Okay, this has to be one of the most intricate and well thought out re-tellings of Beauty and the Beast that I've ever come across, and I have an addiction to twisted fairytale re-tellings.

You should finish and look into getting it published.

P.S. I know this is the old version, but I wanted to read this one first.

I have a special appreciation for writers who aren't afraid to get their characters hands dirty and bloody. I hope you end up finishing this story someday.

Varin's a sort of a werewolf huh? :)

Is Solanthe's father the old Lord of the Castle? Again, she is one twisted chic! :D

Shapeshifter smelling her reminds me pf vampires but I suppose he's smelling her fears? But rocking scene!

Hmm now Emmy's in love with him and he's becoming a man, how long till the end? :)

By the way, I think you are writing a lot about Solanthe, its almost as much as how much you write about Varin and Emmy. Did you plan it to be that way? Anyway, I like her mental character. :)

'Taking her hand from his arm, he held it for a moment, studying the palm. His demeanor changed almost reluctantly from angry to tolerant. He softly kissed the tips of her fingers. ' That was so sweet and romantic! :)

The servants cook up a feast for him and he hardly eats anything!

Looks like Varin regrets saying that he'll give her his companionship...his walls are back.

Oh I have a question by the way: In one of the previous chapters, the spider and bird drop dead, why is it that his 'power' doesn't affect the deer and Madeliene and all? Because Emmy's power affects everyone.

'She glanced over the beautiful sea, watching the constantly moving waves. “I have never seen the sea…” She whispered, enchanted. The waters seemed to sing to her in an ever changing melody, the wind humming and gushing and whispering in harmony. She walked to the edge of the water and slipped off her shoe, lifting her skirt to stick her toes in the water. It was cold.' Beautiful, simply beautiful.

I loved Varin's outburst! It reminded us of his dark side, it was powerful, scary (to Emmy) as well as slightly...sexual I think in a way. Love Varin!!

I liked this explalnation, 'She was making him feel things he did not want to feel. Things he had thought he was blessed not to feel.'

I find this very romantic somehow, 'Suddenly, he heard crashing through the bushes to his left, and he dismounted, ready to fight. A slender white form with black hair ran straight into him, nearly knocking both of them to the ground. He caught Emmy’s arms and looked into her panicked face. She was splattered with blood. Was she hurt? She let out a half sigh of relief, but bolted behind him when a twig snapped behind her.'

Varin is becoming more of a human, he doesn't shout at Em after the whole Nightwatcher thing. He's learning to control himself. But why doesn't Nightwatcher attack Varin?

That thing Madeliene made her drink should've helped! But I suppose Maddy's potion was no match for the witch's power.:)

Good chapter, I enjoyed it immensely.

This bit was interesting. That one paragraph of the desription of that room was brilliant.

Solanthe is one evil witch, she wants to use her mother's flesh...she doesn't feel any remorse for her daughter...she kissed the corpse of a dead man. One hell of a character you've got! :)

The Ancients seem like angry spirits and the fairies remind me of the reclusive elves from Eragon and Lord of the Rings...I'm just saying that they are there but not really there. Well, they weren't a part of Beauty and the Beast anyway.

Good developmental peice. :)

Strange, their own children don't resemble them but Emmy does. Does it have to do with the recipe thingy?

Well, at least Varin did one good thing killing a sadistic nutjob. :) Wow, Varin has a memory from when he was one...does that happen to most people? Because I don't remember anything from when I was one...ok, back to story...

'Solanthe had been his first lover, the only woman he had never been able to replace. No matter how many woman he had bought from the witch, none had matched up to the fiery red hair nd sparkling green eyes of Solanthe.' First lover eh? So even though he used so many woman, he still hasn't gotten over his first heartbreak?! And I thought Solanthe had blue eyes...from Maeve's descriptions.

The dream is an instance from his childhood I suppose? He was one then?!

Varin seems more human with the little vulnerability that he shows. Its as if he's let his gaurd down, I think he's slightly touched that Emmy came to awaken him? Is that why he talks to her like how a normal person would? He actually apologises to her!

Emmy got to know Garrett well?

Haha, Emmy's crushing on Varin!

Nice get-to-know-the-characters chapter. Good job!

Ah! Mari! Good to read about her. That was cute, will he be the guy for her though? 'Rune' makes me think of an elf. But I like him I guess.

The Garrett bit is funny so far ;) liked this bit 'He ignored her latter comment with a small miffed scoff. “Why shouldn’t I be happy? It’s a beautiful d--” he glanced up at the sky. Dark clouds were beginning to smother the sun, and a few raindrops spattered down. “Well… it was a beautiful day.”' What a pin-head!

Oh God, Solanthe and Rune are related. Ugh, don't make him bad! I liked him!! And why does she bug Emmy so much with the dreams? What will she gain from doing that?

And I didn't get this '“He died two weeks tomorrow.”'

It was interesting enough, dialogues are good to :)

But I also think that Rune doesn't know that Solanthe is a madwoman...? I think I just want him to be a nice person for Mari.

Good descriptions again! :)

Ha! I knew it!! Varin and that hag had a past together!! :) The only reason I was doubtful was because of the age difference. But I don't understand how she changed from a fiery redhead to that old hag...ah well, she is a witch. Ah! Hell hath no fury like woman scorned!

Correction: Hell hath no fury like a mental sadistic woman scorned!

Oh, poor Meave to have never been loved by her parents. Gah he killed her, poor girl.

His way of travelling reminds me of how people apparate in the Harry Potter books. But if travels like that, then why the whole walk into mirrors thing?

Oh, yeah, there was a bit of confusion about Varin's character towards the end all right. I can't imagine him being so compassionate as to talk about pain, terror and sadness once having inflicted all those things himself.

Nothing much I can say... It flowed very well, the descriptions were good, especially in the beginning of the chapter. Maeve seems like a nice girl. And I thought that the length was fine.

The opening paragraph was nice, we've never seen Varin contemplative.
'The only reason he didn’t leave her and go inside was that he still had to win her heart, and bad manners never got one anywhere in such matters.' I can't picture him trying to win her heart you know, he is always asserting his power over her in this chapter! But I think I liked him because of that. Pretty weird huh?

'He was not a beast, and his weakness for beauty would be conquered if he injured Emmy to prove she was no farce. ' I think his idea of conquering beauty is a little messed up. I think that when the witch placed the curse on him, she was referring to the fact that he used so many beautiful woman. And then he really doesn't mar her beauty because he stabs her in the thigh; though yes, he does conclude that her beauty is real. But this bit goes with his character I think.

'He walked over to her chair and rested his hands on the armrests, bending close to her face so that she could look nowhere else but to his eyes.' Very intimidating, he just had to do that didn't he? Loved that though. :)

'defiant submission', lovely choice of words, it describes her reaction to him very well.
'But when he lifted her skirt in order to press a handkerchief to the wound, she slapped his hands away.“Do not touch me.” Her voice was steaming with anger. “You should not dare to touch me after what you just did.”' Hehe, I really liked that. She is so indiginant and orders him not to touch her. And Varin can't take that. These subtleties define the characters and helps their relation somewhat grow I think. Nice work!I also liked that she refuses to keep quiet and questions him. Very defiant, makes her more defined as a character.

Its really weird that Varin knows whats in her wardrobe, if I were Emmy I'd get a little freaked.

'She could almost forget the green eyes staring at her as she took each bite.' Again stalker-Varin behaviour.

'Beautiful yet horrible, gentle yet fierce, remorseless yet sad. You are a man of many contradictions… 'Very nice description of Varin.

'He bent closer, lips inches away from hers.' Ha! See he's still a slave for beauty!

I think Varin is so angry because for that one moment, Emmy has him in her power. Its in his nature to always be the dominant one right?

Oh, he realises it. The chemistry of attraction and he thinks its a spell. Well, I don't blame him for that though.

Rather cryptic end, what is the witch planning?

All in all good chapter! I'm sorry this review was more like a rant than an actual review, I couldn't help it, sorry!! :)

The witch is very calculating and I think she's played with the poor beast for too long. Did she have past with him...Oh no, she couldn't have...right?

Amazing description!! I could picture him hunting!!

'Though his hunger was strangely turned to sickness at the sight, he picked up the carcass of the deer in his massive jaws. It would do good to have food if it was going to snow.' Is this a result of Emmy's healing power or the witch's meddling?

' A bit of her blood would heal you; you would be a man again! The voice went on.' A work of the witch isn't it?

Ooh, what has the beast done?!

The witch gave Lavanya the recipe! What a wonderfully twisted story!!

'Heavily relaxed now, despite the racing of her brain, Emmy pushed up from the tub and stood, towel-wrapped, before the fire. Its heated orange flames licked the logs with deadly caresses and danced with glee before her eyes. Her lids were dropping against her will, so she dropped the towel and slipped into the robe, laying on the bed with her hair spread out towards the fire.' Just reading that paragraph was so relaxing! I'm positively jealous of Emmy right now.

'Her eyes burst as blooms budded from them, her lips dripped scarlet on the bright vines, her cheeks flushed purple.' Gah! Scary!!

The rest of the chapter with the beast in human form and his internal or rather vocal struggle, was absolutely AMAZING!

Brilliant chapter! Woman, you ROCK! :)

Using a walk in the garden to point out their differences, very nice and original!

'With a short laugh that sounded harsh after the softness of her voice, he answered. “You.”'
I found that really funny, quite cute actually.

Hmm, now this Garrett seems like a typical womanizer, wanting Emmy only because she doesn't give him any attention. Very different from the one in the new version. Its obvious I know...:)

Despite your description of Jolie, I could only think of Angelina Jolie. Obviously because of the name...I couldn't help it! At least he has the decency to make himself think about Jolie and not Emmy.

'A cricket chirped once, and a frog croaked out his rusty song as she passed by, her feet taking her further and further away from the village. She did not wander towards the dark woods, but the opposite way, into the wide plains of Meranduleir. The grass rustled in a slight breeze, making music with the wind. With a skip, Mari gave into the music, twirling around on the road, humming tunelessly, until she ran square into a firm object. With a squeak, she tumbled over backwards and landed in the dusty road.'

That was very refreshing and comical. Wonderful descriptions again. Hmm, now who's this hooded guy? I'm very curious. Something tells me he's either the villian or the guy for Mari. Something also tells me that I'm very wrong. Aww...Poor Mari, not knowing what happened to Emmy.

Loved the two paragraphs describing the prince's history.

'“Taika?” He cautiously walked to her and shook her. She did not respond. “Come on, get up.” His voice was irritated and he pulled her up, but she fell loosely against him.'
How arrogant is he?! Something that should've worried him or slightly scared him and he gets irritated!

Very good portrayal of his character!

The description of his transformation was brilliant, I could see it in my head. And I could also see him kill the woman, very animalistic. Good job!

That was a good chapter, you gave the reader a feel of the her surroundings. Wonderful descriptions again. Emmy was the result of a really twisted recipe, Lavanya must have been really desperate. But poor lady, she sealed her daughter's fate before she was born.

The beast talking to her through the mirror and then touching her with out actually touching, I found that rather stalker-ish. He could watch her whenever he wanted. Ooh and scary dream by the way, I liked it.