#long live evil

[sarahreesbrennan]

just read in other lands for the third time. it's somehow better than i remembered (i already considered it one of my all timers). my only complaint is that somehow it always ends. I'll be reading long live evil to ease the ache next. love yaaa 💜💜💜💜

It is such a great compliment to be re-read and remain a favourite. Thank you!

I hope you enjoy Long Live Evil even more. 💙😈

[markdwyn-apologist]

okay im going to subject the general public to this actually. my special interest is birds and i've been reading all hail chaos lately, so behold: my bird assignments

[shipping-tonight-tommorow-and]

Hey, why does Marius’s vows to Erik sound like literal wedding vows? Crazy coincidence

[omie-wise]

Little Rae & Baby Alice (wip)

[helenkordart]

Have you ever fallen in love with a character, specifically because of the way a different character talked about them? It happened to me, and it can happen to you too, if you read Long Live Evil by @sarahreesbrennan😌🫶

The way Marius talked about Eric... it made him seem so radiant, so beautiful. So loved 🥹❤️

[omie-wise]

Trouble can’t catch her.

[thesamuraiturnedpretty]

Musings on Alice Parilla

Unlike some of my Time of Iron friends, I was neither expecting nor particularly wishing for Alice to be a major part of All Hail Chaos. But the prologue immediately made me more interested in her by reminding me of her major flaw: being a Marius apologist.

Time of Iron has multiple examples of characters clinging to moral purity and/ or propriety as a coping mechanism. Marius is trying so hard to be Good (and to suppress the violent impulses under his skin) that he sticks rigidly to unexamined beliefs in  the right of royal power, at least until the Cobra makes him question things. Even in AHC, when his worldview is enduring a shake-up, he can't see an option for himself outside of continuing his own self-control and self-denial. His mother Eumenida keeps Marius at arm's length, trains Caracalla in the ways of traditional femininity and keeps house for her terrible husband, despite being powerful in her own right, because that is the way Things are Done. Emer has to confront a lot of fears and biases in the Cauldron, where she realises her notions of what is 'right' are so intertwined with what is considered 'proper' among the aristocracy, that her class solidarity never went further than herself.

Alice is an example of the real-world, lower stakes version of this mindset; like her hero Marius, she is trying fruitlessly to be Good and to suppress her resentful or negative feelings. She visits her father and is polite to him, despite him having hurt her and Rae, because that is what a daughter should do. She clamps down on any thoughts of frustration with Rae or the rest of her life, and her main outlet seems to be policing how she and others view her favourite series and character. We all know her habit of drawn-out arguments on the internet isn't doing her any good in the long run.

Many of us (including me) love Marius, but there's a difference between loving someone and feeling personally attacked by the idea they have any flaws. (I think it's clear that the Cobra also used to be this kind of Marius fan, until his view was complicated by actually meeting the guy.)

And the thing is, especially once Alice enters the book, the moral purity really does not work out for her. Unlike Rae, who has grown tenacious enough that as soon as she's freed from her mentally and physically draining illness, she's impressively able to think on her feet, Alice is constantly overwhelmed by the narrative. She's swept away during the crisis in the Cauldron, at the mercy of the Cobra's kindness, which she won't let herself appreciate. Even the extremely sheltered Caracalla considers Alice's judgements rigid; she's already decided who is and isn't a villain and she's not about to change her mind.

This all makes it more interesting that Alice has always had one exception clause: the Beauty Dipped in Blood who she explicitly connected to Rae even before Rae walked into the book. As I mentioned before, Alice brings up the Emperor's treatment of Rahela as one of her main arguments against him, despite the fan consensus seeming to be 'Rahela deserved it'. Alice may stick to moral purity for all other aspects of her life but she sees an audacious, confident villainess and thinks of someone who protects her.

[illustrated-page-art]

Some Rae-related quotes!