Downal Wyth Bluddy Clichés: Prompt 2

[manniness]

It's Thursday, which means we have a new cliché to discuss, expand on, and provide recommendations to fanworks and resources for!  (Yay!)  So, AiW fans, what do you have to say about this one?

The Hatter loves tea.

Yes, you read that correctly!  I am challenging TEA!  (Truly brave, I know.)  (^__~)

I'll start us off with a brief discussion of this in the comments below.  Feel free to throw in your 10 shillings, 6 pence!!  (^__~)

If you would like to contribute your own prompt-inspired work, recommend a work by another fan, or share a canon resource, please leave a comment with the pertinent information:

Title: I think this is pretty self-explanatory.
Author/Artist/Creator Name: Please use this if you are posting for someone else or recommending someone else's story!
Media: Fic / Art / Fanmix / etc.
Worksafe:  Yes / No
Rating: K / K+ / T / M / M+
Warnings:  Violence, Sex, Non-consensual Sex, and other Objectionable material
File size:  1,000 words / 2 MB / etc.
Summary/Notes:  Tell us a little more about your contribution or recommendation!
Link to story: Link to the author's homepage or story.
Comments: Why are you recommending this to others?  Or your general impressions of it are fine, too.

Again, you do not need to include all of these, but the more information the better!  (^__~)b

More recommendations and contributions may be posted HERE at the alice_tarrant community.

An introduction to Downal Wyth Bluddy Clichés and a list of links to previous clichés can be found HERE.

Comments

[Ficlet] A Beautiful Nightmare

[manniness.livejournal.com]

Worksafe: Yes
Rating: K
File size: 646 words
Summary/Notes: An extension on the Balcony Scene from Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland. Title taken from Beyonce's song "Sweet Dreams". And here's a fanvid made from it, if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuSQAl5fR5s
Comments: Just a quick response to the cliché. Don't get your hopes up for Epicness, people, because it's so not Here.

*~*~*~*

The night is young and the moon is full of possibilities. The white stone of the balcony glows with hope and that hope shores him up against the young Alice’s self-doubt and stubborn resistance to belief. He respects that resistance; he himself has resisted much in his life. He knows the effort it requires. Knows the price it exacts.

“You’re just a figment of my imagination,” she had said.

But even figments can be real, can they not? Even figments have a fate? Yes, yes! Perhaps, that is the Oraculum’s meaning! Perhaps it will not be the Alice herself who defeats the Jabberwock, but a figment of her imagination! If she can imagine him defeating the Jabberwock then it will be so! It must be so! If, in fact, this is all a dream – her dream! Yes, this is what they’ve all been waiting for! For the Alice to dream them up… and end their nightmare!

“Thank you, Alice,” Tarrant Hightopp whispers.

The young woman beside him, irreverently leaning on her elbows on the balcony rail, glances at him with an expressive frown. “For what, Hatter?” she replies, her voice as soft as the moonlight.

Oh, silly child! If only she would think, then she would know why he thanks her! “Row, row, rowing the boat, of course!”

Her confusion is palpable. He taps his thimble-capped fingers on the stone in thought, wondering how a creature as capable as her could fail to understand such a fundamental truth: all life is but a dream!

“Being a figment of your imagination does not make me any less real,” he elaborates, proud of the succinctness of his explanation. “To you,” he adds.

“To me?”

“Yes! And that’s really the most important thing, isn’t it?” Her response, such as it is, is rather dissatisfying. Must he lead her by the hand up the treacle well? “Don’t you see?” he patiently continues, “You make all of this possible. Tomorrow, the Jabberwock will be defeated. You believe that, don’t you?”

“I… But they say I’m supposed to be a champion and…”

Tarrant blinks at her, startled. “But, Alice, you already are a champion.”

“How can you say that?” she rasps, standing upright and bracing her hands against the stone. Glaring out at the moonlit orchard, Alice says with heat, “Figment or not, I shouldn’t have left you at Crims like I did! What sort of champion is that, I ask you! And, in the end, it wasn’t even I who saved your hat. It was Bayard and Chessur and…! I have done nothing to—!”

“You,” Tarrant firmly interrupts, “are my champion, Absolutely Alice Kingsleigh, because you enabled me to save myself.”

Sighing, she turns toward him and confesses, “I… don’t understand.”

No, of course she wouldn’t, doesn’t, can’t. This woman-child is too young to understand such things. He glances down at her hand. Were she but a bit older and wiser, he might have dared to hold it. But she isn’t, so he won’t.

He lisps, “Always teatime, never breakfast or supper or even a moment to spare for cleaning up. Have you any idea how long I have been snubbed by Time? Trapped at 4 o’clock? How many cups of rancid tea I have choked on? You arrived,” he reminds her on a happy sigh, “and freed me from that wretched table.”

She stares at him. He doesn’t mind. For when Alices are not speaking, they might be thinking. And he dearly hopes this one is doing just that.

“You saved me, Alice,” he informs her on a whisper, “and that is why you are a champion, whether you face the Jabberwock on the morrow or not.”

With a bow, Tarrant Hightopp departs the balcony. Tomorrow, a champion will be chosen. Tomorrow, if Alice believes it is possible, this nightmare will end… and the dream will, at last, begin.

Re: [Ficlet] A Beautiful Nightmare

[yappichick]

This is absolutely awesome, dude!

I love the "Row Your Boat" reference, that all of life is a dream. And the idea that she was Tarrant's Champion before she became the Champion? ♥ ♥ ♥

Best line?

"For when Alices are not speaking, they might be thinking."

Awesome.

Re: [Ficlet] A Beautiful Nightmare

[yappichick]

And, I have to admit, I nearly fainted in disbelief at the idea you wrote something under 1,000 words. LOL

Re: [Ficlet] A Beautiful Nightmare

[manniness.livejournal.com]

Dude. Me, too. Although I was going for 400 words, so I still Wrote Too Much. (^__~)

Re: [Ficlet] A Beautiful Nightmare

[just-a-dram.livejournal.com]

"No, of course she wouldn’t, doesn’t, can’t. This woman-child is too young to understand such things. He glances down at her hand. Were she but a bit older and wiser, he might have dared to hold it. But she isn’t, so he won’t."

That's my favorite bit! Because I think he did like her, but she's was too young in his mind. That's my head canon at least. :)

I can totally see this as an extra scene. Nicely done.

Re: [Ficlet] A Beautiful Nightmare

[manniness.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Dramie!

I can kinda see this as an extra scene, too. Like, the next morning, the Hatter steps forward to fight in her stead and everyone looks at Alice and then they unroll the Oraculum and the Hatter gives her that look, right? Like, "Go on! BELIEVE!" And then she runs away and the look on his face...! But then when she comes back, riding the Bandersnatch and ready to fight, he's so happy because she finally believes just like she should.

Why is it I keep finding new toys to play with in this movie? It's inexhaustibly interesting.