ʚĭɞ ― WONDERLAND: THE KINGDOM OF HEARTS.
DOMAINS: marshes , seat of stars + more meta posts coming.
The Kingdom of Hearts, once feared and later beloved, has fallen on hard times since the Red Queen seized power from its beloved king. The kingdom and its people, however, are far more resilient than its adversaries could have expected : it has a long history of war, bloodshed, and tragedy, but so too love, redemption and beauty. Before the current Queen's rot soaked into its land, it was a vibrant, bustling, and fluid land which many Wonderlandians flocked to in order to express themselves in ways that the rest of Wonderland simply was not yet ready for.
King Valentin Romanov was once a tyrant, whom waged bloodthirsty war 'pon the realm of Wonderland, spurned on by the slight of Alice Liddell's escape. However, the tales say that in her absence, the White Rabbit stayed behind when others fled and slowly but surely changed the heart of the King, until one day, he evolved into the beloved, revered hero whom Valentin is now regarded today ... so much so that even after his rumored death at the Red Queen's hands, Heart Kingdom's people still raise a flag of rebellion and swear he will come to save them.
The most progressive of Wonderland's rulers, Valentin ushered in a renaissance of art, fashion and expression through Heart Kingdom. It is seen as the pinnacle of forward thinking for those with free spirits and brilliant minds, not only encouraging, but actively offering ample opportunity for those who seek success in paintings, sculpting, writing, fashion design, photography, theatre, and other passions within creative arts to share their work with others of like mind. Because of Heart's encouragement of Wonderlandians seeking out these passions, it is leaps and bounds ahead of other kingdoms in terms of how its people dress, speak, behave, and present themselves. Whilst a great deal of Wonderland is split between the steampunk Victorian era of Spade Kingdom's stylization and Diamond Kingdom's more radical fantastical aesthetics, Heart Kingdom's people pride themselves on being extremely avant-garde.
Those of Heart Kingdom tend to wear less strictly modest clothing, freely inter-mingle aesthetics across several sub styles that other parts of Wonderland simply do not dabble in (punk, goth, cyber, casual, lolita, streetwear, the list is endless.) They rarely adorn themselves with the stuffy expectations of Victorian London from which Alice hailed : not quite caught up to the modern era of the world some Alice's continue to fall to Wonderland from, but not quite far back in the past enough to be hung up on it.
This encourages many logically minded inventors from Spade Kingdom to at times travel to Heart in order to study for the sake of their research. Just as much technology is discovered and advanced in Heart as Spade, encouraged by the vibrant and creative minds that dwell within.
Heart Kingdom itself is an extremely large, exuberant, seemingly endless city, full of life and people from all walks of the world. Valentin has welcomed individuals from all across Wonderland into his kingdom's borders, all of which is covered from sidewalk to tallest castle in brilliant, blooming red roses. Walkways throughout the city are accompanied by a shining, bioluminescent pink river which runs through the kingdom, enabling citizens to travel either by foot / bike / carriage throughout, or via boating channels.
Unlike the rest of Wonderland, the weather in Heart Kingdom is not stagnant : it experiences all four seasons, though because time does not flow normally in Wonderland, one day can be a random season at any point. It is primarily either spring or winter, covered in blooming flowers and snow alike when they overlap. Despite this, the climate is generally cold, and its citizens have adapted to the icy atmosphere. The rivers, notably, never freeze, nor does the ocean upon which the north side of the kingdom borders.
Heart Kingdom is dubbed Wonderland's capital of love, its citizens enamored with the very concept of romance. This makes it a popular spot for lovers to visit, if they do not choose to move to it entirely. Whereas other kingdom often keep traditions of old for their holidays, Heart has adapted a great many new traditions since its forming of the Rose Court in peace times. Nearly all of these holidays deal with showing appreciation for one's romantic lover, or in the absence of one, those an individual loves as family and friend. The public has romanticized itself and endeared itself to its ruler, finding their history a lesson that anyone can change, if only they are shown proper love to be given the chance to do so.
Since Valentin's disappearance, the city has turned nearly black and all of its roses seem to have wilted. Those who live in Heart, however, refuse to leave their beloved kingdom : they believe wholeheartedly that Valentin will return, and even if he does not, they will never lose their home to the monster who has usurped his throne.
