"You know I love you?" "I love you too."

I am obsessed with this relationship. It's opposites attract. It's unrequited requited love. It's clashing wants and needs. It's that slightly toxic dependency. It's a love that could have been different if only they'd never met him.

How dare Aabria and Oscar make me so invested in an owlbear and a satyr called Wuuvy

IM REGRESSING TO ACOFAF AGAIN AND I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO BIG THIEF A LOT, SO SUE ME 

🦌💐 kofi link in bio if you’re feeling generous 💐🦌

been thinking a lot about how wuvvy was really encouraging rue re: kp hob initially, but she was encouraging it on a physical level (who needs talking etc) and the second rue was like i feel Seen and Understood by him in a way that no one has ever done before wuvvy started being like actually i think the way he’s making you second guess yourself is bad and he’s bad and i hate him rue i hate him i love you you know that right you know i’ll always be here with you right (bc i See you and i Understand you)

Devestating

Rue and Wuvvy’s complementary ballgowns.......

messed around in krita today designing outfits for wuvvy! this is probably as close as i'll ever get to having a set design for wuvvy lol :) i think my personal favorites are the everyone secretly wants suit and the green regency outfit. design notes below cut

canon masquerade outfit: drawing this made me realize how much wuvvy's masquerade outfit looks like a wedding gown. with their corresponding color pallet, rue's outfit then seems like a funeral. it kind of tracks, in an odd way, given the way wuvvy and rue's relationship was turning this season - rue, away from the court of wonder, and by extension, wuvvy, experiencing a kind of rejuvenating death of the self; wuvvy, wanting to preserve, failing to be able to. the idea of wuvvy in a wedding dress, watching rue tuck a peony behind hob's ear across the ballroom, is haunting to say the least, even if drawing wuvvy in a dress did feel a little weird for my butch brain.

long-forgotten outfit: visually ties wuvvy to hob through similar suit design in the gold epaulets, while retaining her cream-and-gold aesthetic. stage curtain cape as a nod to the wuvvy stagehand meta (that wuvvy's role in the story is like a stagehand, making her largely unseen but still deeply part of the narrative, difficult to place as either a side or main character). gold leaves on white peonies suggest that wuvvy's relationship to rue (white peonies) has been tainted by the influence of the court of wonder (gold motif).

esw bloom outfit: the gold collar and ruffle of canon have been replaced by two plain gold collars, suggesting a retreat from adornment. loose linen shirt suggests comfort, but also a workmanlike quality which is at odds with her new station as master of ceremonies.

esw formal outfit: white suit with gold accents calls back to the original bloom's masquerade ball and her color pallet then, as was dictated to match rue's, giving a sense of nostalgia. fully-done mandarin collar closes her off. gold shoulders once again echo hob's epaulets, while the black-and-white peony suggests conflicted feelings. gold tips on horns reflect her state of being in the court of wonder, somewhat dulled down (no longer exposing the sharpness of her horns), while at the same time prized and adorned. also, they frame her face well and make her look handsome. the bell in her ear is a callback to hob's tracking device in early season and was inspired by obeetlebeetle's use of the bell in his fic, queen of almost.

queen of almost outfit: she's hot. to be honest

southern lawn outfit: ibid.

queen of almost outfit: okay jokes aside, the hair and loose, billowy shirt together makes her look like a prototypical movie poet. the band around her stomach being deep red is... *glances at cyrano* a kind of visual prophecy

regency green: color pallet calls back to canon design, but holds back on the gold. the bird on her chest could be interpreted in many ways. the one that comes to mind for me is the idea of wuvvy's heart as a bird kept for display. it's very pretty, and very vocal, and it never gets to fly. could also be a visual link to the prologue of everyone secretly wants. red gem above cravat suggests a reticence to speak

In the adventuring party ep when Oscar talks about how there was a moment where Rue was kind of falling for Wuvvy it drives me crazy if you think about the implications because there's clearly so much love there especially on (but clearly not limited to) on Wuvvy's side but in Rue's struggle of duty & sacrifice versus wants & pursuits, Wuvvy (who came to the Court of Wonder to work for Rue, who has taken so much burden off of their shoulders) will always stand most aligned with the former category and not the latter. They choose Hob, who's different and exciting and someone completely unrelated to their job (with everything from his lower status to his court affiliation to simply who he is) but Wuvvy has been and always will be there. Helping. Letting Rue breathe easier.

the enormity of hob's desire disgusts him. the enormity of rue's desire exhilarates them. the enormity of wuvvy's desire constricts her.

if rue is always in their glamour even wearing their dressing gown alone how the Fuck did wuvvy find out? did they choose to let her know?  did they used to drop the glamour in private only for wuvvy to walk in? 

when was this in relation to when wuvvy decided that she wanted, even more than to be a champion of her court, to be with them always?  did it spur on the choice or did she make it before she even really knew the whole of them, the truth of their secret self?  did rue see this life altering choice made for them and choose to confide in wuvvy?  or did they see that choice and say nothing?

did rue ever begrudge wuvvy for choosing the constraining court of wonder over the court that took it as wrote that you could have more than one form that is your true self? did rue see wuvvy’s feral form before or after the reveal? did wuvvy walk in and become confounded that they would trusted with all their affairs with this, as if she didn’t know from experience that the form could change and the self remain the same, just as easily as the form could change and alter the self?

did she swear to rue that she would keep their secret?  that she remained as she had always been, entirely devoted, that rue remained as they had always been, entirely wondrous, did rue believe them, and yet still they put their true form on the shelf, like a garment that no longer fit to form or to the fashion, that even alone it became something they could not risk? 

Let me be PERFECTLY unclear.

Kpvvy is tenderly cleaning and patching each others wounds after having fought side by side. Its gardening, its getting dirt under your claws, and growing flowers. Its a need to protect. Its an understanding of service, a misunderstanding of the difference between that and servitude.

Ruevvy is helping each other get ready in the morning. Its taking the flowers that have grown and arranging them to tell stories, to make declarations. It's devotion. It's a love that wasn't supposed to change, but did.

Ruehob is dancing under the moonlight. It's walking through flower feilds arm in arm, clawed hand in clawed hand. It's loving selfishly, selflessly. It's finding belonging in each other when you didn't belong at home.

Kpruevvy is cooking together. It's tucking flowers behind each others' ears or into each others' hair. It's understanding deeper than anyone else. It's leaving your court, your home, everything you've ever known, leaving it all behind, for love, and being all the happier for it.

Hope this is incomprehensible <3

imagine a world in which rue left the court of wonder to be with wuvvy at the court of hoof and claw

“Let's just be friends. Let's merely intertwine our lives, serving as support and fellow celebrant through the ups and downs of an entire human lifetime. Only that.“ - @/NightValeRadio, 3/10/2022

💌 kofi link in bio if you’re feeling generous 💌

wuvvy going in feral between kp leaving a bell on her and hearing kp call someone not rue “my dearest”, this is absolutely not like cool and normal behaviour when your friend who you like a normal amount has a crush on a boy bugbear you don’t approve of

Rue and Wuvvy are similar

They both dream big and feel bigger. They are both prone to impulsivitiy and are both brought to the whims of their own hearts. They love love, love the idea of love, and love living for love- even if it looks different on each of them.

Wuvvy and Hob are similar.

They both are physically strong, and familiar with being underestimated. Both know deep devotion to be the greatest purpose for their self, for their time and bodies, even if it takes pain and fumbling to understand what they should be devoted to.

Rue and Hob are similar.

They both know intimately what it is like to to live at the margins of a group, to feel they must excel to get a even modicum of appreciation from superiors. They share an appreciation for honor and decorum, although they may have to develop their own personal definitions of each.

a rift between them