Through a Looking Glass, Darkly is a Darker and Edgier fanfic retelling of Syfy's Alice, itself a Darker and Edgier retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Spoilers for that series will abound on this page. It follows a storyline that is pretty common in every version of a tale that takes place Down the Rabbit Hole: What if Alice had grown up in Wonderland?
The story follows Alice, mainly called Jelly or Jellybean, a Ten of Spades, as she turns to the Resistance when her father begins to go mad. It has plenty of flashbacks to Jellybean's childhood, and also does a lot to flesh out the Suits' way of life.
It was written for the Alice in Wonderland Big Bang. The master post is here.
Tropes:
- Action Girl: Jelly, saved from being a Dark Action Girl by virtue of the fic being about her Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal.
- Arranged Marriage: From a Certain Point of View, namely Jack's: 'Duchess' is a personality of his parent's choosing, implanted into the body a girl he did love, Grace. It worked well enough that he began to believe that Grace no longer existed, and considered his engagement a purely political one. Grace got better, though.
- Child Soldiers: Suits begin their training at age fourteen. For Spades, the final exam at boot camp is to behead three prisoners. Boot camp lasts three months.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The Tweedles inflict this upon Hatter, Jellybean, and implicitly Carpenter, Cricket, and other Suits as well.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: At one point, Jellybean realizes that she's built a life and career around the idea that a certain amount of executions need to take place, no matter what the people getting the axe did.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Jelly goes up against a posse of Spades in the Forest of Wabe. Guess who wins?
- Culture Police: A part of Jelly's job is to catch book smugglers.
- Deadpan Snarker: Many. Carpenter evidentially deals with his job as an unwilling Mad Scientist by explaining to his superiors how they're just plain wrong. Ask a Stupid Question... and Jack will give you a stupid answer. Hatter and Jelly banter around their Unresolved Sexual Tension.
- Distressed Dude: Carpenter, until he turns out to be plotting to blow up the Casino, that it.
- For Want Of A Nail: After all is said and done, Carol and Robert Hamilton get a Happily Ever After in New York, Alice gets a And the Adventure Continues with Hatter in Wonderland, Jack is less of an emotional cripple, Duchess was brainwashed and is in the process of deprogramming herself, Duck was executed, Carlotta St. Delaware runs Hatter's former Tea Shop, and Hatter himself is Agent White. Phew.
- I Control My Minions Through...: Fear for their loved ones, drugs, and the power of Social Engineering. If it works for you, you can also kill people For the Evulz (with the Queen's permission, of course); if none of this does, it's either Brainwashing or off with your head!
- I Have Your Wife: A integral part of enforcing the Suits' loyalty is the implicit, omnipresent threat against their less valuable/more vulnerable family members.
- La Résistance: A somewhat fractured political body, divided into two main groups: country (led by Tortoise) and city (led by Caterpillar).
- Tarot Motifs: Each chapter is named after a tarot card, and includes a description of what the card could mean, for both upright and reversed drawings.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Jelly to Jack about his cheating on Duchess. Hatter to Jelly about why the Suits don't try to rebel. Caterpillar to the Hamiltons on not talking about their problems. Othello to Jelly after he discovers that she really did join the Resistance. Jelly to Hatter about mouthing off to the guards for no apparent reason.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Ultimately, Alice returns to Wonderland to serve as Trump of Defense, after finding that she no longer has a place on Earth.
