#folk tale inspired

[agentdickens929]

🎉i MADE IT OUT!!🌲

It's basically all finished! You can play it at my itch page, Please 💖🔁 and check it out for me✨

"One day, the village sent you to eliminate the fairy confined at the deepest part of the forest...."  

《What's your pursuit? / 何你所求？》  Overview: A short horror story of choices and consequences, with 8 possible endings.

Free DL👉

[anyablackwood]

Katsuko Gaiden

WIP Intro

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

POV: Third person limited

Warnings: Violence, blood, implied sexual activity (fade to black)

Setting: Heian Period (794-1185) Japanese fantasy, in the underwater palace of the sea god. Queer-accepting setting.

Summary: Inspired by the Japanese folk tale Urashima Taro. When the ship of the nobleman she worked for capsized, Itazaki Katsuko was expected to go down with it. Instead, she's rescued from her watery grave by the eldest daughter of the sea god himself. Tasked with being the princess' personal guard, it isn't long before they find themselves a little too close.

Being mortal, Katsuko's existence is only tolerated in the underwater palace. If anyone were to find out, there was no telling if the sea god would even give her the mercy of a quick death.

(Pictures aren't mine)

[kaynanarie]

Eyes of Gold (Part 1)

(A WukongxReader story inspired by Beauty and the Beast and Lutung Kasarung.) (Next)

            Even in the daytime, the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers was a daunting place to be. You huddled under one of the massive trees, no idea what to do or where to go. Tears trickled down your face as you fought the urge to scratch your itchy skin, wishing you could wake up from this nightmare.

            The feeling of eyes watching you haunted your senses and sent chills down your spine. There were too many shadows to see where the gaze came from but plenty of demons inhabited the mountain, most with a taste for vulnerable humans.

            A quiet thump startled you from your thoughts. Something rolled across the forest floor, coming to a careful stop by your feet. It took you a moment to recognize what it is; a peach, perfectly ripe with a delicate blush on its fuzzy skin. You picked it up and looked around before finding where it came from.

            Gold, glowing eyes were watching from the darkness, staying low to the ground as they approached. You nearly screamed when from the bushes emerged…

            A monkey. A normal, brown furred, curly tailed monkey. You let out a relieved laugh while the creature just stared with his peculiar golden eyes.

            “Hey, cutie,” you greeted, holding the peach up. “Is this yours?”

            When you rolled the fruit back, the monkey glanced between it and you. Picking it up, the monkey hopped closer, tossing the peach back into your lap.

            ��Is it for me?” you asked teasingly. The answering nod was unexpected and set you on edge. “Well…thank you, I supposed.”

            You pulled out your knife; a tiny, dull blade no bigger than your finger. The monkey watched you warily as you cut into the peach and offered a sliced piece of the fruit. “I don’t mind sharing.”

            Snatching the snack from your fingers, the monkey nibbled on his share while you cut a slice for yourself. You’d barely taken a bite when he shuffled closer, meeting your eye with a curious tilt of its head.

            “Why were you crying?”

            You almost inhaled your peach in surprise. Hearing the monkey speak nearly sent you through a new wave of panic. Instead, you found yourself too tired and resigned to do much more than stare.

            “I…” you trailed off when tears started to gather. The monkey frowned but said nothing, waiting patiently for your answer. “I’ve been curse.”

            “How so?”

            A sigh left your lips, the peach forgotten in your fidgeting hands. “It’s a long story.”

            The monkey hopped over to sit at your side, expectant and attentive. “I like stories.”

            “It’s not a happy one,” you warned.

            A small paw patted your hand in comfort. “Sharing a burden is the best way to lessen it.”

            Knowing he wasn’t planning to leave you be, you dried your eyes and began your tale.

            “My father is a noble in the village. About a month ago, he invited his friend’s son to be a guest in our house. He planned to arrange a match with my sister or I to unite the families. A few days before he arrived, though, this happened.”

            Rolling up the sleeve of your robe, you held out your forearm for the monkey to see. The skin was blotched with a red, blistery rash. Your nails scratching at the itch had left it raw and stinging, only just avoiding drawing blood.

            “When my family saw the affliction, they locked me in my room, fearing it would spread. My sister was allowed at the meeting and an engagement was quickly agreed upon.”

            “So, you ran away because of a broken heart?” the monkey guessed, no jest or mockery in his curious tone. 

            “No, I didn’t know him so marriage was not my concern,” you answered, shaking your head with a smile. “My sister’s fiancé is handsome but he is spoiled and sheltered. She already orders him about like a servant. I do not envy their union but do wish them the best.”

            “Why come to the mountain, then?”

            You sat back against the tree, the physical and emotional pain taking its toll. “Part of my sister’s promised dowry was an orchard of fruit trees near the mountain. The only problem was, they didn’t actually belong to my father. When he went to stake a claim, it angered the Monkey King. Sun Wukong himself appeared, accusing him of stealing and desecrating his mountain. My father begged for his life, offering anything in return before escaping. We barely heard the story before he had packed his things and fled, leaving my sister in charge of his estate. He’s incurred the Monkey King’s wrath and fears he will be killed for his crimes if he returns.”

            The monkey seemed surprised for the first time. “I’m sure it was a misunderstanding; easily fixed and appeased.”

            “Misunderstand or not, my father is gone and my sister took advantage of his absence,” you said, bitterness creeping into your words. “She convinced the village I was to blame. That my illness was proof of a curse that doomed our father and threatened her engagement. She was the one who sent me here, so that my death might appease the Monkey King and atone for my father’s transgressions.”

            “That’s ridiculous! You shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of your father.” The monkey climbed up to perch on your knees, shaking his head in disbelief. “Our King is not so cruel. He only wants to protect the mountain and his people.”

            “I’ve heard stories about him,” you argued. “The only reason I’m still alive is he doesn’t know I’m here.”

            “But he does know you’re here.”

            His casual reveal froze you in place, icy panic stealing your breath and quickening your heartbeat. You looked around, only seeing inconspicuous forest. “He does!?”

            The monkey nodded. “He sent me to find out your intentions. Now that I know, you’re free to stay as long as you follow his rules.”

            “But…what if he doesn’t approve?” you asked, still nervous and unconvinced. “Or what if another demon attacks me instead? Or–”

            Leaning forward, the monkey patted your cheeks in a gesture somewhere between silly and soothing. “I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you. Okay?”

            Despite the average look of the monkey, his golden eyes shown with determination and sincerity in his oath. Even such a small act of kindness was enough to put you at ease.

            “That’s very sweet of you.”

            Leaping off of your knee, he tugged at your sleeve and pointed into the forest. “Come with me. I know a place you can stay for the night. It’s not much but it’ll keep you safe.”

            You scramble to your feet, watching as the monkey scaled a nearby tree. He waited on one of the overhead branches, swinging to the next to lead you down a path only he could see.

            “Thank you,” you said, following after him. As you walked, you realized a lapse in manners that made you blush. “I don’t think you ever told me your name?”

            “Shihou!” a voice answered from the branches. The monkey suddenly appeared in front of your face, hanging by his long tail, lips curled in a cheeky smile. “You can call me Shihou.”

[keyotos]

9:35 ⎯ alhaitham

you wake up to the sun shining across your face. you hear birds chirping and if you focus hard enough you could hear the ocean's waves calmly flowing into port ormos. you also wake up to a certain someone's bare chest.

alhaitham sleeps on his back while you curl up into his side. the way you manage your way into the crook of his bicep practically became routine at this point. his arm lays wrapped around your waist, a firm grasp, but not too tight.

you lift your head, propping yourself up on your hand. you are rarely the one who wakes up early. usually, it's alhaitham who rises before you, getting the chance to do things such as make coffee for you or cook a simple breakfast. you think about doing those things, but there is also another opportunity you cannot miss out on.

when alhaitham sleeps, he looks so carefree. his eyes are closed in a peaceful manner, his brows aren't furrowed like when he is awake, and his lips are placed in a gentle pout. he looks adorable.

you couldn't resist tracing your finger over his facial features. your index finger dragged along the slope of his nose, his cheekbones, under his eyes. your thumb caressed the spot underneath his eyebrow (which was the top of his eyelid), the bottom of his lips, and the apple of his cheeks.

normally, he was the one who got to do this to you. you knew that he spent at least ten minutes just admiring you before getting out of bed. and every time before he left, he'd press a loving kiss on the corner of your eyelid.

but this time, you're the one who gets to admire him. you're the one who gets to trace all his features, study him even though you already know all of him, etch his very being into your brain.

and if you plant a kiss on the corner of his lips? well, he doesn't have to know that. and when one kiss develops into two; another planted on his jaw. two gradually turned into four, which then turned into six, and at this point you've stopped counting. alhaitham was just too easy to kiss; too easy to love.

alhaitham started stirring from his sleep ever since the first kiss. he knew you: he knew what your lips felt like on his skin, he knew that you've left the warmth of his arm, and he knew that you were awake right now. but even so, he chose to stay "asleep."

alhaitham chose to break his act when you were about to move towards his lips. right when you were about to press a kiss to his cheek, he moved his head so you could give him a chaste peck on his lips. he smiled, satisfied that he got what he wanted.

you, on the other hand, felt flustered. "alhaitham? did i wake you up?"

alhaitham yawned, one hand covering his mouth while the other secured his grasp on your waist, "i was already awake," he replied nonchalantly.

you raise an eyebrow at that. how long was he awake? hopefully not when you traced his face. "for how long?" you ask, removing your head from your palm and returning to your previous position on alhaitham's bicep.

"probably second kiss," alhaitham hid his smile as he buried his head into your neck. but you could tell he was smiling either way: you heard it in his voice. after all, you knew him as well as he knew you.

you huffed, "why didn't you say anything?"

"and disrupt you while you were perfectly content?" alhaitham sarcastically answered, "i would never impede with your happiness."

"shut up," you say, sheepish and slightly exasperated with his tone, then let your head fall into his chest.

alhaitham only laughs in response. his laugh his small, light, and airy. you're one of the very few people that get to hear it. "if it consoles you, i had a dream about you last night."

this gets your attention, your head rising up to look at his turquoise eyes, "really? pray tell."

alhaitham looked up at the ceiling as a way to pretend as if he was in deep thought, "well, you were there. but you were a fish. and you had a hat. then you were swallowed by a bigger fish, who took your hat. and then you were swallowed by the big fish, who had the hat before everyone else fought him for it," alhaitham explained with a straight face.

"wow," you deadpanned, "not helping your case, bud," alhaitham frowned at the nickname. something so cruel, so early. you continued, "looks like your subconscious isn't very fond of me. want to tell me anything?"

alhaitham shrugged, "you're very easy to hate." he knows it's the complete opposite. loving you has to be the most easiest thing alhaitham has ever done. it's easy to memorize you: your favorite things, your routine, your body, your mind; loving you was like an accomplishment.

you mock-gasp, swatting him away from you, "i see how it is then. you were in my dream too, if you wanted to know. except, you were a toad. a very ugly one. and dehya was there. so was candace. kaveh too. oh! and i can't forget the general mahamatra," you added cyno in to tease alhaitham. truthfully, instead of cyno, your coworker that owed you a cup of coffee appeared in the dream.

"you guys were all animals, and there was a long drought, so you all banded up to confront the rain god for rain. then, when you went to the rain god's temple, you guys planned a sneak attack and won a battle. and then you got rain," if you thought alhaitham's dream was complicated, alhaitham was absolutely dumbfounded by yours.

alhaitham pulled you closer into him, hands caressing the sides of your body, "my dream was definitely better. mostly because it had only you in it, and not the general mahamatra. or kaveh," your boyfriend lightly scoffed at the mention of the two men. you could only shake your head.

"i was only in there for a short second. before i was, y'know, eaten," you nudged his chest, only for alhaitham to rest his head atop of yours. but then you perked up, "hey. are you jealous of my subconscious? is it cause i dreamed of other people?" you smirked.

"why would you say that?" alhaitham peered down at you.

"well, you did get a little sullen at the mentions of cyno and kaveh," you pointed out, even poking a finger into his chest, separating you from him.

alhaitham only trailed his fingers underneath your shirt, creating shapes on your skin as he leaned in closer to you, "i'm not jealous," he pouted, "i did only dream of you though. proves i'm loyal."

you sigh. he was jealous of your subconscious. oh well. maybe that will teach his subconscious to not dream about your demise, "oh, yet i still died in your dream, so maybe not so much," you mocked, smile brimming your lips, "maybe our dreams are connected. me dreaming about other people probably reflected on your negligence to keep me alive," you teased.

"okay," alhaitham pressed his forehead up against yours, "i did not fail to keep you alive. that was all the circle of life."

"tomato, tomayto. i'm leaving," you only make your way to the edge of the bed before alhaitham pulls you back into him. your back lands into his chest with a 'thump!'

"wait. i'm sorry for my subconscious wanting to kill you. from now on i'll only think of you. as long as you stay in bed with me," alhaitham whispered into your skin, right next to your earlobe.

you let out a small laugh, "you pouting right now, haitham?" you turn to face him, brushing some small hairs out of his face.

"no. will you stay in bed with me?" he presses a kiss onto your jaw and interlocks your fingers underneath the blanket. how could you say no?

"hm. i don't know," you tease, looking around the room to delay your answer, "do i want to stay in bed with an ugly toad?"

alhaitham's fingers poke you in the side, making you squirm, "maybe i should've stayed with cyno. doubt he would've dreamt about my death."

"well, you're in bed with me. not the general mahamatra," alhaitham made sure to hold you close, as if your little dream would make you escape from his hold. yeah, no way would he ever let that happen. not when he loves you more than anything else, regardless of what his subconscious was trying to tell him. you are a routine he would never get rid of. you are a light he would never let die out. you are a fish he would always look after.

"yeah, i suppose," you wrap your arms around alhaitham's torso and rest your head on the pillow next to his, "hopefully i made the right decision," you nestle closer into alhaitham's warmth, body instantly relaxing in his proximity.

when alhaitham kisses the crown of your head without saying anything, you know that you did.

can anyone tell me if it's alhaitham or al-haitham? idk which one is correct so if any of y'all would like to inform me that'd be very much appreciated! ty!!

[sugarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr]

My 3RD redesign for lady, chat I swear this will be my last design for her🙏🙏

This my first time using water color in a WHILEE

[writingwithfolklore]

Writing Legend and Folklore

                Unlike mythology, legends are more rooted in historical events and may even have recorded, proven details. Your legend will likely feature real humans as characters experiencing something that happened in a real place in your world. The fun things about legends is that often the truth of the past has been twisted and changed over time. While it’s important for you as the writer to know the absolute truth about your history, your characters may never learn the truth behind the legend, or may trade slightly different alternate stories.

                Legends reflect the values or fears of a society. Much of Folklore comes from parents intending to shield their children from danger—whether going out at night and getting snatched by the boogeyman, or wandering too close to the rapids and being dragged in by a dangerous Kelpie. So start with a real value or danger, and begin to embellish.

                Maybe in your world society really values compassion. A tale may start out with someone hoarding resources and ignoring those in need which then manifests a shadow monster that gobbles both them and their riches right up! Name the monster, and you have a campfire-worthy folk tale for your characters to tell late into the night.

                Or, if your legend has no moral or lesson, it may feature something unexplainable that happened to real people. Stories you hear of disappearing cities or villages come from this place—people witnessing something or experiencing something they can’t explain, and creating a story to explain it anyway.

                The original teller of this story, or the original source, should be difficult if not impossible to track down, to make sure it remains shrouded in mystery.

                Does your world feature any legends or folktales? Let me know!

[saintverse]

Short Story: The Princess With The Broken Heart

[nancyydowns]

« This is a story about a very.. lonely witch. » ☽ My first experiment in approaching the stop motion technique. These 47 seconds are the result of hard work developed over 2 and a half years, continuously changing and evolving. Hard work also on myself in taking “small steps” and not being afraid of the world.. And above all, of expressing (and expose) myself in various forms. “I want to be this and more.”

[ihavenohotcocoa]

Have you ever dreamt the dream of a city?

Have you ever looked down a street you’ve known your whole life to see a silver road pass through it, only for it to disappear in the blink of an eye?

Have you ever glimpsed the flickers of those dead yet alive, those who went missing decades ago yet can never be found?

Have you ever listened to the cars on the street passing in that smooth steady rhythm of theirs, just to realize the street is not there and never was?

Have you ever stepped through a door you thought you’d lost for good?

Have you ever dreamt the dream of a city?

[xivymoonartx]

first draft of a new oc 🎃

[lavenoon]

Abyss (~4.9K Words)

You are born in the abyss. Who can blame you for never knowing the light? An introspection piece on Gunmar the Black, with many headcanons towards how he may have grown up, and why his role as the villain was inevitable.

I don't like one dimensional villains so I have been plagued thinking about this guy. Remember folks, a sympathetic villain is still a villain, and this is no attempt to excuse his actions, only explain them.

[the-night-says-hello]

Fox Trails is now available on my ko-fi for only $1! Interested in poor protagonist decisions and androgynous fae? Check it out!

[dimsunsstuff]

End 24 publish date!?

Exciting news! Unless something goes horribly wrong, the first chapter of Strange Tales from the End will be published on the 1st of November 2024 on Royal Road.

From there, the official schedule is a chapter every two months, but that might change depending on my school work load.

Not as sure about the audio version but hopefully the same date, or at least within the week. Narrated by me on my youtube channel.

[not-poignant]

Hello! First off I LOVE your work it’s had such a big impact on who I am as a reader & I tell my friends about your books all the time. I wanted to know if you were okay with fans printing & bookbinding your fics? I’d really love to have a personal, physical copy of the fae tales series~ it feels criminal not to be able to hold it in my hands lol I totally understand if not!

Hi hi!!

I'm responding to this off private just because I know other people wonder about this and you're not the first to ask :D :D

So yes, it's totally okay for you to bookbind my fics! Please do it, and if you do, and you love what you did, please show me! I actually have reblogged bookbinding projects by other people in the past for my stuff, and it's really amazing to see other people's creativity like that.

I'd also really like to publish one day so folks can have some hardbacks or paperbacks of Fae Tales on their shelves but in the meantime you absolutely have permission to print/bookbind to have them for yourself too! It makes me so excited that people want to do this, and it's also a labour of time and love that just... yeah, that's really cool. :D

[rrcraft-and-lore]

The migration of folktales, fables, myths, and The Doors of Midnight. I've talked about his following piece of work before - Panchatantra

Pronounced (cuz romanizing Sanskrit adds weird ass fake A's to things) Panch (or pah-nch, meaning FIVE) Tantr (thun-trr) Treatises. 

It is a collection of folk tales (and I talked about this in my true origin of "fairy tales" and even what inspired the Grimm Brothers thread) fables, particularly focusing on talking animal fables from India. The written text is about 200 BCE (before common era) but the stories themselves are agreed upon by folklorists and experts to be far older given Sanskrit's long oral traditional history and the fact India has a history of oral performers by caste passing down these tales these tales are as old as we can possibly imagine. It is arguably one of, if not the most, translated piece of work out of India, with copies of it having reached Europe by the 11th century CE - yes, that old. Old enough to influence many European stories - particularly folk/fairy tales, and we'll get into that, because believe it or not, some famous fabulist writers even credited the collection of tales/author as their direct inspiration. Wild, right?

Continuing. 

Panchatantra has been translated in nearly every major language with nearly 200 versions in 50 languages over the world. Before even the 1600s it had been translated into: Czech, Old Slavonic, Spanish, Italian, German, English, Greek, Latin, and more. 

The earliest known translation was 550 CE into Middle Persian (and we'll get into why this is important in Tales of Tremaine as it's a commentary/meta referential and analysis, and love letter about migration of stories as well as storytelling) -- by the 12th century it was really spreading through Europe based off the Hebrew translation by Rabbi Joel, which then went on to be translated in German by Anton von Pforr in 1480 -- nearly 40 years before the 1812 publication of The Grimm brothers tales. Yep. 

Now, to 1001 Nights - a collection of tales compiled by Alf Laylah wa-Laylah, which yes, includes stories from India that were translated as discussed above, and Syria and other parts of the Middle East as well obviously.

Panchatantra has been influential in both 1001 Nights as well in Sinbad. The particular inspirations were the usage of frame narrative, first recorded in India, and also the inclusion of specific styles of talking animal fables within the collection, and most specifically the motif of the wise young woman who delays and finally removes an impending danger by telling stories - if you've read The Doors of Midnight, you'll get now where I'm going with this.

Since the series is a mix of many things, including addressing/commentary on fantasy/myth-storytelling tropes, motifs, themes, history, origins, replying/referencing them in meta ways, as well as a discussion about western fantasy novels because there's a history in/with them also using tropes for exoticization and kind of fetishy exoticization at times without nodding to, offering, showcasing a lens to/of the cultures those techniques, stories, tropes come from, I wanted ot be able to talk about that in the context of the work (which does happen), critique, reference all of it. Book two is no different.

In where if you've read it, you'll see a genderbent take on the particular motif above, and if you're only understanding of stories is 1001 Nights, you might get it confused for ONLY referencing one story. Not true. While there are many overt and subtle references to that because this is a love letter and commentary on the migration of stories (which that is literally mentioned in the story itself), so it tries to include and nod to all the wonderful stories from all the cultures I can include along the Golden Road in this world.

The take in here not only references both Indian and Middle Eastern culture, but also dismantles and in fact comments on a toxic trope that has had previous positive iterations as well - namely: meeting the goddess/the temptress (two pieces of storytelling that often get lumped into one of a dude character bumps into smoking hot goddess who can't resist him, they boink (A LOT a lot a lot) he leaves or threatens to and she's upset, boink continues, then he gets a gift from her. This goes backs to the oldest epics, it's not western or even fairytale original, but it did become UBER popular in the west. Young bardic boy meets fae, they boink a lot. He leaves. Usually tragedy, not always. The end. Some magical gifts. 

But the idea behind the trope was never supposed to be this reductionist. It was supposed to (go back to this word I've used about) evoke SENSE OF WONDER. Meeting a powerful character in possession of knowledge (see power), and magic (also power but sense of wonder), and to learn from her, gain some wisdom for your own betterment and evolving into a better kind of hero, and then use your gifts she gives you to that end. See, Frodo meeting Galadriel, no hanky panky, much wisdom, both were offered different temptations (not of the body) and in the end helpful gifts for the quest. :)

So, if you like or want to learn more about comparative mythology, storytelling, seeing the origins of such and dismantling your ideas of: structures, plot, tropes, motifs, beats, so on - check out The First Binding and The Doors of Midnight (recently released by @torbooks and @gollancz (US/UK).

Anyways yeah. 

Back to more about this. I've shared before the assertions of Max Muller and others on the influence that 30-50 percent of western fairy tales/ballads/nursery rhymes owe their origins/inspiration to Indian tales -- but Jean de La Fontaine, a french fabulist and poet - one of the most read poet of that time, directly credits Indian stories and the Indian sage Pilpay for his source of inspiration in his works -- 

"This is a second book of fables that I present to the public... I have to acknowledge that the greatest part is inspired from Pilpay, an Indian Sage" - Jean de La Fontaine.

He's also not the only post medieval era author to specifically credit Indian stories and the sage Pilpay and others who contributed to the many other epics, collection of tales, individual tales, and more.

Now, IMPORTANT NOTE - inspiration here does not mean a direct 1-1. 

Yes, many are complete rewrites, translations which is obvy a translations, and others are using the motif and overall theme but converted to and through their cultural lens and time of place. That's how storytelling traveleled, evolved, and become coopted, adopted, and accessible to local masses in w.e. country/empire.

And that's obviously a massive theme in my work but using a central heroic figure or villainous to be a focal point for that to see how that happens around one figure as it's an easier way to do that in fiction rather than a freak ton of povs which would make it harder for readers to continue to track and grok all those changes within the frame narrative aspect.

[the-gateway-to-madness]

So if someone (me) wrote a bunch of original song lyrics

and then used ai on those song lyrics to make songs

would y'all want me to post links to those songs (they're on Suno.com)