28 Comments
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Jessica Maison's avatar

Loved how gothic it all was. Really nicely done.

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Thank you, Jessica. The earlier one was hard to look at, but I like this. A slice of gothic on a Friday.

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Evelyn K. Brunswick's avatar

I like this one (well, I like all of them but hey). Sort of Beauty & the Beast thing I'm guessing.

Lovely ending especially.

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Yes! I always wondered how stories like that would work in a contemporary setting.

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Evelyn K. Brunswick's avatar

I think that’s what Byron said about vampires when the four of them had that goth party by the lake…

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

I love how goth they were 😂 didn't he get Mary Shelley's sister pregnant at one of these parties? I'm sure he did. I think I know a lot about him, but there is always, always more.

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Evelyn K. Brunswick's avatar

Claire, I believe her name was. The rotten philanderer.

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Yes! And of course, he made a move on his… half sister, too? Absolute maniac.

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Evelyn K. Brunswick's avatar

…and his type has clearly not gone away. There’s quite a few certain modern celebrities one could name…

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Reda Rountree (she/her)'s avatar

I loved it!

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Thank you, Reda. It's so scary going back to old stuff, but I enjoyed tinkering with this.

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Stephanie Loomis's avatar

Polliniferous 😊

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Oh, you've seen that before! It's my new favourite word 😂 I love it.

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Posy Churchgate's avatar

Loved this Hannah, plenty to wonder/ guess at and some wonderfully dark moments. Yes a Beauty & the Beast vibe but so much more

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Thank you so much. I'm interested to know what you thought happened to the rabbits. Nobody seems to have offered that one up 😂 Fast food.

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Posy Churchgate's avatar

I did assume (by the end) that they were for snacking !

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The Casual Writer's avatar

I loved the mysterious atmosphere of this version of Beauty and the Beast, especially because I really love the story of Beauty and the Beast!

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Thank you. I love it too. One of the greatest stories ever written, IMO.

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Hyun Woo Kim's avatar

I found myself thinking, were it like a century ago, a girl who went to college would never get a cleaning job in a gothic tale. Trying to brainstorm a bit if I can use this twist or change for a story of mine.

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

She could be a scholar without the formal recognition. Has a range of skills, but is still pinned in place due to class restrictions.

It was a common thing with daughters of European clergymen; they had the education, but not the financial means or the social connections so had to work for other middle class people. I wonder if daughters of those who serve leaders had similar lives 🤔 the child of a King’s tutor, for example.

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Richard Ritenbaugh's avatar

Is that Aphrodite in the fountain, then not in it?

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

She's not sure. Artemis is goddess of the moon, so could have cursed Winthrop and made him a creature of the night. Could also just be one of those street performers who paint themselves and stand very still for hours. We'll never know.

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Richard Ritenbaugh's avatar

I wondered because Aphrodite was the goddess of love, and bunnies are associated with her, but I guess the bow and arrow motif pegs her as a huntress like Artemis.

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

Ah, I had no idea about the rabbits! That was just Lord Winthrop's fast food source 😄

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Richard Ritenbaugh's avatar

By the way, my serial contains a character named Artema, and in the most recent episode, she goes full Artemis. 😁

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E. H. Lau's avatar

I really enjoyed this retelling/reinterpretation of Beauty and the Beast! 😄

As a piano player myself (though currently somewhat-lasped 😅), I really liked the exchange between the two over the main character's piano play. And you captured the difference between playing by yourself and playing while knowing that someone is listening well! 😄

Was the statue of Artemis/Diana (I can't tell the difference either! 😆)?

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Hanna Delaney's avatar

In the Jean Cocateu (probably spelled his name wrong here) film, the sorceress figure was Diana (artemis) turning him into a beast, similar to the way Artemis turned Acteon into a stag so he could be ripped apart by his own hounds. I thought Artemis/Diana would be better here but if it was a lesson in learning to be humble, learning to love etc, Aphrodite might have been a better fit. Anyway, either goddess can have access to a bow! Maybe Aphrodite was borrowing the bow and arrow from Eros. I have enjoyed leaving that part open to interpretation.

Thank you. I don't actually play any piano, but I enjoy it as a listener. I think the playing for yourself vs others can be the same for a lot of things! Practising your monologues for example 🤣 or reading aloud.

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E. H. Lau's avatar

Ooooh, a multi-layered AND ambiguous reference - I love it even more now! 😆

And yeah, you're right - stage fright/performance anxiety is a very shared common experience! 😱

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