"Wolf Among Us" Fables Prequel Game Trailer Released

So, it didn't happen as soon as everyone was hoping but a trailer (released Tuesday) tends to mean sooner rather than later. And (apart from the not-for-kids violence) it's looking pretty good!

Note: While Fables has always been unabashedly adult in content, you should be aware that this unrated trailer contains some violence and blood. I suggest you not have kids in the room watching with you.

The Wolf, mentioned is Bigby (ie "Big B" an abbreviation/endearment of Big Bad Wolf) - and this story, is his:

You may remember a post from early July discussing the Fables movie, in which I added news of the soon-to-be-released game as a sort of addendum. Since then, momentum and buzz have increased a lot (read, the anticipation re this game is pretty high!). It's become a pretty big deal, with game creators, TellTale Games, nabbing the Game of the Year award for 2012 for The Walking Dead.

The Wolf Among Us stars fairy tale characters like the Big Bad Wolf, Snow White and Mr. Toad. These characters were driven to the real world after their fantasy realm was conquered by an evil force. Most of these magical beings have resettled in New York City. They call their NYC community "Fabletown."  

The Fables try to keep their magical nature hidden from the rest of the world. That's easier said than done, though. They're not as cuddly as fairy tales would have you believe; they fight, drink and steal. Bigby Wolf, formerly known as the Big Bad Wolf, acts as the Sheriff of Fabletown and does what he can to keep order. (CinemaBlend)

Centering on the character of Bigby Wolf – the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ from the classic fable of ‘Red Riding Hood’(Edit FTNH: And other "wolf stories' such as 3 Little Pigs) – The Wolf Among Us will follow the now-reformed Sheriff of Fabletown in his efforts to keep non-magical beings from uncovering the true nature of the town’s residents. Joining him is his perennial accomplice from the comics, Snow White (seen in the trailer), but previous screenshots and artwork have shown plenty of other characters will be cropping up throughout. (Gamerant) 

Snow White

"[You're] bending the rules and interpreting the rules as the sheriff," Telltale CTO and president Kevin Bruner stated in May. "[It’s] a really interesting thing to do because everyone in Fabletown has an agenda… you get to interpret other Fables' motivations and how far you let them push the rules."  (ComicBookResources)

Pig: "You owe me, remember?"

The Fables game, however, isn't the comic series adapted for a video game. It's a Bill Willingham approved PREQUEL so Fables are about to get a whole other dimension of story added to the impressively large, and complicated, fairy tale universe.

Part of the reason for the anticipation is this will be the first time we see the characters actually move. It's not a movie but it's the closest thing we've seen so far since Fables hit the comic book market 11-ish years ago (2002). Fans have been itching for a TV series or movie for years now (with many silently - or not-so-silently - nursing grudges against the OUAT folks for getting a similar premise on Network TV,  despite the result proving to be a very distant cousin in the end) so there's been a lot of pressure to get this "right". (And it's a pretty good testing ground for movie possibilities and tie-ins too, so no doubt WB are watching closely.) With the announcement of a big blockbuster-type movie in development, interest has ratcheted up to "11" for the game. Although it's taking a while to put together and release, every indication says it won't disappoint. Both Fables fans and gamers should be very happy in the near future.

Sources: Here, Here, Here

Ask Baba Yaga: She Won't Date Me

Laurence Baldetti

This week someone asks Baba Yaga to bewitch the object of their desire for them... (I'm glad that person doesn't love me...)

This week's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

All the responses are pretty great but here are my top picks:

• Hahah, Baba Yaga just said 'I hate your faces'. Rough translation. (adorable-eggplant)
• "bored spirits of the kitchen"
  Do they have anything to do with why I haven't been as excited about cooking lately?
  (stonefruit)
• I wouldn't worry about all that "potatoes" mumbo-jumbo, LW, most women absolutely love it when you ask fictional witches to "make them less crazy" right in front of them! You two will for sure grow old together. (Judith Slutler)
• And yeah, Baba nailed this one. Dude, you need to go elsewhere. (PistolPackinMama)
• "suck the rot from each others toes" D: (iceberg)

Sprouted eyes. Toe rot. I think that says a whole lot about the relationship (and what Baba thinks of it) right there... (BTW "root cellar" - LOL! Bawdy Baba.)

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

There's now an email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.

CBS Orders (Wizard of) Oz MD (Yes. As in "Medical Drama". Seriously.)

"My Way Home" Scrubs episode tribute to The Wizard of Oz

Wut??
Ya.

(You give me news like this, you can't expect eloquence.)

According to CBS: Doctors + Drama + Dorothy & Co. = Must-See-TV

Let me put this another way: CBS have just announced they're developing a new medical drama based on Baum's The Wizard of Oz, titled Dorothy.

(Note: If you currently google the word "apocalypse", this is the story that appears.)

Do you remember Return to Oz? It was darker. It was more true to Baum's books. It had Dorothy getting a weekly dose of elctro-shock-therapy treatment.

(Actually, it was pretty great. [The movie, not the shock-treatment.] I loved it even as a kid but it was NOT at all like the movie and most definitely not MGM!*)

Now it looks like CBS is sending the (possibly-more-grown-up) Kansas heroine off on another journey, except this one might have green gowns instead of a green city: Dorothy is off to see the wiz, er,  doctor... (slow truck-in with soft focus over suspenseful music...)

From Deadline late last week:

The producers who brought Sherlock Holmes to New York forCBS, are doing the same with some other classic literary characters. CBS has put in development Dorothy, a drama project from Elementary executive producers Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman. The project, fromCBS TV Studios where Timberman/Beverly Prods. is based, is described as a medical soap based in New York City inspired by the characters and themes from The Wizard of Oz. 

I have to admit I'm rather aligned with Collider on this one:

I’m morbidly curious to see just how Beverly and Timberman plan to make this work.  Scrubs did an excellent Wizard of Oz homage in the Zach Braff-directed episode “My Way Home,” but it seems like the adaptation works better within the comedy genre.  How clear will the parallels to the source material be?  Does the lion character have big, wavy hair?  Will our protagonist always wear red shoes?  Do Dorothy and Scarecrow have an on-again off-again relationship?  It sounds so terrible in theory that I just have see what this looks like.

O.o

All I can think of is all the "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" jokes, with heavy doses of "if I only had a brain".

Honestly, I can see potential for a modern psychiatric treatment/Dorothy-in-therapy series of stories but medical soap? Scalpels, electrocardiograms and breakdowns in the scrub room?

You know what? "It's so crazy, it just might work!"

Oh. And "apocalypse". That comes to mind too...

PS And before you wonder what next - they already did Alice In WonderLawland.

One was a briefly run courtroom series in Canada.

The other was titled Ally McBeal.

Well played Toto, well played...

*It didn't seem like Disney at the time either but that's another story...

Special Presentation: Danishka Esterhazy's "The Red Hood"

While I try to point you toward a fairy tale film on Sundays on the FB & Twitter supplemental news feeds, today's short film is extra special and getting a full post.

I mentioned in a recent post about the new neorealist Hansel and Gretel film, H&G, that I would be showcasing more of Danishka Esterhazy's amazing work with fairy tales in film very soon.

Today I'm pleased to present The Red Hood.

I just LOVE this film! Ms. Esterhazy has kindly given me special permission to share it with you here on Once Upon A Blog, and I feel privileged to do. The whole short film is here but in only 9 (ish) minutes, we have a really stunning and memorable updating of a very familiar tale.

Ms. Esterhazy describes it as: "Set in the Canadian prairies during the Great Depression, The Red Hood is a dark re-telling of the classic fable Little Red Riding Hood, and a work of lyrical realism that deconstructs the tale’s underlying gender moral."

Take a look:
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D23 Report (Aug 9 & 10): Maleficent First Look & Branagh's Cinderella sizzle reel

I had a feeling it would be a Maleficent week...

It turns out, D23 attendees were treated to a great first look at the live-action panel on Friday and Saturday, along with an appearance and interview with Ms. Jolie (minus the horns).

From iO9:

The first ever footage of Maleficent screened at D23, which Peter Sciretta of Slashfilm described quite highly (Edit FTNH: see pic of tweet inserted below). Then the lady of the hour, Angelina Jolie, appeared to a standing ovation and talked about how bad-ass Maleficent's horns are. GOOD. 

More importantly, the official Maleficent synopsis was released, which reveals a bit as to why this awesome villain decided to go green and ruin princess Aurora's life:

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Bret McKenzie Developing Labyrinth-esque Comedy-Musical Fairy Tale

Bret McKenzie (left) with Flight Of the Conchords partner Jemaine Clement (right)

I stumbled across this little nugget of news yesterday...

Recipe for a Comedy-Musical Fairy Tale 
by Bret McKenzie (aka half of Flight of the Conchords, aka Austenland & LOTR actor, aka Academy Award winning songwriter)

Take:
- one part Labyrinth
- one part Princess Bride
- one part Muppets
Fold into one film.
Add:
- singing dragons
- singing monsters
- live people
(Caution: do not let monsters & dragons eat people without prior clearance)
Mix with liberal doses of Flight of the Conchords style wit
Add lashings of James Bobin's** writerly-expertise
Blend well.
Set to simmer in pre-production for many months.
-- Proceed with secret baking process (signed NDA*** required to view) --
[Note: Make Jim Henson proud.]
Do NOT set aside to cool.
Share immediately with friends.
Consume with enthusiasm.

** James Bobin was co-writer and director on The Muppets.
*** NDA - non-discloure agreement
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Advertising: The Scoop on "Stories You Can Taste"

This is pretty cool! You watch an ad filled with fairy tales (all made out of ice-cream) and when you see a tale (or ice-cream combo) you like, you click on the "golden spoon" that appears and you're taken to a different video that not only gives you a little recipe but tells you a fairy tale at the same time!

And, as you guessed, its' all very sweet. :)

What I always find really interesting is seeing what constitutes "popular fairy tales" by whichever company (and country) is using tales for their product. While most tales chosen won't surprise there are a few different ones and one in particular may take a couple of views before you get it. (This less-well-known one is my son's favorite of them all.)

Another excellent thing is they've managed to both tell you a fairy tale AND give you a recipe all in under 2 minutes (per tale). To have such clear storytelling that has to do double duty as instructions? Nicely done. And it's always interesting to see in what way it's distilled, what, if any, usual tale motifs are excluded and what version of "happily ever after" they chose.

There are 15 tales in the ice cream adventure. See if you can identify them all...

[Note: the embedded video below isn't the interactive one. I'll give you that link in a minute because once you're there you'll likely get caught up exploring. :) ]

It took 4 food stylists shooting over 4 days - and much creation and re-creation! - to do each tale. There's 35 minutes worth of video to explore! You can read a little about the thoughts behind this creative advertising and the creation of the content over at CampaignAsia HERE. 

And now for the super fun part: click HERE to go to the interactive site. When the ad runs and you see a golden spoon appear over a character, click on it and you'll be taken to a new video (don't worry, it won't lose your place), which gives you a recipe and tells you the ice cream version of the fairy tale all at once. It's beautifully done and so simple kids can follow along with the "cooking" too.

I'll give you one example of a recipe-tale so you can preview the cute:

Now go play and tell fantastic stories! :)

Fairy Whispers Us An Update On "Maleficent"

                       

Fan made posters for Maleficent.

Please note the release date has been changed to July 2, 2014

Bringing you a few teeny fairy whispers on Maleficent today but first let's round up what we know so far:

It's been very quite on the Maleficent front with everyone remaining pretty tight-lipped about the movie. All we really know so far is that it's well into the effects stage and post production (with Pinewood Studios at one stage making a statement of the Maleficent workload being "huge" and that in the future "I think we're going to need a bigger boat, er, studio.."). We know Angelina Jolie got into her Maleficent role via some "serious pranking" on set while filming the Sleeping Beauty-flipped film and we also know that one of Ms. Jolie's children, Vivienne, is set to make her acting debut as the young Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning plays the older version).

Elle Fanning herself admits to being a complete Angelina Jolie fan, with nothing but praise for her on and off set. About Maleficent herself, Fanning said:
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"The Fairest Of Them All" by Carolyn Turgeon

It's out! The Fairest Of Them All has been released!

It's a truly awesome twist on familiar fairy tales and is, in particular, a very unexpected-but-makes-perfect-sense dovetailing of the Rapunzel & Snow White stories...
What if Rapunzel, of the gorgeous lustrous locks, the incomparable beauty, ends up being the evil stepmother in the story of Snow White? (check the backstory HERE - fascinating stuff!)

I unfortunately missed release day with everything I have going on BUT, to show you how much I support this book and believe it a must-add to your fairy tale collection I'm going to do a little something different:
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"Into The Woods" Has Full Cast, Started Rehearsal Aaaand Some Controversy... (Yes. Already.)

First order of business:

Disney's "Into The Woods" movie now has a full (and 100% confirmed) cast!


All the cast are as per the (GIANT) graphic I made HERE, with the addition of young Sophia Grace Brownlee as Little Red Riding Hood.
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Tori Amos' "The Light Princess" Starts Rehearsals (+ Film Making Comp To Win Tickets!)

Do you remember a little post from a few years ago, mentioning Tori Amos was composing lyrics and a score for George MacDonald's fairy tale The Light Princess*? Well the show is finally complete, started rehearsals a couple of days ago and is due to open in the National Theater, London, this September 25th (2013). And yes: You can now buy tickets!

All the official information and ticket links are HERE.

Press release:

Once, in opposing kingdoms lived a princess and a prince who had lost their mothers. Althea, unable to cry, became light with grief and floated, and so was locked away. Digby became so heavy-hearted that he could never smile, and so was trained as a warrior. 

One day, he declares war. Althea is forced out of hiding and down to ground but, in defiance of her father, she escapes, only to encounter the solemn prince on contested land. Beside a lake the warring heirs begin a passionate and illicit affair. But for Althea to find real love, she must first confront the world’s darkness and face her own deepest fears. 

The Light Princess brings together iconic singer-songwriter Tori Amos with playwright Samuel Adamson and directorMarianne Elliott (Curious Incident) in this spectacular coming-of-age story. A dark fairytale about grief, rebellion and the power of love. 

I’m done, Father,Keep your crown,I swear you’ll never bring me down!I am not queen material!

The cast went into rehearsals on Monday (August 5th, 2013) and are tweeting their experiences! Check the latest tweets HERE (no account required). Sounds like they're having a ball and like it will be a great show too.

We now also have some details about the show and how Ms. Amos adapted the fairy tale for a modern audience.
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And The Shoe Fit..? ("Breaking Pointe" Cinderella Revealed)

Reality ballet series - Mondays 9/8c on the CW network (USA)

Ballet reality show Breaking Pointe (on the CW network) is going behind the scenes as they put together their new production of Cinderella. And this Monday (yesterday), they announced who Cinderella will be - (and it really was a case of "whom the shoe fit"..!)

Although this is the poster from LAST season,
it seems very fitting for Cinderella, don't you think?

In case you haven't heard of this show before, the series, now in it's second season, follows the trials, tryouts and tears of Ballet Wests stars and up-and-comers as they vie for the best positions in various shows and in the company.


In staging a fairy tale ballet, not only will we see the drama that goes along with these athlete-artists competing and training for a grueling and high profile show, we'll also be seeing the nuances of how the fairy tale is interpreted and told via the medium of ballet.

While the show is airing well after the actual dramas, rehearsals and even performances have happened, it means we know a little more of how the show will turn out... (are you ballet people keeping up with my puns in this post? Good. ;)

The choreography is possibly the most well known version of Cinderella for ballet, by Sir Frederick Ashton, using Prokofiev's (AMAZING!!) score. (And yes, my MOOC-friends, it is based on Perrault's version. ;)

I haven't done enough research to know if they set this production in 1920's Hollywood like Nureyev did when he directed his production (I'm guessing fro the few pics I've seen, they didn't), but that interpretation, complete with pumpkin-to-rolls royce (& the ethereal Sylvie Guillem) stands out in my mind as being a excellent one (and if you're looking for a ballet version of Cinderella to study, I highly recommend that one).

Sylvie Guillem - Cinderella

Here's the press release from the Ballet West performance season announcement:

Join Ballet West for the sparkling new production of Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella.Complete with a heart-stopping musical score by Sergei Prokofiev, this classic fairytale is filled with romance and comedy, mesmerizing dance, and hilarious fun for the entire family. Beautiful and grand, funny and touching, Ashton’s Cinderella has been called the perfect ballet experience for newcomers, young audiences and seasoned aficionados.  This season, Ballet West becomes the second company in America to present this magical spectacle. 

“A loving, funny, choreographically elegant setting of this beloved story and Prokofiev’s stirring score.”   – Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times

Cinderella rehearsal

If you're curious about the show, here's an excerpt from the "blurb";

2013 poster for Season 2

For the first time ever, the beauty and grace of ballet, the world's preeminent dance form, will be brought to television. Viewers will also see the dark side of this seemingly perfect world; the jealousy, competition and intensity that exist behind the scenes at a professional ballet company. For under the tights and tutus lie warriors, who battle in a gritty world of extreme athleticism, focus and dedication, while hunting for the unattainable...perfection. 

"Breaking Pointe" rips back the curtain on the inner workings of elite Salt Lake City Ballet Company, Ballet West. It obliterates the notion that ballet is a dated art form and shatters pre-conceived stereotypes about the men and women who give their lives to the world of ballet. Beneath their perfect exteriors, these dancers have the toughness of linebackers, punishing their bodies to achieve perfection and dancing through injuries and pain. 

...No one sees, when the curtain goes down, the drama that bleeds into the dancers’ private lives…until now.

If you're following the show and want to know who was cast in which roles, you can check the link HERE for the "spoilers" (scroll down).

You can also follow the Ballet West blog (with numerous excellent photos) HERE or on Facebook with lots of updates and sneak peeks HERE.

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

Ballet West also staged Aladdin earlier this year, of which there are some lovely and interesting photos, like the one below, HERE.

The Emperor's New Clothes Photo Series by Ted Sabarese

Note: Any pixelating was added for the purposes of this blog post ONLY. The only intention is to not have images on the blog that could be misconstrued as "adult" (and all the unpleasantness that comes with that if you attract the wrong sort of attention) while still being able to comment on, and reference, the images. It DOES, however, affect how this photography is viewed. I recommend you visit the artist's gallery HERE to see this series as it was meant to be seen.

We've seen many illustrations of this Hans Christian Andersen tale, many of them funny, but it's rare to see a photographic interpretation. Artist, photographer and director Ted Sabrese, who has done some very interesting projects, really did an amazing job of this series. Especially as it gets right to the heart of the story in just a glance.

I've had this bookmarked for a while, wondering how best to post on  the project to keep the blog "viewer friendly" and found a nifty little Photoshop tool to help me out. I have pixelated the images where there's nudity (or close enough) but DO recommend taking at look at the originals at the artist's Behance gallery HERE. Why? Not only were these subjects NOT meant to be covered in any way (as it defeats the purpose of the photos) but even the suggestion of doing so via pixelating, lessens the impact of these photos - a lot.

They're about exposure (doubly evident due to the medium!) and also about pride, and the original images put an interesting spin on that. Seeing different types of leaders and monarchs (un)dressed this way not only humanizes them but the lesson of their stubbornness instantly clear here. I actually think if the monarchs were completely nude, minus any undergarments or accessories, that it wouldn't impact us as much either, since we're so desensitized to different forms of nudity (at least in photography) these days.

The women in particular are interesting because they're neither sex objects, nor artful and appreciated nudes. While they're funny to us looking on, they're not at all funny to the exposed character. They're not being exhibitionists either, they're just trapped in their pride so it's a very interesting twist on how we usually see the undressed form.

It's so clear, that despite initially being swindled, these rulers aren't in a gullible state at this point, they're stubbornly prideful. And defensive. (Check the body language!)

It's also a very unique way of thinking about the fairy tale that I haven't seen tackled elsewhere (tackled - oh dear! lol). In these images it's very clear that if you were to take away their scepters, crowns and other accessories of station they would, indeed be bereft of any tokens of psychological armor and be mortified.

One of the great things about excellent art is that is makes us think of familiar things in a fresh way. Mr. Sabrese has a unique way of seeing people's "armor" and exposing it for what it is: take a look at his Hunger Pains, The Emoticon Project or Office Wear and you'll see what I mean. (And while you're there, click "appreciate this" to let him know we are very glad he is sharing his art and point of view.)

Fables TV Ad for BBC America (An Old Post You Never Saw, Updated So It Makes Sense Now)

-- Look! It's an old draft that never got posted and is somehow relevant again! I've kept some of the old post, added updates and smeared the words around a bit to hopefully make a little more sense in regards to where we are with Fables today.--

People who don't read comic books wonder what the big deal is about Fables.

Fairy tale folk who don't read comic book are among them but there's good reason we should be keeping an eye on this graphic novel series by Bill Willingham: what if the fairy tale characters we know and love got chased out of their own land and ended up stranded in our modern day world, where nobody was allowed to discover their storybook backgrounds?

Update:
We now know that:
1) Fables is a HUGE hit. Continually critically acclaimed, winner of multiple awards and written and illustrated by heavy hitters in the writing and comic art world, they're currently into issue #131 (not including spin-off issues or specials so add maybe close to 100 issues on top of that) and have self-contained stories and spin-offs for different characters such as Jack and Cinderella and now there's a whole new series spin-off, Fairest, for the ladies of Fable town, which is proving just as popular.

2) Outside the comic geek community the idea of fairy tale characters stranded in our world has proved popular with ABCs TV series Once Upon A Time. The series has been accused called "Fables-light" for the similar premise, of which the public are eating up.

So why hasn't Fables (which is clearly excellent in its own field, as well as the premise and content proving popular in public viewing) made the move to TV or the movies yet? (Even though there have been numerous attempts to do so, none have resulted in anything except disappointment so far.)

One popular theory is that it's REALLY HARD to market comic books to non-comic book people. But I have to wonder: IS it really hard, or have people just not thought about the comic book property in the same way they do a show, book or movie, with regard to the marketing? With the rise in popularity (Update: and - FINALLY - in quality) of book trailers out there (Update: these have become almost standard now and people/companies are getting creative with production and presentation) it's about time someone thought to do something similar for Fables. (Update: this trailer is from October 2009.)

Take a look:

While I'm really glad this has helped garner interest in the general public, I do have to say I'm disappointed. (Really disappointed!) Apart from the stunning art stills, which are mostly from the covers, the quality is definitely on the low side. But why? I know people are probably still getting their feet wet with "how do you advertise a comic book (ie. a static art form /narrative combo) on a moving medium like TV?" issues but this could have been mind blowing (seriously mind-blowing!) if they'd presented it better.

Update: And I also have to wonder, if they'd gotten this ad "right" back in 2009 if Fables would have beaten Once Upon A Time to TV after all... Of course, we'll never know now but I do hope they figure out another marketing strategy to use in the lead up to the movie buzz, rather than just rely on what the production company produce and piggy-back off that. While I'm incredibly overjoyed to know that "thars-a-Fables-movie-a-comin'!" the Fables serial comics, graphic novels and spin-offs have their own well deserved merit and should be able to stand on their own two feet, er, spines. I worry that if they (DC & Willingham) can't figure out how to encourage people to enjoy the graphic novels in their original medium that a whole generation will "just-go-see-the-movie" and miss out on the richness of storytelling and fairy tale evolution happening on the Fables pages. Let's hope they figure out how to make the Fables movie an encouragement to go pick up the series instead.

Note: There are some more trailers on YouTube for the Fables series, and some tributes though none of them are official. This one HERE tries to transition people from Disney to Fables and show the difference. It's somewhat successful in concept but is lengthy and the text is difficult to read over the images (and using any sort of Disney property doesn't sit well with me here). You DO get to see some beautiful artwork from Fables though and get an idea of the twists the stories take, so if you're finally feeling interested in Fables and want more of an overview before buying, this should give you some idea of how the series develops and how the fairy tale characters play out their stories.

In the meantime, while we wait to see what happens with the movie and the marketing surrounding it, I'll keep up the Fables-watch and report anything I see happening.

Ask Baba Yaga: Most Days I Feel Like I'm Choking on Ambivalence

Once Upon a Time Baba Yaga by Angela De Reis

If there's anyone who understands terror in all its forms, it's Baba Yaga. I have a feeling she bottles extra doses to have handy for boiling her vittles. You'll see what I mean...

This week's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

My favorite responses to date:

• All I want in life is a strange One to walk beside me. (JanieS)
• That's how soothsaying should work: maybe that handsome stranger is the herp. (adorable-eggplant)
• This has strains of Twin Peaks running through it, which scares me. (Anne Wachtel@Twitter)
• All I can think about is my diva cup spilling and i shudder. (ificouldiwould)
• Taisia Kitaiskaia, you and Baba Yaga are the living end. So deliciously weird yet on-point! (stonefruit)

I completely agree with stonefruit, delicious, yes, except... is it weird I don't think they're weird??
"..with all the mights of yr skull full of shining through the forrest.;" I guess that's one way to say "into the woods with you already!" If a cup of near-boiling glee and a skull full of shining is what I really have in my basket (!), I think I'd better get on with that walk.

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

There's now an email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.

Grownup & Gritty Rapunzel Heads To Japan in "Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom" (Fables Spin-Off)

The Hidden Kingdom - collection of Rapunzel issues #8-13 in one volume (Vol 2)

Note: This is a lengthy post - partly because I've included as-large-as-possibly-can-fit preview pages, so there is much more after the jump. While this series will not be everyone's taste it should be of great interest to anyone who loves Japanese fairy and folktales, as well as exploring the darker side of Rapunzel tales. I have linked to many more previews so you can have a good idea of what to expect, should you be concerned about the "darkness" of this series before reading. While there truly is a lot to be excited about in this series for fairy tale folk, it remains very adult so please use your discretion.

In a 6-part epic, Rapunzel lives one of the most regimented lives in Fabletown, forced to maintain her rapidly growing hair lest her storybook origins be revealed. But when word of her long-lost children surface, she races across the sea to find them--and a former lover. Rapunzel struggles through maternal heartache in modern Tokyo, along with heavy doses of Japanese folklore and some truly horrifying hair days in “Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom.”

I have to say, I am very intrigued by this preview and what Lauren Beukes revealed about writing this self-contained story under Bill Willingham's encouragement. The 6-part story runs through Fairest #8-13 and has just been released on Tuesday (July 30, 2013) as Volume 2: The Hidden Kingdom (see head of post for this cover).

Ms. Beukes is one an Arthur C. Clarke award winning writer who's style is initially hard to describe (edgy, modern, gritty, imaginative, witty, playful and sharp). I adored Zoo City, which could be loosely described as a gritty urban fantasy unlike anything I've ever read (and, being quite harsh in the light of the setting and subject matter, certainly won't be for everyone).

While Ms. Beukes clearly knows her magic and folklore, it feels incredibly real when she writes about it. It doesn't feel like fantasy and I wouldn't be at all surprised to walk into one of 'her" towns and see it exactly as she wrote. Nothing happens as you expect yet it still feels very reality based (which in turn makes you look at the real world with different eyes). This is probably why she's such a good fit for this Fables spin-off. Although the Fairest series is said to have a more of a fantastic "bent" than the original Fables, there is nothing sweetly "fairytale" (note the merged word, denoting pop-expectations) about these stories either, particularly this Rapunzel tale.
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