Fan fiction:
Arriving by boat into Shanghai, Tintin, his dog Snowy and Chang step onto the land wearing disguises to fit into the Chinese culture. Wearing robes, little hats, round glasses and moustaches, they fit in almost unnoticeably. They have just arrived here to pick up another shipment of opium to take back to the Maharaja in India. The Maharaja is their biggest customer and Shanghai is where they get the best opium but the only thing is they steal it. The owner of the opium den they steal from is Mr Mitsuhirato’s “The Blue Lotus”. Little do Tintin and Chang know, that Mr Mitsuhirato has noticed a lot of his product often goes missing and around the same time each month. He’s being careful not to make any sudden changes so he is able to catch the thieves when they arrive next. That night while Tintin, Chang and Snowy are preparing to steal the opium with their usual plan in place, Mr Mitsuhirato has his secret society on look out for anyone suspicious. He hasn’t put any guards out as he wants to be able to capture them within the building. Tintin enters the building and sits down amongst other customers inside, while Chang goes around the back to let Snowy enter through a small open hatch he can squeeze through to then unlock the back door. Once inside Chang looks to find the opium and the amount he needs to take back to the Maharaja. However, Mr Mitsuhirato has security cameras operating all over the building and sends in his men to capture Chang. Chang hears somebody coming into the back room… he moves stealthily to the left side and ducks in behind a barrel. He notices there are three men slowly surrounding the area. There’s nowhere for him to go. How do they know I’m here? Chang thinks. He turns to run but it’s too late. The men have him backed into the corner of the left side of the room. They grab him by his robe and drag him to Mr Mitsuhirato’s office.
A while later Tintin realises Chang should not be taking this long and knows something is wrong when he sees Snowy sneaking through the room towards him. He grabs snowy and heads down the corridor to try and exit the building but they see Mr Mitsuhirato’s secret service men running towards them. Tintin makes a sharp right turn down a hallway but sees that there is nowhere for him to go. He jumps into a large vase and tells Snowy to distract the men when they come around the corner. A few seconds later all the men approach and see that the hallway is empty. In their confusion they spread out and Snowy jumps out from behind the vase. The men stumble and fall which gives Tintin the chance to inject them all with the poison of madness. The poison starts to take affect and the men all rise and start acting like complete mad men. “Pretty pretty patterns” one of the men says. While another thinks he's a painter and the last a race car driver, “Vvvvrrroooomm”, “Toot toot, beep beep!” “Okay we need to find Chang now Snowy , do you know where they took him? Soon they find their way to go to Mr Mitsuhirato’s office. They hop in the elevator but when it opens they notice a strange man heading for them. He politely says, “Mr Tintin I’m Lao Tzu, come with me, I’ll help you escape. Tintin hesitates but goes to follow. He soon panics when he sees the man pull out a machete and starts aiming for Tintins neck. Tintin presses the ground floor button but the machete man grabs hold of Snowy’s collar and yanks him through just before the elevator doors close. Tintin is distraught that both of his sidekicks have been captured and confined in Mr Mitsuhirato’s opium den, but knows he cannot return to India without the opium the Maharaja has asked for. He finds his way to the back of the building to get what he came for. The back door is still unlocked from when Chang and Snowy went inside. Tiptoeing through the room Tintin finds the shipping container that holds the opium. He packs the amount needed into a duffle bag and escapes the den before Mr Mitsuhirato can send anyone else after him.
The next day Tintin attempts to leave Shanghai to go back to India. Once again he puts his disguise on to avoid being caught by Mr Mitsuhirato’s people. As he’s walking through the town he notices wanted signs on every corner with his face and his disguise on it. The public start looking at Tintin and the wanted signs, and whispers turn to shouts. “Police!”, “Police!”. Tintin sees Thompson and Thompson and in a frazzle turns to sprint away, knocking over a boy on a bike. “Ah Tintin Stop!”. He slings his bag over his shoulders, picks up the bike and peddles away. Thompson and Thompson chase after him and now sirens are blaring from the distance. The Police which were nowhere to be seen are now right behind him. They wave their hats out the window of their vehicles and yell at Tintin to surrender. Soon Tintin approaches some stairs. He can’t turn around or he’ll be caught so he dumps the bike and goes off on foot. The street at the end of the stairs are busy with people and traffic. He can hear the foot steps of the police coming behind him so he rushes through the traffic. On the other side of the road is the harbour where dinghy boats float. He throws his bag in the first one on the waters edge and dives in after, grabbing a paddle to get away. The Police are still on his tail and jump in boats to keep going after him. They puddle under a bridge and the waters speed picks up. Tintin looks over his shoulder and can no longer see the officers. Before he has time to see whats ahead of him, Tintin and his boat go flying down a waterfall! At the end of the waterfall stream Tintin rises from the water. He thinks he’s escaped and is free to head back to India until he looks up to find Mr Mitsuhirato standing above him.
Commentary:
My fan fiction is based on Hergé’s, “Tintin and the Blue Lotus”. However I have changed the story so Tintin is the Shadow and all the characters are no longer who they originally were. Tintin, Snowy and Chang go to Shanghai to steal opium to take back to the Maharaja in India. They get caught when Chang is trying to steal opium from Mr Mitsuhiratos opium den, “The Blue Lotus” in Shanghai. Chang is captured and Mr Mitsuhirato knows Tintin will then come to save him. Tintin comes back and Mr Mitsuhirato’s secret society try to capture him. They fail as Snowy distracts the men while Tintin injects them with the poison of madness. Mr Mitsuhirato then sends out his worker, Lao Tzu to capture him. He succeeds in getting Snowy but Tintin is nowhere to be seen. Tintin attempts to leave the country but is chased by Lao Tzu. And cannot be seen in plain sight as the city have wanted signs of him everywhere. The public notice Tintin and Thompson and Thopmson as well as the Police chase after Tintin. They loose track of him when he goes over a waterfall where he is finally caught by Mr Mitsuhirato.
In my fan fiction I was able to include a few of Vogler’s (1998) character archetypes.
The Shadow being Tintin as he is now the opium smuggler and a thief.
The Hero being Mr Mitsuhirato as he is the one who found Tintin to be the theif and is the one to finally catch him at the end of the story.
The Shapeshifter being Lao Tzu as he acts like he’s trying to help Tintin but then turns and tries to cut off his neck with a machete.
The Herald being The Maharaja as he set Tintin off on the journey/encourage him to get the opium.
(The Archetypes are all reversed in some way as they are aiding the Shadow instead of the Hero which is the usual way.)
In my fan fiction I was able to follow most of Vogler’s (1998) mythic structure with a few exceptions.
Act I
- Ordinary World- (Not directly included)
- Call to adventure- ( Tintin was to collect opium for the Maharaja, stolen from Mr Mitsuhirato’s “The Blue Lotus” opium den)
- Refusal of call (Not included)
- Meeting with the mentor- (Not included)
- Crossing the first threshold - (Going to Shanghai to steal the opium for the Maharaja)
Act II (Involves the Crisis)
- Tests allies, enemies (Mr Mitsuhirato has his secret service on look out and security cameras. Chang gets caught)
- Approach to the inmost cave- (Snowy and Tintin going to find Chang but Snowy being taken)
- Supreme ordeal (Tintin has to get the opium alone)
Act III (Involves the Climax)
- Reward (Tintin successfully gets the opium)
- The road back (Tintin tries to go back to India to deliver the opium to the Maharaja)
- Resurrection (Not Included)
- Return with elixir (Not included)
References:
Vogler, C. 1998. The writer’s journey: Mythic structure for writers. Studio City, CA: Michael
Wiese Productions.
Hergé. (2005; 1935). The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. London: Methuen.
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