Richie Tennyson

Thanks for the feedback @Baikalisan! I am currently working on a second story about Richard and co.

Thanks @Valkyrie and thanks @Cia for re-posting 🙂 I’m really delighted some readers have enjoyed it!

Thanks for the comment! Really delighted you enjoyed it

@stlstage Thanks, feel free to let me know what you think 🙂

Absolutely - hopefully we grow out of this, but I feel not everybody does

Thanks for reading @David Santos - this was one of my main intentions with this story

Thanks again for your great comment @Bart V! I do have an upcoming story in the pipeline - it's not overtly gay but is fairly camp and fun, so I might put it up here anyway! ❤️

@Bart V Thanks for the comment - I'm especially glad to know it gave you some laughs!

@alexlittel I'll take that as a compliment 😉

@Nana Atuwa Thanks for reading! I love your reaction/comments, that you found it strange but also readable & thought-provoking. 😃

Thanks! I can't wait to see what I write next too

@Talo Segura Glorious comment, thank you so much. This story is still a roller coaster of emotions for me, too. My heart aches for Richard in this story, but also swells to think of the wonderful people in his life.

Hmm yeah this is one plot point of the story I grappled with - how to convey this in a convincing way... "The Terrorist" chapter outlines that Bjorn was 'deviant' and anti-convention from a young age. This led into his 'career' as a "Fairytale Objector", protesting fairytales in relatively trivial ways. Bjorn then met, and fell in love with, Patricia - that's when he saw an opportunity to 'protest'/sabotage fairytales to a much bigger audience. Presumably Patricia would've required a lot of persuading. Ultimately (as she briefly mentions in this final chapter) she calculated the damage to the company would be manageable - and possibly her love for Bjorn tipped the scales to take the risk. Also, Patricia stayed in control the entire time, so could have ejected him from the fairytale if she changed her mind.

@ObicanDecko Thanks for your great compliment - and especially about Dorothy's wedding scene. It's a less "showy" scene than others but I really wanted to give as much insight into Dorothy, as she can be a bit unlikeable on the surface

@Talo Segura Thanks for your lovely comments thus far, after being so encouraging about Happily Ever After, Ltd too! The characters are my favourite thing about Self-Portraits too. ♥️ I hope you enjoy the rest of it.

My interpretation of the traditional Cinderella narrative (and most fairytales) is that Prince Charming was predominantly motivated by her physical attributes - it is a fundamental problem with the "love at first sight" trope in fairytales. Thanks again for reading and commenting, it's been much appreciated

@Talo Segura Haha, thanks - I learn something new every day!

Mid-twirl, Cinderella seemed to evaporate. The salty air became stuffier, the sunlight faded into a dull fluorescent tube above Ryan’s head, and the ground hardened and levelled out beneath his feet. Walls went up on all sides and, for a few seconds, he didn’t understand what he was looking at. He stood there blinking, adjusting back to reality. A takeaway coffee cup with lipstick smudged around the edge, rolled-up shirt sleeves bunching around elbows, the smell of body odour, someone’s phone be

Behind the castle, Ryan and Cinderella were climbing down the jagged rocks towards the water. Ryan was struggling to drag a heavy old rowboat that they had lifted out of the castle moat. Halfway down the rocks, Ryan was beginning to realise that he had probably made a terrible, irreversible mistake. He was not the only one having doubts. “I don’t know if this is a good idea, Your Highness!” Cinderella cried for the tenth time. “The wedding is about to start!” Ryan had interrupted Cin

Ryan was woken up by the crowing of at least thirty roosters from down in the village. He’d never felt so desperate for sleep before. He tried pressing cushions over his ears but it didn’t help. It sounded like the birds were right there in the room. Eventually, the roosters calmed down, but just as Ryan was on the brink of falling back asleep, someone knocked at his door. “Go away!” Ryan shouted. The Royal Tailors had returned and this time Ryan didn’t even try to resist. They dragg

@Talo Segura Thanks for posting - a really interesting read, especially given everything I've been thinking about with this story Thanks for reading and commenting

@Bard Simpson I love this observation. Traditional incarnations of the Cinderella character are rarely witty or intelligent (although more modern/recent ones have been slightly better). But historically she is often completely passive - and perhaps a bit whiny even!

The King’s lecture on “bedroom duties” dragged on for nearly an hour. By the end of it, Ryan felt that he knew even less about women, but he told the King it’d been a most informative session. “Well, I don’t know about you,” the King said, “but all that talk has really worked up my appetite. You must be hungry, too.” “Not in the least,” Ryan said. Nonetheless, he followed the King into the castle for dinner. It wasn’t as if Ryan had anything better to do. The royal dining table

The carriage ride from the manor back to the castle was unpleasant. Ryan and Cinderella were facing backwards, their knees crammed against the King and Queen’s. The air inside was hot and stuffy, and the entire carriage kept rocking side to side, as its wheels bumped up and down upon the cobblestones. Ryan ended up feeling quite motion-sick, as they all stared at each other, nobody knowing what to say. Eventually, the Queen remembered her royal etiquette. “So, what are your interests, de

Thanks for these comments @Bard Simpson The next chapter is up now - hopefully that answers your shoe-based questions. Enjoy!