I'm still catching up but does anyone notice (and are revolted by) the manipulation tactic of using her children's language and third-personing herself when describing their emotions? I'm probs being a dumb English major again and over-analyzing but...
Ex: "The girls never thought he would leave their mummy" or "The girls feel so sad for their mummy."
As opposed to: "The girls never thought he would leave me" or "The girls feel so sad for me."
"Their mummy," placing herself in the third-person, over-utilizes the children's language, and "their" specifically means she's emphasizing their devotion to her as their mother. The effect this has to followers is that they're reading this through the children's voice, rather than an adult's, which garners more sympathy.
Alice is Alice. She is recounting something her kids said that includes Alice, sure, but it's more appropriate to say "me," because this is an adult conversation with other adults. It's a very manipulative tactic that forces people to observe her statements not through her, but through the perspective of her children, and this witch knows it.
Also, somewhat similar thing when she uses "(their) daddy":
Ex: "The girls miss (their) daddy" or "They wish (their) daddy would come home."
As opposed to: "The girls miss him/Ioan" or "They wish he/Ioan would come home."
Again, this is a conversation between adults. But again, the former statements better echo a child's voice, therefore making it more intimate and heartbreaking to read. Alice can very easily (and should) tailor her statements to represent one adult talking to another, but she chooses to give her daughters that platform of being the ones to talk to Alice's audience. It's wrong.
Idk, sorry for this, it's just that every inch of what she says is dripping with deception, and she is completely aware of how this works. Even through bleeping language, she's exploiting her children.