Fan fiction - Based on The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus by Hergé (1936)
By: Naufa Abdul Sattar
Commentary
My fan
fiction is based on the fifth volume of Herge’s (1936) The Adventures of Tintin comic series, known as the “Blue Lotus”. It
aims to completely deviate from the initial plot line and directs the audience
to a continuation of the story from an entirely different perspective.
I have
chosen to name the title of the fan fiction in German, in order to provide
somewhat of a relevance to the story’s indigenous roots – thus the title “Tintin
Erfüllt Tod”.
The term “erfüllt” in German translates to ‘meets’ in English, and “Tod” referring to ‘death’.
Although it is perhaps a fairly
direct title and gives an insight into what the plotline may lead to or imply,
personally, I do think it is quite a just assumption to state that it creates
somewhat of a suspense – given that the life one of the most beloved heroes in
graphic novel history may be at a critically grave point in his life; or worse,
perhaps a closer encounter to death that he had ever come to.
After having narrowly escaped danger
in various different ways throughout the years, this fan fiction attempts goes
far beyond this narrow line and explores a deeper, darker area of ‘adventure’. As an effort to try and
emotionally engage and draw the audience into the darker psychological essence
of the plot – an immense amount of descriptive language has been utlised
throughout the fan fiction to create a more realistically convincing
perception.
My fan fiction does represent some of Vogler’s (1998) plot points of the mythic structure on some level, with regard
to the three acts, that pertain to the writer’s journey.
Act 1 for instance, is concerned with
the establishment of the circumstance, characters and the fundamental
components of the structure that creates complex speculation relating to the
subsequent apex of the plot (Vogler, 1998). In this particular fan fiction, the
setting originates from the where the “Blue Lotus” left off and introduces the
audience to Tintin, his dog Snowy and the other significant supporting
characters that influence the makeup of the story. It also deviates towards the
potential turning point that leads toward the crucial themes of the plot.
Furthermore, the first act presents the audience with the stimulating factors
that triggers the very first turning point of the story (Vogler, 1998). In this
case, the mysterious revelations and strange happenings in a surrounding that
Tintin was supposedly comfortable with, proves for an appropriate transition
from one point to another.
Act 2 integrates the main themes and
ideas discussed in the first act and focuses on further development through the
course of several hurdles that drives the story near a conclusion (Vogler,
1998). This fan fiction provides an evolution of the storyline through the
exploration of the mysterious encounters and the speculative nature of the
happenings that Tintin and Snowy come into contact with.
As Vogler (1998) suggests, the third
and final act is where the audience is presented with the grand finale, usually
centering on some sort of resolution – hypothetical or not. This fan fictures
Vogler’s (1998) definition of the third act by holding Tintin at an extremely
critical stage pertaining to his death, that could possibly be depicted as
somewhat of a abstract ending.
Thus, it is perhaps fair to conclude
by stating that this fan fiction has attempted to follow Vogler’s (1998)
structure with respect to his notions of creating a narrative and providing the
audience with a story that proves to potentially be one that is emotionally
engaging.
References
Hergé, . (1990). The Blue Lotus:
The adventures of Tintin. London: Mammoth.
Vogler, C. 1998. The writer’s
journey: Mythic structure for writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese
Productions.
Tintin Erfüllt Tod
There he was, Mitsuhirato, with
bloodshot eyes, screaming bloody murder while grasping tightly onto a large
blade on the tips of his crinkled fingers. Tintin was backed up into a corner,
nowhere to escape, nothing to defend himself with – and the sight of his dead
just a few feet away from him did not help either. Snowy, his beloved Snowy,
his only companion, gone forever, strangled right before his eyes. He was
angry, enraged even. But fear overcame his mad fury. For the first time he felt
weak, helpless, his heart racing faster each second. His muscles tense,
drenched in sweat, he attempted to take what he thought was his last breath.
Desperately gasping for air, Tintin
awoke suddenly, jerking his way up and out of bed, almost choking on his own
breath. Catching a glimpse of Snowy lying restlessly on his crinkled sheets, he
breathed a sigh of relief, slowly resting his arms on the bedside table. He
checked the time – 3 AM. Wiping away his drenched forehead, he walked towards
the window, greeting the midnight breeze.
He looked up at the surrounding buildings, restless, anxious,
yet lost in deep thought. The quite crackle of footsteps on the gravel pit by
the adjacent street suddenly distracted him. “There he is again, Snowy”, he
whispered. He could never quite catch a perfect glimpse of this mysterious
figure in black – All he knew was that he was seeing a lot of this person, and
he was beginning to have an eerie feeling that this, was looking less like a
coincidence.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, Tintin lay sighing in bed,
scratching his auburn locks in one hand fiddling with Snowy’s soft curly coat
with the other. “I almost feel like we need to take another trip back to India,
and vacation with the Maharaja”. A barking Snowy leapt towards Tintin and
anxiously paced around Tintin’s legs letting out a sad whimper. “I know, I
know, I love being back home too,” he said smiling. “But I need to know who he
is, what he’s doing here”. Leaping out of bed, he got his coat and made his way
to the front door. “Just when we thought we’d take a break huh Snowy?”.
“You hungry boy?”. Snowy barked agreeing, as they passed the
various local street cafes. They made their way into an inner street corner. They
stopped at a decent looking bright blue café, and was greeted by a young
Japanese woman dressed in a floral kimono. “Ohaiyogozaimu”, she said politely
bowing. Just then, through the hallway curtains that lead to the kitchen area,
crept a little boy. His vague expression spoke volumes – he must have been
through a rough patch in his life. The innocent childlike gleam that persisted
in so many children was lost in him. “My nephew”, the lady said as she made her
way to the teapot by the counter. “Tea?”;
she asked Tintin. “Yes please!”.
Tintin gazed at this oriental beauty that stood before him
pouring him a cup of Japanese green tea. Observing every single detail on her
pale skin – the redness of her cheeks, the graceful shaping of her eyebrows,
her perfectly shaped chin, just everything about her. Suddenly, he felt a hot
burning sensation on his arm. “Aaahhhh”, he exclaimed in pain. This lady had
deliberately poured a burning hot tea onto him. But Why?. Without a second to
lose, almost as if on cue, the little boy grabbed a hold of Snowy by the
throat, pointing a loaded gun by his ear. “Snowy!” , as he leaped forward to
his aid, he felt a strong punch by his abdomen, and within seconds he was
pinned by the gorge, onto a shaky wall to the side of the café.
“Yamayahirato, my name, remember it!”, she said letting out an
evil grin.
Tintin looked helpless at Snowy as the young boy grasped on to
his neck tigher. He was sweaty, yes but almost as though in excitement or some
sort of exhilarating thrill – as he displayed a tight lipped smirk across the
right side of his face. Snowy barked furiously, but his voice lead out the
sound of a struggle. “Hang in there buddy!” Tintin yelled.
“But why, why?” he cried out in a puzzling, desperate tone. “My
brother, Mitsuhirato….” She wept. “He..all he wanted for you..was to die, and
I’m going to be the one to do it!”. She
grabbed Tintin by the arm and swung him around by a chair making him collapse
hard on the wooden floor. A streak of blood slid down from his head and his
forearms and a back bruised. She attempted to stomp her foot in his face while
he desperately try to dodge her. For a petite woman, she was undeniably strong,
and definitely a skilled fighter. Perhaps it was the rage within her, the loss
of a brother, the anger and determination of doing what he couldn’t.
Tintin crawled towards the counter as Yamayahirato took a minute
to catch her breath, still, though not taking her eye off him. She was focused.
She knew what she had to do, what she wanted to do, for her brother.
As Tintin rested himself against the counter, he felt weak,
defeated, like he had never felt before. He tried to get up, fight for his
life, but his knees buckled and more blood trickled down from his head. He felt
dizzy, nauseous even.
Yamayahirato furiously made her way to Tintin, grabbing him
tightly by the throat again and leaning him back down on the counter. He
squealed in pain as Snowy’s choking barks could be heard from a distance, but
he could see him at the corner of his eye. “You will die, you will die…today!”
, she screamed.
With that, she pulled out a sharp razor blade from her pocket –
just like the one in his dream. With Tintin’s blood over her hands she slowly,
almost mockingly teased his neck with the tip of blade. Helpless, Tintin tried
as best as he could to shove her way with weak kicks to her legs to no avail.
He was slowly drifting
away from reality it seemed, the only sight he saw, was that off his whimpering
companion, Snowy, trying to fight his way out of the lock he was in. A gunshot
fired, an excruciating sense of pain. What was going on? He was sure he was
still alive. Everything seemed hazy. Tintin lead out a screeching scream,
almost implying that his soul had left his body.
Resources
Coscom (2014). Japanese Words. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from https://www.coscom.co.jp/learnjapanese101/wordcategory/basicwords_greeting.html |
Hergé, . (1990). The Blue Lotus: The adventures of Tintin. London: Mammoth.
| Services, L. L. (2014). English-German Dictionary. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://dict.leo.org/ende/index_en.html |
No comments:
Post a Comment