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Fables 27 Totenkinder
"In that one story they simply won't forget, at least they never knew my name"
This article is about a subject whose real name is unknown, and is known only by a title, nickname, alias or description
The title of this article is conjectural
Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is conjecture based on the original source it's adapted from.
JOF 13 Books


Hope ain't no guarantee, Boz. Never was. Mostly it's no more than a frail tissue to get wretched people through otherwise unendurable times. Our product is nothing--an idea without substance, redeemable for no cash value.
~ The Cricket on the Hearth to Rose Red, Fables #112 — "All in a Single Night"


The Cricket on the Hearth is an insect Fable who first appears in Fables #112 — "All in a Single Night." The Cricket is a servant of one of the Great Powers, Hope; and is the one who takes Rose Red on a journey on Christmas Eve to meet her fellow Paladins of Hope, in a Fables takes on A Christmas Carol. It later comes back to Rose and leads her through a voyage into the past, revealing the harsh truth about her maternal lineage and allowing her to make a fully informed choice.

History

The Paladin of Hope

Fables 112 Cricket

The Cricket appears before Rose Red

As the night of Christmas Eve falls, a tired Rose Red settles into bed and drifts off into sleep. Suddenly, the Cricket appears on the hearth, standing in front of the warm, crackling fireplace. Rose is suddenly roused from her sleep by the Cricket, who affectionately addresses her as "Boz." The Cricket informs her that there is a lot of work to be done tonight and suggests getting it all completed quickly so that it can have the next day off. It informs Rose that since she has been chosen as the new Paladin of Hope, they must prepare her for her role as quickly as possible.[1]

The Cricket whisks Rose Red away from the house and into the sky, flying far to meet with the remaining three Paladins of Hope. The Cricket reveals that there used to be fourteen Paladins in the past, and the takeaway is that hope often ends up being crushed. The Cricket escorts Rose to visit Santa Claus, the Paladin of Hope for Justice, and unceremoniously drops her into his sleigh as Santa soars through the air on his way to deliver presents.[1]

Afterward, the Cricket arrives to take Rose away from Snow White and Bigby Wolf's residence in Wolf Valley: Rose has been observing as Santa distributed gifts and wisdom to all those around her. Blossom, the daughter of Snow and Bigby, witnesses the strange event and shares it with the other Wolf cubs. She explains how Rose "flew away with a bug" and how they seamlessly moved through the walls like ghosts.[1]

Fables 112 The Cricket on the Hearth

The Cricket takes Rose Red on a journey

The Cricket whisks Rose to distant worlds, until they arrive at a freezing street where the little match girl, another Paladin of Hope, is selling matches. Rose is devastated by this encounter, knowing that the girl won't survive the night. She urgently begs for the Cricket to take her away from there.[1]

Rose inquires if it was truly essential to subject her to this experience, but the Cricket explains that Hope wanted Rose to meet all of Hope's top players tonight. However, Rose notes that the little girl will perish in the freezing cold with all of her aspirations unmet. The Cricket responds by saying that this is typically the case: most individuals pass away without fulfilling their hopes, and those who do avoid this are usually ones without any hopes at all.[1]

According to the Cricket, hope is not a guarantee; it is often just a coping mechanism for those facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. And the role of Paladin of Hope usually involves overseeing difficult and unpleasant tasks, which is why many people reject the position when offered. Rose argues that when she asked her to become a Paladin, Hope made it seem like a prestigious and rare honor; however, the Cricket simply responds that what is considered rare can be subjective.[1]

The Cricket guides Rose to her final destination, where she comes face to face with the false bride, an Avatar for the Hope of Revenge. The encounter quickly turns sour, and Rose screams for the Cricket to rescue her from this terrible place. Abruptly, Rose's eyes flutter open, and she finds herself back in her own bed at the Farm. She walks over to the window and calls out to Luna, asking her what day it is. Luna responds that it is Christmas morning, and Rose comments with relief that they were able to complete everything in just one night.[1]

New Eden

As a full-blown war threatens to erupt between Rose and her sister Snow White, the Cricket appears before Rose yet again. It states that it is going to tell her, without any ambiguity, exactly the nature of her and her sister, and transports her to the Homelands, to the cottage in the magical forest they grew up in. The Cricket quotes Thomas Wolfe, telling her that she can never actually go home again.[3]

Fables 147 Cricket and Rose

Rose declines the Cricket's offer of building a new Eden

The Cricket gets Rose to take off her armor, as she will not need it here. It begins by offering Rose a different option: To not learn the family's dark history and remain blissfully ignorant. The Cricket divulges to Rose that during her family's time in the forest, the already magical woods were amplified by the presence of Snow, Rose and their mother, all of whom possessed powerful magic that infused into their surroundings. Once Snow departed, Rose claimed the forest as her own, and it became a time of innocence.[4]

Now, she can go back to that state if she wishes. She can turn the forest into her own kingdom and build a new Eden here, reigning as its queen for ages to come. As Rose ponders this, she finds herself strolling through the forest, naked; with a group of animal Fables by her side. Rose inquires about another option, but the Cricket is unaware of any. Despite her initial curiosity, Rose ultimately dismisses this as nothing more than a child's dream and chooses not to pursue it. She insists that the Cricket reveal the reason for bringing her there.[4]

The Tontine Curse

The Cricket recounts to Rose the tale of her mother Lauda and her twelve sisters. In order to fully gain their magical abilities, each sister had to eliminate all others, leaving only one as the victor. A few of the sisters fell victim to poison, while one shockingly burst into flames in the bustling fountain square. Another was mysteriously turned into a rose bush. In order to protect herself, Lauda decided to remove herself from the family competition and relocate to a distant world.[5]

Fables 148 Cricket

The Cricket narrates the story of Lauda and her sisters

The Cricket shows Rose the rest of the story via a series of visions: For years, Lauda lived in peace alone in a cottage in the forest. Until one day, her last surviving sister, Geirvé, located Lauda with the intent to kill her to ensure she'd win the contest. A clever Lauda killed Geirvé by getting her to prick her finger on the thorns of an enchanted rose and turning her into a rose bush. With her sister's demise, Lauda was sole inheritor of her family's power.[6]

Hoping to end the generational contest for power for all time, Lauda planned to live the rest of her life as a spinster. However, that all changed Lauda met and quickly fell in love with a handsome man, and the two married. The Cricket shows her a vision of Lauda's wedding night, causing her to feel embarrassed. The Cricket quickly apologizes and skips ahead to the next scene, the post-coital afterglow.[6]

Lauda's husband desperately wanted children, so she chose to bear him a single daughter, so she could give her husband the child he wanted whilst avoiding igniting another generational struggle for power. To Lauda's dismay, she births two twin daughters, Snow White and Rose Red. Within the year, Lauda's husband died; the Cricket believes he was killed by his evil sister; Snow White's "wicked stepmother" (aunt).[6]

The war of Fabletown

Rose realizes that she and Snow cannot coexist in a position of power, and one of them must eliminate the other. She turns to the Cricket for guidance and asks what will occur if they choose not to kill one another. The Cricket informs her that attempts at power-sharing have been made numerous times before, but always ended in bloodshed. Rose is reminded by Cricket that Snow is also getting ready for battle, though she may not be aware of their family's past. This could give Rose a slight advantage over her opponent.[6]

Fables 149 Cricket

The Cricket continues to guide Rose Red

Rose considers the possibility of having to personally eliminate Snow, but the Cricket assures her that she can rely on agents and minions. She devises a plan to take control of Bigby Wolf and use him to carry out the assassination, catching Snow off guard. The Cricket warns her that Bigby might seek revenge for what she forced him to do, but Rose has a plan to control him with her Magic Ring and make him believe he is in love with her. Rose orders the Cricket to bring her home, stating that it's time to assemble her troops. Once Snow is eliminated, she plans to lead a dual attack on both Fabletown and the Farm to prevent any resistance from rising up.[6]

As they journey through the different dimensions, Rose Red can't help but notice that it's taking much longer than usual to reach their destination. The Cricket confesses that their boss, Hope, has requested a detour. And so, the Cricket leads Rose Red to see Hope herself. Hope makes a desperate attempt to thwart Rose Red's scheme, but Rose Red double-crosses her and shrinks her down to minuscule proportions before devouring her.[2]

Powers and abilities

  • Flight: The Cricket possesses the natural flight abilities of a cricket, and can also grant others the power of flight temporarily.[1]
  • Phasing: The Cricket is able to fly through solid walls and can take other people with them.[1]
  • World crossing: The Cricket is capable of travel between worlds, and can bring other people along.[1]
  • Pensive flashback: The Cricket can take someone with them on an interactive journey through a replay of the past and have them both be an observer to the events by walking around in a representation of the past. It can also skip past any events that the person finds too traumatizing to watch.[6]

Appearances

Fables

Original source

The Cricket is based on the titular character of The Cricket on the Hearth, a novella by Charles Dickens. The names "Cricket on the Hearth" and "Cricket" are capitalized on this wiki in accordance with the source material. "The Cricket on the Hearth" is also the name of the chapter where the Cricket debuts in the issue Fables #112 — "All in a Single Night." The Cricket repeatedly calls Rose Red "Boz," which was Dickens' family nickname and occasional pen-name.[7]

In the novella, an honest carrier named John Peerybingle lives contentedly with his beloved wife Dot and their infant son. A Cricket chirps cheerfully on the hearth, reflecting the family's happiness. One night, John gives a lift in his cart to a mysterious elderly stranger, who invites himself to lodge with the family for a few days. John is surprised at the alacrity with which Dot agrees. A toy merchant draws John's attention to a secret meeting between John's wife and the lodger, and they watch unobserved through a window as the lodger, now seen to be a young man in disguise, clasps Dot around the waist. John is devastated at his wife's betrayal, and that night as he sits before the fire, he contemplates murdering the young man. Suddenly, the Cricket on the Hearth begins to chirp, and in fairy shape shows John visions of his wife's history from her school days onwards, always emphasizing her goodness and loyalty. After a sleepless night, John's desire for revenge fades, and he convinces himself that Dot could never have been truly happy with him, and that he must for her own sake release her from her marriage vows. However, it is eventually revealed that Dot has never been unfaithful, and she loves John with all her heart. The lodger marries an old school friend of John's wife. At the wedding dance, the Cricket on the Hearth joins in with its own chirps.

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Fables #112 — "All in a Single Night"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Fables #150 — "Farewell"
  3. Fables #146 — "The Thomas Wolfe Syndrome: Chapter Six of Happily Ever After"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Fables #147 — "The Peaceable Kingdom: Chapter Seven of Happily Ever After"
  5. Fables #148 — "Tontine: Chapter Eight of Happily Ever After"
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Fables #149 — "Generations: Chapter Nine of Happily Ever After"
  7. Who is Boz, Charles Dickens Info. "In December 1833, Charles Dickens's first literary effort was published. It was a sketch or essay entitled A Dinner at Poplar Walk. Other sketches soon followed. Dickens wanted a memorable way of identifying the sketches as his. He finally picked a nickname for himself. One of his favorite characters in Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield was called Moses. Moses became Boses which became Boz. In 1836 two collections of the essays (one published in February and a second in August) entitled Sketches by Boz were published."


See also

Fables
Series FablesJack of FablesFairestFables: The Wolf Among UsEverafter: From the Pages of Fables
Specials Fables: 1001 Nights of SnowfallPeter & Max: A Fables NovelCinderella: From Fabletown with LoveCinderella: Fables Are ForeverThe LiteralsFables: Werewolves of the HeartlandFairest: In All the LandThe Unwritten FablesBatman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham
Characters Bigby WolfSnow WhiteRose RedPrince CharmingBeautyBeastBoy BlueFlycatcherKing ColeFrau TotenkinderGeppettoSnow QueenNorth WindJack HornerBufkin
Video games The Wolf Among UsThe Wolf Among Us 2 (unreleased)
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