#this turned out a bit bleaker than i'd intended

[cinderswife]

because i can't go five seconds without thinking about ouatis worldbuilding, here's rose and snow's immediate family! there is so much going on here. infodump under the cut as always <3

(full disclosure, snow and rose's childhood sucked. i watched Iron Claw, a biopic about the wrestling dynasty of the Von Erich family, when i was conceptualizing their dads and the shitty family dynamics from the film twisted with the development of snow and rose i'd already done to create a royally screwed up family. general white and rose red do Not come from a remotely well adjusted family are you kidding me. so. cw about that. darr and eret are doing fine though)

By all the rights of inheritance, Cole's empire should belong to the House of Grimm. After all, it was their family he married into 2,000 years ago. He took his pick of the Princes Grimm (twin crown princes who decided that whoever married for love first would get to be king of Zantine) and became king over the people. It must be understood though that the House of Grimm is descended from the other brother, the Duke of what was then the province of Delinore (long before it was a planet or a star system). Had His Majesty simply died when he was killed, all this could have been avoided. Alas, His Majesty's forays into the idea of immortality and collaboration with a certain vampire would lead to him becoming a star-faring conquering emperor.

This is not a fact known any longer. To the people of the modern era, the House of Grimm is simply his favorite and always has been. The current Grand Duke of the star system duchy of Delinore and Head of the House of Grimm is his heir and that is the way it is and always will be.

John Grimm, the hereditary Grimm father through which Snow and Rose claim their birthright, had a short-lived reign. His own father had died in an unfortunate starship accident when he was young, so he was raised by not his mother, a perpetually stressed woman desperately trying to keep the duchy together, but his uncle, a former military man who was never as good as a soldier as he claimed to have been.

John wanted desperately to join the force but as the only child of his father and His Majesty's future heir, he was forced to train to become Grand Duke instead. This was not pleasing to him, so he made a habit of getting into trouble whenever he could.

As a teen, he took a fancy to a lovely young woman who would later grow into his husband, Eli. Eli was clever with his tongue and understood people in a way that John never quite wrapped his head around. Though he was descended from a far lesser noble house, John saw potential in him as a partner in crime. The two fell madly in love and were wed within months of meeting at the tender ages of 17 and 16.

That was the story spun about them anyways. In truth, it was a shotgun wedding and the two were married to ensure the scandal remained as minimal as possible. Snow and Rose were born several months later to baffled fanfare.

Now, it must be understood that twins have always been auspicious in the House of Grimm. Every generation with twin heirs would find a different way to select which would be the Duke. John elected the easy way: Rose, the older twin by a mere 20 minutes, would be Duchess and Snow, the younger twin, would fulfill his military dreams.

It became quite clear early on that the girls' dispositions were suited for the other's future. Rose was lively and athletic with a lot of fight in her and Snow was clever and calculating with the ability to say whatever she needed to get others to listen. However, John and to a lesser extent Eli were determined that things go exactly as planned.

The girls were raised like military sons, strict and harsh much like John had been. Even Eli, though not as outwardly brutal, was still strict in his teachings of politic and poise. Despite the harsh conditions (or indeed, because of them), the sisters grew close and protective of each other. Rose often bore the brunt of the punishments, stepping in for her sister whenever she could. In turn, Snow would tend to her sister after the fact. Both would run to Doctor Lorenzo whenever they could, more of a father to them than their own two.

When they were sixteen, Snow and Rose were to make their debut into high society before being sent off to their respective academies. As part of this, the day before they were to meet with King Cole himself. Snow's meeting went... fine, really, she just got some kinda weird advice and some really bad vibes off His Majesty. Rose on the other hand came out of that meeting and immediately signed away her birthright to her sister, swapped their papers, and stole away to the military academy. She never said what happened that night, only that Snow would be safer and better off as Grand Duchess.

John and Eli were very disappointed and upset, of course, but things worked out well in the end. Snow proved quickly that she was far better suited to politic than either of her fathers and by the time she was 24 even His Majesty insisted that she become Duchess. And Rose, well, her career in the military catapulted her into living legend status. No one has successfully conquered more planets in His Majesty's name than her (even if, when sufficiently drunk and alone, Rose professes a deep hatred of the king).

They currently live in their family manor on New Constantinople instead of Delinore as when Snow became Duchess she basically kicked them out (and honestly they wanted to go anyways).

As for Darr, well, Snow needed to continue on the family line. Though a romantic as a teen, as soon as she realized she was going to be Duchess she became exceptionally judicial about her suitors. She had ambition and she was not going to let a nagging partner get in the way of that.

Darr Amundsen (also known as Darla or Darrell depending on zer gender at the time) was the fourth child of a middling Marquess. All zer older siblings were deeply unambitious and did little to make the family proud and Darr, a very quiet individual with little skill in politic and a strong desire to get really invested in trains, was supposed to be the one to make it better. Out of desperation, ze decided to sign up for a matchmaking service to see if ze could marry into a greater family.

Well, there's no greater family than the House of Grimm and Snow was quite taken by Darr. Though they aren't properly in love, they make a fantastic team. Darr runs the household of the Eden Castle and raises their son while supporting Snow in her fight for peace and in turn Snow can do many great and wonderful things while wading through the controversy surrounding her ideals.

Unfortunately, Darr does not get on well with Rose. That's fine, Rose insists, really! It's not like she spends a lot of time at home

They currently have one son, Eret! He is three and looks an awful lot like his Aunty Rose. His favorite animals are penguins and snakes, he's obsessed with the ocean, and he's granted a lot of freedom that Snow never got. He's a little rascal and we love him for it <3

He does look up to Aunty Rose a bit too much for Darr and honestly even Snow's comfort. Snow fought hard for her belief in kindness and goodness and while she loves her sister dearly, the destruction Rose has caused is not something she can forgive so easily. Rose is doing her best to try and be a good role model for the kid but she is kind of a disaster when she's away from either the battlefield or cameras.

Ah well, she just learned to knit so the kid gets a lot of fun presents.

#the mechanisms #ouatis #once upon a time in space #mechs ocs #planet's doodles #planet's worldbuilding #also. all these characters die in the wedding day slaughter btw. even Baby Boy. sorry #this turned out a bit bleaker than i'd intended #but i guess that suits the source material

[fivie]

There's a thought about umw that I've had for a long long time and since I didnt exactly have anywhere else to out it I thought I'd share it here.

It's about Montparnasse, or rather, the apparent lack of him and where oh where is he.

Now, obviously, there are many les mis characters who aren't in the story, it makes perfect sense, eg. javert who is implied once or twice but isn't actually mentioned.

But anyway, while thinking about umw my thoughts often turn to R's life before the story. I mean, it has been many centuries and while I can imagine it Nit Being Much, there had to be Events to fill the time, right? Some people he met, some historical events he's witnessed, etc etc.

I've always imagined imagined Grantaire to have met Floréal some time in the 1600s or 1700s and them being very loose sort of friends. Acquaintances is a better word maybe.

But the one concept that cannot for the love of everything leave my mind is Montparnasse sort of being there, throughout the ages. At first I thought, a fallen angel maybe? But that doesn't seem to fit him at all, and the idea that I arrived at was that Montparnasse was a Reaper. I'm going to be serious, I haven't been keeping up with spn for several seasons now and my memory of the lore is very fragmented so I'm not sure how it holds up canon-wise, but it seemed neat to me. He accompanied R during the worst of times, when he witnessed the most deaths, wars, revolutions, massacres, the sort of atrocities that made Grantaire so cynical and distrustful and That Way in general. Maybe they became sort of friends. Maybe Montparnasse was the Reaper intended to bring the kids from Smoleńsk across. Who knows. Maybe the whole theory is bullshit and he's either some rando doing Crime around Lyon or he doesn't exist in the universe at all, but it's still fun to think about.

Anyway that's all I hope it's at least a bit entertaining 🙌🙌 + tysm for all the hard work on the fic it's taken up at least 85% of my brain at all times for thr last 2.5 (maybe more?) years<33

Ooh that's a cool idea! It would have been fun to have a Reaper character in UMW, especially since humans can't see them (unless they're dying or, y'know, dead) so it would be someone only Grantaire could interact with. Or maybe Jehan can perceive Reapers too, which would add a tasty Romantic quality to his abilities – he sees dead people and also the embodiments of death itself 💕 also I imagine a Reaper, a keeper of the Natural Order, would have a thing or two to say about resurrected-ghost-Feuilly 😂

I actually do have my own UMW version of Montparnasse, since he was originally meant to feature but got cut due to the story already spiralling madly out of my control without me adding even more characters and plot threads. I think I wrote about him in a post once but it was like a bajillion years ago so for funs let me tell you about him here:

He IS some rando doing crime around Lyon!! (Or possibly Paris, I never 100% decided.) He's sort of like a dark mirror of Jehan; he's human and also a psychic, but much less naturally powerful, and has started dabbling in witchcraft and other unsavoury things to enhance his abilities. He's wildly jealous of Jehan's powers and also considers Jehan to be an idiotic waste of those powers because he won't use them for his own gain. He comes from a much bleaker background than Jehan and had to fend for himself from a young age, and so has become very adept at using his abilities to manipulate people and is now a very successful and wealthy con artist. He's not 'evil', which is a pretty strong term in a world with demons etc, but circumstances have molded him into a person who does not trust others and is very out for himself, and his psychic abilities make him somewhat arrogant and he considers ordinary people to be inferior and fair game for him to mess with.

As you can see my personal take on Montparnasse is a bit darker than the pure neutrality of a Reaper-type character 😂 In this AU I envisioned him as kind of the same type of character as Spike from Buffy, in that he starts out as a legitimate threat and thorn in the protagonists' sides but reluctantly develops into an ally as time goes on.

However I know that fandom interpretations of Montparnasse vary wildly and all are valid, and since he's almost definitely never going to actually show up in UMW, please have fun imagining whatever version of him you enjoy most!! I just also have a lot of thoughts with nowhere to go and will take any opportunity to share 😂

#umw #grantaire SHOULD have a reaper friend though #that was an oversight on my part

[darkhorse-javert]

Fuff-tober Day 4 'Cinderella Moment'

The near-finale scenes of a Victorian Era Foyle's War/ A Little Princess crossover I haven't written yet. (oops) Going on the idea 'the "ugly duckling" gets their moment to shine'- for our beloved Sam's a bit of an Ugly Duckling at Lyminster.

A/N the dashes '-th Regiment' for example, are intended, ala Jane Austen.

Ram Das and Carrisford are particularly drawn from the excellent 1987 BBC version. (Can be found on YouTube)

Sam had settled herself on a discreet chair in the small drawing room of Lyminster House hands folded neatly and demurely on her lap, and for want of anything better to do, observed the new occupier of the moment.

'A gentleman', her father had disclosed before he brought her in company, 'well travelled, but who had been very ill, and who had rented the house for it's good air and quiet location to aid his recuperation.' He looked unwell still, the bones standing out on his face and hands, a sallow pale colour on his skin, in spite of the fire and the blanket tucked around his shoulders by the Sikh servant-man.

Sick at heart or soul too, it appeared, the haunted echo in his eyes. She listened as Catholic-esque, he softly unburdened his troubles onto her fathers listening ears. "- my old school friend, he gave me the money, more than he should have," he gave a rueful cough of black laughter "and I ruined him, with those diamonds. Ruined and killed the best kindest man I ever knew, they should have locked me up for it."

"Were a man locked up for every little mistake, condemned for every sin, there would be only innocent babes left in the world." Her father soothes "And you did not kill your friend..."

"The shock brought on the illness which killed him, which is much the same thing." The man looks away from her father, face twisting, in pain or bitterness. "And after all that, the mines come good, more than I could ever have dreamed for. But what good is it?"

Her father opens his mouth, but the man cuts him off with a wave of his hand, "Don't talk of charity, I'd give my half of the fortune just to find Crewe's daughter. Looked all over Europe, all the way to Russia in schools, but I can't find her." His eyes are bleaker still, "Poor little Sarah."

He says the last more to himself than to them, but her ears catch it.

Diamonds, Crewe, Daughter, Sarah, well, Sara. "How do you spell Crewe, Sir? C-R-E-W?" Sam asks, pressing her folded hands into each other. Do not get his hopes up, do not get mine up either

Her father turns to look reprovingly at her, shaking his head ever so slightly.

But Mr Carmichael only lifts his head slightly from where he has slumped in his chair, "C-R-E-W-E." He emphasises the last letter "Captain Ralph Crewe. -th Regiment." It all has the monotone of words said over and over, or in a dream or a fever. His chest heaves

The right spelling, the same story.

"I know where she is!" She barely holds herself sitting in the chair, and fails.

"Samantha!" Her father barks, "it is not decourous to interrupt. Is that what they taught you at the Seminary?"

But she had eyes only for Mr. Carrisford as she goes towards him, he's pushing himself violently upright in his chair, eyes lighting up, "You know where she is? You're sure?"

"She's at Miss Minchin's Seminary for Young Ladies on - Square in London. She came there when she was seven and I was eleven. She grew up in India, she speaks Hindustani," "Sam stared about the room, what else can I tell him "She told me about Shiva, and Ganesh, and Buhdda.." She whirls abot, pointing to each of the statues in turn. "Her mother was French, but died before she knew her, Sara speaks it as well as a Frenchwoman herself." She runs out of breath, gasps inelegently for more

"Yes," Carrisford says, a bright, near wild flush on his face "I remember Crewe married a French lady- Isabelle, her name was." He looks only at Sam "She's at this Seminary, you say?"

"Yes." Now the hard bit, Sam draws closer to the man "When her -Sara's- father - that is, Captain Crewe - died, Miss Minchin kept her on as a servant, to 'cover the debts' she said." Carrisford's face plunges in agony and she hears even her unshockable father gasp.

"A Servant Crewe's little Sara?" Then Carrisford is shouting towards a door "Ram Das... Ram Das! Ram Das!" He reaches forwards and grabs at Sam's hands, his grip surprisingly strong for the frailness of her hands. Ram Das rushes in, a flash of gold in the corner of her vision.

She drops to her knees in front of Mr Carrisford, putting them on the same level, and sees tears brimming in the man's eyes. "Thank You." He wheezes, "Thank you." Now words fly out from him in a rushing torrent, one arm reaching to push off the covering blanket, "Ram Das, we go to London, order the carriage ready to the station. Jaladi, Jaladi!" But the torrent ends in a gasp and a fit of coughing, shaking the man through.

Sam glances at Ram Das as the Sikh steps closer, pulls the blanket back around, a hand on his master's shoulder to keep him down "No Sahib, no London for you. See, you are not yet well enough."

"You don't understand," Carrisford half snaps, half pleads, staring at the other man, "Sara's there - Miss Crewe."

Sam watches as Ram Das nods, "I understand this, Sahib. But I also know you will put youself back in bed, being like this. You will not go to London. Doctor Sahib said Rest."

Sam bites her lip, it is far too true that Carrisford is in no fit state to travel to London. And even he seems to accept this, stopping his efforts to move from the chair. Instead he looks to where their hands are still folded together, to her, and then over her shoulder to where her father must be. His eyes are burning bright.

"Reverend, would you go? You and your daughter? Go and bring her back? I'll give you a letter for the Mistress of the Seminary, giving you authority to do so- I've seen Crewe's papers, I'm Sara's guardian-in-law. If she won't take that, my lawyer Carmichael lives nearby, go to him"

Sam twists, heedless of any damage to her dress, hating the stiff bodice, to look at her father. His face is a little stunned, but he slowly nods. "If you have the proof of this Mr Carrisford, and you, Samantha," His eyes come to rest on her "can identify the girl..."

Sam nods quickly, Please, please.

Her father dips his chin "Then I would be happy to help."

"Excellent." Carrisford beams, years of pain falling away from his face

#flufftober 2023 #day four #Cinderella moment #Sam Stewart #Crossover #A little princess #Mr Carrisford #foyle's war #lyminster