| “ | He made sure those girls couldn't talk, with those charmed ribbons around their necks…and when they tried, he killed them! You're wearing one yourself! | „ |
| ~ Bigby Wolf to Vivian, about Georgie Porgie, Fables: The Wolf Among Us #42 — "Chapter Forty-Two" |
History
Background
The original "Girl with the Ribbon," Vivian
The Pudding & Pie strip club used charmed ribbons to prevent the women working there from saying anything about what happens during their sessions. If removed, the ribbon beheaded whoever was wearing it. This effect was taken advantage of by[1] the owner,[7] Georgie Porgie, who used it to prevent any of the girls from defying him or his superiors in the Crooked Man's criminal enterprise.[1]
Vivian, the original "Girl with the Ribbon," wore the original copy. The Crooked man was fascinated by Vivian's ribbon and how she couldn't take it off or talk about it, and used it to make duplicates to keep the girls quiet. If the original ribbon was removed from Vivian's neck, the spell would be broken and the women would go free, but Vivian's head would fall off, and she would die.[1]
Fabletown murders
Faith, a prostitute at Pudding & Pie,[8] suffers abuse from the Woodsman, leading Fabletown Sheriff Bigby Wolf to examine the bruises on her neck. However, Faith quickly instructs him not to touch her ribbon. She also refuses to answer Bigby's question about who she works for, saying "My lips are sealed."[2]
Shortly afterward, Faith's decapitated head is discovered on the steps outside the Woodland building.[9] Then the head of[10] another prostitute,[11] Lily, glamoured as Snow White,[12] is found in the street.[10]
Murder investigation
While investigating Lily's murder, Bigby questions a third prostitute, Nerissa, but she replies "These lips are sealed," and says that she isn't supposed to talk about work.[4]
While looking through Lily's things, Bigby finds a photograph of her glamoured as a human and wearing the same kind of ribbon.[3]
Later, when Bigby and Snow White arrive at the Pudding and Pie to arrest Ichabod Crane they find him furiously shaking a scared and crying Nerissa and demanding she tell him what she knows about the murders. He explains that he wants to use the Ring of Dispel to break the spell that keeps Nerissa from talking freely. He pleads with her for information when the ring doesn't work, but she painfully replies, "these lips are sealed."[5]
Nerissa's ribbon
Bigby notices the same kind of ribbon on[5] Nerissa's fellow prostitute[13] Vivian and asks her who put it on her. She says, "My lips…", so Bigby interrupts her and says, "No. I get it."[5]
Nerissa goes to the Sheriff's office the next day to see Bigby. Bigby and Nerissa both try to work around the spell that had been cast upon her. but no matter how hard they try she cannot speak out. Just then Bigby notices the ribbon around Nerissa's neck and realizes it looked just like Faith's and Lily's. Realizing that the ribbon must be the source of the spell, Bigby asks her if she could take it off and reaches for it, but Nerissa freaks out and begs him not to remove it. She explicitly states that she is unable to remove it, as there will be negative consequences.[14]
When Bigby searches back room of the Lucky Pawn, he finds a collection of magic objects, including several ribbons like the ones all the girls at the club wear.[6]
Spell broken
Eventually, Georgie admits that he killed Faith and Lily and that he was ordered to do so by the Crooked Man.[15] He explains to Bigby about their history, and says that if Bigby takes it off her, the spell will be broken, but Vivian will die. He explains that Faith died because her ribbon was removed, while Vivian explains that the same thing happened to Lily. Georgie tries to force the Sheriff to remove Vivian's ribbon and kill her.[1]
The enchantment is broken, at the cost of Vivian's life
Bigby refuses to end Vivian's life, but she backs away and states that the girls that were killed were like family to her and no one was supposed to die. She admits that she hates herself when looking at the other employees at the club — Hans, Gwen and Nerissa — as she only sees the pain she's caused them through her curse. She pulls her own ribbon off, committing suicide. As her head separates from her body, the enchantment is broken.[1]
Afterward, Nerissa reunites with Bigby, donning the ribbon once more out of habit, despite no longer requiring it. She clarifies that Georgie had taken off Faith's ribbon in her presence as a way to set an example of Faith, resulting in her demise.[16]
Appearances
Fables: The Wolf Among Us
Original source
Urban legend
The charmed ribbons are based on the item from the popular urban legend of the velvet ribbon, a ghost story known under a variety of names, such as "The Velvet Ribbon," "The Red Ribbon," "The Red Satin Ribbon," and "The Yellow Ribbon."[17] The story has existed in oral tradition since at least the 1800s, and certain accounts trace the tale's origins to the French Revolution.[18]
Literary versions
There are several adaptations of the story in literature: Horace Smith recounted a variation of the story in his 1823 story "Sir Guy Eveling's Dream," while Washington Irving presented it as "The Adventure of the German Student" (1824). Alexandre Dumas wrote a version called "The Woman With the Velvet Necklace," released in 1849.[19] Gaston Leroux published yet another version[20] in 1924, called "The Woman with the Velvet Collar."[21] A more recent version of the tale is "The Green Ribbon" from Alvin Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories from 1984.[19]
Original story
In this eerie story, a woman wears a velvet ribbon around her neck that she refuses to remove, keeping the reason behind it shrouded in mystery. In the end, it is revealed that her head is solely held in place by the ribbon. As soon as the ribbon is taken off, her head detaches as well, and at times, it continues to speak while lying on the floor, illuminated by the moonlight.[22]
Ribbons and girls aplenty
The tale has undergone modifications and been passed down through the ages: On certain occasions, it has taken the form of a green ribbon, while at other times, it has been depicted as black[22] or yellow.[17] In a few versions, it has even transformed into a red ribbon. Regardless, the ribbon always represents a secret the woman is hiding from her husband, culminating in a conclusion where a dismayed man unravels a surprising truth about his wife that has haunted their marriage from the start;[22] a clear parallel to the many ribbons in the comic, worn by Faith, Lily, Nerissa, Vivian and the other girls' necks to prevent them all from speaking.
The woman in the story is known under a variety of names, such as Jane,[23] Sally,[24] Jenny,[19] and Arsene (in Dumas' version).[25] In other versions, she has no name at all.[26] Similarly, these ribbons are worn by a multitude of girls in the comic.
Sex workers' ribbons
There is quite a bit of symbolism behind the choker in the origial story:[22] In the aftermath of the French Revolution, red chokers assumed a darker significance, serving as a poignant reminder and a show of support for those who tragically lost their lives to the guillotine.[27] In the mid to late 19th century,[22] sex workers began to distinguish themselves by sporting black ribbons in a matching fashion;[27] a clear paralell to the ribbons worn by the prostitutes in Fables: The Wolf Among Us.
References
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