#wip.rue

“You absolute moron,” Cat says, and flings her arms around Em. His eyes widen for a split second, then he breaks out in laughter and hugs her back. “Thank the Sisters you're alive, Cat, but we are not doing that again.”

RUE & DAISIES

Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!

O heavens! is't possible a young maid's wits

Should be as mortal as an old man's life?

Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,

It sends some precious instance of itself

After the thing it loves.

( a story about found family; flowers; and revenge — or, the tale of one ophelia hawthorne and the two ridiculous teenagers she accidentally adopted)

R&D- THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF ALSA

When Alsa, the spirit of Nature, was killed in the progress and pollution brought upon by the Industrial Revolution, her three immortal daughters inherited her powers and reign over her descendants, the Alsaeans. As they are in charge of all the Earth, they are rarely seen in Alsaea in person, and as such they have appointed a Speaker of the Spirits to govern in their absence. 

CERIDWEN, lady of the light, has dominion over the sky and flames; her children are amongst the most powerful of alsaeans, both magically and socially. they call themselves cereans.

NEREID, lady of the lakes, has dominion over water and animals; her children can be found in places as far-flung as asia and africa. they call themselves nereans.

AMARANTA, lady of the land, has dominion over the earth and plants; her children are the most populous group in alsaea, and are the most essential to its society. they call themselves amareans.

(paintings used: spring, 1897, amethyst, 1897, fruit, 1897, all by alphonse mucha)

ria moreno is going to live through this . she's always been a survivor at heart — growing up hollow will do that to you — and though no one has ever survived their eventual exile into the world beyond alsaea's gilded walls , she's about to be the first . she'll do more than live , even , she'll thrive ! she'll make it out there in the big wide world , and when the time is right , she'll return to alsaea and make sure no hollow will ever suffer the way that she did again . but first, she'll have to make it through her final week there .

ophelia hawthorne doesn't want to live if her father doesn’t . she knows something was strange about his disappearance — members of the council of nine don't just vanish , especially not those as outspoken as peter hawthorne — and she's spent the last ten years searching for him to no avail . the two annoying teenagers she’s encountered could be the clue to his whereabouts , but the truth might be far stranger than she's ever imagined it to be . . .

em dunaid hasn't even begun to live yet . he's spent all his life imprisoned in his father's gilded mansion , keeping out of sight to save his family's reputation, and he's sick of it ! one day he's going to run away , and then he'll stroll by the banks of the nereid , hitch a ride on a horse-drawn cab , sketch the falling leaves, and finally figure out what it's like to be a normal teenage boy . what it's like to not be a hollow or a disappointment or a ghost . what it's like to thrive . that is , if he even gets the chance .

RUE & DAISIES - A REINTRO

There’s fennel for you, and columbine. There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me. We may call it “herb of grace” o' Sundays. Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end.

-Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5

GENRE

gaslamp fantasy

SETTING

A walled fortress island off the coast of England called Alsaea, populated by people who have the power to control nature and ruled by three spirits: the Ladies of the Land, Lakes, and Light.

TAGS

found family, toxic relationships, social inequality, excessive floriography, in the same vein: flower crowns but make it culture, kind of hamlet retelling but not really

The year is 1910, and enchanted gaslight illuminates the streets of the Alsaean Republic. It is a time of prosperity for this small nation—magic is flourishing, the citizens are content, and the wise and brilliant Speaker Caedra governs the land.

Still, tensions lurk beneath the placid surface, and no one knows this better than Ophelia O'Mulrain, water elemental and woman on the run. After her father mysteriously disappeared ten years ago, Ophelia's wanted nothing more than answers. Swearing off attachments and love, she tells herself there's nothing more important than avenging her father.

All that changes when she breaks into a nobleman's mansion and finds his young son hidden away from the world. Inexplicably, the boy has no magic—and even more inexplicably, she finds herself growing strangely attached to him. Matters are complicated further when the boy's similarly nonmagical best friend, alarmed at the sudden drought of letters, arrives to rescue him, and suddenly Ophelia's adopted two teenagers and recruited them into a revolution. For the first time in her life since her father died, Ophelia has something other than revenge to anchor her.

But this story isn't about Ophelia— it never has been. And as long-buried secrets come to light, Ophelia has to try not to drown under the weight of her love and grief, and perhaps find the strength to let her newfound friends go.

CHARACTERS

Ophelia O'Mulrain, 22, Nerean- doesn't care for flowers if they can't hide a sword

Emrys "Em" Dunaid-Takada, 15, Cerean- wants to prove that he deserves to be seen as who he is

Maria "Mary" Moreno Hernandez, 15, Amaraen- determined to get equality for the nonmagical, no matter the cost