracing myself to meet Prince Charming when I saw him, and somehow, instead of being surprised, I only smiled.
His eyes were wide as he took a few, almost hesitant steps towards me before he smiled in return from across the room.
Guests parted around him, their confusion evident as he walked towards me at my quick pace and heads turned, their eyes landing on me as he slowed and came to a gentle stop right in front of me, “I finally found you.”
His voice was so soft, and I laughed slightly, shaking my head in slight disbelief until I found my voice, “Deuce… I didn’t even know you were here. Did you get sucked into this story at the same time I did?”
He nodded, glancing down and making a slight face before he looked up at me once more, “Yeah… I’ve been looking for you ever since so we could get out of here, but I’ve also been getting forced to act like a prince…..”
He trailed off, and I laughed slightly, tilting my head at him, “Well, you look like a perfect prince.”
He brightened at my words, though he also looked a little bashful before he nodded slightly, “And you look like a real princess, Y/n!”
He reached out, taking my hands in his, and I heard music start up almost immediately, causing my eyes to widen and glance over towards the musician right as one of the men from the top of the staircase spoke up, “His Highness has chosen his partner!”
I looked back towards Deuce, only to find him looking around just as startled as I was, “I don’t know how to dance though….”
I squeezed his hands lightly, pulling his gaze back to me with just that slight gesture, “Hey, we’ll do it together.”
I watched as he blinked at me slightly before nodding, a determined glint entering his gaze, “Right, together.”
And with that, we shifted, spiraling across the floor with unpracticed motions that somehow seemed oddly perfect. They fit the two of us. Two people who weren’t originally from this story but had still ended up swept up in the tale.
As the music trailed off, we came to a slow stop, with his arms wrapping around me as we both laughed slightly. Perhaps from the giddiness of having danced in front of an entire group of people, or maybe from the ridiculousness of us being in a fairytale such as this one.
And then, as I leaned against him, the lights seemed to brighten and turn the entire ballroom white.
I closed my eyes, pressing my face into Deuce’s shoulder as his grip on me tightened until, at last, I chanced opening my eyes only to find the glittering spectacle of the ballroom gone.
I sat back, startled, and my motions caused Deuce to jolt slightly, his own eyes opening as we looked up at the Heartslabyul students around where we knelt on the floor of the school’s library.
“Guys! How-”
“We just closed the book,” Ace was shaking his head at us, his arms crossed as he looked down at us, and I blinked as his stare shifted over to Deuce and he snorted.
“Next time, instead of diving in after the Prefect, use your head, and maybe they won’t be trapped in a book for so long.”
Deuce frowned, straightening from his seated position, “Hey! I had to do something!”
And just like that, the two of them started bickering. But I felt a light tap on my shoulder that had me turning as Cater smiled down at me, “So what was being a princess like?”
I blinked at his words before a smile slowly started to crawl across my face, half in amusement and half in genuine happiness that I’d gotten to experience such a magical little story.
I looked over at Deuce as I smiled, realizing I’d probably never get to see him dressed up like a prince or dance with him like that ever again. And those, at the very least, were two memories I’d treasure for the rest of my life.
And when I answered Cater, I was still smiling, half-wishing we could have made it to the end of the story. It had felt like we’d only just gotten to the good part after all.
“Like a fairytale.”
#Twisted wonderland imagines#Deuce x reader#Deuce Spade#female reader#fluff#Cinderella story#romance#Deuce x you#Deuce x y/n#Deuce spade x reader#Twisted Wonderland#Twisted Wonderland x reader#Twisted Wonderland x y/n#Twisted wonderland x you#twst#twst x reader#twst x y/n#twst x you#Disney TW#Disney fanfiction#heartslabyul#charming fairytale#mywritings#it-happened-one-fic#600 followers event#request#fanfiction#fanfic
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hello hello hello! how are you lovely mods doing? first of all I want to thank you for this blog, it's given me all the best GO fics I've read!!
I wanted to ask you, are you guys aware of any Cinderella!au fanfic for AziraCrow? Cause I've been thinking about writing one, but I don't want to accidentally make it too similar to an existing one!
Thank you ever so much ❤️
Hi, I'm good thanks! We have some Cinderella aus here, and I've got more now...
Raven by desk_mess (T)
King Gabriel's son, Prince Ezra, is coming of age to take a wife for themself.
A servant-girl, Antonia, dreams of escaping the clutches of her cruel step-mother and step-sisters.
Little do they know they have someone looking out for them.
After all, it's ineffable.
(Good Omens Cinderella AU)
(Rated Teen for Language and Implications.)
A Midsummer Midnight’s Dream by pilatesandpinot (E)
Aziraphale Fell dreams of becoming an actor and dancer but instead lives in servitude to his wicked stepfather and stepsisters. When a mysterious duke invites all of the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes to the Midsummer Masquerade Ball, he thinks he’s found his escape. His stepfamily shuns him from attending, though that’s not something Aziraphale or his sassy godmother will take laying down. Will Aziraphale find his happily ever after, even if it’s not entirely what he expected?
A Cinderella/Fairytale inspired AU
Cinderfall by a_serpent (G)
Azira Fell had a really though childhood - his parents died and he had to live with his terrible stepmother and stepbrothers. Everything changes when one day Az meets intriguing (and deadly handsome) redhead stranger.
Cinderphale by Ezra_Oakenshield (G)
As the title suggests, this is a rewrite of "Cinderella" with the Good Omens characters.
After the death of his mother, Aziraphale is at the mercy of his cruel adopted siblings. They reduce him to a lowly servant. The solace he finds is with his animal friends, his bookkeeper friend from town, the mysterious blank book that she gave him, the prospect of the three-night ball at the palace, and a certain handsome red-head with dark glasses.
Cinders Bound by Golden Crown by AJ_Constantine (E)
Good Omens Alpha Beta Omega Cinderella AU
From the far end of the ballroom Prince Aziraphale’s eyes locked on Crowley as he raised his hand beseechingly. Crowley couldn’t look away from him if his life depended on it, although he was keenly aware of the increasing number of eyes joining the Prince’s to stare at him standing frozen on the dais. As he realized that he was incapable of not answering the silent call of the bright Alpha below him, a calm washed over him, acting as a soothing balm over the jagged edges of his seething emotions.
Just breathe. He inhaled shakily as he began descending the steps to the ballroom floor. Prince Aziraphale mirrored his steps, stepping forward to close the distance between them.
The sea of nobles between them parted like waves receding from the shore as they moved closer. When Crowley drew close to the Prince, his hand slowly rose to settle in the Alpha's outstretched one.
The Prince looked at Crowley's face searchingly. His voice was quiet yet ringing with intent as he asked, "May I have this dance?"
- Mod D
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I've now reached the last of the main list of Cinderella stories from Cinderella Tales Around the World. The book is nowhere near over, though: after this it goes into the various "subtypes" of Cinderella, such as Donkeyskin.
The last few "official" Cinderella stories in this book are from Mexico and Chile. I was disappointed not to see more South American versions, and particularly that there were none from Brazil for @ariel-seagull-wings. But the Donkeyskin tales later in the book do include a Brazilian version, which I look forward to sharing!
Meanwhile...
*As in the versions from the Philippines, the heroine is named Maria in all three of these Latin American tales.
*The Mexican version is called Maria Cenzia, or "Cinder-Mary." The title character is a homeless orphan who lives in an ash-hole belonging to a household of black Moorish witches. They eventually discover her, take her in as a servant, and send her to the river with a black sheepskin, ordering her to wash it until it's white. But a lady appears and magically does the task for her, then gives her a magic wand to grant her wishes and puts a shining star on her forehead. When the jealous daughter of one of the witches sees this, she takes a black sheepskin to the river too, but the lady puts an ugly growth on her forehead instead of a star. Maria later uses her magic wand to give herself finery to wear to church and to give herself wings to fly home before the witches can catch her. She loses a shoe, of course, which leads to her marriage to the prince. But then the witches turn her into a dove with a magic pin. Yet one day, her father-in-law the king finds her and takes out the pin, breaking the spell, and when all is revealed, the witches are burned at the stake.
*The two Chilean versions, Maria the Cinder-Maiden and Maria the Ash-Girl, are nearly identical to each other and very similar to Maria Cenzia too. Maria persuades her father to marry a seemingly-kind widow with a daughter of her own, but is abused afterwards. She has a pet cow, which the stepmother spitefully has killed, but inside its body Maria finds a magic wand. She then has to wash the cow's organs in a stream, but they fall in and are swept away. An old woman comes along and offers to get them for her, and in return Maria cleans her house and cooks supper for her; for this, the old woman gives Maria a shining star on her forehead. The next day the envious stepsister has her own pet cow killed, takes the organs to the stream, and loses them on purpose, but she shows the old woman no kindness, and so she receives a turkey wattle on her forehead instead of a star. Some time later, there's a ball at the royal palace. Maria uses her wand to give herself finery and a coach, and of course she loses a shoe, and the prince uses it to search for her. The stepsister binds her own foot with tight bandages to make the slipper fit, but either a dog or a parrot alerts the prince, and Maria is found.
*It's interesting that the motif of the heroine receiving a shining mark on her forehead (a star, a moon, or a jewel) is found in Cinderella tales from both Latin America and Iran, yet rarely seen elsewhere. My guess is that the motif originated in the Middle East, was brought to Spain by the Arabs, and then traveled from Spain to Latin America.
*This is probably as good a time as any to discuss another recurring theme I've noticed. While around the world it varies whether the heroine's abusers are punished, forgiven, or neither, it seems that when they are punished, the worst punishment usually falls on the (step)sister(s), not the (step)mother. Just look at the Grimms' version: the stepmother is Aschenputtel's main antagonist, and she abuses her own daughters too by forcing them to cut off parts of their feet, yet in the end she goes unpunished, while her daughters' eyes are pecked out by birds. Yet even in versions where the (step)mother does get a punishment, the more brutal killing, maiming, or permanent disfigurement tends to be reserved for her daughter(s). Some versions try to justify it by portraying the sisters as abusing Cinderella more than their mother does, but most don't bother. In many versions, the simple "crime" of being Cinderella's rival is treated as if it were worse than being her chief abuser.
@ariel-seagull-wings, @adarkrainbow, @themousefromfantasyland
#cinderella#fairy tale#variations#cinderella tales from around the world#heidi ann heiner#mexico#chile#tw: violence#tw: racism
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Ok... I had this interesting KnightFall story based on an image I found on Google but what if... Jaune was the Madam's son?
What if the Madam was part of the Arc Family!?
The Madam or Madonna Arc is just controlling and abusive to all of her kids, but since the daughters adapted and acted like their mother, they don't get beat as much or at all, because Jaune's still a kid and doesn't know better much, he gets abused a lot more like Cinder
Jaune's sisters (The Stepsisters) are called Anastasia and Sella Arc.
Sella Arc (15):
Sella acts just like her mother, even being hard on Jaune when he messes up and actually took care of Jaune when he was a baby since their mother refused to, yet she seemingly despises him. However, this is all an act as she is actually terrified of her mother and of a lot of things but acts like her mother as a defense mechanism.
Sella cares deeply for Jaune but is very jealous and hateful to Cinder who she believes Jaune loves more than her due to how much Jaune goes to her for most things.
Anastasia (14):
Anastasia only acts like her mother only around her mother, when her mother is nowhere to be seen, she is more relaxed and a lot less mean and cruel. She too cares for Jaune and comforts him when she can after he beaten, and tries to help him as much as she can stay strong. She protects him outside of the home but inside, she fears for his life because it breaks her heart when she can't stop her mother and sees the pain Jaune goes through.
She dislikes Cinder for the simple fact that Jaune relates to her more and begins to tell her things that he's never told her, but begins to come around to her as she sees how genuinely Cinder cares for Jaune and comes around to liking Cinder.
Of course, Cinder's backstory is very different and the events play out differently. For example, Rhode still trains Cinder and wants to save her as well as the rest of the kids but arrives too late as the Glass Unicorn is burned down but does find Jaune alive.
Of course, the fates of Jaune and Cinder are different.
Cinder actually is found by Summer and is taken in and raised so the story is also a Big Sister Cinder Au!
Jaune ends up being adopted by his Uncle (Who would be his Canon family) and is gifted Crocea Mors while also being trained by Rhodes as well.
I don't want to reveal what happens to Anastasia and Sella but trust me, I've got a basic layout of their fates after their mother's death and their home burning down.
But what do you guys think?
I haven't come up with a name for the story but a placeholder that I have is Glass Children
#rwby#jaune arc#cinder fall#rwby step sisters#rwby the madam#rwby knightfall#knightfall#jaune arc x cinder fall#jaune x cinder#rwby au#rwby fanfiction idea#rwby fanfiction#rwby glass children au#glass children au
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My Stepmother and Stepsisters Do Not Pick On Me II
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Cinder: I am an orphan and when my mother died, I was adopted by an Atlesian family.
Cinder: A child from a foreign kingdom must be a nuisance for them…
~
Cinder: I have to keep living here, no matter what!
Cinder: My ladies, do you need me to do anything for you?
Straight-Haired Sister: My lady?
Curly-Haired Sister: Do you know who you’re talking to?
Cinder: *prostrates herself* F-Forgive me, how should I address you?
Straight-Haired Sister: “Sister,” don’t you think? You’re my sister, aren’t you?
Curly-Haired Sister: Yeah, that was really stupid. Don’t you know we’re your sisters?
Cinder: Huh?
Curly-Haired Sister: My name is Amanda but please call me Ama.
Straight-Haired Sister: I was first! I’m Lenalee but call me Lee.
Cinder: W-Wait…Whaaat?
Cinder: Ama… Lee…
Ama: Yes?
Lee: What’s the matter?
Cinder: I wonder if this is alright…If I can call them…family.
ELSEWHERE
Cinder: Emm…Mother.
Madame: For you, theres no reason to call me that.
Cinder: *prostrates herself* I’m sorry, I thought I was doing things right.
Madame: Your mother is irreplaceable. No one will ever be able to take the place of the mother who raised you, you don’t have to force yourself to say it. But if you still want to call me that, then you can do it! Call me Mommy!
Cinder: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh?????
Cinder: …Mommy?
Madame: Yes?
Cinder: Mom, my new family…they’re very kind.
#rwby#cinder fall#evil stepmother#evil stepsisters#amalee#My Stepmother and Stepsisters Do Not Pick On Me#incorrect quotes
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okay so there's a lot of things that stick out about Midnight but here's just one
when Cinder first gets to the Glass Unicorn, the shock collar is already there waiting on the counter—
—so Cinder was always going to end up with it one way or another, no matter what she did
(and who knows if it was bought new? maybe she wasn't the first child slave this hotel has seen; all three Tremaines act like this is business as usual when they meet Cinder)
but Madame doesn’t put it on her right away, just gives her a list of chores and leaves the room
now, from a Doylist perspective, I'm pretty sure it's to save time that we don't see Cinder actually having the collar put on her; they had a whole lot of shit to cram into just a few minutes and that would have been unnecessary. but, from a Watsonian perspective: why?
[Has_No_Idea_What_The_Fuck_Is_Going_On_.png]
consider: Cinder literally just got here. she has no idea where anything is or how to do anything that's being demanded of her: cleaning up around a stable is a whole different ball game than being charged with the upkeep of an entire, enormous hotel at ten years old, maybe even younger depending on how much time passed between when she was first "adopted" and when she met Rhodes
there's no way she did everything perfectly, or even right, that first try (and of course her stepsisters weren't any help)
she's being immediately set up to fail, and more importantly, to be punished, to be shown exactly what her captors will do to her when they find her lacking
so: did Cinder have the shock collar put on her the first time she made a mistake, and have it framed as her own fault?
Cinder, years later, Realizing: hEY WAIT A DAMN MINUTE
#i should note that that's not actually my headcanon for how cinder got the shock collar#y'all can read that when i finish the fic it's in#also i've apparently gone to the midnight image gallery on the rwby wiki so often for posts#that it's the first thing that comes up when i put 'rwby' in my search bar#RWBY#cinder fall#kaen rambles
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ALSO about Cinderella 2015
Let’s talk about mirrors! What do mirrors show us, ladies and gentlemen?
What we look like. Sure. It’s how we see ourselves.
In this masterpiece of a movie, Cinderella’s name is Ella, and the “Cinder” part is a mean nickname. The nickname is given to her right at the height of her transformation from Rightful Heiress of Father’s Estate, to Ragged Servant Girl.
If I remember correctly, the wicked stepfamily gives her the nickname “Cinderella” after she’s been working all day and has had no time to wash the cinders off her face. And then they won’t let her eat with them, and make her carry the tray of tea downstairs.
Then the first (of only two) moments of self-doubt and despair for Ella come in. She looks at herself—in the reflection of the pot that they’re making her carry—and the reflection is warped. Just like her name. Just like how they’re treating her is not a reflection of who she really is, or what she should really be worth.
The narrator even says, “And of a sudden, it seemed to her that her stepmother and stepsisters had indeed transformed her into merely a creature of ash and toil.”
So she has her moment of despair, but then she’s distracted from thinking of herself by an opportunity to be kind to a stag, who’s being hunted. That causes her to meet the Prince, he falls in love with her kindness and courage, and the rest is history.
Then, mirrors don’t come back into it until the moment before Ella is about to meet the Prince, and reveal her identity to him. So it’s a pretty great time to have your main character look into a mirror—when identity is the focus of the scene.
But this time, Ella’s not focused on what others say of her. She’s remembering her mother’s words as she looks into the mirror. “Have courage, and be kind.” That’s all she needs. Not a fancy ball gown or magic glitter or words of affirmation. She just has to remember the higher calling of being courageous and kind. And the reflection isn’t muddied, or warped, or dirty. It’s clear.
You see, my point is, for most of the movie, this is her superpower.
Ella is a character who knows who she is. Not because of where she is, or what her job is, or what some people say about her. But because of how well her parents taught her who she is—that she has a superpower, and it is kindness.
That’s why she does not have to defend herself to her stepsisters; when you know who you are, you don’t have to think about yourself. You can just think about serving something greater than yourself. And when you’re not thinking about yourself, you don’t have to worry so much about what others think of you.
Tune in next time to hear me preach about paintings in Cinderella 2015.
#Cinderella 2015#Cinderella#the best live action disney remake#the only good live action remake#the best Cinderella#my favorite princess#princess#Disney princess#Disney#meta#writing#mirrors#identity#fiction#fairy tales#analysis#Cinderella analysis#kit#Ella#Anastasia#drivels#lady tremaine#Lucifer#Gus#Jacques#fairy godmother
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*rubs hands together*
Someone tagged me into this prompt idea and my brain exploded with a whole ass movie inside my head
---------
I'm so so SO MAD at myself for not thinking about this before, LIKE, I've thought about the Vanille family travelling for holidays before, but I didn't think about THIS possibility, specially taking into account Neo and Cinder have similar ages
so listen up, a whole movie played inside my head as soon as I read this
Carmel Vanille being a friend of the Madame- the Vanille couldn't leave Trivia behind for vacations because it would've been problematic (Trivia making mischief while they were away, it has happened before), so they took their daughter with them when doing so
it was a yearly vacation of visiting Atlas and staying at the Glass Unicorn, maybe the Madame could've actually been a student of Lady Browning's that moved to Atlas, someone Carmel could've considered a friend from the student days even if they're trained to be so...cold
damn, they were both bitches with shady stuff going on
so, they've been taking Trivia with them to the Glass Unicorn for the longest time, they forced Trivia to wear the brown contact over the pink eye (of course) and most of the time forced her to stay inside the room unless they were going to a restaurant and stuff
I see Trivia would've also been forced to try to play and interact with the stepsisters to see if she 'opened up' and 'talked', but it didn't work :^)
maybe the stepsisters themselves would've bullied Trivia around a little unless Cinder was around (their main target for bullying), but in the early years they prohibited Trivia so hard to use her Semblance or do anything that 'a lady wouldn't do', that anytime Cinder was around, she did as the rest, watch and do nothing about the poor slave girl that worked under the Madame's thumb
but deep inside, Trivia felt pity of someone her age being treated like THAT, so she would sneak at times to try and give Cinder the meals she didn't finish, or, directly hitting up the hotel's service while locked in the room, to order food that she wasn't gonna eat, only to give it to Cinder
the Madame probs knew about it, and noticed, but she never said anything to Trivia or the Vanilles about it to not hurt their relationship- it's more likely that she noticed and punished poor Cinder for accepting Trivia's kindness, what started to make Cinder not wanting to interact with Trivia to not get attached or to not get punished again
years keep passing and the both of them grow up, every year, they see each other, and it's almost as if they can see each other's pain reflected on their eyes- different kinds of abuse, but pained nonetheless
maybe with Trivia starting to rebel up more, she would've tried to use her Semblance to take Cinder away for a moment to just, chill, a moment to take a breath, not outside of the hotel at all, but just a few minutes for them both to get away of their own problems and giving Cinder the chance to vent a little
but then, one day Cinder kills the Madame, the stepsisters and Rhodes, and the Vanille stop going to the Glass Unicorn for obvious reasons- that incident changed the course of events forever
...and Cinder and Neo only have vague memories of their interactions pre-Beacon era, like they don't recognize each other at first, at all, it hits them way way WAY later once in the future, they start opening up about their past
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ROUND 1D, MATCH 3 OUT OF 16!
Propaganda Under the Cut:
Carrie:
Cinderella’s ball goes badly and she kills a town. What is there not to love?
Carrie is a horror retelling of Cinderella, look it up it's true
Cinder:
She killed her evil stepmother and stepsisters (technically they "adopted" her as slave labor and the narrative treats her as the villain for this but tbh out of all the things Cinder has done, this was the most justified)
She's my wife and I love her and she's also evil but it's okay
She does cool fire stuff and murders people but I think that can be forgiven
I love her. Jkjk uhm she's really cool and while a lot of people say she's an evil Cinderella she's more like a Cinderella who never gets saved and has to save herself. And she's so super cool and charming and a genius. And she kills people sometimes but it's okay because she's very very sad and I think more people should care about her.
Cinderella as a villainess! What if Cinderella wasn't saved by her fairy godmother and instead murdered her step-family and joined an evil witch terrorizing the world? Cinder Fall is a dangerous villainess who has helped topple kingdoms and will do anything to gain power.
This propaganda is just going to be me listing all the ways she fits her Cinderella allusion. Like all of the characters in RWBY, Cinder is an allusion to a character from fairy tales/legend/etc. In her case, CINDERella. She's one of the earliest and most important antagonists, although at first there wasn't a whole lot to connect her to the Cinderella story besides some surface-level references(her name, her superpower being the ability to create glass objects, that one part of the dance arc where she infiltrates a communication tower and has to be back to the dance by midnight when she transforms into a dress), but in the later volumes the Cinderella aspects to her character become way more clear. (spoilers for later parts of the show here on out) People have summarized this way better than I am about to, but basically: She came from an orphanage and was adopted by a wealthy family from from another kingdom(a mom and her two daughters), but was really only adopted so that she could do servant work at the prestigious hotel they owned. The "prince charming" in her story wasn't a romantic interest, but a huntsman(someone who fights the monsters in the world, a career all the main characters go to school to become) who frequents the restaurant in the hotel. He sees her being mistreated and secretly trains her so that when she's 17 she can apply to one of the combat schools and leave her "stepmother and stepsisters." Like all the villains, though, she's like a version of her allusion where things went wrong, so instead of being whisked away by "prince charming" to his world, she ends up in a position where she kills the "stepmom" and "stepsisters," "prince charming" tries to bring her in for murder bc it's his job, and she kills him too. Now a child with nowhere to go, she gets picked up by the main villain, Salem, who acts in the Cinderella allegory as the "fairy godmother" who uses magic to give her "freedom." Except the magic is a parasite monster that gives her certain abilities, most importantly the ability to take the powers of a very select kind of person that Salem needs. This "magic" also has a time limit like the dress and the carriage, except it's the fact that it's a parasite that's slowly consuming her. Cinder thinks she wants these powers because if she's powerful, she can secure her freedom, but has yet to see that Salem is just using her, making her the new "stepmother" in her story(she came close to realizing this, mentally comparing Salem to her "stepmother," but then turned around and threw herself into her quest for power even more). Some people also compare the other characters in Salem's inner circle to a new set of "stepsisters," especially with how none of them like Cinder and wished her good riddance during the period of time she was missing and possibly dead, and that there's subtle competition between all of them for Salem's approval, similar to how siblings can be with a parent. Some people have also said it's possible that Neopolitan played the new "fairy godmother" role during said time where Cinder was on her own, because Neo was able to help Cinder a lot with her illusion powers, including using them on an airbus("carriage"), which was also the scene where Cinder got her outfit change for the new arc. There is also a part in the Atlas arc where she lets the General know she was in his office by leaving a glass chess piece on his desk(like the glass slipper that Prince Charming identifies her with), when she fucked him over earlier in the show with a computer virus with a chess piece logo.
Literally explicitly based off cinderella yet somehow people were shocked when her backstory involved basically being a child slave to her "stepmother" and abused by her "stepsisters". She put up with their abuse for years until they finally crossed the line then she snapped and killed them. But now she's still being manipulated by another stepmother figure. She seeks power because she thinks it will give her freedom. She can shoot fireballs. She has the most outfit changes of anyone in the whole show. She's a poor little meow meow and a girlboss.
Hot
#cinderpoll#round 1#round 1d#carrie#carrie white#stephen king#cinder fall#rwby#rooster teeth#fairytale#cinderella#poll tournament#poll bracket#character polls#polls
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