#biancabella and the snake

[thelastofthebookworms]

My tag for this series is 'fairy tales'.

[tyrantisterror]

What are your top favorite fairy tales? Either classic literarily stories, adaptations of literary fairy tales, wholly modern fairy tales, or even just stories that you think are structured like fairy tales. (Roald Dahl books, Studio Ghibli movies, even Shrek and Puss in Boots movies, etc.)

That is an unfathomably vast genre of fiction to try and condense into a ranked numbered list. I think... I think that may be impossible to actually answer as requested. But I can ramble about some of my favorites I suppose.

Let's do this sorta like the Oscars and divide things into categories.

Category 1: The Heavy Hitters

Some fairy tales are significantly more famous than others, so this category is for them: the heavy hitters, the classic fairy tales that are most well known, as defined by my own nebulous perception of which fairy tales are more popular than others.

Of the heavy hitters, my favorites are Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. Little Red Riding Hood is such a spooky story no matter which telling you're looking at, and has contributed a lot to both the fantasy and horror genres thanks to its simple yet evocative premise and visuals. Jack and the Beanstalk, meanwhile, is just a really solid story of a trickster fool, which is one of my favorite archetypes in all of fiction. Love a good trickster fool.

Category 2: The Obscurities

As I said, this ask is covering a HUGE amount of fiction in its topic, especially since the border between a fairy tale and, like, ANY folklore isn't really well-defined (not in a way anyone can agree too, anyway). But there are a lot of obscure folktales I love that are at least sometimes lumped in as fairy tales, and I'm gonna list them here:

The Lambton Worm - a classic tale of dragon-slaying and getting fucked over by prophecies

The Lindworm Prince - queen can't concieve and consults a witch, ignores witch's directions, gives birth to human baby and dragon baby. Dragon baby grows up and demands a wife before human baby can get his, and a clever girl decides this is her chance to get rewarded for monster fucking.

Maud and the Dragon of Mordiford - the story of a girl who adopts a dragon only for it to end tragically, which inspired one of the novels I'm gonna write one of these days

Tam Lin - the story of a woman who wanted that elf dick and wasn't afraid to do some weird shit to get it

Biancabella and Samaritana - a story about a girl and her sister who is a snake because her mother had trouble concieving

King Odd - a story about an odd king who's actually an exiled fairy queen in disguise, and the man who wins her heart after surviving her attempt to execute him. It's like a Nordic medieval Tenchi Muyo.

You've probably noticed some themes about my favorites right now - lots of stories with dragons, people being transformed into monsters, and heroes who are into that monster shit.

Category 3: Archetypal Pieces

Ok, so for this I'm going to focus less on individual folktales and more on recurring plotlines, character types, and story beats, which you begin to notice the more you read up on Fairy Tales in part because many of the more obscure ones take beats from ones you're probably more familiar with and mix them together in new ways. So, my favorite plot beats in fairy tales:

Any sort of monster, obviously

The villain who literally removed their heart out of fear of being vulnerable

The baleful polymorph (i.e. a human who inhabits a beast/monster body against their will)

Monsterfucker protagonists

Trickster Fool protagonists

Disobedient Girls (examples: Little Red, Goldilocks), though I don't like how this archetype is treated

You want to have a baby and seek a witch and she gives you VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS which you ignore because you really want this baby and oops you've got twins and one of them is some sort of monster good job asshole

The hero helps three (or more) people/creatures in need, and when shit hits the fan, they return the favor

Category 4: Modern(ish) Adaptations

Our penultimate category focuses on adaptations of fairy tales from, like, the 1900's on - anything made in a century I've lived in part of, basically. These arguably shouldn't be divided from "normal" fairy tales, but my brain regards them differently than, like, Victorian era fairy tale retellings, because hey, I lived in the age of these, more or less. They're "modern" for whatever nebulous definition of that word my brain's decided on.

And there's a lot for me to put in this category. Sleeping Beauty might be my favorite of Disney's fairy tale retellings, though Beauty and the Beast is a strong competitor for that role (and maybe Mulan, if we count its source material as a fairy tale, but I'm not sure we can). I think overall I like Sleeping Beauty's more stylized animation and character designs as well as its less conventional story-telling structure a bit more than B&B's, but Beauty and the Beast is still gorgeous and kind of perfectly scripted, so it's a tough competition.

My alltime favorite adaptation of fairy tales, though, would be Jim Henson's The Storyteller:

Using the magic of 1980's muppeteering, it adapts several fairy tales, many of which are more on the obscure side, and sometimes mashes a few different ones together to make sure each episode has a good three act structure. It's wonderful and fully captures the weirdness of fairy tales, while also having a lot of heart - The Heartless Giant is my favorite of the whole series.

Category 5: Works Inspired By Fairy Tales

I almost lumped the following stories into the above category, but while the division is, again, purely in my mind, there's something different about modern works that claim to adapt fairy tales 1:1 and ones that take fairy tale characters or concepts and throw them in entirely new tales with different directions, so that's what our final category will be.

I've gushed about Puss In Boots: The Last Wish enough that I don't think it'd surprise anyone that it would end up here - the same goes with the works of Rankin Bass, which is why I doubt anyone is surprised I'd put The Last Unicorn here too (technically based on a book, but it still fits the "has big fairy tale vibes despite not being based on one specific one" that I'm using to justify this category).

Pan's Labyrinth would also go in this category, with a protagonist who's both a trickster fool AND a disobedient girl, as well as a beautifully gothic take on fairy tale motifs. I'd put Company of Wolves here as well, being a very multifaceted riff on the Little Red Riding Hood story and a movie that sets both my analytical and creative parts of my brain on fire each time I want it.

I'd also put The Path, a short video game explicitly inspired by Company of Wolves, on this part of the favorites list. It's a game about, like, a DOZEN or so different takes on Red Riding Hood and her story, all with different flavors and subtext to analyze. It's unsettling but good.

Dimension 20 had a whole season focused on a horror-themed crossover of fairy tale characters called Neverafter that was fantastic, with one of the best riffs on Little Red Riding Hood I've ever seen, Puss in Boots and Pinocchio working together as con artists, and a vampire Snow White, so yeah 10/10 there, no notes.

And while I've only seen scattered bits of it, what I've seen of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, a sequel series to Disney's Rapunzel adaptation, is pretty great, though maybe I just think Cass is hot.

If you put an angry woman with a sword in your work of fiction I will at least stay for a few episodes to see what you do with her.

Given how much it consumed my brain in so little time, Revolutionary Girl Utena has to rank among my favorite Fairy Tale things ever - like, this is too chaotic a list to really rank things, but if I were to try, it'd at least be in the top 10. The same is true for Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, which in addition to being a big fun crossover between a bunch of the Heavy Hitter fairy tales, is also one of the best musicals ever written - and indeed, one of the best stage shows of all time.

Shit, where do I put A Midsummer Night's Dream? It feels like it should be here, but it predates the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, whose works my brain categorizes as "old fairy tales" rather than "modern fairy tale retellings." Well, it'd be somewhere among these categories, being one of the best tales with fairies in it ever told.

The Princess Bride would be up high like Utena no matter what - it's one of the best works of fiction about love that we've got. Same goes with Galavant, which I consider its spiritual successor, although I think one could argue Galavant isn't specifically a fairy tale pastiche and is more just a lampooning of fantasy in general.

Oh, and The Hazards of Love, a concept album by The Decemberists, should be here too. That's the last one I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll think of a few others later that I like enough to regret not putting on here.

[icaroid]

ok ok neverafter oc idea.... Biancabella's sister Samaritana who is trapped between woman and snake bc of her sister's death, is never going to fully be human again

my instinct is sorcerer bc of her innate magic, but i dont know what subclass. otherwise maybe devotion paladin???? idk idk

my first thought was ofcourse who in MY funny faerietales would have a fun (bad) time in the neverafter

[jolieeason]

A Maiden of Snakes by Jane McGarry

A Maiden of Snakes by Jane McGarry

Publisher: JM Books Date of publication: August 28th, 2022 Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance Purchase Links: Amazon Goodreads Synopsis: When Marchioness Lamberico fails to conceive a child, she solicits the help of Imelda, the village witch. Nine months later, she gives birth to a baby girl. Biancabella. Though perfect in every other way, the infant is born with a snake wrapped around her neck. To…

[madcat-world]

Endue - Kelly McKernan

[wormwoodandhoney]

lesser known fairy tales: biancabella & the snake

biancabella is born with a snake around her neck. when she’s older, biancabella meets the snake, who introduces herself as her sister samaritana. she blesses her sister biancabella with hair that sheds jewels and hands that shed flowers. biancabella falls in love with a prince with a wicked stepmother. the stepmother takes biancabella’s hands and eyes and casts her out. biancabella is saved by a kindly family. samaritana arrives and restores biancabella’s eyes and hands. she turns herself into a woman and builds biancabella and the kind family a magical house. the prince finds them and samaritana tells him what his stepmother has done. // 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

[whotooklortan]

Fairytale Life Advice: Biancabella

Listen to your snake sister and discuss every life choice you make with her. She's smarter than you, and will abandon you if you don't. Is that emotional blackmail? Oh absolutely. So don't make her leave you.

[chantalstacys]

this morning i was reading one of my books of fairytales, and i re-discovered a really intriguing (but quite fucked up) tale called biancabella and the snake. it has some of the most beautiful descriptions in it, and as i was reading i was thinking of what a lovely old movie it could have been, but i couldn’t decide what kind of movie i would have liked best!

♡ i might have loved it as a magical, otherworldly film from the 1930s with anita louise. imagine the rich, extravagant visuals, à la marie antoinette, madame du barry and a midsummer night’s dream!

♡ i was also thinking about a beautiful pair to play as sisters, and i think it would have been so perfect to see lana turner playing as enchanting, lovable biancabella and ava gardner playing as mysterious, powerful samaritana

♡ another thought i had is a modernized version of the story with an early 1950s marilyn monroe! she has the perfect balance of purity and allure to play biancabella. also, who would enjoy milk and rose water baths more than her??

♡ i also couldn’t help but think of sharon tate in her truest form as magical, ethereal biancabella. imagine her with pearls and precious jewels falling from her hair and flowers falling from her hands!

[nueiart]

Drawing for the charity artbook "Into the Dark" <3 All proceeds of the artbook will go to the Malaria Consortium.

@intothedarkzine (also same @ at twitter) https://www.malariaconsortium.org/

To see the finished piece you can buy the artbook online (when it’s out) and check out many other awesome dark artistists! <3

But here's sketches of the process! :D

[not-my-main-main]

🌹

Tfw When it turns out a snake was your biological sister.

[franki-lew-yo]

Fairytaluary, aka my self-imposed monthly challenge to write and/or drawn something fairy tale related for each day of February.

These are the fruits of my labors with my personal favorites to be posted soon after.

Anansi

The Little Mermaid

Sleeping Beauty

Godfather Death

Vasalisa the Beautiful

Biancabella and the Snake

The Juniper Tree

The Billy Goats Gruff

[intothedarkzine]

“Into the Dark” zine store is closing on Nov 13th!!

This is your last chance to grab yourself a copy of this amazing original horror zine!

“Into the Dark” is an original fairytale and folklore zine with a dark twist! 29 artists came to illustrate 30 classic scenes from tales, but with their own dark interpretations.

In addition to the zine, you will also receive digital merch! Every purchase also comes with FOUR cellphone wallpapers and TWO icons!

All profits are going to be donated to the Malaria Consortium! This charity focuses on providing treatment to prevent malaria in children in sub-Saharan Africa.

For $13 you will receive:

A PDF copy of “Into the Dark”

FOUR cellphone wallpaper and TWO icons!

Some artists’ interpretations of their tales; get insight into what their illustrations mean to them

Link to our store can be found here!

Tales & Artists:

Biancabella and the Snake by @nueiart

Little Red Riding Hood by Partulla

The Swan Princess by Phonemova

Alice in wonderland by Seiashun

Peter Pan by @squgily

Scheherazade by @sunsheine

Hansel & Gretel by @tetrabriku

The Red Shoes by Thomei

Medusa & Perseus by Tochi

The Lambkin and the Little Fish by Wormfleece

Legend of the White Snake by Wurf

Thumbelina by Xan

[anothertroy]

China pink, New York pink, Persian pink :)

oh, thank you!

China pink - What is your favourite fairytale or myth?Diamonds and Toads with honorary mentions for Biancabella and the Snake, Allerleirauh, The Snow Queen, the Cassandra story, the general mythology of Melusine and approximately 185 other fairytales and myths tbh I’m a disaster :x 

New York pink - Is there a book or film that’s your guilty pleasure?I try not to really go in for ‘guilty pleasures’ conceptually since life is too short and too incredibly difficult to waste time feeling guilty about enjoying anything much. that said…yes, and it’s Disturbia by Christopher Fowler. one of the most morally bankrupt things I’ve ever encountered and a thing I should not enjoy nearly as much as I do, but there we are, next reread will be my 25th. 

Persian pink - What quality in people do you gravitate towards?beautiful and touchable madness, expressed through survivor sisterhood and unconventional behaviour in women & nb people and total absolute violent psychopathy in men, which is why I don’t hang out with men any more :x 

[toytowns]

fairy tales I wish EAH had the nuts to explore

Duchess Swan... you thought you had it bad

these are all somewhat violent so... google at your own risk

- Juniper Tree

- Allerleirauh (one of my favorites actually)

- Bluebeard (he was mentioned briefly in one of the novels I think. I know there was a Greenbeard)

- Penta of the Chopped-off Hands

- Biancabella and the Snake

- The Three Snake Leaves

- Little Match Girl

- Doralice (THE WORST)

[inspireif]

#throwbackthursday "Endue" was created for "Glass, Cinder, & Thorns" at Inner State Gallery and inspired by the fairy tale "Biancabella and the Snake." Prints of her are available, link in my bio! 🌸🌾🌷 . . . #tbt #wayback #art #watercolor #painting #texture #fairytale #artist #artfido #art_empire #arts_gallery #art_spotlight #artistsofinstagram #watercolour #instagood #inspiring #inspire #spotlightonartists #igart #instaart #beauty #beautiful #imaginativerealism #fantasy #artnouveau #mucha #beautifulbizarre #beautifulbizarremagazine

[chantalstacys]

2 and 16

2. what’s the story audiences will be watching in your film? (challenge: one-sentence synopsis.) so the movie i’d like to do would be based off the tale “biancabella and the snake” !! BUT many parts of it are quite messed up, so i would change a lot about it... 💭

* marks an edit by me! and i’m so sorry this is as short as i could make it!!!

once upon a time there lived a marquis and his wife who were struggling to have children. one day, the wife was resting in her garden when she was bitten by a snake*. she soon realizes that she is expecting, and she has a daughter named biancabella, born with a delicate gold necklace around her neck**

when she was a young woman biancabella went out to explore her mother’s garden, where she meets a snake. the snake, samaritana, speaks to her and tells her that they are sisters and that if she listens to her, she will make her wonderfully happy, but if she disobeys her she will have a wretched and unlucky life. she then tells her to return the following day with two buckets, one full of milk and the other of rose water. when she does, biancabella bathes in them*** and becomes the most exquisitely beautiful, kind and graceful woman. from that moment on, whenever her hair is brushed, pearls and precious jewels fall from her hair and whenever she washes her hands, beautiful and fragrant flowers fall from them.

this attracts many suitors, and the marquis chooses ferrandino, the king of naples to marry her. they are wed and biancabella is so happy that she forgets all about her sister. samaritana, feeling neglected and unappreciated, abandons biancabella****. meanwhile, in naples, ferrandino’s stepmother and stepsister plot a way to kill biancabella, because the stepmother had wanted her daughter to marry him*****

the evil stepmother orders two huntsmen to take biancabella to the woods and kill her and to bring back proof of her death. they are unable to do this, and instead leave biancabella by herself and take her gold necklace as their proof******

biancabella wanders around the forest for weeks when a kind woodsman finds her and takes her in. the daughters help care for her and quickly realize who she is when flowers and jewels fall from her. samaritana returns with news from the palace*******, reveals herself in her human form, and shares a plan and then it’s back to the palace

when biancabella was away, the stepmother and sister use the necklace to convince ferrandino that his wife is dead, and plans are made for him to marry his stepsister.******* but they are suddenly distracted when a mysterious new palace appears from nowhere (actually by the magic of samaritana) and as ferrandino explores it, he sees a figure in a window that reminds him of his beloved wife. he invites the new family over for a welcoming party, and there samaritana reveals the truth about biancabella, and she proves her identity with her flowers and jewels. then the stepmother and sister are banished and happily ever after!!********

* in the original the snake slithers up into her womb. taking out for OBVIOUS reasons

** the snake and the necklace were wrapped around biancabella’s neck

*** the snake slithers around her body and licks her all over?? no no no

**** in the original the snake leaves her for no apparent reason

***** there were two ugly stepsisters. but there only NEEDS to be one and they don’t have to be ugly on the outside to prove that they’re ugly on the inside

****** the huntsmen actually cut off her hands and gouge out her eyes! fucking NOPE! no no no no never ever in my movie

******* i made this up lol. it makes sense for this to be the reason that she comes back because in the original she comes to heal her hands and eyes

******** so in the original ferrandino is out fighting a war and when he returns the stepmother convinces him that biancabella is ill and that one of the ugly stepdaughters is actually her. and she looks so different because she’s so ill. i considered some magic spell to make the stepdaughter look like biancabella but?? that seems like too much to me

********* they’re actually put into the furnace! but i’m not about that

16. images that match or inspire your film’s ~vibe?

thank you!! this is the longest post i’ve ever made!!