cinderellainrubbershoes:

Snow White trivia:

1. A historical figure? Eckhard Sander, a German scholar, wrote a book called Schneewittchen: Marchen oder Wahrheit? (Snow White: Is it a Fairytale?) where he pointed out a lot of similarities between the children’s story and the life of Margarete von Waldeck, countess and the lover of Philipp II of Spain.Because of her allegedly bad relationship with her stepmother, Margarete was forced to leave home at an early age and live in Brussels. She grew up in a mining town where children are forced to work in the copper mines. Working conditions in the mine and malnutrition affected the children’s health and growth, and as a result they are ridiculed as “dwarfs”. Margarete’s love affair with Philipp II is frowned upon by the latter’s relatives since no real political benefit will be gained if the two get married (remember that politics is more important than love in their time). To get rid of Margarete, she is believed to be poisoned. 
2. Cannibalism. The latest versions of Snow White say that the Queen orders a huntsman to bring the Princess’ heart in order to prove her death. However, in the earlier versions, the Queen didn’t just ask for the heart—she asks for the lungs and liver as well, to be served as dinner that night. Some sources say that this is so that the Queen can enhance her beauty when she eats Snow White’s entrails.
3. Incest. It is said that the Brothers Grimm has two versions. The first one, also known as the “peasant version”, does not have a stepmother or a Prince; instead, the mother kills Snow White because she is jealous of her husband’s overwhelming affection for their daughter. The father finds out, kills the mother, and then tries to revive Snow White. This tale is said to involve a lot of incest and conflicts with Christian values at that time, so it is “sanitized”.
4. Necrophilia? Contrary to Disney’s lighthearted happy-ending tale, a lot of earlier versions of Snow White say that the princess was not woken up by the handsome Prince’s magical kiss. The Prince stumbles upon the glass coffin of Snow White and, enchanted by her beauty, begs the dwarfs to give her to him. Now what does he want to do to a dead girl’s body? You answer that yourself. En route to his Kingdom, his horse jolts the coffin and shakes Snow White. This causes a poisoned chunk of the apple to be dislodged from her throat, bringing her back to consciousness.
5. Perverse Dwarfs and Huntsman. Several analyses of the story say that most of the characters in the story are pervert. It is said that the dwarfs take in Snow White because of her beauty. The reason why they put Snow White in a glass coffin is so that they can stare at her. The huntsman hired by the Queen spares Snow White’s life because he likes her looks (in the sanitized version, her life is spared because the huntsman saw her putting an injured little bird back to its nest).
6. Punishment for the Queen. There’s a varied array of punishments for the Queen in the old and newer versions of the tale. Some said she is killed by the dwarfs; some said she is thrown off a cliff. The most popular death sentence for this villain is dancing in a pair of heated iron shoes.

*photograph by Baltazarart

I have no new doodle tonight, but here’s a reblog from my drawing archive. :) Sorry for the sparse updates, I’m quite busy with work at the moment. Have a good day, everyone! 

Review: Ash
Author: Malinda Lo
Genre: LGBTQ, young adult; fairytale retelling
My Rating: ★★★ 1/2

____

When her father died, Aisling’s—Ash’s—world is turned upside down. Her stepmother, Lady Isobel, is cruel to her, and her stepsisters are not exactly fond of her. Ash is forced to work as a servant for her stepfamily, and she could only hope for someone to take her away from her miserable life.

Sounds familiar? It might, but this is not the fairytale you remember—it’s not the story of Disney’s ultimate damsel in distress who waits for Prince Charming to come by and hand her the happy-ever-after she longs for. In this retelling, instead of falling in love with a dashing prince, the dreamy, pretty orphan becomes smitten with the King’s feisty huntress, Kaisa.

You read that right. It’s Cinderella with a lesbian twist.

The strongest point of this book, for me, is the elegant unfolding of love between the two women and the society’s reaction (or lack thereof) to their budding relationship. The bottom line of the novel is not that the Cinderella figure is a lesbian, it is that no one cares that she is a lesbian. With that concept as a backbone, Malinda Lo managed to create this loose retelling sans the ‘coming out’ vibes that most LGBTQ titles possess.

The coming-of-age part of the book molds Ash well into a believable character, but she’s not particularly a likable one. While Ash only raises herself a step from being a total ingénue, Kaisa is portrayed as a stronger and more mannish character that completes what Ash lacks. Oh, I forgot to mention that there’s a bizarre love triangle here, and you’ll be surprised who makes the third side of it: the fairy godmother figure from the original tale…except that this time he’s a cruel Fairy Prince cursed to love a human girl (I really love the gender-bending bits!). Characterization of the antagonists came off as a little ‘bedtime story’ conventional, and to me they feel a stage short of being inflated into fully-realized characters. But in fairness to Lo, she suggests that Ash’s older stepsister only forces herself to marry a wealthy man just to make themselves a kisby ring, not wanting to sink into poverty, given the existing social strata in their world.

That takes us to the world-building—which is amazing. I love the complexities of Ash’s world, from the smallest fireside stories to the traditions of Rook Hill and the King’s City. Side by side, greenwitches and philosophers exist, a prevalent science vs. magic feel that helps shapes Lo’s universe. I also tremendously enjoyed the fables and myths that are deftly intertwined with the main story; they’re like gems embedded in a layer of less-precious stones. If they are invented by Lo, I’ll never know, but they sound authentic and they carry some shades of Brothers Grimm in them.

This is a good book, but if you are a sucker for retellings that are fast-paced, gripping, and out of the ordinary, Ash may not be your cup of tea. There is a lot to like about this novel, but there is something about the narration that does not quite click with me. The descriptions are beautifully dreamy and lush, but they make the transitions from scene to scene a tad slow. Other than that, I think this is a nice treat for fable-lovers and for queer people. After all, gays need fairytales, too.

___

a little trivia: Cinderella comes from the name “cendrillon,” which in French literally means “little ashes,” so I think Lo’s choice for her protagonist’s (nick)name matches this. Some sources also say that the girl in Cinderella is originally named Ella and she is almost always covered in soot/cinders from cleaning. This is used by Lo as well, as for many times Ash sleeps by the hearth and ends up coated with ashes and soot when she wakes up.

Tom Thumb| by yumedust

Summer= more time to draw. :3

[She’s a] Beauty and a Beast. Haha, sorry dude, she likes your old furry face better. :P

Snow White trivia:

1. A historical figure? Eckhard Sander, a German scholar, wrote a book called Schneewittchen: Marchen oder Wahrheit? (Snow White: Is it a Fairytale?) where he pointed out a lot of similarities between the children’s story and the life of Margarete von Waldeck, countess and the lover of Philipp II of Spain.Because of her allegedly bad relationship with her stepmother, Margarete was forced to leave home at an early age and live in Brussels. She grew up in a mining town where children are forced to work in the copper mines. Working conditions in the mine and malnutrition affected the children’s health and growth, and as a result they are ridiculed as “dwarfs”. Margarete’s love affair with Philipp II is frowned upon by the latter’s relatives since no real political benefit will be gained if the two get married (remember that politics is more important than love in their time). To get rid of Margarete, she is believed to be poisoned. 
2. Cannibalism. The latest versions of Snow White say that the Queen orders a huntsman to bring the Princess’ heart in order to prove her death. However, in the earlier versions, the Queen didn’t just ask for the heart—she asks for the lungs and liver as well, to be served as dinner that night. Some sources say that this is so that the Queen can enhance her beauty when she eats Snow White’s entrails.
3. Incest. It is said that the Brothers Grimm has two versions. The first one, also known as the “peasant version”, does not have a stepmother or a Prince; instead, the mother kills Snow White because she is jealous of her husband’s overwhelming affection for their daughter. The father finds out, kills the mother, and then tries to revive Snow White. This tale is said to involve a lot of incest and conflicts with Christian values at that time, so it is “sanitized”.
4. Necrophilia? Contrary to Disney’s lighthearted happy-ending tale, a lot of earlier versions of Snow White says that the princess was not woken up by the handsome Prince’s magical kiss. The Prince stumbles upon the glass coffin of Snow White and, enchanted by her beauty, begs the dwarfs to give her to him. Now what does he want to do to a dead girl’s body? You answer that yourself. En route to his Kingdom, his horse jolts the coffin and shakes Snow White. This causes a poisoned chunk of the apple to be dislodged from her throat, bringing her back to consciousness.
5. Perverse Dwarfs and Huntsman. Several analyses of the story say that most of the characters in the story are pervert. It is said that the dwarfs takes in Snow White because of her beauty. The reason why they put Snow White in a glass coffin is so that they can stare at her. The huntsman hired by the Queen spares Snow White’s life because he likes her looks (in the sanitized version, her life is spared because the huntsman saw her putting an injured little bird back to its nest).
6. Punishment for the Queen. There’s a varied array of punishments for the Queen in the old and newer versions of the tale. Some said she is killed by the dwarfs; some said she is thrown off a cliff. The most popular death sentence for this villain is dancing in a pair of heated iron shoes.

*photograph by Baltazarart

I HAD TO.
Too cute a concept. :)

(via silent-musings)

bad, bad Snow White. :/

I agree with Neil Gaiman when he said this story is like a virus: when I finished it, I never read the original fairytale the same way again. Snow, Glass, and Apples is a retelling of the classical bedtime story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from the point of view of the Queen, Snow White’s stepmother.

The same elements from the original tale are present: the seven dwarfs, the Apple, the Prince, the Kiss, the ‘happy-ever-after’ ending for Snow White—but not in the Disney way we are all familiar with. Twisted and horrifying, it’s definitely not the type of tale you’ll want to tell your kids. Themes like incest, necrophilia, pedophilia (sexual abnormalities galore, yeah!), and vampirism are present. Not quite graphic, but you can visualize the details.

Gaiman is not billed “the rock star of literature” for nothing. This is one of my favorite fairytale re-imaginings ever, and it did affect my taste on any type of literature after reading it online ages ago. It drove me to look for other retellings, found Anne Rice’s The Sleeping Beauty trilogy and Gregory MaGuire’s Confessions of an Ugly Sister (Cinderella) and Wicked (The Wizard of Oz), but regardless of the length, I still prefer this story over the others.

Five stars for this! :)