#woodsman wolf the path

[lilmisssammy]

The Path Iceberg

This is an Iceberg for The Path- created by myself with editing help from my good friends Samhain, Torr and Gloria. If you don’t know what an iceberg is, it’s a chart to discuss different levels of knowledge for a specific topic, the farther you go down, the more obscure or dark the topics become.

Before you read, I need to state that there are discussions of Rape related to people aged 9 to 19, Death, Potential Triggering content within links, and Spoilers for The Path. 

Thank you! And Enjoy!

This is an Iceberg for The Path- created by myself with editing help from my good friends Samhain, Torr and Gloria. If you don’t know what an iceberg is, it’s a chart to discuss different levels of knowledge for a specific topic, the farther you go down, the more obscure or dark the topics become.

Before you read, I need to state that there are discussions of Rape related to people aged 9 to 19, Death, Potential Triggering content within links, and Spoilers for The Path. 

Thank you! And Enjoy!

Tier 1 - The Sky

The Path is a psychological horror art game created by Tale of Tales, now Song of Songs, in 2009. It follows a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood as it's experienced between six sisters, the wolf-loving 9-year-old Robin, the precocious 11-year-old Rose, the tomboy 13-year-old Ginger, the brooding 15-year-old Ruby, the confident 17-year-old Carmen and the responsible 19-year-old Scarlet. Each sister takes turns walking to their grandmother's house, with the only rule being to stay on the path. And the only way to win is by dying. The Path is a walking simulator and is seen as one of the best representations of the fact gaming can be art. 

Tale of Tales was a Belgian game development company that ran from 2003 to 2015. It was founded by artists Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn in an effort to bring art to an interactive medium. They're known for games like The Endless Forest, Graveyard, Fatale, Sunset, and especially their cult classic The Path. In 2015 they ceased making commercial video games after the release of Sunset, and now work on art projects together under the name Song of Songs. Currently, they’re working on a remake of The Endless Forest, which is currently in its beta stage open for patreons!

Little Red Riding Hood is a fairy tale about a young girl with a red cape who meets a wolf on the way to her grandmother's house. The basic story has Little Red walking through the woods to bring food for her sickly grandmother, where she meets the wolf who wants to eat the food and her. The wolf tricks her into telling him where she's going while she stops to get her grandmother flowers. When she finally gets there, the wolf has eaten her grandmother and tricks her into getting into bed so he can eat her as well. Depending on the version, a hunter may come in and slay the wolf saving the granddaughter and grandmother from his stomach, or the grandmother could be unharmed in the wardrobe. 

Auriea Harvey is a digital artist and sculptor currently living and working in Rome. She’s one half of Tale of Tales and is specifically credited for Design, Direction and Character Design on The Path. She was also the author of the post-mortem on The Path which you can see I’ve heavily referenced throughout this whole post. She currently has an art exhibit at the Museum of Moving Image called My Veins are the Wires, My Body is Your Keyboard which features images, models and the ability to play the path! 

Michaël Samyn is a graphic designer and digital artist specialising in VR from Belgium, currently living and working in Rome. He’s the other half of Tale of Tales and is specifically credited for Design, Direction and Programming for The Path. His most recent work, apart from actively working on The Endless Forest, is The Viriditas Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, an utterly stunning VR experience you can get on Steam.

Tier 2 - Tip of the Iceberg

The Path as a game is about building your own interpretations of the character's struggles via item reactions and rooms in Grandmother's House. There are generally two main interpretations believed by most who play the game. One is that the game shows each girl's death, Robin being mauled to death by a wolf, Rose drowning after she falls off the boat, Ginger being strangled/electrocuted on the flower fields wires, Ruby getting into a car accident, Carmen being killed and chopped up, and Scarlet being hung by the string seen on her wolf’s claws. However, these are also usually viewed as metaphorical examples of the sisters feeling like they died after extreme traumas. Using the items and images as clues, there is a common consensus of what each sister went through that made her feel like this. Robin's is learning about death and the consequences of actions, Ginger's is getting her first period and being forced to grow up, Ruby's is falling in with the wrong crowd and getting into harmful behaviours, Carmen's is getting taken advantage of while drunk, and Scarlet's is falling under the weight of responsibility placed upon her to look after her family.

Some places reported that the game would be about rape or pedophilia, like this spread in a Dutch gaming magazine. Something that gives credence to the rape interpretation is the basis of Perrault's version of the tale where the wolf tricks the sister to take off her clothes and get into bed together, as well as the uncomfortable positions the sisters appear in after their encounter. Though, this is how Auriea addressed it in the post-mortem- 'Some say blindly that the game is "about rape." And while that could be one of the interpretations -- and I understand it -- for me, those black-out moments after meeting her wolf are the moments of realization. Those are the times when a girl grows. And what happens in Grandmother's House is not a murder but a shedding of childhood and an initiation to womanhood. Each girl is one step closer to her fate.'

The Path may have intended answers that are mostly agreed on, but the format of the game is purposefully set up so there is no wrong or right answer, allowing for more personal or specific interpretations. You may notice I didn't mention Rose in the last section- and that's because there isn't an accepted answer. The most popular ideas are either her blooming spirituality, or dealing with illness, though those are both contested. There are other popular interpretations for each character- Robin having a family member pass, Ginger being a lesbian or trans man in love with her wolf, Ruby's experience with ableism or addiction, Carmen experiencing society's sexualization of teenagers, Scarlet having extreme psychological issues, with Rose's ranging anywhere from the struggle of a gifted child, actually dying or even the creators not having an actual set intention! 

Each sister you can play as has their own Live Journal- Robin's is named Kid Red, Rose's Innocent Red, Ginger's Tomboy Red, Ruby's Goth Red, Carmen's Sexy Red, and Scarlets Stern Red. Here the sisters post about their lives and talk to one another and sometimes other people, there seems to be a group of people who didn't know these were fictional characters, and one person talking about the Rio World Cup. Nowadays, this blog project could be seen as an early form of an ARG, considering its interactive nature.

The Company of Wolves is a 1984 gothic horror film about a grandmother warning her granddaughter about straying from the path and never trusting charming men. Multiple stories are told about girls falling for people who are secretly wolves and how it became their downfall. There are similar themes of femininity and sexual awakening, as well as the usage of Charles Perrault's Le Petit Chaperon Rouge at the end of the movie and in the trailers for the game. 

If you've played The Path in recent times you may notice that there are various bugs that range from bearable, game-breaking, beautiful or simply funny. The creators have an image folder of beautiful glitches from developing the game and the VK fanclub has compiled some glitches found themselves.

The game is turning 15 this year- and as time goes on the web aspects that hosted information about it are slowly going out of date. There's been an effort to archive images, the character models for the sisters, and object textures. 

Jarboe Devereaux is an experimental rock musician probably best known for being an early member of the group Swans, who co-composed the soundtrack for The Path with Kris Force along with lending her voice to some narration in the soundtrack and trailers. A lot of her music is experimental and I honestly recommend listening to it if you want! At the moment she’s working on her next solo album to come out in late 2024, as well as considering a tour in Europe after the album is released!

The Path of Needles or The Path of Pins is a line from one of the earliest versions of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf asking which path she will travel down, the needles representing maturity while the pins represent childhood. It's said to be based on a French village in which a girl was sent off to become a seamstress for a year, as a sense of sexual maturation. This features heavily in the trailers as well as being part of The Grandmother’s Tale read by Jarboe, with it being referenced to by Ruby in her reaction to the needle. 

The Prologue is a short free version of The Path you can find on their website where you play as the mysterious Girl in White. You're unable to interact with items or go to grandmother's house in this version- but you are much more able to explore and find your way back to the path on your own, something you cannot do in the full game.

Izzzyzzz is a YouTuber who makes commentary videos who posts deep dives on things like famous fandom stories, old media and internet legends. In late 2021 they posted a video covering The Path which now sits at 1.4 million views, introducing a good chunk of the modern fan base to the game, as well as causing a surge in new content for the game, with a follow-up video in 2023! Their most recent video is about the game Palworld and it’s plagiarism, as well as having a new line of merch out.

Despite being released in English and Dutch only, The Path very quickly grew a fanbase in Japan and even more so in Russia. Screenshots from Auriea's post-mortem showed Russia was the second biggest purchaser of the game. The European social networking site VK has a fan club of 5.4k members as of writing this- as well as having produced 251 fanfictions on ficbook (for context, Rule of Rose, a game with similar themes and an overlapping fan base has 5 fanfictions on it) Japan's is a lot less archived, but on niconico you can find a lot of fan videos for The Path that is simply not there on the English net.

Though not like how it's used in other games- The Path has an inventory system in which you can collect, store and view items found in the forest. These are deemed "Distractions", and you're able to use these to unlock parts of grandmother's house. There are 30 items you can collect, the bread and wine are already collected which unlock the house and gate respectively, but there is also: A Knife (Unlocking a knife on the kitchen table), a Bullet (Unlocking a deer head), a Feather (Unlocking a Cage with a bird), a Mask (Unlocking the curtains in the kitchen), a Dead Bird (Unlocking a tv), Treasure (Unlocking a stack of money), a Needle (Unlocking pills), a Two-Headed Teddy Bear (Unlocking the bear in grandmother's house), a Boot (Unlocking a table), a Record (Unlocking a stereo), Flowers (unlocking hanging flowers), a Balloon (Unlocking Balloons on the ceiling), a Piano (Unlocking a Cobweb), the Playground Tower (Unlocking a picture frame), a Bunker (Unlocking beer in a fridge), and a Grave (Unlocking a Vase). Each sister then has three special items that unlock secret rooms. For Robin, an Open Grave, Swing and Shopping Cart unlock a crib with a birds-nest, a side staircase and a birthday party. For Rose, a Living Crow, a Skull and a Well, unlocking a long corridor of bathroom stalls, a flooding hallway of doors and a greenhouse. For Ginger, a Twisted Fence, a Climbable Tree and a Shed unlock a hallway, a bedroom and toys under the bed. For Ruby, a Scarecrow, a Wheelchair and a Car unlock a hallway, gymnasium and giant cage. For Carmen, beer, campfire and bath unlock a bush corridor, a basement and a row of fire. And for Scarlet, a cobweb, a clothing line, and a tv unlock a music room, a library and a hall of books.

Tier 3 - Beneath the Surface

Kris Force is an electroacoustic composer, performer and visual artist you'd probably best know from her work as Amber Asylum and with Neurosis. She’s an extremely talented multi-media artist, including such skills as painting, sound and photography. At the moment her most recent release was The Embrace, with Jarboe whom she collaborated with on The Path!

1001 Video Games To Play Before You Die is a spinoff book from 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, featuring games from 1970 to 2013, with The Path being listed right between Punch-Out for the Wii and EyePet the pet simulator. Listed as being so effective due to its interactivity.

The Girl in White, the mysterious forest girl who brings the sisters back to the path, seems to be tied with two of the sister’s Wolves. Ginger’s, The Girl in Red, and Carmen’s, The Woodsman. The Girl in White has a small tent next to the Woodsman’s area, as well as sharing the same skin colour, hair colour, eye colour and similar-looking boots. With the Girl in Red it’s much the same, the only things being different are the colour of their dresses, and the directions their pigtails point, and is directly named as the Girl in White’s twin. There’s even art of all three together named “The Woodsman’s Daughter” but not saying which one is his daughter. 

Fey Wolf, if you aren't familiar, is the name in the files for Scarlet's Wolf, the white-haired pianist found in the theatre. You'd not be faulted for seeing them as either an older woman or a long-haired man, or even a genderless ethereal being. The Fey Wolf was never specifically gendered by the creators, but insights about The Girl In Red Wolf reveal that she is intended to be the only female wolf.

Laura Raines Smith is an extremely prolific animator specialising in modelling and textures and was the main animator in a lot of Tale of Tales games. Some of her Tale of Tales animations can be found here, but she's also worked on games like Borderlands 3, Rage of the Gladiator and NHL 95. Her most recent work from what I can find was the animation and rigging on Saturnalia in 2022! 

If you’ve been in the community or if you’ve seen people discuss theories for The Path, you have probably seen the interpretation that Ginger is a lesbian, or transgender. This goes beyond just a shared headcanon, there’s a mountain of evidence for both camps that seems potentially intended. Starting with Ginger being transgender, just out of respect, in this section Ginger will be referred to with gender-neutral pronouns. Their appearance is particularly androgynous compared to their sisters, with a short bob cut and a black shirt and shorts- along with having the gender-neutral name Ginger that doesn’t quite fit the family naming theme that could be seen as a chosen name. Ginger also is associated with things that are seen as more masculine, their favourite video game is an action-adventure called Ico, they enjoy exploring the forest and trying to blow things up or fake crop circles, as well as having “boy” toys under the bed, little army men and dinosaurs. Ginger also notoriously dislikes things that are more “girly” like dressing up pretty, going as far as to make their entire family forget their birthday to avoid it. Their wolf can be seen as a manifestation of that, of all things girly and feminine, literally being only known as a Girl in Red- and the GIR’s obsession with barbed wire could be how they feel their feminity is trapping them. Ginger getting their first period is near-universally considered to be the “proper” interpretation of their route, but people who believe in Ginger being transgender use their overwhelming reaction to their first period being a sign of gender dysphoria, and fear of now believing they will be stuck to becoming a woman. This can be summed up in this image, of Ginger clutching their legs together with what's supposed to be in the middle being completely absent, instead with a drawing of flowers in place and barbed wire across, a clear sign of how they see their period as trapping them into womanhood. For the lesbian side, Ginger never specifically states that she doesn’t like men like Scarlet, but more shows her complete disinterest in them and romance in general. She mentions how she hates that “kissing stuff” and describes Carmen as “Hot, if you’re into that kinda thing.” While that does seem to show Ginger isn’t into romance at all, there are some things. The recurring image of two girls holding hands as a doodle can be found all over the game, and her general identity as a tomboy is sometimes seen in young lesbians yet to have come out, but most of the evidence lies within her wolf and their relationship. They’re clearly close, they have a handshake, and Ginger is more comfortable with affection with her than compared to her own grandmother, with the two girls hugging deeply and the GIR even lifting her into the air. The Wolf Encounter is comparably tamer and almost sweet compared to every other wolf encounter, ending with the Girl in Red grabbing Ginger’s hand and pulling her down to lie together in the sun. The final flashes show an image of the GIR leaning in, almost looking like she’s kissing something. On the GIR’s development blog, their relationship is described as “They are what is missing from each other's lives” as well as describing why Ginger was chosen to have a female wolf as “And the girl most likely to be attracted would be Ginger.” These development notes as well as the general tone of the wolf encounter seem to apply that Ginger and her wolf’s interactions weren’t as antagonistic as the others, almost as if her goal was not to hurt, but to trap her, seemingly to stay in the relationship.

If you’ve lurked on forums about the game for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard the question of “Getting an A” in the game's grading system, and speculation on how it’s possible. Well, I’m sadly here to tell you it’s impossible. Even if you get all of the items, all 144 flowers, successfully succumb to the wolf, and become Grandmother's favourite grandchild, you are unable to get an A. It honestly should not be a surprise- The Path is not supposed to be a normal game that rewards you for your completion, it’s… The Path.

Lisa Falzon is an Illustrator turned tattooer and multimedia artist from Malta. She was originally approached early on in the production to design the box art, though I don’t know if this was ever made or shared, and went on to inspire multiple other aspects of the game, being described as "Awkward Realism." She even drew Ginger when Tale of Tales interviewed her! At the moment she’s working in her own Tattoo shop called Upward Spiral Ink- her tattoos involve amazing detail and beautiful shading, I highly recommend checking it out!

Emriss, Redsbane and Bonedevill are three accounts found commenting and interacting with the sisters' live journals in the comments between 2008 and 2009. Most of Emriss' comments come from 2008, while all of Redsbane and Bonevill's are from 2009. The common through line is interaction with the accounts by the sisters and deactivation. Emriss plays a more neutral role, while Redsbane and Bonedevill lean more antagonistic with them referencing something bad happening to the sisters, Redsbane also seemingly implies the 'Bane' of the 'Red' sisters. With these accounts not archived on the Wayback Machine it's not clear if these were accounts used by the creators to provide interaction, or if they are actual fans playing along.

Ruby’s Leg Brace is probably the most iconic thing about her, with the rarity of video game characters using disability aids, her open usage of one is a welcome sight- but from the beginning of her development it’s not clear if she needs it. In her original plan sheet it’s noted that she may just be using it for show and later her description on the website saying “When asked about her leg brace, Ruby says she’s in pain, but she doesn’t specify where it hurts,” implying she doesn’t need it. Conversely, one of Ruby’s secret items needed is a wheelchair, and the final flashes put an emphasis on her legs and how they’re bent out of shape, seemingly saying she needed the leg brace due to a car crash, or an alternative reading is that Ruby was already disabled before the accident, as she gets violently thrown through a high school gym, as well as being the quickest character in the game, maybe signalling she used to be a school athlete before the onset of a condition or an accident.

Kirin San may be a kind of mysterious figure for non-Japanese fans of The Path, especially if you’ve gone through fanart, seeing a random man or giraffe in a little suit with the red sisters. The truth is, Kirin-San could probably be best described as the Japanese Izzzyzzz, being a big part of how the game became popular over there, with his playthroughs inspiring animatics and leading to a Japanese translation coming in 2010 from Zoo Corporation! This is a weird side note I didn’t know where else to put, but while I was researching this topic I found out that apart from translating games like GTA and Left 4 Dead into English, they also create hentai card games like Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire as well as developing medical prescription systems, so that’s hilarious. 

144 is described as the essence of the game by the creators, that it represents “a girl's restlessness, the sound of footsteps on dry leaves, the smell of pine trees, dim sunlight through filtering clouds.” The original working title of it was 144, with the original intent to have 144 red riding hoods. This was quickly abandoned due to the scale, but its importance remains, the 144 collectable flowers in the forest are the most obvious example of this, but it's all over the rest of the game. There are 36 items (144 divided by 4 being 36), 18 secret rooms (144 divided by 8 being 18), 3 secret rooms per sister (144 divided by 48 being 3) as well as six sisters (144 divided by 24 being six).

Something talked about in the postmortem but was not mentioned by name in the game is that The Girl in White is quite literally an older version of one of Tale of Tales past characters, The Deaf Mute Girl in The Pretty White Dress from 8. Her models were created based on making them look like the Deaf Mute Girl but at the age of 13. With 8 never coming out; the Girl in White is both the first occurrence of this character and the second time she was in a game.

Tier 4 - Middle of the Iceberg

An interesting detail that 1c changed when they translated the game into Russian is them choosing different names for the main six girls, unlike every other translation which keeps their original. The names are: Robin as Алина/Alina, Rose as Алиса/Alice, Ginger as Ада/Ada, Ruby as Агния/Agnia, Carmen as Алла/Alla and Scarlet as Аврора/Aurora. The translated names are no longer themed around red things, but around the alliterative A’s, probably due to their name puns being lost in translation.

This is an entry that’s probably more well known to people NOT into The Path, in that The Path is featured and shouted out by name in Hetalia. Yeah, Hetalia, that Hetalia the anime about personified countries that once was the second most popular Anime/Manga fandom on Fanfiction dot net, features The Path in both the anime and manga, with Belgium showing off the game as something from their homeland.

Something never mentioned in the games is that each of the sisters was given birthdays. On their livejournals, you can see posts of them celebrating Robin’s, Carmen’s and forgetting Ginger’s, but they aren’t the only ones with birthdays. On their live journal profile descriptions, their birthdays are listed as the 13th of October 2000 for Robin, the 13th of March for Rose, the 13th of September 1996 for Ginger, the 13th of May 1994 for Ruby, the 13th of November 1992 for Carmen, and the 13th of April 1990 for Scarlet. Rose doesn’t have her birth year listed but it’s probably just 1998, due to all of the sisters being spaced by two years. Something interesting is that all of the sisters were born on Friday the 13th, but only Rose would be her actual age as of the game release. Since the game came out on the 18th of March 2009, the actual character ages would be 8 for Robin, 11 for Rose, 12 for Ginger, 14 for Ruby, 16 for Carmen and 18 for Scarlet. Part of me thinks that this is why Rose’s birth year goes unmentioned on live journal, though if she wasn’t born in 1998 she would not fit the profile of being born on Friday the 13th, but it’s possible it was either a mistake or related to another entry on this iceberg.

Only mentioned in one development image and the development blog for Ginger’s Wolf, is the idea that Ginger and Rose were at one point supposed to be twin sisters, both being 13 similar to the Girl in White and her twin The Girl in Red being 13. In the accompanying image found on Flickr, you’re able to see above Rose her age is listed as 11, or as 13 if she was a twin. The thing is- the sister that has age 13 listed above her is very clearly NOT Ginger, it’s Ruby, and it’s Ginger who’s listed as 15. Well, they’re not listed by name, but Tomboy Red and Goth Red are the names used for Ginger and Ruby as seen on Livejournal, and their appearances are nearly identical to those from the final product. Especially weird considering that Ruby was the first character ever made for this game, and she was listed as 15 in that as well!

You probably noticed this if you looked at the image where Rose and Ginger are listed as twins, but they aren’t the only ones with stark differences that go unexplained. The Girl in White is listed as LDMGIAPWD, an acronym for the Little Deaf Mute Girl in a Pretty White Dress, simplified in print as the Girl in White and in fan discussions as the GIW. Another thing you’ll notice is that Scarlet has… A different design. With a long buttoned dress reminiscent of something straight out of a period piece set in an asylum, and a hat with things that look like antennas with flowers. And then it comes to… Rose and Carmen’s original names. Virgin Red and Sexpot Red. We’ll start with Carmen. Sexpot is a more crude way of describing someone who’s sexy, which is what Carmen’s nickname was then changed to. It’s still kind of a touchy issue with fans that Carmen, a minor, uses the name Sexy- but it’s still far more appropriate compared to Sexpot. Sexy gives more of a feeling that it’s self-appointed when compared to Sexpot which is more voyeuristic. And Virgin Red. Virgin has two contexts that are relevant here. Virgin within the context of purity and innocence, related to the Virgin Mary as an example of goodness not seeing bad. And Virgin within the context of never having sexual contact with anyone. Given the fact her name was then changed to Innocent Red and the fact she is ELEVEN- it’s likely that it’s related to that first interpretation, further giving evidence towards the view of Rose’s story being about her relationship to her spirituality. 

If you’ve read Rose or Ruby’s live journal you’d find out that on the 2nd of May 2008, Ruby dyed her hair black. That’s not surprising to begin with, you can see her with her hair as black throughout the game (Though sometimes it has a blueish look with some lighting)- a bit weird that it had to be pointed out as dyed due to all of her sister’s also having black hair (You can see Ginger’s black roots), but their live journals give a reason for why. In Ruby’s comment section, she’s asked about her original hair colour, which she replies was Green. It’s not clear if she means her hair was last dyed green, or if she has natural green hair. This seems like a reference to one of her final flashes that’s the same as another but with a green colouring. Anyway- this isn’t what we’re talking about. In the reply of that comment, someone calls her a liar, and says if it really was green, why did she get her sister to lie? What they’re referring to is Rose’s post about it- in which she says that Ruby had made her promise not to tell what her old hair is. There’s still a debate as to what her original hair colour is, and I don’t think we will ever actually get to know.

In 2022 @wammy4 on Twitter began multiple Twitter bots based on the sisters in The Path, posting various things sourced from lines in the game, live journal posts, quotes from grandmother's house and links to the game. It posted multiple times per day, now with so many posts it’s hard to keep track, but as of the fourth of April 2023, none of the accounts other than the creator has posted, due to Musk’s shutdown of free API bots and $100 per month bot subscription.

A staple of fandoms on the internet are Askblogs, where fans can ask characters questions and get a reply, usually with illustrated companions. The Path is no outlier, having a dedicated askblog on VK- with over 800 followers. It’s been active for years and has over 2 thousand different images, and has asks for all of the characters in the game, as well as gender-bent versions. If you can speak Russian I highly recommend checking it out, and even if you can’t, the art is stunning!

The Red sisters aren’t the only ones who have live journals, within the comments you can find Grandmother Red interacting with her grandkids, asking when they’ll next come down to see her. However this livejournal is different from the others given that hers is deactivated, even with the wayback machine- and her livejournal was never linked on the official website next to the others.

Fuco Euda is a Japanese-based surrealist painter focusing on the horrific, sensual and innocent, with girls nearly looking identical as if they were family, or the same girl. She was first referenced all the way back when Ruby was being designed as an artist to look into for inspiration. Her artbook LUCID DREAM is out, with a special bound edition if that’s something you’d be interested in!

Alice Knows Karate is an alt-pop band that takes inspiration from fairytales and J-pop, creating a unique nostalgic sound that feels straight out of a video game. They’ve got various albums you should definitely check out, but what we’re specifically talking about today is their 2018 album Fablewave, with their song ‘The Path’. It was originally posted on the head of the band Keiko’s YouTube channel in 2009, with an updated version coming ten years later. It’s outrageously good, it captures the essence of the game perfectly with amazing lyrics, and I got a bit too attached and it ended up as my number-one song on Spotify in 2023. The rest of Fablewave is also based on other fairytales and fairytale-inspired games, particularly ‘Alice, What Have You Done?’ based on American McGee’s Alice. Their most recent work is Grounded, and they’ve also been featured as the theme song for Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain! 

The Path was supposed to be Tale of Tales' first commercial project, and as so it included advertising, but being Tale of Tales, they did this the most extra way they could. Around where they lived, they made a Tear Off poster, with what I believe is Martha Samyan’s art of Robin. The poster asks the reader to choose the path of pins or the path of needles, while linking to the website. On their blog they provide a blank download of the tear-off poster so you can print it off, to draw on it and place it around you!

The Path was Tale of Tales' first foray into creating commercial games, and because of that, there are various different selections of merch, such as: Signed Posters, USB drives, CDs of the soundtrack, Polaroids, Shirts (via Redbubble) and a sticker. Nearly all of this, save the shirts on Redbubble, are no longer purchasable, being limited items when they came out, and then finally being sold in 2015 as Tale of Tales moved. I am still so mad I never got those Polaroids and am still madly searching for auctions of them.

The Rose Problem is a catch-all term I am using to describe basically ‘What the hell is up with Rose’. It’s no secret that Rose is divisive when it comes to interpretations- so much so that I couldn’t include her in the first interpretation section. So, what is it that makes Rose so difficult? Well, you can barely see her wolf, her house is almost all flooded and she speaks with flowery prose. The reason people seem to view her route as spirituality or disability is because of her continued mention of disconnect from herself. But there have been oceans of other disagreeing ideas, related to her perhaps going through puberty early, her experiencing guilt related to her family, her being potentially molested, or even her literally dying. It’s been put forward by some that Tale of Tales went into Rose not even having an intention in mind, or it shifted from one idea during development and becoming aimless during that period.

Scarlet is known to be the last created sister, Tale of Tales describe the making of her as being the first to be born and last to be made, and because of that, her wolf was the last to be made. The final wolf is named the Fey Wolf- related to the Fae Court. As an Irish person who’s in full belief of the Fae, I don’t see the resemblance. But that wasn’t his final name- maybe it wasn’t his final appearance. His original name, according to a rough floor plan of what Grandmother’s house would look like with the secret rooms was Boy Toy Wolf. That’s… A name change. Especially considering the fact Boy Toy refers to a young man in a sexual relationship, usually with an older woman, and the Fey Wolf is a sort of elderly-looking androgynous thing with a 19-year-old Scarlet who is not into relationships. But because the Fey Wolf’s making has no text, it’s not clear if his appearance or purpose even changed between the name change.

Quest3d was a tool used for making 3D applications, with an intuitive way of programming by using graphs and seeing it in real-time without the need for a compiler. On Mobygames only 8 games were ever listed as created by Quest3d, 6 if you don’t count The Path and The Prologue- with three of them being a Ship Simulator. I say was because it’s pretty much gone. You can’t open their unique file in anything so you’re kinda screwed if you want to do anything with the game files.

The Shrine and the Playground Sign are two interesting objects that you really can’t see in the rest of the game. They both appear along the path but not in the forest, and unlike the crow, you can’t interact with them. Though not immediately clear- the reason why those appear is to signal to the player that the Graveyard and Playground are accessible. That’s probably self-explanatory for the Playground Sign, but for quite a few people the Shrine may come as a surprise, including me before I researched it.

The Path, like everything, has speedrunners. There are two categories- All Girls and Failure%. There have been seven runs altogether, one in all girls and six in failure%. Failure% is reaching grandmother's house without interacting with any wolf, beginning when you gain control and ending when you leave first person in Grandmother's house. Though there are no guides available, the strategy is clear, using Ruby as she’s the quickest. The world record holder as of now is from Krayzar with a one-minute 35 seconds. There's only one speedrun for All Girls, and I’m going to be honest, I don’t think there’s a strategy, at least not one clear from the world record holder Multiwinner who admits that the run they sent in was their first and only attempt. If you want to try this out, go ahead! You’ll have the chance to make history!

In 2020 a zine by the VK fan club for The Path was released- featuring illustrations, comics and stickers, a full collection of all included is linked here. As far as I can tell, this is the only one of its kind! It really is a marvel, and I have said this for like the third time, but if you have a copy of this I would love to buy it from you. I do have to warn you- there is nudity in here of Ruby.

Tier 5 - Bottom of the Iceberg

Tale of Tales references three artists and illustrators that inspired the feeling they were going for The Path, naming them as Lisa Falzon, Fuco Ueda and Ray Caesar. For its first anniversary, three sets of interviews of those artists by the six red sisters. You can find the interviews here, but some highlights are: Carmen asking Lisa if she has a boyfriend followed by Scarlet asking if Lisa is a feminist, Robin asking if Fuco Euda's paintings showed "Good girls or naughty girls", and Ginger just asking if Ray Caesar would ever make a video game.

One of the more confusing things mentioned in the Post Mortem is the fact that Tale of Tales at one time considered creating a mechanic where you would have to dance battle your wolf. No, I am not joking. I just have one question. In a game about exploring your deepest trauma in a wolf-infested forest. Why did you make them dance?

The Path Tribute Project was a group of Vocaloid songs created based on characters in The Path on niconico. The project is from 2014, and due to this and a lack of updating links, I’m unable to find the original organiser of the project and one of the songs, but what I do have, is a Paste Bin of all the found links, the Tumblr blog it was advertised on, and a short compilation of all of the songs reposted on VK!

The canonicity of the grandmother house pages is up to discussion, with Rose, Ginger, Ruby and Carmen all seeming aware they’re in a video game created by these people with Scarlet not making mention of Kris’ involvement with the game. The outlier is Robin, who says not only is Jarboe real in their universe, but that she lives in a black house in their forest- and that she was the one who taught the family the Safe Song. There clearly is not a black house in the forest- the only house is Grandmother’s which is white. Maybe she’s referring to the tent in the Campsite, we never exactly do see the Woodsman go into it, or it could even be the Bunker, as it seemingly has a panel over the door, but neither of those are housey.

Given The Path’s limited characters and interactions, the game’s fanbase has never really been prime with shipping, the most you would see is Ruby and her Wolf along with Ginger and her Wolf. But one pairing stands among them all as the most. Ship to exist. The Woodsman, and the Fey Wolf. There’s a weirdly large amount of fanart for this, despite their status of never interacting or existing near each other, but I suppose what fandoms do best is see two men and decide they should kiss. Should I show examples of this? Yes. Am I going to? No. Just… Take my word for it and understand why I am not showing you a sweaty bald man making out with whatever the Fey Wolf is.

Shamus Young was a game critic and blogger who was an early modder in the Doom Community, and held some infamous views related to parts of The Path. I want to preface this by saying- Shamus Young passed away in 2022 at the age of 50, and out of respect for him and his family, I will be only relaying what he wrote instead of including my opinions. The reason Shamus gained a particular status in the fan community is for his interpretations of Rose and Carmen. Starting with Carmen- he states that he knew girls like Carmen in high school, that would “Find the biggest, strongest, best-looking complete-jerk they could get their hands on, and then endlessly whine about how ‘men are such pigs.’” He then goes on to explain that he believes Carmen was not raped, because despite being drunk she had taken the alcohol without asking, and that it was not rape because “She came on to him.” He does say that it “does not excuse the forester for sharing his beer and hooking up with an (in some states) underage girl-” and then proceeds to say “But I don’t think he’s a rapist.” At the end of the aftermath saying that “Maybe this one bad experience will make her more careful.” Rose’s analysis begins with him prefacing that “I don’t actually want to talk about this one, because it involves stuff I wouldn’t even bring up on my blog.” and then again stating “And I really hope you’ll keep a clinical head on when I bring this up and try to be polite even if you disagree, and furthermore I hope we can keep this discussion civil and remember that this is all open to interpretation.” Before he goes on to explain how Rose’s water motifs are a representation of discovering masturbation- that the reason why her wolf is a Cloudy Male figure is that “She knows she’s attracted to men but she doesn’t know what men look like yet, or how sex works”. As stated at the beginning of this entry and by Shamus himself, I’m keeping this civil and I am not shaming him for his personal interpretations.

There’s quite a bit of Micheal’s Daughter Martha present in the game at various points. Martha made the original pictograms, I believe the poster art was also by her- but the most clear inspiration is Robin herself. As mentioned in her Making of post, Robin’s outfit is based on her, specifically her outfit of her blue hooded cloak and stripey boots. Martha’s actually an artist now too! Martha Samyn is a textile artist and interior architect, with her last exhibit being at Texture Kortrvijk in January! You can actually see the start of her textile art related to The Path, showing off her Ruby-inspired outfit for her doll!

A last-minute change mentioned in the post-mortem was the fact that The Path did not contain any text until the playtest. And when I mean any text, I don’t just mean instructions- until they had people play the games they hadn’t thought to include text for the items, to show what the characters were thinking, because they saw that “Some players had difficulty to let their imagination work.” That’s a wise lesson for you all. Involve Beta testers.

The Path Fangame, titled The Path Fan Project, is a game by Kinder and Doll, a spiritual follow-up to The Path with less of a focus on horror and more on open-world explanation and interaction with the sisters. The graphics are astonishingly pretty, with quite a few new locations like a train, a cave, and a treehouse. The game also involves slight voices, giving the characters voices for the first time! I again urge you to play it, especially since I am unable to because of the age of my computer. 

The-Red-Path is a LiveJournal community never officially linked on the website like all the other LiveJournal profiles, with only six members- the six sisters. This account has only three posts, all posted in 2008, between April and August, only one of which I will be bringing up. On the 16th of April Robin asks whose turn it is to visit their grandmother, with Rose mentioning that they’ve all gone down the path already. There's a weird sadness in this post, with the normally boisterous Carmen asking why she couldn’t just go with anyone else.   

You have probably heard of the first urban legend about The Path, the ability to get an A, but this one you likely haven’t heard of. There’s a phone present on the road on the other side of the path, calling it will allow you to transport the sister back to the apartment without needing to go to grandmother’s house. The general idea is then, if you go through the wolf encounter, but turn around on the path and walk back to the phone- would you be able to call it and actually return back home without the sister disappearing? There have been testimonies of being able to do it, as well as fanfictions about the concept, and not a lot of checks due to the fact you can’t run after the wolf encounter and your speed is already extremely low. But I am going to come out and say, no, I don’t believe it’s possible. I don’t think the creators would have overlooked that idea, especially since they had a large number of beta testers, but I do really like the idea and I wish it was true.

That’s the end! I have quite a few things I left out, due to it maybe not being interesting or my losing of sources, but I’m glad I could finally do this. In all honesty, The Path changed my life. It’s helped me through a lot in my own journey of healing and accepting trauma, and I will forever be grateful. Happy 15th anniversary!

#the path #the path game #the path tale of tales #the path robin #the path rose #the path ginger #the path ruby #the path carmen #the path scarlet #the girl in white the path #werewolf the path #cloud wolf the path #girl in red the path #charming wolf the path #woodsman wolf the path #fey wolf the path #tale of tales

[pdalicedraws]

#thepathweek23 #the path #carmen #scarlet #rose #robin #ginger #ruby #cloud wolf #woodsman wolf #fae wolf #charming wolf #werewolf #girl in red #pd alice draws

[endreal]

"Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

"I am, milady, for is there anything more fair than saying the truth even if I fear you may shatter me for it?"

~

"You're not my grandmother. Leave. Immediately." The wolf, chagrined, sulked out of the house and back into the deep forest. It was true, after all; his dichromatic eyes had not been able to tell the young woman's cloak was yellow.

~

Sputtering voices barely rose past his waist as the prince strode forward. "My lord, please. My brothers and I can only tell you so many times this is not a prison it is a quarantine, and you are endangering yourself!"

~

"And you will give this to Snow White and no other, do you understand Huntsman?"

"Yes, my queen."

From atop the mountain, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite gazed down upon the apple in hungry jealousy.

~

The Woodsman sat on the bank, contemplating what he had just done to save the girl and her grandmother, until the water's reflections soothed his worried mind. The most beautiful man he had ever seen gazed back at him from the rippling surface of the pool.

~

"Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man."

The Huntsman hefted the enchanted apple, lobbed it to the side of the path near where the gingerbread man was pulling ahead. He did not need to catch the gingerbread man, only to win this race to secure his hand in marriage at last.

~

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"

The hopeful voice of a young bear quavered from the other side of the door. "Goldilocks, have you finally come back to play?"

The wolf drew his yellow cloak closer, suddenly unsure what to say.

~

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"

Grandmother scoffed, and finished tamping gingerbread crumbs into a brick mould bound for the oven. "You and those damn kids."

~

The prince strode up to the dais where the glass coffin lay, leaned down and kissed the lips of the one slumbering within. There was a flash of light and suddenly the prince had become a frog.

"At last," he croaked. "The evil queen's curse has been broken!"

~

The prince strode up to the dias where the glass coffin lay, leaned down and kissed the lips of the one slumbering within. A chorus of lamentations sounded behind him. The prince glared scornfully down at the seven guardians he had bested, who now seemed dwarfish and low as they groveled on the cracked flagstones below.

"What now, you wretched things?"

"Foolish prince. You have awakened the sleeper."

A chill ran up the prince's spine like a presence. He turned back to the dais. The glass coffin lay empty.

#Endreal vs. writing #fairy tales (sort of)

[chaikachi]

Little Red Riding Hood, The Big Bad Wolf, & The Silver Bullet

Aka I did an Oscar as The Little Prince analysis and now I wanna do one for Ruby's allusion in honour of the 10th Anniversary.

I know most if not all of us are familiar, but I'm still going to start with a summary.

Little Red is a story about a young girl in a red cloak who is sent into the woods at her mother's behest to bring baked goods to her sick grandmother. There, she meets a malicious wolf that asks her many questions, to which she answers all truthfully and without hesitation. The wolf takes this information and uses it to beat the girl to her destination where he then swallows her grandma whole and disguises himself in the woman's clothes. There he waits for the child to arrive and come closer so he can swallow her up too.

There are actually two popular versions of this story with different endings that we often look back to.

In Perrault's story, there is no happy ending. They're both eaten up, the wolf is content. The end. But in the Grimm version, there is an additional character... the Huntsman (aka the woodsman). He hears the wolf snoring after its meal and ends up cutting the beast open & saving the victims. Then, with the help of Little Red Riding Hood, he kills the wolf before it can do anymore harm.

All in all, it's a story about childhood innocence being lost, learning not to trust strangers, and being mindful to always follow the correct path. For if you stray too far, you may lose track of time, invite unwanted danger, or find yourself lost.

In RWBY, we have some very clear allusions here since it's the basis for so much of the show as a whole:

Little Red - Ruby Rose

The Mother - Summer Rose

The Grandmother - Maria

The Hunstman/Woodsman - All Three of Them

The Wolf - Salem and her Grimm (but ESPECIALLY The Hound)

They're all pretty self explanatory.

Ruby has the red cloak, her og trailer is clearly inspired by the tale, she loves baked goods, she's referred to as "Red" and "Little Red" by Torchwick & Cinder. She's also a huntress. And, by and large, her entire arc is about losing that childhood innocence and the view that life "is like a fairytale" as well as struggling with what the "right path" to follow is.

Summer is the mother (baker of cookies) and also the huntsman (slayer of giant monsters). The battle axe being her weapon choice alludes well to the alternate name, Woodsman, as well.

While Maria as the grandmother makes the most sense. Another silver eyed huntress that becomes a mentor figure for Ruby.

And while Salem, her war, & the Grimm (that are all emblematic of that loss of innocence) can absolutely symbolize the wolf... There's a reason why I want to focus on The Hound.

All three previous characters are connected by a very specific common denominator: Silver Eyes.

And the hound is no different.

Just another huntsman... but one devoured by the malice of a canine. And, if Ruby's theory is right, that's the same fate that Summer met as well.

And if you think about Silver Eyes specifically... What is one of the most famous lines from the original fairytale?

"My, what big eyes you have grandmother." "The better to see you with, my dear."

Which, when applied to the grimmification of SEWs, is HAUNTING.

Terrifying when you remember "Woah... you have silver eyes". Also thanks to Behind The Scenes content, that Ruby's hair design was always meant to "be a bit wolf-y". And that since Volume 4, Salem has been interested in capturing Ruby alive... I am WORRIED ABOUT HER.

Some interesting things about silver though that ARE worth noting...

1. "In folklore, a bullet cast from silver is often one of the few weapons that are effective against a werewolf or witch."

2. "The term silver bullet is also a metaphor for a simple, seemingly magical, solution to a difficult problem."

3. "In the Brothers Grimm fairy-tale of The Two Brothers, a bullet-proof witch is shot down by silver buttons, fired from a gun."

The lyric "Yeah I'm a girl but I'm also a gun" from Triumph really tells us point blank (lol) why Ruby is so important to this war against Salem, huh.

I'm gonna end this meta on a fun little easter egg; a hidden fifth character allusion to the original Red Riding Hood fairytale: The Woods.

Now I know what you're thinking, the woods aren't a person, they're a location. But they're INCREDIBLY important to the story.

Overall, the woods are the world outside of the cabin that Little Red grows up in. Whenever she travels beyond it, she's liable to meet all sorts of horrible tragedies and monsters. But I want to talk again specifically about The Hound & just where Ruby first meets them: Atlas.

Or, more specifically, Ironwood's kingdom.

For those unfamiliar, while Jimmy's main allusion is the Tin Man from Oz, his last name gives us a hint to another subtle allusion: Járnviðr. Aka the Iron Wood of Midgard in Norse Mythology (a mythos that's been alluded to a lot in RWBY).

Whiiich if you look at a stanza (40) in the infamous Völuspá, a historic poem which is chalk full of Norse myths, you get the following passage:

In the east sat an old woman in Iron-wood and nurtured there offspring of Fenrir a certain one of them in monstrous form will be the snatcher of the moon

A poem that talks all about the Biggest Baddest Wolf of the Norse pantheon, Fenrir... who is the offspring of a powerful Witch...

and is destined to eat the moon...

All within the Iron Wood, a character Ruby spends an entire volume contemplating on whether or not she can trust...

And the moment she does finally tell Ironwood the truth? The secrets she was keeping? The woods become unsafe, the witch and the wolf appear, and everything else falls apart. Resulting her and her team lost and very far from home.

Say what you want about analyses like these but CRWBY knows what they're doing, okay?

#rwby #ruby rose #rwby meta #analysis #rwby analysis #chainalysis #little red riding hood #did I wanna tie this into warrior in the woods to make it about rg? yes #was i able to? no #that'll have to be its own thing #greenlightvolume10 #long post

[genderbinaryisforlosers]

thinking about the big bad wolf.

he is death. he waits in the woods for little girls who stray from the path. he takes granny first. he watches a little girl frozen in place by the constraints of her story and he says the axe is by the fireplace, little one. if you wish to survive, you must take the woodsman's place, and you must eat. death lays down its head and flattens its ears and waits for the final blow of a little girl who must become death to escape it. he has all the patience in the world, because what need does death have for urgency?

he does not have the power to return her to a happily ever after, because he is death, and all he can do is kill. but he may bring about his own demise to further her story, and he does so.

because in the neverafter, death is a kindness.

#sorry that he's my favourite character #d20 big bad wolf #ylfa snorgelsson #neverafter #dimension 20 #d20 spoilers #riley rambles

[marlinspirkhall]

I've just finished Neverafter, so here are my thoughts on The Big Bad Wolf and Ylfa and what their relationship reveals about The Neverafter itself. I think the most important reveal we get is in S1E9: Origins, when the group witness the moment when Ylfa consumes the wolf.

Brennan said "you think this is a version of Red's story which went very wrong", and the fairy with the turquoise hair (who is herself only an echo of the blue fairy she is supposed to be) tells them that Ylfa met "a version of The Wolf that was much older and ancient". This was caused by (and also foreshadowing) the reveal that the Baron of Bricks was boiling down the essence of The Big Bad Wolf: As the more recent, tamer versions of the wolf got stripped away, all that was left was this primal creature: the one that was most like a wolf.

When the characters question if some versions of their stories come from the Auroratory rather than The Ink, I believe this is true- the ink merely preserves the stories for longer so that other storytellers can read them, which, in turn, reinforces the narratives.

Anyone in the "real world' can be a storyteller: in The Auroratory, when Ylfa hears all the voices telling the different versions of her story, the first one she hears as she begins to panic and worry that she's corrupting the stories is a man's voice talking impatiently and hurriedly, saying “the little girl strayed from the path and got eaten”- which, of course, isn't what happened in the true tale of Red Riding Hood- at least, not in the one I heard as a kid. The little girl strayed from the path, and then she got eaten. The difference is important. She strayed from the path, yes, but she didn't get eaten until later.

But the version of the story Ylfa experiences isn't similar to that, either.

The original story of Red Riding Hood existed as oral tradition long before it was written down, but it's thought that the first written version was penned by Charles Perrault, in 1697. In his version, the wolf tells Red that he'll race her to her grandma's house, and makes sure to take the shorter path so he gets there before her.

Ylfa's version of the story is never told in its entirety, but, from the snippets we get, it doesn't seem to match this story (aside from Ylfa's comment about watching “a caterpillar chase a butterfly”, because in the Perrault version she slowed down to watch burterflies). It seems that Ylfa never met The Wolf until she got to her grandmother's house, and we all know the woodsman wasn't nearby to deter him. So, what would have happened if Ylfa hadn't strayed from the path and gotten to the house late?

Ylfa often talks about how most versions of her story discuss the importance of not straying from the path, but, the truth is, if she hadn't strayed from the path, she wouldn't have survived.

Death is a Big Bad Wolf, but- in this instance- Death waits for her, and Ylfa becomes The Wolf.

In the finale, the characters (protagonist and antagonist alike) all worry about the nature of free will and predestination, but- through their ending- they choose to commit a different version of themselves to paper: a version which will then be retold and reinforced by someone reading it. Their stories will change again, with time and retelling, but, for now, they are in control of a tiny piece of their narrative.

Ylfa strays from the path, but she doesn't get eaten.

And that's where we'll end our story.

#Neverafter #Neverafter spoilers #Dimension 20 #dimension 20 neverafter #ylfa snorgelsson #neverafter ylfa #emily axford #brennan lee mulligan #Neverafter thoughts #Neverafter meta #Neverafter finale #Little Red Riding Hood #Charles Perrault #Tales Of Mother Goose #Neverafter Origins

[tmbswhodunit]

WHO DUN IT MBS CHALLENGE: Fairytale

Once upon a time, there was a little girl. A lot of stories start like that, with a little girl. She was a small girl with blue eyes and a red coat she would always wear. Now this story you are familiar with. You probably know what comes next. She is sent out by her mother to bring cookies to her granny, and she is told not to go off of the path into the woods, but she does anyway and meets a big bad wolf who tricks her by dressing up as Granny and then eating her-

Oh. It’s not that story? 

Sorry, let me try again. 

Once upon a time, there was a little girl. She had blue eyes and a red coat with a hood she would wear everywhere. You would expect a nickname to come from that, but it didn’t. There weren’t many people around to give her a nickname, which is a shame because she quite liked nicknames. 

Her name was Kate, and she lived on her own. In the woods. Yes, she knew the dangers; the fair folk and the wolves, but she was careful enough to lock her door every night and not let anybody she didn’t know in. So she was safe. And she didn’t exactly live alone. 

Her father lived with her too. Now, in another life, he would have left without a trace, truly leaving her alone, but this is not that world. He would leave early in the morning and arrive back home very late, so she did not see much of him. She did know, however, that he had a reason he did not come back at a reasonable time, one that he would rather not tell her. 

(but she so wanted to know. Pry and pry until the truth came out. But that was then and this is now.)

Sometimes, she would wake up to a basket of fresh food, fruits and vegetables, cookies and cakes, and a note from her father saying that he got it for her and it wasn’t fae food. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, she’d wake up briefly to a pair of strong arms holding her, humming quietly and smoothing her hair. But no matter how early she woke up or how late she stayed up, she would never see hide or hair of her father.

It is one of those baskets, in fact, that sets the scene for this story. One day, Kate picked up the basket and decided to bring some goods to some other people living in the woods. So she put on her bright red coat and loaded up her basket with the nicest cakes and cookies inside. After scribbling out a note to her father in case he came back home while she was gone, she started on her journey. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her first stop was a small cottage only a bit off the main sunlit path. There lived a young couple, sad because their son had run away months ago and had not returned. As it had been a few months, the couple had started to move on with their lives. Kate treated this couple like she would anybody else, but inside she was a bit peeved. Her mother had passed away when she was a baby and her father had started disappearing soon after that. As far as she knew, no trace of the son being dead had shown up yet, and it was as though the couple had thrown in the towel too easily. 

Kate knew she was being unreasonable, it had been a few months. Even if the son was alive by now, he probably would have wanted them to move on from him. So she smiled, accepted the praise given by the wheelchair-bound woman about how she was getting so tall and pretty, handed some herbs to the Washingtons, and went on her way. 

As she walked down the path, Kate saw someone deeper in the woods: a tall, muscular man with blond hair chopping down some trees. She is tempted to stop by and say hello, maybe even offer something from her basket. However, the day is going by fast, and although she can’t see his eyes his face is unmistakably sullen. So she pulls her coat tighter around her and walks to her next stop. 

(Little did she know that seconds after she decided to keep walking, the woodsman stopped for a moment and turned to see her. His face, normally serious and sad, breaks into a small smile as he sees the figure in red dart down the path. He wants to call back to her and tell her hello, but no. His face goes back to its solemn expression. He turns back to his pile of wood and picks up his silver axe. He raises it and starts chopping again.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her next stop was actually her favorite one; a baker living in the woods. After he had left the circus, Moocho Brazos started a small bakery just outside the woods and started a happy trading with her. As the herbs had been the only thing she had packed, she felt that she needed to pick some goodies up for her stop after that. 

Moocho had been a friend of hers since she was a little girl, and he knew plenty about her: her absent father, her red coat, her favorite baked goods, and what herbs to trade for them. As they talked and laughed, Kate decided to mention the woodsman she had seen earlier. At this, Moocho got misty-eyed and decided to tell her a tale. According to legend, about the time she had been born, a protector had appeared in the woods. During the day, a blond man chopped wood with a sad expression on his face, but at night a beast prowled the woods once or twice a month, protecting its inhabitants from danger. Nobody dared approach the woodsman while he was busy, but while he traded for goods, he would sometimes talk about his life. A late wife, a young child, and a secret. Nobody knew what his secret was, but the woodsman had made one thing clear: this secret could never come out. 

Kate felt a pang of sympathy for the sad stranger. Still, she wondered. Why was he unable to return to his child? Whoever this child was, they needed a father, like she did. 

(who indeed?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After she had left the bakery, Kate continued on her path. It was still relatively light out, so she started dancing and jumping about. She had fully expected to be alone on her journey, so she wasn’t watching where she was going and almost fell when she collided with a man in the path. 

Hurriedly, she started apologizing, but the man shrugged it off. He was about as tall as the woodsman but with brown hair and a sharp smile. His clothes were made of a nicer material and his shoes were made of leather, but he brushed off the dirt and helped her refill her spilled basket. This new character introduced himself as someone who had gone into the forest for some nice air, so it was all his fault for getting in her way. He then asked where she was going on a fine day like this. Kate knew not to talk to strangers, but he had helped refill her basket and looked human enough, so she decided to trust him a bit. She said she was going around giving baked goods to her neighbors, and her last stop was close by. 

The man nodded. He then asked if her parents knew she was out. Kate wanted to say she wasn’t comfortable with that, but what came out was the truth: her mother was dead and she didn’t see her father much. The man, who had held her shoulder to pick himself up, tightened his grip. He asked if she knew where her father was at the moment. 

Kate only responded with the logical answer: no, stop squeezing me, it’s starting to hurt, why are you asking me this? The man let go, his sharp smile gone. He said that he knew a shortcut there, off the beaten path. But he just wanted to ask what she was doing. 

And then he was gone, leaving only a sharp smell of musky cologne. Kate kept walking, no longer in the mood to dance. Under her breath, she muttered that she shouldn’t have trusted him with anything, why did you tell him, Kate? 

(oh, how right you are, Kate.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her final stop was in a very far corner of the forest. She was well off the beaten trail, but indeed it felt like the shortcut had worked. This was good because it was well after noon and the sun was starting to set. 

Her final family was a grandmother, mother, and son. That is, there was supposed to be a son, Reynard. He had climbed a beanstalk that had sprouted from beans traded for a cow. Kate’s head was spinning too, just thinking about the backstory. This was only yesterday, so the mother was still quite distraught. Kate could only offer comfort and the herbs and baked goods she had. They did seem to help quite a bit. As she left with the sun rapidly setting, the grandmother called back out to her. She had to be careful tonight, as it was the full moon and that was when the most dangerous creatures were out. Thinking about the woodsman, she said that the protector beast would be looking out for her. The grandmother said he would have to with an attitude like that to danger. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About an hour later, Kate started to think the grandmother was right. It was dark now, with the full moon out. She had tried to take the shortcut again, but she had just gotten lost with only the trees to keep her company. 

Crack. What was that? Kate whirled around to see a dark wolf behind her, with glowing red eyes and sharp teeth, staring straight at her. It growled, then pounced at her. 

Kate dropped the basket and started running in the opposite direction. The wolf bounded after her, fearless in its pursuit. Oh, why had Kate even gone out in the first place? She should have just stayed at home, or with the grandmother and mother. But now, she was being chased by a large wolf with pointy teeth. Why was she being so stupid today? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(elsewhere, ears perk up to crying, sharp breaths, and running. It’s the girl. Why is the girl running, what is chasing her? Then he smells it. Musky and sharp, he would recognize the smell anywhere. It’s the smell that filled the air the night he was attacked. 

McCracken. 

He picks up his silver axe with his teeth and bounds into the woods, redoubling his efforts when he hears a scream and the sound of ripping fabric.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kate was caught by her coat, the fiery red thing. She probably should have shed it as soon as the chase started, but it is too late now. She has to go down, but she is going down fighting. 

She threw whatever pebbles she could grip as the wolf claw pulled her closer, but the beast barely flinched. It was a wolf, but not one she had ever seen before. It smiles too harshly to be fully lupine, and it is now walking on its hind legs like a person. And its garments…

It was probably once clothed in fancy fabric, but now the monster’s clothing lays in torn shreds on its body. Hairy toes poke out of shredded leather shoes. Where had she seen this before? Then it hits her. The man in fancy clothing, the one whom she ran into on the way to her last stop, the one who squeezed her shoulder hard, had come back to end her. 

And she had fallen for his trap. She was going to die, and all because she talked to a stranger she wasn’t supposed to. Why had she passed up on meeting the woodsman? She could use him now…

Awooooo~

Both heads turn as a different beast slams into the dark figure. It is also a wolf, but its fur is pale in the moonlight. It tosses the angry beast off of Kate and leaps after it, axe gleaming silver in the moonlight. They pounced at one another, the pale wolf using claws and teeth and the clever swing of its axe in response to the dark beast’s body. 

It’s a fair fight, but it's one the pale wolf is quickly losing. It quickly becomes obvious that it can’t touch its own weapon, as silver hurts all werewolves. Soon, the protecting wolf has dropped its weapon, slash marks all over his face and body, barely able to stand. The evil beast, while also covered in injuries, raises its head triumphantly as though it has won. 

Kate had to do something. Otherwise, the darkness would win, and the wood’s protector would be gone forever. She picked up the fallen axe and swung at the beast, not exactly looking but somehow hitting it true on the body. The werewolf howled, flesh steaming under the silver. The white wolf stands next to the girl, standing tall despite his injuries. 

The dark wolf lunged one last time, not aiming for the other wolf but for the girl. Its jaws tore through ruby fabric and soft flesh, and Kate’s vision went dark to the sound of the woodsman’s howl. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(That night, a very different girl leaves a very different cottage at the witching hour to pick berries and instead arrives home holding the shreds of what was once a red coat out to very different hands, asking her sisters if they could help find the owner. The different girl claimed not to be concerned about our young heroine but wanted to make sure she made it back to her house safely. 

After teasing her for a bit, I said yes.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Kate woke up slowly. Her arm and head hurt like the dickens, she was covered in scrapes and bruises, and she knew that the horrible things that had happened that night had been real. But she was back in her cottage, lying in her bed, and her wounds had been carefully bandaged up. 

The wolf had gotten to her, bitten her arm, and almost killed her. So how was she still alive, and how did she end up back here? It had been night, everyone’s doors had been locked, and her screams would have been indistinguishable from the wind. So nobody would have gotten to her in time. 

Nobody, that is, except…

The door opened. Kate looked up and saw the woodsman. The other wolf. She could see the resemblance now, pale fur now blond hair on his head, tall frame equating to its strong body, and bandages in the places the other wolf had scratched. And the eyes. She hadn’t been able to see them when she had first seen him chopping the wood, but she could see them now. They were the same blue as the ones on the wolf, flashing with fear and protectiveness as they ripped the dark wolf off of her. 

But she had also seen those blue eyes whenever she looked in the mirror. Those nights when she partially woke in the middle of the night to arms gently holding her, she could also vaguely remember those eyes. Even in those hazy memories, the eyes shone bright and clear. 

Her father had come home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apologies had to be made, and explanations, but hugs and kisses came first. When she was very small, the dark beast had attacked her family. Her mother, Piper, had given up her life to protect her beautiful girl, while her father, Milligan, had survived but was also bitten. Here Milligan paused, touching the scar still there on his leg. Afraid of attacking Kate, he had forever shut himself out during the day and only returned the nights when he would be sure that he wouldn’t turn. But now, it doesn’t truly matter. Kate had also been bitten, so now that fear is gone. He goes quiet at that, hand skimming over the bandages, tears pricking his eyes. Kate, trying to lighten the mood, makes a joke about wolves, and despite himself, Milligan laughs and holds her close, vowing to never leave her alone again. 

One month later, Kate was brought outside into an empty field just outside the woods and shown how to not resist the change, but embrace it. Her first transformation goes smoothly, and the woodsman smiles as much as a wolf can. 

That night, Moocho glanced out the window to see not one lonely wolf, but a happy white wolf and an excited red-furred pup. He went to bed with a smile, just knowing that two lost families had found each other again.

(A few days after Milligan came home, a knock sounds at the door. When Kate goes to get it, there is nobody on the other side. Nobody, that is, except the basket she had previously lost, covered by a blue cloth. When she and Milligan open it, they are surprised to find two coats, both in soft blue. The note tucked in one of the pockets said that it was for them, as Kate’s red coat wouldn’t be coming back to her anytime soon, so the sender wanted to offer a replacement.) 

(Just outside the window, three witch sisters nod and turn to go back to their cottage. Fingers now bandaged from needlework were holding the smallest one, who was now sporting a very altered, much smaller red coat. I ask the small girl if it made both her and Kate happy. Constance nods.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that is the end to the story of Kate, the Wolf Girl, and her mighty father, Milligan the Wolf Man. A father and daughter reunited, and not even lycanthropy could separate them again. Now, there are legends of two wolves, a red pup and her pale father, that protect the woods from danger every month, and they all lived happily ever after. 

Until the beanstalk finally gave back Reynard, now armed with a harp, a golden chicken, and a very nice former giant. 

But we don’t need to worry about that yet. 

#the mysterious benedict society #tmbs #who dun it mbs challenge #ENJOY EVERYBODY!

[nemenalya]

Beast; Day 1 of @tes-summer-fest In the wooded heart of Skyrim, it is ill-advised for a lone child to travel too far, for the devious and the divine lurk inseparably entwined, waiting to cast their snares. 

In Atmora of old, there were no children left by the end. By the end of the end, neither were the woods. 

Year by year, season by season, the world got smaller; the storms surrendering a little less land from howling snow and lashing branches. Those who had neither foresight nor good fortune to be taken by the woodsman soon found themselves staring down the endless ocean, herded by creeping glacial giants. The fey ones, the woodwalkers, the spirits‘ playthings and companions, all penned in on the piers their mellower counterparts had long since set forth from. Ushered onto boats jauntily bobbing on the torrential currents, the last woods of Atmora creaking underfoot.

With ice nipping at their heels they were forced onto the vast expanse, unwell and seething under the hands of the oarsmen. Unwashed bodies smelling putrid in and under furs, meat rancid where there was any to be had. The crisp smell of the shore a distant memory before the tang fermenting slickly on the planks. 

Skyrim is stuffy, claustrophobic with its many peoples dispersed through the land, inhabitants old and new and newer still the silent raving sentinels of Atmora. Sweltering coasts and swamps and woods all carved up in a fever, parcelled out and jealously guarded. Tumorous sproutings of towns and villages all over, people domesticating themselves in one last betrayal of their frozen home. 

A veritable cacophony to senses weaned on glacial waters; honed on ritual hunts. People talking incessantly and clamouring and shouting the very earth into submission. Cages within cages. There’s a lord over them all now, by his own admission and ambition. He summons the mighty, the furious insane. Even among the last feral hermits his invitation is passed, there’s talk of accepting. 

The eastern lands sound cruder still than this drab shadow of mighty Atmora, heaps of foreign novelty. Many slink away from the fires, the settlements, called back out by blood. The wolf pelted earth breaker is among them– they won‘t be some scrawny king‘s lap dog.

Skyrim is divvied up, and yet there is enough wilderness to swallow them whole. Where there isn’t, the less reclusive Atmorans take it back, boasting and clamouring. Little farms and homesteads, almost Nord themselves now. The fey and the woodwalkers return to their pacing, territories vast like feral beasts. Not even time will make them band together. 

The wolf roams the lands deep south beyond the pearlescent lake that even with the spring thaws does not gleam quite as bright as their glacial home. They run from the clamour and cloying until harsh mountains cut their path. For a while it is peaceful, and ever restless they endeavour to keep it thus with claws and teeth.

They have no word of their people who with conquering swords and shouts never returned from the east, but the Nords spread like a disease. One year people settle on the lake, then further deep where snaking mountain passes meet a pleasant rushing stream. The last children of Atmora wish more to run than to fight, and the wolf sheds not their pelt to scream their protests unto land and sky. Wordless, out of sight, they surrender the ground. 

The ever receding depths of the forest –crushed now by sullen hands not gleaming sheets of ice– remain a sanctuary not intruded upon, warnings of one too far line crossed written in blood and pain. Atmora’s lost children live long lives, but even they might not outlast the torrential unbroken tide of just a few trees more below the axe. 

Instead they live long enough to be found. The dun pup, hapless and toothless, anointing them with blackberry sup alike enough to blood.They let the boy name them 'Mara'. They let the boy call them 'she'. The boy speaks with hands more than words, and she learns fast like remembering a hazy half-dream, teaching him the language of beasts in trade.

The seasons slow for them, curled up on a bed of rust coloured needles in a yew grove, sharing jam and pies as rain platters overhead and the trees weep red blood. Warm summer storms pass over them unminded, turning the stone slippery and the loamy hillsides navigable, until they run cold and sleety, mist rolling down the forested mountain slopes. 

They sing at the stars and moons overhead, drifting lazily together in snow or mellowing summer heat. Around them the birds sing and the streams gurgle, and she hears the earth itself hum a contented lullaby. They roam between the village and the lake, smelling and tasting and running. He gets overwhelmed, and sometimes so does she, seeing this land through fresh eyes. 

She hunts them game, the boy perched silently on her shoulders. With him, she never hunts down the woodcutters and mushroom gatherers and intruders into her woods. She doubts he‘d mind, but her pup has to grow his own fangs before they can truly feast. He picks berries from between the brambles, staring silently as hands dart cleverly between the thorns that would cut her muzzle. They catch fish in nimble claws and marvel at the gleam of sun on scales. 

The townsfolk grow weary of them, their urge to roam a distant memory. Even she can bury her bitter longing for home now. For a while. 

One crisp spring, the boy leaves. She follows him to the edge of the mountains eternally draped in ice, where her woods break on sheer rocks. She knows he knows she’s there, an unspoken offer like all between them. Still, she dislikes the mountain, the dragon, and she will not abandon the wilderness she has carved herself in this overflowing land. He looks back once, hesitates too long, places a precious sweet before the steep incline of the mountain pass.  

He leaves. She stays. The seasons stumble on. 

Time is a vague notion, when not measured by the inexorable creep of ice. She tastes the change in the air, startled over a bloody meal. The earth sings of their approach, humming in delight at the dizzy of one and one, coarse crude notes intertwined into a simple haunting harmony. Soft vibrations of the forest floor, crunching of mud and leaf, the smell of furs and foreign lands and ferns snapping underfoot. Yet in her heart she knows. 

It is inadvisable for a child to travel alone in the deepest woods of Skyrim. But the pups have travelled far further and stranger, never alone. And they have grown up.

#elder scrolls #tesfest23 #mara #cameo by bhag (and bhag)

[nadireedperez]

ylfa snorgelsson perfectly encapsulates one of the most curious contradictions of autism: simultaneous love and hate for rules and authority.

since neurotypical social mores are unspoken and counterintuitive, we tend to mess up. so we seek guidance. someone to tell us what to do, how to behave. but we have to understand the reasoning behind the rules if we want to avoid being misled, because that happens all too often.

that's why ylfa ignored her mom's authority and strayed from the path. she thought she understood the lesson behind the rule, deemed it unfair, and proceeded to break it.

her grandma was her best friend not just because ylfa didn't get along with her mom or presumably her peers, but because grandma is both authoritative and rebellious. she gave ylfa the best compromise imaginable--permission to break the rules.

but then her grandmother turns out to be the wolf. the woodsman doesn't come. her mother lures her in with love and betrays her. the rules of the neverafter are changing too fast to keep up, and the authority figures can no longer be trusted. i don't think she even fully trusts mother goose.

tell me what to do.

no, not that.

i can't trust myself, but neither can i trust you.

#dont! count! on the fucking! WOODSMAN!!! #let her say fuck #ylfa snorgelsson #neverafter #dimension 20 #neverafter spoilers

[wolfboy88]

There’s a cabin in the woods where an angry woodsman lives and everyone in town knows to stay far away from. Some say he’s the only one who keeps the werewolf from coming into town on the full moon or some just say he’s simply a grump who likes to be left alone and supplies wood to the village.

Theo is not most people. He likes to bend the rules and he’s new to town. And he’s heard the woodsman grows special herbing heals.

One fateful night on a blood moon, their paths intercross and forever intertwine…

Spooktober 2023

#Spooktober 2023 #spooktober #Halloween #teen wolf #thiam #theo raeken #liam dunbar #woodsman Liam #thiam fanfic

[lilmisssammy]

Happy late peide month feom the lgbt community of the forest

#the path #the path game #the path tale of tales #tale of tales #the path memes #cloud wolf the path #the path cloud wolf #charming wolf the path #the path charming wolf #fey wolf the path #the path fey wolf #woodsman wolf the path #the path woodsman wolf #girl in red the path #the path girl in red #the path girl in red wolf #girl in red wolf the path #werewolf the path #the path werewolf

[adarkrainbow]

The Grimm fairytales: Little Red Riding Hood

After making a whole post about Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood, I had to make one about the version of the Brothers Grimm!: 

What is quite fascinating is that everybody thinks they know Little Red Riding Hood story - the German one, and they basically sum it up as “Like Perrault’s, but a woodsman comes and save the day in the end”. However things are a.... bit more complicated than that. 

So, the German Little Red Riding Hood, by the Brothers Grimm, is usually translated in English as “Little Red Cap”, Rotkäppchen . Again, the “riding hood” is not seen, just like in the French version, this seems to be a purely English expression. To do this recap I will mostly focus on the differences between the Grimm version and Perrault’s.

The beginning is quite similar, describing the little girl as a child beloved by everyone but especially by her grandmother, who gives her a “little cap of red velvet”, that the girl loves so much she doesn’t wear anything else, hence her name Little Red-Cap. [Interestingly we have here an actual transliteration of the “chaperon rouge” of the original French tale, as an ornamental red velvet headwear, though the ribbon turns into a cap]. The way the mother sends her child into the forest is however VERY different. In Perrault’s tale, the mother says that she heard the grandmother was ill and thus sends her child with some a small cake and a pot of butter to check on her - but that’s it. In the Grimm fairytale, the mother KNOWS the grandmother is ill and sends her child with a small cake and a bottle of wine (maybe a remnant of the oral versions of France?) to make her better. Not only that but, unlike in Perrault’s version, the mother of the Grimm versions gives her daughter precise instructions and advice before she sets alone for the woods - “set out before it gets hot”, “walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path”, “don’t forget to say Good-morning”, “don���t peep into every corner”, etc... So the motif of Perrault’s original tale (a mother spoiling her child and not giving her the right advice and information about life) is removed and changed to a “breaking of the rules” story. Because this is the mother’s order to “not run off the path” that is broken by Little Red-Cap per the wolf’s temptation. And so, from a Petit Chaperon Rouge victim of her mother and grandmother’s mistakes, we have now a Little Red-Cap somehow “punished” for breaking the “rules”. 

Similarly, when the wolf appears in front of the little girl, in Perrault’s tale the little girl was said to ignore “that it was dangerous to listen to wolves” - while here the text rather claims that the little girl ignored that it was a “wicked creature”, and thus was not afraid of him. The situation of the grandmother’s house is also changed in the Grimm stories - in Perrault’s version the grandmother lived at the edge of a village, on the other side of the wood ; in the Grimm’s, she lives deep into the woods, “under the three large oak-trees”, right below the nut-trees.What is also quite fascinating is that the wolf seems to want to eat the grandmother first - since it is what motivates him to ask where the grandmother lives... But he then notices how of a “nice plump mouthful” the little girl is, and thus decides to eat her alongside the grandmother. (This is the reverse of the Perrault story, where the wolf wants primarily to eat the girl, and only gulps the grandmother as a collateral damage, so to speak). Instead of a sort of race between two paths, and the wolf encouraging the little girl to take the longest path, the wolf of the Grimm rather encourages the girl to stay off the path by pointing out the pretty flowers, the singing birds and the merry woods. Ultimately Little Red-Cap decides to run off the path into the woods to pick flowers, to make a “fresh nosegay” for her grandmother. 

The wolf runs to the grandmother’s house, and the iconic French sentence “Tire la chevillette et la bobinette cherra” is turned into a mere “Lift the latch”. Another massive difference occurs when it comes to the arrival of the girl. In Perrault’s story, the wolf thinks of locking back the door behind him, and the girl is surprised by the deep voice that welcomes her but places it on account of her grandmother’s cold. Here, the wolf forgets to close the door, which the girl notices, and while the “deep voice” element is removed, the girl expressedly says that she feels uneasy walking into the house, unlike what she feels when she usually goes to her grandmother’s. The wolf is in bed, the cap of the grandmother “pulled down over her face”.  The dialogue with the grandma-wolf is also changed, into the iconic exchange known by everyone today. Or almost...

“Oh grandmother, what big ears you have!” “The better to hear you with, my child.”

“But grandmother, what big eyes you have!” “The better to see you with my dear.”

“But grandmother, what large hands you have!” “The better to hug you with.”

“Oh! But grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!” “The better to eat you with!”

It is quite interesting to see that the dialogue between the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood people know about is usually a mix of the Grimm’s and the Perrault’s dialogues. 

At this point we reach the most famous addition of the Brothers Grimm, who continue the tale beyond Perrault’s original ending. The wolf falls asleep in the bed, snoring loudly. A huntsman passing nearby hears the very loud snores coming out of the house, and thinking it is “the old woman” he decides to check f she needs anything - but is amazed to find the wolf on the bed. Interestingly, the hunter exclaims that he has been looking for the wretched creature for quite some times, indicating that the huntsman was literaly hunting the wolf... Another interesting detail: most people recall the savior of the protagonists as being a woodsman with an axe, but here it is a huntsman with a rifle, who is about to shoot at the wolf before he realizes that maybe the wolf devoured the old woman of the house. So he takes a pair fo scissors, and cuts open the belly of the sleeping wolf (yes, this wolf has a DEEP sleep). When he cuts, he notices the “shining red cap”, which encourages him to dig deeper until he delivers the girl, and then the grandma (another interesting detail - how the Grimm versions uses the red cap as an actual story tool, rather than it just being an ornamental wordplay like in Perrault’s). Another thing people often get wrong with the story: they remember that the one who puts stones in the belly of the wolf is the woodsman/huntsman. Nope... it is Little Red Cap herself with picks up the rocks and places them in the belly, so that when the wolf awakes and tries to run away, he falls down dead.  

Everybody is happy. The hunter takes the skin of the wolf and returns home wth it. The grandmother eats the cake and drinks the wine and heals thanks to it. And Red Cap promises herself “As long as I live, I will never by myself leave the path, to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.” Again, here the shift of the moral is clear - the Perrault concept of a girl dying/endangered because she was badly raised becomes “a girl is taught a lesson for dissobeying to her parents”. 

But what is even more fascinating is that the tale of the Brothers Grimm doesn’t stop here - there is another part of the story that has dropped from people’s memory. It is added that another day, as Red-Cap was again bringing cakes to her grandmother, another wolf came to speak to her and tried to convince her to stray off the path. But Red-Cap, having learned her lesson, refused to do so, and upon arriving at her grandmother’s house told her about meeting the wolf. She adds that he had such a wicked look in his eyes, she was quite certain if they hadn’t been on a “public road” he would have eaten her (this is a leftover of the Perrault’s version, where the wolf doesn’t eat the girl in the woods because he fears the wood-cutters). The grandmother than shuts the door so the wolf may not enter, and they do good because the wolf arrives and tries to pass off as Red-Cap to have the door opened. Since the two girls do not answer or react to the wolf’s knocking, the beast decides to jump on the roof and wait until the evening falls - so that when Little Red-Cap leaves the house, he might devour her in the darkness. The grandmother, however, quickly guesses what the wolf is doing and prepares a plan...

In front of her house is a great stone trough. She tells her grandchild to take the water in which she boiled some sausages yesterday, and to fill with it the trough. When the wolf smells the scent of sausages, he sniffs and peeps down, stretching himself by the side of the roof - until he loses his footing, falls into the trough, and drowns in the water (when comparing this to the French oral variant where the washerwomen drown the wolf in the water, it seems fairytale wolves do not know how to swim). 

The story ends on a sentence that is... quite bizarre. “But Red-Cap went joyously home, and never did anything to harm any one”. Wait, what? Why would Red-Cap harm people? Well... to be fair the story showed her having an un-childlike behavior, as she came up with the stone in the belly idea, and participated in the drowning of a wolf - so maybe the narration tries to reassure us that all the massacres are done, and the murders are not needed anymore, and the little girl won’t grow up to become a serial-killer? 

While this is the full story as recorded by the Grimms, as present in many English translations of their märchen collection, and unchanged from the first edition (while I do not like Jack Zipes’ treatment of Perrault, his work on the first edition of the Brothers Grimm’s fairytales is a precious treasure), I heard that in ulterior publications - the 1857 edition of the book for example - they had shortened and simplified the story (for example removing the second wolf’s part), to reach the version most widespread and known today. I am not sure of this, but I’ll leave it here, and if someone can compare the various editions of the Grimms, don’t hesitate to correct me!

I already talked heavily of the shift in “morality” the Grimms created, by turning the “example tale” of Perrault where the girl’s fate is the one of a tragic victim, into a “teaching tale” where the girl’s fate is a lesson to better behave. 

The reason there are two wolves in this tale is because the brothers Grimm ended up being told two different versions by two members of a same family, Jeanette Hassenpflug and Marie Hassenpflug. They ultimately decided to make Jeanette’s version the main story, and Marie’s an addendum at the end. But what is extremely relevant here is that the two women were part of a family of French descent, and thus a lot of the stories they brought to the Grimm were actually French-flavored (I’ll get more about this when I’ll talk about the Grimms in general). Most obviously, it is quite clear that the story of “Little Red-Cap” is actually a slightly modified version of Perrault’s fairytale. Except for the happy ending with the huntsman - but Michèle Simonsen studied the evolution of the story, and she has concluded that this “hunter-ending” was actually the invention of miss Hassenpflug. Simonsen actually believes that miss Hassenpflug found this ending from a theater play that was very popular in Germany at the time, and that was a modified version of the famous “The wolf and the seven goats/kids” story. This is notably why the Grimms themselves, and many other people afterward, drew parallels and relationships between the AT 333 (Little Red Riding Hood) and the AT 123 (The wolf and the seven goats). 

The transition from France to Germany of the “little red cap” seems to have been easy due to a particular custom typical of the Hesse region, where the Grimms collected most of their tales: in this region, the traditional outfit for women included a little velvet cap. And said cap changed color depending on the age and condition of the person wearing it: when a woman was married, she wore a green cap, when she was a widow the cap was black, and when the woman was a child or a young girl, a maiden... Then she wore a red cap. 

Speaking of red, I want to evoke here the topic of “why is the cap red?”. Many, many interpretations have gone by. The “naturalist” or “weather” theory so prevalent in many fairytales is that the cap is red to symbolize that the little girl is a solar symbol, a diurnal character that has to be rescued from the wolf with a belly “so dark” (it is the main complaint of the girl upon leaving it, the darkness inside, while it is the shining red of her cap that allows the hunter to save her) he seems to be an embodiment of night - so the story is read as a remnant of the ancestral myths of “the ravishing of the sun/the return of the sun” ; or in a variation as another story of “the spring/summer female deity that has to be returned from the world/monster of winter”. It is a very common interpretation... but a false one given we know that the “red cap” seems to have appeared with Perrault. Other people, picking up on the sexual subtext (or sexual text for oral variations) of the story, proposed that “red” was chosen by Perrault due to it being a color of sexuality and romance. Which is also a very common intepretation (many people see the “red” as a menstrual blood symbolism)... but just as anachronic, because the idea of red being a color of sexuality is younger than Perrault’s tale - Michel Pastoureau, the French experts on colors nowadays (he published several studies on the colors, their use, history and symbolism), proved that the color of sexuality, at the time of Perrault’s, was actually green and not red. So where does this red comes from?

A concept we find in both the Grimm’s versions and the oldest written version of the tale (which I talked about in my previous post) are those of protection, religious protection - as red was for a time a very common color for baptism outfits, and the red cap “protects” the girl in those tales (the red dress protects the girl from the cubs, the red cap allows the hunter to get her out of the belly). This is doubled by the Hessian tradition of colored caps I talked about previously, which highlights the red as a color of youth, innocence and virginity. But this all can’t possibly work for Perrault, since in his tale the “chaperon” precisely fails to protect or shield the girl in any way (see the wordplay on chaperon/chaperone I talked about in my Perrault post). So... a mystery? Not quite. There is actually a solution that has been brought forward by my research director quite recently - as she proposed a “proverbial reading” of the fairytales of Perrault, and by doing so found out the very possible reason Perrault chose the color red. But I’ll reveal that in a later post, when I’ll talk of her work.

A last note about the Grimm version: the addition of the huntsman introduced another main actor in the story, or more precisely another male character in the story, a benevolent masculine force counterring the negative masculinity of the wolf. Even more - we can easily read his character as a paternal figure, since he is the only other human character in this group of exclusively female ones. The idea of him being a paternal figure is heavily tied to the saving of the little girl and the grandmother, which many have noted to appear as a scene of “birth” or “rebirth”. Either a grotesque parody of natural birth, either a more allegorical, if not religious, scene of resurrection, of being reborn as a better person - it depends on what you prefer. But the imagery is quite clear: a little girl that is removed from a dark belly and brought into the light, a belly that is cut open with scissors by a paternal figure... After the death of a girl that disobeyed, we find the return to life of a girl who learned her lesson... 

#little red riding hood #brothers grimm #grimm fairytales #perrault vs grimm #perrault fairytales #charles perrault #analysis #fairytales #the big bad wolf #red riding hood

[tickles-ivory]

"A Hobbit in the Woods:  A Retelling of the Brothers Grimm 'Little Red Riding Hood'

by Ticklesivory (dedicated to @shantismurf)

Rated: T for violence

For Bagginshield Week 2023

A short little Bagginshield fairytale inspired by this Tumblr post:  (2) Ticklesivory on Tumblr  

Happy Bagginshield Week everyone! 

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Once upon a time in a small village that lay just outside of a dark forest lived a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins.  He was a kind hobbit who lived alone and kept to himself.  He enjoyed cooking and would often take food to his friends and neighbors whenever one of them had taken ill.

One of his oldest friends, who had been a close friend of his grandfather’s, was known throughout the village as Gandalf the Gray because he wore a gray cloak and hat.  After his grandfather’s and parents’ deaths, Bilbo took it upon himself to visit the old man regularly.  He would often take him food and drink, and ease his own conscience by checking on the old man’s health.    

At least once a month, Gandalf would ride in his small carriage which was drawn by a sorrel pony with a blonde mane to the village to visit Bilbo as well.  When the old man’s visit was delayed, Bilbo sent a messenger to Gandalf’s cottage that had been built in the middle of the forest. 

The messenger brought back word that Gandalf was suffering from a bad cold and was confined to his bed.  Immediately, Bilbo began gathering items to take to his oldest friend.  Before he left, the messenger tried to warn him.

“Do be careful, Mister Baggins,” his neighbor, Mister Gamgee said.  “I met a woodsman along the way, and he told me there were wolves in the area.  One is particularly large.  It is the white wolf that was attacking Farmer Maggot’s sheep last winter.”

Bilbo continued to gather supplies and poured a pot of chicken broth into a small crock to take with him as well as several biscuits and a jar of blueberry jam he had put up last summer. 

Gandalf may be known for his gray cloak, but in the village of hobbits, Bilbo was known for his dark red jacket.  He wore it often and there were those who called him The Hobbit in Red, though not to his face. 

On his way out his door, he donned his red jacket and grabbed his favorite walking stick.  He promised Mister Gamgee he would stay on the path through the forest which was traveled often by hunters and woodcutters and was considered the safest route to Gandalf’s.  He thanked the messenger for his service and paid him the agreed wage, waved goodbye, and set off down the road. 

The woodland realm beyond his village was dense with foliage that blocked out the sun.  The ground was covered in shadow and occasionally, Bilbo would hear the trill of a bird or the cry of a rabbit.  What he was listening for was a deep growl, heavy paws breaking sticks, or even a glimpse of white fur.

An hour into his journey, not having seen anything to be alarmed about, Bilbo relaxed and began to enjoy his surroundings, only to be suddenly so badly frightened that he nearly spilled his basket. 

“Forgive me.  I didn’t mean to startle you.”  A deep voice told him that was coming from a very handsome stranger who stepped out from the heavy brush.  “I am Thorin Durin, a woodcutter by trade.  I don’t believe it is safe for someone of your station to be walking through this forest alone.”

Bilbo took offense.  He was a full-grown hobbit and could take care of himself, thank you very much!

“I will be all right, but thank you for your concern.”

The dark-bearded axe-wielder stepped onto the path right in front of Bilbo and gazed down his sharp nose at the traveler.  He was slightly taller than the hobbit, a dwarf, Bilbo believed based on the size of his hands and feet, but he wasn’t about to be bullied by him!

“You’re not even carrying a weapon,” the woodcutter told him with a smirk that Bilbo found to be surprisingly attractive, as was the clothing he wore – which consisted of coarse dark tweed and leather.  Not at all to Bilbo’s taste, but they looked remarkably well on the muscular dwarf. 

In Thorin’s hand was a long-handled axe he no doubt used to chop down the trees required to sustain his livelihood.  Bilbo gripped his tall, thin stick a bit more tightly.

“I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” he informed the dwarf proudly.  “And I have no intention of straying from the path.  I won’t be fooled by the wit of any wolf, white or not.”

The dwarf gazed at him with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes Bilbo had ever seen.  “The pale wolf travels on and off the path where he wills, and he disguises his appearance.  Sometimes he’s a wolf, sometimes an elf or an owl.  Be careful who you talk with in these woods and the things you say.”

Bilbo nervously shuffled his feet.  He usually wasn’t shy around people, but he found the dwarf incredibly attractive and was considering asking if he would escort him to Gandalf’s cottage.

As if reading Bilbo’s thoughts, the woodcutter smiled and stepped forward, eyeing Bilbo up and down before gazing into his basket of goods. 

“What’s in your basket?”

“Just a few things I’m taking to a friend,” the friendly hobbit replied.  “To Gandalf the Gray.  Perhaps you know him?  He lives beyond the north meadow in a brown cottage overlooking the Long River.  He’s taken ill I’m afraid and needs some looking after.”

Thorin’s dark brows furrowed.  “How do you know I’m not the white wolf in disguise?  You’ve just told me everything I need to know to set a trap not only for you but your friend as well.”

Bilbo lost his smile and shut his mouth.  He had no doubt that Thorin was just a woodcutter, but he needed to be more careful.

“I just know, but I will be more careful from now on.  I promise.”

“Good,” the dwarf said.  “I would hate to discover you were dead.  Not before I get to know you a little better.”  The smirk had returned which made Bilbo blush hot beneath the collar of his red jacket.

“Thank you for your concern.  Perhaps we shall meet again.”

“Perhaps so, Master Baggins.  Be careful and do not speak with any more strangers.”

Bilbo nodded and watched as the woodsman disappeared into the shadows created by the dense canopy of the forest. 

He continued on his way with a bit of a skip to his step as he recalled how the dwarf’s eyes shimmered and how big his muscles were, and the thoughts reddened Bilbo’s cheeks. 

Some time later he came to a game trail crossing the path and watched with delight as a few small brown rabbits scurried across it.  They were saying in their tiny, nervous voices, “Do not step on us!” as they hopped away and soon disappeared.

Bilbo didn’t always encounter animals within the forest, but it always surprised him just a little when he heard them speak.  For you see, the forest outside of his village was not only dangerous but enchanted.  Almost all of the creatures that lived inside of it had the ability to communicate with others.  Some Bilbo found quite entertaining and witty, while others were slow-witted and not very intelligent.  Much like the hobbits in his own community, he thought to himself with a chuckle. 

Along the way, he watched a turtle move slowly beside the path who greeted him with a ‘good morning,’ in its slow tortoise drawl.  At a turn, he spotted an owl in a tree.  Bilbo said good day to the bird, though it did not look very pleased to have its rest disturbed.  As a whole, Bilbo found owls believed themselves to be a bit superior and above the concerns of, well – everyone else. 

Bilbo continued on, his feet never straying, his eyes carefully taking in everything he could see.  At this point, he was halfway through his journey, and he stopped to drink from a stream running nearby and to take a nibble or two from one of the seed cakes he was taking to his friend.

As he lifted his head and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he saw movement in the trees on the other side of the water.  Much to his surprise, a beautiful white stag stepped into view.  Its striking, icy-blue eyes viewed Bilbo cautiously before it stepped into the water and crossed the stream.  Bilbo stepped back to allow the animal room to move onto the bank and to stay clear of its broad set of antlers. 

“Good day,” he announced to the animal who lifted its head to gaze down at the hobbit.  “You are the prince of the forest, are you not?”

“That I am,” the large animal told him with smooth and deep vocalizations.  “Are you alone in these woods?  It is not advised for someone so small in stature.”

Bilbo tried not to take offense to that statement.  He knew how tall he was and that this creature towered over him!

“I’m not long on this journey,” he exclaimed.  “In fact, I’m headed straight to my friend’s home in the woods.  I’m nearly halfway there and should be able to make it back home by nightfall.  If not, then I shall spend the night there.”

The stag’s eyes widened as he tilted his head.  “Perhaps you should keep your business to yourself, Master Hobbit.  There are those that walk within these woods that would take advantage of such a helpless creature as yourself.”

Helpless!  That was the second time today someone had questioned his abilities! 

“I’m not afraid to walk through these woods,” he stated firmly while standing up tall and straight. “I’ve done it many times in the past and have never required bow, axe, or sword.”

The creature didn’t look that impressed.  “I am sorry to hear about your friend.  There a great many things that may happen to those who choose to live here and who do not belong.” 

What was that supposed to mean?  “Well, Gandalf has lived here for many years, and he does just fine.  It’s just a trifling cold he’s picked up.  You know, with that last late snowy spell we had, I know many a hobbit who are suffering from the same thing.  I do what I can to help since I never seem to catch anything.”

“That is good to hear,” the mighty stag told him.  “I will leave it to you then Master Hobbit.  Be safe on your journey.”

Bilbo watched with some fascination as the powerful muscles of the beast carried him upriver and out of the hobbit’s sight.  He just then noticed that to get a drink from the stream, he had strayed from the path.  It wasn’t the first time, however.  He had often stopped to get a drink here.  He found the water to be cool and refreshing.  No harm had ever come from it.

The path wasn’t very far away, and soon, Bilbo’s feet were back upon it.  A narrow gap in the canopy above him allowed a stream of sunlight to peer through and Bilbo glanced up to allow the warmth to shine down upon his face.  That was when he heard the snap of a twig on his left and he spun around, holding his walking stick out to protect himself if it was required.  He was relieved to find it was only the woodcutter again, the sight of which brought a smile to the hobbit’s face.

“Are you following me?” Bilbo said, half-jokingly.

“No.  Why would I do that?”

The words Thorin had said didn’t quite match the dwarf’s expression.  Embarrassment was evident on his handsome face and Bilbo found it to be quite charming. 

“I’m on my way to work in the clearing which I believe is just west of your destination.  If you wouldn’t mind, I could walk with you for a while.”

The invitation was well received and increased Bilbo’s smile.  “Of course, I wouldn’t mind.”

“You’re making good time,” Thorin noted after a moment.  “You should reach your friend before noon I should think.” 

“Yes, I’ve been lucky on this journey,” Bilbo told him.  “There have been times when I’ve twisted an ankle or the weather changed so quickly I had to turn back.  Today is a beautiful day, don’t you think?”

The woodcutter only grunted in reply and kept his eyes on the road.  “You’re from the village of hobbits, are you not?” 

“I am,” Bilbo answered, his brow lifting curiously. 

“And is that where…I mean…do you live alone?”

Bilbo smiled shyly at Thorin’s question, though not nearly as hesitantly as his new friend.  For someone so obviously strong and fierce, finding Thorin was a bit bashful wasn’t only surprising but endearing, and it caused his heart to flutter. 

“I do live alone, although just recently.  My parents passed a couple of years ago and left the property to me.  Do you live close by?”

“Not exactly,” Thorin explained.  “I’m from the dwarven realm of Erebor at the foot of the Lonely Mountain some ways from here.  I come here during the spring and summer to find work.”

“Ah, I see,” Bilbo exclaimed, trying to recall the distance from his village to the mountain.  If he was assuming correctly, it was just a few hours’ journey by carriage.  An easy trip he just might have to take in the near future. 

“If I were to say…wish to come visit you at your home…Maybe I could provide you with some firewood or perhaps we could…”

“Share a meal or enjoy a cup of tea over delightful conversation?”  Bilbo suggested trying to be as helpful as he could be and ease some of the dwarf’s discomfort.

“Aye,” Thorin responded with yet another pink blush on his face. 

“I’d like that.  Really, I would,” Bilbo answered back, while secretly observing the small smile that spread the woodsman’s mouth. 

“Good,” Thorin replied.  “For now, I will leave you to your walk.  I should return to work.”

“It was a pleasure talking to you, Thorin,” Bilbo told him as he began to walk away. 

“We shall speak again soon, Bilbo,” the woodcutter said in a way that caused a wave of delight to sweep across the hobbit’s skin.

“That we will,” he whispered as a promise to himself just before continuing along the path. 

Following another two hours, the road curved and opened into a small field, wherein sat a small stone cottage with smoke coming from its chimney.  He had made it to Gandalf’s house and Bilbo hurried down the path to come to the wooden fence and the sturdy gate before it.

It was unusual to find the gate ajar, he thought before brushing any worry aside.  Gandalf was ill and he probably didn’t have the energy to secure his property, Bilbo decided, only to become even more concerned when he found the carved wooden door on the front of the cottage wasn’t latched either.

He stepped slowly inside, pushing the door back on its hinges, and called out.

“Gandalf?  Are you here?  It’s me, Bilbo Baggins!  I’ve brought you some goodies from home that will hopefully make you feel better!”  He waited for a moment and listened carefully, unable to hear a reply.  “Gandalf?”  Bilbo called out once more before stepping further in and shutting the door behind him. 

The cottage had four rooms, and the one directly opposite him was the main bedroom.  Bilbo had been inside the home plenty of times and he didn’t think Gandalf would consider this an intrusion, so he continued on and pushed back the curtain divider. 

There, on the four-poster bed beneath piles of handsewn quilts, he saw a form, and Bilbo sighed in relief.  But then he noticed it wasn’t moving and hurried over to make sure his friend was actually all right.

Gandalf looked a little more pale than usual upon first notice, but he was breathing, which settled Bilbo’s nerves.

“Gandalf?”  Bilbo repeated the name softly, trying to rouse his friend to make him aware of his presence without frightening him.

The old man’s blue eyes shuttered open and his smile became broad.  “My dear fellow,” he said with a rasp that sent him into a coughing fit.  Bilbo immediately grabbed a pitcher and filled a glass on the bedside table to offer the man a drink.

Gandalf took a few sips and then waved the offer away.  “Thank you,” he said.  “What have you brought me?  Is that broth I smell? And perhaps some of your delicious biscuits?” 

Bilbo had never been an overly cautious hobbit.  He was trusting to a fault.  In the past, that had led him into a variety of dangerous circumstances.  He was trying to learn, and the woodcutter’s warnings replayed in his mind. 

How could Gandalf smell the broth he had brought if he was suffering from a cold, which should make that feat entirely impossible! 

“Ah yes,” Bilbo replied, trying not to gather suspicion.  “I brought some broth, a little wine, as well as some biscuits and jam.  I sent Mrs. Hardfoot earlier this morning to check on you after you hadn’t shown up for a few days.  I was worried about you.   Did you find her company soothing?”

The ill man eyed him and the smile that followed was unusually forced.  “Oh, yes.  Mrs. Hardfoot is a delightful woman.  So full of cheer and such good company.”

“Well, that would be quite miraculous,” Bilbo replied, just before he took a step backward.  “Seeing that she died two winters ago.”

Gandalf’s blue gaze narrowed, and his typical pleasing smile turned malicious. 

“You should’ve listened to the woodcutter,” he said in a voice that didn’t belong to him.  “Even I, myself, tried to warn you of the dangers of the forest, but you hobbits think you’re so smart and cunning.  We see who the most cunning is now, don’t we?”

Bilbo recognized that deep voice and watched with some stunned fascination as the man upon the bed transformed into a large, white wolf. 

“Azog,” Bilbo uttered, fear causing his voice to tremble.  It was the one he had been warned about time and time again – the shape-shifter, the enchanted creature who could change from any creature he desired.  “You were the white stag!  Where is my friend Gandalf?”

“I have placed him in safekeeping for now until I am ready for him.  He is old and will be tough to chew, while you, on the other hand, are far more delectable.  Young and plump.  I shall enjoy this very much.”

With those words, the wolf leaped up from the bed to attack Bilbo, but the hobbit moved out of the way quickly, causing the wolf to stumble and crash into the armoire.  The door burst open and Gandalf, bound from head to toe, bruised and battered, tumbled out onto the floor. 

The white beast slashed its giant claws in Bilbo’s direction and he had been too concerned about Gandalf to move out of the way fast enough.  The claws stripped through his dark red jacket and pierced his skin, creating bloody marks across his back.  He cried out in pain as well as terror and hurriedly glanced around the room for some type of weapon.  Nearby, he had laid his walking stick and he grabbed it, swung it as fiercely as he could toward Azog. It came in contact with the beast’s nose. 

The impact didn’t even cause the wolf to blink, and he dropped down on all four paws to stare at Bilbo with a deadly and hungry gaze, saliva dripping from his razor-sharp teeth.  Bilbo backed away until he bumped into a table, on which was a kerosene lamp. 

Just as the wolf pounced, Bilbo  broke the lamp, grabbed the largest shard, and plunged it into the beast’s throat.  The wolf howled in pain but wasn’t the least deterred, knocking Bilbo down onto the floor, to hover over him.  Now, not only was the wolf’s spittle dripping down onto Bilbo, but its blood as well. 

“I’m going to enjoy every last bite of you,” the creature hissed before opening its mighty jaws. 

Bilbo slammed his eyes closed.  If this is the way he was going to die, he really didn’t want to watch it happen.  He waited for the excruciating pain, but it didn’t come.  After a silent moment, he glanced up to find the wolf’s mouth was indeed open, but out of it came only a small squeak. 

Before Bilbo realized what was happening, the wolf was knocked off him and it slid across the floor. 

Bilbo sat up, his heart pounding, his eyes wide with fear, and yet there was hope.  It had come in the form of a handsome woodcutter who was wielding his axe.  The blade of the weapon was now covered in the animal’s blood, which was streaming from the wolf’s side.  The beast cowered in the corner, hissing and growling at Thorin, who seemed entirely focused on nothing but him.

The hobbit watched in growing alarm as the woodcutter approached Azog, embedded his axe into him not once or twice, but three times.  When he was finished, the wolf lay very still and Bilbo closed his eyes to block out the sight.  Regardless of its attack on him and his friend, he didn’t enjoy witnessing violence against any creature for any reason.   

Suddenly, there were gentle hands cradling his scalp. 

“Master Hobbit.  Bilbo.  Are you all right?”

That was Thorin’s voice and Bilbo forced his eyes open, doing his best to avoid looking at anything but the tender and concerned gaze searching his own.

“I’ve got some scratches on my back, but I’ll live.” 

“Come,” Thorin said, gingerly assisting Bilbo to his feet.  “Let’s leave the creature behind for a moment and help your friend.”

The two of them freed Gandalf and entered the common area where Thorin immediately insisted that Bilbo remove his jacket and shirt. 

With a solid red blush, the hobbit complied, hissing in pain to discover the blood-soaked material was sticking to his skin.

“There is some salve in the corner cupboard,” Gandalf told Thorin from a chair he had sat down heavily on, his breathing raspy, his voice hoarse.

Thorin retrieved the ointment and applied a generous amount to Bilbo’s injuries.  For such a strong dwarf with incredibly thick fingers, his touch was surprisingly gentle, the hobbit thought.

“I’m afraid your lovely red coat is ruined, as is this shirt,” Thorin informed him as he began ripping cloth he apparently found as well and started wrapping it around Bilbo’s chest. 

Once he stood in front of him, Bilbo realized how very close the woodcutter was  to him, and it caused his skin to turn ruddy and his breath to come out in pants. 

“Are you sure you’re quite well?” Thorin teased, a smirk lifting up the corner of his mouth.

“Just scratched up is all, I assure you,” Bilbo answered back as Thorin tied the ends of the bandage over his ribs. 

“I’ll be at your house in three days to check on you and make sure your wounds haven’t become infected,” the dwarf informed him. 

Bilbo would like to say there was no need for that, but he couldn’t think of anything more pleasant than spending additional time with such a lovely dwarf. 

“I’d like that.”  His words had come out much quieter than he had intended, and it caused Thorin to lean in.  Oh, if only they were alone, Bilbo would close the distance to thank the dwarf properly. 

But Gandalf was sitting close by, huffing and puffing, and staring at them quite incredulously. 

“What about the wolf?”  the old man asked once the tender moment had passed. 

“I’ll drag it into the woods as a warning to others who may have the same idea.”

Bilbo swallowed hard.  “You mean…there are others?”  he squeaked. 

“Oh aye,” Thorin replied.  “As I told you, these woods are full of dangerous folk and you would do well to…”

“Not speak to strangers,” Bilbo chuckled.  “I get it.  But if I hadn’t, then I would have never met you.”

A dark brow lifted on Thorin’s face.  “In that case, consider yourself lucky, as do I.” 

“Pardon me,” Gandalf cut in.  “But is there anything in that basket you brought Bilbo, or do I have to look for myself?”

“Oh!  Of course, of course there is.”  Bilbo replied, his thoughts quite distracted by the magnetic blue eyes that were following his every move. 

“I’ll take my leave now,” Thorin announced.  “And I’ll take the carcass with me.” 

Bilbo stepped aside, grimacing at the trail of blood that was being spread across the floor.  Before the woodsman left, however, all Bilbo had for him was a smile, and he did his best to make it one worthy of remembrance. 

Once they were alone, Bilbo returned his attention to Gandalf and proceeded to warm up some broth and pour him some of the watermelon wine he had brought.  Then, he went about the task of scrubbing away the blood from the worn, wooden floors.

It occurred to him as he rinsed out the bucket and brush and listened to the old man slurp that there were better ways to go about doing things.  He had never wanted a housemate, but having Gandalf closer would certainly be more convenient and free up a lot of his time.  And if he paid his neighbor, Master Gamgee, to look in on the old man from time to time, Bilbo could even manage to take a trip.  Maybe as far away as Erebor. 

He dropped the scrub brush back into the bucket of clean, sudsy water and smiled innocently at his old friend.  “Gandalf, my old friend.  Perhaps it’s time we consider relocating you to the village.” 

THE END

#thilboweek23 #bagginshield #ticklesivory #the hobbit

[holygamerdragongamer]

Abnornality shower thoughts

Since in lore the warm hearted woodsman can take anything that is heart shaped, what would happened if we give it the heart of asperiation, or laetitia's gift would he be content with the heart he was given to him and be more lively ? Or the heart asperation cause him to go into a constant berserk state ? Also in the books the tin man rusts easly, so why not just grab a hose and blasted him with water to slow him down or stops him from moving

Since laetitia gives her gifts to employees when there not looking due to her being shy about, what would happened if sn agent just look back really quickly the moment she pulls out the gift. Would she stop in her tracks and try to hide it to not ruined the surpriesed or give it to the agent, and if it's the latter would the laetitia just stop if the agent says "no" ?

In the wizard of oz road home dorothy fell asleep in a field of poppy flowers, and tin woodsman, the cowardly lion and the scarecrow must carry her out before something bad happeneds to her if agents placed red poppy seeds in her path, would she be alseep or walk past it. And if it's first one would that cause scardy cat turn back into his feline form ?

Dreaming current yearns to see the ocean but with the candy he can see it, but what would happened if we take dreaming current to the ocean would he able to swim ? if so would he not want to return to the facility ?

If piscine mermaid kissed an agent and that agent didn't turn into sea foam, would it not breach and became the agent's lover ?

Do you think the army in black have old war stories? Also if either side get knocked out would the other remains active until the other side wakes up. Also does black and pink have seprate memories or shared the same one ?

If little red riding hooded mercenary kill the big and will be bad wolf for good, would she stay at lobcorp as a mercenary or just leave cuz there is no reason to stay here

road home is dororthy gale, does that make her abberition be tip from return to oz along side of the other oz abnos ?

Doe fighting and surpessing the unborn fetus techanically counts as abortion ? Also would the unborn fetus would calm if it was given big passifyer ?

Does throwing water on the warm hearted woodsman makes the surpessing him easyer because he's rusts easily like the books ?

#project moon #lobotomy corporation #abnormality #lobcorp #shower thoughts #army in black #piscine mermaid #road home #warm hearted woodsman #little red riding hooded mercenary #unborn fetus #dreaming current #wonderlab #laetitia

[aspoonofsugar]

Hello! It may be a bit early, but I've been really enjoying the Red Riding Hood story we've been seeing throughout volume 9. Outside we've got Weiss, Yang, and Blake all trying to protect Ruby from the Big Bad Wolf, the Curious Cat. (this works well with the idea you've had of Weiss as her hunter too, if I recall correctly!)

But I'm wondering how you think that Summer might fit into this? Of course we've got the idea that she's the hunter/woodsman as well - she's literally the Huntress that Ruby's been idolizing her whole life. But as I'm seeing it for now, she's also a wolf that's been holding Ruby back emotionally and physically. Ruby can't move on because she stuck in her mother's shadow (perhaps like Red Riding Hood was stuck in the belly of the wolf?) But now Ruby is taking her mother's weapon (an ax) and getting something out of whatever the Tree will provide her with, be that an answer about Summer's fate or something else. Ruby will come out of the wooden cocoon and be a different form of her without the weight of Summer's legacy (at least, that's what I'm thinking so far), perhaps by using the Woodsman/Hunter's ax to get herself out. So perhaps Ruby could be her own hunter too, breaking herself out of the wolf of her mother.

If you have a different thought, I'd love to hear it! Your takes are always so interesting.

Hi!

I quite like your thoughts!

In general, I would say RWBY's allusions are not limited to specific instances, but rather they comment a character arc from beginning to end (in a metaphorical way of course!).

All of this to say, this volume is Ruby's story, so of course it is a version of LRRH. Still, Ruby's arc is not limited to this volume alone, so this isn't the only version of LRRH we are getting.

Again, I would need to reread Ruby's story as a whole to pick on different references, but as for now... I would say the LRRH's allusion comes out rather strongly in volume 6 and volume 9 (2 volumes, which are clearly meant to be foiled):

Volume 6 centers around the figure of the Grandmother (Maria) and the motif of the eyes

Volume 7 centers around the figure of the Wolf (CC) and the theme of the shadow

(Also it is interesting the LRRH allusion always starts with a detour:

Volume 6 - team RWBY + Oscar and Qrow leave the tracks and take a detour both physically and thematically in how they leave Oz's pre-established path. The final episode is even called "Our Way".

Volume 9 - team RWBY + Jaune and Neo leave the yellow brick-road of the Wizard of Oz and fall into Wonderland. They take an even deeper and larger detour as volume 9 is literally its own story and the main plot is paused)

I am pretty sure that if one were to analyze these 2 volumes deeply enough, more references would come out... and if one were to analyze Ruby's arc well enough, one would realize it follows her fairy tale to a T.

All of this to say, I think Summer's role would be multifaceted and complex and fit different characters of the fairy tale in different ways.

In general, I think Summer is the key character of Ruby's arc, which means she is probably gonna play all the different characters of her fairy tale. This is because right now for Ruby Summer is everything.

It is a common path in RWBY really. For example, Blake starts with Adam being all the characters and motifs in her fairy-tale: he was the rose, the beast in Blake's personal life and the beast in Blake's struggle for the Faunus rights. Blake's growth stems from her finding new people who better fit her fairy-tale:

Ruby is the Rose, who inspires her

Weiss is the Beauty for Blake's Faunus Right fight

Yang is the Beauty in Blake's personal life

Ilia and Sun are 2 other beasts, who support Blake's Beauty's journey

Now, I think something similar is gonna happen with Summer. She is so central to Ruby as a person, she has kind of taken over her whole narrative:

She is first and foremost the Mother - the one who points the right path to LRRH and the one LRRH has to leave in order to enter the Woods (to grow up).

Summer leaves Ruby and this kickstarts Ruby's story. This kickstarts Ruby's journey to catch up to her. She follows the path Summer taught her (indirectly). To be a Huntress and to help people. And yet, at one point Ruby will have to take a detour in order to discover who she is.

After wondering in the Woods and meeting many dangers and characters, LRRH arrives to the Grandma's house. Now, the Grandma in the story is just another way to call the Mother, aka a more mature feminine presence. And yet, when LRRH arrives, she discovers the Grandma is not really who she remembers. I think something similar may happen with Ruby and Summer. Ruby will have to face the person behind the ideal. In this sense, Summer will be a Wolf.

Summer is also the Huntress, in how, as you said, she has inspired Ruby to grow into a Huntress herself. I don't know if this means Summer will save Ruby. She may in a final moment of glory, but the point as for now is that Ruby needs to become her own Huntress, rather than a copy of Summer.

Just like Blake, it is possible Ruby will need to find other people, who fit the roles better and she has:

Yang took the place of the Mother

Blake takes the place of the Wolf and showed Ruby a wolf can change, so a lost person can be found again

Weiss will probably show Ruby a child can become a Huntress, which is what Ruby herself needs to do

This also fits with Summer having literally all of the girls' colors:

This is because she is probably a combination of all of them, an ideal.

On a final note, I see Ruby like this:

LRRH > the ego

The Wolf > Ruby's inner darkness and trauma

The Hunter > Ruby's super-ego aka her purpose

Summer might turn out to be:

The Mother > the ego

The Wolf > the shadow/her inner darkness

The Hunter > the super-ego > Summer's purpose

Ruby's problem is that she was living as a super-ego, so this volume challenges her to face her inner wolf (her shadow), so that she can come out as a more balanced ego.

Summer seems to have been living as the super-ego, as well. Maybe even moreso than Ruby, so I wonder what happened to her when the Wolf took over.

In short, I think Ruby the Huntress might meet Summer the Wolf in the future and they could have a reconciliation only if they meet as their egos: as Mother and Daughter.

That said, we'll see! I am very excited about Summer!

EDIT - I realized I might not have made it clear. But I actually really like your idea fo Summer metaphorically saving Ruby this volume (even if my preference is toward Penny). I was trying to just wide the perspective a little to encapsulate not just this volume, but the story as a whole!

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 9 #ruby rose #summer rose #once upon an allusion #asksfullofsugar #milliethekitty27

[lavinialeguin]

What if the entire Ever After Academy cast and story took place in a more Wolf Among Us Setting?

Whitethorn becomes a town in Connecticut filled with fairy tale characters who've escaped the magical realm after a great war that caused most of the realm to be destroyed by the fae who wished to take over the land for themselves.

The triad becomes the peacekeepers integrating the fables into the non-magical realm, giving them a temporary place to stay while war wages in the magical realm. The story starts with the funeral of FMC and MMC's uncle who is suspected to have been murdered by a fable, though they don't have enough proof to determine which fable did it. FMC takes it upon herself as the newly ascended Path Finder to find her uncle's murderer.

MMC works as the Light Keeper, keeping the lighthouse light on and being a welcoming presence to any new fables that come through the portals. His job is also to keep the Whitethorn trees alive and well to help keep the fae from finding them.

Arin still works as the Guardian, protecting the magic library, and labyrinth, and assisting FMC and MMC in helping stomp civil disputes between the fables living in Whitethorn.

Nora Le Fay is an ally of the triad, assisting with magical barriers and upkeep of the magical library. Nora is also the team's main healer, assisting in treating fables who are infected with hexes or curses from the fae. She currently acts as a librarian at the university library as her cover while assisting with the magical library and labyrinth underneath the school.

Lucas Charming is the heir to the Garnet Throne, his family sent him to Whitethorn in a show of trust to the White Queen, who is assisting them in keeping the fae at bay in their kingdom. Lucas works as a type of bodyguard for MMC as well as assisting in keeping more rowdy fables in line. Lucas works as a docent at the lighthouse, assisting with tours and showing fables around.

Abel is a brooding woodsman, tasked by the White Queen to tend to the Whitethorns, keeping the plans around Whitethorn alive. He's the most muscular of the group and acts as the team's tank fighter when in need, however, he's distrusting of most people and is rude when provoked, making him not as effective as an ally in the beginning.

Lavinia La Guin, the Snow Queen, travels to Whitethorn due to FMC's family promising to return her heart in exchange for help creating stronger barriers to keep the Fae away, as the Winter Kingdom is currently untouched by the Fae due to the Snow Queen's intense protective spells around her kingdom. However, with the death of the previous Pathfinder, FMC is left to strike a new deal to get the witch's help in finding her Uncle's killer. Lavinia resides as the owner and bartender of an Ice Bar in Whitethorn, a common hangout for some of the less moral fables.

Jack Frost is Lavinia's younger half-brother, another child of Titania, Jack assists Lavinia in keeping their kingdom safe. He communicates between the two realms using a communication stone.

Ezra Wolf works as a bouncer at the Ice Bar Lavinia owns. He is a gruff and well-respected security presence at the bar as well as a great keeper in intel due to his ability to sink into the shadows.

More to come, but just the first bunch of ideas.

#ever after academy #lavinia le guin #eaa #lovestruck #lovestruck ever after academy #ezra wolf #lavinia x mc #eaa lavinia #lovestruck eaa #arin langdon #nora la fay #lucas charming #abel hawthorn