eden jarrett

Fan fiction

“I don’t mind going by myself mama, I always do!” said 8 year old Tintin as he set off for another summers adventure. “If you are sure Tintin, be home in time for your tea!” Off he went with his usually attire, a trench coat, bag, pen, and paper to enjoy what was going to be another beautiful day with lots to write about! Tintin, a young Belgium journalist in the making enjoyed writing about what he got up to each day.

Today was no exception, as Tintin took a route he had never before taken, finding himself unsure of where he was in no time. Only this time, Tintin who was usually the master of getting himself out of sticky situations found the sun was going down and it was getting dark. As he pushed through branches dusted off old signs he found himself walking in circles. “Oh no, I’m going to miss my tea and mama is going to be very worried!” Tintin grunted. It was however with a satisfied grunt, as regardless of the trouble he was in Tintin wouldn’t help but admire his new surroundings. Huge tree’s what would have been around for centuries and beautiful flowers blossoming along the track. “Just magnificent”, he whispered as he got his pen and paper out.     

The sun was almost completely gone and Tintin could no longer see. “Of course!” he shouted with joy, “I packed my flash light!” Suddenly Tintin heard the rustling of bushes and a faint noise. He was not one to get frightened, and followed the noises. ‘THUD’ Tintin was startled as something rolled out of the bushes and rolled right before his feet.

Tintin crouched down to find a small shivering puppy covered in dirt. “Hello little guy, where did you come from?” Tintin asked. The puppy responded with nothing but a small yelp. Tintin picked him up and cradled him, “boy I can’t wait to write about this!”

Together they head off on the journey home. Tintin heard footsteps behind him and turned his head. Maybe this man will know the way out of here, he thought to himself. “Hello sir, do you know the way outside of this bush?” “NO!” The man yelled. “Oh, I will tell you the way out if you give me your puppy.” “No thanks sir, we will find our way”. “Give me the puppy, or else!” The man threatened, as he tried to grab Tintin by the collar. Tintin quickly ducked out of the way and tumbled off the track down a steep hill for what seemed like forever.  “Blistering barnacles” he shouted as he tumbled trying not to squash the puppy. At the bottom Tintin was covered in leaves and sticks in a small bed of water. Not scared, Tintin thought up ways to get out of the situation. But before he knew it, the puppy was clearing the way of leaves and sticks off of Tintin. “Good boy!” he said as he sat up and gave the puppy a pat. It didn’t take long for Tintin to realise that he was not far from home, and he brushed himself off and again cradled the puppy.  “I’ve seen this river before it leads us right back to the house! I know the way boy” he said excitedly as he set off on his journey down the river. He took off his trench coat and wrapped it around the wet puppy as he shivered and whimpered slightly.  

Tintin found his way home before the sunrise. “Where have you been? I was worried sick!” Shouted mama while she smothered him in hugs. “I got lost mama; this puppy helped me find my way home”. “You cannot keep him Tintin; we will clean him up in the morning and find him a home”. Tintin tossed and turned all night. Wow, what a day he thought as he thought up ways he could keep the puppy. He always wanted a friend to go out with him on his journeys.

Tintin was up at the crack of dawn ready to see the puppy and write down everything he could about him. “Good morning”, Tintin greeted. “Woof!” the puppy yelped with excitement to finally see someone. Tintin scrubbed and scrubbed the puppy until he was spotless. “Look at that mama, he is white as snow!” “Please can we keep him, just one more day?” “You can keep him for the morning Tintin, then he must go.”  Tintin used that morning like it was last, as he had never had a friend. The puppy followed him everywhere, and barked in response every time Tintin spoke. His mama watched over as Tintin looked so happy playing with and caring for this puppy. “Oh I can’t give him up”, she murmured to herself.

“Tintin, it’s time to come in”. As Tintin ran over to his house, the puppy sprinted closely behind with his tongue flapping around. He sat neatly next to Tintin as he said to his mother “Is it time for him to go now?” with a saddened look on his face. “No Tintin, I am going to let you keep him.” Now you must think of a name!”

“Oh mama his name is Snowy!” “I am going to look after him and make sure his coat is always as white as snow”. Snowy, the small little terrier looked up at his new owner and knew that he had found his home and promised himself that he will always help Tintin, the way Tintin helped him.

Commentary

My fan fiction replicates a lot of Vogler’s (1998) points, however does not follow them all. Typically, my fan fiction which enters the world of the comic ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ stays close to the ordinary world without exploring elements of the supernatural. Tintin obtains his original characteristics of an adventurous boy who is able to overcome obstacles. However my fan fiction takes a different approach to a typical Tintin story line and explores him in his childhood. By taking the reader back to Tin tin’s childhood, they are able to see how some of the most prominent characters in a story were introduced, which in this case is Snowy. Thus, it links to Act 1 of Voglers structure and explores and ordinary world while establishing the setting and characters. The turning points and transition to Vogler’s act two occurs when Tintin is faced with an enemy, which in this case I Am referring to as the Herald. When developing the characters of my fan fiction, I can refer to some of Vogler’s character archetypes (Volger, 1998).

The Hero – Vogler (1998) determines the hero of a story as the character who puts another characters safety before theirs by sacrificing their own needs. Tintin, the hero of the story very often finds himself is sticky situations; however is a master at getting himself out of them. Getting lost in the bush is the first turning point of the story, according to Vogler, when Tintin was faced with the decision of saving the puppy, or leaving it there and getting home. Obvious for Tintin, a character who thrives off challenges he opted bring the puppy to safety and warmth, playing a heroic role for a character in need (Vogler, 1998).

The mentor - Vogler (1998) describes this as a parent like figure who is protective of the stories hero. In this case, as Tintin is a child his mother plays the role of his mentor. From the beginning of the story she shows protective traits towards Tintin before he takes off on an adventure, and on his late return. She further backs up her mentoring role at the concluding moments of the story where she lets Tintin keep Snowy as a reward for his behavior.

The Herald - Vogler describes the herald as a character that gives the hero new challenges, and therefore would refer to the man in the bush as the herald of the story, as he puts the hero in a dangerous situation. He tries to persuade Tintin to hand the puppy over in exchange for information, and then applies force towards them both. Regardless of his spiteful intentions, his heralding failed and actually helped Tintin find his way home, which gave the story momentum to push to the conclusion (Vogler, 1998).

The ally – The ally according to Volger is a character who travels with the hero and serves many functions throughout their journeys. While Snowy is not much of an ally for Tintin throughout this story, it sets them up for the rest of the Adventures of Tintin. Tintin typically meets his ally for the first time, without knowing that one day he will not only play the role of his best friend, but his mentor, and ally as well.  

Thus I was able to follow Vogler’s mythical structure and character archetypes, however was limited to only some of the plot points. I hope to have achieved portraying him as a courageous and outgoing aspiring reporter from a younger age.

Vogler, C. 1998. The writer’s journey: Mythic structure for writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions.