#isfjmel-phleg

[fictionadventurer]

One of the many things that's so great about @isfjmel-phleg's Blackberry Bushes stories is that everyone is a real person through their entire life cycle. You don't get the sense that the adult characters were just faceless maggots until they reached their majority, the way that some adult novels do. The parents and other adult authority figures are people who were children once, and whose childhood experiences shaped them.

This goes in the other direction, too. In a lot of novels, you get the sense that once characters grow up and get married, they just fade into the background so the young people--the ones with real stories to tell--can come onto the stage. But as we're discussing the adult lives of the child characters, it's clear that these characters aren't like that. Even after they marry and have children, they're going to continue dealing with flaws, learning new things, having interests and new experiences. Everyone's a full person at every stage of their life, and anyway, I just really love it.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

At last getting around to responding to comments about "At the Home of the North Wind."

#at a loss for words#for how much I love this version of the story#Lena (the lass) is such a fuller character#and I like the way she identifies her betrayal as sinful and shameful#the personification of the North Wind is perfect as ancient and created and wise and to be feared#yet also kind#do you also feel as tho he is priestly? as if hearing her confession before sending her on her way?#since this moment seems to be a letting go of the shame and guilt and a determination to go and sin no more?#and that this moment is a turning point of hope for her#before she enters the gates of hell where no light shines#I’m babbling here but making this an overtly Christian story is so lovely and so well fitting and so whole in your style#anyway thank you for this#happy new year#inklingschristmaschallenge#inklings christmas challenge 2025#fairy tale retellings#east of the sun west of the moon#christmas 🎄#love this quote >>#She'd loved the stories of great saints#had dreamed of doing great deeds for the glory of God. Yet she'd been just as weak as those women she'd once disdained.

@seleneisrising

"East of the Sun, West of the Moon" is such a good fairy tale to apply a Christian lens to, so I'm glad it worked for you. I've long wanted to do a full retelling of this fairy tale focused on a heroine who dreams of being a great saint, marries this obviously cursed creature in the hopes of doing something great to save him--and then when she faces real fear for the first time, she fails and falls into sin. I inserted a couple of those ideas into this scene (like that line about "being as weak as those other women".) And even with those Christian parallels already in mind, I was surprised at just how many more I found as I wrote--all that stuff about the trolls refusing to serve and fleeing from the light is my attempt at finding a different explanation for how their realm can be "east of the sun and west of the moon", but then it quickly becomes a parallel for hell, or at least the underworld, which lets me reference the Harrowing of Hell, and also makes it a kind of Orpheus story...and anyway it's surprising how far the parallels can go.

I didn't think of the North Wind as specifically priestly, probably because in the context of the full fairy tale, this would be, like, the seventh time she's told her story. It's probably the first time she's gotten real comfort, though, because it's the first time she's talking to someone who fully understands the enemy she's facing. Someone who understands the full weight of what she's done is also the only one who can really offer hope. So I wouldn't call him a priestly character, but I like the comparison. Because even if he doesn't quite offer absolution, he offers hope. She can't become a saint and do great things on her own merit. She has to do what she can (the most Catholic I got was the North Wind's line about "I didn't say you can do nothing", which emphasizes that works have value along with faith), and have faith in the mercy of God to make up for what she lacks.

oh hey look I'll be obsessed with this forever 'christmas eve. hope has come to the hopeless before' ABSOLUTELY VIBES WHAT A LIME *LINE (it's fine I know how to spell) this absolutely hit the SPOT I recently finished an east of the sun west of the moon retelling

@kanerallels Thanks! That line made the story for me. I was thinking I'd have to go to the end of the fairy tale to make this feel like a complete story, and was wondering how to wrap up this scene because like...exposition's over, so now I guess we just leave? But then that line about Christmas Eve came to me and made everything fall into place. It's a callback to the beginning! It makes this specifically a Christmas story. It means I end the story there because we've resolved the Christmas them. All this to say--glad my favorite line was also your favorite line.

beautiful and atmospheric! it's been a long time since I've read this fairy tale and I don't remember it very clearly but you bring such depth to the themes weaving in themes of Christmas (Eve) quite organically thank you so much for sharing this!

@isfjmel-phleg I'm glad you liked the story even with limited knowledge of the fairy tale! I was surprised at just how well it worked to weave in Christmas with this particular story. Even though I hadn't wanted to write a retelling for this challenge, once I came up with the idea, I had to write it. The parallels were too compelling. There's always a danger that making something explicitly Christian also makes it unbearably cringe, so I'm glad that the Christmas theming worked for you.

[healerqueen]

🌹

I recommend Escape to West Berlin by Maurine F. Dahlberg. It's upper middle grade/lower young adult historical fiction. I haven't read it in years, but I remember liking it. It was far superior to another popular book I read about the same time period.

[theragamuffininitiative]

Happy (late) Valentine's Day!

I was happy to see The Secret Garden on your list! That's one of my all-time favorites, has been since I was quite young. It's responsible for my love of Gothic settings, mysterious houses full of secrets, and terrible children who are really just sad and in need of Character Development.

I wrote an academic paper a while ago about how the book is about healing from childhood emotional neglect and how recent adaptations and retellings instead reframe it as about healing from traditional grief, which alters the themes and characters significantly. So I've got thoughts about that if you want.

Or adaptations/retellings in general? Do you have a favorite? Least favorite? If you were going to update the story, how would you go about doing it?

Happy even later answer day! 😂🎉💝💖💌

This makes me haaaaapppyyyyyy The Secret Garden is just soooo good and I love it so much 👏👏👏💛.

Please please share your thoughts, I want to hear them! That sounds fascinating and I already agree. XD (I do think it's both, especially looking at the author's life as context for why she might want to write such a story.)

I don't think I know any specific retellings? There is, I suppose, a lot of similar aspects in another beloved novel of mine called Valley of Secrets by Charmaine Hussey. It's very different but a surprising number of the same crucial story and thematic elements are there. (I recently gave away my copy so I can't look at it to reference right now but They're There lol.) Do YOU know of any good retellings? 👀👀👀👀👀

For adaptations, I do have a special fondness for the 1993 film. I was extremely excited about the recent movie when it was in production but by the time it came out, the alterations to the story put me off watching it and I still haven't so I have no idea if it's any good lol. Of course, my favorite adaptation is the Broadway musical. 😊 It is Different. It focuses a lot on the adults. I always need to clarify that bit. But it is gorgeous and it hits all the right points for me with the themes and characters and I love it with all my whole entire heart, both the original production:

Ugh the gothicness the ghoosttsss, the question of who is crying in such a sad house, and Mary's "maybe it was someone who I could find and bring a cup of tea... maybe it was someone who will bring the tea and come find me" 🥺😭 and Archie and Lily's duet where he is grieving her and she is pointing him to Collin 🥺😭😭

And some more pieces of the show medleyed together for the special tony awards performance, (how Dicken sings about the garden being wick and says "if SHE is wick, SHE'LL grow" bc it's about Marrrryyyy:

and the dream cast Lincoln Center concert in 2016, I can't find good clips of the kids on YouTube bc of course everyone focused on the adult performances (understandably I get it lol) but here is one of my favorite scenes with a bit of Mary and then Archie singing:

Songs like The Girl I Mean To Be, Wick, Show Me The Key, The Letter, Round Shouldered Man, Come Spirit Come Charm, various reprises of things are Mary centric and tbh most of the scenes are, I feel? Which is kind of a brilliant way to do a musical where the adult cast is doing the heavy lifting physically singing lol and the kids get some really wonderful songs and then the majority of the scenes but anyways I'm mostly trying to defend something that doesn't need defending, in that the musical gives the adult (Archie) storyline as focus as the children (Mary) storyline, and yet it's still all about Mary healing with the garden and healing those around her and going from neglect to finding a home (with the help of some ghosts lol, particularly the motherly memory/presence of her aunt Lily).

If I were going to update the story hmmmm, I've never thought about that. Obviously there are some pretty cringe racial comments in the original novel and they got sliiightly better in things like the Broadway show and later renditions improved even on that, so there is one case for updating lol. There are so many aspects to the story that feel intrinsically in the time and place in which they are set to me, so I don't know what else I might look at altering or updating after that but would love to hear any ideas others have. 😊

Thank you for this wonderful ask! It sent me down a YouTube rabbit hole trying to find the best clips from the musical to send and I feel I didn't get the best ones but oh well!

I love the Secret Garden and have two copies of the book, one a really pretty bookstore edition with some of the early Charles Robinson illustrations I love so much, and a paperback a friend of mine sent to me after reading it with all her notations! I treasure both. 😊

[valiantarcher]

For the book stacks: birds?

Thank you!

Send me a prompt and you'll get a stack of books fitting (or approaching) the prompt.

[incomingalbatross]

Happy birthday! I hope it's enjoyable!

Thank you Rebekah! :)

It's going to be a full day (all my Wednesdays are right now), but a good one.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

For the song ask?

For an instrumental piece, The Lark Ascending! (I like the Nicola Benedetti version but that's just personal preference). For a more typical edit though, Moon River or We'll Meet Again feel right!

Send me an ask I'll tell you what song fans would use in edits of you if you were fictional

[thebirdandhersong]

Project 4 and Anne of the Island (miniseries) please?

!!!!! Thank you :) My Anne of the Island has a lot of laughter in it. Anne and her friends have a lot of fun together, going on walks, baking cakes, studying together, eating together. I have so many moments I think would be lovely to include: Stella spreading her notes on the ground when she’s studying for exams, the Overdramatic music whenever Roy appears, the vase on the table (the flowers change according to the season, and there are a lot of shots when someone replaces the flowers: like when a suitor sends new flowers), Anne praying as she walks under the trees, Mrs. Lynde is in the middle of writing a letter to Anne when the pig incident happens (I can just see her telling Marilla that she absolutely Must tell Anne about it after they close the door).... Anne reads a lot of poetry, there is a parallel shot/contrast drawn between Phil greeting her suitors at the beginning of the school year vs. Phil greeting Jonas when he comes to visit her. Anne tears off Gilbert’s necklace, but we lead up to that with shots throughout the episodes before of her opening the little box and just gazing at it.

Project 4 has my Whole Heart (well.... I think all of them do, but Project 4 surprised me). I just had these vivid images in my head one night and HAD to hammer them out (I went to bed at three I think? But it was well worth it) When I first started writing little snippets of scenes, I was in the mood for Blood and Vengeance (this was when I was very into Asian historical dramas and the idea of a warrior queen rising from the ashes). Juyi (my main character) was going to start as this simple country girl. She was going to be battered and pushed back on all fronts after entering the palace: she was going to experience cruelty and manipulation from nearly everyone she met (the king and queen, the royal advisors, the tailors, the foreign ambassadors, the lords and ladies of the court, the king’s concubines, her own ladies-in-waiting). Everyone views her as either a cunning, scheming swindler after the throne or a simple-minded idiot drawn in by the promise of wealth and luxury. She’s criticised for her honesty, for the colour of her skin, for her lack of knowledge concerning court manners etc. etc., for.... everything. And she was going to establish herself as a force of nature by playing their game better than they could. I’m not sure why I wanted her to be a warrior queen, but I found the idea of an uprooted girl winning these battles and reforming the court AND the country rather cathartic. My plan was to show how meaningless and shallow all the values of the royal court--luxury, wealth, material possessions, the pursuit of beauty and attention, etc.--through her eyes.

But somewhere along the way I thought that I didn’t want to write a story about revenge and war (this was after I’d read a couple of fantasy books with similar premises, and I didn’t feel that it was cathartic, or very helpful for anyone involved). It’s easy enough to become just as cruel and manipulative as the world around you when you’re plunged into such a dangerous position. It’s easy to play the game by the rules when you know you need to do it to survive. But I wanted Juyi to do better than that, to be better than that. And to change the way things were, since she was in this position. (Some inspiration taken from the book of Esther!)

So Juyi IS forced into a marriage with a handsome and charming crown prince who is equal parts clueless, self-absorbed, and shallow. She IS forced to live in a palace where nearly everyone is self-serving and ambitious. She IS forced to deal with men and women who look down on her and make multiple attempts on her life. And she DOES have to change and adapt to this new and dangerous environment for her own survival. But in this story, the choice she makes is even more dangerous and radical than choosing to be cruel. She chooses to be kind.

The story takes place in the palace (for most of the book, at least), and Juyi makes it her responsibility to get to know the lowest of the low in the palace ranks. She makes friends with the servants, gains the trust of her ladies-in-waiting, and proves her resilience to the people who have been trying to get rid of her. She eventually earns the love and respect of the people because she takes the time to study and understand the state of trade, the economy, the parts of the country that need housing and food, the systems that hold the country together--or bind them in chains. She sees what goes on in the palace and she sneaks off to the countryside and the red light district, and she says No. Things cannot continue in this way. So she decides to use this power that she has as future queen to make a difference in her country. And the story goes on from there :)