Once upon a time in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, he was selfish, spoiled and unkind. On top of it all, this prince was special. This Prince could control snow and ice. One winter's night, an old begger woman came to the castle and offered him a snowflake for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed from her haggid beauty, the princes smeered the gift and turned the old woman away but she warned him not to be decived by appearances, for beauty is found within. The prince dismissed the woman once again; the old womans ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The princes tried to apologize but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. The enchantress, as his punishment, took away the prince's powers of snow and ice as well as a spell on the castle and all who lived in it. Ashamed of his freakishness, he locked himself inside of his castle; his magic mirror was his only glipse into the outside world. The snowflake she had offered was truly an enchantment which would freeze until his twentieth year; the snowflake would stay frozen if the prince could learn to love and earn another's in return by the time it completly melted. Then, the spell would be broken. If not, the spell would never be broken and the prince would never remove his powers. As the years past, the prince fell into dispear and lost all hope. How could he ever learn to love if he couldn't love himself first? *** Based on Walt Disney's Pictures "Beauty and the Beast" I do not own the story line or the characters, credits go to Disney and Dreamworks.

With the live-action musical reboot just around the corner, I revisit Disney's treasured adaptation of the traditional French fairy tale and examine its changes through a comparative and feminist lens (while singing along at the top of my lungs).

#27 in Fantasy ~ When the chance to run arrives, Beldon doesn't think twice about escaping into the shadows of an enchanted castle locked in an eternal winter. He just wants to bury a secret. But the castle is a cold, cruel place and his host is less than welcoming. The sparks that fly between them are icy and aggressive; the tension building until one night it almost costs Beldon his life. Then things change. Beldon's attention turns to the shadowy Beast and the mystery that surrounds him. There is a curse to be broken after all and Beldon promised to help find a mysterious figure known as Beauty. However Beldon did not expect his secret to resurface within this frozen castle and as such he is forced to confront himself and answer one question. As he and The Beast grow closer, does he want this Beauty found? ~~~~~ (Please Note: These books link but it is NOT ESSENTIAL that you read them in order - they stand alone as well as link together) The Rose Quartet Reading Order: Beauty and The Beast Sleeping Beauty: http://w.tt/1Bi4TJC The Frog Prince: http://w.tt/1KphNHL Little Red Riding Hood: http://w.tt/1PBaNbs ~~~~~~~ Cover art by the brilliant Pakkie Davie (davidmccartney) http://davidmccartney.deviantart.com/

Usagi stood still by a bench in the park, thinking about missions as a sailor scout, thinking about life in general. Then suddenly someone shows up and find out what happens next..