#diamond toad

[sarahvilelaheart]

This is an art of Fairy Crystalline, Fairy Brilliantine and Toadshiny (yes, they're my blue characters) celebrating the World Autism Awareness Day of this year with blue and indigo stars. 🔵 So... Happy World Autism Awareness Day 2023! ⭐️ And enjoy! 🙂

[diamondsandtoads]

Do you love fairy tales? I want to hear from you!

EDIT: I will be closing the survey on November 9th! Thank you everyone who has participated!!!

My name is Ainjel Stephens and I am a PhD candidate in the Folklore department at Memorial University of Newfoundland. I am currently conducting a research project on fairy tales reception by queer-identifying individuals for my PhD dissertation under the supervision of Sarah Gordon. The purpose of this study is to learn how people who feel queer or identify as queer think about and respond to fairy tales.

Artist: Gustave Dore

If this sounds like a project you would be interested in participating in, then I invite you to take a short survey where you will be asked a few questions about who you are, as well as reflective questions about your thoughts and feelings on fairy tales, and if these tales are “queer.” It should only take about 10 minutes of your time to complete.

The survey asks if you would like to participate further with an interview with myself in order to discuss your thoughts and opinions on fairy tales. This interview will be a recorded hour-long interview through video conferencing platform Tauria or Webex. If you select yes, I will be in contact with you with further steps. If you select no, then that’s it! Thank you for participating.

To participate, you must be the age of majority and no younger than 19, have fairy tale knowledge in English, and identify with the term “queer.”

If you are interested, click the link below to participate in the anonymous survey.

If you have questions or want to chat further, you can contact me at alstephens@mun.ca or through my inbox on my project blog, www.diamondsandtoads.tumblr.com/

If you know anyone who may be interested in participating in this study, please send this post along.

Thank you for reading!

The proposal for this research has been reviewed by the Interdisciplinary Committee on Ethics in Human Research and found to be in compliance with Memorial University’s ethics policy. If you have ethical concerns about the research, such as your rights as a participant, you may contact the Chairperson of the ICEHR at icehr.chair@mun.ca or by telephone at 709-864-2861

[tomtefairytaleblog]

Diamonds, Toads, and Dark Magical Girls

According to Bill Ellis in "The Fairy-Telling Craft of Princess Tutu: Meta-Commentary and the Folkloresque," the fairy tale of Cinderella can be seen as one of the earliest examples of the transformation sequences/henshin seen in magical girl anime, particularly in how the title character is given items that help her achieve a goal, usually given to her by a magical being (her mother's spirit in a tree, a fairy godmother, etc.).

Thinking again about the connection between magical girls and fairy tales--even if they aren't as meta as Tutu, many magical girls do use imagery and ideas from European fairy tales (Sailor Moon alone has references to Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault)--I wondered what other character types from the genre may have some precedent in fairy tales. Then I started thinking about the Dark Magical Girl character.

Not every magical girl story has a Dark Magical Girl, but they do crop up in a lot of works. To name a few, there's Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Rue/Kraehe from Princess Tutu, and countless others that would be too numerous to name. In general they tend to be more cynical, darker counterparts to the main protagonists, who tend to come from relatively more stable environments. Whatever magic they possess also may be more sinister, at least initially.

Tying in somewhat to the story of Cinderella is the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index fairy tale type "The Kind and Unkind Girls" (ATU 480). Many of the stories of this type involve a rivalry between two stepsisters, one being favored by the stepmother due to being the latter's biological daughter. The general idea in most versions of the tale is that both girls encounter a magical being at separate points in time. The kind girl helps the magical being in some way, at which point the magical being gives her a magical ability or magical presents. Meanwhile, the unkind girl refuses to help the magical being and is cursed in some fashion, or, worse, killed. The kind girl meanwhile usually ends up marrying a prince, or a similar character. One of the more popular versions of this story, "Diamonds and Toads," has the kind girl gain the ability to have a jewel or flower fall from her mouth when she speaks, while the unkind girl is cursed to have toads and snakes fall from hers. And while the kind girl does marry a prince, the unkind one is kicked out of her house and dies alone in the woods. (Insert something about Revolutionary Girl Utena's comment about how a girl who cannot become a princess is doomed to be a witch.)

Typically in these fairy tales, the unkind girl is never shown to be a real threat to the kind one; the ultimate threat is the stepmother, who uses her daughter as a means to an end. In contrast, Dark Magical Girls tend to have, well, magic that helps them attack the magical girl protagonist. In this regard, they're the Heavy in the plot, while the witch/mother-like figure/real enemy waits in the background (as is the case in a lot of magical girl shows--the Raven and Rue, Precia and Fate, Fine and Chris in Symphogear etc.). Sometimes the Dark Magical Girl will be a major threat, though--like the Princess of Disaster in Pretear (who is loosely-inspired by the Evil Queen in Snow White).

In The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976), Bruno Bettelheim argues that the stepmother as a character is a way for children to process the negative traits of their own mothers, while still idealizing the good qualities of them. With that in mind, the unkind sister and the Dark Magical Girl can be viewed as a way of processing/externalizing the negative traits that a girl can have, being cruel, rebellious, and uncaring. They also embody their fears, too--the fear of being alone, rejected, and doomed to fail.

Of course, nowadays, Dark Magical Girls have a tendency to be redeemed and reconcile with/befriend the main magical girl, something the kind and unkind girls never seem to do in the fairy tales. Maybe it's just emblematic of society deciding that killing a girl off for being a little rude is a bit unfair. She's just a kid trying to find her place in the world, too, after all.

[kotlcfairytale]

Tag Nomination Instructions

To nominate tags, you need an AO3 account, so request an invite if you haven't done so already! Tag nominations will open May 29, with the Discord server, and will remain open until June 12.

Tag nominations will determine what relationships and fairy tales are included in the exchange. These will be the ONLY ones included, so you want to nominate tags, especially if you have niche taste!

With that said, please:

Only nominate if you want to participate.

Join the Discord server before nominating, and put your AO3 username in your Discord nickname so I know who you are.

Only nominate things you want to offer or request (so don't nominate something just because you think it should be included).

Tutorial below the cut!

Nominating Relationships

Go the tag set on AO3. Here, you can see what has already been nominated.

Click "Nominate" in the upper right.

If you use pseuds, select the pseud you will be participating in the exchange under. If you don't use pseuds, you can ignore this.

Okay, now you're going to start nominating! I'm going to start by nominating Sophie/Fitz. The slash means that this is the romantic ship between these characters. That's an important distinction!

Next, I'm going to nominate Sophie & Fitz, which is the platonic form of the pairing. I want to offer both dynamics, so I need to nominate both!

Just like that, I'm going to continue down the line, entering all of the relationships I want to nominate.

Until... oops! I've hit a pairing that doesn't have a canon tag. I want to nominate Sophie & Silveny, but it's not an option in the dropdown. So, I'm going to need to make them a tag.

The proper way to do it is:

Characters alphabetical by last name. Silveny doesn't have a last name, so I'll just use "Silveny," but I'll use "Foster" for Sophie. So Sophie Foster will go first!

Using the correct relationship indicator (& or /). In this case, an ampersand (&) for platonic!

And since I'm creating a tag, I need to put the fandom in the second box.

So my nomination will look like this:

Another useful thing to know is that you can nominate tags with more than two characters. If I have an idea that really focuses on Sophie, Edaline, and Grady, I can nominate them as a trio!

You can technically put even more characters than that, but I wouldn't recommend it, since that makes it harder to match with someone.

So with all that knowledge under my belt, I'm going to finish my relationship nominations! I'm going to nominate a full 10, since I have lots of ideas, but you can do fewer than that. My finished relationship nominations look like this:

And now I can nominate the fairy tales I want to include!

Nominating Fairy Tales

Time to nominate the fairy tales that will be used for AUs in the event!

For this, we will not be using the dropdown. You are going to enter the name of the fairy tale manually, with "AU" at the end.

If it is an oral tradition or legend, and you don't care which version, you can just put the common name: Cinderella AU

If you are nominating a specific book, include the author name in parenthesis after the title: Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine) AU

If you are nominating a specific movie, include the year in parenthesis after the title: Cinderella (1950) AU

If you are nominating a specific play or musical, include the year it premiered and the type: Cinderella (2013 musical) AU

Remember, though—just like with nominating relationships, if you're too specific, you might not match with anyone. So keep that in mind!

My finished nominations look like this:

I have two specific ones, because I couldn't resist, and because they're pretty different from their original fairy tales!

And that's all! You can hit "Submit," and we moderators will take care of the rest of the work!

[dyinggirldied]

My List of Personally Favorite and Great Fairy Tales Fanfics

Yep, you hear right. There are still fanfics being written for fairy tales. While most of them tend to be smut or crossovers with Disney movies, I have found great gems lurking beneath. (Reminder: this list can be updated if I find more)

If you are interested in stories that reminiscent of those dark tales before going to bed while also craving something delightfully nuanced or fresh take with that edge of darkness but not too long to bore you out, here are the fics below:

A Dance in Iron Shoes by Gehayi (Snow White)

All Kinds of Skill by GracefullySeven (Allerleirauh/All-Kinds-Of-Fur)

Three Sisters, Bound by Blythe (Vasilissa the Beautiful, The Death of Koshchei the Deathless, The Frog Princess)

Swanwing by Gehayi (The Wild Swans)

Slow Poison by Gehayi (Diamonds and Toads)

runnin' for a soft place to fall by lady_ragnell (Allerleirauh/All-Kinds-Of-Fur)

Promise of the Sea by Gehayi (The Little Mermaid)

mist behind and light before by cathalin (Cinderella)

Of Oceans and Ondines by Gehayi (The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid)

A Skin Made of Sorrow by Carenejeanes (Catskin)

The Path of Thorns by Jetamors (Little Red Riding Hood)

tongue-tied i took her in by quadrille (The Six Swans/The Wild Swans)

The Six Swans by Gileonnen (The Six Swans)

faux by perennial (the ballet Swan Lake)

Gehayi wrote beautiful fics that suck you in and make you feel like you were a kid who first began to immerse into stories again. All of the authors here are amazing and if you can, check out their works and give them some love 😊

Not exactly under fairy tales fandom but give it a shot if you would, they are immaculately written.

The Red Country by jibrailis (Alice in Wonderland)

Frame Story by jibrailis (Princess Tutu fic but it is intertwined with the Twelve Dancing Princess fairy tale)

[gameraboy2]

Batman (1966), "Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds"

[fictionadventurer]

NaPoWriMo #3: A surreal prose poem

I've interpreted "surreal" as "involving fantasy", and I have no idea if this even counts as a prose poem, but I decided to retell a fairy tale.

Diamonds and Toads

Her words change my words—no longer dust, swept aside and trampled, but diamonds, precious and unbreakable. Jewels falling, flashing, catching light in sharp glints of glory, my breath’s bounty leaving me breathless. My words are a treasure; I must guard and spend well.

The witch! Now every word I speak comes out croaking, hissing, slimy, slithering, hopping. Sour, salty, sharp, bitter words I must swallow back, or be overrun by monsters of my making. Single words are all I dare. My words have a life of their own; I must watch where they fall.

[adarkrainbow]

How Mother Goose's fairytales switched from adults to children

I have frequently talked about how printed fairy tales were always originally meant for adults, not children.

The fairytales of Charles Perrault and madame d'Aulnoy in France were for an adult audience and adult in tone and content (with illusions of "childishness" as a narrative convention), and only later became stories for children due to a mass-spreading, an access to popular culture and a misinformation about their purpose. Before them, the first "fairytale collections" of Basile and Straparola, the "Pentamerone" and "The Facetious Nights" are very obviously for adults due to their nature as NSFW dark comedy filled with sex, rape, gore, scatophilia and Punch-and-Judy humor. Even in the case of the brothers Grimm! The first edition of the brothers' fairytale collection was for a purely scientific, cultural, folkloric purpose - it was meant to be read for scholars and folklorists and other adults. It was only as they realized that their book turned out to be a huge best-sellers for families, and that it was most often used as a way to entertain children, that they decided to make their stories more "kid-friendly". Hence why each re-edition of their collection became more "SFW" and more edited (they even made a side-book, a mini-collection of fifty edited fairytales specifically selected for children!)

This is the long history of fairytales. Each time prepared by adults, for adults, and yet ending up in the hands of children and being treated as for kids... And since the cosmos loes balance, now that the fairytales are throoughly ingrained and defined as "for children", they always end up being reimagined and renvented for an adult audience... Anyway.

The reason I bring back this entire topic is because I recently stumbled upon an article about Martine Hennard Dutheil de la Rochère, about the adaptations of Perrault's "Les Fées" (The Fairies, better known today as "Toads and Diamonds") for England. It was quite an interesting read so I will share some of its content below, rearranged a bit with additional info (such as the one above).

First off, it should be noted that, from the get go, when fairytales of France were first translated in England, the idea that they were for adults was still around. For example the very first literary fairytale of France, L'île de la félicité, by madame d'Aulnoy, was translated as early as 1691 - because the novel which contained it was translated, "The History of Adolphus", and since it stayed within its original context, it stayed an "adult read" (since the novel was a story for adults). [For more information about it, check M.D. Palmer's text "The History of Adolphus, the first French Conte de fée in English")

This doesn't come from the article I talked about, but in another paper about the European fame of madame d'Aulnoy's fairytales in the 18th and 19th centuries, there was this precision that the same way in England Charles Perrault's name was overshadowed by the one of the fictional "Mother Goose", madame d'Aulnoy's own name was erased for a nickname seemingly coming out of nowhere: "Mother Bunch". Just a desire to match the other famous "fairytale mother"? Not quite... Because the name "Mother Bunch" was associated in England with a specific type of woman - the type of woman who knew more private, romantic, erotic secrets, the kind of woman teenagers would go to to ask advice on how to seduce other people, and young couples would question about how things were meant to go in bed. A kind of Nanny Ogg, if you know your Discworld. A saucier "Mother Goose". It was probably not because the English audience perceived the subversive, erotic and bawdy elements within madame d'Aulnoy's fairytales, unfortunately ; but it was mostly due to England being aware of the various scandals and extravagant adventures madame d'Aulnoy lived, which gave her a reputation of a quite unconventional woman.

The real "turn", the true switch within a general perception of these fairytales was probably the first real translation in English of Charles Perrault's fairytales: Robert Samber published in 1729 "Histories, or Tales of Past Times... with Morals by M. Perrault". This was the original sin, so to speak. Because you see... Robert Samber meant this book to be for children and he did not hide it.

As I repeatedly said before, Charles Perrault's fairytales were not meant for children. He did imitate a simplistic story-style associated with children stories ; he did include morals at the end of each of his tales... But his intended audience (and test audience, and those he dedicated the stories to) was made of adults, his morals were all ironic and subversive, and his stories were filled with puns and references only an adult person (and more so an adult person of a certain social condition living by or near the royal court) would understand. But Robert Samber? He made a huge effort to highlight how Perrault's fairytales were moral - like, literaly, he took every Moral of Perrault at first-degree, as praising virtue and denouncing vice, completely missing the jokes and incoherences within it - and were "educational". And perfect for children. In fact, Robert Samber dedicated his translation to the children of a certain lord Carteret. Bear this in mind, it will come back later.

A clear and obvious proof of Samber literaly falsifying the text to fit his personal perception is the preface of his translation. He did translate most of Perrault's own preface for his fairy tales... But he included in it extracts from another preface. The preface of Jean de la Fontaine's Fables. An extract about how Plato praised the fables of Aesop when it came to teaching children about wisdom and virtue, and how he advised people to prefer them to the "poetry of Homer" (the Iliad, the Odyssey, etc). Not only did Samber literaly took the words of a different author for a different work and grafted them here... But when you are aware of the context, it becomes even more extravagant.

I spoke regularly about this, but the fairytales of France took place within a cultural battle known as "La Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes". On one side, the "Ancients", people then in charge of the dominating cultural institutes, and who held the long tradition that any cultural piece worth anything had to come from the classical and "perfect" era of the Greek and the Romans. On the other side, the "Modern", a new generation of culture-makers who claimed that other sources and other influences could be used rather than Antiquity - more "modern" resources such as the various romances and epics of the Middle-Ages. La Fontaine and Perrault were not bitter enemies at all - in fact, Perrault greatly admired La Fontaine and references his Fables within his own fairytales... But they stood on opposite sides of the schism. La Fontaine was part of the Ancients - hence why his most famous work was the Fables, a French adaptation of Aesop's own fables and other Antique stories "recreated" for Renaissance France. Perrault, meanwhile, was the unofficial leader of the Moderns - hence why he created his fairytales, inspired by French folklore rather than any Greek epic or Roman tragedy. As such, to confuse the explanation-texts of these two authors isn't just falsifying a translation - it is literaly fusing and reinventing two conflicting and contradicting opinions about the use and format of culture. And it completely falsifies Perrault's own initial project and intentions. (Plus it perpetuates a confusion between "fables" and "fairy tales")

Not only that, but Samber also removed several key sentences from Perrault's preface. Including those that explicitely said that his fairy tales could be read differently depending on the age and the level of experience of the reader... A subtle way to point out the obvious: under an apparently simplistic and childish folk-story was hidden an adult literary work. But again, for a Samber taking literaly every one of Perrault's Morals and aiming a book for children and only children, such sentences had to be removed.

Another fascinating element... In his preface, Robert Sambre points out that the fairytales within his book are organized in a pedagogical way, from the most childish to the most mature. Another "proof", according to him, of why this book was made for children. Problem... Robert Sambre used a Dutch print of the fairytales, a 1721 Amsterdam edition which completely changed the order of the fairytales. Perrault's original order, in the 1697 edition, was: Sleeping Beauty - Little Red Riding Hood - Bluebeard - Puss in Boots - Toads and Diamonds - Cinderella - Riquet with the tuft - Little Thumbling. But in Samber's edition? Little Red Riding Hood - Diamonds and Toads - Bluebard - Sleeping Beauty - Puss in Boots - Cinderella - Riquet with the tuft - Little Thumbling. And... one more fairytale. "L'adroite princesse, ou les aventures de Finette" (translated as "The Discreet Princess"). This fairytale was actually not part of Perrault's texts - it was written by Perrault's niece, and one of the famous French fairytale authors, mademoiselle Lhéritier. But ever since this Dutch printing (and then its English translation, and then ever before since the first mistake was made in 1716), there is a common habit of identifying this fairytale as being Perrault's... a mistake which still appears sometimes today. But all of that to say, Samber's edition was complete randomness.

A few more reads disponible in English: "The Authentic Mother Goose Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes", 1960, by Barchilon and Petit + Jones' "Mother Goose's French Birth and British Afterlife" (this article is disponible on publicdomainreview.com)

Dutheil de la Rochère highlighted several key differences between Perrault's original French text, and Samber's translations, about the "Diamonds and Toads" fairytale. First, Samber's translation of the title as "The Fairy" - which isn't what Perrault wrote (he titled his stories "The Fairies", for subtle reasons since there is only one fairy in his story but who poses as two different women ; Samber probably meant to "correct" the title). Then there is the fact that Samber removed a certain "rustic", "peasant" tone and vocabulary within the dialogues, which Perrault precisely included to make the reader feel like in the French countryside and among common folks. There is also Samber's "moral" removing of a specific sentence - Perrault wrote that if the mother prefered one sister over the next, it was because she looked more like her and "people like more what is like them". It was part of Perrault's satire of human nature - Samber simply removed it all together. Finally, there is a distinctive "childish" selection of words to make the story seem more... "kiddy" let's say. Where Perrault wrote "a beautiful girl", Samber writes "a pretty little girl". Where Perrault wrote "my mother", Samber writes "mamma".

Random trivia: The nasty sister's name is translated as Fanny, a name derived from Frances and quite common in England at the time, soon to be associated with John Cleveland's scandalous "Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure". Perrault's name was merely "Fanchon", which is a rural diminutive of "Françoise" and was one of those stereotypical names for a young peasant girl.

Mind you, the "infantilization" of fairytales was not all due to England. It happened within France itself. Perrault, d'Aulnoy, Lhéritier and others were the first wave of fairytales, end of the 17th century. id 18th century there was a revival of the traditional French literary fairytale, a "second generation" so to speak - and a part of this generation grew the idea of writing fairytales for children. Chief in this school of thought was madame Leprince de Beaumont, the woman behind the most famous version of "Beauty and the Beast". She was a governess for the aristocracy, and part of what was then a progressive movement: teaching girls! Arg! The progress! As such, she personaly read fairytales as the perfect tool to teach children in a pleasant and educative way, and she was one of the first fairytale authors in France to have like straightforward manichean, moral and religious Morals at the end of her tales. Heck, her fairytale collection is called "Le magasin des enfants, "The children store", precisely because it was a children book.

But where am I going with this? Remember when I said Samber dedicated his work to the children of Lord Carteret? Well, Leprince de Beaumont also dedicated her work to children... To one child specifically. Sophia Carteret, youngest daughter of Lord Carteret (a character in the book was even based upon her). Indeed, while Madame Leprince de Beaumont was French and wrote in French, she had emigrated to London in 1748 and had worked there for British aristocracy. Given she created her own fairytales after Samber did his translation of Perrault's, and she herself described in her texts Perrault's story as "puerile but perfect for children" (*cough cough*), it is very likely she was influenced in her fairytale writing by Samber's complete reinterpretation and flasification of Perrault's tales. And since Leprince de Beaumont's work came to be spread and known throughout Western Europe... Began the misconception that fairytales had been written for kids.

Trivia: Madame Leprince de Beaumont wrote her own variant of "Toads and Diamonds" - but she wrote it as a fable. "The fable of the widow and her two daughters", in the line of other French fables for children such as those of Fénelon.

Last reading recs: Shefrin's "Governess to their Children: Royal and Aristocratic Mothers Educating Daughters in the reign of George III" (in "Childhood and Children's Books in Early Modern Europe" by Immel and Witmore) + Seifert's "Madame Leprince de Beaumont and the Infantilization of the Fairy Tale" (in "The Child in French and Francophone Literature".

[coyotethursday]

hear me out

[starchytart]

This is Camille! A character based on the protagonist in "Diamonds and Toads" as my piece for "Witches, Warrior, and Wolves", a Dimension 20's Neverafter OC zine as part of @d20zinejam 2023! I particularly love this story because how absurd it is to consider vomiting jewels as a blessing, (wouldn't you bleed? wouldn't people ignore everything you have to say? how about the economic disaster of all this diamonds and gems, oh no you are ruining the wedding ring industry, which is great i guess? anyway) but hey, you do you, mysterious fairy.

Get this zine! • Witches, Warriors, & Wolves Zine • D20 Zine Jam 2023 Bundle

[princess-ibri]

What would be the backstory of Shuriki from Elena of Avalor, where did she come from, and why was she so intent on conquering Avalor

Ok so here's what I've come up with:

Her real name is Fran, and years ago in the Northern Isles she and her twin sister Nan were taken in as maids a strange old woman called Frau Holle, who turned out to be a sorceress. She blessed Nan for her industry and kindess but cursed Fran for her laziness and selfishness. Nan creates diamonds and pearls anytime she sings and eventually marries a king, while Fran has toads and snakes fall out of her mouth anytime she speaks and is understandablely shunned.

However she doesn't give into her curse and seeks out a way to change her fate, eventually coming to the attention of Frau Holle's twin sister Frau Trude, who's as wicked as her sister is good. Frau Trude trains the angry young girl in magic, breaking the toad spell, and helps her to spread chaos within her sister’s kingdom.

Eventually she is overcome by the forces of good, and Nan, now Queen, in mercy banishes her sister from the Northern Isles. Before she goes though Fran seeks to divine what new opportunities for power lie within her reach, and has Frau Trude divine her future.

The vision is hazy and Fran doesn't have time to hear all of it before th soldiers come to drive her out, but the old witch forsees that she will one day rule over a kingdom across the sea called Avalor, and will hold the powerful "Scepter of the Night" at one point.

Fran takes this as gospel and determines to build up her power again to accomplish this Destiny. And so she does.

Two little side things, part of the reason she bans music is that it reminds her of her sister's golden singing gift (and the cruel songs people would sing about her speaking toads).

And her chosen name "Shuriki" is a mispelled/misheard version of the old Maruvian word "Chiriqui" which means Valley of the Night, as she wanted a name that would point to her destiny to weild the Scepter of Night, and she didnt have enough respect for the culture of the land she took over to spell or pronounce it correctly

[sarahvilelaheart]

This is an art of Toadette, Toadlovely and Toadshiny holding each other's hands, while celebrating this year's World Non-Violence and Peace Day with the peace symbol. So… Happy World Non-Violence and Peace Day 2024! ☮️ And enjoy this special drawing! 🙂

[diamondsandtoads]

love fairy tales? I want to talk to you!

I am a PhD student in folklore at Memorial University in Newfoundland and I am just starting to develop my dissertation project on fairy tales. I am just trying to get some feelers out and see if anyone would be interested in helping me with my project!

Basically, I want to hear about what people who self identify as queer or LGBT+ think about fairy tales, and queer representation or lack thereof in fairy tales.

If you might be interested, or know someone who might be, feel free to reply, reblog, like this post or send me a message (or if you just want to chat fairy tales!!!!).

(don’t worry, everything stays between us because I am not actually researching yet, I am just seeing if there is interest!!)

Thanks!

Here is an image from the tale The Princesses, or Diamonds and Toads, by Charles Perrault. I love her face in this one haha.

[princessalbertrose]

Diamonds And Toads moodboard

[bookshelf-in-progress]

I promise I'm still working on a new story for the @inklings-challenge Four Loves Fairy Tale Challenge, but I do already have three retellings focused on romantic love, and I was inspired to create bookmarks related to each one.

Each of the bookmarks features a romance-related quote from the retelling it portrays.

From left to right:

More Than All the Gems on Earth: A retelling of "Diamonds and Toads" where the heroine goes on a journey to discover if she can find someone who loves her and not just the jewels she creates.

Woven Together: A retelling of "Clever Anait" focusing on the marriage between the king-turned-weaver and the weaver-turned-queen, and how it enables the queen to save her husband from slavers.

A Day Late: A retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" where the heroine finds out that her delay in returning to the Beast's palace has given her a different view of her relationship with the Beast, but has also left him in mortal danger.

[thelastofthebookworms]

*The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan

My tag for this series is 'fairy tales'.