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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/500px_sylviebrunoconcluded_page_0010.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Bruno and Sylvie]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Bruno and Sylvie]]
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----
to:
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* CrustyCaretaker: The Gardener.
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* DreamLand: "Outland"
* EvilChancellor: Somewhat unusually, he is only TheDragon to Sibimet.
* EvilChancellor: Somewhat unusually, he is only TheDragon to Sibimet.
to:
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* EvilUncle: Sibimet
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* FoulMedicine: TheProfessor, proudly telling the kids about his role as Imperial Court Physician, shows them a batch of medicine he's prepared for the servants, and invites Bruno to taste it. Bruno does, and wrinkles up his face in disgust.
-->'''Bruno''': It's [[BabyTalk welly]] extremely nasty!
-->'''The Professor''': Nasty? Why, of ''course'' it is! What would Medicine be, if it wasn't ''nasty''?
-->'''Bruno''': Nice.
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* NoNameGiven: The narrator. When other characters refer to him they use descriptors such as "Arthur's friend"; Bruno calls him "Mister Sir". (Averted in the original short story, ''Bruno's Revenge'', in which he introduces himself to Bruno as [[AuthorAvatar Lewis Carroll]].)
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* {{Hologram}}: The fairy characters have the ability to create an illusion they call a "phlizz", which is visible but intangible.
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* VoiceChangeling: Bruno provides a convincing voice for an illusion of a nursemaid (and speaks grammatically while so doing, rather than in his usual {{Malaproper}} style).
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* DreadfulMusician: The Other Professor's singing voice is not melodious.
-->“How do you like his singing?” the Professor asked the children in a low voice. \\
“It isn't very beautiful,” Sylvie said, hesitatingly. \\
“It's very extremely ugly!” Bruno said, without any hesitation at all.
-->“How do you like his singing?” the Professor asked the children in a low voice. \\
“It isn't very beautiful,” Sylvie said, hesitatingly. \\
“It's very extremely ugly!” Bruno said, without any hesitation at all.
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* LoopholeAbuse: The Gardener has been forbidden to open the garden door for Sylvie or Bruno. But if an adult (such as the Professor) asks for it to be opened, he has no choice but to open it... and the adult can then take the children through with him anyway.
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* RoyalBlood
* RoyalBrat
* SandInMyEyes
* RoyalBrat
* SandInMyEyes
to:
* RoyalBlood
RoyalBlood: Once their father is appointed King of Elfland, Sylvie and Bruno acquire this.
*RoyalBrat
RoyalBrat: Uggug, a loutish, charmless princeling.
*SandInMyEyesSandInMyEyes: The narrator claims at one point that as an adult, he wouldn't cry, but a drop or two of rain must have fallen on his face.
*
*
* SkewedPriorities: When Uggug empties a butter-dish over Sylvie's head, his father boxes his ears -- not for being cruel to Sylvie, but because the wasted butter costs him money.
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* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs
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* TheyCallMeMisterTibbsTheyCallMeMisterTibbs: Bruno overdoes it, calling the narrator "Mister Sir" despite Sylvie telling him he can use either but not both.
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Populating some ZC Es
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* CrustyCaretaker
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* CrustyCaretakerCrustyCaretaker: The Gardener.
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* DotingParent
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* DotingParentDotingParent: Tabikat believes that her son Uggug is uniquely charming and gifted. No-one else who's met him shares her opinion.
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* InelegantBlubbering
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* InelegantBlubberingInelegantBlubbering: Uggug does it (for attention-seeking purposes) after he gets his ears boxed.
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* InHarmsWay
* ItWasAGift
* ItWasAGift
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* InHarmsWay
InHarmsWay: Trying to explain hunting to Sylvie, the narrator starts with the observation that some places men must hunt fierce beasts, and some of them come to like it.
-->"Well, and so the men—the hunters—get to enjoy it, you know: the running, and the fighting, and the shouting, and the danger."
*ItWasAGiftItWasAGift: Sylvie's father offers her a choice of lockets for her birthday present: one says, "All will love Sylvie" and the other "Sylvie will love all." Sylvie chooses the latter. [[spoiler:In the end, it turns out they were one locket. [[SecretTestOfCharacter Nevertheless, she made the right choice]].]]
-->"Well, and so the men—the hunters—get to enjoy it, you know: the running, and the fighting, and the shouting, and the danger."
*
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* KingIncognito
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* KingIncognitoKingIncognito: Sylvie's father poses as a beggar.
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* NiceToTheWaiter
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* NiceToTheWaiterNiceToTheWaiter: The Vice-Warden, his wife, and his son Ugugg are all cruel to the poor.
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* BlackComedy: Mein Herr explains why, in his country, the only place you can drown is a theatre.
-->"Our theatres are all underground. Large tanks of water are placed above. If a fire breaks out, the taps are turned, and in one minute the theatre is flooded, up to the very roof! Thus the fire is extinguished.” \\
“And the audience, I presume?” \\
“That is a minor matter,” Mein Herr carelessly replied.
:: He also explains that his people practise selective breeding (ie, eugenics) with the eventual aim of making them lighter than air. Bruno innocently asks what happens to the people who are too heavy - a question which Mein Herr doesn't answer.
-->"Our theatres are all underground. Large tanks of water are placed above. If a fire breaks out, the taps are turned, and in one minute the theatre is flooded, up to the very roof! Thus the fire is extinguished.” \\
“And the audience, I presume?” \\
“That is a minor matter,” Mein Herr carelessly replied.
:: He also explains that his people practise selective breeding (ie, eugenics) with the eventual aim of making them lighter than air. Bruno innocently asks what happens to the people who are too heavy - a question which Mein Herr doesn't answer.
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* TechnicianVersusPerformer: One of Lady Muriel's guests has a reputation for her piano playing. When asked to play, she rattles off a Haydn symphony, but there are enough subtle imperfections to show that she has no real understanding of the music she's playing, and she strikes the final chord "as if, the instrument being now done with, it didn’t matter how many wires she broke". When Sylvie later takes over the piano, her sensitive improvisation gets a much warmer reception.
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* HowDoYouLikeThemApples
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* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Eric Lindon. He is in love with [[KissingCousins his cousin]] Muriel, and they are engaged at the beginning of the story; however, after they break up and she falls in love with -- and marries -- Arthur, [[spoiler:he puts his own life at risk to save Arthur's, for her sake.]]
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* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: The Vice-Warden arranges for a false report of his brother's death.
to:
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated:
** The Vice-Warden arranges for a false report of his brother'sdeath.death.
** [[spoiler:Arthur]] is reported dead after taking up the position of doctor in the fever-stricken harbour town. [[spoiler:It later turns out, however, that Eric Lindon retrieved him, brought him to the hospital and helped nurse him back to health, but was forbidden to tell anybody -- even Arthur's wife -- that he was alive, for fear that any shock to his brain could kill him instantly.]]
** The Vice-Warden arranges for a false report of his brother's
** [[spoiler:Arthur]] is reported dead after taking up the position of doctor in the fever-stricken harbour town. [[spoiler:It later turns out, however, that Eric Lindon retrieved him, brought him to the hospital and helped nurse him back to health, but was forbidden to tell anybody -- even Arthur's wife -- that he was alive, for fear that any shock to his brain could kill him instantly.]]
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* SommelierSpeak: Parodied. The narrator, hearing a wine snob describe his favourite vintage, finds himself imagining the group using similar language to describe jam flavours.
-->"A strange dream!" I said to myself as we trooped upstairs. "Grown men discussing, [[SeriousBusiness as seriously as if they were matters of life and death]], the hopelessly trivial details of mere ''delicacies'', that appeal to no higher human function than the nerves of the tongue and palate! [[AnAesop What a humiliating spectacle such a discussion would be in waking life!]]"
-->"A strange dream!" I said to myself as we trooped upstairs. "Grown men discussing, [[SeriousBusiness as seriously as if they were matters of life and death]], the hopelessly trivial details of mere ''delicacies'', that appeal to no higher human function than the nerves of the tongue and palate! [[AnAesop What a humiliating spectacle such a discussion would be in waking life!]]"
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** And there are releases adressed for children that only contain the Elf-land plot.
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%%* BlueBlood
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%%* ChildrenAreInnocent
%%* CloserToEarth: Sylvie and Lady Muriel.
%%* CrustyCaretaker
%%* CloserToEarth: Sylvie and Lady Muriel.
%%* CrustyCaretaker
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%%* DotingParent
%%* DreamLand: "Outland"
%%* DreamLand: "Outland"
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%%* EvilUncle: Sibimet
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%%* HowDoYouLikeThemApples
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%%* InelegantBlubbering
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%%* InHarmsWay
%%* ItWasAGift
%%* KarmicTransformation: Uggug becoming a porcupine.
%%* KingIncognito
%%* ItWasAGift
%%* KarmicTransformation: Uggug becoming a porcupine.
%%* KingIncognito
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%%* NiceToTheWaiter
%%* NonIdleRich
%%* OfferedTheCrown
%%* OurGhostsAreDifferent
%%* PowderKegCrowd
%%* NonIdleRich
%%* OfferedTheCrown
%%* OurGhostsAreDifferent
%%* PowderKegCrowd
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%%* ThePromise
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%%* RoyalBlood
%%* RoyalBrat
%%* SandInMyEyes
%%* RoyalBrat
%%* SandInMyEyes
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%%* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs
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%%* VileVillainSaccharineShow
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%%* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Played with for Mein Herr.
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* ShoutOut: To one of Carroll's previous works: At one point, the Professor asks "Do you know what a [[Literature/TheHuntingOfTheSnark Boojum]] is?"
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* CharacterFilibuster: Most of the dialogue, especially involving Arther or Mein Herr, is a veiled discourse on some social or moral issue.
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* CharacterFilibuster: Most of the dialogue, especially involving Arther Arthur or Mein Herr, is a veiled discourse on some social or moral issue.
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%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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%% ZeroContextExample Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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* TheSlowPath: The Outlandish Watch can be used to travel backward in time (by up to a day), but not forward, so having travelled back in time the user has to return at the usual rate of 60 minutes per hour.
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* TimeMachine: The Outlandish Watch is an early literary example, allowing the user to travel up to a month into their past and return to the present. It also allows its user to experience events backwards for an hour.
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* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Subverted. The narrator uses the Outlandish Watch to prevent an accident he witnesses, but the changes snap back when he returns to the present.
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* TheSlowPath: The Outlandish Watch can be used to travel backward in time (by up to a day), but not forward, so having travelled back in time the user has to return at the usual rate of 60 minutes per hour.
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* AirportNovel: Lady Muriel [[DiscussedTrope discusses]] the Victorian equivalent: "the little thrilling romances, where the Murder comes at page fifteen, and the Wedding at page forty".
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%%* LudicrousPrecision: "About a thousand and four."
to:
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* GoodIsBoring: Unfortunately tends to apply to both plots. The memorable characters tend to be either evil or completely bonkers.
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* DividedForPublication: Carroll originally intended the story to be published as a single novel, but due to its length it was decided that it should be published in two volumes.
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* InformedKindness: In long poem "Peter and Paul", the rich Paul agrees to lend his poorer friend Peter some money, never actually gives it to him, then starves him by calling in the loan. Paul is referred to as "noble", "kind" and "honest" throughout.
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%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Played with for Mein Herr.
* BlueBlood
* BlueBlood
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* ChildrenAreInnocent
* CloserToEarth: Sylvie and Lady Muriel.
* CrustyCaretaker
* Franchise/DisneyFairies
* DotingParent
* DreamLand: "Outland"
* CloserToEarth: Sylvie and Lady Muriel.
* CrustyCaretaker
* Franchise/DisneyFairies
* DotingParent
* DreamLand: "Outland"
to:
*
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* EvilUncle: Sibimet
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* HowDoYouLikeThemApples
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* InelegantBlubbering
* InHarmsWay
* ItWasAGift
* KarmicTransformation: Uggug becoming a porcupine.
* KingIncognito
* LudicrousPrecision: "About a thousand and four."
* InHarmsWay
* ItWasAGift
* KarmicTransformation: Uggug becoming a porcupine.
* KingIncognito
* LudicrousPrecision: "About a thousand and four."
to:
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* NiceToTheWaiter
* NonIdleRich
* OfferedTheCrown
* OurGhostsAreDifferent
* PowderKegCrowd
* NonIdleRich
* OfferedTheCrown
* OurGhostsAreDifferent
* PowderKegCrowd
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* ThePromise
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* RoyalBlood
* RoyalBrat
* SandInMyEyes
* RoyalBrat
* SandInMyEyes
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* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs
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* VileVillainSaccharineShow
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* HollywoodAtheist: Played straight with Eric Lyndon. He's an agnostic at first, but is converted, or near to, at the end after [[spoiler: Arthur is revealed to be alive]].
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* CharacterFilibuster: Most of the dialogue, especially involving Arther or Mein Herr, is a veiled discourse on some social or moral issue.
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* DisneyFairies
to:
* DisneyFairiesFranchise/DisneyFairies
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* TheMalaproper: Bruno, e.g. "disadvantages" becomes "lizard bandages".
to:
* TheMalaproper: {{Malaproper}}: Bruno, e.g. "disadvantages" becomes "lizard bandages".
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->''He thought he saw an Elephant\\
That practised on a fife:\\
He looked again, and found it was\\
A letter from his wife.\\
'At length I realize,' he said,\\
'The bitterness of Life!'''
-->'''First stanza of "The Mad Gardener's Song"''' [[note]]About the only part of ''Sylvie and Bruno'' that is widely known.[[/note]]
One of the lesser-known works of Creator/LewisCarroll, ''Sylvie and Bruno'' runs two parallel plots, one in [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted something like the real world]] and one in Elf-land, [[TwoLinesNoWaiting both]] accessed by the FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator. The Elf-land plot involves the King standing down, for obscure reasons, in favour of his MostDefinitelyNotAVillain [[EvilUncle brother]] and "Sub-Warden", and [[EvilChancellor his]] [[TheDragon chancellor]], leaving his two kids, the titular Sylvie and Bruno, as {{Heart Warming Orphan}}s. The sort-of-real world plot involves a romance slightly complicated by a [[RomanticFalseLead third party]] and oddly unaffected by the presence of a visitor from another planet/plane called Mein Herr, who is for some reason German-accented.
----
!!This work contains examples of:
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Played with for Mein Herr.
* BlueBlood
* ChildrenAreInnocent
* CloserToEarth: Sylvie and Lady Muriel.
* CrustyCaretaker
* DisneyFairies
* DotingParent
* DreamLand: "Outland"
* EvilChancellor: Somewhat unusually, he is only TheDragon to Sibimet.
* EvilIsPetty: Tabikat is most gratified to find that Sibimet has [[KickTheDog entirely removed]] "Item: We shall be kind to the poor" from the text of the agreement he made with the King.
--> Why, of course, my dear! We shan't bother with those wretches!
* EvilUncle: Sibimet
* GoodIsBoring: Unfortunately tends to apply to both plots. The memorable characters tend to be either evil or completely bonkers.
* GossipEvolution:
-->"And what reasons have you heard of for breaking off the engagement?"\\
\\
"A good many," Arthur replied, and proceeded to count them on his fingers. "First, it was found that she was dying of--something; so he broke it off. Then it was found that he was dying of--some other thing; so she broke it off. Then the Major turned out to be a confirmed gamester; so the Earl broke it off. Then the Earl insulted him; so the Major broke it off. It got a good deal broken off, all things considered!"\\
\\
"You have all this on the very best authority, of course?"\\
\\
"Oh, certainly! And communicated in the strictest confidence! Whatever defects Elveston society suffers from, want of information isn't one of them!"
* HowDoYouLikeThemApples
* HumansAreMorons: Mein Herr and the fairies both tend to agree on this.
* InelegantBlubbering
* InHarmsWay
* ItWasAGift
* KarmicTransformation: Uggug becoming a porcupine.
* KingIncognito
* LudicrousPrecision: "About a thousand and four."
* TheMalaproper: Bruno, e.g. "disadvantages" becomes "lizard bandages".
* NiceToTheWaiter
* NonIdleRich
* OfferedTheCrown
* OurGhostsAreDifferent
* PowderKegCrowd
* TheProfessor: Actually called the Professor. Also has a friend who is TheProfessor.
* ThePromise
* PromotionToParent: Sylvie is in charge of Bruno -- particularly his lessons.
* PunnyName: Tabikat.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: The Vice-Warden arranges for a false report of his brother's death.
* RoyalBlood
* RoyalBrat
* SandInMyEyes
* SchrodingersButterfly:
-->"So, either I've been dreaming about Sylvie," I said to myself, "and this is the reality. Or else I've really been with Sylvie, and this is a dream! Is Life itself a dream, I wonder?"
* SignificantName: Sibimet is Latin for "to them themselves", fittingly for a character who is concerned only for himself and his UnholyMatrimony partner - he doesn't even seem to like his own child much.
* SpoiledBrat and RoyalBrat: Uggug, who also serves as a SpearCounterpart of an ugly step-sister.
* TakeThat: Sibimet the Sub-Warden is believed to be based on Dean Liddell, father of [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice]], whom he had by this point effectively cut Carroll off from seeing.
* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs
* TorchesAndPitchforks: Memorably parodied by the fake demonstrators organized by Sibimet and the Chancellor, who can't remember whether their slogan is "More Bread, Less Taxes", or vice versa.
* UnholyMatrimony: Villain couple [[EvilUncle Sibimet]] and Tabikat, complete with cutesy couple names for each other (Sibby and Tabby), and a SpoiledBrat child (Uggug). Albeit Tabby is significantly less bright than Sibby, who is also not deluded about Uggug's unpleasantness.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow
----
That practised on a fife:\\
He looked again, and found it was\\
A letter from his wife.\\
'At length I realize,' he said,\\
'The bitterness of Life!'''
-->'''First stanza of "The Mad Gardener's Song"''' [[note]]About the only part of ''Sylvie and Bruno'' that is widely known.[[/note]]
One of the lesser-known works of Creator/LewisCarroll, ''Sylvie and Bruno'' runs two parallel plots, one in [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted something like the real world]] and one in Elf-land, [[TwoLinesNoWaiting both]] accessed by the FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator. The Elf-land plot involves the King standing down, for obscure reasons, in favour of his MostDefinitelyNotAVillain [[EvilUncle brother]] and "Sub-Warden", and [[EvilChancellor his]] [[TheDragon chancellor]], leaving his two kids, the titular Sylvie and Bruno, as {{Heart Warming Orphan}}s. The sort-of-real world plot involves a romance slightly complicated by a [[RomanticFalseLead third party]] and oddly unaffected by the presence of a visitor from another planet/plane called Mein Herr, who is for some reason German-accented.
----
!!This work contains examples of:
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Played with for Mein Herr.
* BlueBlood
* ChildrenAreInnocent
* CloserToEarth: Sylvie and Lady Muriel.
* CrustyCaretaker
* DisneyFairies
* DotingParent
* DreamLand: "Outland"
* EvilChancellor: Somewhat unusually, he is only TheDragon to Sibimet.
* EvilIsPetty: Tabikat is most gratified to find that Sibimet has [[KickTheDog entirely removed]] "Item: We shall be kind to the poor" from the text of the agreement he made with the King.
--> Why, of course, my dear! We shan't bother with those wretches!
* EvilUncle: Sibimet
* GoodIsBoring: Unfortunately tends to apply to both plots. The memorable characters tend to be either evil or completely bonkers.
* GossipEvolution:
-->"And what reasons have you heard of for breaking off the engagement?"\\
\\
"A good many," Arthur replied, and proceeded to count them on his fingers. "First, it was found that she was dying of--something; so he broke it off. Then it was found that he was dying of--some other thing; so she broke it off. Then the Major turned out to be a confirmed gamester; so the Earl broke it off. Then the Earl insulted him; so the Major broke it off. It got a good deal broken off, all things considered!"\\
\\
"You have all this on the very best authority, of course?"\\
\\
"Oh, certainly! And communicated in the strictest confidence! Whatever defects Elveston society suffers from, want of information isn't one of them!"
* HowDoYouLikeThemApples
* HumansAreMorons: Mein Herr and the fairies both tend to agree on this.
* InelegantBlubbering
* InHarmsWay
* ItWasAGift
* KarmicTransformation: Uggug becoming a porcupine.
* KingIncognito
* LudicrousPrecision: "About a thousand and four."
* TheMalaproper: Bruno, e.g. "disadvantages" becomes "lizard bandages".
* NiceToTheWaiter
* NonIdleRich
* OfferedTheCrown
* OurGhostsAreDifferent
* PowderKegCrowd
* TheProfessor: Actually called the Professor. Also has a friend who is TheProfessor.
* ThePromise
* PromotionToParent: Sylvie is in charge of Bruno -- particularly his lessons.
* PunnyName: Tabikat.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: The Vice-Warden arranges for a false report of his brother's death.
* RoyalBlood
* RoyalBrat
* SandInMyEyes
* SchrodingersButterfly:
-->"So, either I've been dreaming about Sylvie," I said to myself, "and this is the reality. Or else I've really been with Sylvie, and this is a dream! Is Life itself a dream, I wonder?"
* SignificantName: Sibimet is Latin for "to them themselves", fittingly for a character who is concerned only for himself and his UnholyMatrimony partner - he doesn't even seem to like his own child much.
* SpoiledBrat and RoyalBrat: Uggug, who also serves as a SpearCounterpart of an ugly step-sister.
* TakeThat: Sibimet the Sub-Warden is believed to be based on Dean Liddell, father of [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice]], whom he had by this point effectively cut Carroll off from seeing.
* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs
* TorchesAndPitchforks: Memorably parodied by the fake demonstrators organized by Sibimet and the Chancellor, who can't remember whether their slogan is "More Bread, Less Taxes", or vice versa.
* UnholyMatrimony: Villain couple [[EvilUncle Sibimet]] and Tabikat, complete with cutesy couple names for each other (Sibby and Tabby), and a SpoiledBrat child (Uggug). Albeit Tabby is significantly less bright than Sibby, who is also not deluded about Uggug's unpleasantness.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow
----
