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Showing posts from October, 2020

Week 8 Reading and Writing

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 After checking in on my blog, I felt pretty good about its layout and design. When we started the class, I spent a longer time than expected playing with the design, and I think I still enjoy it. However, after reviewing my website, I did play with the design aspect a little. One feedback comment I received suggested that I add some green elements to the design to tie into the green Costa Rican setting, so I changed my layout and added some green focus points.  mage: The Demon with the Matted Hair - John D Batten, Source: Wikimedia CommonsAs far as reading and writing, I like the stories I've created so far, but I have gotten behind quite a bit in this class, so I need to be better with my time management. I really enjoyed the reading on classical mythology and that shows through my stories there. Each week, I worry that I'm not writing enough in my reading notes, but once I go to write my story, I have everything I need, so it is good to know that my system is working well. I

Week 7 Story: Orochi, the Eight-Headed Serpent

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Orochi, the eight-headed serpent, cleaned up his nest after devouring the elder man's ninth daughter. He was filled with overwhelming remorse. He cried out, "When will this end?!" But he knew.  Since the day the old witch woman had put him under her spell, he was left with the unsettling task of killing and eating ten humans in exchange for his life. Only after the tenth would he regain his freedom and become human again. At first, he struggled with his sentence. He did not want to harm anyone, but he soon realized that he could not stand to be the monster that everyone feared. He decided that he must pay the price to return to his old self, even though it went against everything he believed.  The elder man and his wife sat at the edge of the river bank and cried. All but one of their daughters had been killed by the creature, and they couldn't bear to lose their only remaining daughter. They were worried that it was only a matter of time before the serpent got to her

Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology, Part B

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The story I'd like to recreate the most in this section was The Faery Robe . I enjoyed this story because of its style and poetic language. If I were to retell this story, I could play with this style and even recreate it as I wrote. My biggest concern is whether I could make it long enough because I would be shorter on words than normal. Plan/Ideas: I could keep the plot relatively the same, but change up the language. Tell the same story, but use different metaphors, imagery, etc. The man still takes the robe from the fairy and asks a dance of her for his own amusement, but perhaps the fairy has a different reaction.  I could make the fairy darker. Maybe she wants to get revenge on the man for stealing her robe, and she uses some form of magic to get it back. Although, I like the lightness of this story. Keeps with the tone of the fairy story.  Instead, make the fairy use some kind of magic to get her robe back from the man, but keep the tone lighter. Maybe she can put him to sle

Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology, Part A

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The story I found most interesting in this reading section was The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi. I like the idea of this creature, but I want to give him a backstory. Tell the story from his perspective, rather than from the humans' perspective.  Examples: Why did he eat the other daughters? Why so many? Perhaps he has a spell put on him and he needs to eat ten people to have it broken. Is that worth it? Is there more motivation behind doing something so bad? Maybe his family is involved somehow. How did the spell come about? Can he be painted in a good light, or at least a sympathetic one?  Tell the existing plot points but from his perspective. Does he overhear their conversations? Does he know what is going to happen when Susa-no-wo shows up? Does he have a plan to avoid getting killed? Is there another ending that the story can have? Can he get away in time to keep his life and return to his original form? Or, does he die as in the story, and not continue on to change his fate