No More Levity
No more levity is our introduction to the world of Neverafter. Billed as the horror season, Brennan does not hold back on the grotesque imagery. We immediately see this when we begin with Rosamun Du Prix’s character introduction. This is body horror. Which is not my favorite genre of horror. I like things that are more psychological and do not like descriptions of gore. Brennan says that Rosamund’s story is the minigolf of the Neverafter. And that will tell you about how the rest of the season goes.
Making Introductions
Like most first episodes, we get the character’s back stories and they all meet for the first time. This crew is all on the way to a place named Shoeburg. Rosamund and Gerard meet in a caravan. In a carriage carrying food that isn’t in the best shape. These are the royal pair whose traditional stories have bad endings. Gerard is in a marriage that has lost the love turning him back into a frog. Rosamund’s prince never arrived to rescue her.
The next two characters in this caravan are Pinocchio and Puss in Boots (PiB). They are swindling a lord of Shoeburg in a fancy carriage. Convincing him that Pinocchio is a cursed child. And that they only need to throw 40 gold in a well to make him a real boy again.
The last pair we meet are Timothy “Mother” Goose and Ylfa also known as Little Red Riding Hood. Timothy has a tragic back story where his son Jack dies by the Gander after having redeemed three wishes. Timothy also enters into this wish bargain and gains a magic book that might bring his son back. Ylfa is a child from the same village that Timothy would tell stories to.
The group meets up at dinner time. Learning more about the world and what happened from Old King Cole himself.
I don’t feel the need to go into detail about everyone’s back story because there is already a Wiki for that. That would make this article much longer and I only want to discuss a few things. But, I will say this.
PiB is my favorite character that Zac Oyama has ever played. He provides a lot of comic relief and is an excellent cat. You’re my best friend.
Gerard has my favorite line of the campaign when he exclaims, “But my wife is my friend now.” It completes his character arc for the season.
The Consequences of Trauma
But the character that I want to talk about most is Rosamund. She is the reason why I wanted to explore Neverafter and revisit it. Her back story ties the most into what it means to recover from trauma. We get so many great nods to this fact in her opening as her character is being established.
The briars that grow from the pit of Rosamund’s stomach are the barriers that traumatized people put around themselves for protection. These defenses, although they help us survive, ultimately do not serve us. They impact our relationships with others. Preventing us from establishing ties in healthy ways.
When Rosamund attempts to leave, the briars show her fear. They want her to know how they are keeping her safe.
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But Rosamund understands that she needs to leave behind her dead kingdom. She tells them it is time to leave.
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But the briars have only one intent and that is to keep her there. Even to the point of putting her back to sleep. She politely puts up a boundary telling them no. Eventually, Rosamund finds a way to leave through a window.
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When asked what she will do next, Rosamund replies, “So I guess that I just have to keep going.”
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Which every trauma survivor eventually has to do.
In these moments, I connect to this character more than any other of the season. Let’s witness her journey together.