zoetic ♠ aerography

And Mattel knew this because any time they'd make a Barbie group of friends there was usually a 2-1 girl/guy ratio, and the guys were not key to the narrative included with the dolls.

But the idea that he didn't have good clothes? BAYBEE, are you serious? He was designed to wear things that complimented Barbie. My boy's wardrobe had to be on point or he wasn't invited to the party.

Some first designs of two more guardians ocs that I finished today.  The group is almost complete I just need to add two more (these are the very smart ones of the team)

1. Dragging Ea-Nasir for all eternity

A sci-fi retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon

The Six Swans/The Wild Swans, where Elisa learns sign language to ‘talk’ without breaking the conditions of her curse

Prunella as a modern-day rom-com

‘East’ is ripe for a sci-fi/adventure retelling, especially with the Girl’s journey to find the prince in the castle that is ‘east of the sun and west of the moon’, and frankly translates relatively easily to a sci-fi setting (also, casting the three witches as 3 witch-queens on different planets is an awesome idea).

Meanwhile, I’ve always been really fascinated by what I see as a vital missing piece of the Six Swans narrative: Elisa and the King know each other/are married for some time before the archbishop/wicked mother ‘she’s evil!’ drama happens. It’s inconceivable they didn’t have some way to communicate with each other, and it’s exactly the kind of clever ‘following the letter of the law’ workaround that fairy tale heroines are famous for. Also, bonus disability representation.

I think reworking Prunella as an urban fantasy would be super interesting. I know I could probably do a straight retelling and do just fine, since there’s barely any adaptations of the story period (much less retellings), but I think placing it into a modern setting would be super interesting. 

I’m also thinking about the pros and cons of worldbuilding a ‘city witch’ concept; trying to decide whether I want an underground society with appointed witches as city protectors, witches as the modern equivalent of the village wisewoman, or just going all in with “this is an urban magical society and Prunella just gets REALLY unlucky and runs afoul of a mean witch.”

I’d have to change the tasks that the Witch makes Prunella complete, since “baking bread from scratch” doesn’t really imply the same level of difficulty in a modern setting that it does in the original tale, but that’s easy enough to work around (all things considered). The Witch’s sister could live in the next city over, and some of the tasks there could be translated into modern-day equivalents. 

I also think I’d change the timeline a bit, because I don’t really like the witch kidnapping Prunella as a child, just…taking care of her for years and years, and only THEN abruptly deciding to kill her years later. Maybe this all happens when Prunella is an older teenager (maybe 17/18) and takes place over a couple of years (instead of a decade or so). And it would be a fun brain exercise to build the romance between Prunella and Ben as a “they bond over Ben showing her how to control and use her magic when his mother isn’t watching” thing.

A sci-fi retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon

The Six Swans/The Wild Swans, where Elisa learns sign language to ‘talk’ without breaking the conditions of her curse

Prunella as a modern-day rom-com

‘East’ is ripe for a sci-fi/adventure retelling, especially with the Girl’s journey to find the prince in the castle that is ‘east of the sun and west of the moon’, and frankly translates relatively easily to a sci-fi setting (also, casting the three witches as 3 witch-queens on different planets is an awesome idea).

Meanwhile, I’ve always been really fascinated by what I see as a vital missing piece of the Six Swans narrative: Elisa and the King know each other/are married for some time before the archbishop/wicked mother ‘she’s evil!’ drama happens. It’s inconceivable they didn’t have some way to communicate with each other, and it’s exactly the kind of clever ‘following the letter of the law’ workaround that fairy tale heroines are famous for. Also, bonus disability representation.

I think reworking Prunella as an urban fantasy would be super interesting. I know I could probably do a straight retelling and do just fine, since there’s barely any adaptations of the story period (much less retellings), but I think placing it into a modern setting would be super interesting. 

I’m also thinking about the pros and cons of worldbuilding a ‘city witch’ concept; trying to decide whether I want an underground society with appointed witches as city protectors, witches as the modern equivalent of the village wisewoman, or just going all in with “this is an urban magical society and Prunella just gets REALLY unlucky and runs afoul of a mean witch.”

I’d have to change the tasks that the Witch makes Prunella complete, since “baking bread from scratch” doesn’t really imply the same level of difficulty in a modern setting that it does in the original tale, but that’s easy enough to work around (all things considered). The Witch’s sister could live in the next city over, and some of the tasks there could be translated into modern-day equivalents. 

I also think I’d change the timeline a bit, because I don’t really like the witch kidnapping Prunella as a child, just…taking care of her for years and years, and only THEN abruptly deciding to kill her years later. Maybe this all happens when Prunella is an older teenager (maybe 17/18) and takes place over a couple of years (instead of a decade or so). And it would be a fun brain exercise to build the romance between Prunella and Ben as a “they bond over Ben showing her how to control and use her magic when his mother isn’t watching” thing.

To note:

FR: concentrer /EN: focus

FR: écureuil /EN: squirrel

FR: pingouin /EN: penguin