Irene and The Firebird (original Spanish title Irene y el Ave de Fuego) is a Web Original serial published in Wattpad and Fictionpress about a young woman named Irene: a peasant in a small medieval Russian village. She's the daughter of the milkman, Gregory, both trying to get by and struggling to survive.
Irene's been bullied since she was a little girl, all because of the ludicrious tales about the firebird: a mythical creature that her father claims it saved his life years ago, and ever since then, he has been telling the same story, eventually becoming the laughigstock of his community, the town of Ensk.
Irene believes that all those stories are nothing but fairytales, until one day a stranger comes to visit, following the trail of the mysterious bird...and nothing will ever be the same.
The serial is updated weekly and you can find it here:
http://www.wattpad.com/story/13168949-irene-y-el-ave-de-fuego
The story provides examples of:
- Darker and Edgier: One of the points of making all this story was to recreate a Disneyesque fantasy, but going a little farer involving regicide, bullying and social ostrazacion, and the ugly side of an at first sight typical fairytalish small rural town.
- Family Business: Ruslán's the son of the butcher, and he hopes his child takes on his job one day.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The story is heavily based on medieval Russia. However, the official name of the kingdom it takes place is "Vassilea Rus", making it somewhat of a fictionilized version of a real historical country.
- King Incognito: Aleksei, the young stranger that arrives to Ensk, turns out to be Vassilea's Prince
- Small Town Boredom: How Irene feels at the beginning.
- Save the Princess: Somewhat inverted AND played straight at the same time Irene trying to help Prince Aleksandr, and he in turn tries to help her sister, Princess Zlata
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Spiritual Successor: Since the author loves Disney so much, you can see a heavy inspiration in this story, but also to old Soviet animation movies and short films like The Humpbacked Horse.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield??:
- The name of Irene's town is "Ensk", in Russian means "N-City" (any given place)
