#grimm masterpiece theatre

[bunnystrawberry-sorbet]

[princesssarisa]

Sleeping Beauty Spring: "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics: Briar Rose" (1989 anime series episode)

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, or Grimm Masterpiece Theatre as it's known in its Japan, was one of my earliest introductions to the Grimms' fairy tales. When the English dub of this anime aired on Nick Jr. in the '90s, I remember seeing various episodes, including Rapunzel, The Brave Little Tailor, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Four Skillful Brothers. More recently, I've discovered and enjoyed episodes I missed back then, such as Cinderella, Snow White, and The Coat of Many Colors (All-Kinds-of-Fur). The most recent episode I've discovered, and the first one that I've watched in subtitled Japanese as well as in the English dub, is Briar Rose.

Since this series is based on the Grimms' fairy tale collection, this episode is very much a retelling of the Grimms' Briar Rose, not Perrault's Sleeping Beauty. Most notably, in keeping with the Grimm's description of the magical women as "wise women," and not as fairies, they're not portrayed as fairies here. Instead they're thirteen witches. They all live together in a gloomy castle, all first appear as frightening animals before they assume their human forms, and all wear dark colors and look faintly sinister. Fortunately, they're kind as long as they're treated with respect... but if they're not, beware! Unfortunately, because the King and Queen have only twelve golden plates, the thirteenth witch isn't invited to the celebration of the princess's birth. In rage she enlarges herself to the size of a giant to crash the feast and curse the baby. In the original Japanese version, she curses her to die, with the twelfth witch altering the curse from death to sleep; in the English dub, she curses the princess to sleep forever, and the twelfth witch alters it so that someday a prince will wake her.

Fifteen years later, we meet a far more melancholy Briar Rose than the lively princess seen in other versions. Her well-meaning but misguided father the King treats her like a child, still expecting her to play with dolls, and is overprotective too, forbidding her even to leave her room when he and the Queen aren't home. Thus we find Briar Rose playing a sad melody on her harp, yearning to be free to grow up, and refusing to join her parents on a ride into town to buy her more dolls as birthday gifts. (This is the Japanese version; the English dub makes things worse, as she's said to have never been allowed to leave the castle at all, and instead of refusing to go doll-shopping, she refuses to join her own birthday party out of depression, despite the waiting guests.) A surreal montage of roses reflects her longing to "bloom." But suddenly, from an old tower, she hears the sound of a harp playing a perfect conclusion to the melody she's been trying to compose. Disobeying her father, she ventures into the tower... where of course she finds the Thirteenth Witch disguised as an old woman with a spinning wheel.

As soon as Briar Rose is asleep, the Witch puts the rest of the castle to sleep too, then surrounds it with thorns. A band of peasants try to break through to rescue the royal family; some years later, so do two thuggish warriors who want to win the princess. But all these men are entangled in the briars and presumably die. (Though the English dub just says that they become trapped under the spell too.)

A hundred years later, however, a young Prince is riding through a blizzard, when he finds the castle. From the tower he hears the sound of Briar Rose's harp music, then sees a vision of the princess. (The English dub also claims that he's been having dreams about her, but the Japanese version doesn't say so.) Then the gates magically open and Briar Rose's voice calls for him. When he finally finds her sleeping on a bed entwined with briars, we reach a very unusual storytelling choice: this Prince doesn't wake Briar Rose with a kiss. Instead, he accidentally pricks his finger on a thorn, a drop of his blood lands on Briar Rose's lips, and this is what breaks the spell. The happy ending is what we expect, though, as the rosebuds on the briars all burst into bloom, and everyone wakes up. The Thirteenth Witch, seemingly weakened by the breaking of her spell, flies off in the form of a bat (just like in Toei Animation's 1976 anime version), while Briar Rose and the Prince joyfully celebrate their wedding.

This is a standout among the episodes of Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, combining a warm, colorful aesthetic and gentle fairy tale romanticism with touches of darkness, melancholy, and poetic surrealism not found in many other Sleeping Beauty retellings. This is true in either the original Japanese version or the English dub. Having watched both versions back to back, however, I must admit that I prefer the Japanese. The English dub adds a voiceover narrator and quite a bit of extra dialogue, removing much of the Japanese version's subtlety. It also cuts a few frames of animation that feature drops of blood, as well as bowdlerizing any mention of death.

In either language, though, I recommend this unique Sleeping Beauty to any lover of both fairy tales and anime.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @thealmightyemprex, @faintingheroine, @reds-revenge, @paexgo-rosa, @autistic-prince-cinderella, @the-blue-fairie, @thatscarletflycatcher, @themousefromfantasyland

[elcias-diary]

Was chatting with some Gundam fans in a Japanese hobby shop yesterday who were surprised my dad was there and not even as an unwillingly captured audience.

His comment after, of 'I've been watching anime longer than all you kids have been alive' got me thinking about the oldest anime I watched.

And Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics is that anime. It was either on a round of reruns or only finally being aired in the US by the time I was watching it since it was made 1987-1988-1989 and I was watching it in the first half of the 90s.

So while I've seen many of the classics like all the Ghibli films that have been re-released, that series by Nippon Animation was my first anime. Images from it still exist in my brain like the underlying layer of a many times papered over wall that is my visual understanding of the world.

Different logos for the different language versions of the anime series Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics. Aren’t they all so sweet? Like the English dub’s very fitting Old English font, the Arabic dub also opts for calligraphy, but they didn’t expect its audience to be familiar with the Brothers Grimm, so they renamed the series في جعبتي حكاية “In My Pouch, I Have a Story” and bundled up the word for “story” in a stylized pouch made by extending and curling the letter ending “pouch.” The German dub (I’m fairly sure!) matched the colours of the gradient text to the background!

[wellofnothing]

[rubberbangin]

Quarantine tag game

I was tagged by @yousloppybtch 🥺

Are you staying home from school/work?

Yes I am! I work at a movie theatre and we shut down for the time being like early March so I’m just hoping we’ll be back open sometime soon I low key miss work

Who is at home with you?

My parents, my younger brother and our pets

Are you a homebody?

Oh definitely but all this has taught me that I don’t like being stagnant for super long I miss going to dinner with friends or even simple errands

Any event you were looking forward to that got cancelled?

I know there was a local show I wanted to go to with a friend of mine in April that’s postponed I believe luckily I didn’t buy the ticket yet lmao

What movies have you been watching recently?

Oh dude I call this whole thing Hannah finds some of her new favorite movies, meaning movies I’ve had on my lists for like ages and am finally getting around to them. I’ve watched moulin rouge (idk why it took me so many years to watch this MASTERPIECE), tangerine (fantastic film and the cinematography *chefs kiss), lady bird (really good also made me miss downtown sac), burlesque (this movie was okay but hey I had fun) I rewatched brothers Grimm last night which was one of my favs growing up. I have a whole bunch more that I’ve yet to get to!

What are you doing for self care?

Only the best baby, distraction through media

What shows are you watching?

Uh I’m not super into tv shows I’m more a movie person but like I’m watching tiger king, the new season of Nailed it has been my saving grace, I want to start generation kill

What music have you been listening to?

I have this huge playlist I’ve made over the past couple years but like I’m mainly listening to the like emo bops I enjoyed in high school

What books are you reading?

I am TRYING to read IT but I cannot get my brain to quiet down long enough as well as the heavy ass material and I’m not in the best headspace rn

What games are you playing?

I don’t have a switch or the new animal crossing so in my FOMO I had to resort back to playing new leaf on my 3ds

I tag: @enbyslashers @duvetghost @avidxmn @smudgebucket @koalizama and whoever else would like to partake!!

[blackswaneuroparedux]

A bluffer’s guide to Wagner’s Ring Cycle

The Ring Cycle takes serious commitment – but it’s worth it. Everything you’ve heard is true.

Four operas make up Richard Wagner’s masterpiece: The Rhinegold; The Valkyries; Siegfried and Twilight of the Gods are about the eternal struggle between good and evil; its composition was an epic labour of love against a backdrop of high personal drama for the composer and wider cultural and political upheaval across Europe. 

Dwarves, incest, theft, betrayal, epic orchestral forces and high drama – opera rarely get bigger and more bombastic than the Ring Cycle. Composed between 1851-1874, it was an amalgam of Old Norse myths and the Songs of the Nibelungs, the first Old German classic to be written down.

Wagner was also influenced by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer – he later referred to their 1854 meeting as the single most important event in his life – and took the philosopher’s pessimistic view that all human life was suffering, and that music was the ultimate art form, totally to heart.

German Romanticism, the predominant cultural force of the nineteenth century – exemplified in the brooding paintings of Caspar David Friedrich and the fairy stories of the brothers’ Grimm, with their tales of dark forests and lost children – also recalled a simpler time; the contemporary reaction to an age of dizzying technological advances and fast machines. All these ideas found expression in the Ring.

Wagner also spent years working out how exactly his new music drama should be created. Conventional forms of opera – set piece arias, a chorus supporting and mirroring the action, for example – were discarded in favour of integrating text and narrative expression within the music itself.

Wagner created something unique: ‘Gesamkunstwerk’ – nothing less than total immersion in his art-music-drama – to subsume his audience completely on a scale never experienced before, and rarely since – as well as the vastly inflated instrumental forces, for example, the orchestra for the Ring includes specially designed Wagner tubas, a quartet of medieval steer horns – and 16 anvils.

Wagner remains one of the most controversial composers in the classical canon; he held deeply anti-semetic views and was championed by Adolf Hitler, from which his reputation has perhaps never really recovered, but he was single-minded in pursuit of his art.

His meeting with King Ludwig II of Bavaria – a sensitive soul dubbed the ‘dream king’, who had been obsessed with Wagner since his teens – led to the king agreeing to bankroll Wagner’s plans for a bespoke music theatre in Bayreuth – then little more than an out-of-the-way village, now Valhalla for Wagnerites – that was fit to the composer’s ambitious purposes. The Rheingold was first performed there in 1876.

The rest is history.

If you ever fancied yourself as an opera buff, know that with the Ring Cycle, you enter a world of passion and pain that for many, becomes a lifetime obsession, and with a total running time of around 16 hours, it’s a serious commitment that’s not to be undertaken lightly.

But you’re no opera buff until you’ve put a Ring on it.

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Squiggle Scripts #022: “Playing Pretend”

Picture it.

Heroes’ Day Out!

While staying in Atlas, our young heroes of RWBY and the JN(O)R gang decide to take a day off to explore the sights. During their excursion, due to their differing interests, the group decides to split up into four pairs: Ren and Nora, Blake and Yang, Weiss and Jaune and lastly, Ruby and Oscar.

Ruby was really enthusiastic about checking out the Atlesian Delta Mall---a giant shopping precinct within the kingdom that was very popular with the local youths because of its entertainment arena home to an arcade and a giant movie complex among other fun areas. 

At first the Rosebuds were happily enjoying themselves. However things turn sour when Oscar gets separated from Ruby while exploring the wall.

During his search for his missing rose, Oscar’s lone trek across the complex leads him to bump into a rather interesting group of people Before Oscar got a chance to even apologize to who he bumped into, he suddenly found himself swarmed on all sides by four girls who practically towered over him.

One girl was a proud blonde by the name of Clementine Pell. Another girl, a brunette with glasses was Naomi Navy. The third girl, a walking body of pink, was Ran Orchid and finally the fourth girl, Yasmine Alba---a red-eyed beauty with long hair as white as snow.

Oscar swallowed nervously as the girls flocked around him.  Suddenly he felt like a worm trapped in a cage of hungry canaries.

Clementine: Well what do we have here ladies? Looks like a little prince has lost his way.

Naomi: Ooh you're right Clem! He does look like a prince.

Ran: He’s such a cutie pie. I love his freckles! I can just eat him up!  

Yasmine: Quit acting so thirsty Ran. What's your name, sugar pie?

Oscar: *awkwardly* Uh...I---Os---Oscar.

Ran: Ooh Oscar!

Naomi: Like Gold!

Clementine: So you're a golden prince.

Oscar: Uh, if you'll excuse I really need to catch up with my---

Oscar attempted to walk past one of the girls---the snow-haired one---but to his dismay, she snaked her around one of his.

Yasmine: What's the rush, darling?

Ran: Yeah, why don't you come hang out with us?

Clementine: You wouldn't want to refuse the company of four beautiful girls like us now won't you?

Yasmine: Won't you!

Oscar: I...I...

Just when Oscar believed he was a goner, a glimmer of red caught his eyes as Ruby Rose came into view.

Ruby: There you are!  I've been looking all over for you.

Oscar: *in relief* Ruby!

Instantly, Oscar wiggled his way out of the snow-haired girl’s grip and joined Ruby at her side. Ruby smiled at Oscar before training her attention on the four girls who eyed her with stern expressions.

The blonde one even got up in Ruby’s face.

Clementine: Excuse me but we saw him first!

Ran: Yeah paws off our little prince!

Ruby: *blinking confusedly* Your little… what now?

She looked at Oscar.

Ruby: Oscar, do you know these girls? 

Oscar: No I've never seen them in my life.

Ruby: *frowning crossly* Are they harassing you?

Oscar: I---

Yasmine: He was about to get to know us personally before you butted in.

Naomi: Buzz off!

Ran: Yeah, who do you think you are?

Ruby: Oh where are my manners? The name’s Ruby Rose and…

Ruby draped one arm around Oscar’s shoulder pulling him closer to her with a big beaming smile.

Ruby: I'm his girlfriend!

CNRY: *in unison* What!

Oscar: Wait...what? 

Clementine: *hands on hips; appearing skeptical* Funny, you don't seem like his girlfriend.

Yasmine: Yeah like a cutie prince like him would ever date ugly peasant trash like you.

Oscar: *frowning defensively* Hey! Don't talk to her like----

Ruby: It's okay, sweetie. I'll handle this.

Ruby glanced back at the four CNRY girls; the smile on her face now curling into a smirk.

Ruby: So you want proof, you say?

Before Oscar had time to react; the next thing the small farm boy knew, Ruby suddenly closed the space between them and planted her bare lips over his in a kiss.

At first, Oscar was caught off guard by the sudden invasion. His body stiffened at the first out of shock but after a while he slowly felt herself melt into the kiss and it was not long before that he actually started kissing Ruby back.

By the time the two parted, Oscar’s heart was like a drum in his chest. His cheeks were flushed; far more than usual as he just stood staring at Ruby.

He wasn’t the only one. When Ruby returned to the four girls, their faces were a perfect Picasso of astonishment, disappointment and unbridled rage. A masterpiece of human expression that brought the big Chesire-cat smile back to Ruby’s face.

Ruby: *smugly* Proof enough for you ladies? Or do you need more convincing?

Yasmine: *disgustedly* No thank you!

Clementine: Let's go girls. Before I lose my lunch.

Naomi & Ran: Totally!

Whipping their hair, the CNRY girls walked away; finally leave Ruby and Oscar to themselves once more.

Ruby: Phew! That was a close one. Sorry for that. It was the only thing I could think of. But at least they're gone now, right Oscar? 

Oscar: ...

Ruby: Oscar?

Ruby faces Oscar; finding him still staring at her.

Ruby: What's with that face! 

Oscar: I'm sorry! You...kissed me. You actually kissed me.

Ruby: *defensively* Yeah but it was a fake kiss. To help you with the---

Oscar: *frantically* I know I know! It's just...that was...well...my…

Ruby: …Wait, was that...your first kiss?

Oscar: *awkwardly*...Ye---Yeah. Pretty much, yeah. 

Ruby: Oh. Oh no. I’m so sorry!

Oscar: No! No! It's ok. Better you than those girls, right?  Besides...it was fine.

Ruby: *taken aback* Fine?

Oscar: As in good. *embarrassed* It’s…not exactly how I pictured our---I mean…my first kiss being but---y’know…

Ruby: *awkwardly*Well...uh...if it's any consolation, it was my first kiss too so…

Oscar: *incredulously* Wait...WHAT! That cannot be your first kiss. How?

Ruby: What do you mean how?

Oscar: I just...I mean I always figured you of all people would have kissed tons of guys before.

Ruby: Excuse me?

Oscar: I don't mean it any bad way. I just...I always figured a beautiful girl like you would have some tall handsome guy or y’know…several guys waiting for you back home in Vale.

Ruby: *snorts* That's…really weird but really sweet of you to assume but...no.

Oscar: *still in disbelief* Really? Not even at Beacon?

Ruby: Well at Beacon I was pretty much the runt of the school. Youngest huntress to be accepted, remember?

Oscar: Yeah but...you're also pretty amazing.

Ruby: *laughingly* Trust me. If you had met me back then, you wouldn't think that. 

Oscar: I doubt it. If you were just as cool and kind as you are now, I would've liked you sooner. *jokingly* Y’know beat out all those guys in line for your hand.

Ruby: *giggling* Oh please. I didn't even have a date to the school dance. Me having a line of guys chasing after me. That’s rich!

Oscar: I should've been at Beacon. 

Ruby: Why’d you say that?

Oscar: So I could’ve asked you to the dance.

Ruby: *snorts* Pffft! Again, really sweet of you Oscar but… you would’ve been 13. That’s younger than I was.

Oscar: *smiling* So? I'd still ask you.

Ruby: *blushing slightly* Well tell you what? If there's ever another dance, you'd be my first choice for my date.

Oscar: *grinning* I'm going to hold you to that. It’s a date. And…uh… speaking of dates…

Oscar took Ruby’s hand, looking at her warmly.

Oscar: Ms. Rose, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me right now?

Ruby:*snickering* Do me the honour?

Oscar: *embarrassedly* What? Tha---That’s how the guys asked out the girls back home. It’s a farm folk custom!

Ruby:*laughing* You’re not serious!

Oscar: *huffily* It is! You Valerian city girls just don’t know common courtesy.

Ruby: *teasingly* Jokes on you, I’m a Patch girl, born and raised. Besides I meant about the date thing. You’re not serious about that, right?

Oscar: Actually I am. We still have a couple hours to kill before we meet back up with the others, right? And…there’s a perfectly good movie theatre right over there that’s showing all three Grimm Samurais movies with a food court that gives out free popcorn to couples. Besides I think those crazy girls from before might still be lurking around. You mind playing my girlfriend for a few more hours?

Ruby: *excitedly* You had me at Grimm Samurais! Let’s go!

Oscar: *grinning* After you, snookums.

Ruby gave Oscar a weird look; brows raised. Oscar blushed.

Oscar: *defensively* What? It---It’s part of the pretend.

Ruby: Y’know what’s also part of the pretend. You paying for me.

Oscar: What!

Ruby: Now c’mon Oscar, what kind of pretend boyfriend would you be if you didn’t treat your cute pretend girlfriend to our pretend movie date? Isn’t that right pumpkin?

Oscar: *pouting* I’m going to pretend dump you.

Ruby: Can’t cause you’re pretend madly in love with me!

Ruby sticks out her tongue at Oscar playfully before skipping off before he could say anything else. Oscar only shook his head as he only stared after the Silver eyed huntress. He then sighed dreamily.

‘…Or maybe I’m just in love with you for real…’ Oscar thought; an affectionate smile already tugging at his lips. With that, the young farm boy caught up to Ruby; taking her hand in his again as she in turn beamed brightly and tugged him forward in eager excitement, as the two rosebuds entered the mall theater together.

And scene.

Squiggly Scriptwriter’s Commentary:

This has been sitting in my drafts for weeks and I didn’t realize how adorkably cheesy this was until I finished editing it. So much cheese. Hope no one reading is lactose intolerant.

This spawned from the random idea of what if… Ruby fake-out made out with Oscar to get him out of a sticky scenario with a group of fangirls. I quite like the romance trope of the fated pair fake kissing each other for show only for their real feelings to surface later in the plot.

I was planning on releasing this script earlier but…y’know busy bug syndrome got in the way. It wasn’t until I saw @blackhakumen​ beat me to the punch with his own version of the “playing pretend” trope for Rosegarden, that I finally figured it’s about time I finished this. You can almost say his work gave me the push to finally wrap this up! Thanks for the motivation boast with your script Black. If you haven’t, check out Mini Fanfic #64: My Boyfriend by Blackhakumen.

I haven’t written anything this cheesy for Rosegarden since my ‘A-Dork You!’ RWBY Squiggle Script. Good times. I still love that script.

A special thank you bunches of oats to my fellow Garden Rosebud @miki-13​ for loaning me their lovely OCs who cameoed in this script.

The CNRY girls are from Miki’s RWBY fanfic---‘Reconciliation’. If you haven’t already checked it out, I’d definitely recommend it to you guys. It’s a fantastic read that not only tells an excellent interpretive follow-up from the events of V6 but it also includes an original cast of interesting characters. Seriously check it out.

I hope you didn’t mind the cameo Miki. When I first thought up this script, I was originally going to go with a random character but then I remembered your CNRY girls. Sorry if me borrowing them was for something as cheesy as this. The CNRY girls served their part well. I just hope I did your girls justice here.

More RWBY Squiggles Scripts

 ~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[melmothblog]

I saw Ballet Preljocaj’s “Blanche Neige” (“Snow White”) last night - courtesy of my incredibly generous best friend who knows me so well and always gets me the best birthday gifts.

Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj Music: Gustav Mahler + 79D Costumes: Jean Paul Gaultier Set Design: Thierry Leproust

Main Cast: Snow White - Mirea Delogu; Prince - Redi Shtylla; Queen - Cecilia Torres Morillo; King - Sergi Amoros Aparicio; Mother - Agnes Girard; Cat Gargoyles - Margaux Coucharriere and Manueal Spera; Deer - Margaux Coucharriere; Young Snow White - Maia Duck. 

I am very rarely left speechless. This is one of those occasions. I love Angelin Preljocaj (“Le Parc” is a timeless masterpiece), but “Blanche Neige” exceeded my expectations. I was reminded of how beautiful movement can be, how much information it can convey, and what a complex story it can tell. Preljocaj made me realise what it is that I’ve been missing so much in modern productions: meaningful storytelling.  

“Blanche Neige” is a masterclass in world-building. Preljocaj accomplishes so much with a restricted palette and a deceptively plain set. I find that in modern productions (especially at the Royal Ballet) the elaborate, and oftentimes over the top sets, overwhelm the choreography, and the story ends up being told through means other than dance. I had this feeling with “Frankenstein” and “Alice in Wonderland”, though I thoroughly enjoyed both ballets.

Preljocaj‘s language is so unique but so clear: every character has a distinct personality and clear set of motivations. The animals - the Cat Gargoyles and the Deer (I f*cking loved that deer so much! pardon my French) - are distinguished by their own “body language”, their own, unique set of movements. 

There is a section of a pas de deux with no music, there are aerial acrobatics, there are simple but effective “special effects”, there is violence and a sexual undertone, there is so much of the Brothers Grimm in this production I could cry.

I could go on for ever. I think the last time I walked away from a theatre so elated and overwhelmed was when I was Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” ages ago.

Somebody, please hold me. 

If you ever get the chance to watch “Blanche Neige” live - do it. This ballet is officially Melmoth approved and endorsed. 

[thegreatallanquatermain]

Sechs, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll, Chapter 4 - Art May Be Subjective, but Your Opinion is Wrong

With the start of our third week, so came the start of a new course. Bard, Saskatoon Pirate, Dynamo, and Awesome, joined me in lessons about German history, particularly focusing on social and politic change since the end of the Second World War. I was so excited to start the class, especially when I found out a large section of Party Bus was going to be involved. Yet, somehow, I managed to fall asleep in almost every class. For a future teacher, I was one the biggest asshole students around, because it’s kind of hard to not notice the hefty fat guy, peacefully snoring in the front row of your class. Things did not get better when we had our first paper due at the end of the week. I sat myself down to start trying hard, and actually dedicating some time to some real work for once. Then I got a message that everyone was meeting for drinks at the MKC, so I cobbled together a mess of text for only forty minutes, using Wikipedia as my primary source of information, and submitted it without even proof reading my work. I got an A, obviously.

There was also an excursion to see the local mosque, and to chat with the local Muslim community. I was so excited to hear about their experiences, and what it is like to worship in a small German town. I feel asleep there too. It wasn’t subtle either, because I was sitting next to our host when I passed out. I tried to stay awake by looking intensely at him the whole time, which only resulted in a wide-eyed stare that surely unnerved everyone around me. When asked about the Muslim communities in Australia, my response of continuing to seemingly glower at the poor guy did not go down as well as I would have hoped.

During this week, Dynamo made a very interesting discovery. Boy Virgin would always drop hints about her room, and that she had some space to hang out. Well, it turns out that her initial roommate decided to move into a hotel for the month, and she had an entire apartment to herself. The fridge even came with alcohol, which was to our benefit, because Boy Virgin refused to touch anything as haram as hazelnut liqueur. Dynamo on the other hand drank that shit straight from a plate. It’s a lot of fun being adult. Unfortunately for our host, her guests were usually too inebriated by the end of the night to really be able clean up after ourselves, so she would be left with dozens of empty bottles, and a laptop covered in bright pink beer.

A common evening usually involved an attempt to watch an episode of the ‘90s television masterpiece Mystery Science Theatre 3000, only for Princess to bust out a bottle of alcoholic strawberry Nesquik, Bard would dust an entire bottle of rosé, Saskatoon Pirate would mix her $5 vodka with anything to make it taste less rotgut, and Awesome and I would try to drink as much of each other’s beer as possible. We eventually managed to get half way through a single episode, before victoriously giving up. The tales of the Party Room were numerous, but usually ended the same way.

Two of the most famous alumni of Marburg are The Brothers Grimm, who are best known for collecting and publishing folk tales. They popularised Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, and Rapunzel among many others. Now, they didn’t collet these stories in Marburg, in fact they were law students who were not even treated especially well due to their low social standing. With all these factors, it’s no wonder that Marburg’s tourism department jumped on the chance to cover the city in images and statuettes detailing the many famous Grimm tales. On Friday morning, all the students from every German language class separated into different groups to venture around the city to find the many fairy-tale references. This in itself sounds almost whimsical, and as a fan of folklore, I was very excited to go. Then it started raining. I was a scout for many years, and I have always believed in their motto “Be Prepared.” That is why I did not bring a jacket or an umbrella with me to Europe.  

Saying I was a little damp, may have been a bit of an understatement. The worst part of the experience wasn’t the small lakes that were forming in my shoes, the damage our oh-so-important sheets were enduring, or even the annoying videos we kept having to film. No, it was the incessant comments on how wet I was. Oh really? I’m wet? Sorry, I didn’t notice, because there was too much water on my goddamn glasses to see anything. Thanks for keeping me so informed. Just image what would happen if I didn’t know that I was soaked to the bone. Thanks to you guys, I can now just start being dry. On the Brightside, our efforts in filming the stupidest activities in the world were rewarded when we I won a University of Marburg shirt that was only two sizes too small. Worth it.

With the weekend came another excursion, this time we were taking a train about an hour north to Kassel. Every five years, Kassel hosts a large contemporary arts exhibition known as documenta. Although each documenta is only open for one hundred days, our visit coincided with documenta 14. Due to Kassel’s link to art, the city is covered in interesting art projects, both those that are part of documenta 14, but others that have lingered from past documentas. I was expecting a city full of fine art, but the first “art work” I witnessed was a fibreglass bear with a shotgun, drinking a beer. I was a little concerned about what was to come. We also arrived in the middle of a torrential rainstorm, so in an attempt to get everyone to stop asking me about whether I was happy with my choice of clothes, I went out and purchased an expensive, and colourful umbrella. Then it immediately stopped raining, and my new umbrella had the fascinating problem of refusing to close ever again. Whatever, let’s just get this art stuff out the way.

Our first tour of documenta 14 was a little less than exciting. Sure, there was a very large replica of the Parthenon covered in banned books, but there wasn’t much else outside. Our tour guide was trying very hard to get us excited. “See this tree? It’s got a rock next to it. Art.” I suppose art is subjective, because to me it looked like a tree with a rock next to it. She did not stay with us for long, because before we knew it, we were separated into groups, with Ian being the unlucky individual tasked with baby-sitting us again. We met our new tour guide, a dude who was quite well dressed, as long as you ignore the fact he was literally wearing pyjama pants. Pyjama Pants was very excited to show us around a large art gallery with “BEINGSAFEISSCARY” adorning the entrance. We snuck in though the back to escape the large queue that had formed in the front of the building. I would have liked to talk about all the fascinating art works inside, and how deep and interesting each of the ideas being represented were, but one of the pieces looked like a prolapsed anus ejecting itself out of the wall, so it’s a little hard to think about anything else.

We were definitely not the ideal tour group. Every time Pyjama Pants asked about our thoughts on an art work, we would not give the insightful response he may have been expecting. “Is that supposed to look like a vagina?” asked Ian. “That video says God is a lemon. All hail Lemon God!” praised Princess. “That picture shows a woman exposing her growler,” mentions Slim Shady, followed by me having to awkwardly explain to Pyjama Pants and Boy Virgin what “growler” means (mons pubis, for those wondering). However, Pyjama Pants was not being completely professional, very clearly displaying an enormous crush on Boy Virgin. Every time she said anything, even when it was quite obviously a delirium induced hallucinatory response to something she was seeing in her own mind, he treated it like she was the most perceptive comment he had ever received. When she pointed out that a painting had a single red drop on it, he almost audibly moaned he was so impressed. No one had ever shown him that exact dot before. This changes everything.

It was finally deemed it necessary for us to escape, so we bid Pyjama Pants farewell, and as an enormous group, we followed Ian to a potential exit. This exit was behind a closed door, that we could only get to by walking through a theatre full of people watching a movie. We barged past everyone, only to find that Ian’s “exit” was just a dead end. It was time to barge back through the theatre of now irate viewers, and awkwardly return to Pyjama Pants, who pointed us I the right direction.

We spent the rest of our time in Kassel slowly walking around the muddy sidewalks, taking pictures, and generally avoiding the art to look at the far more interesting parks and buildings. This was a truly enlightening experience, because we found out that Slim Shady is the single worst photographer ever to grace our planet. I wanted to see him take pictures, just because he would always come back with a new way of messing up a seemingly simple group photo. Before long, we all just decided to head back to Marburg, and met up at the MKC for a beer.

[otakunoculture]

[Victoria Fringe Festival 2019] The Robber Bridegroom, Brothers Grimm

Location: Metro Studio Theatre (Fringe Venue 3) 1411 Quadra Street

Remaining Shows: Aug 26 07:45 pm Aug 30 05:15 pm Aug 31 03:45 pm Sep 01 05:45 pm

Chimera Theatre‘s revisionist take on the Brothers Grimm fairytale The Robber Bridegroomis simply a masterpiece of German expressionism. Not only is this adaptation a love letter to this artistic movement but also a Shakespearean playwright was behind…

[bunnystrawberry-sorbet]

Grimm Tales: Snow White

Snow white and the seven dwarfs: Disney

Snow white: The legend of snow white

Apple white: ever after high

Snow white: grimms fairy tales classics

Snow white: Grimms Notes the Animation

snow white with the red hair

[princesssarisa]

I'm so happy I've found the original Japanese versions of several episodes of Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics (or rather, Grimm Masterpiece Theatre, as they're posted under that original title) with English subtitles on YouTube.

So far I've watched the Japanese and English dubbed versions of Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty back to back, and I prefer the Japanese.

One that doesn't seem to be available yet in subtitled Japanese yet is Snow White, though. I hope it's eventually posted, because I really want to compare it to the English dub. I strongly suspect now that the Japanese version doesn't share one of the main problems found in the English dub: the fact that throughout the story, apart from the dwarfs, Snow White's strongest relationship is with her best friend Klaus, while the Prince never even shares one romantic glance with her, yet we're told in the end that she married the Prince. It would have made much more sense for Klaus to be her implied future love interest and the Prince to just serve as their heroic older brother figure in this retelling. I would have interpreted the characters in just that way if the English narrator didn't say she married the Prince. But in the Japanese version of the show, there is no narrator. So I'd like to know: does the Japanese version also imply that she'll marry the Prince, or not?

[humanoid-lovers]

A Deliciously Ghoulish Abecedarius The aptly named author Edward Gorey has delighted three generations of my family. The kids I know all enjoyed this abecedarius with each letter of the alphabet standing for the name of a child and each child meeting his or her demise in a variety of grisly, illustrated ways: "Y is for Yorrick whose head was knocked in; Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin." Several of my child friends who first read "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" memorized it, improving their vocabularies in the process. While it may be a bit too dark for kids under six or so (think Brothers Grimm), most seven-year-olds on up to impish grandmas will relish Edward Gorey's darkly comic fatalities. Go to Amazon

Funny and Educational This book is quite morbid, so don't expect to read it to a 5 year old. With that said it is educational and entertaining for young and old. There were a few words I had to look up in the dictionary and some of the illustrations are really chilling. The book came with a few smears and smudges on the cover (nothing a good wiping down didn't take care of). Besides the smudges I am overall very pleased with the book! Go to Amazon

I love this little book and I am happy to finally ... Small but mighty! Go to Amazon

Great Bedtime Book For Adults with a Morbid Sence of Humor Terrific Black Humor that would be distasteful to those that do not have a grasp of sarcasm, and Irony, Very similar to the work of the best of New York Magazine's cartoonist. A quick reading ,amusing illustrated book that reads like a child's bedtime story but written for adults. A parent would need to know his or her child well enough to determine its appropriateness for teaching the child that everyone dies as part of life. In that respect It is has a vague similarity to "Everybody Poops." Go to Amazon

horrible - I love it! This is a horrible book to read to small children unless you are Morticia Addsms. I read it to mine when she throws bedtime tantrums. This book is an abcedaria of children dying in rhyme. It has ink drawings of the children right before they die, so it's not quite as gruesome as it could be. Go to Amazon

Five Stars Cute little book of horrible deaths for reading to whiny children and scaring them. Go to Amazon

Funny! One has to have a rather odd sense of humor to appreciate a tale such as this! Most of the humor lies in the illustrations by Edward Gorey, and primarily in his depictions of the "Tinies." I showed it to a grand-daughter and told her it was funny and that she might appreciate it. She did not! "They're all dead!" she said. Which made me chuckle. So a very adult viewpoint is required to truly appreciate it. Anyway, I view it as a little classic. The work of Edward Gorey can be seen at the beginning of the productions of Masterpiece Theatre on public television . . . the girl with the fan . . . the man skulking outside the window, and the lady lying on a ledge of a high building with her head back crying "Oh-h-h! Go to Amazon

So Delightfully Morbid! You don't have to be the Addams family to appreciate this one. Go to Amazon

A is for.... Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars was really cool. Hilarious and spooky AWESOMELY CREEPY BOOK! Five Stars Boo! No violence or gore, but very morbid for a ...

[runawaycarouselhorse]

#my childhood#you know when you see that little green-haired pixie blowing her horn you're in for a good story

Precisely. <3

I can't recall if this was my first anime or if Maruko or Doraemon (the old Arabic dub with different names, so he was 'Abqoor to me, a cutesy diminutive of 'Abqari meaning "genius"), but these three were easy to follow kodomo anime with simple language that even my then quite weak Arabic language skills could follow along. It helped that the storytelling was very visual.

The pretty pastels and fairy tale aesthetics...

Different logos for the different language versions of the anime series Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics. Aren’t they all so sweet? Like the English dub’s very fitting Old English font, the Arabic dub also opts for calligraphy, but they didn’t expect its audience to be familiar with the Brothers Grimm, so they renamed the series في جعبتي حكاية “In My Pouch, I Have a Story” and bundled up the word for “story” in a stylized pouch made by extending and curling the letter ending “pouch.” The German dub (I’m fairly sure!) matched the colours of the gradient text to the background!

[bunnystrawberry-sorbet]

[bunnystrawberry-sorbet]