#weekly theme: myths & legends | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

inkspiders · 5 months ago

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Gorgeous artwork is by Sailesh Thakrar

In The Mermaid’s Gift, an old family story about a mermaid encounter brings romance and drama.

♡

“My grandfather, Josiah Young…” he began, coughing as he always did. I once heard Grandmother say to Mum that she always knew the old boy was lying when he coughed, but I didn’t believe that. “…once saw a mermaid.”

The Mermaid’s Gift was my third story with The People’s Friend. It was also my first appearance in the weekly magazine rather than the monthly specials. It was released June 18th, 2016. The setting was 1840s Great Yarmouth.

🎣

“Josiah hadn’t been a fisherman, like my father, myself and your fathers were. He had been a rippier, one of the men who took the net’s catch and sold it further inland. In fact, Josiah was afeared of water, yet he loved to walk the beach each day’s end to see the fall of the sun. That was where he saw it.”

Grandfather blew away the smoke cloud and we realised his eyes were shut. After a few minutes, we thought he’d fallen asleep. We all called for him to continue, asking what Josiah had seen.

His bushy eyebrow lifted as he opened a single eye.

“Why, the mermaid of course! I can’t be telling you everything. As the sky darkened to the colour of fire, he noticed a thousand sparkles, like light upon the water, but this was nowhere near the sea. It was back by the rocks, just barely peeking out. Josiah followed and there was the merwoman. The poor creature was trapped, with only a puddle of water to sustain her. She’d come in the hightide and got her tail caught.”

In The Mermaid’s Gift, it’s this story which triggers the plot. A man helps a trapped mermaid and receives something in return. A carved stone that can seek out the holder’s true love.

Net weaver Hetty has now inherited the stone, but when it leads her to fisherman Seb, can she really rely on good luck charms once doubts arise?

The People’s Friend publishes feel good fiction and prefers grounded, non-magical stories, but historical writers don’t always have to keep to a rigid realism vs fantasy theme. The past is a different world. Our ancestors believed in plenty of things we dismiss nowadays.

A macabre creature could turn out to be a shadow, ghostly encounters the work of a fraudulent medium, or a mermaid sighting dismissed as the tall tale of an old fisherman.

Even with a folkloric element, the main focus in this story was on the characters’ relationships, particularly Hetty and her reluctance to wed after her younger sister’s disastrous marriage.

💔

Seb unhooked our arms and lowered himself on one knee. The ring, which was as thin as a fishing lure and had a pearl in the centre, was held up.

My hand stretched out to touch it, to feel that it was real, but I paused. This wasn’t just a story my grandfather had told me. This was marriage, and fairy tales and magic stones could not hold it together.

Norfolk’s Mermaids

Legends about mermaids have intrigued people across the world, but why? Is it because of their close resemblance to humans, with most depictions showing them as beautiful women with fishy features, or do they speak to something deep inside us, something which yearns to explore the sea and discover the strange, wonderful things hiding within its dark depths?

Many of Norfolk’s villages and towns are on the coast, so it’s no surprise there’ve been plenty of mermaid encounters throughout the years. Mermaid Sand, near Snettisham, was apparently named after a dark-haired mermaid who would pluck off her tail and walk amongst humans in search of love.

However, Norfolk’s most popular mer myth is of the Sheringham mermaid. This strange visitor has been immortalised with a wood carving on one of the pews in All Saints church. The legend goes that the mermaid was drawn by the congregation’s singing, but being unable to transform into a human, she was forced to drag herself along the beach and sneak in at the back.

Explanations vary as to why mermaid stories are so prevalent, with the main one being drunken, feverish fishermen desperate for female company. Freakshows would also capitalise on the interest. Eager to get the crowds in, they stitched animals together to create a gruesome chimera, such as the Fiji mermaid in America, which was a mummified monkey and fish. Manatees, also known as sea cows, were also blamed for mermaid sightings. These chunky creatures were thought to look like women in the distance, by those drunken sailors from earlier, although, to me, they look more like pebbles with a tail 😊

No matter the truth, for centuries humans have had a complicated relationship with the sea. It is a world we will never be able to fully explore. In the past, it was even more secretive and dangerous. Perhaps mermaids were a personification of those violent waves that, while beautiful, took so many fishermen away from their families.

Sequels & Where to Read

Being able to include mermaids, even just as a tall tale, was fun. The Mermaid’s Gift also got a sequel. For Those in Peril was published three years later by The People’s Friend. This time it followed Seb and examined superstitions in the fishing community.

Both stories have since been re-released under their original submission titles, The Sea Stone and The Lucky Net, in my anthology collection The Wherryman’s Daughter.

#mermaids #short stories #writing #historical #historical fiction #great yarmouth #norfolk #mythology #folklore

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ren-c-leyn · 3 years ago

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Hello, and Welcome to The Queen’s Crown! ~ A Blog Intro

Hello, I’m Ren C. Leyn (I pronounce Leyn as lee-en, for the curious). My pronouns are she/her. I’m an adult who writes high and dark fantasy, poetry, and occasionally other random genres when the mood strikes me. It’s nice to meet you!

Some random things about me and my blog.

~ Love flowers and animals.

~ All of my writing is shamelessly self indulgent.

~ Am more known around here for my flood of positivity posts than said writing, but that’s fine with me. Folks around here really seem to need it.

~ Am an old one of the writeblr scene, have been here for several years. (If you’ve got questions about how writeblr works, feel free to ask.)

~ Have been obsessed with dragons, elves, and monsters since my mother introduced me to mythology when I was a little girl. (I am still a huge mythology nerd. Old myths, legends, and the like were wild.)

~ I participate in World Building Wednesday and Storyteller Saturday every week and run a weekly event called Something Neat Sunday. Feel free to stop by for any of them, even if we haven’t interacted much/at all.

~ I am not around on Thursdays or Fridays, so don’t expect answers to anything during that time until Saturday.

~ I run Something Neat Sunday, a weekly event where people stop by my ask box to scream about their talents writer and artist friends. If you’d like to learn more, here’s the link to the introduction post:

https://at.tumblr.com/ren-c-leyn/something-neat-sundays/25b9se7ud2h3

~ Tea drinker.

~ I love video games, particularly old school or open world rpgs, visual novels with multiple endings, and management games. But my taste can be pretty random, I play everything from match 3 to the occasional platformer.

~ Am firmly against pirating, especially writing. I’m also not a fan of bullies, people who think threats against real people are an appropriate response to not liking how a piece of fiction was done, people who think death threats and suicide-baiting in general are okay, and anything of that sort. If you do these things I will probably just block and/or report you, so don’t. ^^

~ I’d prefer people who follow be 15 or older, because while my blog is safe for work I do work with a lot of darker themes, such as death, violence, war, and so on in my writing. I also reblog a lot of writing with those themes from other writers as well.

~ Please do not add me to taglists unless I’ve explicitly said I’d like to be added.

About my WIPs -

I have several, several projects in the works at any given time. So, I’ll be putting this under a read more for convince sake. I do work with some darker themes, such as death, violence, and so on, so tread lightly.

If you want to know more about a specific project or character, most of them have their own tags in my blog and you can search for them, or you can ask me questions about them anytime you feel like it. The ask box is always open, after all :D I have taglists for all projects, so feel free to ask to be added to them anytime you wish.

Actively Writing -

The Plight of a Sparrow. Progress: Currently prepping book 1 for querying, editing book 2′s forth draft, and starting book 3. Estimated to be at least a 5 book series.

A high fantasy isekai story with a twist. Sparrow used to be a quiet girl with a love of video games under a different name. Then, she died in an impossible way right after unlocking the last achievement in her favorite game. Reborn in the beautiful fantasy world of that game as a literal baby, she quickly realizes life here is anything but a game and the stakes couldn’t be higher now that her beloved characters are her friends and family and on routes that lead to doom. Cursed, burdened with a rare sought-after magic, and surrounded by dark secrets and plots she couldn’t even dream of, how can she survive, little alone make a difference, when she isn’t even the chosen hero of this world?

1st person, past tense, narrated from Sparrow’s point of view.

Characters - Sparrow, Raina, Hugh, Jalen, Claude, Hunter, Aaron, Mist, Erinus, and probably more that have yet to make an appearance.

The Shackles of Time - Progress: Hard to gauge as it’s a continuous story being posted chapter by chapter here on tumblr.

A high fantasy story following three rookie adventurers on their quests to become legends, as well as their fellow guildmates.

In a world littered with the bones of ancient monsters of old, the ruins of civilizations risen and fallen, there are legendary halls where heroes gather to seek their fame and glory. Perhaps one of the most famous among their illustrious ranks is the Dawn Isle Guild, whose legendary, albeit mysterious, guild master has overcome many ruinous challenges before suddenly retiring.

But these are different times than the ones the previous generation faced. Quieter times. Gone are the ancient dragons that razed cities, and felled are the giants that collapsed mountains, banished is the Mad God. Yet, that does not stop brave souls from seeking new challenges to face. New foes to overcome. New adventures to be had. Three such hopefuls seek this path. While they come from different region, walked different roads, and all carry different reasons, their fates all collide beneath the ruins of a floating golden city at the gates of the Dawn Isle Guild.

What adventures await these three would be heroes, and are they prepared to face them? Only the Gods know….

Here is the post where I’ll be cataloging all of the chapters as I write them.

https://ren-c-leyn.tumblr.com/post/669507479957356544/the-shackles-of-time-chapter-masterlist

Characters: Night, Merle, Arlen, Cherrenth, Glenn, Zephyr, Bramble, Wyndulin, Cassandra, Emlyn, Myria, Irryn, Nor, Drusilla, Eldrin, Lucien, Azalea, Riya, and likely many more that will be introduced as I go along.

Forgotten Gods - Progress: Starting the second draft! :D

A fantasy novel set in a world where multiple pantheons of gods are not only real, but always vying for power and the attentions of the mortals. Silver left everything behind on a dark and uncertain night. Unable to return home, she scrambles desperately for a way forward when a strange being she doesn’t recognize offers her something she cannot refuse: the power to change her own fate. Kitan is a chosen champion of a popular sun goddess, but can’t figure out why. Why she saw a champion in him when no one else can seem to see any worth in him whatsoever. Why she won’t give him the guidance other Gods give their champions, only power and slivers of emotions to light his way. Reuven, an exiled elven hunter, is on a quest to find himself out in the wide world before he returns home. While retracing his mother’s steps, he finds so much more than he expected in the northern forests when he runs into two champions of the Gods: one with something to hide, and one who doesn’t know what they’re doing. What tangled webs have the Gods woven for these three unlikely friends? Can they survive the coming storm? Or will their fates consume them?

Third person, past tense. Written in alternating chapters that follow each of the three main characters.

Characters: Silver, Reuven, Kitan, Eternity, Corona, Cordial, and probably others that haven’t appeared yet.

On Hiatus -

My Ancestor, My Enemy - Progress: Somewhere between a third and half way through the first draft. Currently on hiatus while I work on other projects and continue my ongoing struggle to finally pick an ending for it.

A dark fantasy novel as told by the field journal of Lierin, a high-ranking elven Hunter tasked with finding one of her missing comrades, and eliminating the monsters he had been tasked with killing. Battling with her own identity, rage, and the strange creatures her ancestors created, Lierin must descend into more than one kind of darkness as she explores a ‘cursed’ cavern system. What horrors will she find in the depths of the caverns? What secrets did her ancestors leave behind? Can she save herself, little alone the other Hunter? Or will everything be lost to darkness?

First person, past/present tense, told through the writings of Lierin’s journal.

Characters - Lierin.

Orion’s Oblivion - 1/3 to 1/2 way through first draft.

A Sci-fi/fantasy story. Orion was on a routine job, an easy one even. All he had to do was grab the guy, bring him back, collect his bounty, and that’d be the end of it. It would have been the end of it, except the small-fry criminal wasn’t the only one he picked up on that asteroid. He comes face to face with Jinx, an ancient vampire from a time all but forgotten, and she’s got unfinished business to settle. Business that she’s decided to drag him into, whether he wants to be or not. Business that she’s dragging the whole, damn universe into whether it likes it or not, because saving it is her business... no matter what the cost is.

Will be written in first person from Orion’s point of view, not sure if I’ll be doing past or present tense yet.

Characters: Jinx, Spark, Orion, Luck, Silence, and probably others who will make themselves known as I go along.

The Dragon’s Crown - Progress: rewriting the first draft of the script, planning/plotting, and practicing digital art so I can eventually be good enough to start working on the art assets.

A fantasy visual novel following the misadventures of Ophelia the thief, a notorious criminal, after her latest job goes wrong. A pair of mercenaries help her out of it, but repaying her debt to them brings her past crashing back into her life. There’s just somethings she can’t seem to outrun, no matter how hard she tries. Some skeletons will never stay buried, some secrets will never stay secret. All the dark things are coming back to haunt her. Now she has to decide what to do about it. Face the sins of her family? Keep running? Save the kingdom her ancestors built? Condemn it? Try to become a better person, or sink deeper into the darkness? What of the people around her? Can she trust any of them? Should she trust any of them? And can they trust her?

First person, present tense, with some third person scenes, mostly narrated from Ophelia’s point of view.

Characters - Ophelia, Henrietta, Cyrus, Sky, Karma, Crow, and Reason.

Somewhere In between -

The Firewalker - Progress: First draft completed! Letting it sit before beginning draft 2.

A fantasy story following the after math of a holy war between two pantheons of gods. Two of the children of the mortals who fought it are now faced with their own struggles, trying to find a place in this new world and who they are. She’s an assassin, a killer, the exact opposite of what she ever wanted to become. In too deep to wash her hands of the blood, she decides to add to her list of sins for a chance at freedom and to follow in her father’s footsteps. He’s a mage, a descendant of the priests of the old gods, hunted and feared by all. Angry with his lot in life, he lashes out at the hunters, earning his title as a monster. Though, he secretly longs to reclaim a sense of belonging, of home and family, something he lost so long ago.... Both wish for something more, even if they don’t deserve it, even if getting it will cost them everything. When their paths cross, will they pull each other out of the darkness, or push each other further over the edge? Can they survive their combined enemies long enough to even find out?

Multiple POV first person, past tense, narrated in alternating chapters from both Thistle and Valerian’s point of views.

Characters - Thistle, Valerian, Anise, Talon, Sin

#my wips #blog intro

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pheita · 3 years ago

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Founding February Week 2

Government, Population and Infrasturcture Are there non-human sentient species? Describe them. Did the people evolve on this planet or come from elsewhere? Do they still know they come from some different planet/realm? What is the relationship between the different species? Are there any myths/legends about where they come from? Where and when did civilization begin? Are there historical records? What is the total population (of the planet / the country / the city, etc.) How is it made up? What is the level of technology (stone age, hi tech)? Is there any forbidden technology? Is there any formal education? At what age do children start school? And how long? Is education available to all or only certain groups? Are different groups of people educated separately? Is there a written language? Or more than one? Are most people literate or illiterate? What are schools like? What are the different types of school for? What languages to people speak? Or do they speak more than one language? Is there a common language? For trade? How do people greet each other? What is a gesture of respect (bowing, saluting)? What is considered a rude gesture? How do they curse? Gods? Body parts? What titles / formalities are used? Are there any in use? When are they used? What is the system of government? Democracy? Dictatorship? Administration? Is it a matriarchy or a patriarchy? Does the leader have special protection (Kingsguard, secret service)? How long has the system of government been in place? Is there a class system? Different levels of citizenship? What is the privilege of each? Is there a neutral person who leaders got to for guiding? How does this person come into place? Is there a form of police? Is there a formal army? Who can join? At what age? How are wrongdoers tried and punished? How does the legal court look like? Does the death penalty exist? Are there paid criminals who work for a country? (i.e. privateers, mercenaries) Does the government provide social assistance? In which form? Does it vary from country to country? Is there any centralized healthcare? Free doctors? Public baths? How does the medicine look like? (Magic/herbs/modern chemical medicine) What is the average age at which people die? How old do people can become? Is there public transport? Who uses what typically? How does it look? Are there publicly run communications systems? Postal service? Pigeons? Other ways? Are there public parks exist? Can anyone enjoy them? Do community center exist? Who cares for them? What do they offer/do? How do they get clean water? Aqueducts? Sewer systems? Do people trust the government? If not, why? If yes, why? Did it change recently? Do the majority of people approve of or disapprove of the government? Does the government spy on its enemies? Its people? Through which measures? What is the monetary system? Are there multiple currencies? Is there widespread trade? What do each of the areas are known for to export? What are the most cherished export/import goods? Is there widespread conflict? Why and how long is it going? How long ago was the most recent war? How damaging was the most recent war? What was the cause of the most recent war? What are common warfare weapons? Are there any rules of war everyone follows? What was the longest time of peace? What caused it?

I used this worldbuilding questionnaire as a base ,sorted it into the weekly themes, and added questions where some sprung to my mind. These questions are only a little help to get you started. You can build and post about anything that has to do with this week’s topics. And now get some theoretical mud and start building your worlds.

Taglist Taglist

@writersblockandapotoftea @stormbrightwriter @january-thoughts @raevenlywrites @cometkov @worldbuildingwedasks @ashen-crest @sleepyowlwrites @writeblrfantasy @talesfromgringolandia @crtalley @stardustspiral @sarah-sandwich @saint-just @shydreamyechoes @jerusalemstraycat @bigboicol-theflamingcol @thesaltysagittarious @aalinaaaaaa @indigocastor @pathsofoak @contes-de-rheio @cassie-writes-things @avrablake@weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables @sweetmugofcocoa

Credits Sleeping Room by usanekomemory on Booth Tea, Books and Cookies by argamawitch on Booth Cat Cushion by coalla on Booth Galaxy Hoodie by ladyaska on Booth “Kitsune” face markings by cryptomodels on Booth Lips presets by succuleaf on Booth Demon Eyes by misuzufaraday on Booth

#writblr #writing #founding february #worldbuilding #worldbuilding event #week 2

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denaerystargaryen · 3 years ago

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Omg tell us about your favourite literature podcasts, I’m interested

I'm so excited to answer this sdfghsdfgh Here's a list of how I found them chronologically, not from my favourite to least favourite. I love all of them tho and I'm constantly looking for new ones, so if a mutual has literature themed podcasts recs (that are on Spotify), I'll be more than happy to check them out 💖

Potterless ("Join Mike Schubert, a grown man reading the Harry Potter seriesfor the first time, as he sits down with HP fanatics to poke fun at plot holes, make painfully incorrect predictions, and bask in the sassiness of the characters").

Goblet of Wine ("The British lifelong Harry Potter fans Hannah and Charlie re-read their favourite childhood book chapter by chapter with added alcohol and cynicism in fortnightly episodes!").

Obsidian Nights Podcast ("ASOIAF Re-Read Podcast. We will go thru every chapter of the A Song of Ice and Fire series unraveling the mysteries and secrets of this massive story").

The Newest Olympian ("Is Percy Jackson the book series we should've been reading all along?Join Mike Schubert as he reads through the books for the first time with the help of longtime PJO fans to cover the plot, take stabs at what happens next, and nerd out over the Greek mythology throughout").

Seaweed Brain: A Percy Jackson Podcast ("Discuss, overanalyze, and generally fangirl about each Percy Jackson book in three parts, with the ultimate goal of de-glorifying Western Civilization and answering the question, is Percabeth the greatest love story ever told?").

Camp Half-Pod: A Percy Jackson Podcast ("Just two demigods who love Percy Jackson. Join Erin and Manasa as we dive into the canon of the Percy Jackson universe, a few chapters at a time").

Pod and Prejudice ("Becca has read all of Jane Austen's work. Molly literally does not know who Mrs. Bennet is. Together, they venture into Austen's world of romance, biting satire, and class struggles").

That's What I'm Tolkien About ("Join Mary Clay Watt on her first journey through Lord of the Rings. Each episode is a chapter discussion of the books with fans, featuring mispronounced names, outlandish theories, and praise (or criticism!) of JRR Tolkien"). I'm gonna be honest and say that I haven't listened to this one yet but I want to as soon as I (finally!) get into reading LOTR and The Hobbit.

+ Mythology podcasts:

Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! Greek & Roman Mythology Retold ("The most entertaining and enraging stories from mythology told casually, contemporarily, and (let's be honest) sarcastically").

Spirits ("A boozy weekly podcast about mythology, legends and folklore. Hear fresh takes on classic myths and learn new stories from around the world, served up over ice by two tipsy history geeks").

#thanks for this question dear anon <3 #answered

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violethowler · 4 years ago

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The Heroine’s Journey of Sora

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing out my thoughts on Kingdom Hearts and the way the series follows the framework of the Heroine’s Journey. Rather than a bunch of drabbles or a single long-winded post, I’ve decided to break up my explanations of the Heroine’s Journey and the way Kingdom Hearts fits into it as a series of ten essays posted weekly. I will put up a masterpost once all of them are finished, and in the meantime I will have all of them on my blog under the tag ‘Kingdom Hearts and the Heroine’s Journey.’

Due to the length of this essay, I will be putting the full thing under a cut.

What many Kingdom Hearts fans do not realize is that while Tetsuya Nomura does sometimes make up the details as he goes when it comes to the writing of Kingdom Hearts, he does do things with a plan.

In the KH3 Ultimania [1], he talked about how he’d had the conclusion of the Dark Seeker Saga outlined by the end of Kingdom Hearts II’s development. In an April 2012 interview [2] with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, he indicated that he’d had a general framework up to Kingdom Hearts II planned out when the original game was first announced. And in a 2004 interview after the original Chain of Memories was released on GameBoy Advance, he mentioned that he’d already come up with the “last scene” that would serve as the definitive ending of the entire series[3].

So while some details may be hard to predict because Nomura comes up with lore and backstory details as he goes, he does have a plan in mind where the overall story is going. And the central arc of the series is entirely predictable once you understand the framework that the story fits into.

Since the late 1800s, scholars have been studying the common patterns that repeat in stories, legends, and myths across different cultures around the world. One of the most well known templates developed from such research is the Hero’s Journey. In his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, literature professor Joseph Campbell published a 17 step formula of storytelling. Campbell held up this framework as the monomyth, an ultimate narrative archetype from which all other stories are derived, and in discussion of his work expressed his view of The Hero’s Journey as a universal framework that showed how people grow from youth into adulthood.

However in the 1980s, Maureen Murdock began work on her own narrative framework. Believing that Campbell’s view on the universality of the Hero’s Journey did not encompass the experiences of every identity like he claimed, Murdock developed what she called The Heroine’s Journey as a critique and response to Campbell’s monomyth. Other authors have shared their own variations of the Heroine’s Journey, but for the purposes of this analysis, I will be focusing on Murdock’s model. Hers is both the oldest one I know of, and the one that I personally have the most familiarity with. Though originally conceived as a therapy tool, the core concepts of Murdock’s template have resulted in its use in storytelling for narratives about protagonists overcoming the ingrained biases and preconceptions of society.

Some notable examples of stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey template, albeit most with different formulas, include

Beauty and the Beast

The Hunger Games trilogy

The Princess and the Frog

Tangled

Howl’s Moving Castle

Labyrinth

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy*

Voltron: Legendary Defender*

*Note: Voltron: Legendary Defender and the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy are examples of 3-act narratives that followed the Heroine’s Journey framework in the first 2 acts only for behind-the-scenes conflicts to result in the formula being abandoned in the final act.

Despite the name, it is possible in theory to have a male protagonist follow the Heroine’s Journey, much like how you can have a female protagonist in a Hero’s Journey. While nearly every story I know that follows the Heroine’s Journey template has a female protagonist in the lead role, Kingdom Hearts is the first example that I’ve discovered of a male protagonist following this formula. Sora’s arc across the series follows Murdock’s framework so precisely that I was able to correctly predict the broad strokes of how Re:Mind would go three months before the DLC was released.

Part I: The Beginning

While the Heroine’s Journey mimics the Hero’s Journey in its early stages, it ultimately goes in its own direction. I plan to go into further detail about the differences between the two in a later essay, but for now I will say that while Campbell’s monomyth describes physical plot points and the themes they represent, the Heroine’s Journey formula focuses on the emotional conflict of the narrative and the psychological development of its main characters. The pattern of the Hero’s Journey is fluid and doesn’t have a fixed central theme, while the core element of the Heroine’s Journey is a protagonist coming of age in a society that consciously or not regards them as lesser because they do not fit in with the expectations of the dominant social group.

I know that some people who decide to read further will be put off by the fact that the names and descriptions of the Heroine’s Journey feature gendered language and focus on discussions of masculinity and femininity, so allow me to explain. The reason for this is that in a Heroine’s Journey, the protagonist is attempting to conform to a set of traits that the audience’s culture values. In pursuing this external validation, the main character has to suppress a vital part of who they are, cutting themselves off from achieving their full potential. The traits they are suppressing are the ones which are often regarded as feminine, while the ones they are trying to conform to are typically associated with masculinity. We see this pattern frequently in movies where the female lead tries to succeed in a male-dominated career field, only to feel lonely and unfulfilled when she finally gets what she wants because she sacrificed the parts of herself that made her who she is along the way.

Now that I’ve given you a relatively brief summary of the Heroine’s Journey, I can get down to business and walk people through the steps to this template and how it fits with the story of Kingdom Hearts. Note that this is only a basic rundown of the steps of the Heroine’s Journey and how it relates to these games, and I will be posting additional essays shortly which go into greater detail on the themes, character archetypes, and other different layers of the framework that are present in the series.

Murdock’s version of the Heroine’s Journey begins with the “Separation from the Feminine”. This is the stage where, as mentioned, the protagonist suppresses a core part of themselves in pursuit of external validation. It often takes the form of the protagonist sacrificing their emotional strengths and focuses exclusively on proving themselves in the physical sphere. Sora has demonstrated again and again that his greatest strength is his empathy and his willingness to make connections with others. It makes him a strong unifying force because of how well it complements the people around him. But because this isn’t something tangible in the same way that physical strength is, he doesn’t see the value of it, believing that without the strength of his friends he’s nothing.

From the way the other kids on Destiny Islands talk about their competitions, Sora’s focus is on trying to prove that he’s just as strong and capable as Riku is. But he’s so focused on proving himself in physical challenges that he doesn’t notice the signs of Riku’s jealousy that lead his friend into the arms of Maleficent. And we see through Anti Form and Rage Form that Sora is still repressing his own negative emotions in Kingdom Hearts III. His narrow focus on external skills has cut him off from achieving the full potential of his internal ones.

When Sora awakens in Traverse Town after the destruction of Destiny Islands, we come to the second stage of the Heroine’s Journey, “Identification with the Masculine and Gathering of Allies”. This is where the main character chooses to align with the traits and roles that the dominant social group sees as desirable in order to achieve their goal, and where they acquire the allies who will help them in their quest. With the adults around him focusing on his ability to destroy the Heartless, Sora latches onto the Chosen One status that implicitly comes with having a Keyblade. His interactions with Phil and his disappointment with the status of Junior Hero in subsequent games paint Sora as being focused on heroism in the sense of overcoming obstacles with force. Even Donald and Goofy, in the beginning, are focused on Sora’s value as a Keyblade Wielder in terms of how their fight against the Heartless can lead them to King Mickey’s location.

By setting off with Donald, and Goofy, Sora embarks on the “Road of Trials” stage of the Heroine’s Journey. This is one of the few points of similarity between the Heroine’s Journey and the Hero’s, corresponding to Campbell’s “Tests, Allies, and Enemies” stage. This is where the main character faces the initial obstacles and challenges of their quest. In the first few Kingdom Hearts games we have Sora face off against Maleficent, Ansem, and the Organization, before reuniting with Riku and Kairi in The World That Never Was. The final stages of Kingdom Hearts II correspond to the “Finding the Boon of Success” stage of both the Hero and Heroine’s Journeys.

Part II: Interlude

In a Hero’s Journey, the Boon of Success is the end of the story. They slay the dragon, save the princess, and go home to live happily ever after. I suspect this is one reason why a lot of gamers in the KH fanbase tend to think of Kingdom Hearts 2 as the best game of the series - because in their minds Sora’s quest had been completed now that he had found Riku and Kairi like he set out to do in the first game. His journey, as far as they were concerned, was done.

(This may also have an affect on how some fans reacted to Kingdom Hearts III, expecting it to be a grand epic finale that wrapped everything up with a bow and left a completely blank slate for the future of the series)

But in a Heroine’s Journey, the Boon of Success is not the end of the main character’s story. They have achieved their external goal, but they have not addressed their internal motivations for seeking that goal in the first place. And as their story continues, they find themselves facing challenges that their attitude thus far has failed to prepare them for. Finding The Boon of Success typically occurs early during the second act of the story. Usually it is achieved in the second half of Act II, but can sometimes happen as early as the end of the first act. For Sora, this was of course finding Riku and Kairi so that they could all go home to the Destiny Islands together.

But because the protagonist of a Heroine’s Journey has not addressed the underlying insecurities which set them on their current path, they “Awaken to Feelings of Spiritual Aridity”.

They begin to learn that the conflict they find themselves involved in is not as clear cut as they previously believed, and the challenges that come with this new knowledge are ones that their current way of doing things has failed to prepare them for. They may have found their boon of success, but things quickly begin to go wrong until they are ultimately forced to sacrifice their reward.

The first game already showed through Riku and Mickey that Sora was not the only person able to wield a Keyblade, but because of his heroic deeds the story still framed him as the Keyblade Master and treated him as having a more significant role to play in important events than anyone else. It’s only after he hears from Mickey of the Keyblade Wielders who came before him that it begins to sink in for him that being a Keyblade Master is not a special Chosen One status. He thinks that because of all that he’s accomplished, he doesn’t need the recognition that comes with the official title, and because of that he’s careless and almost gets himself Norted at the end of DDD.

His failure in the exam is a blow to his self confidence and shows that despite what he had said at the start of the test, deep down he really does want that kind of external validation. His insecurities and doubts continue to eat at him over the course of KH3, culminating in his breakdown at the Keyblade Graveyard. Outside of battle, we see him bottle up his doubts and other negative emotions because his friends (Except for Riku. More on him later) brush his concerns and problems aside. It is very much like Joy from Inside Out doing everything to keep Rylee happy and refusing to let Sadness take the controls.

When their current way of doing things ultimately costs them their boon, the protagonist tries to go back to the way things used to be. To return to a simpler time and avoid the pain of the present. When literally going back to where their journey began isn’t possible, a Heroine’s Journey story will use this stage symbolically. The main character will cling to a person, object, or relationship that they associate with a simpler time. But as comfortable as the sense of familiarity they get from that is, it ultimately cannot truly address their inner pain in the long run.

This is reflected in the Re:Mind DLC, where Sora goes back in time in order to find the pieces of Kairi’s heart and bring her back. One of Kairi’s most consistent character traits is her fear of change and desire for things to remain the way they were.

At the end of the DLC, Sora compares his connection with Kairi to the bond between Ventus and Chirithy, a friendship explicitly strained by distance, time, and Ven’s amnesia. In an interview at E3 2018 [4], Nomura commented about Kingdom Hearts III tying into a theme of childhood friendships changing as one gets older, a plotline that Merlin calls attention to after Sora’s visit to the 100 Acre Wood. And in a 2006 book titled Character’s Report Vol. 1, Nomura specifically calls attention to Kairi’s anxiety about growing apart from Sora and Riku as they get older. [5] All of these details combined frame Sora’s quest to save Kairi as an attempt to symbolically recover the innocence he lost when he began his journey.

But while he is able to find a way to renew his connection to Kairi, it can never be the same as it was before, and attempting to go back to how things used to be is ultimately doomed to failure. By the time he brings her to The Final World at the end of Re:Mind, Sora has realized that he and Kairi cannot stay on the same plan of existence anymore as a consequence of his actions. So he takes her on a tour of the worlds to re-establish their connection before fading away at the end of KH3. Thus, we come to the final act of the Kingdom Hearts narrative.

Part III: The Future Story

It is at this point that the protagonist of a Heroine’s Journey begins the “Initiation and Descent to the Goddess” stage. Having failed to achieve meaningful success through their old way of doing things, they must look inward and examine the cause of their insecurities and accept that in order to move forward they need to heal themselves. In this step, the main character travels to either a dream world or a physical location that is closed off and forbidden to them, like the West Wing of Beast’s Castle in Beauty and the Beast. In Jungian psychology, this metaphorical dark cave represents the main character’s subconscious, and entering it triggers a dark night of the soul for our protagonist as they are forced to confront the parts of themselves they’ve been keeping locked away.

While Sora knows in his head that darkness is not inherently bad, he continues to rely entirely exclusively on light, on his connections to others, and has not properly accepted it in his heart. In order to truly finish his coming of age narrative, Sora must learn to balance his inner light and darkness the same way that Riku has. And to do that, he needs to look inside himself and figure out why he feels so badly that he needs his connections to others in order to be strong. And in order to achieve that level of understanding of himself, he needs to understand his Animus.

Derived from the psychological theories of Carl Jung, the Animus in a Heroine’s Journey is an external representation of the protagonist’s masculine-coded traits in physical form. While not every Heroine’s Journey features an Animus, many of the stories I’ve seen that follow the formula do. Usually the Animus appears in the form of a deuteragonist who often functions as the protagonist’s Shadow, an archetypal character that embodies the aspects of the main character’s personality that due to their immaturity they either aren’t aware or don’t want to acknowledge that they have.

In order to complete their character arc, the protagonist must symbolically integrate with their Shadow by learning to embrace the parts of their psyche that the Shadow represents. In many stories the protagonist has more than one Shadow figure, all of whom challenge the protagonist by forcing them to become faster or smarter to stay one step ahead, giving their interactions with the main character a push-and-pull dynamic as they drive the main character to grow. Shadow figures who fill the role of the Animus also challenge the protagonist to look inside themselves and examine their own emotional needs. With an Animus, the push to grow runs in both directions, with the main character motivating their Animus’ growth just as much as the other way around.

In these types of stories, every aspect of the character is tailored to make the Animus and the protagonist fit together like Yin and Yang. In visual stories such as film, television, and video games, the Animus’ entire look is designed to complement the main character and they are framed in the narrative as the protagonist’s equal physically, intellectually, and spiritually. This serves to emphasize that despite their surface differences, much of the conflict between the protagonist and their Animus comes from the ways in which they are fundamentally similar. While their circumstances may have led them to drastically different lives, the characters are ultimately two sides of the same coin, and their character development is driven by learning to balance their contrasting traits.

And within the structure of the Kingdom Hearts series, there is only one character who fulfills all of these qualities in relation to Sora’s journey.

The same character who Testuya Nomura said in the KH1 Ultimania was designed to balance Sora; [6]

Who series producer Shinji Hasimoto said was part of the core of the series alongside Sora [7], as has been repeatedly emphasized by the number of games where he is given a major focus and is a playable character alongside Sora.

[Image Description: Riku walking towards a door to light in the opening of Kingdom Hearts III. End Description]

While Sora and Riku have addressed some of the latter’s behavior in the first game during their conversation on the dark beach at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, they have yet to truly dig deep into why Riku felt the way he did in the first game. Riku has not told Sora about how he felt like he was being left behind and forgotten. And since that conversation, Riku has gone to the opposite extreme, dealing with his emotional problems on his own instead of lashing out at others like he had done at the start. Likewise while Sora has accepted that darkness is not inherently evil he has yet to apply this to his own negative emotions, as seen in Kingdom Hearts III. Neither character has truly achieved an ideal balance yet, and they cannot until Sora completes his journey.

After the protagonist returns from their spiritual journey, they experience an “Urgent Yearning to Reconnect with the Feminine.” As the main character recovers from their period of soul searching, they embrace the parts of themselves that they had neglected in their pursuit of outside approval. Their Descent allowed them to recognize their value as a person and an individual outside of their ability to fulfill the role that they were expected to fill. Following this realization, they go about “Healing the Mother/Daughter split”. Reclaiming the aspects of their personality they’ve been repressing gives the protagonist the clarity necessary to gain a different perspective on their old way of thinking. This new understanding is what will allow them to find the inner balance needed to truly complete their journey.

The Japanese version of the “My friends are my power” mantra often repeated across the series is “Connected hearts are my power.” For Sora, who has long relied on his connections to others as a source of strength, he should come to realize that these connections go both ways: that his friends draw strength from him just as much as he draws strength from them. This should help him come to accept that he is still strong and worthy all by himself. Ven’s version of the mantra from the English version of BBS summarizes it best: “My friends are my power. And I am theirs.” After he accepts this, Sora will finally be able to use the full extent of his emotional abilities.

After achieving that new perspective, the protagonist’s next step is “Healing the Wounded Masculine Within”. This is the stage of the Heroine’s Journey where the main character, having come to understand themselves, reconciles with their Animus, thereby symbolically integrating the aspects of their psyche that the Animus represents and permanently healing the rift between the two characters. This will be where Sora and Riku need to have a longer, more in-depth conversation than the one they had on the Dark Magin at the end of KH2. Where they talk about why Riku acted the way he did and finally address the underlying reason for why he was so jealous of Sora in the original game.

The final stage of the Heroine’s Journey is the “Integration of Masculine and Feminine”. This is the point at which the main character and their Animus finally achieve a perfect balance between them. They are united both internally and externally. There are no more secrets between them, and they are now free to move forward and overcome the main antagonist together.

Part IV: Conclusion:

While there’s too many different possibilities to completely predict every twist and turn of the series’ lore in future games, once you understand how Kingdom Hearts fits into the framework of the Heroine’s Journey, the broad strokes of how the story will go in terms of Sora’s growth and character development are entirely predictable. When Re:Mind first released and the rest of the fandom was reacting on Twitter, I was sitting back with a smug smile on my face thinking:

[Image Description: Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi sitting aboard the Death Star II with the caption ‘Good, Good. Everything is going according to plan.’ End Description.]

While I didn’t expect the precise mechanics of how Sora went about saving Kairi, Re:Mind was exactly what I expected it to be in terms of themes and its place in the Heroine’s Journey framework, and then the Secret Episode came along to reinforce that the next game is going to be Sora’s Descent.

While there isn’t a complete guarantee that the series will continue to follow the formula, I find it extremely unlikely that it won’t. Kingdom Hearts follows the stages of this framework too precisely for me to ever believe it happened by accident. So as long as there is no corporate interference from Disney like what happened to Voltron, I’m confident that Nomura’s plan for the finale of the series will be exactly what the Heroine’s Journey predicts it should be, no matter how unexpected future additions to the lore may be.

Special thanks to @dragonofyang and the rest of Team Purple Lion for everything I know about the Heroine’s Journey. I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic about analyzing the story of Kingdom Hearts if they hadn’t taught me the vocabulary to realize the kind of story that Nomura has been telling right under my nose for the last 18 years.

Sources:

[1] “Kingdom Hearts III Ultimania interview with Tetsuya Nomura”; March 12, 2019

https://www.khinsider.com/news/Kingdom-Hearts-3-Ultimania-Main-Nomura-Interview-Translated-14763

[2] “Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers, Volume 12: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], Part 3: Square’s Intentions”; April 2012.

https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/creators/11/2

[3] “2004 GMR Nomura Interview 2004!”; Translation by Kingdom Hearts Insider posted May 5, 2012.

https://www.khinsider.com/news/GMR-Nomura-Interview-2004-2563

[4] “E3 2018: Tetsuya Nomura on If Kingdom Hearts 3 Is the End of Sora's Story”; June 14, 2018.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story

[5] “Character’s Report Vol. 1 Translations”; Jul 16, 2014

https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/\

[6] “A Look Back: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Gallery Comments Part 1″; August 30, 2019;

https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519

[7] “How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players.” September 24, 2013

https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players

[X] “The Heroine with a Thousand Faces”; June 13, 2019;

https://www.teampurplelion.com/heroine-with-a-thousand-faces/

[X] Murdock, Maureen. The Heroine’s Journey. 1990.

[X] “Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey Arc”. The Heroine Journeys Project. https://heroinejourneys.com/heroines-journey/

#kingdom hearts meta #kh analysis #meta analysis #kh sora #kingdom hearts and the heroine's journey

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peakysource · 4 years ago

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Peaky Fanfic Digest - July 31

Each week your mod team will be collecting fanfic that has been posted throughout the week on ao3 and tumblr and providing a digest for easy reference. Fic will be split up by categories, and the categories will change weekly depending on the characters/pairings posted. If you’d like your content included in the digest, be sure to tag it “peakysource.” This is especially important if you only post to tumblr as we cannot possibly comb through all the tags in search of fic. Similarly, if you’d like your work removed from this list, just message the mod team.

Please be sure to read the tags before starting a fic. The mod team has not included warnings or summaries for the sake of brevity.

Happy reading!

==========

current fests

peaky appreciation week

peaky blinders rare pair bingo *sign-ups end on the 31st*

gen

reformation by rosieriveter125

tommy/alfie

tommy x alfie reimagined by strawberriez8800

the lies of family by willofknight5413

i speak because i can by rosierey

a bit of heart left by ashling and shoshe_anders

the dog, the cat, and three americanos by pleasuretrade

mysteries of love by eehms

this bed of shattered bone by deadendtracks

till death do us part (perhaps not even then) by strawberriez8800

there’s a hunger still unsatisfied by a_bo28

yesterday by mirrorelm

the bells we hear by strawberriez8800

breathe again by when_tommy_met_alfie

tommy/grace

blinders at downton by weirdgirl2001

tommy/lizzie

highschool au idea for lizzie and tommy by kmoody

to children ardent for some desperate glory by greenmagnolia

where you lease expect it by aniray

tommy/greta

grief by neon_monkeys

tommy/barney

been reading books of old, the legends and the myths by valkrist

tommy/james

this was nothing by abusivelittlebun

salt and mint by abusivelittlebun

ada/jessie

hungry for (your) love by keine_angst

alfie/tatiana

dazzle me blind by strawberriez8800

crossover

the two devils of small heath by insidiouscupcake [ tommy/harry potter ]

==========

BONUS RECS

Every two weeks, the mod team will post a few bonus fics based around a chosen theme. Themes can range from character-centric fic, certain relationships, particular tropes, etc. These fics won’t be ones featured in the weekly post, but things posted previously.

This week we have to give a shout out to @tinypinetrees who dipped back into the archive to bring you some great fics.

This week’s theme: Fluff

i want a cat by birdiewhistle [ tommy/alfie ]

the trouble falling asleep by daensas [ tommy/grace ]

death in a kindness by convenience [ tommy/lizzie ]

permutations: outtakes by boundinshallows [ may/tommy/alfie ]

home by opuseye [ john/esme ]

karl by lilyangorian [ ada/freddie ]

follow you under the bridge, and over the crosswise streets by fiveaces [ ada/jessie ]

through the hedge, backwards by takingoffmyshoes [ gen ]

#Peaky Blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fic #weekly digest #bonus rec weekly digest

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weemsbotts · 4 years ago

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Hardy Souls Caroling in Merchant Park & Vintage Toy Displays: “Memories of Christmases Past”

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

While the Town of Dumfries & HDVI became co-sponsors of holiday and celebratory events starting in 1990, HDVI coordinated their annual Holiday Open House and festivities around the Town’s annual parade. In 1980s and into the 1990s, HDVI, the Williams Ordinary (formerly the Costello home), and Dumfries United Methodist Church held events in the afternoon and evening with carolers coming from Potomac High School and Little Union Baptist Church. However, 1989 presented many trials. While 1989 did have multiple snow events, such as the Christmas Coastal Snowstorm that raged on the coast from December 22-24, Dumfries had a chilly and miserable parade day on 12/09. With temperatures in the 20s, snow/ice measuring around 7.90 inches, and 0.75 inches total precipitation actively incoming, the Town canceled the parade. This would not stop HDVI! Later described by former HDVI Board of Directors President Alvin Hochmuth as “hardy souls”, 35 persons shivered in Merchant Park for the caroling and tree lighting. Dumfries United Methodist church welcomed them afterwards with refreshments, more caroling, and general good cheer. Participants greatly enjoyed The Weems-Botts Museum toy exhibits, Hochmuth noting, “Likewise, the exhibit of old and not so old toys at the museum was well received not only to the enjoyment of children, but it brought back memories of Christmases past to all of the older viewers.” The 1990 Christmas Parade and festivities went as scheduled and HDVI continued to display their popular toy exhibits around the holidays.

(HDVI Archives, Photograph: Schoenhut, 1989 Christmas in Olde Dumfries)

The curator themed December 1989 as “Children’s Dreams” and 1990 was “Toys in the Attic”. Let us peek at a few of these cool toys!

First up, the Schoenhut Fancy Baby Grand Piano. Albert Schoenhut founded the Schoenhut Piano Company in 1872 in Germany eventually adding other instruments to the catalog – ukulele-banjo, glockenspiel and other cool German instruments. By 1912, his toy company was the largest in America and the first to import toys from Germany.

Circa 1916 edition of The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson. This book originally appeared in the weekly children’s periodical the Young Folks Paper under Stevenson’s pseudonym Captain George North. The series featured the War of the Roses and caused some contention when Stevenson himself dismissed it as “tushery”, acknowledging there were many proofreading errors from plot to character inconsistencies.

G.I. Joe’s Action Marine Camo Rain Poncho (presumed). Located to the left of the male figures, this little poncho probably dates from the late 1960s-1980s. Don Levine, the inventor of the G.I. Joe, wanted to create a similar toy to Barbie, specifically targeted to young male children. Hasbro introduced and sold the figure in 1964 with immediate success. They quickly stopped referring to the toy as a “doll”, prohibited the term, and would not sell the action figure to any retailer using that word. Hasbro created four soldiers to represent the U.S. military – Rocky the Moveable Fighting Man (Army), Skip (Navy), Ace Fighter Pilot (Air Force), and Rocky (serving the Marine Corps as well). This adorable poncho (wait…can I say adorable?), is a favorite and even recreated on Etsy.

Raggedy Ann dolls. In 1915, creator and storyteller Johnny Gruelle gifted his daughter an old ragdoll, drawing a picture on her face and calling her Ann. He patented the doll that same year and eventually different manufacturers added familiar features – everything from turning Ann’s original brunette hair to red (Georgene Novelty Company) to adding a cardboard heart that could be felt when hugged (Volland Company). Myths and legends swirled around this doll – from candy hearts to dying children, the Raggedy Ann and later Raggedy Andy doll inspired people’s creativity.

(HDVI Archives, Photograph: 1989 Christmas in Olde Dumfries)

The Town of Dumfries will hold a virtual parade this year giving everyone an opportunity to stay warm indoors and avoid NOVA traffic headaches.

Note: Our free monthly Children’s Day at the Museum Sponsored by Walmart will feature Winter Weather Myths on Saturday, 12/19, @ 10am via Zoom! Come prepared to learn about woolly worms, apple skins, and other interesting predictors of winter weather! If this program is perhaps too young for you (I enjoy learning about woolly worms…) then check out our new program, “The Weems-Botts Bibliophies!” January will feature SciFi stories and tasty Harney & Sons tea – more info here.

(HDVI Archives, Photograph: 1990 Christmas in Olde Dumfries)

(Sources: HDVI Archives: Newsletters, Photograph Collection; The Old Farmer’s Almanac: Weather History for Dumfries, VA; Schoenhut’s Retailer Website; University of South Carolina Libraries: Digital Collections: Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Black Arrow in Young Folks Paper; Biblio, Inc. biblio.co.uk; Strong National Museum of Play: A Brief History of Raggedy Ann”; Stamp, Jimmy. Smithsonian Magazine: Now you Know the History of G.I. Joe. And Knowing is Half the Battle, March 2013)

#vintagetoys #holidayseason #museum collections #museumlove #historicholiday #localhistory #toys #collectibles #showusyourschoenhut #raggedy ann and andy #gijoe #gijoetoys #caroling #winterweather #historichouse #holiday #memories #community

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hmshermitcraft · 5 months ago

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several hermits know vaguely of the old myths of the Watchers...hell, Xisuma and EX even come from a culture where they WORSHIPPED the guys! Most people just disregard it as a myth...but when Xisuma showed the hermits a shrine he made of his god, Xelqua?

...Mumbo, Scar, and Pearl are NEVER gonna let Grian live that down, huh...

I mean one was his best friend, one was his boyfriend, and one was like a sister to him (respectively) and they all knew about his secret...

and now that they've all seen Xisuma's shrine to his god...yeahhhhh Grian's gonna be hearing about that for years to come...dangit...

The biggest question they all have is why Grian didn't tell Xisuma. Grian's good at keeping secrets that matter, as they know, but this seems like a big one!

Grian just... Didn't want X to treat him differently. He likes his friendship with their admin. If Xisuma knew, Grian knows he'd lose that. He's one of Xisuma's hermits. It's all he wants to be.

They agree to keep his secret, but they don't agree not to tease him about it. Grian thinks that's fair.

#hermitshipping #ask #grian tag #mumbo tag #scar tag #pearl tag #xisuma tag #scarian #mod 🎀#weekly theme: myths & legends

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flurrys-creativity · 5 years ago

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The Rose Masterlist

Smiley Catalogue:

🥰 = Fluff 😁 = Slice of life 🤪 = Humour 🧜‍♀️ = Fantasy

❤ = Romance ⚡ = Angst 💣 = Sensitive themes (death, etc.)

🦄 = Hybrid 🥵 = Smut 😏 = Suggestive

Last update: July 2024

OT4:

Series:

nothing so far

One shots:

- Apolausticism (Christmas Special) 🥰😁

Being the head planner of this christmas event can be exhausting but normally the smiles of the children would make everything worth it. Unless your own dog overruns Santa Claus, destroys the huge christmas cake on its way and creates chaos on every step it takes. Gladly the band, that got booked for this event, is not just great with their music.

Miscellaneous:

nothing so far

Woosung:

Series:

nothing so far

One shots:

- Philocaly 🥰😁🤪❤

Most people get lost inside of an IKEA. Not you though. You live for those decorations and styles and you seemingly found your soulmate, who loved the little things almost as much as you did. Now having the two of you together no room inside of IKEA is save from your adjustments.

- Jack Frost 🧜‍♀️🥰🤪❤

Part of the Winter Hearts event. You knew about the legends and myths of entities, gods or mystic creatures. So hearing about Jack Frost every winter wasn’t something out of the ordinary. You always believed they were just stories, urban legends and nothing more. So meeting the Jack Frost in person was slightly surprising to you.

- Wingman 😁❤🥰🤪⚡🥵

Part of the Intimacy Anthology Project. After you saved Woosung from an unfortunate date the both of you became best friends and each others wingman, helping whenever it came to the topic of dates or flirts. But as you caught feelings for him, you didn’t want to be just his friend anymore. Though you couldn’t risk to tell him and lose the friendship you had with him.

Miscellaneous:

- Sweater Weather (drabble) 😁🥰❤

Part of the unbeleafable bingo. You loved autumn! You loved the change of colours, the pumpkin pies, the hot beverages, the colder weather. Everything during autumn screamed sweater at you. A clothing item you absolutely adored. Especially when those items belong to your boyfriend.

- bella notte (drabble) 😁🥰❤🤪

The original plan of eating lunch together turned into a dinner date with spaghetti and meatballs.

Dojoon:

Series:

nothing so far

One shots:

- Am I though? 🥰🤪❤😁

You definitely aren’t a fan of huge campus parties and even less being in the middle of the attention from literally everyone. Fleeing the scene you hadn’t expected someone following you. And you hadn’t expected to meet someone who could cheer you up after that disaster of an event.

- Thin Walls 😁🥰🥵❤

Part of the Intimacy Anthology Project. You had moved into a new apartment, excited to finally live on your own. When you had visited the first time and looked at it with your parents everything had been perfect. Maybe too perfect, you think now as an after thought. You did not know how thin these walls were and you had a particularly loud neighbour. There was only one thing you could do.

- Back to me 😁⚡❤

Based on their song Back to me. Dojoon tries to win you back - even starting a fight with one of your neighbours to bring his point across. Though he might be too late for that.

Miscellaneous:

- Winter kimchi (drabble) 😁🤪🥰

Part of the Winter Hearts event. You never heard of the term winter kimchi before and after some teasing you decided to make some for yourself. Much to the dismay of your boyfriend, who never expected this result after teasing you.

Hajoon:

Series:

nothing so far

One shots:

- Philophobia ⚡🥰😁❤💣

Part of the Intimacy-Anthology-Project. After many failed attempts and broken hearts you had sworn to yourself to never fall in love again. And you kept it like that until you felt disappointed your roommate Hajoon was out with his friends despite your weekly movie night. Triggered by that disappointment your mind spiraled down a path you had avoided for so long.

Miscellaneous:

- Frigus (drabble) 🧜‍♀️🥰

Part of the Winter Hearts event. You always liked to play with Hajoon, dragging him away from everyone. As soon as you were alone you’d giggle and laugh and create fascinating things out of snow. So much you sometimes couldn’t even see each other with the snowflakes floating around you.

- Alive (drabble) 🧜‍♀️⚡💣

Based on their song Alive. After a near death experience Hajoon feels his world turning grey. Nothing excites him. You, his guardian angel, worry about his newly aquired habit of reckless behaviour to feel alive again.

- Holiday Punch (drabble) 😁🥰❤😏

Part of the Tipsy Drabbles. You might not know how to play the drums, but you knew how to punch Hajoon should he continue going on your nerves.

Jaehyeong:

Series:

nothing so far

One shots:

- Drapetomania ❤🥰💣😏🥵⚡😁🤪

Moodboard

Part of The Intimacy Anthology Project. You loved Jaehyeong with all your heart. You really did. And you feared he would leave you, once he realised you weren’t it, after he slept with you. So you avoided getting intimate with him, always fleeing the scene until you couldn’t anymore. Feeling conflicted you were unsure what to do. Could you even overcome your fear?

- Noctivagant 🧜‍♀️🥰⚡🤪❤ WIP

You worked as a scientist in a secret laboratory and on most days you did the graveyard shift. Normally nothing ever happened but one night you suddenly received a sign of life from outer space. From a capsule that wasn’t supposed to have any lifeform in it anymore.

Miscellaneous:

- Sick winter nights (drabble) 😁🥰❤

Part of the Winter Hearts event. Maybe you shouldn��t have run out into the first snow with barely any clothes on. Maybe you should have listened to Jaehyeong. But him caring about you now that you were sick; maybe it was worth it.

#The Rose #kpop #band #idol #kim woosung #park dojoon #lee hajoon #lee jaehyeong #the rose masterlist

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