Story Planning: British North America

Character Sketches:

"Afraid of Nothing" - I think I would give her an actual name, but maybe maintain the kind of names she has in the story. I'm thinking something like Heroine could suit her nicely. She is going to be this incredible leader of an army. I'll go into some of her background, perhaps a slight Mulan-type character - a daughter raised in an environment that wouldn't necessarily lead her to fight in an army. Something in her past needed her to be strong, and construct and maintain the life that she leads. This is where the fact that she created the entire world in the original story could come in.

Wolf Sidekick - I imagine, following with the Mulan-type background, "Afraid of Nothing" having a sidekick. I don't really see it as being the comedic relief as Mushu is in the Mulan tales, but more of a silent character that our heroine can communicate with. I see it as a mix of Buckbeak the Hippogriff from the Harry Potter series and the direwolves in the Game of Thrones series. Both of these seem to have a level of understanding of their masters that we can't understand, but that we know is there.

(The Direwolf, web source: Wikimedia)

Mountains - I see these as twin brothers. Possibly slightly pompous brothers that came from a well-off background. They were raised to want for nothing, and were educated at only the best schools. They're intelligent, but are often used as pawns for the army of their country. They blindly follow orders at the beginning, making the world inhabitable for others. By this I mean they fought for an army that was and is still very hostile to nearly every other in the world. They were standoffish and halted every country certainly from expanding their borders, but also were merciless if they happened upon someone within their borders.

British North America, tales originally told by the First Nations people of Canada, compiled by Judson. Link to reading here.

Reading Notes: British North America, Part A

Beliefs: "Afraid of Nothing" made the entire world. There was a great war against the mountains (human, made the world uninhabitable). She waged a war against these mountains. This could potentially be a way to think up an entirely new story. Could be an action tale between a heroine and some (human?) mountains. There is no description about the actual war itself, so this would be an exercise of my imagination. "Afraid of Nothing" would be a female general of a great army, while the mountains would be personified to be generals of the opposing army. A very strong contender for story post.

Creation of the World: I've read a version of this story in a Native American Philosophy class! An interesting origin story, especially with a focus on the Old Toad. Could be an interesting perspective to write it from. He watches all of these animals fall to their deaths essentially in order to be a hero, and he reluctantly puts himself forward to help. Maybe I could change the end of the story and have him be successful as he is in the original, but have him die for the cause.

Grizzly Bear and the Coyote: This is another kind of origin story, specifically about days and nights and the seasons. It's interesting that these two animals were the ones that are the two main characters in this story. I guess I can't think of any better animals to make these kinds of decisions for the world, but these choices seem especially odd to me.

The Burning of the World: This could be an interesting mashup with an interpretation of Noah's Ark. Instead of the great flood, it's the great fire. That would actually work really well, the more I think about it. A second great contender for the story post.

British North America, originally told by the First Nations people of Canada, story by Judson. Link to reading here.

(Burning of the World, web source: Wikimedia)