UNADULTERATED LOATHING

June 11, 2018, 2:34 pm

≫ Next: THE SUMMER OF THE SISTERS (TGWDM)

Hugtto! Pretty Cure
Episode 19 - My Own Review
UNADULTERATED LOATHING

In episode 19 of Hugtto! PreCure, Henri invites the girls to attend a fashion show. This is quite an interesting episode, as it touches upon a subject that hasn’t really been brought up before within PreCure if I recall correctly.

Henri wants Lulu and Emiru to perform at a fashion show

At the end of the previous episode, Henri heard the song that Lulu and Emiru performed together. He decided to ask them to perform their duet at a fashion show.

As usual, Lulu has rapidly memorised what she needs to know by heart -this time, how to walk a runway!-.

Henri approached the girls and wants Lulu and Emiru to participate in the Fashion Runway which Emiru was worried that she might mess up (She thinks she will roll out of the stage and end up in Paris, which Lulu explained is impossible) and Lulu took the role for Emiru's sake.

Lulu cheers Emiru on

Emiru is very nervous about the whole thing, but Lulu is there to reassure her. She even tells Emiru that she will be cheering her on.

Henri at school - notice that smart uniform... and are those shorts or a skirt?
(You'll find out soon why this rhetorical question!)

Their conversation is cut short by the arrival of Emiru’s brother, who takes issue with the way Henri is dressed – he is dressed like a girl. Henri decides to just leave it.

During the episode, Emiru's brother Masato, who is also a student in the same school as the girls, mocked Henri who was wearing differently in his school uniform. Of course, Henri took it cool and ignored his taunting.

Fashion designer Rita Yoshimi

It turns out the fashion designer that the girls (and Henri) will be working with is Rita Yoshimi. We have seen her appear a couple of times before – the villains used her negative emotions as the catalyst of the week in a couple of the previous episodes.

Later the girls and Henri meet with Fashion Designer, Rita Yoshimi and she suggested having a hero theme for the fashion show after being inspired by the Precures in action.

Henri almost reveals that the others are PreCures, but Homare quickly shuts him up whilst Saaya saves the situation by saying they are fans. Rita is a PreCure fan herself – in fact, it seems that she was even inspired by them for her latest range.

The girls get to work - Bohemian artists

As promised, the others help Rita to prepare for the fashion show. They start painting, and even Hugtan joins them.

Hugtan helps as well

Hugtan uses the paint to make handprints, which turn out like flowers.

The other girls do the same, and even Lulu and Emiru join them as well.

Emiru gets a handprint on the right cheek...

...and Lulu gets the matching print on the left.

Symbolism that already sets them together as a pair!

I get the distinct feeling that these colours will be very important for these two in the near future…

Everything is prepared in time, and both Lulu and Emiru mentally prepare themselves for the show. Emiru’s brother Masato does some research on what Emiru will be doing. When the day of the show arrives, Emiru is quite nervous.

Lulu hugs Emiru to reassure her

Emiru may be nervous, but Lulu is there to assure her that they can do anything if they are together. This touching moment is soon interrupted by the arrival of Emiru’s brother, who tries to take her back home. According to Masato Aizaki, girls can’t be heroes – girls should be the ones being protected.
Lulu tries to say something, but she remembers Papple saying that she couldn’t be a hero before.

MASATO: Let's get out of here, Emi. This is no place for you...

Later Masato learned that Emiru is entering the fashion show and tried to take her away claiming that only girls shouldn't be heroes, but Henri who wore a dress, a wedding gown for more information, appeared and claimed that anyone is free to do whatever they want to and should not be restricted.

Henri confronts Emiru’s brother

Henri also happened to overheard what Emiru’s brother said, so he puts on the dress that Rita designed for him and steps out to confront him. He says that living with restrictions is a waste of life, and just walks off with the others. Needless to say, Emiru’s brother is not very happy after that.

HENRI: I am a queen, so what? We are free to wear whatever we please. Living with restrictions is a waste of life...

MASATO: (clenches teeth)

A new villain/cadre appears

With Emiru’s brother being in a bad mood, he has plenty of toge-power. A new female villain or cadre jumps upon the opportunity, and uses him to summon a very Masato-like theender.

She just loves the taste of fresh bigotry in the morning, doesn't she?

Here’s this week’s theender

Just as the fashion show begins, the bespectacled theender in a suit attacks; the others transform to take it on, but the incredible amount of toge-power it has makes it a formidable opponent.

Henri saves Lulu and Emiru from some rubble falling from the ceiling, and then the theender grabs him, King Kong style. He leaves up to the heroes to save the "damsel."

As PreCures fight the theender, Henri sees that it's Emiru’s brother. Henri comes to a realisation about the monster, and breaks out of its grip.

Henri hugs theender!Masato

This of course pissed Masato off and was turned by the new general, Gelos, into a theender. As theender!Henri wrecking the place and holding Henri hostage, he spotted Masato as the host and felt his pain which somehow create an opening for the girls to defeat it.

Henri tells theender!Masato that he has no intention of changing himself for anyone. The monster grabs him again, but Henri continues to say that his life his is own and that he cherishes his own heart.

He also says that Emiru’s brother could learn to love his own heart a little as well. These words seem to resonate with Lulu.
Theender!Masato throws Henri aside, but Cure Yell catches him. PreCures then take the opportunity to defeat the monster.

With it gone, the new female villain takes a moment to introduce herself.

Gelos

Her name is Gelos. Lulu doesn’t recognise her, but it is clear that she works for Cryasse.

The fashion show goes ahead after that. It is successful, and Emiru’s brother even mentions that he had a dream. He called it the worst, but also beautiful.
In the end, Masato felt different after seeing Henri onstage...

(Maybe, no, most surely he's queer himself but ashamed, due to the rank and expectations thrust upon him...)

After the show, Emiru says that she wants to become a PreCure together with Lulu.

“Futari wa PreCure” – that also happens to be the title of the first ever season of PreCure

Back at Harry’s place, Lulu and Emiru tell the others how they want to become PreCures together. There’s a slight snag, though: there is only one PreHeart left. Hugtan doesn’t seem to think that will be much of a problem though…

HUG-TAN: Togeddeww...

I absolutely adore these episodes that have been focusing on Lulu and Emiru, and this episode has been no exception to that particular.
Definitely have to give major props to Henri, too. As far as I remember, PreCure has never really featured a character like him before, and I would say that it is a really positive thing that he is part of this season.
It’s stuff like this that will make the world a more tolerant place, I think. This season of PreCure definitely has some really good messages to it.

Henri was certainly played a major role in this episode, but it is Lulu and Emiru that stole the show for me – again. Those two are just incredibly good together, and it warms my heart a lot to see them simply interacting with each other.
I could probably go on and on about how amazing Lulu and Emiru are, but I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities to do that with future episodes.

Next time, something happens that I have eagerly been awaiting ever since the introduction of Lulu. WOT WOT WOT THE... SHE BECOMES A PRECURE, DON'T TELL ME...? And not only she, but Emiru as well... :O <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:

I enjoyed this episode! Ever since Henri stopped being an obnoxious prick, like Emiru I have grown to like him more and more. In fact, I would say Henri was the highlight of the episode. I absolutely loved seeing him confidently own who he is, even when he is mocked. When it comes to boys wearing girls clothes or resembling girl’s fashion, it is a controversial subject just about everywhere. I was rooting for Henri because it takes an incredible amount of courage to be different in a world where society judges you based on appearance. His speech about how he won’t change himself for others, he will cherish his own heart was an empowering message.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again, I think it would be amazing if Henri were to become a precure too. The moment he recognized Emiru’s brother was hurting, and did the ~~hugtto~~ precure thing of hugging theender!Masato and told him he should love his own heart a little more, IF THAT ISN’T PRECURE QUALITY, THEN WHAT IS?!!?!?!?!

…But it might end up creating a contradiction/mixed messages when this episode wanted to highlight how girls can be heroes too! They initiated a reversal of roles, where Henri, the boy, was the “princess” who had to be rescued (not only he owned it, but he did some incredible stuff on his own, which only makes me want him to become a precure even more), and the girls were his knights coming to his rescue. So making Henri a precure might not fit, but then again, one has to wonder what about the little boys want to be a precure too? I am sure there are! This kind of message, while it is incredibly important for girls to hear, holds just as much value for the boys. It is a universal message of encouragement to everyone who are daring to be different than what society expects of them.

What is a bit strange to me is how we didn’t get to see the girls have a quick conversation with Henri how the fact they are precures must be kept a secret. He already figured it out, but didn’t realize that it’s not something they want to announce to the world. Of course with time restraint, there may have not been enough time to do so, but I would like to see the group actually have a conversation with him about it, eventually… Preferably sooner than later, which would give him the privilege to be part of their inner circle, should he desire to.

Another thing I noticed was how the main trio has been more or less benched in the last two episodes, next week is looking to be the third as both Emiru and Lulu will become precures (honestly I’m surprised they spoiled it). Of course, most of us already knew it was going to happen, not matter what, but they did throw us a little twist by raining on the girls’ parade, revealing there’s only one preheart left. Either a new one will be magically produced through Hugtan’s power (which I am suspecting is how it happens in the first place, since she will need her own if she grows up), or the girls will end up sharing one, which would be pretty symbolic given the friendship that has been formed between them.

Emiru’s brother my god, he is unbearable. This sexist douche is back again, this time as a queerphobic douche, this time it was Henri who shut him up. I was deeply disappointed to see Lulu had lost that fire in her, the one who confronted him when he said girls shouldn’t play guitars. I loved that part of her, and it sucks that it is gone. I hope she will be able to rediscover it, because while I adore the cute and adorable Lulu, I am missing her savage and fierce side as well. Anyhow, thanks to this experience becoming a theender, it might help open his mind, making it the last time we have to see him act like this.

Lastly, let’s take a moment to talk about our new villains! Okay, so only one showed up today, the new villainess Gelos had an interesting way of making an entrance, by only doing so after she was defeated. It looks like she may actually be part of a trio, since during her negative wave sequence, it featured not just her, but the other two men, who looks like twins and are probably her butlers or something. But damnnnnnnnnnnnnn~ they are good looking! All three of their character designs, on point!*swoons* I can’t wait to see them in action.

However, it may have slipped under people’s noses, but the white dove made two apeparences. The first time with George, exchanging messages, and sending a new one, and the second time, was when Gelos made her debut. This leaves me with the impression that is was George/Papple’s ~~Unrequited~~ Love who recruited her to come, as Lulu has no recollection of Gelos working at Cryasse. Also I don’t really get what they keep on hiding the guy’s face, I am pretty sure it’s George, unless it’s supposed to be his twin or counterpart or something…. I mean, they dress the same for crying out loud… Eh whatever, if it’s not him, I will correct myself later.

We got a closer peek at this new cadre and... ON POINT. SPOT ON. BONUS FOR THE BEAUTY MARK, AND FOR ONE FLOOZY ON EACH ARM. When Papple was complaing to the mystery man (which is probably George), he sent a note using a homing pigeon which, when Gelos later turned Masato into a theender, a flock of pigeons appeared followed by slendermen (What!?) and cool looking ikemen butlers. (Double what!?)

The Paid Harem trope and why I love it:
Lolita fashion and why I love it:
Henri vs. Masato: I totally expected that vitriol between the two of them (secretly shipping them, although I know this is an unrequited affair and Gods know what the scriptwriters have in store). The climax was when Masato was angry over Henri telling him off for choosing to crossdress on the runway, and Gelos (the new cadre, the lady with the beauty mark and the bob haircut), making the Aizaki scion, due to his negative emotions (queerphobia, this time) into the theender of the week, which not only wears Masato's own spectacles and suit, but promptly King-Kongs a crossdressing Henri into being a gentleman in jeopardy for the Cures to rescue.
June happens to be Pride Month here in Spain, so a coming out episode like this was definitely spot-on and a positive surprise.
Henri en travesti: The fact that a bishie has to don a dress with a long skirt in this episode, and furthermore that he comes out,
Closet Gay Masato theory:
How surprised I was that Emiru had stage fright: as much as about Henri's equally unexpected passion for crossdressing!
Emilu as an OTP (runway, final smiles): We got a lot of vivid Emilu moments today. We saw them get messy with paint, and they got matching marks in their respective signature colours on the right and left cheekbones, respectively (Symbolism!).

We saw Lulu hug Emi for reassurance right before they trod the runway. We saw Emilu huddle together for cover as Henri saved them from being buried alive. And of course their heartwarming duet on the runway. Long story short: we saw our OTP for this series getting canonised.

Emilu about to become Cures: Emiru and Lulu decided to take their steps to become Precures and told the girls their goal however Harry breaks out the news that there is only one Preheart device and there are two of them! Everyone looked at each other puzzled although Hug-tan was "encouraging" Emiru and Lulu to be "together..." Yes, the baby is shipping them on deck and all! And remembering their handprints on the left and right halves... From the mouths of babies...

What I think is the most likely scenario when Preheart time comes is that the single original transformation trinket will break in twain. Lulu will have the left half (lilac), while Emiru will have the right half (red). As foreshadowed by their handprints in this episode. And they will have to join the halves of the broken crystal or perform another similar motion to transform.
This episode is more of a set-up for the next few episodes since it is really about Emiru and Lulu taking their first steps to becoming Precures and the introduction of Gelos.

Henri stole the show since he was able to counter Masato's insults and yes, Masato is a still a jerk especially about his remarks on Henri's uniform and how only males should be heroes. But Masato also mentioned about his and Emiru's grandfather which might be the reason for his upbringing. Who know, maybe we will get an episode to find out about the staunch Aizaki patriarch in the future.
The white birdy (dove?) of Cryasse: Maybe, like in Mystery Incorporated or Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure, the birdy is the mastermind. All along. Just a theory based on the cast of those two shows, but let's see if, like the Defector from Decadence Harry theory, it is confirmed by Word of Izumi.

NEXT EPISODE (20):

Anyway, the more pressing problem is how will Emiru and Lulu become Precures if there is only one Preheart device? Will it be the end of their dreams? Or like what Hug-tan saying "Together" could led to a clue? As the next episode title preview-we are getting not one but two new Cures at the same time! Until then, see you in the next post!

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THE SUMMER OF THE SISTERS (TGWDM)

June 12, 2018, 7:08 am

≫ Next: THE SHAKESPEAREAN HOKEY POKEY

≪ Previous: UNADULTERATED LOATHING

Planeta
releases in Spain in summer

The book won the 2017 Newbery Medal in the US, which may have (given the unchanging iron law of supply and demand) something to do with its rights being given to European publishing companies.
A chase, a quest, an arranged murder: The story is so well plotted the pages fly by.
Barnhill’s language is lyrical and reminiscent of traditional fairy tales, but never childish or stereotypical. Magic abounds, both beautiful and dangerous. Enchanted but enigmatic images appear on rocks, and there are seven-league boots so “black . . . they seemed to bend the light.” Almost every female character turns out to have some supernatural ability when needed, but maybe that is another hidden truth: We have the power to make things happen. Speak up. Ask questions. Trust your instincts. Valuable instructions for any reader.

“The Girl Who Drank the Moon” is as exciting and layered as classics like “Peter Pan” or “The Wizard of Oz.” It too is about what it means to grow up and find where we belong. The young reader who devours it now just for fun will remember its lessons for years to come.

But the Lemony narration style is not the only quirk that drew me to The Girl who Drank the Moon: the mention in the review of "a ruthless all-female military force," which plays a major role in the plot, as also kept me on tenterhooks. Given that the style and setting, the Ruritanian/quaint Protectorate, place this novel on the map as a retraux flintlock/gaslamp fantasy, I am already wondering what the uniform of this force and its ranks are like -and the ideas of brightly-coloured coats paired with breeches and spats, and the classic Western military ranks we got from the French, are not only catnip for Yours Truly, but also the most likely scenario!-. No, the pet dragon or the origami cranes that fly and give real nasty paper cuts matter nothing to me, but the all-female military -ranks, uniforms, characters within the institution- keeps me on impatient tenterhooks. And, furthermore, there's the fact that at least one high-ranking officer in this all-female military force, like a general or colonel, has such supernatural powers. ****Lesbian Othello AU anyone?****
But now I see that maybe they turn out to be warrior nuns. I WANT NO NUNS. GUNS BEFORE NUNS. GUNS B4 NUNS.
The Sisters of the Shadow live in a tower that includes a working dungeon and torture chamber. They have expansive libraries and are skilled in many areas of arts, crafts, and combat. They don’t allow others to benefit from their knowledge.
We get to know that they are skilled in the art of poisons (and healing potions; the dose makes the poison after all), martial arts, and the finer point of assassinry.. so, something like Xiaolin/ninjutsu?
We'll see if these Sisters of the Shadow lean more towards the Catholic (Inquisition-style) or the Xiaolin (with a dash of ninjutsu), or if they are a syncretic Eurasian mixture of both: if they wear breeches and/or spats beneath robes; if they use firearms, blades, and/or hand-to-hand combat, if they are led by a prioress(/popess?) or a general/commander...
There is another branch of the order, the Sisters of the Star, who form the intelligentsia and artistic class of the Protectorate and hoard all their knowledge the arts and sciences for themselves in their tower, refusing to share it with the common people of the country-esque land. The leader of both orders, the Head Sister, appears to be one Sister Ignatia -a female Loyola? The name already makes the bells in my head tingle with that innuendo!-.

RS: Even with Sister Ignatia — we get a revelation at the end. It doesn’t change how we feel about her. She’s evil. She’s scary. But we understand her in a profound way, once we find out why she is the way she is.

KB: Yeah, totally. Sister Ignatia is so far away from her own story. As is Xan, actually. As are a lot of people.

RS: What do you mean by “far away from her own story”? That’s interesting.

KB: Sorrow is dangerous and memory is dangerous too, so there’s only right now, there’s only what’s in front of me. I think a lot of people live that way, and they do so at their peril. Sister Ignatia walled off her sorrow. And yet there it is, still impacting her life, even if she’s not thinking about it.

So there is a Freudian excuse...

Nevermoor

Written by Australian female Lemony narrator Jessica Townsend, and upon its Spanish release due to the fact that it has what The Guardian calls a storm of foreign editions, (once more, supply and demand), this is another novel that keeps me on tenterhooks.
For starters, the genre -gaslamp and/or flintlock fantasy- is definitely one of my favourites, combining all I adore about both period pieces and the supernatural.
This is a gaslamp fantasy set against the backdrop of the Wintersea Republic, an alternate federal republican UK, with various provinces and frontier towns/forts at the borders with enemy country, aside from a resort community (Deepdown Falls Resort and Spa, a popular holiday destination for the upper class) and a Jackalfax Preparatory School. The story begins in a provincial town called Jackalfax, which is about Castellón-sized and with the same hinterland mentality and comforts of Castellón, and there is word of frontier towns and forts being stormed by the enemies, since war is coming.
One point about this novel that instantly caught my eye was the use of onomastics here. In sooth, this Aussie has the same knack for coming up with meaningful names as easily as J.K. Rowling and Lemony Snicket.
For instance, the aides to the heroine's father, the ruling chancellor of the largest province in Wintersea, Great Wolfacre, based in a Gothic mansion on the outskirts of Jackalfax (and the usual too-busy widower), are designated by the sobriquets of "Left" and "Right," (which reminds me of Dextra and Nistro in Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal, and their genderflipped Gangler counterparts Destro and Gauche in Lupinranger vs. Patranger! Not to mention Derecho and Esquerdo, the twin governors of Centro in Shoukoku no Altair; or Lefto and Raito, the adorable bunny twins of the Crescent Moon Shop, in Kyoukai no Rin-ne!), regardless of their places as secretaries being filled in by other people, which makes "Left" and "Right" secretary titles, designations for the assistants based on which side of the Chancellor they sit on. "Corvus was always firing his old assistants and hiring new ones, so he'd given up learning their real names."
The blue-eyed, ginger bearded hipster of an eccentric and cheerful, Zeus-y mentor replies to the name of Jupiter North; the dashing Captain Jupiter North (military? sailor/aviator?), is a delightful combination of the best characteristics of Willy Wonka, Professor Remus Lupin, and Newt Scamander. Flamboyantly dapper, with a great flash of red hair. No better name could ever have been chosen for a Zeus-y bearded version of Monsieur Gustave of The Grand Budapest Hotel fame.
The alpha b*tch or queen bee of the Wundrous Society is named Cadence Blackburn. Just like "Draco Malfoy,""Cadence Blackburn" sounds equally velvety and aristocratic, and crisp like ice breaking beneath one's feet, with this mix of positive and negative qualities common to this rival type of character. If "Blackburn" alone has this Gothic sound, not unlike the surnames of noble pureblood families or Snicket characters, her given name is musical and elegant, not only semantically, but also phonetically: I think myself it's one of the loveliest words in the English language. (Cadence in MLP:FiM, Cadence as a name in my works).
Her beta b*tch is Noëlle Devereaux -I love both the lyrical, Christmassy French given name and the French surname, which reminds me of both the assassin who killed Albrecht von Wallenstein, and the traitor Earl of Essex who lost his head during Shakespearean times (both were Devereaux!). "Noëlle" and "Devereaux," IMOHO, go together like a horse and carriage, like peaches and cream, like berries and white chocolate.
Among the candidates, there is also the male lead, a mischievous trickster (Mercutio, or Weasley twins rolled into one) and comic relief, and also a dragon rider, known as Hawthorne Swift. I think it's a lovely first name, what with all the connotations of the hawthorn bush and its white blossoms with hope and faerie powers (for instance, the superstition a maiden who washes herself with hawthorn dew at sunrise on the 1st of May -May Day/Beltane- will never lose her beauty in her life). Swift, in the meantime, does not only connote eighteenth-century vitriolic satire, but also the speed and agility he displays as a dragon rider -exactly like Mercutio is named after both the liquid and the god associated with those same qualities!-.
Francis Fitzwilliam -Mr. Darcy and his colonel relative, some works of mine, Fitzwilliam as surname and as given name
Charlie McAlister -Alistair Brower in Candy Candy (a brilliant, nerdy amateur inventor turned aviation lieutenant, killed in action in the sky during the Great War), Alistair Payne, Alistair Wonderland, the descendant of Alice in Ever After High. My virtual husband Alistair, in Farmville 2, is named after all of these characters.
The Javert character, the lawful neutral persecutor of the protagonists, is surnamed Inspector Flintlock. I think it's a pretty excellent surname for a Javert. Furthermore, I think Flintlock(e), even more with a final E, is a pretty radass surname, conjuring an age of the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war, when men were men and gentlemen.
The antagonist overlord, the Wundersmith, is named Ezra Squall.
The mega-neko feline versions of direwolves in this universe wear the clever bilingual name of Magnifi-cats (a bilingual pun based upon a Latin Catholic hymn). And, furthermore, they are sapient and capable of human speech!! SQUEEE!!! The member of the species we get to know the most, the housekeeper (Head of Housekeeping) of the Hotel Deucalion where the kids live and the trials are set, answers to the name of Fenestra. She's a magnifi-cat, a giant talking feline, of breed. At my mum's, we live two women and a dozen housecats with various personalities, so I consider it a purrfect species (imagine if we had magnifi-cats instead of our regular cats: Ginger would not even fit indoors, while Czarevna would occupy my whole bed!)... I know Czarevna, my favourite (a mackerel tabby kitten), will never become a magnifi-cat, and we are pretty glad that we don't have those at home, but I would prefer to rid a magnifi-cat than a direwolf -never been the doggy kind of person, nor my mum either-.
As for the name Fenestra, it means "window" in Latin (on my own Finestra; while the Fenestra in Nevermoor is named after windows in Latin, my character's name, with an I, is the cognate of the same word from the Italian and Valencian/Catalan - in my story, the one with Haru and Winfried/"Winifred", I am planning on making Cadence and Finestra sisters or blood-related otherwise, and their culture using Eastern name order with an initial D surname -Devereaux, Delacroix, Dermark, Dimarco... storming and adding even my own surname to the mix-; making them D. Cadence and D. Finestra!).
Elder Alioth Saga-Bullman: character type, personality. In my works: Alioth Black and "Aliöth," AKA Laurent-Pascal Enjolras. The star Alioth and Andreu Ciscar. // Saga: meaning in Swedish, in Icelandic. Goddess Saga. Meaning and appearance in my works.
Dame Chandra Kali
Jack/John Arjuna Korrapati
The witches of Coven Thirteen include an Amity, a Rosario, and a Stella (and, with a Romance mother tongue like Spanish, these names, meaning literally Friendship, Rosary, and Star respectively, cannot conjure up more heartwarming fluff).
There are also lots of Snow Queen elements in this work, as there were in Tone Almhjell's novels, that make it definitely catnip for my taste. Not only the nineteenth-century fantasy world, but also the setting in winter, around Yule, and

Morrigan has her own hurdles to overcome and tasks to endure. In order to join the Wundrous Society, she must compete in four trials, pitting herself against hundreds of other children. Move aside Triwizard Tournament; with so many competitors desperate for a chance at recognition, glory and an education, this is seriously cutthroat. This is a Battle Royale in the very same spirit of the original Japanese novel. If that weren’t bad enough, each child boasts an extraordinary talent that sets them apart — an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have.

Morrigan’s gift of observation is her true skill, she has a wonderful habit of noticing things even the all seeing Jupiter has overlooked. She’s a whip smart protagonist with a kind heart and a shrewd intellect.

Townsend gives Morrigan a fine cast of friends whose personas are all equally engaging. Her mischievous best friend and fellow troublemaker, Hawthorne, the dragon rider. Their steadfast friendship as two oddballs is where you can really feel the sense of family, friendship, and belonging that Morrigan so craves. They thoroughly enjoy each others company, as we do theirs.

Alongside Hawthorne are the inhabitants of the Hotel Deaucalion, including fearsomely loyal Fenestra, the giant cat and housekeeper. Townsend’s writing style is playful and engaging, full of brilliantly whacky flights of fancy such as
transforming buildings that slowly reinvent themselves to fit the personality of their inhabitant, a transport system that would make Mary Poppins proud, and a landscape peppered with startlingly contrasting ideas that make Nevermoor all the more magical.

Morrigan discovers that she must compete in a series of trials for a place in the prestigious Wundrous Society, pitted against hundreds of children with exceptional talents. Morrigan, however, has yet to discover her own.
Don’t be fooled by the gothic opening chapters. Once the mist rises over Nevermoor’s silver gates, a Wizard of Oz-style technicolor transformation takes place. And what a world it is: from the surreal Hotel Deucalion to giant Magnifi-cats and the London-Tube-inspired Wunderground transport system, Townsend’s vibrant world-building is what really sets Nevermoor apart. Spectacular set pieces like the Fright Trial and the Battle of Christmas Eve lend a deliciously cinematic feel to her writing. Add to this clever plotting, irresistibly quirky humour, a truly treacherous villain, and real heart in Morrigan’s quest for courage, hope and identity. It’s very firmly the first in a series – readers finish the book with as many questions as they started – but few will be disappointed: there’s still a whole Wundrous world to discover in future books.

INTERVIEW WITH JESSICA TOWNSEND
1. What are some of your favorite words?
My favorite word of all (and incidentally my favorite smell) is petrichor. I also like mellifluous, egalitarian, mournful, slumgullion, malevolent, benevolent, diaphanous, and resplendent.

7. We create a spelling list for each book we choose, and we had so much fun choosing words from Nevermoor particularly because so many of the character names are really great words you can find in the dictionary. Can you tell us a bit about how you choose character names and what your favorite character name from Nevermoor is?
I’ve always been obsessed with names. When I was little I would write endless lists of the names I loved, so I knew I’d either need to write books or have fifty children. There are some names in Nevermoor that I chose simply because they sound nice together, or they look good on the page, or they just feel right for their character—Noelle Devereaux, for example, and Kedgeree Burns. Others were chosen for their meaning, like Hawthorne Swift (a talented dragonrider of exceptional speed and agility), or Cadence Blackburn (…that one’s a bit of a spoiler).
But my favorite character name is probably Jupiter North. He was named for the Roman god Jupiter, who was the king or father of the gods. Although he is a vaguely rubbish adult, Jupiter does function as Morrigan’s sort-of father figure, and he is also the moral compass of the story—Morrigan’s True North.

UN GIRO INESPERADO 2 (POST-AS OLD AS TIME)

It should have been simple: slay that dragon, cut through that hedge of thorns, pass by all those slumbering guards and courtiers, then up the spiral staircase into the Rose Tower... However, when Prince Philip himself falls unconscious as his lips touch those of his sleeping fiancée... it is clear that the fairytale is far from over.

Aurora and Philip find themselves in their shared dreamland, trying to escape a completely different fortress and completely different thorns; those created by the inner landscape of their subconscious, by identity crises, by their own hopes and anxieties, putting them to the test. With Maleficent's agents following their every move, but also with the three godmothers' assistance, will these two young royals ever awaken from their dream?

With the impending release of a second title in Spain, the canonical title of Braswell's novel series Twisted Tales is now finally revealed to be Un giro inesperado. Hope we get the Jasmine and Mulan books as well, knowing the demand for girl-power fantasies in this title...
Did I mention how much I adored the previous Beauty and the Beast installment, As Old as Time, with its vivid eighteenth-century, surprise villain, and Final Solution parallels? I was instantly hooked to the story told in a fleshed-out setting that emphasizes the period piece nature of the classic fairytale film: Belle eagerly reads Voltaire and listens to Mozart... I am sure as hell that the Sleeping Beauty version will also accurately portray the Gothic Middle Ages in the same lyrism and vivid detail! Still on tenterhooks until the release of next month...

↧

THE SHAKESPEAREAN HOKEY POKEY

June 12, 2018, 7:13 am

≫ Next: THE CHICK'S MISTAKE

≪ Previous: THE SUMMER OF THE SISTERS (TGWDM)

*The Hokey Pokey*
Shakespearean Style

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke.
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wild release from heaven's yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt.
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.

↧

THE CHICK'S MISTAKE

June 17, 2018, 5:16 am

≫ Next: CUENTO CURALOTODO (FRAGMENTO)

≪ Previous: THE SHAKESPEAREAN HOKEY POKEY

A little chick one day
⁠Asked leave to go on the water,
Where she saw a duck and her brood at play,
⁠Swimming and splashing about her.

Indeed she began to peep and cry
⁠When her mother wouldn't let her;
"If the ducks can swim there, why can't I?
⁠Are they any bigger or better?"

Then the old hen answered: "Listen to me,
⁠And hush your foolish talking;
Just look at your feet and you will see
⁠They were only made for walking."

"'IF THE DUCKS CAN SWIM THERE, WHY CAN'T I?'"

—Page 310

But chicky wistfully eyed the brook
⁠And didn't half believe her,
For she seemed to say, by a knowing look,
⁠Such stories couldn't deceive her.

And as her mother was scratching the ground,
⁠She muttered, lower and lower,
"I know I can go there and not be drowned,
⁠And so, I think, I'll show her."

Then she made a plunge where the stream was deep,
⁠And saw, too late, her blunder,
For she had hardly time to peep;
⁠When her foolish head went under.

And now I hope her fate will show
⁠The child my story reading,
That those that are older sometimes know
⁠What you will do well in heeding;

That each content in their place should dwell,
⁠And envy not their brother;
For any part that is acted well,
⁠Is just as good as another.

For we all have our proper sphere below,
⁠And this is a truth worth knowing:
You will come to grief if you try to go
⁠Where you were never made for going.

(Phœbe Cary.)

↧

CUENTO CURALOTODO (FRAGMENTO)

June 17, 2018, 5:24 am

≫ Next: TOUT POUR AMOUR, TOUT POUR MA CHÉRIE

≪ Previous: THE CHICK'S MISTAKE

¡[···] situaciones verdaderamente difíciles! ¡[···] o guerras absurdas por amor! [···] Confío en que todos los [···] que lean esta historia llegarán a encontrar [···] la bella muchacha [···] que simboliza(n) la plenitud de cada uno; el final del proceso para llegar a ser [···] completo «aprovechando» este largo viaje por la Tierra.

Un día llegaron a la frontera entre dos países que desde hacía muchos años estaban en guerra. No resultaba fácil seguir el viaje porque había soldados por todas partes, pero pidió audiencia porque quería hablar con el soberano de aquel lugar.

Cuando estuvo ante el trono del rey se enteró de que ambos países luchaban porque sus reyes querían tomar por esposa a la misma doncella; estaban dispuestos a todo para conquistar su amor y ninguno de los dos quería ceder.

Entonces, quiso conocer a la muchacha a la que cortejaban.

–Se llama Aurora –le dijo el rey–, y vive en un palacio cerca del mar; ¡su belleza deslumbra incluso más que los rayos del sol y su corazón es tan bueno como bellos son sus ojos!

–Pero si ella es tan bella, si es tan bondadosa, seguro que nunca confiará su corazón a alguien que se dedica a pelear y que con su espada golpea y hiere. ¿No creéis, majestad?

–Bueno, bueno, quizás tengáis razón –dijo el soberano en voz baja.

Se fue más tarde a visitar al rey adversario y le habló de la misma manera. Las palabras resultaron tan convincentes que los dos reyes dejaron de guerrear y decidieron conquistar el corazón de la muchacha de otra forma.

En el viaje de regreso volvieron a pasar entre los dos reinos que antes se hacían la guerra y con alegría comprobaron que ahora todo estaba tranquilo y que la gente vivía en paz. Sin embargo le entró un gran deseo de conocer a la muchacha que había inflamado el corazón de los dos reyes. Buscó el palacio cerca del mar y cuando lo halló permaneció con su caballo bajo la ventana de la torre en espera de vislumbrar aquella beldad tan admirada.

Un poco más tarde, salió un sirviente del jardín del palacio y le pidió que entrara.

–Mi señora os espera –dijo.

Entró mientras su corazón palpitaba muy fuerte; cuando vio a la muchacha se enamoró perdidamente.

–Hacía mucho tiempo que quería conocer a quien trajo la paz a mi pueblo –dijo la joven–. Me gustaría agradecértelo y recompensarte. ¡Podría darte oro y plata en grandes cantidades!

–No necesito ni oro ni plata –contestó–. Acepta en tanto concederme tu mano.

Y mientras esto decía le ofreció la blanca flor de la campanilla de las nieves.

–Iré conmigo y seré tu esposa! –afirmó la muchacha.

Carmen Valontinotti, Cuentos curalotodo (Fiabe toccasana). Traducción de Carlos Martínez. Ediciones Obelisco.

↧

TOUT POUR AMOUR, TOUT POUR MA CHÉRIE

June 18, 2018, 5:52 am

≫ Next: ONDINA Y EL PRÍNCIPE

≪ Previous: CUENTO CURALOTODO (FRAGMENTO)

Hugtto! Pretty Cure
Episode 20 - My Own Review
TOUT POUR AMOUR, TOUT POUR MA CHÉRIE

This is my review of Hugtto Precure Ep 20 and how do you make two Prehearts out of one Preheart?

The previous episode ended with Emiru and Lulu saying that they wanted to work hard in order to become PreCures together. However, there is only one PreHeart (transformation trinket smartphone), which presents a bit of problem. It would take a miracle for both Lulu and Emiru to become PreCures.

As the girls learn from Harry that it is impossible to get another Preheart since it was created from the future,

...for Homare's comeback skating contest and Saaya's CM audition.

Homare takes Emiru ice skating

Homare and Saaya decide that they should cheer Emiru and Lulu up. Homare takes Emiru ice skating, and tells her that she once gave up on that. However, she got back into it after meeting Saaya.

It feels like I have wings when on the ice...

Lulu accompanies Saaya whilst she practices for her audition

Lulu tells Saaya en tête-à-tête that she loves Emiru (ai? koi? suki?), but she doesn’t want to give up on her dream of becoming a PreCure with her. Saaya tells her that she shouldn’t give up on her dream, as that kind of feelings cannot be contained.

Homare brought Emiru onto the skating rink and she encouraged Emiru to believe in herself and a miracle might happen for the two girls. Saaya also did the same thing for Lulu as she proclaimed herself as Lulu's rival and encouraged Lulu to be true to her feelings.

I like the music that was played during these moments and how Homare and Saaya who once were at their weakest were able to convey their feelings to the two girls and to never give up for a miracle.

Harry and Homare went to Hugman Centre to get some necessities.

George retrieved Hug-Tan's toy and patted on Hug-Tan's head which, for a moment, Hug-Tan became quiet and looked at George with a strange look.

George even spoke an odd line:""Be good to your brother and sister." From the way Harry and Hug-Tan looked at George, it is certain that George has a mysterious connection (siblings all three, literally?) which we hope to see it in the future.

We shall see if this sibling theory literally becomes true...

MEANWHILE AT CRYASSE HQ...

We find Papple at the Cryasse HQ, chided by her superiors due to her incessant failures. Is she going to go last-stand one-winged baroness, be purified, and then replaced by Gelos?

Furthermore, did anyone notice that, when Kurai was furious with Papple's failures, Ristle was looking at Kurai in his monitor and keying something. Maybe Kurai might not be what everyone think he is...

Emiru receives concert tickets from her brother

Moving on, Emiru’s brother Masato shows that he has matured a little and gives Emiru a pair of concert tickets. He tells her to take Lulu to that hard rock venue.

Masato entered Emiru's room when she was playing with her guitar. She was about to be defensive when suddenly Masato gave her two live concert tickets to the latest hard rock venue and Masato accepted, and encouraged, her to play the electric guitar. He later made peace with Henri over his previous queerphobic comments and the fair Frenchman too forgave him.

It seems that Henri has had quite the positive influence on him.

(So, will Henrisato soon be canonised as well?)
There is definitely something more behind that icy façade of "unadulterated loathing..."

Emiru eagerly tells Lulu the good news

Emiru catches up with Lulu, and reveals the tickets. She also says that her brother no longer has any problem with her playing the electric guitar. Both girls can barely contain their feelings, and Emiru swears to protect Lulu’s smile.

That adorkable face Emi makes...

...and we finally see tears in a completely defrosted Lulu's eyes,

as they embrace.

Emiru went to inform Lulu about her brother's change of heart and Lulu was happy for her. The two girls also became more closer together with even Emiru promising to protect Lulu... but Lulu still has hesitation.

Now that's both a solemn oath and a confession!
SQUEEE...!!!! (Taking my pulse)

But there's no time for fluffing anymore when a theender enters stage left...

Lulu and Emiru go to the concert, but it isn’t long before a theender attacks. The band wasn’t happy about not being able to play their own music, and that is something that Papple took advantage of. Everyone evacuates, except for Lulu and Emiru.
Papple was up to her old tricks and turned a band into a theender (again, a single monster from a group of people? When do we get at least a dual opponent for this continuity?) to wreck havoc during the live concert,

Homare and Saaya's chances to do what they like most.

(If you wonder, they ace their skating performance and their audition, respectively, at the end of the day. As Homare came in first place and Saaya got the starring role, Ranze Ichijo is not amused. Especially since she was relegated to a cameo for this episode!)
With Saaya and Homare off elsewhere pursuing their dreams, with Lulu and Emiru watching on.

As they watch, they cheer for a febrile Cure Yell and that awakens something.

It’s happening!

Lulu and Emiru both awaken Future Crystals from within their hearts.

Lulu and Emiru started cheering for Cure Yell when suddenly their hearts created a Future Crystal with Hug-Tan's help. The single Preheart was presented to them and Emiru wants Lulu to have it but she refused and wants Emiru to have it instead.

However, there is still only one PreHeart, and Emiru insists that Lulu uses it. Lulu, however, remains determined to become a PreCure with Emiru.

I am not worthy, please, Lulu-oneesama... you have the right...
No, dearie; I want to become a Cure with you. And you are a real person, unlike me. We are a battle couple. We are one.

This heartwarming embrace of a confession, that sets our OTP Emilu in stone, summons a golden goddess...

A miracle

The two girls could not bear the other to suffer when suddenly a Mysterious Lady in Gold appeared in front of them and created another, second Preheart from the original.

Notice how this goddess of light embraces both Lulu and Emiru. Even the powers that be support a match between these two girls!

A miracle happens, and the one PreHeart is made into two.

With both Lulu and Emiru now in possession of matching transformation trinkets, two halves of a whole, it is time for something that I have been eagerly anticipating.

BATTLE COSTUME NOTES
On Cure Ma Chérie (Emiru):
On Cure Amour (Lulu):

Introducing Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour, the PreCures of love

The transformation sequence is amazing, and probably my favourite from within the franchise. Lulu and Emiru finally became PreCures – Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie respectively.

"Loving everyone (Adoring everyone)! The Pretty Cure of Selfless Love! Cure Amour!"
みんな大好き！愛のプリキュア！キュアアムール！
Min'na Daisuki! Ai no Purikyua! Kyua Amūru!
"Loving everyone (Adoring everyone)! The Pretty Cure of Selfless Love! Cure Ma Chérie!"
みんな大好き！愛のプリキュア！キュアマシェリ！
Min'na Daisuki! Ai no Purikyua! Kyua Masheri!

As Amour and Ma Chérie fight, they sing a duet, which gives the battle a Symphogear vibe. They defeat the theender with their combined power.

With two Prehearts in hand, the two girls transformed into Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour! The two new Cures took down the theender with ease and finished off with their special attacks-Heart Circle and Heart Dance! (They even ended their finisher by saying Futari wa Precure!)

With the theender defeated, Papple retreats. Once she is gone, Hug-tan hugs both Amour and Ma Chérie, and that brings the episode to an end.

Cure Amour feeding Hug-tan

Cure Ma Chérie feeding Hug-tan

The two new Cures fed Hug-Tan with Asupower/Morrowpower...

All's well that end's well, especially queer OTPs confirmed!

What an amazing episode! This was well worth the wait, and it delivered. I’ve eagerly been awaiting the moment Lulu and Emiru would become PreCures, and this episode absolutely nails it.

Lulu and Emiru’s relationship is just the purest thing, and it just makes me so happy to see how much they care for each other.

It’s nice to see that Emiru’s brother has started to mellow out due to Henri’s influence (viva Henrisato!). That deserves some bonus points, but I just want to focus on the stars of this episode.

It finally happened. Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie debuted, and I love their transformation sequence. The battle against the theender was amazing as well – I’ll reiterate that it reminds me of Symphogear, not to mention Master and Commander (Lulu/Amour is the Master, Emiru/Ma Chérie is the Commander), with the most cathartic duet in Pretty Cure Herstory so far!

Lulu and Emiru are amazing characters, and the wait for them to become PreCures paid off very well in the end.

Hugtto! PreCure is a very strong contender for my favourite anime of this current season – and year if it is able to maintain the level of quality we’ve had during the Lulu arc/springtime cour.

What I think of this episode? I watched the two new Cures' transformation more than ten times and they are lovely as well. Did anyone think of Heartcatch Precure Transformation music when Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour transform? Because I did and I tried to sync with that particular scene with Heartcatch BGM and guess what, it worked! (Don't believe me? Try it out for yourself!)

This episode is totally focusing on Lulu and Emiru's conflicts and resolutions. On one hand, Emiru and Masato finally make up with him accepting Emiru's love of guitar and apologizing to Henri. With only one Preheart, the two girls tried very hard not to hurt the other even to the point when both of them were granted their Future Crystals, both girls refuse to accept the Preheart if only one of them can become a Precure.

Which led to one of the more unexpected moment in this episode-The appearance of the Golden Lady in the opening! Somehow she appeared as a ghostly form and create another Preheart out of the sole Preheart. But who is she? Hug-Tan was even happy to see this Golden Lady! A possible connection?

Especially when George appeared in front of Harry, Homare and Hug-Tan. George does gave a strange vibe which even Hug-Tan could felt from his palms. As for his line- "Be good to your brother and sister" could have a double meaning which to me, the plot thickens!

There are two little grips about this episode. First was after introducing Gelos last week, she was nowhere to be found this week and it was Papple again to be the villain for the episode. So what's the point of introducing a new general when she only appeared in one episode and disappear in the next? Gelos should have been introduced perhaps after Papple's complete defeat to replace their forces.

The othe grip was how simple it was for Emiru and Lulu to get their Future Crystals. Homare overcame her trauma to get hers. Compared to Setsuna who died and revived as Cure Passion, Towa who overcame her guilt to become Cure Scarlet... Saaya, Emiru, and Lulu got it easy to get their Future Crystals.

Sure, the problem of having only one Preheart still resonated between the two girls and it was resolved by the power of (something more than) friendship but couldn't Toei make a better scenario so that the payoff will be more satisfying for Emiru and Lulu.

Other than that, Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour overall design and presentation was spot on. (Maybe an S.H. Figuarts line up? But Precure are the worst series to collect for S.H. Figuarts as most of them are exclusive and expensive like hell!) Maybe their finisher/Finishing Move was a bit simple but thanks to spoliers, the two girls are getting an upgrade pretty soon.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Lulu Amour, Emiru Aizaki; I now pronounce you wife and wife. Emiru, you may kiss the other bride.
That tête-à-tête with Saaya during the latter's acting practice has finally canonised the pairing by Word of Lulu herself; a Lulu Amour who now lives up to her surname and whose gradual defrosting has come to an end, when she explains these feelings and has finally fully thawed.
The fact that Masato now also plays matchmaker for his little sister and gives her two tickets to the concert, inviting her to take Lulu along, which also leads to this Henrisato moment we should talk about later...
And then, that irreverent sharing of the tickets with Emi on top of Lulu. Followed by that oath Emi makes to protect Lulu's smile. Now that's both a solemn oath and a confession!

The crowner being that embrace that summons the golden goddess. Emiru saying Lulu has the right to use the Preheart for being older and more mature; Lulu acknowledging that she cannot become a Precure without Emiru, canonising them as a battle couple, and that heartwarming embrace... SQUEEE... Is that a failure in the AC here at the UJI or am I just flustered to see them like this? And their transformation cannot be more exciting... PITTERPATTERPITTERPATTERPITTERPATTER!!!
Symbolism of the left and right halves of a whole
So, to crown the achievement of last year: we've got another Pretty Cure OTP consisting of a battle couple of foil characters, one of whom wears red as a theme colour and the other who wears lilac; the lilac one is at first ice-hearted but defrosts thanks to the warmer, more outspoken red one; and at least one of these two has selfless love (ai/agape) for a quality they represent and defend; furthermore, their sheroic identities have matching French names (last season/continuity we had Cure Macaron and Cure Chocolat; now this year we have Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie)! And they play music and sing in battle as their Finishing Move! Definitely upping the ante for their canonisation; Lulu/Amour is the Master and Emiru/Ma Chérie is the Commander!
Furthermore, it struck me that both members of the battle couple have exactly the same battle cry introduction - instead of matching variations thereof. And first they mention daisuki (philia), followed by ai (agape). Those are different loves; for more information, see previous reviews of this series' episodes, which explain the concept of multiple loves in Japanese and Classical Greek, as studied by C.S. Lewis...
As for Henrisato... that's another queer OTP that gets spotlighted spot-on. Masato begs his pardon and Henri says it's all in the past. This looks like the beginning of a "beautiful friendship," to quote the coda of that old film. Surely, we have a Master and Commander as well as a King and Queen in this series, right? And it's still June, Pride month in Spain... <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Moving on to the buzz on Cryasse, Papple is definitely on her last leg, and desperate to prove her worth to her superiors after too many failures. This time, she obviously crashed that hard rock concert. The negative emotions du jour were that the members of the band were frustrated about not being allowed to play the songs they wanted (imagine if Rammstein at that concert in Badalona I attended got targeted by a Corrupter due to similar feelings... I only know their public personas, so I have not a clue about what those six Germans feel like). That restraint of artistic liberty is something that everyone in a creative profession is bound to be familiar with (just like Rita's creative block a few episodes ago).
The Hugman incident, and George mentioning kindness to siblings in front of Harry and Hug-tan, has furthermore sparked a new theory: the Sibling Theory, that hypothesises that all three of them are siblings (whether by blood or by adoption, it is left unclear).
Saaya and Homare are already scheduled to chase their dreams, who is left to save the day? Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie of course!

This week’s episode only made me appreciate Lulu’s and Emiru’s friendship even more. The two of them are absolutely selfless with each other, adamantly refusing to claim what was previously the only preheart and their convictions helped create a miracle. They are themed around Song and Dance, making it to so the two would perform while they fight. But cool as it is, I don’t think Cure Amour and Ma Chérie will be singing every time they fight… though it would make sense if they do. And I must say, the first thing I thought was when they started singing and fighting was Pichi Pichi Pitch! Man that brings back memories.

Cure Amour and Ma Chérie’s designs and transformations has to be one of the bests I have seen in a long time. The transformation sequence itself was absolutely stunning and fun to watch. I loved how it incorporated their friendship and highlighted what makes them special, together they are a pair, and one cannot be complete without the other. However I was a little bit sad that they didn’t end up sharing a Preheart, I thought that probably would have been really cool, but it was still neat to see a miracle did play out, where the Goddess responded to their wishes and created a fifth preheart. So as long as one has the convictions and the potential to draw out a Precure power, in theory, it seems it is entirely possible for anyone to become a precure, so as long as the Goddess receives their wish.

There is no doubt in my mind that George is the big bad. He subtly highlighted his scary side, and it was enough for both Harry and Hugtan to recognize something was amiss. If Hugtan drops her smile, you know something is wrong. Now that he has encountered her in person, it makes me wonder if this will influence how Cryasse will operate from here on out. Originally they were targeting the future crystals, and were working to defeat the precures, but it feels like if anything, George was able to confirm his suspicions, and we may see the enemy start to specifically target Hugtan— who that is undoubtedly far easier to find and obtain.

But there was also another thing that drew my attention, and that was the scene when the “CEO” was scolding Papple. It was hard to tell, but it almost looked as though their blue colleague (I don’t know his name) was in control/typing out exactly what the “CEO” was saying. I could be wrong, but he will surely turn out to be a very important character in the future. Another thing that crossed my mind, is the possibility Papple doesn’t realize that George *could be (yet to be officially confirmed) the CEO. That would be pretty awkward… Right now, I am under the impression Pupple might think he’s a writer of a sort. Well either way, we will probably gain some more information the next time we see her visit him.

However Homare grilled Harry a bit today by calling him out for keeping them in the dark. He says he isn’t doing anything of the sort, but in truth, Harry does have a lot of secrets, and he certainly doesn’t want anyone to know about it. Rather, it is likely he believes the less they know, the safer he and Hugtan will be. In fact, besides transforming into a Hamster, one has to wonder if Harry has (or had) any powers of his own.

Although the story has shifted to what is turning out to be Emiru’s and Lulu’s Character Arcs, Cryasse is also quietly planning their next move. With all the fluff in the air at the moment, I get the sense this phase is the calm before the storm. One of the most important things to notice is that Saaya and Homare didn’t have time to be a precure, both of them were busy making progress towards their dreams. Homare won her first competition since she has returned to the ice, and Saaya finally passed an audition.

And yooooooo!!! Did Henri give Emiru’s brother Masato concert tickets to give her as a way to help the two of them mend their relationship? If so, oh my god I love him even more. I am so relieved her brother finally got over his shitty attitude and is now officially supporting her dream as a hard rock musician and her love for the guitar. He has also softened up to Henri, no longer judging him for being different. No longer queerphobic; no, that feeling is NOT "unadulterated loathing," young Aizaki! It is a huge step in the right direction! I am just glad they put a close to that chapter!

Random Note of the Week: HAHAHA I SPOT HINOSE (Trumpet Player)! OOOOH WORRIED ABOUT HER. HAHA! THE OTHER GUY NOTICED. ~~OH HE LIKES HER. IM SURE.~~

This guy knows what’s up.

IN NEXT EPISODE (21):
Ma Chérie a des doutes sur quel genre d'héroïne elle veut-être...

Overall, a new status quo as Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour joined the Hugtto Team! But we are just getting started since Emiru become full on obsessed to become a great Precure! Meanwhile, Lulu is trying to play the guitar!? Until then, see you in the next post!

Mais certainement ce n'est qu'une petite crise d'identité!

↧

ONDINA Y EL PRÍNCIPE

June 18, 2018, 5:54 am

≫ Next: MARINA WARNER - ON GOBLIN MARKET

≪ Previous: TOUT POUR AMOUR, TOUT POUR MA CHÉRIE

Anónimo francés. Recogido por las editoriales MILAN y Syros, 1999.
¡Nótense los paralelos con La Sirenita y El Lago de los Cisnes!

Adaptación de Sandra Dermark

Había una vez, hace mucho, mucho tiempo, un príncipe hermoso como las estrellas y triste como las piedras. Su anciano padre gobernaba un pequeño reino de montañas, bosques y ríos, y el muchacho pasaba los días soñando a orillas del lago cercano al palacio real.

A los diecisiete años, el príncipe perdió a su adorada madre. Y, unos meses más tarde, el rey se volvió a casar con una jovencita morena muy bella, venida de no se sabe dónde, que parecía haberle hechizado. Entonces la melancolía se apoderó del príncipe.

Un día de mayo, el rey decidió organizar una gran fiesta para distraer a su esposa. En realidad, también esperaba que entre los invitados se encontrara al menos una muchacha que le gustara al príncipe y le devolviera la alegría… pues el anciano rey amaba profundamente a su hijo y sufría mucho al verle tan triste.

Llegó la velada, y grandes caballeros, nobles damas y hermosas doncellas acudieron al enorme salón de palacio… mas el príncipe no se encontraba allí para recibirlos. En vez de reunirse con todos esos distinguidos personajes, salió discretamente y se dirigió a su querido lago…

Pero lo que el joven no sabía era que allí, en un extremo, en una casa de algas y nenúfares, vivía Ondina, princesa de todas las criaturas acuáticas de los alrededores, desde los renacuajos y las ranas hasta las hadas que iban a bailar por la noche sobre las transparentes aguas.

Cada noche la bella Ondina salía a la superficie, se sentaba en la orilla y cantaba para la luna y las estrellas.

Su voz era tan maravillosa que todos los habitantes del lago y sus inmediaciones contenían la respiración para escucharla mejor. En algunas ocasiones se acercaban las hadas del lago y Ondina, encantada, bailaba con ellas hasta el amanecer…

Pero el príncipe ignoraba todo eso, pues hasta entonces sólo había ido allí durante el día.

El día de la fiesta, sin embargo, llegó justo después de la caída del sol.

Se sentó en su roca preferida, como de costumbre, y se puso a meditar tristemente bajo la luz de la luna. Entonces un canto maravilloso se elevó entre las brumas que rodeaban el lago. Por un momento el príncipe creyó soñar; pero no, la voz era real y parecía muy cercana…

El joven se levantó y, con paso de lobo, fue en busca de la persona que cantaba así. Rodeó de puntillas unas cuantas rocas, atravesó muy lentamente un bosquecillo de sauces, apartó sin hacer ruido una cortina de rosales… y se paró en seco: al borde del agua estaba sentada la muchacha más bella que había visto jamás. Mientras cantaba, sus largos cabellos dorados bailaban y sus ojos brillaban como dos estrellas color esmeralda; además, parecía vestida con ropa transparente, como si fuera un hada.

En cuanto la vio, el príncipe se enamoró de ella. En un instante olvidó la tristeza, y se apoderó de él una sola idea: abrazar a la bella Ondina y pasar con ella el resto de su vida.

Haciendo acopio de valor, el tímido joven avanzó tres pasos. Al verle, Ondina se sobresaltó y calló.

Pero el príncipe dijo suavemente:

–No te vayas. Una doncella tan hermosa como tú no tiene nada que temer. Escúchame, te lo ruego. Acabo de oírte y tu voz me ha hechizado, y en cuanto te he visto, he comprendido que ya nunca podré vivir sin ti. Seas quien seas, ¿quieres casarte conmigo?

Era la primera vez que Ondina contemplaba a un ser humano. Aun así, aquel muchacho no le daba ningún miedo… Todo lo contrario, se sentía extrañamente atraída por él… Casi sin advertirlo, fue a abrir la boca para decirle que sí, cuando de repente negó con la cabeza: ¡era imposible! ¡Él pensaba que se trataba de una persona de carne y hueso, pero en realidad era una criatura de las aguas!

¡Y bluuufff! Se sumergió en el lago y desapareció en un segundo dejando al príncipe estupefacto.

Éste se escapó del castillo todas las noches que siguieron a ésa para ir al lago y volver a ver a su amada. Pero no encontró más que rocas grises y rosales que silbaban al viento…

Ondina, por su parte, no se atrevía a salir del lago por temor a tropezar de nuevo con el joven… Y, sin embargo, no paraba de pensar en él, hasta que comprendió que ella también le quería.

Entonces, Ondina volvió a cantar en la superficie del lago y volvió a ver al príncipe. Durante varias noches pasaron maravillosos momentos charlando a la luz de la luna.

El príncipe no había sido nunca tan feliz.

Pero cuando pretendía abrazar a su amada, abrazaba el vacío. Y cuando intentaba cogerla de la mano, no conseguía coger nada.

–Amado mío –suspiró Ondina una noche–, si sigo siendo una criatura de agua dulce nunca podremos vivir juntos. Me dijeron una vez que en lo más profundo del bosque vive la bruja de las aguas, que conoce el secreto de la vida humana. Ella puede transformar las cosas y a las personas y sabrá darme el aspecto de una damisela; quizá acepte ayudarnos. Espérame unos días y me encontrarás transformada en mujer mortal…

Y en cuanto pronunció esas palabras, desapareció rápidamente en el lago.

Ondina se fue derecha a casa de la hechicera. En una gruta, en lo más profundo del bosque, ella vio a una anciana con cabellos como serpientes que le habló con una desagradable voz de cuervo:

–No digas nada, preciosa, sé perfectamente a lo que vienes. De modo que deseas irte con los humanos, ¿verdad? ¿Deseas un corazón que palpite y que por tus venas corra sangre caliente? ¿Deseas ser la mujer del príncipe? Son cosas sin importancia en comparación con la vida, libre, y feliz, de una ondina. ¡Je, je! Pero conozco el secreto de la vida humana: si eso es lo que realmente deseas, yo puedo dártelo todo, bonita mía.

–¿Entonces qué debo hacer? –se impacientó Ondina–. Dímelo, estoy preparada.

–Bien, bien, como gustéis. En primer lugar, a cambio de la fórmula mágica me entregarás tu alma, tu vestimenta y tu maravillosa voz. Irás al palacio de tu príncipe muda y desprovista de tus encantos. Así podrás comprobar si realmente te ama. Pero cuidado: si por casualidad el príncipe te rechaza, si reniega de tu amor, estarás condenada a errar por el bosque en forma de fuego fatuo. Sólo volverás a convertirte en ondina vengándote del príncipe, matándolo. ¿Aceptas las condiciones, querida?

–Lo acepto todo –contestó Ondina–. Apresúrate a hacer tu trabajo.

Ondina, inmóvil, esperó pacientemente a que la hechicera acabara de preparar su brebaje de hierbas mágicas regado con varios licores de perlimplimplín… Luego, sin pronunciar una sola palabra, se tragó la desagradable pócima… y perdió la consciencia.

Cuando despertó, estaba al borde del lago con el príncipe inclinado sobre ella. Por primera vez, el joven la cogió en brazos y la llevó al palacio real.

El rey recibió bien a la extraña prometida de su hijo. Sabía que, gracias a ella, el muchacho volvía a ser feliz. Pero las personas más cercanas a la familia real evitaban relacionarse con la hermosa doncella muda, como si no fuera de los suyos.

Sólo el príncipe le hablaba… y a Ondina era eso lo único que le importaba.

Había una persona en particular a la que no le agradaba la llegada de la joven: la reina. Pues estaba secretamente enamorada del príncipe y se había casado con el padre con la esperanza de poder, después de su muerte, casarse con el hijo.

Cuando se enteró de que el muchacho iba a tomar esposa, la reina decidió actuar. Preparó a escondidas dos pócimas cuyas recetas había aprendido en su lejano país. La primera se llamaba «muerte segura», y la segunda, «amor fulminante». Esa misma noche, en la cena, le sirvió la primera al rey…

Tres días más tarde, el anciano murió plácidamente mientras dormía. Era tan avanzada su edad que nadie se extrañó de su muerte.

Después de un mes de luto, según la costumbre, se preparó una gran fiesta en honor del príncipe que subía al trono. Durante el banquete, la reina le ofreció una delicada copa de oro al joven.

–¡Brindemos por vuestro reinado, majestad! –exclamó sonriente–. ¡Que sea próspero y duradero para felicidad de todos nosotros!

En ese momento, Ondina estaba sentada a la diestra de su amado, sonriente y feliz.

El príncipe levantó la copa y bebió de un trago, sin sospechar nada, el segundo brebaje preparado por la reina…

De repente, miró extrañado a Ondina y le dijo con un tono muy frío:

–¿Qué haces tú a mi lado? ¡Éste es el lugar de la reina!

Ondina, turbada y confusa, buscó desesperadamente la mirada de su príncipe. Pero éste contemplaba a la viuda con todo el amor y el respeto del mundo. Y sin preocuparse más por la joven, como si de una simple silla se tratara, se levantó y cogió de la mano a la malvada mujer.

–Venid, mi bien amada –le dijo–. Reina erais y reina seguiréis siendo, pues mañana me casaré con vos.

Al día siguiente, cuando el príncipe salió de las habitaciones de la reina viuda, Ondina, más pálida que nunca, se echó a sus pies. No podía articular ni una palabra, pero sus ojos, bañados en lágrimas, hablaban por ella. Sin embargo, el muchacho no entendió nada.

–Deja de importunarme con tus gélidos llantos –la rechazó–. ¡Regresa a tus nenúfares, ese es tu sitio!

Y continuó su camino sin prestarle ni la más mínima atención.

Entonces la muda Ondina prorrumpió en un grito desgarrador. Al mismo tiempo, su cuerpo se hizo transparente y, acto seguido, se convirtió en un pequeño fuego fatuo que vagó un instante por los alrededores del castillo y después desapareció en lontananza…

Desde el renacuajo más diminuto hasta las ninfas y las hadas, todos los habitantes de las aguas lloraron la desgracia de la pobre Ondina.

–¡Por todos los sapos del mundo! ¡Sabes perfectamente que un hechizo es un hechizo! –respondió la anciana–. Si la ondina no mata al que la ha traicionado, yo no puedo hacer nada. Sólo cuando le arrastre a las profundidades del lago recobrará su vida de ondina; si no, será fuego fatuo para siempre.

Le suplicó una y otra vez que se vengara, pero ella siempre rechazaba la idea:

–Imposible, no puedo sacrificar la vida del príncipe; yo le sigo amando a pesar de todo. Perdóname, pero prefiero ser fuego fatuo a matarle.

Una tarde, un hermoso caballo gris saltó el muro del jardín real y se puso a caracolear delante del palacio. En ese mismo momento, el joven rey y su esposa estaban admirando desde la terraza la caída del sol.

–¡Qué animal más bonito! –exclamó el rey–. ¡Jamás he visto un caballo tan magnífico! ¿De dónde vendrá?

–¡Qué más da! –respondió la reina–. Intentad atraparlo; ¡es tan bonito!

¡Pero era más fácil decirlo que hacerlo! El rey se acercó al semental; el caballo se alejó unos pasos. El rey volvió a acercarse y el caballo se acercó de nuevo. Esa maniobra se alargó hasta que los dos alcanzaron el final del jardín, que estaba cerca del bosque. Entonces el corcel se quedó quieto y permitió que el rey se montara en él.

–¡Hurra! –gritó el joven girándose hacia su reina–. ¡Lo he domado!

Pero apenas había pronunciado esas palabras cuando el caballo saltó hacia delante, franqueó el muro y atravesó el bosque a galope tendido…

Unos instantes más tarde, el semental se metió en el lago, se paró en el medio y se encabritó para derribar al muchacho. El kelpie, el rey de las aguas, arrastró a su jinete a las profundidades…

La malvada reina, inquieta, salió en busca de su querido esposo. Cruzó el jardín: ¡no había nadie! Cruzó el bosque: ¡no había nadie! Llegó al borde del lago: ¡no había nadie!

Cuando iba a dar media vuelta, las hadas de las aguas la vieron y acudieron entre gritos:

–¡Miradla! ¡Qué perversa! ¡Ella es la que ha provocado la desgracia de nuestra Ondina! ¡No dejemos que se vaya! ¡Ahora nos toca a nosotras!

¡Y las hadas de las aguas, que pueden ser muy malas cuando están enfadadas, encerraron a la reina en un corro, obligándola a bailar sin descanso hasta morir!

Sin embargo, como dijo la anciana maga, un hechizo es un hechizo. A pesar de la muerte del rey y de la reina, Ondina siguió siendo un fuego fatuo, y se cuenta que continúa vagando por el lago, temblorosa y frágil, como buscando a su amado…

↧

MARINA WARNER - ON GOBLIN MARKET

June 18, 2018, 5:56 am

≫ Next: THE HEART'S DOOR - SEVERI AND VAPPU

≪ Previous: ONDINA Y EL PRÍNCIPE

As Christina Rossetti dramatises thrillingly in 'Goblin Market' (1862), her long, strange narrative poem, creatures from fairyland may appear and capture you with their queer irresistible gifts:

'“We must not look at goblin men,

We must not buy their fruits: ...'

Her goblins are closer to Shakespeare's ambiguous fairies, Cobweb, Mustardseed, and Peaseblossom, than to that 'airy spirit' Ariel, and they're also given Bosch-like features, monstrous and metamorphic, furry and whiskered:

Curious Laura chose to linger

Wondering at each merchant man.

One had a cat’s face,

One whisk’d a tail,

One tramp’d at a rat’s pace,

One crawl’d like a snail,

One like a wombat prowl’d obtuse and furry,

One like a ratel tumbled hurry skurry.

She heard a voice like voice of doves

Cooing all together:

They sounded kind and full of loves

In the pleasant weather.

Laura gives a lock of her golden hair in exchange for the fruits the goblins are proffering; her sister Lizzie then has to place herself in grave danger, and wrestle with the 'queer little goblin men,' in order to bring Laura back from the dead. In many ways, the sisters double each other. The scholar of Victorian literature Isobel Armstrong has commented, 'this is the most dazzling of the era's fairy creations ... riddle-like poems of desire, exclusion, and painful lack--poems structured through subtle negative particles and subjunctives which disclose haunting hypothetical worlds.' The state of sexual enthrallment that Rossetti conjures (Laura 'Sucking ... sucked and sucked until her lips were sore...') transmutes into keyed-up faery imagery and hypnotic lullaby the poet's experience of young womens' ordeals, for Rossetti herself worked with unmarried women in Highgate penitentiary near her house and, like Lewis Carroll, campaigned against the exploitation of children.
The poem is a characteristic story of faerie, an original invention inspired by folklore about faery abductions. It is a brilliant, perturbing, invented fairytale in verse which springs from principles laid down in the folkloric tradition about a possible otherworld nearby.
Christina Rossetti was also one of the Victorian writers who identified children as a special readership for fairytale and related material, [···]

(Marina Warner)

↧

THE HEART'S DOOR - SEVERI AND VAPPU

June 18, 2018, 6:01 am

≫ Next: A CRYASSE ORIGIN THEORY

≪ Previous: MARINA WARNER - ON GOBLIN MARKET

"The Heart's Door" - A Retelling of a Finnish Fairy Tale - Annotated

Photographer & artist unknown - any information appreciated so can properly credit
[Found on fototalisman.livejournal.com]

The Heart’s Door

A Finnish Fairy Tale

(also known as “Severi and Vappu”)

A retelling by Gypsy Thornton

(all illustrations below by Nilesh Mistry from DK "The Illustrated Book of Fairy Tales" Retold by Neil Philip)

Note: The footnote program/annotation function I used to create the notes had issues with formatting when transferred to the blog - and the numbers, though they look and semi-act like links, don't jump to their corresponding place at the bottom of the page as they're supposed to. That means you'll have to scroll down the numbered notes at the bottom to read the one you're looking for, but hopefully it's still a fun treasure hunt.

Once there was a boy named Severi^[1] who announced one spring morning that it was high time he had adventures and seek his fortune.

“What are you seeking?” people asked.

”I do not know yet,” Severi replied, “But when I find it, I’ll know then,’ he said, and waved goodbye.

He walked over bright meadows and through dark woods, sailed over great seas and survived ocean storms. He climbed up a great black cliff and down a long stone stairway^[2], until eventually, at what he thought must be the very heart of the earth itself, he found a golden^[3] door^[4].

He lifted his hand to knock and it swung open for him, so he stepped through. Inside was a magical world of green hills with fragrant flowers and shiny plumed songbirds sang among lush trees, all laden with golden fruit^[5]. In the distance, turrets of a copper castle rose into the air, shining like red gold in the sunlight. Immediately Severi set out straight toward it. There he met a strange old man with glittering white hair [6]and very young cheeks, who asked him who he was and where he was going.

“My name is Severi,” he replied, and told him of his journey so far. “And now I am here. I do not know yet where I am going to, but when I get there, I’ll know then.”

“Ka[7]!” said the white-haired man, “Since you’ve come such a long way, why don’t you stay here with me awhile? I live in the copper castle^[8], just beyond.”

So Severi went with the old man to live in the copper castle. When he’d been given all the good food he could eat, the old man held up a heavy ring full of keys. “Here are the keys to the castle: twenty four^[9] keys for twenty four rooms. Feel free to go into any, except for the last^[10]. If you open that twenty-fourth door, you do so at your own risk. I am not to blame for whatever may happen.”

“I understand,” said Severi, accepting the keys, but already he was quite curious.

Before long the old man set out on a journey that would take him far away and the instant Severi was alone, he began to explore.

Each door held a room of wonders^[11], the next even better than the last: one seemed on fire, it dazzled with so much copper, while the next glittered with so much gold it hurt his eyes. Another was all ebony, another, blue sapphires, yet with each door he grew sadder and sadder until he stopped in the middle of the twenty-third room, too sad, even, to touch anything.

“Now I have seen it all. My adventures are over and done. I might as well just go back to my tupa[12].” He sighed, lay down right where he was, and fell asleep.

When he awoke he found the key to the twenty-fourth door clasped in his hand.

“The old man said I could enter at my own risk, “ he thought, turning it over curiously. “I will open it and find out what happens,” and he bravely turned the key in the twenty-fourth lock, then pushed open the heavy door.

Inside, sitting on a very high throne, was the loveliest girl in all the world.

“Who are you?” asked Severi.

“My name is Vappu^[13],” said the girl[14]. “I’ve been waiting for you[15] a very long time.” Severi held out his hand and she put hers in his then climbed down to him.

The golden days^[16] that followed were like a dream as the two lived together in the copper castle. For a whole month, they sat by the silver stream and feasted on golden fruit with not a care in the world. One day Vappu led Severi into a deep orchard. Cool winds caressed the trees and their faces and at the center blossomed the Tree of Life^[17]. They sat beneath it, ate its fruit and drank from the sparkling brook nearby. Completely content, Severi fell into a deep sleep under the Tree. When he awoke, Vappu was gone.

“Vappu!” he called. “Vappu! Vappu!” and his calling turned to cries and his cries turned to tears, for she was nowhere within and nowhere without.

When the old man returned home he found Severi in deep misery.

“Please help me find her”, Severi begged. “I cannot live without her.”

The old man chuckled[18]. “That’s the way it always happens when you do what you should have left undone. I warned you about that twenty-fourth door,” he said.

“I am a grown man,” Severi replied. “I make my own choices^[19]. And you did not tell me I must not enter, only that to do so, would be my own risk. ”

“That is fair,” the old man said, gently. “But have your choices made you wiser?”

“My sorrow has made me older – but yes, wiser too. Please help me find my Vappu - that is all I ask.”

The old man muttered some words of magic [20]and there stood Vappu, radiant as a sunbeam.

“Did you miss me Severi?” she asked.

“All my happiness disappeared with you!” Severi said to her. “Please, never leave me again.”

“I will promise,” said Vappu, “But on one condition: you must hide from me where I cannot find you. Then, and then only, will I always be with you. You have three chances.”

Severi did not understand what she meant, but the old man whispered a magic charm in his ear and promised he would help.

Severi did not want to hide but knew he must try if he wanted to win her, so the first day he snuck away over the hills and whispered his charm [21]to a rabbit^[22] running by. It stopped, let him hide inside its thumping heart then ran on, even faster than before. But Vappu quickly tracked him down.

“You are not very good at hide-and-seek^[23] Severi,” she said. “Try again.”

The next day Severi stole away into the dark heart of the forest and whispered his charm [24]to a bear^[25]ferociously guarding its den. It stopped, let him hide inside its warm heart then growled, more ferociously than ever before. But Vappu still, somehow, tracked him down.

“I have found you Severi! You cannot hide from me. You have one last try.”

Sadly, Severi walked back to the castle. He could not think how to hide from clever Vappu.

The next day, at a hint and a wink from the old man, Severi finally decided to hide in Vappu’s own heart. He drew close to her and softly whispered his charm:

“Three times [26]I knock at your door, dear heart,

Let me in, heart’s jewel^[27], let me in!”

And he vanished right before Vappu’s eyes.

Try as she might, Vappu could not find him anywhere. When she had looked and looked and looked some more, Severi called to her:

“Can you not find me, Golden One^[28]?”

“I cannot - where are you?” asked Vappu.

“Here in your heart,” answered Severi.

“Who led you here?”

“You, Vappu. You led me here.”

“Then my heart is yours,” said Vappu.

Severi came out of his hiding place and she held him as close as he held her.

“And now,” said Severi, “I’ve found you^[29].”

And they lived in peace, ever after, in their copper castle, beside the silver stream, beneath the golden trees.

[Click to view Severi & Vappu's Hide-n-Seek at a much larger size]

…………………«§ The End §»…………………

^[1] Severi is the Finnish form of Severus, most often associated with early saints (and now Harry Potter). The meaning of names website gives a character description similar to that of the English Jack and Russian Ivan: Who is Severi? Confident and sociable, cheerful and easy-going Severi is a very endearing person to know: he has a big heart, is good-humored and not without a certain charisma. An extremely adaptable individual, he quickly feels at ease everywhere he goes and actively seeks the company of others. A sensual hedonist who was born to be happy, he is comfortable in the skin he´s in and would seem conceited if he wasn´t so adorably innocent. Curious about everything, at times he may appear shallow and overconfident and can have difficulty sustaining any prolonged effort. He is ruled by his imagination and is often away with the fairies. A very pleasant and sentimental chap: he is gentle, emotional, sensitive and generous and he can resist anything except temptation.

^[2] There’s also a stairway that goes down, leading to a strange, magical land or underworld, in The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

^[3] Golden - the description is used a number of times in the tale: the first magical door, the golden fruit, and the maiden, Vappu, is referred to as the ‘golden one’.

^[4] Golden door - connected to the Holy of Holies (Inner Sanctum) and Jacob’s ladder. Also considered a symbol of hope - the passageway to dreams and opportunities.

golden doors appear a number of times in folklore and fairy tales. Significant here, is the early version of Bluebeard from Il Pentamerone, with Princess Marchetta forbidden to open the golden door, as this tale has other parallels too such as the rooms of treasures, the given keys and the warning about the last door.

^[5] Golden apples are found commonly through mythology, folklore, and fairy tales - they are connected with divine food and considered the source of immortality and perpetual youth (viz. Idun, and the Hesperides).

Many European fairy tales begin when golden apples are stolen from a king, usually by a magical avian: "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" (Russian), "The Golden Bird" (German), “The Golden Mermaid" (German), "The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples" (Balkan: Serbian/Bulgarian), "Prâslea the Brave and the Golden Apples" (Romanian, where the thief is not a bird but a zmeu, a Slavic dragon), "The Three Brothers and the Golden Apple" (Bulgarian, where the thief is not a bird but another zmey or Slavic dragon)...

Argan fruit, quinces, and tomatoes are all also called ‘golden apples’ in various countries, along with oranges, which are considered particularly magical as they bear fruit and flowers at the same time.

[6] The old man with white hair (compare Gandalf, Dumbledore, Merlin) is mysterious in this tale - is he an angel, a god, a grateful dead character, a fairy? We don’t know and he disappears by the end of the story with no explanation. He provides opportunities as well as lessons and even helps Severi at the end - he is on the side of good.

[7] Ka! – Finnish word meaning look or see. The whole expression can be translated into "Lo and behold!"

^[8] There is a copper castle/tower in Andersen’s The Tinderbox (AKA The Firelighter), one in the Irish tale Fair Brow (a Grateful Dead tale), and in a Russian tale Whirlwind the Whistler or The Kingdoms of Copper, Silver, and Gold, Ivan defeats enemies and rescues women from a copper/bronze castle, then a silver castle and then a golden castle.

^[9] The number 24 is repeated a number of times in this story to show its importance. Apart from 24 hours in a day and the significance of the common folktale and fairy tale number 12 doubled, it’s hard to say what this is supposed to represent. It could be 1 day (24 hours), 2 years (24 months) or something else altogether.The likelihood of it having religious significance, in addition to the day cycle, is high due to the other motifs present (Tree of Life, golden apple, the parallels with finding Paradise at the ends of the earth/life).

^[10] A warning, very similar to the Bluebeard tale: inciting curiosity on purpose and also being given a test.

^[11] Rooms full of treasures - again in Bluebeard, the rooms are full of wondrous and beautiful, desirable, and luxurious things. Just like in Bluebeard, though, even seeing every wonder there is, isn’t enough to sate the protagonist’s curiosity.

[12] Tupa – the cottage of the common people, peasants' hut with hearth/fireside

^[13] Vappu: diminutive form of Valpuri (meaning salvation of the slain in battle) and Finnish form of Walpurga, meaning “ruler of the fortress”. Vappu identifies with the month of May - Vappu (Day) in Finland is May Day or Beltane - springtime festival. (From Wikipedia: The current festival is, in most countries that celebrate it, named after the English missionary Saint Walpurga. As Walpurga's feast was held on 1 May she became associated with May Day/Beltane, especially in the Finnish and Swedish calendars The eve of May Day, traditionally celebrated with dancing, came to be known as Walpurgisnacht ("Walpurga's night"). The name of the holiday is Walpurgisnacht in German, Valborgsmässoafton in Swedish, "Vappen" in Finland Swedish, Vappu in Finnish,Volbriöö, (Walpurgi öö) in Estonian,Valpurgijos naktis in Lithuanian, Valpurģu nakts or Valpurģi in Latvian, čarodějnice and Valpuržina noc in Czech. -- In Finland, Walpurgis day (Vappu) is one of the four biggest holidays along with Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and Midsummer (Juhannus).

[14] The original says “her voice was like the rippling music of a kantele” – a Finnish harp.

[15] In the original the maiden calls Severi kultani, meaning “my dear one”.

^[16] These ‘golden days’ are reminiscent of summer in Finland. Summer is short but for about four weeks the sun never sets on the Finnish Arctic, and the countryside is transformed into something like the golden paradise described in the tale. Then, like a door closing, winter returns. (notes from Neil Philip on The Heart’s Door).

^[17] Tree of Life - there are mythical ‘world trees’ in almost every culture but the phrasing in this one suggests it’s connected with the Garden of Eden. There are two trees in Eden - this and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which yields the Forbidden Fruit. Its presence could indicate this part of the story is in Severi’s afterlife.

[18] In the original, the old man finds this hilarious and laughs and laughs and laughs.

^[19] This is the opposite reaction to when Bluebeard (and related characters) find the last door has been opened. It’s not really curiosity that is rewarded here though, as there are negative consequences, but Severi’s independent and brave thinking causes the old man to help Severi when he needs it..

[20] “(Finnish) magic is entirely the magic of words” - utter words and houses appear, as can people – “all created in a moment by the utterance of these magical words.” (from Bowman’s notes on Finnish Folklore – Tales from a Finnish Tupa.)

[21] Original charm reads: “Thrice I knock at the door of your heart, Let me in, Grey Rabbit, let me in.”

^[22] Rabbits and hares are often associated with the lunar cycle and fertility around the world, and this includes Norse traditions. Hittavainen, Finnish god of Hares, is said to bring rabbits and hares out from bushes for hunters.

^[23] There are many fairy tales where characters transform into objects or animals to hide from antagonists but hiding inside objects and animals is a little different. There are some instances referred to in Native American tales and Russian tales that I recall, but I cannot find specific references. In the fairy tale opera, Love For Three Oranges, fairy princesses are hidden inside the fruit and are revealed when the fruit is opened, but they are not mentioned going in there by choice. likewise, Momotaro Peach Boy and Princess Kaguya, both have babies revealed inside a peach and a stalk of bamboo but only Kaguya-hime is there by choice and her memory of choosing so doesn’t return until she is an adult.

[24] Original charm reads: “Thrice I knock at the door of your heart, Let me in, Honeypaw, let me in.”

^[25] Bears are important to the Finns and are considered sacred - early pagan traditions included a bear cult, which saw the bear as an embodiment of their forefathers, though not a god. Interestingly, one of the Finns many names for the bear is “the golden apple of the forest” (metsän kultaomena).

[26] Original charm reads: “Thrice” instead of “three times”. The rest is the same.

^[27] The Scottish fairy tale The Water Kelpie, (found in Fairy Book by Sophie May) uses the term “heart’s jewel”. The Bible also refers to the heart as a door that needs to be guarded and speaks of Jesus standing at the “door” and knocking, to be let in, implying choice. Viewed with this parallel, it can be seen that Vappu “lets Severi into her heart” by choice, so that the relationship is equal, not that she is a prize to be taken.

^[28] Calling her “Golden One” signifies Severi realizes love - and Vappu - are the greatest treasure of all in life. In the original he calls her “Kultani, my golden one” (Kultani – Finnish, meaning, “my dear one” or "darling")

^[29] Severi has finally reached his destination.

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A CRYASSE ORIGIN THEORY

June 18, 2018, 7:37 am

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Now I have noted that the members of Cryasse in Hugtto! Pretty Cure are themed after various historical eras, and I notice that Lulu says they hail from a distant future. But we have an 80s pop star and a Victorian toff, among others, in their ranks...

THE CRYASSE LOGO

So my theory is that the leader of Cryasse recruited the cadres, travelling back in time, from their respective historical epochs (Lulu having been created in the days of Cryasse itself as an intelligence fembot):

Listol: The Hardest One to Pin Down (Eighteenth-Century Illuminatus?)

Daigan: 19th-Century Victorian Bourgeois/Industrialist

Jelos: 1920s Flapper

Papple: 1980s Media Star

Charalit: Late 1990s/Early 2000s Bad Boy

Lulu: Cryasse-Era (2100s?) Gynoid

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PASSION-FLOWERS TO BE EMBROIDERED ON IT

June 18, 2018, 9:44 am

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≪ Previous: A CRYASSE ORIGIN THEORY

PASSION-FLOWERS TO BE EMBROIDERED ON IT... but why passion-flowers?
A symbolic analysis of this subplot by Yoshinobu Umetsu

[···] Wilde deals more successfully with the burden of human suffering.
[···] Rather than replicating socio-economic reality, he sets the tale in another world, [···].
Only once, and with skillful indirectness, he traces the problem (of human suffering) to its origin.
[···] a gown for one of the queen’s maids of honor. On [···] way [···], passes first over the cathedral, and then over the palace. And [···] overhears the maid’s murmur in conversation: “I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State-ball ... I have ordered passion-flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy.”( p. 287) The flower’s symbolic significance is ironically suited to unfeeling materialism and indicates the great spiritual distance that separates palace from cathedral. This indirect method of criticism blends more smoothly into the tale’s core than the political speeches (in “The Young King.”) By concentrating on simple solutionsrather than the complexity of the problem, Wilde uses this style with greater effect, creating a more unified, harmonious work of art.

Yoshinobu Umetsu

... unas pasionarias en un vestido que lucirá una camarera de la reina en un baile, ...
En contraste,la mujer que usará el vestido, y a quien su amante le expresa la maravillosa fuerza del amor al ver las hermosas estrellas, se queja de la pereza de las costureras, [···]

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PRÍMULAS, SAXÍFRAGAS, PIE DE GATO Y VIOLETA AZUL

June 19, 2018, 9:47 am

≫ Next: I MIDSOMMARTIDER

≪ Previous: PASSION-FLOWERS TO BE EMBROIDERED ON IT

PRÍMULAS, SAXÍFRAGAS, PIE DE GATO Y VIOLETA AZUL
Por Evert Taube
Una canción veraniega de los Mares del Norte
traducida al español del sueco por Sandra Dermark
en este mes de messidor, MMXVIII

Rönnerdahl de un salto despertó y está en pie...
Tras el monte, el sol sale; silba el viento del sur...
Baila el vals riendo por los prados en flor...
¡Ven, escucha y canta mi bella canción!
Pesca para sus polluelos papá charrán,
se oye en el verde bosque a más de un pinzón cantar,
y, ¿veis todas las flores que se han abierto en la pradera?
Prímulas, saxífragas, pie de gato y violeta azul...

Rönnerdahl da vueltas en blanco camisón
cuyo faldellín frota sus piernas peludas...
Feliz cual alondra, bajo el sol de floreal,
canta a las ardillas allá en el ramal:
"¡Kurre, kurre, kurre!" les canta Rönnerdahl;
"¡cucú!" canta el cuclillo en el verde brezal,
y, ¿veis todas las flores que se han abierto en la pradera?
Prímulas, saxífragas, pie de gato y violeta azul...

Rönnerdahl se trenza una corona de flor,
se corona, despeinado y rubio ceniza,
entra en su casita, a paso vals, con el laúd,
despierta a su esposa y a los niños: "¡uh, hu!"
"¡Mira, mi hermanito, de novia va papá,
con su camisón blanco y de flores coronao!
y, ¿veis todas las flores que se han abierto en la pradera?
Prímulas, saxífragas, pie de gato y violeta azul..."

Rönnerdahl es viejo, pero baila aún así;
tiene muchas penas que ahogar con la música...
Rara vez descansa, a trabajar para dos...
Cómo se las apaña, nadie entendió.
Nadie excepto, a orillas del mar, papá charrán,
ardillas y pinzones, y el cucú primaveral,
y todas esas flores que se han abierto en la pradera:
Prímulas, saxífragas, pie de gato y violeta azul...

↧

I MIDSOMMARTIDER

June 23, 2018, 5:20 am

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August Strindberg

I MIDSOMMARTIDER

I midsommartider, då jorden står brud i Nordanlanden, då marken hon gläds, då källan ännu springer, då ängens blommor stå raka och sångfåglarne sjunga, det var då som duvan kom från skogen och satte sig utanför stugan där den nittioåriga modren låg till sängs.
Den gamla hade legat i tjugo år, och hon kunde se genom fönstret allt som skedde på gården, den hennes två söner brukade. Men hon såg världen och människorna på sitt särskilda sätt, ty fönsterrutorna voro anlupna i alla regnbågens färger; hon behövde bara vända litet på huvudet, så syntes allting efter vartannat i rött, gult, grönt, blått, gredelint. Var det sålunda en vinterdag, då träden stodo i rimfrost som om de buro vita silverlöv, så vände hon huvudet på kudden, och träden blevo gröna; det var sommar, åkern blev gul, himlen blev blå, även om den var grå i sig själv. På det sättet tyckte hon sig kunna trolla; och hon hade aldrig tråkigt. Men de trolska rutorna hade även en annan gåva; ty de voro buktiga, så att de visade det som var utanför, ibland förstoras, ibland förminskat.
När sålunda hennes stora son kom hem och var stygg, skrikande ute på gården, så önskade modren honom liten och snäll igen; och straxt såg hon honom så liten. Eller när barnbarnen kommo tultande därute, och hon tänkte på deras framtid, så - ett, tu, tre - kommo de in i förstoringsglaset, och hon såg dem fullväxta, stora människor, jättar riktiga.
Men när sommaren gick in, då lät hon öppna fönstret; ty så vackert som det då var därute kunde icke rutorna visa det. Och nu på midsommarafton, då det var som aldra vackrast, låg hon och såg utåt ängen och hagen, då duvan tog upp sin sång. Hon sjöng så fagert om Jesu Krist och om himmelrikets glädje och härlighet, och hon bjöd alla välkomna som voro betungade och fått nog av detta livets vedermödor.
Den gamla hörde, men hon tackade stor tack, ty jorden var i dag så skön som själva himlen, och hon önskade sig icke bättre.
  Då flög duvan över ängen upp i berglunden, där bonden stod och grävde brunn. Han stod djupt ner i jorden med tre alnar över huvudet, alldeles som i sin grav.
Duvan satte sig i en gran och sjöng om himmelrikets glädje, viss att mannen nere i jorden som varken såg himmelen, havet eller ängen, skulle längta dit upp.
  - Nej, sade bonden, jag måste först gräva brunn; ty annars får icke min sommargäst vatten, och då flyttar den lilla olyckliga frun med sitt barn.
Duvan flög ner i stranden, där bondens bror höll på att ta upp nät; och hon satte sig i vassen att sjunga.
  - Nej, sade bondens bror, jag måste skaffa mat i huset, annars skrika barnen av hunger! Senare! Senare! Tids nog med himmelen! Livet först och döden sen!
Duvan flög upp till storstugan, där den lilla olyckliga frun bodde för sommaren. Hon satt nu på verandan och sydde på handmaskinen; vit som en lilja var hon i ansiktet under den röda filthatten, som lik en vallmo låg på hennes svarta hår, svart som ett sorgflor. Hon skulle sy ihop ett vackert förkläde åt lillan att begagnas på midsommarafton; och barnet satt vid hennes fötter på golvet och klippte sönder tyglappar hon fått.
  - Varför kommer inte pappa hem? frågade lillan.
Det var just den svåra frågan, som den unga modren icke själv kunde svara på, och sannolikt icke fadren heller, där han i krig i främmande land vallade sin sorg, som var dubbelt så stor som modrens.
Symaskinen gick illa, men den stack och stack; så många nålstygn som ett människohjärta kan tåla, innan det alldeles förblöder; och varje stygn band tråden ändå fastare - så underligt!
  - Jag vill gå till byn i dag, mamma! sade lillan, och jag vill se solen, för här är så mörkt.
  - Du skall få gå till solen i eftermiddag, mitt lilla barn!
Det var nämligen mörkt mellan de höga klipporna på denna stranden av ön; och stugan stod mitt ibland svarta granar, som skymde utsikten, även åt havet.
- Och så vill jag att du skall köpa mycket leksaker åt mig, mamma.
- Barn, vi ha så litet att köpa med! svarade modren och böjde huvudet djupare mot bröstet.
Och det var sanningen, ty välståndet hade förbytts i svårigheter; ingen tjänare hade de på sommaren, och modren måste göra allt själv.
Men när hon nu såg barnets sorgsna min, lyfte hon upp henne i sitt knä.
- Tag mamma om halsen! sade hon.
Lillan gjorde så.
- Giv mamma en kyss!
Hon fick den av en liten halvöppen mun, som en fågelunges; och när modren erhöll en blick ur dessa ögon, blåa som linets blomma, då återstrålade hennes sköna ansikte av barnets harmlösa oskuld, och såg själv ut som ett lyckligt barn i solsken.
- Här sjunger jag inte om himmelrik, tänkte duvan, men kan jag tjäna dem, skall jag.
Och så flög hon till Solbyn, där hon hade förrättning.

Nu blev det eftermiddag; den lilla frun tog korgen på armen och barnet i handen för att gå. Hon hade aldrig varit i byn förr; men hon visste att den låg åt solnedgången, på andra sidan ön: och bonden hade sagt att det var sex gärdsgårdar med sex grindar innan man kom fram.
Och så gingo de.
Först kom en gångstig med stenar och trärötter, så att lillan måste bäras, och det var tungt nog. Läkarn hade förbjudit barnet att anstränga sin vänstra fot, ty den var så vek att den lätt kunde växa krokig.
Den unga modren dignade under sin kära börda; och svettdropparna pärlade ned för hennes ansikte, ty det var hett i skogen.
- Jag är så törstig, mamma! klagade den lilla flickan.
- Älskade barn, giv dig till tåls, så får du vatten när du kommer fram.
Och hon kysste den lillas torra små läppar, och då log barnet, glömmande sin törst.
Men solen brände och luften stod still i skogen.
- Nu får du försöka gå litet, sade modren och satte ner barnet.
Men den lilla foten vek sig, och barnet kunde icke gå.
- Jag är så trött, mamma! klagade barnet och satte sig ner för att gråta.
Men på marken växte de vackraste små klockor av rosenrött, som doftade mandel; och barnet hade aldrig sett sådana små blommor förr; och så log hon igen så att modren blev stärkt i sitt sinne och kunde fortsätta vägen med barnet på armen.
Nu voro de vid första grinden, och gingo genom den, samt lade hanken noga på.
Då hördes ett skrik som ett högt gnäggande; och en lös häst rusade fram, ställde sig mitt på vägen och skrek; och vid hans skrik svarades i skogen från höger och vänster och runtom; och det dånade i marken, knakade i grenar och smällde i stenar. Och de övergivna stodo där mitt ibland en skara lösa hästar.
Barnet gömde sitt ansikte vid modrens bröst och hennes lilla hjärta pickade av ångest som ett ur.
- Jag är så rädd! viskade hon.
- O gud i himlen, hjälp oss! bad modren.
Då hördes en solsvärta sjunga inne i granarne; och se, i samma stund sprungo hästarne sin väg åt olika håll; och det blev tyst igen.
Så uppnådde de den andra grinden och lade på hanken.
Där låg ett trädesgärde; och solen brände hetare än i skogen. Jordkokorna lågo gråa i långa rader; men i en sluttning sågo de plötsligen kokorna röra sig, och det var ryggarne av en fårahjord.
Får äro ju snälla djur, lammen i synnerhet, men gumsen är icke att leka med, utan han är en okynnig en, som gärna anfaller dem som honom intet ont gjort. Och nu kom han mitt i vägen, hoppande över diktet. Han böjde huvudet och gick baklänges.
- Jag är så rädd, mamma, sade den lilla; och hennes hjärta bultade.
- O gud nådig i himlen, hjälp oss, suckade modren och såg bedjande uppåt det blåa valvet. Och där vilade, fladdrande som en fjäril, en liten lärka; och när hon började sjunga försvann gumsen bland de grå kokorna.
Så kommo de till tredje grinden. Nu började marken sänka sig; det blev vått om fötterna, och där var ett kärr. Tuvorna sågo ut som små gravar med vita blommor på, ullblommor eller bomullsblommor; och det gällde att gå rätt för att icke sjunka ner i dyn. Där växte svarta bär, som voro giftiga, och dem ville barnet plocka, men fick icke lov, och därför blev hon ledsen, ty hon förstod icke vad giftigt var.
Som de gingo, märktes något vitt skynke som drogs fram mellan träden; solen gömdes, och det blev ett vitt mörker omkring dem som var hemskt.
I det vita stack nu fram ett huvud med vit stjärna och två krokiga horn, och så råmade huvudet. Och där syntes flera huvuden, många, och de kommo allt närmare.
- Jag är rädd, mamma, viskade barnet. Jag är så rädd.
Modren tog ett steg åt sidan och sjönk ner emellan två tuvor i träsket.
- O gud, store, nådige, förbarma dig! ropade modren ur djupet av sin själ.
Och nu hördes vinden, den starka havsvinden gå fram genom skogen; träden böjde sig ödmjukt inför den store anden; och en ung tall lutade sig ner; det viskade något frän dess krona i den övergivnas öra; och när hon med ena handen fattat i en gren, rätade tallen ut sig och lyfte den förtvivlade ur dyn.
Dimman var bortblåst i detsamma; solen sken igen, och de stodo vid den fjärde grinden. Men modren som förlorat sin hatt, torkade barnets tårar med sitt svarta hår; och då lillan log däråt, då sken det i det arma modershjärtat; hon glömde allt överståndet ont, så att hon fick nya krafter till att hinna den femte grinden. Då ljusnade det i sinnet, ty hon såg röda tegeltak och flaggor; och utmed vägen växte snöbollsbuskar och vilda rosor, två och två, alldeles som om de hållit av varandra, den vita snöbollsbusken och den skära vildrosen.
Lillan kunde nu gå; och hon plockade korgen full med blommor, som dockan Lisa skulle sova i om midsommarsnatten för att få vackra drömmar.
Så lekte de fram sin väg, sorglösa igen; ty de hade bara en björkhage kvar, så voro de framme. Nu steg vägen uppåt en liten backe; och som de kommit upp och krökte åt höger, stod tjuren mitt på vägen.
Det var omöjligt att fly, och förkrossad föll modren ned på knä, lade barnet på marken framför sig, böjde huvudet skyddande över, så att det långa håret hängde som ett svart dok; och med sträckta händer bad hon en tyst bön. Från hennes panna droppade ångestsvetten som röda blodsdroppar ner på marken.
- O gud, bad hon; tag mitt liv, men skona den lillas!
Då hörde hon vingslag i luften; och när hon såg upp flög en vit duva inåt byn; men tjuren var borta.
När hon såg efter sitt barn, satt den lilla vid vägkanten och plockade smultron, så röda som blodsdroppar; och då förstod hon var de kommit ifrån.
De gingo genom sista grinden och vandrade inåt byn.
I sol låg den, vid en grön vik, under stora lindar och lönnar; och på en kulle syntes den vita kyrkan med den röda klockstapeln; prästgården i syrener, posthuset i jasminer och trädgårdsmästarns under en stor ek. Allt låg där så ljust; flaggorna blåste ut; små båtar kantade stränder och bryggor, och det syntes att det var midsommarafton.
Men de mötte ingen människa. Nu skulle de först gå till handelsboden att handla, och där skulle lillan också få dricka.
När de kommo dit, var boden stängd.
- Jag är så törstig, mamma, klagade barnet.
De gingo till posten! - Där var stängt.
- Jag är så hungrig, mamma.
Modren var stum, ty hon förstod icke varför det var stängt på en vardag; och varför inga människor syntes. Hon gick till trädgårdsmästarn. Där var stängt, och en stor hund låg fram för porten.
- Jag är så trött, mamma.
- Det är jag också mitt barn, men vi måste söka en dryck vatten.

Och de gingo i gård ur gård; men det var stängt överallt; och barnet kunde icke gå längre, ty dess lilla fot var trött så att hon haltade. När modren såg den lilla vackra gestalten lutad på sned, då tröttnade hon också och satte sig i vägkanten med barnet i knä. Och den lilla somnade.
Då hördes en duva sjunga i syrenbuskarne; och hon sjöng om himmelrikets glädje och om jordens eviga sorg och kval.
Men modren såg på sitt sovande barn och på dess lilla ansikte, som var infattat i huvan av vita spetsar likt blombladen på den vita liljan. Och hon tyckte sig äga himmelriket i sina armar.
Men barnet vaknade och begärde dricka.
Modren förblev stum.
- Jag vill gå hem, mamma, klagade den lilla.
- Samma rysliga väg tillbaka? Aldrig! Hellre går jag i sjön, svarade modren.
- Jag vill gå hem!
Modren reste sig. Hon hade i fjärran sett unga björkar sticka upp bakom en kulle; och under det hon betraktade dem, började träden att röra sig och gå. Då förstod hon att där funnos människor som brutit björklöv till midsommarns lövsalar; och hon tog sin väg ditåt, där hon skulle finna vatten.
På vägen dit märkte hon en liten stuga innanför ett grönt staket med vit grind; där stod dörren öppen och inbjöd så vänligt. Hon gick in genom grinden och kom i en trädgård med pioner och akelejor. Nu märkte hon att gardinerna voro nere för fönstren; och alla gardinerna voro vita. Men ett fönster i vindskupan stod öppet, och mellan ett par balsaminer stack en vit hand ut viftande med en liten vit duk, som om den viftade åt en som skulle resa.
Hon gick fram till stugukvisten; och där låg i det höga gräset en krans av grönt myrtenris med vita rosor. Men den var för stor att vara en brudkrans.
Så steg hon in på svalen och frågade om någon var inne.
Då intet svar hördes, gick hon in i stugan. På golvet stod, mitt i en skog av blommor, en svart stoftkista med silverfötter. Och i kistan låg en ung flicka med en brudkrona på huvudet.
Väggarne i rummet voro av nya furubräder, endast oljefernissade så att alla kvistarne syntes. Och i de ovala kvisthålen syntes de mörka tvärsågade kvistarne som ögonstenar. Barnet märkte först de sällsamma väggarne och sade:
- Se så mycket ögon, mamma.
Ja, där fanns alla slags ögon; stora vältaliga, allvarliga sådana; små skinande barnaögon med ett leende i vrån; onda ögon som visade för mycket av det vita; öppna, vakande ögon, som forskade in i hjärtat; och där satt ett stort, milt modersöga, som såg kärligt på den döda flickan; och i det ögat hängde en klar tår av furukåda, som av den nedgående solens strålar gnistrade i rött och grönt likt en diamant.
- Sover flickan? frågade barnet, som nu fått syn på den döda.
- Ja, hon sover.
- Är det en brud, mamma?
- Ja, det är en brud.
Modren hade känt igen henne! Det var den flickan, som skulle stå brud till midsommar, när sjömannen kom hem; men när sjömannen skrev, att han först kunde komma till hösten, så brast hennes hjärta; ty hon ville icke vänta till hösten, då träden fällt löven och stormarna börjat gå.
Hon hade lyssnat på duvans sång, och förstått den. När nu den unga modren gick, visste hon vart hon skulle gå.
Hon ställde den tunga korgen ifrån sig utanför grinden och tog barnet i sina armar; styrde stegen ut i nästa äng, som skilde henne från stranden. Det var ett hav av blommor som susade och viskade om hennes vita kjortel, vilken färgades av alla slagen frömjöl; humlor, bin och fjärilar lyfte på vingarne och flögo framför sjungande i ett enda brokigt guldmoln. Ner mot stranden gick hon med lätta steg.
Då såg hon ut på viken en vit segelbåt komma med spända segel rätt ner mot bryggan, men det syntes ingen vid styret. Och hon vadade vidare, badande i blommor och blomsterdoft, så att hennes vita kjortel säg ut som en blomstersäng men med mycket finare färger.
Nere i strandens pilar stannade hon; där satt ett fågelbo mellan stam och gren; och när trädet gungade för aftonvinden, vaggades tre små dunungar, som lillan straxt ville klappa.
-Nej, mitt barn, sade modren; rör aldrig vid fågelbon. Och just när de stodo i strandstenarne, landade den vita båten, alldeles vid deras fötter, men där fanns ingen människa i den.
Då tog hon barnet och steg ombord. Och genast vände båten och styrde ut ur viken.
När de seglade under kyrkudden, började alla klockorna ringa, men så hurtigt och glädjefullt.
Och båten gled ut ur viken och kom ut på fjärden, där öppna havet syntes.
Den lilla flickan lyste av fröjd, ty vattnet var så blått och lugnt; och det var icke vatten mer, som de åkte i, utan det var linblommor, som barnet plockade med sin utsträckta hand.
Och blommorna böjde sig och reste sig som små vågor viskande mot båtkanten. Oändlig syntes linåkern breda sig framför dem; men så sveptes de in i en vit dimma, och de hörde riktigt vågskvalp. Men ovanifrån dimman klingade lärkors sång.
- Hur kan lärkorna sjunga på havet? frågade lillan.
- Havet är så grönt att lärkorna tro det är en äng, svarade modren.
Nu skingrades dimman igen; himlen var blå som en linåker och lärkorna höjde sig.
Då fingo de se, rätt ut i havet, en grönskande ö med vita sandstränder, där vitklädda människor vandrade hand i hand. Och den nedgående solen belyste det gyllne taket på en pelargång, där vita eldar brunno under heliga offerskålar; och över den grönskande ön sträckte sig en regnbåge i rosenrött och vassgrönt.
- Vad är det, mamma?
Modren kunde icke svara.
- Är det himmelrik som duvan sjöng om? Vad är himmelrik, mamma?
- Det är ett ställe, barn, där alla människor äro vänner, svarade modren; där ingen sorg och ingen ofrid är.
- Då vill jag komma dit, sade barnet.
- Det vill jag också, sade den trötta, övergivna, prövade modren.

↧

...AND I'LL TRY NOT TO SING OUT OF KEY

June 27, 2018, 3:40 am

≫ Next: CALIGARI CARNIVAL HOUSE OF FREAKS

≪ Previous: I MIDSOMMARTIDER

Hugtto Pretty Cure - Episode 21
My Own Review
...AND I'LL TRY NOT TO SING OUT OF KEY

With Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour joining the team, what ever could happen next?

Emiru and Lulu opened this week's episode!

With Lulu and Emiru joining the ranks as Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie respectively, they ask the other three what is most important for a PreCure.

Hana gives a typical Hana answer, "trust your feelings," and Saaya and Homare interpret that to mean fellowship (nakama).

PreCures aren’t the only ones getting new additions to their team.

Jelos joins the management team at Cryasse. It is also made ever clearer that the president of the company is not exactly what he seems.

(IE. The Great and Powerful Kurai is actually a hologram projected by Listol)

Jenos introducing herself and it annoyed Papple especially she was forced to listen to Kurai's tantrums. Although Jenos still greeted Papple as her senior, it's obvious that Jenos will definitely overshadow her. Furthermore, Ristle pushed several buttons on his console and Kurai just happen to appear to get angry with Papple. (The plot thickens)

Emiru is ready to transform over the smallest thing

Moving on, Harry’s shop becomes quite busy and the girls help out. When a woman panics about losing her purse, Emiru misunderstands and thinks her bag is a threat. She almost transforms into Cure Ma Chérie, but Homare puts a halt to that.

Harry asks Emiru to run an errand for him – he needs her to buy nappies, milk and various other things for Hugtan. Emiru isn’t too eager to go, until Harry tells her that she will be patrolling at the same time.

Emiru and Lulu on patrol

Much like before, Emiru is ready to transform into Cure Ma Chérie at the drop of a hat. However, any trouble they come across turns out to be totally inconsequential.

After Emiru and Lulu reintroduce themselves to the girls as the new Cures, the girls help around Harry's shop. But Emiru being Emiru, she overreacts to everything: like a customer misplacing her wallet, an elderly lady crossing the road even though she has the right of way, and even thinking that a wild theender appeared where it was just the sales promoter announcing the special offers.

After getting the shopping, Lulu and Emiru go and take a break. Emiru has her guitar with her, but Lulu thinks that it sounds gloomy. Emiru feels like she has given her all, and not got anything she rightfully deserves in exchange... the reason why she is playing out of key are these doubts about her identity. She ends up running off, leaving Lulu to return to Harry’s shop alone.

Lulu felt anger towards Emiru

Lulu talks to Hana and Saaya about Emiru. She reveals that she feels a little anger towards Emiru, and worries that she has become her enemy. However, they tell her that the frustration she feels is because she loves (dai/suki) Emiru. Lulu is worried about Emiru's frustrations. However, the others ensure her that as long as Lulu cares for Emiru, things will work out.

Homare and Harry find Emiru

Homare and Harry (with Hug-tan in tow) end up finding Emiru sulking in a playground cave, and ask what happened. Emiru tells them she got angry and took it out on Lulu, and now she feels unfit to be a PreCure. However, after Emiru explained her frustrations, Homare asks which made and makes Emiru happier: becoming a PreCure per se, or becoming a PreCure together with Lulu. (That rhetorical question really hit the spot!)

Emiru honestly replied that being together with Lulu is much happier. Harry even added that her giving up the sole Preheart to Lulu in the previous episode is a selfless act which makes Emiru worthy to be a Precure. (Emiru thanked Harry and called him "Ratty" -"Nezumi-san"-, which annoyed Harry off a bit)

I AM NOT A BLOODY RAT!!!

Harry also says that Emiru is more than qualified to be a PreCure, and Hugtan agrees as well.

As Emiru joined them back, Harry questioned himself of why Hug-tan has not restored to normal despite all eight Future crystals having appeared...

Lulu and Emiru sing together

After that, Emiru goes back to Lulu to find her attempting to put together a song. It isn’t very good. No matter, as the two are back together and they enjoy singing together, though the results of this duet are far from stellar.

It’s time to fill that monster of the week quota once again, and Papple is the one who summons it from an angry park cleaner as the victim of the week.

Lulu and Emiru are close to where the theender du jour appears, so they transform and take it on.

They have the upper hand at first, but then Papple powers up the theender when Jelos appears to belittle her.

Hey, I am the cadre of the week, you bitch. Stay out of this show. After all, this Standard Evil Organization Squad only has room for one Vamp/Baroness...

Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie

The fight continues, and Emiru’s guitar ends up getting caught in the battle. The theender breaks it when it tries to attack Amour, but Ma Chérie saves her in true diving-save style.

She can’t do the same for the guitar, though.

After Emiru and Lulu reconciled, Papple created a theender from a cleaner which forced the pair to transform. They were getting the upper hand when Papple increased the theender's power and the pair were caught off guard. (Jenos was watching from behind and came up with measures against the Cures).

Cure Amour tried to protect Emiru's Guitar from the theender's blows but Cure Ma Chérie pushed her away and the guitar was destroyed. The other three girls arrived to join the fight and finished off the theender together.

The others arrive, making this the first time that all five Cures have fought together. As you might expect, the theender doesn’t last much longer after that.

Once it is defeated, both Jelos and Papple leave. Stage left, as usual.

Cure Amour blames herself for what happened to Emiru’s guitar

Amour feels that she is the one to blame for the guitar getting broken. However, Ma Chérie says that as long as she is able to protect Amour, that is all that really matters.

Ma Chérie than asks the other Cures to hand over their Melody Swords so it will be easier for her to protect those precious to her.

The others aren’t giving up their Melody Swords, but it seems that Hugtan has something in mind.

She doesn’t produce new Melody Swords out of thin air; no, instead, she somehow warps in two girls that long time PreCure fans will be very familiar with.

Although Emiru's guitar was destroyed, Cure Ma Chérie asked if they could lend the Melody sword for the next battle but the others claimed it is quite impossible. Hug-tan suddenly used her power to create a portal and out came...Cure Black and Cure White!?

Cure Black and Cure White

This is exactly where the episode ends, so we’ll have to wait until next time to see what the OG Futari wa Cures have in store for us.
You know, every week I watch Hugtto! PreCure and think that it has peaked. Every week, this show manages to prove me wrong. It can’t keep getting better all the time, but for the moment that is definitely the case.
We got more Emilu goodness from this episode, and that makes me very happy. I don’t know what PreCure fans like myself have done to deserve this, but I certainly won’t complain.
Hugtto! PreCure is already a massively strong contender for my favourite anime of this year, and it hasn’t even hit the halfway point yet.
Lulu going after Emiru when she went out on patrol was absolutely adorable, and we have more of Lulu coming to terms with various emotions. Lulu’s story has been one of the strongest PreCure has ever offered, I reckon.
That brings us to what happened at the end of the episode – something that Toei seemingly managed to actually keep quiet about for once. Twitter, not so much…
Maybe Toei were making noise about it, and I just happened to completely avoid it. No matter what the case is, it is absolutely incredible to see the original generation PreCures show up – Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, AKA Cure Black and Cure White, of Futari wa fame.
They are their Max Heart incarnations – you can tell because Cure Black’s midriff is covered up.
I knew that Cure Black and Cure White would be appearing in the upcoming Hugtto! PreCure film, but didn’t expect to see them in the TV series. I hope that they bring their opening theme along as well, as it is one of my favourites from within the entire franchised – rivaled only by Splash Star‘s opening theme.
The current plot of Hugtto! PreCure has been impressive, and now the hype levels shoot up with the arrival of the two characters that started it all.

Let this series focus on our main cast okay, that’s our latest two additions: Emiru and Lulu.

One of the main reasons why I am already stressed out just by their appearance is because ever since Lulu’s and Emiru’s arc as begun, the original trio has had virtually no air time, no time to further develop their characters and worst of all, there has been a severe lack of interaction between the five of them as whole. Since Lulu and Emiru are now part of the team, I want to see the group interact altogether, as oppose to being divided into what Lulu and Emiru could be described as “Sub Unit” (or West Coast Team) at the moment. In fact, this episode was the first time the five of them as a group were there to fight, and it will take one more episode before Emiru and Lulu receive their own respective “Melody Swords”, which will be a Guitar for the two of them (since Emiru’s guitar has been destroyed during the fight).… and that yet another thing that is troubling to me.

See, the two of them just became precures… Like yesterday. Today was their second fight, and their third fight will be against Puapple’s “Unleashed Form” or One-Winged Angel form. So this fight will effectively provide Emiru and Lulu their editions of the Melody Swords and defeat the second boss, and to proceed to the next level, Jelos and the others… and I am not exactly a fan of that. Of course one could argue they are a group of five now, naturally they should be able to be stronger altogether, but considering Emiru and Lulu had only undergone two major fights, I find it a little too convenient for them to get it this soon… But I suppose there’s no other way, or else they really will remain as a Sub Unit/West Coast Team…

With Papple getting a taste of her own medicine, be it one she inflicted on herself in desperate attempt to save face, or someone else caused her to become this way, it looks like this will be Papple’s last stand. She will be effectively replaced by Jelos, George’s latest recruit. This is of course Round 2 of the fight they had against Charalit when he was buffed up into this kind of monster.

Speaking of the devils, it turns out my suspicions were right. The dude in blue (Listol), has completely duped both Charalit and Papple into thinking the big shadowy face of Kurai above them is the CEO talking. Think "Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz." The truth is, he is the one controlling this feed of him, delivering the script and pulling the strings. It is likely this man is serving as George’s figurehead, which only makes it even crazier, when you realize that Papple probably has no idea her so-called “boyfriend” is the head of the organization. When she does fall, it will be interesting to see if we see any reaction from George at all, and what will become of her afterwards. Charalit has been seen to be doing his own thing, but doesn’t appear to be affiliated with the company anymore, and we haven’t seen him interact with them since they kicked him out.

Going back to Hugtan, Harry revealed to (only) the audience one of the secrets he is concerned about, and that is Hugtan’s condition. They already have eight future crystals, and yet Hugtan has yet to return to her original form. She is clearly absorbing its power, but she is using it in different means other than for herself. What’s crazy is that, even in this form she is insanely powerful, first blocking off attacks and now she can summon Precures from another time/realm?! It actually makes me wonder, even though the crystals help restore her power, it might not necessarily mean she will be able to recover her original form. The price she had to pay for them to get away, or a curse that may have been inflicted onto her, could be preventing her from doing so. As result this would mean she has no choice but to grow up naturally, as fast as any other muggle human baby would. If they were to go this direction, it would be quite a dramatic revelation, since more often than not, we have seen instances where the powers help them grow up faster, a fine example would be with Mahou Tsukai’s Precure Kotoha (Ha-chan), who started off as a baby and rapidly grew up into a form of a young girl. Or Hotaru Tomoe, for that matter.

On the side note: Hugtan imitating: “Be Serious” to Harry was the cutest darn thing!

Overall this episode wasn’t the most exciting, but we still got a lot of things things out of it.. It didn’t surprise me to see Emiru going overboard with the whole “precure duties” thing. She is incredibly enthusiastic about helping others, and has a selfless heart, and part of her character to overdo everything, which is why Lulu needed to go with her to do errands. I am not entirely sure if she realized it herself this episode, but she definitely needs to think carefully of when she should actually use her power.

I also expected Emiru to struggle with having confidence in her role as a precure, because she can be a clumsy girl, and sometimes instead of being helpful, she make things more complicated. But she’s not dumb either. She knew she messed up on countless occasions, and as result, she like she was failing to live up to what is expected of her as a Precure. Thankfully the others were there to support her, trying to give her other means and ways to contribute her part. I loved how Harry gave her the errand and told her she was in charge of patrolling around town, I thought it was adorable. I also found it sweet with how he explained to her selflessness of wanting to give up the Preheart to Lulu is the same quality that the prehearts are made out of, and she has already proved herself she is absolutely qualified to be a Precure.

Before we get to what happened at the end, I felt this episode is a typical "Sixth Ranger introduction" scenario. What I mean is that when a new member joined halfway through the team, the new member will have doubts or worries if he or she could become part of the team.

Both Emiru and Lulu were wondering their purposes and reasons of becoming Precures and again it is repeating the same things in the previous episode in which the three senior Cures giving pep talk and encouragement for the pair to believe each other.

The battle was all right at least Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour didn't have to sing when they went to battle and their combination attacks are still spot on since they worked as one unit.

Harry's worries is also concerned since he did mentioned before that all eight Future Crystals are needed for Hug-tan to grow back to normal but nothing has happened which I am suspecting that there is probably one missing element that it was not hinted to Harry. (If Hug-tan is restored back to normal then the story will have end faster)

Jenos was a bit of a snob when she appeared in front of the generals and Papple is defintely desperate as she is worried that Jenos might replace her and seeing how Papple becomes a One-Winged Angel like Charalit did before in the next episode, this could be the end of Papple. Furthermore, Ristle's actions seem like he is controlling their leader, Kurai, but for what purpose? Perhaps is to keep the organization afloat until the real Kurai returns?

Of course, the big surpise which no one see this coming was Cure Black and Cure White's appearance! Hug-tan is probably one of the most amazing characters in Precure History as she was able to bring the two Legendary Cures into the present. It probably explain how the Hugtto Team will meet their Seniors Cures in the upcoming crossover movie this October with Hug-tan's powers.

I have a feeling that Cure Black and Cure White were pulled out from their timeline which explained why they looked the same fifteen years ago (ie each and every continuity is set in a different timeline --more or less, considering the existence of Ranko and Ranze Ichijo--). It also make sense to guest star as the two Senior Cures will be able to give advice to Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour who are paying homages to them. (But seriously, Toei, I want the senior Cures to grow up otherwise it doesn't make sense if they looked the same in their own series all these years)

But I am really happy to see Cure Black and Cure White again although where is Shining Luminous? She might not have combat abilities but she is also a part of the Max Heart team. (Maybe Rie Tanaka is busy with her married life?)

This is probably the first time when a senior Precure team guest star in a current Precure series aside from the movies' team-up.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Emiru's identity crisis - Breakup and makeup

The Emilu moments
The negative emotion of the week was the anger of a stressed park cleaner. Trust me, I am typing this after an exam that put a lot of pressure on me, with a pretty harsh lecturer who subtracts points for every single error, and this week I could not have been more tense.

Papple on the last leg - Papple vs. Jelos / The upcoming last stand

Renewed Shall Be the Strings that Were Broken / Emiru and Towa / When was the last time a red Precure had her signature string instrument, which meant the world to her, crushed by the enemy?

IN NEXT EPISODE (21):

Hug-tan just summoned the original Futari wa Precures...

A one-winged baroness rises...

The vital space of legends is invaded by a fangirl...

A battle couple of lustrums ago passes the swords to their successors...

RENEWED SHALL BE THE STRINGS THAT WERE BROKEN.

↧

CALIGARI CARNIVAL HOUSE OF FREAKS

June 27, 2018, 4:15 am

≫ Next: IN THE BACKROOM OF MEMORY

≪ Previous: ...AND I'LL TRY NOT TO SING OUT OF KEY

CALIGARI CARNIVAL HOUSE OF FREAKS
Traducción del inglés de Sandra Dermark
25 de junio, MMXVIII

Bienvenus, welcome
a nuestro barracón;
prepárense pa' ver más
de una gran malformación...
Así, sentaos
y relajaos;
no somos ná formales...
y cuando los veáis,
gracias daréis por ser normales...
Bienvenus, welcome
a nuestro barracón;
a escena las personas
más raras de la región...
Para el primero, espero
que algo de cariño os quepa:
sus hombros son normales
pero el pobre tiene chepa...

Fijaos bien. La chepa es una anomalía de la espina dorsal.
¡Espina!
¡Vístete, Hugo!
¿A que es hilarante? ¡No puede ponerse el sobretodo! ¿Alguien quiere ayudarle?
Bienvenus, welcome
a nuestro barracón;
no hay gente más extraña
que ver fuera de este show;
Habéis visto uno, ahora
la siguiente de la lista:
la chica se retuerce,
dicen que es contorsionista...

Parece normal del todo.
Pero sólo a ojos inexpertos. Si con "inexperto" uno se refiere a que nunca ha visto a esta persona en particular hacer estas cosas en particular.
Uau. Si es verdad que ella...
Miradla. Imaginadla de compañera de yoga. ¡Qué humillante! ¡Para ella...!
Bienvenus, welcome
a nuestro barracón;
¿estáis asustados?
Pues subimos la tensión...
Se acerca algo chocante,
no estoy siendo nada absurdo:
el siguiente fenómeno
no es diestro ni es zurdo...

Es ambi...valente.
¿Qué?
Ambi...guo.
(Ambidiestro.)
¡Ambi...diestro! Escribe tu nombre, Kenneth.
(Me llamo Kevin.)
Sí.
Señoras y señores, sus dos firmas son prácticamente idénticas.
Nunca hemos visto dos cosas tan idénticas como estas.
Eso sí que es una fricada. ¿O no?
Ahora, alejad la mirada del escenario... si no tenéis estómago para ver cómo un hombre se afeita con las dos manos a la vez.

Pido perdón si el espectáculo resulta demasiado fuerte y hiere la sensibilidad de los presentes.
Os van a encantar las rarezas siguientes. Pero primero, ¿qué tal un aplauso para el maestro de ceremonias?
Bienvenus, welcome
a nuestro barracón;
¡abrid vuestros ojos
y gozad de la visión!
Te acordarás de noche
en la cama de estas rarezas:
¡de esta criatura loba
y este ser de dos cabezas!

↧

IN THE BACKROOM OF MEMORY

June 27, 2018, 4:17 am

≫ Next: ÉGAL AUX DIEUX (SAPPHO, FRAGMENT 31)

≪ Previous: CALIGARI CARNIVAL HOUSE OF FREAKS

IN THE BACKROOM OF MEMORY
A Poem by Paz Díez-Taboada
Englished by Sandra Dermark,
on the 19th of June MMXVIII

Dedicated to Ana Laviste Arner

They're still around here, playing ring-o'-roses;
blonde Mari Pepa and a chicken chick
who wistfully deceived his mother hen,
awaiting, eagerly, the fall of night,
for him to run away and see the Moon.
There was a dog as well, whose mournful tale
kept me awake for the long rainy nights.
Shaggy and mournful, he groaned for his life,
offered to craven master's clumsiness.
Soon, the stage was o'ertaken by Snow White,
the lovely princess sauntered on the boards.
With long white beard and doublet olive-green,
and pointy, floppy hat crowned with pompom,
I played Grumpy, the sternest of the dwarves.
¡The poor orphan was such a busy girl!
Yet my favourite was the looking-glass,
the wise mirror that kept in check the pride
of the vain Queen-Stepmother: sorceress
whose withered, knotty hand would offer death.
The one I loved the most was Little Red
Riding-Hood, with her cloak and honey-pot,
though I, sadly, did then not understand
that sometimes the bold huntsman did not come
to save the maiden from the Big Bad Wolf's
hairy clutches, that peeked beneath old Gran's
negligée sleeve-cuffs, lined with whitest lace.
Then, Cinderella opened both my eyes
to the worst of all evils: envious peers,
which force us to work hard for extra hours;
yet the Fairy Godmother wisely taught
us that in make-up lay power sublime,
in lovely dresses, and in fast escape,
although Prince Charming would insist too much.
Later came, pale and wan, her ashy blond
fair hair long to her ankles, Donkeyskin.
She staggers, on pale cover of a book,
wavering, slowly hunch-backed by the weight
of that huge donkey-head upon her back.
Then, 'twas my book again, Ali Baba,
that clever and good fellow, eyes as wide
as saucers as he watched the furious pace
of Forty Thieves storming into their den,
that dark cavern. Now, look and turn this page!
Upon the password, "Open, Sesame!",
the cavern filled with costly treasure hoard:
bracelets, tiaras, necklaces, and crowns,
chests that with dazzling diamonds overflow
—clink, clink, clink; their straight edges say they are—;
the spherical ones are pearls —poom, poom, poom—,
that pour out like a cataract of foam.
But most charming was Ricky of the Tuft,
with snoutlike nose and crooked doodle-back,
and those four strands of hair raised up like flames,
which opened the smiles of fair damosels...
In the end, wit and grace outshone the stance,
stupid and arrogant, of princes vain!
And one day came the hero, though so short,
so familiar and humble...! With high boots,
ceremonious and deft, he dropped the hat
with the cavalier brim airy and wide,
arched his lithe back, and answered, courteously,
to those covetous royals: —Say, whose are
these lands in such full blossom, bounteous crops,
and castle —once it was the ogre's keep—...?
Everything is my master's, the Marquis's,
this lovely shire rightfully belongs to
my master, Lord Marquis of Calabash!
............................................................................
And thus, with childhood, they all marched away,
towards the backroom of my memory.
Yet Saturday and Sunday afternoons,
washed by the rain, when I clean all the house,
order the wardrobes, pick newspapers out,
and dust and shoo insistent moths away,
shake off the spiders of my everyday,
those old companions still parade once more,
and deftly stride forth, in tough Wellingtons,
Sir Thomas of the Thumb and Puss in Boots,
who, hat in paw, meows to me with a smile:
—These flowering plants are my master's all.
Grandfather's portrait, the liquor flacon
that is so lovely, the books and LPs,
they're all forever, and they all belong
rightfully to my master and my lord,
my master, Lord Marquis of Calabash!

↧

ÉGAL AUX DIEUX (SAPPHO, FRAGMENT 31)

June 27, 2018, 4:17 am

≫ Next: SUBVERSION IN ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN

≪ Previous: IN THE BACKROOM OF MEMORY

Sappho
Fragment 31

Égal aux Dieux, à mon avis,
est celui que peut vis-à-vis
ouïr tes gracieux devis
et ce doux rire,

qui le coeur hors du sein me tire,
que tout l'entendement me vire
dessus-dessous, tant il l'admire.

Soudainement je m'aperçois
que toute voix défault en moi,
que ma langue n'a plus en soi
rien de langage.

Une rougeur de feu volage
me court sur le cuir au visage.
Mes yeux n'ont plus de voir l'usage.
Je sens tinter

mes oreilles sans écouter,
froide sueur me dégoutter
de tous les membres, et suinter
d'humeur glacée.

Puis un tremblement conquassée
je demeure pâle, éffacée,
plus que l'herbe jaune passée.
Finalement

je me trouve en ce troublement.
À demi morte, ensemblement
ayant perdu tout mouvement,
pouls et haleine.

(Traduction de Jacques Amyot, 1575 - Réecriture orthographique de Sandra Dermark)

↧

SUBVERSION IN ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN

June 30, 2018, 6:08 am

≫ Next: LITERATURE REWIND: THE SNOW QUEEN

≪ Previous: ÉGAL AUX DIEUX (SAPPHO, FRAGMENT 31)

Fairytale Subversion: Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”

By the time he sat down to pen “The Snow Queen” in the early 1840s, Hans Christian Andersen had already published two collections of fairy tales, along with several poems that had achieved critical recognition. Fame and fortune still eluded him, however, and would until his fairy tales began to be translated into other languages.

“The Snow Queen” was his most ambitious fairy tale yet, a novella-length work that rivaled some of the early French salon fairy tales for its intricacy. Andersen, inspired by the versions of The One Thousand and One Nights that he’d encountered, worked with their tale-within-a-tale format, carefully and delicately using images and metaphor to explore the contrasts between intellect and love, reality and dream; he also gently critiqued both stories. The result was to be lauded as one of Andersen’s masterpieces.

Its biggest inspiration was the Norwegian fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon (more known in the Anglosphere as its British counterpart The Duke of Norroway). Andersen probably heard a Danish version from his grandmother; he may also have encountered one of the tale’s many written forms.

In it, a White Bear promises to make a family rich if he can marry their young daughter. The girl follows the Bear to his enchanted castle in the north. Each night, he joins her in bed, but in the darkness, she never sees him.

As in Beauty and the Beast, the girl misses her family and begs to return home. Her family, who, I might add, were just fine with the whole marry the bear thing, suddenly realize (especially her mother) that this situation might suck since if her husband won’t have the lights on at night, he must—he must!—be a troll! OR, YOU KNOW, THE BEAR YOU ORIGINALLY SENT HER AWAY WITH. I’m not convinced that a troll could be much worse. Anyway, the girl decides to take a look in the light, waking him up. The good news is, because this is a fairy tale, he’s a handsome prince. The bad news is, since she tried to find this out, the bear prince now must marry a troll princess—unless the girl can journey to that enchanted land, and save him. To add insult to injury, he points out that if she had just endured the current situation for one year, all would have been well. Would it have killed you to tell her this in the first place, bear? Well, since this is a fairy tale, maybe, but still.

Basically, the theme of East of the Sun, West of the Moon/The Duke of Norroway is that life really, genuinely sucks and is extremely unfair: here, the result of obeying her parents (her mother tells her to use the light) and trying, you know, to find out what exactly is in bed with her leads to endless months of wandering around the cold, cold north, even if she does get help from three old women and the winds along the way.

Andersen took this story, with its themes of transformation, sacrifice, long journeys, and unfairness, and chose to twist several elements of it, adding themes of temptation and philosophy and intellect and Christian love and charity.

“The Snow Queen” is told in a series of seven stories. In the first, a troll (in some English translations, a “hobgoblin,” “demon,” or "sorcerer") creates a mirror that distorts beauty. The mirror breaks, sending fragments of its evil glass throughout the world, distorting people’s vision, making them only able to see the worst in everything. The troll laughs—

—and that’s pretty much the last we hear of the troll, setting up a pattern that continues throughout the novella: in this fairy tale, evil can and does go unpunished. It was, perhaps, a reflection of Andersen’s own experiences, and certainly a theme of many of his stories. By 1840, he had witnessed many people getting away with cruel and unkind behavior, and although he was certainly more than willing to punish his own protagonists, even overly punish his own protagonists, he often allowed the monsters of his stories to go unpunished. When they could even be classified as monsters.

The second story shifts to little Kai and Gerda, two young children living in cold attics, who do have a few joys in life: the roses and other flowers that they grow on the roofs of their houses, copper pennies that they can warm on a stove and put on their windows, melting the ice (a lovely touch), and the stories told by Kai’s grandmother. At least some of these details may have been pulled from Andersen’s own memories: he grew up poor, and spent hours listening to the stories told by his grandmother and aunts.

Kai sees the Snow Queen at the window, and shortly afterwards, fragments of the mirror enter his heart and eyes, transforming him from a little boy fascinated with roses and fairytales into a clever, heartless boy who likes to tease people. He abandons Gerda and the joy of listening to stories while huddled near a warm stove to go out and play with the older boys in the snow. He fastens his sled to a larger one that, it turns out, is driven by the Snow Queen. She pulls him into her sled and kisses him on the forehead. He forgets everything, and follows her to the north.

The text rather strongly hints that this is a bit more than your typical journey to visit the fjords. Not just because the Snow Queen is a magical creature of ice and snow, but because the language used to describe the scene suggests that Kai doesn’t just freeze, but freezes to death: he feels that he is sinking into a snow drift and falling to sleep, the exact sensations reported by people who almost froze to death, but were revived in time. Gerda, indeed, initially believes that little Kai must be dead. 19th century writers often used similar language and images to describe the deaths of children, and George MacDonald would later use similar imagery when writing At the Back of the North Wind.

On a metaphorical level, this is Andersen’s suggestion that abandoning love, or even just abandoning stories, is the equivalent of a spiritual death. On a plot level, it’s the first echo of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, where the prince is taken to an enchanted castle—or, if you prefer, to death. Only in this case, Kai is not a prince, but a common boy, and he is not enchanted because of anything that Gerda has done, but by his own actions.

In the third story, with Kai gone, Gerda starts to talk to the sunshine and songbirds (not exactly an indication of a stable mental state), who convince her that Kai is alive. As in East of the Sun, West of the Moon, she decides to follow him, with the slight issue that she has no real idea where to look. She begins by trying to sacrifice her red shoes to the river (Andersen appears to have had a personal problem with colorful shoes), stepping into a boat to do so. The boat soon floats down the river, taking Gerda with it. Given what happens next, it’s possible that Gerda, too, has died by drowning, but the language is rich with sunshine and life, so possibly not. Her first stop: the home of a lonely witch, who feeds Gerda enchanted food in hopes that the little girl will stay.

The witch also has a garden with rather talkative flowers, each of which wants to tell Gerda a story. Gerda’s response is classic: “BUT THAT DOESN’T TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT KAI!” giving the distinct impression that she’s at a cocktail party where everyone is boring her, in what seems to be an intentional mockery of intellectual parties that bored Andersen to pieces. Perhaps less intentionally, the scene also gives the impression that Gerda is both more than a bit self-centered and dim, not to mention not all that mentally stable—a good setup for what’s about to happen in the next two stories.

In the fourth story, Gerda encounters a pair of crows (a wild male and a tame female), a prince, and a princess (both equally young, good looking, and especially intelligent). Convinced that the prince is Kai, Gerda enters the palace, and his darkened bedroom, to hold up a lamp and look at his face. And here, the fairy tale is twisted: the prince is not Gerda’s eventual husband, but rather a stranger. The story mostly serves to demonstrate again just how quickly Gerda can jump to conclusions—a lot of people wear squeaky boots, Gerda, it’s not exactly proof that any of them happen to be Kai!—but it’s also a neat reversal of the East of the Sun, West of the Moon in other ways: not only is the prince married to his true bride, not the false one, with the protagonist misidentifying the prince, but in this story, rather than abandoning the girl at the beginning of her quest, after letting her spend the night in the prince’s bed (platonically, we are assured, platonically!) the prince and princess help Gerda on her way, giving her a little sled, warm clothing and food for the journey.

Naturally, in the fifth tale she loses pretty much all of this, and the redshirt servants sent along with her, who die so rapidly I had to check to see if they were even there, when she encounters a band of robbers and a cheerful robber girl, who tells Gerda not to worry about the robbers killing her, since she—that is, the robber girl—will do it herself. It’s a rather horrifying encounter, what with the robber girl constantly threatening Gerda and a reindeer with a knife, and a number of mean animals that she keeps as pets, and the robber girl biting her mother (or grandmother, depending on the version), and then insisting that Gerda sleep with her—and that knife. Not to say that anything actually happens between Gerda and the girl, other than Gerda not getting any sleep, but it’s as kinky as this story gets, so let’s mention it.

The next day, the robber girl sends Gerda off to the sixth tale, where she encounters two more old women—for a total of three. All three tend to be considerably less helpful than the old women in East of the Sun, West of the Moon: in Andersen’s version, one woman wants to keep Gerda instead of helping her, one woman can’t help all that much, and the third sends the poor little girl off into the snow without her mittens. Anyway, arguably the best part of this tale is the little details Andersen adds about the way that one of the women, poverty-stricken, writes on dried fish, instead of paper, and the second woman, only a little less poverty-stricken, insists on eating the fish EVEN THOUGH IT HAS INK ON IT, like wow, Gerda thought that sleeping with the knife is bad.

This tale also has my favorite exchange of the entire story:

“….Cannot you give this little maiden something which will make her as strong as twelve men, to overcome the Snow Queen?”
“The strength of twelve men!” said the Finland woman. “That would be of very little use.”

What does turn out to be of use: saying her prayers, which, in an amazing scene, converts Gerda’s frozen breath into little angels that manage to defeat the living snowflakes that guard the Snow Queen’s palace, arguably the most fantastically lovely metaphor of praying your way through terrible weather ever.

And then finally, in tale seven, Gerda has the chance to save Kai, with the power of her love, her tears, and her prayers finally breaking through the cold rationality that imprisons him, showing him the way to eternity at last. They return home, hand in hand, but not unchanged. Andersen is never clear on exactly how long the two were in the North, but it was long enough for them both to age into young adulthood, short enough that Kai’s grandmother is still alive.

Despite the happy ending, a sense of melancholy lingers over the story, perhaps because of all the constant cold, perhaps because of the ongoing references to death and dying, even in the last few paragraphs of the happy ending, perhaps because the story’s two major antagonists—the demon of the first tale, the Snow Queen of the last six tales—not only don’t die, they’re never even defeated. The Snow Queen—conveniently enough—happens to be away from her castle when Gerda arrives. To give her all due credit, since she does seem to have at least some concern for little Kai’s welfare—keeping him from completely freezing to death, giving him little maths puzzles to do, she might not even be all that displeased to find that Gerda saved him—especially since they leave her castle untouched.

The platonic ending also comes as a bit of a jolt. Given the tale’s constant references to “little Gerda” and “little Kai,” it’s perhaps just as well—a few sentences informing me that they’re adults isn’t really enough to convince me that they’re adults. But apart from the fact that Gerda spends an astonishing part of this story jumping in and out of people’s beds, making me wonder just how much the adult Gerda would hold back from this, “The Snow Queen” is also a fairy tale about the power of love, making it surprising that it doesn’t end in marriage, unlike so many of the fairy tales that helped inspire it.

But I think, for me, the larger issue is that, well, this defeat of reason, of intellectualism by love doesn’t quite manage to ring true. For one thing, several minor characters also motivated by love—some of the flowers, and the characters in their tales, plus the wild crow—end up dead, while the Snow Queen herself, admirer of mathematics and reason, is quite alive. For another thing, as much as Kai is trapped by reason and intellectualism as he studies a puzzle in a frozen palace, Gerda’s journey is filled with its own terrors and traps and disappointments, making it a little tricky for me to embrace Andersen’s message here. And for a third thing, that message is more than a bit mixed in other ways: on the one hand, Andersen wants to tell us that the bits from the mirror that help trap little Kai behind ice and puzzles prevent people from seeing the world clearly. On the other hand, again and again, innocent little Gerda—free of these little bits of glass—fails to see things for what they are. This complexity, of course, helps add weight and depth to the tale, but it also makes it a bit harder for the ending to ring true.

And reading this now, I’m aware that, however much Andersen hated his years at school, however much he resented the intellectuals who dismissed his work, however much he continued to work with the fairy tales of his youth, that education and intellectualism was what eventually brought him the financial stability and fame he craved. He had not, to be fair, gained either as he wrote “The Snow Queen,” which certainly accounts for the overt criticism of rationality, intellectualism, and, well, maths, and he was never to emotionally recover from the trauma of his education, and he had certainly found cruelty and mockery amongst the intellectuals he’d encountered, examples that helped shape his bitter description of Kai’s transformation from sweet, innocent child to cruel prankster and indifferent perfectionist. At the same time, that sophistication and education had helped transform his tales.

But for young readers, “The Snow Queen” does have one compelling factor: it depicts a powerless child triumphing over an adult. Oh, certainly, Gerda gets help along the way. But notably, quite a lot that help comes from marginalized people—a robber maiden, two witches, and two crows. It offers not just a powerful argument that love can and should overcome reason, but the hope that the powerless and the marginalized can triumph. That aspect, the triumph of the powerless, is undoubtedly why generations have continued to read the tale, and why Disney, after several missteps, transformed its core into a story of self-actualization.

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According to the expert opinions of the kids next door, Frozenis not just the best Disney movie ever, but the best movie ever ever ever.

EVER.

Which is one reason why I hesitated to include it in this read-watch: that expert opinion has also led the kids next door to play the English and Spanish soundtracks from Frozen at high volume on a regular basis, and, far worse, sing along with both. By the fifth rendition of “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman/Hazme un muñeco de nieve” during a Florida August, I was ready to hunt down the songwriters and bury them in snowmen myself. Plus, I had the excuse that Frozen, despite a credit that reads “inspired by” Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, departs so far from that novella that the film is usually credited as a Disney original.

So skipping Frozen was the original plan—until, that is, I happened to reread The Snow Queen for other reasons, and realized that, in spirit, Frozen may be probably closer to its original source material than anything we’ve seen so far in this reread.

Really.

Disney animators had thought about adapting The Snow Queen as far back as 1937, when it was suggested, along with several other fairy tales, as a potential follow-up to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In many ways, the story—a small girl heads off to the north to try to save her young friend, Kai, captured by the Snow Queen after his heart was pierced by a shard of evil glass—seemed perfect for a Disney adaptation. The original story even had talking animals and flowers—Disney staples—a few witches, and a prince and princess. It virtually screams “adapt this, Disney.”

But those screams did little to help Disney adapt the story. Part of the problem—a huge problem—is that the original story arguably has too many villains: the demon who creates the original evil mirror, the witch who briefly enchants and imprisons little Gerda, the robbers, and, of course, the Snow Queen herself. But also arguably, the original story hardly has any villains at all, or at least satisfactory ones. The witch enchants Gerda out of loneliness, not malice; the robbers end up helping little Gerda; and the Snow Queen is less evil and more merely a force of nature. Indeed, at one point the Snow Queen even argues that she’s helping agriculture, and she—arguably—even helps to save Kai, by pulling him away from the dangerous sledding that almost kills him.

Granted, that’s from her viewpoint, and the text rather heavily implicates that the sledding and the snow might indeed have killed Kai, forcing Gerda to not just save Kai, but bring him back from death. But even in that reading, the Snow Queen lacks the malice Disney wanted from its villains. That left only the demon—who vanished at the beginning of the story. And although Disney had been willing to give audiences a glimpse of a demon in Fantasia (Chernabog), the company was not yet willing to feature a real demon as the main villain of a full length animated film.

Nor was anyone at Disney particularly interested in using ice as a metaphor for reason, much less focusing on the battle between Love and Reason in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They faced other, more urgent battles. The moment slipped by. By the 1950s, Disney lacked the financial resources to animate the delicate images of frost and snow fairies as they had to such great effect in Fantasia. With no script, and no ability to animate the script, even if they had one, the original concept art was quietly filed away.

Animators took another look at The Snow Queen during the Disney Renaissance of the 1990s, but once again, nobody knew quite what to do with it. Eventually Glen Keane, assigned to take another look at it, decided to focus on the more straightforward Tangled instead. That concept art, too, was filed away, and seen by very few.

Fortunately, one of those few just happened to be John Lasseter, who had become the Chief Creative Officer at Disney Animation in 2006. As he would later tell the media, he loved the original concept art, and ordered animators to take another look at it.

Initially, that look consisted only of the filmmakers finally managing to agree on one thing: the name “Gerda” should be replaced by “Anna.” That was still more progress than anyone had made on the concept for decades, and perhaps encouraged by this one small step—or simply convinced that if he ordered it, it would come—Lasseter ordered animators to continue. By 2011, he was optimistic enough to announce that Frozen would be released in 2013, even though, at that point, the planned film had no script and no solid character designs or background work.

With a looming deadline, animators, directors, and story writers scrambled, and finally, in 2012, cracked open the concept they needed to make The Snow Queen work. They simply wouldn’t do The Snow Queen. Instead, they would change the character of the Snow Queen from villain to victim, and in her own cold way, a hero. And instead of a story focused on rescuing a boy, this would be a story about sisters.

Mari Ness

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LITERATURE REWIND: THE SNOW QUEEN

July 3, 2018, 5:08 am

≫ Next: FROZEN VS. THE SNOW QUEEN

≪ Previous: SUBVERSION IN ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN

This post will be the review of the Andersen tale as presented in the version by Fairytale Fandom, with my own comments here and there...

Well, it’s summer and the temperature out there seems to keep climbing. So, maybe it’s a good idea to find a tale to cool off. How about Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”? Now, I’ll admit that I’ve never been a big fan of Andersen. When it comes to the great fairy tale writers, I gravitate more towards the earthy, rustic tales of the Brothers Grimm or the courtly wit of Perrault. Something about Andersen’s tales always left me cold (you might want to prepare yourself, because these puns are probably going to keep coming). However, I figure that no one can write a fairy tale blog without talking about Andersen eventually. Also, I remember thinking “The Snow Queen” wasn’t so bad the first time I read it. Actually, I’ve wanted to do something regarding this tale ever since Disney’s Frozen came out, seeing how this story and the movie it inspired are so completely different. If there are any huge Frozen fans out there who would have a serious problem with how different the title character in this story is from Princess Elsa, may I suggest before continuing that you just . . . let it go (I swear, I am so awful sometimes).

Anyway, let’s start with some information on the author. Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark on April 2, 1805. Andersen was a product of two towns and two lives. His youth was spent in the provincial town of Odense. His adult life was spent in the up-scale literary circles of Copenhagen. So, for most of his life, Andersen was kind of a man of two worlds. In some cases, he was even at war with himself. This feeling of being “between two worlds” has become a feature of most of his stories (one notable example being “The Little Mermaid”). He even stood between the worlds of folklore and literature. In his youth, he would often hear tales from the elderly female inmates of the Odense Hospital and Retirement Home (it was really more of a workhouse), including his own grandmother (and many of his tales feature a "bedstemor" as the wise old mentor, to highlight this inspiration). This would provide the basis for his adaptations of popular folk stories like “Little Claus and Big Claus” and “The Wild Swans”. However, many of his most popular tales like “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Little Mermaid” and this story were his own invention. Another big influence on Andersen’s writing was his religious faith, which was what has been described as a sort of “undogmatic Protestant Christianity”. This is just a brief overview.

Now, “The Snow Queen” is a tale split into seven smaller stories. So, I’ll try my best to give a brief gist of the story without spoiling it and give my impressions.

First Story. Here, we find out about a very specific magic mirror. This magic mirror was created by a terrible troll. That troll was called Satan (in some versions; in others, he's the headmaster of a wizarding school; sometimes “troll” is translated as “sprite” or "goblin"). The mirror had the ability to cause anything good or beautiful reflected in it look ridiculous or repulsive. Through a series of events, the troll’s mirror gets shattered and little shards of it spread throughout the world. Some are no bigger than a grain of sand. The mirror will become important later. However, what I find interesting is the combination of Judaeo-Christian mythology with Scandinavian folklore. I would have never thought to characterize the arch-devil as a troll before. I suppose it should come as no surprise, though. These things dovetail together all the time. In Islamic folklore, ghouls are both described as evil djinn and as demons or fallen angels. Also, in Scottish lore, the fairies supposedly owe a tithe to the Evil One.

Second Story. Here we are introduced to Kai and Gerda. They’re two innocent little children who are close friends and share a garden. It’s also here that we’re introduced to the idea of the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen in this story doesn’t seem to be so much a character as a force of nature. She’s described as someone who flies right in the center of fierce snowstorms and returns to the clouds when it’s all over. The snow flakes are described as being “white bees” and she is the queen. She’s essentially the mother of the storm. Now, all seems to go well until little Kai gets a little piece of the troll’s mirror caught in his left eye and another little piece caught in his heart. As a result, Kai changes. He becomes mean and only sees the flaws and everything. He teases the old grandmother who tells him and Gerda stories. He even stops playing with Gerda and would rather go play with the other boys, especially the bullies. Essentially, what we have here is a metaphor for pre-adolescent cynicism. It’s age 10-13 for boys with a magical twist. If you’ve ever had to deal with male secondary-school kids, you know what I’m talking about (I don’t blame them, it’s a hard time). Anyway, Kai goes off to play with the bad boys but ends up getting led away by the Snow Queen.

Third Story. With Kai missing, little Gerda decides to go out in the spring and look for him. This is actually kind of awesome for a little girl. One little girl against the world to find her best friend! She ends up staying at the house of an old woman who knows magic. The old woman enchants her to forget she’s looking for Kai until she sees a rosebush in the garden (Kai and Gerda used to play near a rosebush in their own garden). She then goes and talks to all the other flowers in the garden and they all tell their own story. Honestly, I don’t really know what to make of their stories. They’re all just little vignettes that seem like they should be part of bigger stories.

Fourth Story. Having gained no help from the flowers, Gerda goes on her way. She meets a wild male crow who tells her about a little prince who came to marry a nearby princess. Gerda is convinced it’s Kai and has the crow’s tame fiancée sneak her into the palace. One of the most interesting things in this one is that the shadows of dreams appear on the walls of the palace. It’s just such a wonderful, fantastical idea. It’s also kind of reflected in Andersen’s other story “The Sandman” (yes, that Sandman). Anyway, it turns out that the prince is not Kai, so Gerda goes on her way with some new warm clothes and a carriage, courtesy of the royals, to ride in.

Fifth Story. In this story, Gerda meets the Robber Girl! There’s not much to explain here. Gerda gets kidnapped by robbers and meets a crazy little robber girl. Robbers are something of a fairy tale staple, even if a less mainstream one. They kind of play both hero and villain, too. There’s the dark and vicious robber of Grimm’s “The Robber Bridegroom” but there’s also the helpful band of robbers that take in the heroine in the Italian “Snow White” variant “Bella Venezia”. Here, they’re a little bit of both. They are violent and dangerous, but the robber girl does help Gerda in the end. Anyway, Gerda gets a lead on Kai and sets off on a reindeer for Lapland.

Sixth Story. In this story, Gerda and the reindeer meet two old women, one is a Lapp (Saami) and one is from the Finnmark, the Norwegian Arctic. They give Gerda advice as old women in fairy tales often do. The Finn woman tells Gerda that she has all the power she needs to free Kai. We also find out that the northern lights are the Snow Queen’s fireworks, which is a fun little factoid. Gerda also heads for the Snow Queen’s palace where she encounters some snowflake monsters. However, here’s the strange part of this story. When Gerda says her prayers, her breath turns into a legion of little angels with spears and helmets that fight the snowflake monsters. Wiggy, huh?

Now, before we go any further, I have to give people a chance to get off this ride. You see, I have to talk about the ending and there are SPOILERS a-coming. If you don’t want to hear about the ending and the subtext of said ending, you should leave now. Everyone ready? Good.

Seventh Story. Gerda finds Kai, who is turned blue with cold. He’s playing a game called the Game of Reason in which he puts together shards of ice to form the word “eternity” and/or the shape of a sun. However, he can’t remember what the word is. Gerda runs to Kai and her tears melt the glass shard in his heart. She sings part of a childhood song and Kai cries and the tiny piece of glass is cried out of his eyes. Gerda kisses him and his warmth and colour are restored. So, everything is restored and they return to their happy lives... or do they?

Here’s the thing, I’m not entirely sure Kai and Gerda survive this encounter. They do seem to go back home to the grandmother. However, Kai is frozen close to death already. Also, Gerda had lost her boots and mittens and hood, and was exposed to the elements as well. Also, right before they leave, the Game of Reason rearranges itself to spell out “eternity”. Two children, cold and exposed to the elements find eternity. Now there’s a chilling thought (I knew I had another pun in me). It wouldn’t be the first time Andersen has depicted heaven as something earthly and comforting. In “The Little Match Girl”, the titular character sees heaven as a warm, cozy room. The lines of the psalm at the end seem to hint at this too:

Our roses bloom and fade away

Our infant Lord abides always.

May we be blessed his face to see

And ever little children be.

This may be why I never cared much for Andersen’s tales. I’ve never really been religious. I’m more of a secular humanist, really. However, in the world of many of Andersen’s stories, reaching Heaven is the ultimate happy ending. For him the Ever After is actually The Ever After. I can’t blame a man for building his beliefs into the stories he created. However, as someone who sees death as more a sad ending than a happy new beginning, you can’t be surprised that I find his endings leave me cold.

Update: Well, we've been having some lively discussion in the comments section. And the more I've been reading, the more I think I've been reading into things a little too much. Kai and Gerda probably just went home rather than... passing on. I'd say it was subtext but upon looking at some of Andersen's other works, I've noticed that he doesn't really do subtext (other than maybe how the themes in his writing reflect his own life. If they had gone on to meet their maker, he'd have just said so. I usually don't do much in the way of interpretation for these stories, but I chose to with this one and came up with something kind of surprising. But that's what's so great about interpreting literature, two people can see two completely different things in the same story.

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FROZEN VS. THE SNOW QUEEN

July 3, 2018, 5:13 am

≫ Next: FOR EVERY LOVELY GLOBE FLOWER, THERE IS A DEATHCAP MUSHROOM

≪ Previous: LITERATURE REWIND: THE SNOW QUEEN

Frozen vs. The Snow Queen

Christmas can be full of excitement, snowy landscapes, and family bickering. So what better time to look at Disney’s Frozen?

Based upon The Snow Queen, it’s about two sisters forced apart by fear and together again by love, and the story enjoyed a similar bout of see-sawing. There were talks about an adaptation way back in 1943, but it was only after 70 years of extensive fiddling that it finally saw the light of day. Luckily it was worth the wait: Frozen has been an incredible success and even ousted The Lion King from its throne as the highest-grossing Disney film of all time. But was the original book left out in the cold?

The source text is yet another gem from the vault of Hans Christian Andersen, a failed thespian actor, singer, and ballet dancer (ballerino?) who became one of the most famous and well-travelled Danish writers of his time. His many fairytales fanned out from Germany in the 1840s, reaching as far as England and the Americas, and included works like The Little Mermaid and The Emperor’s New Clothes. He penned The Snow Queen, or Snedronningen, in December 1844, so he was probably feeling the Christmas vibe too, especially since he was a committed Christian who believed the world and nature were intertwined with divinity in a holistic worldview.

You’d be right in thinking Disney watered down the religious aspects for a secular audience, but that’s not all. For instance, instead of a kooky snowman, reindeer, and rugged mountain boy... our supporting characters include a stab-happy robber girl, a bearded lady, a couple of talking crows, and creepy old women obsessed with amnesiac children.

If that didn’t make you shudder, a freezing spoiler wind is about to strike, so if you need to wrap up warm, I’d hop to another post. But if the cold never bothered you anyway, let’s plough ahead.

A Tale of Two Siblings

For our original “siblings”, playtime is spared the drama of cryokinesis.

Andersen version

This inseparable pair are a little boy called Kai and a little girl called Gerda. They aren’t brother and sister but they play together as if they were siblings, and live opposite each other in attic rooms joined by an outside gutter. In the springtime and summer, flower boxes with rose bushes are planted in the gutter, forming a mini garden where they can play. The roses are their favourite, and Gerda teaches Kai part of a hymn about them, which probably won’t be important in any way:

“Where roses deck the flowery vale,
There, infant love will sure prevail!”

In winter, they communicate via peepholes through the windows or by physically traipsing down the stairs, into the street, and up into the other’s house. One day while sitting inside, one of their grandmothers tells them about the “white bees” of snow (the snowflakes), and the “queen bee” who appears in the thickest of swarms and makes ice patterns on the windows. Gerda asks if this “Snow Queen” could ever come into the house, but Kai shrugs and says he would just melt her on the stove if she did.

Forgetting for a moment the change from normal, unrelated peasant children (ersatz siblings/best friends) to royal sisters, one of whom is the Snow Queen, there are a couple of similar themes here. One half of the pair is fearless, either threatening to burn a snow spirit on the stove or leaping up too high, and the other half is more cautious, either about said snow spirit or when her powers go too far. Neither snow queen has the best introduction, but Elsa is only a little girl with abilities beyond her control and non-threatening, making her more sympathetic than a ghostly apparition who could spell trouble. Regardless of their intentions, both snow queens will test the incredibly strong bond between the children.

Cold Shoulder

Pop quiz: what’s worse, being cruel to be kind, or intentionally being an arse? Little Gerda’s about to find out.

Andersen version

This time it’s the more adventurous child who throws up a wall. One night, Kai is looking out of the window when a snowflake suddenly materialises into the Snow Queen. She is a tall, beautiful woman (rather than an insect-like monster) made entirely out of ice and has eyes that have no peace or kindness in them. Still, she’s nice enough to give him a wave, and he runs away pretending he saw a big white bird, something like an eagle.

During the springtime, while playing in the roof garden with Gerda, he feels a grain of something in his left eye, and his heart suddenly turns into a lump of ice. Strangely enough, it’s nothing to do with the Snow Queen.

There are no good-natured trolls in the original, but instead we have demonic hobgoblins, trolls in the original tale, whose leader creates a cursed mirror. The mirror gives modern day gossip columns a run for their money, magnifying anything bad and belittling anything good, and when it’s dropped and smashed, pieces of it rain all over the world. Just one tiny grain is as powerful as the whole, and Kai cops two of them, one in his eye and one in his heart. He suddenly decides to trash their beloved roses, kick over the flower box, tease a confused and tearful Gerda, and then make a name for himself mimicking anyone else he meets. The only thing he sees as unworthy of ridicule or perfect are snowflakes.

Both Elsa and Kai change their behaviour because of magic, but the former does this out of fear and to protect her sister rather than involuntarily, as well as to obey her parents’ wishes. Neither Anna nor Gerda have any clue why their playmate’s behaviour has changed so radically, and it’s hard to decide who has the worst deal. Anna’s whole family are hiding something from her and she has no explanation for it. All she has is happy memories which no longer make any sense. Kai doesn’t shut Gerda out for most of her childhood, and there is no conspiracy going on, but then again, the boy is actively an ass-hat to her and makes her cry.

Fortunately, neither girl will have to put up with this behaviour for much longer.

The Cold Light of Day

Elsa’s not the only one stretching her wings. After the way Kai has treated Gerda and everyone else around him lately, you’d think the town would also want to get shot of him. Their wish is about to be granted.

Andersen version

Kai is now allowed to play on a sled with the bigger boys in town (obviously, the local bullies), but when a large, white sled appears, he ends up playing sled-conga and is led out of the kingdom and away into the snowy wilderness. When they finally stop, the other driver is revealed to be the Snow Queen, apparently pulled along by white snow chickens. When she sees Kai shivering, she kisses him to take the cold feeling away, and then again so he forgets all about Gerda and his home. She then casually mentions that if she kisses him again it will kill him, so she’d better not. The boy doesn’t seem to mind because the Snow Queen is the only thing that looks perfect to him and his warped view of the world, and he willingly goes back with her to her palace, sleeping at her feet during the day and staring up at the moon at night.

Back in the town, people eventually believe that Kai is dead, possibly drowned in the river. Gerda believes this too until the spring sunshine and the swallows (birds of passage), and the flowers in the roof garden, tell her otherwise, so she sets off to find him herself.

A coronation day and being allowed to play with the big boys or bullies are obviously different in importance, but they are both “coming of age” events, and result in Elsa and Kai leaving their lives behind and embracing the ice and snow. For Elsa it’s a release and freedom after years of hiding herself, and for Kai, brain-washing aside, it’s something that he can finally see as flawless after his run-in with a shard of goblin mirror. Whether they’ve done anything wrong or not, both “sisters” take off after the other, but Anna has the foresight to leave someone in charge of her kingdom and to tell people where she’s going. She didn’t wait until spring to get her skates on either, but then again, she’s a bit more impulsive when it comes to boys. Will both girls survive alone out in the wide world?

Northbound

It turns out Olaf isn’t the only one oblivious to his surroundings and the seasons.

Andersen version

Gerda’s first port of call is the river, and while looking for Kai she is swept away by the stream and rescued by an old lady who lives in a riverside cottage. Whether the girl likes it or not, the old woman, a good witch, wants to keep Gerda, and magically removes any roses from her garden so she forgets all about her playmate. Luckily, she forgets to remove the one on her hat, and after some time Gerda’s memory is jolted. Her exasperated tears bring back the real roses, and she asks them and the other flowers if they know anything. While the roses can confirm that Kai isn’t dead, the other flowers can only impart stories like a Hindu woman burning to death on her husband’s funeral pyre, a medieval damsel yearning for her true love, and three beautiful sisters who run away into the forest to die. Helpful.

By the time Gerda has fled the garden, it’s now late autumn in the outside world. Fortunately, the snowy wastes further on yield more effective companions: a male wild crow and his tame mate who may have seen Kai getting married to an eccentric, intelligent princess recently. Said princess decided she fancied a husband one day and extended the invitation to any eligible bachelors around. Any who could speak well and comfortably to her would be her husband, and the one who succeeded where many awkward suitors had failed before, winning her heart and hand through his clever liveliness, a rugged chap with long hair and bright eyes, may have been Kai. Gerda really did take her sweet time!

After sneaking into their bedchamber, Gerda realises it’s a false sighting (it's not Kai, but still a dashing young man), but the prince and princess are cool with a peasant girl wandering into their private quarters, actually ask if she wants to stay with them, and when she regretfully refuses, give her some supplies for her journey. They spoil her with a muff (the type for your hands, stop sniggering), winter boots, and a golden chariot with horse, outriders, footmen, and coachman. And away she goes, with the crows, prince and princess waving a tearful goodbye. Her destination isn’t exactly set, but going somewhere is better than nowhere I suppose.

The wolves are the only Disney characters who want to capture the sister for themselves, and everyone Anna meets seems to want to help her, either out of genuine friendliness or possible reward. She herself is quite similar to Andersen’s husband-hungry princess, and at a push you can see the rugged Kristoff in the prince, but otherwise the aid is reversed – royalty is helped by the peasantry rather than vice versa, and a talking snowman rather than a crow gives hope to the search party, to link back to Anna and Elsa’s childhood. In Gerda’s case, it’s the roses that keep her memory of Kai alive and spur her on, and this is all she has to go on for now, as no one has a clue where he went.

Sadly, not everyone they meet will be as endearing (or harmlessly creepy) on their trip.

Cold Snap

Our motley Disney crew have each other and a goal in mind. Although Gerda’s about to get both of these things, one of them gets worse before it gets better.

Andersen version

Don’t recognise any of the characters so far? Don’t worry, the reindeer's still in it.

Sort of.

Once her friends the crows are out of sight, Gerda is ambushed by robbers who massacre her entire entourage. A bearded, alcoholic old woman, the leader of the pack, drags her out of the chariot and decides to cook her for lunch, until her equally crazy daughter nearly bites off the woman’s ear and demands that Gerda be her playmate. Under the threat of stabbing, Gerda plays with and sleeps next to the robber girl, who has imprisoned a collection of woodland pigeons and a reindeer called Be. In between shaking the pigeons upside down, the girl tickles Be with a knife to scare him and stop him from running away.

When the pigeons reveal that they know of the Snow Queen (she killed their siblings by blowing on them), and that Be knows where to find her in Lapland, the robber girl relents and lets Be take Gerda further north to find her.

Their first stop is the Lapp lady, who gives Gerda a note written on a stockfish, a dried and salted codfish, a.k.a. this hellish abomination:

IT TASTES AS WEIRD AS IT LOOKS

...to take to the Fin woman, who can better direct them because the Snow Queen is staying even further north at the moment.

Gerda and Anna both experience backhanded affection from their sister or a supposed “friend”, who, paradoxically, almost hurts them to protect them from getting hurt. The Snow Queen also drops a little in our estimation, with Elsa unleashing a monster on her sister, and Andersen’s version killing baby pigeons on top of the whole “child abduction” thing. Although both sisters have a time limit slapped on them, Gerda would only be inconvenienced if she missed the Snow Queen, as opposed to dead in Anna’s case. Happily, the girls are helped by more experienced mountain folk and get to ride a kick-ass reindeer, so it’s not all bad. Not yet, anyway.

Ice in the Veins

Thirteen is definitely unlucky for some.

For Gerda, it seems that a strange power can actually protect you for once.

Andersen version

She and Be finally arrive at the Fin woman’s house, a hobbit-hole-like home so warm that she practically walks around naked on all fours. For some reason Gerda lets a reindeer do all the talking for her, and Be asks the woman if she can give Gerda anything to help on her journey. She takes the caribou to one side and whispers that if Gerda can’t find the Snow Queen herself she’s already doomed, explaining that everyone on her journey has served her one way or the other, all because of her love for her “brother” and her child-like innocence. And to keep her innocence, and therefore safe, the girl must never be told that she has this power.

The Fin woman’s solution, therefore, is for Be to take her as far as the edge of the Finmark and dump her there. If you’re not sure how far north this is, the Fin(n)mark is where you find the North Cape, one of the most northern points of Europe and one of the last shreds of inhabited land before the North Pole.

Fortunately, Gerda has become as non-plussed as Anna in the face of adversity and turns the ice and snow to her advantage. The further she walks, the bigger the snowflakes get until they take on the sinister shapes of the Snow Queen’s guards. By reciting her evening prayer, she manages to conjure up her own ice soldiers to cut them up and protect her from the cold, so as far as she’s concerned she’s just out for a chilly and apparently magical walk.

Once Anna is unwittingly abandoned by her friends, she has as much chance surviving as a snowball in hell, and not least because Hans proves to be a million times more of a bastard than Kai was. Conversely, Gerda is deliberately abandoned by her friends – but not maliciously – and discovers her inner power. As for the Snow Queen, one only has a young girl on the warpath, while the more sympathetic one has half a kingdom and a power-hungry prince after her blood, on top of the knowledge that her sister is missing and possibly dead. Stress certainly isn’t good for the heart, but it’s no match for ice.

Come in from the Cold

Thankfully for Gerda, she needn’t bother with swords or ice statues, because she’s armed with three of the most powerful things in the world – love, words, and nostalgia.

Andersen version

Kai has been just as oblivious to danger as Gerda, and has spent all this time living in the Snow Queen’s vast palace. It’s a complete waste of space – some rooms go on for miles, but there’s not an animal or drunken royal shindig to be seen anywhere. While the Snow Queen spends her days jet-setting all over the world, the boy spends his time sitting on the frozen lake floor, arranging ice patterns in a puzzle. If he can arrange them into the word “eternity” inside a sun shape, the queen will let him go and give him a brand new set of skates, because priorities. Thanks to the grains of mirror in his eye and heart, he’s obsessed with these ice shapes, and is cyanotic, almost black, with cold.

Gerda could saunter her way into the palace if she so wished because there’s absolutely no one to stop her from getting inside. When she finds Kai before the empty throne (the Queen had just left to bring the winter south again, to frost the grapevines and the citrus crops), he neither acknowledges nor recognises her, so she hugs him, cries, and sings the rose hymn they used to know. The combination warms him up and melts his heart, expelling the mirror shard inside a teardrop, turning him back into the sweet surrogate brother she once had. Kay and Gerda are so happy that they’ve found each other again that the ice pieces start dancing about too, and coincidentally fall to the ground arranging a sun which contains the word “eternity”. So, even if the Snow Queen came back, she could do bugger all – by the terms of an arbitrary agreement, Kai is now free.

A frozen lake is obviously the place to break an icy spell, and it’s an act of sibling rather than romantic love that does the trick. Anna and Elsa’s situation is more desperate, thanks to a falling sword and freezing heart, but in either case, it’s partially the Snow Queen’s fault that one half of the pair is going the way of Olaf the snowman. Snow and ice also end up helping them in the end, in the form of Olaf rescuing Anna, ice deflecting a sword, or actual pieces of ice becoming sentient and helpful. With Anna and Kai revived, what’s next for our snow sorceresses?

Summer of Love

Will Andersen’s Snow Queen be accommodating to Gerda and Kai?

Andersen version

The answer is “no”, because the Snow Queen never shows her face, allowing an elated Gerda and Kai to walk back completely unhindered by storms or adverse weather. When they reach the border of Finmark, Be and a younger reindeer are waiting for them. The latter has baps full of milk to feed them, and they run with them back down south, stopping for directions at the Fin woman’s home and then a quick snack, change of clothes and a new sledge at the Lapp woman’s. Once they reach their own country’s border with the first green buds, they bump into the robber girl – now riding a horse from Gerda’s chariot, whose footmen her family murdered – and she reports that the male crow is dead, and the female crow is wearing black ribbons on her feet for widow's weeds. In other equally happy news she is off to explore the world and promises to call in on them if she passes them (while also wondering if Kai is worth going to the ends of the Earth for!). The prince and the princess are also travelling through foreign countries, surely on their honeymoon. Lucky them.

On Kai and Gerda’s return to their hometown in late spring/early summer, the book is as subtle as a brick and sees the grandmother reading from the Bible, the Gospel of Matthew to be more precise. She simply says to them:

Without ye become as little children ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven

Ignoring her lack of greeting, recognition, or abject joy at their return, Gerda and Kai look at each other and realise they are now both all grown up, and that the hymn they once sang each other had a deeper meaning. By staying innocent children in their hearts, they are protected from evil, and from then onwards, springtime and summer also seem to last forever.

Conclusion

This time, it’s sibling love that conquers all.

The years of forgiveness, understanding and death-defying actions given by Anna and Gerda for their respective sister or brother show a stronger love than that felt by any of the romantic characters present. While Kristoff and Anna are certainly smouldering, their feelings can’t yet compete with the above, and you can forget Hans’s red herring romance. For Gerda’s part, she isn’t at all jealous when it’s revealed Kai may have married a princess, and they don’t kiss or marry (at least in the Andersen original; the Dumas version ends with the birth of their twin children) when they return home either. As for Elsa, she has shut herself away, both mentally and physically, for a large chunk of her life in order to protect her sister, and while this was done out of love, fear was the overriding emotion. In Kai’s case, he was a prisoner too, but this time at the mercy of evil magic. He and Elsa are only truly free when they remember or allow themselves to feel love.

The other story themes are where the book and the film diverge. In Andersen’s The Snow Queen, faith is the ultimate protector. Gerda is the one who teaches Kai the hymn about the roses, and by reciting her Prayer she is shielded from the Snow Queen’s powers. It’s also a hymn that revives Kai, and by remaining innocent and childlike, untouched by temptation, Gerda is able to survive several potentially lethal situations on her own. Once the pair are back together again, and remain children in their hearts, the world always seems warm and summery to them. The Snow Queen in this story represents temptation, and she strikes when Kai is vulnerable after being touched by evil, or in this case a cynical adult’s view of the world. Rather unconventionally, the boy is rescued by the girl, and most of the wise and helpful people on Gerda’s journey are female. Then again, so are the creepiest ones.

In Frozen, we’re shown how fear can cripple and affect someone’s behaviour, and the perils of running away from your problems rather than trying to solve them, i.e. Elsa trying to stifle rather than experience and control her powers. Interestingly, it’s also implied that taking risks once in a while isn’t a bad thing. Despite the extreme likelihood of rejection, accidental injury and death, Anna persists in trying to spend time with her sister over the years, and charges off into the wilderness to find her when she makes her escape. Her whirlwind romance with Hans came to no good, but in the end she uncovered a royal conspiracy and found someone better in the interim. Her unfortunate spat with Elsa, while nearly fatal, showed her sister how powerful love could be and how to lift the spell. So Disney’s Snow Queen character represents overcoming fear and how to stop it from controlling you, hence the title “Frozen”.

The ultimate lesson of both stories is to give people the benefit of the doubt, to look on the bright side where possible and try to retain a childlike wonder when walking through the world. In other words, if you encounter a problem, a dilemma, or an idiot, remember there are more important things in life, and that there’s only one thing you should do.

Let it go.

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