Wynne and her outfits. Two of the main focuses of the story.
- In The Video, Wynne Was Kathryn Howard's Ghost. Dressed In A Tudor Gown Of Shimmering Blue~White, Glittering And Pale Like Andersen's "Snow Queen". She Wore Dark Blue Lipstick. Her Skin, Translucent And Glowing, Was Dusted With An Icy Blue *Diamond* Body Glitter And She Stood, Alone, To One Side Of An Ornate Ballroom As Her Six Sisters, All In Vivid, Jewel Toned Tudor Gowns To Offset Wynne's Ghostly Whiteness, Danced La Volta With Six Absolutely Delicious Faerie Boys, Three Blonde And Seelie, Three Raven~Haired And Unseelie, But All Brought Into The Mortal Realm Just To Shoot This Video. The Boys Were Dressed In Velvet Tudor Finery, All Matching The Gown Of Whichever Sister They Were Partnering And It Was A Glorious Image.
Beansidhe's Wail
is a piece of original fiction written for NaNoWriMo by Winter Rose Nightingale-Nickerson.
The plot revolves around the 7 members of the titular band, all of whom are half fairy/half river god/half sisters, and their adventures as they attempt to weaken the barrier separating the human "Waking World" and the supernatural realms of the Faerie and their lives as famous musicians/actresses/models. Unfortunately, since the story didn't have a chance to get going, the story as it is written focuses on the girls' trip to a Renaissance-themed restaurant after a concert and Wynne recalling her numerous (and often tragic) past lives.
This story provides examples of:
- Anachronism Stew:
- Wynn claims to lived in the Hever Castle in the 1100s during one of her past lives. Hever Castle wasn't built until 1270.
- The music video of Beansidhe's Wail's cover of "Catherine Howard's Fate" has the sisters dancing La Volta in it. However, the Volta was not a respectable dance in English court circles until the reign of Catherine Howard's stepdaughter, Elizabeth I.
- Artistic License – History:
- Wynn claims that she was the inspiration for the role of the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. Mozart's actual inspiration for the role was his sister-in-law, Josepha Weber.
- The Beautiful Elite: If the above quote and the fact that the main characters are fairies and celebrities didn't tip you off to this, the numerous physical and clothing descriptions (especially for Wynne) should have.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: Wynne and her seven sisters all have one. The description of Wynne's voice is:Have You Ever Imagined What It Would Be Like To Sing With A Voice Which Angels And Birds Can Only Envy? A Voice So Pure, So Achingly Perfect And Glorious, So Innocently Sweet, Yet Rich And Vibrant As The Colours Of A Hummingbird In Flight? A Voice Which Haunts Everyone Who Hears It So That Ever After They Are Never Again The Same As Before?.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: While beautiful at night, Oonagh transforms into a hideous monster during daytime. Wynne, in contrast, is always startlingly beautiful.
- Been There, Shaped History: Wynne was the inspiration behind many hailed pieces of art, as well as several important historical figures.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Kathryn Howard was portrayed as a fairy/past life of the fairy Wynne.
- Costume Porn: Descriptions of the sisters' outfits are main focus throughout the story. This is just one of the many outfit descriptions:A Copy Of The Gown From Blair~Leighton’s “The Accolade” In Rose Pink, Crinkled Satin, With A Matching Hooded Cloak And Slippers. Not Wanting To Bother With Her Hair, She Muttered A Few Words And Her Long Red Curls Instantly Twisted And Arranged Themselves Into An Intricate Style Of Renaissance Plaits.
- Cursed with Awesome: How Wynne feels about being immortal.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Wynne has had several, including one where she died on the sinking of the Titanic.
- Decadent Court: Wynne has been a member of several of these.
- The Fair Folk: Zigzagged. The sisters unintentionally come off as a pack of Alpha Bitches, but they aren't nearly as dark and nasty as fairies were commonly portrayed. This is especially true of Wynne the Leanan Sidhe and Regan the Rusalka.
- Fake Band: The titular Bean Sidhe's Wail.
- Foil: Oonagh, to Wynne.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry:
- Wynne and Oonagh, with Wynne as the pretty one and Oonagh as the smart one. (Judging from Wynne's track record with men and Oonagh's predicament as a Corrigan, this probably would have gone into Cain and Abel territory if the story was finished.)
- In one of her past lives, Wynne was a noblewoman named Isabeau de Hever who had a nasty older sister, Margaret, who was horribly jealous of her beauty and true love.
- Glamour Failure: What Oonagh is constantly in danger of.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: One of the reasons why there are so many clothing descriptions.
- Historical Beauty Update: Wynne describes Mozart as "beautiful." In reality, Mozart was very short with bulging eyes and a heavily pockmarked face.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Quite a few.
- For example, Kathryn Howard, a past life of the heroine, was actually a tragic young noblewoman who committed adultery because her heart could not choose between her two lovers.
- Her lover, Thomas Culpeper, could also qualify, because the real man may have been the same Thomas Culpeper accused of rape and murder in 1539.
- Also, Lord Byron apparently was a tragic, romantic hero.
- Historical In-Joke
- The Ingenue: Wynne, despite being immortal, is "More Childlike And Innocent, Than You Could Ever Imagine."
- Inconsistent Coloring: Wynne's eyes. Her sisters, on the other hand, all have mundane, though albeit colorfully described, eye colors.
- In the Past, Everyone Will Be Famous: During her lifetime, Wynne met a lot of people who would become famous.
- Light Feminine Dark Feminine: The Ingenue Wynne is the light feminine while the more conniving and two-faced Oonagh is the dark.
- Masquerade
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much:
- Wynne feeds off the strong emotions she generates in the sisters' concerts' audiences instead of the life force of men, like leanan sidhes usually do.
- Orphaned Series
- Our Fairies Are Different: The seven sisters all are different types of faeries from all over the European world. Some are portrayed rather close to their mythological counterparts, like Oonagh the Corrigan. Others, like Wynne the Leanan Sidhe... not so much. They're also all a Superior Species.
- Politically Correct History: None of the negative sides of any historical period during which Wynne lived are ever mentioned, most notably that being a French noblewoman at the time of Louis XVI. is very likely to get you beheaded.
- Purple Prose: One of the story's most distinguishing features.
- Really 700 Years Old: The faerie sisters.
- Resulting in Younger Than They Look
- Reincarnation
- Reincarnation Romance: Wynne and Tamlin
- Rule of Seven: There are seven faerie sisters.
- Shapeshifting: Wynne is outright stated of being capable of this, Rowena, as a selkie, is naturally capable of this, too, and Tamlin is a bird of prey who can transform into his faerie form only once a year.
- Shout-Out: The titular septet might be one to the Seven Sutherland Sisters.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: “Sonnets”, the night club at the end of the fragment.
- Small Reference Pools: The painters named are Waterhouse, Blair-Leighton and Rosetti, the writers named are Shakespeare, Keats and Byron, the composers named are Strauss, Mozart and Bach, the only painting mentioned is The Accolade.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Wynne and Tamlin, big time.
- Urban Fantasy
- Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma: The Entire Story Is Written Like *This*. Asterisks Are Used To Emphasize Things And Tildes Are Used In Place Of Hyphens.
- What Measure Is a Non-Super?: How the sisters treat any human they meet.
- Youngest Child Wins: Wynne is the youngest of seven.
