Might go on a slight haitus because of this, mostly because the right corner of my screen is pure white with color stripes. Sorry about that, haha! Might need to get it replaced, or if anyone here is a tech wiz, please give me tips..

After Pinocchio, I went down a rabbit hole (ha, see what I did there?) of re-imagining several fairy tales as allegories of living in fascist America. I present... Alice in Wonderland https://vagrantoldfox.substack.com/p/alice-in-wonderland?r=6c0oe0 A young girl named Alice navigates a world of rules and judgment that doesn't see her for who she truly is, discovering her inner strength through imagination and family support in this retelling of self-discovery and resilience against societal barriers. Trigger warning: Transphobia, bullying, emotional distress, childhood trauma. --- Snow White https://vagrantoldfox.substack.com/p/snow-white?r=6c0oe0 Sarah Whitaker, a small-town daycare worker, finds her innocent world upended by online discoveries that challenge her beliefs, leading her down a path of conviction and conflict in this examination of purity, truth, and radicalization. Trigger warning: Online radicalization, bigotry, hate speech, workplace harassment. --- Beauty & the Beast https://vagrantoldfox.substack.com/p/beauty-and-the-beast?r=6c0oe0 Emma falls in love with Ryan in a changing America, but as their relationship deepens, she grapples with his shifting views and the emotional toll of maintaining their bond, exploring the dark side of love and ideology in a modern fairy tale. Trigger Warning: Toxic relationships, gaslighting, political radicalization, pregnancy decisions. --- Pinocchio https://vagrantoldfox.substack.com/p/pinocchio?r=6c0oe0 Mark Henley, an ordinary insurance adjuster, faces unexpected hardships that force him to question the systems he's always trusted, in this gripping tale of awakening and resistance against corporate and political indifference. Trigger Warning: Economic hardship, medical issues, mental health struggles, sociopolitical oppression.

There are moments, darling, when the machinery of empire reveals itself not through grand gestures, but through the quiet dissolution of a single, unremarkable life. Consider Mark Henley, insurance adjuster, third-floor apartment dweller, consumer of morning coffee and evening news. A man so thoroughly ordinary that his very existence served as proof of the system's benevolence. Until, of course, it didn't. I watched him, as I watch so many, during those final months of 2024 when the world balanced on the edge of a knife. Not because he mattered, not yet, but because in his willful blindness, he embodied something essential about the American experiment. The beautiful lie that compliance guarantees protection. Like a little wooden man, on delicate wires. --- Mark's alarm buzzed at 6:47 AM every weekday morning, a habit formed in college and maintained with the religious devotion of a man who believed punctuality was virtue. His apartment in Arlington, beige walls, beige carpet, beige life, overlooked a street that had, in recent months, acquired certain... embellishments. Checkpoints, mostly. Clean-cut young men from the National Border Enforcement asking for papers with the kind of smile that never reached their eyes. "Keeping us safe," Mark would mutter into his coffee, scrolling through his phone as sirens wailed in the distance. President Hoke's approval ratings remained strong among "real Americans," according to the polls. President Hoke's latest interview about "traditional values" had earned praise from the Sovereign Thought Institute. Normal. All perfectly normal. The checkpoints were for other people, after all. People who couldn't produce the right documents, who spoke with the wrong accents, who failed to understand that order required sacrifice. Mark's documents were impeccable. His accent was as bland as his apartment. His understanding of sacrifice was limited to the mild inconvenience of waiting an extra three minutes at the Metro station while NBE officers examined his ID.

A cradle rocked where I once lay, Unseen, unsoothed, I slipped away. The world stood still, let dreams decay, My youth, a ghost, won't see the day. Curse the stars that turned their gaze, left me lost in endless maze! I'd shatter skies for their cruel ways, But rage just burns in silent haze. No hands to hold, no paths to roam, My heart's a husk, no place called home. The self I dreamt lies cold, alone, Beneath the weight of flesh and bone. Yet once I saw a fleeting spark, A dawn to pierce the heavy dark. Could I have mended one small mark? That hope's a sigh, too frail to hark. The world spins lies, its wounds untamed, My voice too weak to shift the blamed. I fade, unmade, my soul unclaimed, This song, my last, my grief unnamed.

And finished my Widow Trilogy, this is much shorter than the previous few. Each mini arc basically setups or completes individual or group character dynamics in different acts. Enter Vixen, Stage Right: https://vagrantoldfox.substack.com/p/enter-vixen-stage-right-widow-trilogy?r=6c0oe0 A Tale of Two: https://vagrantoldfox.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-two?r=6c0oe0 Exit Widows, Stage Left: https://vagrantoldfox.substack.com/p/exit-widows-stage-left?r=6c0oe0