A novel written during NaNoWriMo 2009 by Belucre
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Mr. Babineaux is a wealthy man in his early sixties, whose wife died because of a combination of a carriage accident and childbirth, with one daughter, Février. Février is 15 years old, and has been raised all her life by subsitute parental figures in the form of her servants. She's materialistic, immature, and has a penchant for stirring up havoc. Her trouble-making, unbeknownst by her father, is actually an attempt to get him to notice her, simultaneously feeling bitter towards him, and yet viciously jealous of anyone who takes his attention away from her.
Babineaux envies his daughter's youth and spoils her with presents, smothering her with whatever her little heart desires—except the time of day. He's far, far too occupied with viewing the latest heartwrenching opera or inspecting the newest piece of avant-garde artwork in the gallery, and when he does have time, his seething violet is busy wreaking mischief.
He keeps up a dignified public image, but this mannered air crumbles into an increasingly haunted and paranoid state when he discovers his daughter's witchcraft, and starts fearing for her life. Driven insane, Mr. Babineaux ends up murdering and devouring his associates one by one, desperately wishing to protect his daughter—no matter the cost.
The Tale of Mr. Babineaux provides examples of:
- Ax-Crazy: Charlotte, made most evident when she almost went through with strangling Arachnid in her sleep.
- Body Horror: Lots of it. Charlotte's arms turning into boneless coils of flesh, the lower half of August's body being unable to survive Germaine's experiments, the twins' tongues getting cut out, Février waking up to find her mouth stitched shut, Madeline's previously healthy legs becoming withered and distorted, Deirdre forced to undergo a clitoridectomy, ect.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Subverted with Madeline, who was almost burned at the stake as a child. It's implied that Arachnid will die eventually this way as well.
- Decoy Protagonist: Mr. Babineaux himself. Though he starts off the first four chapters, the spotlight is quickly stolen by his daughter and occasionally members of the supporting cast.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Février and Madeline both hate being sympathized for their predicaments.
- Driven to Suicide: Madeline tries to kill herself twice, though each time she is stopped before she can go through with it.
- Dysfunction Junction: Everyone has issues, magic and non-magic characters alike.
- Empire with a Dark Secret: Magic is kept hidden from the public, even those of Blue Blood don't know of it.
- Erotic Asphyxiation: Février once tried to strangle Madeline to death, not knowing that she liked being choked.
- Fate Worse than Death: If you're captured by Octavius, the lucky ones just get their genitals mutilated, are forced to become sex slaves, and have some part of their body irreversibly mutated. If you're dead, they bring your corpse back to life and force you to do all of the above. If you're magical, you get the most lenient treatment, where either your tongue is cut out or your mouth is sewn shut.
- Fête Worse than Death: To celebrate Février's arrival, Arachnid hosts a dinner party...and serves them their own crewmates as the main course.
- Knight Templar Parent: Babineaux deconstructs this. Even before he goes on a murder spree, he forces his daughter to wear a chastity belt at all times, refuses to let her leave the house, and drugs her food to limit chances of escape.
- Meido: Arachnid used to be employed as a maid.
- Power Degeneration: All witches and warlocks have a much shorter lifespan than normal humans, given magic in this case is basically a hereditary disease. All reanimated corpses are also expected to die soon, given their bodies are decaying even as their organs are forced to keep functioning.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: The first four chapters are from Babineaux's perspective, who is already morally reprehensible when the story begins and a paranoid wreck by the end.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: After being subjected to Germaine's experiments so many times that her body has begun to deteriorate, December can't remember anything of her past life.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: December genuinely believes that her "mothers", who treat her as little more than a pet, would never abandon her. She was brutally proven wrong."If you make the same mistake as poppy, I'll chop off your legs so you can never leave."
