Lately, I've been digging back into my book stash out of good ol' nostalgia, and wanting to get back into writing. Beginning with some theme appropriate readings for the spoopy month from works by old stuffy English men that lay the woodworks for modern Eldritch mythos.
I mostly drift back to the works of Frances Hodgson Burnett, and C. Everard Palmer, whose books made up my middle school comprehension exercises and leisure. With their coming of age stories of kids finding their way in the world and working toward a goal, it reminded me of my old dream to be a writer and artist to tell the same kinds of stories.
Ones created as a collection of all the influences I had around me from the different medias in my childhood that, might resonate with others. And one of those stories that is still held dear to my heart, even after I've left it behind to work on other unfinished projects.
Is a story about kids facing new changes at the sudden upheaval of their home in the wake of a devastating storm, left to their own issues at the absent of adults, with only each other and the companionship of the creatures born from their desires and wants.
A Child's Thoughts is one of the few stories I could remember with vivid details even after I have lost most of its notes and arts between the years. It was a simple premise of kids and their imaginary friends on an adventure, with simple and bare bones designs my muscle memory can recreate, tailored closely to my past and still current likes to easily recall from my surroundings.
And although I would be faulted to not point out that it has blatant influence from mainstream series like Pokemon and Digimon, and some of their knock-offs which I have either watched or played excessively at the time I drafted it.
The setting and story itself are taking from the literatures I have read then - seashore port towns, vacant mansions, foresty-out in the nature adventures, old relics and hidden caverns.
With even ties from my other stories in the form of a World Tree and the red gem seeds. A staple I like to have in any worlds I created since I first had it as a focal point in one of my first story, The Heir, currently remade into another back burner project where I recover and remake old stories of mine.
Getting back on topic. I originally created A Child's Thoughts as an Original Creation in the vein of Pokemon and Digimon, with the creature characters (some of whom will be shown in the art below) resembling some of the staples.
- Like an elemental trio made up from an Blue Humanoid Axolotl, a Fire Jellyfish and a Dragonic Leaf Guardian. They where originally (and were) set up to be main companions of the children before I actually sorted out the details and set them much further apart.
- There is the fact that the creatures are each created and tied to one child, and taking on the elements of their surroundings of the child's own exposures.
- And they could also 'evolve' in a way by having a red gem in their possession. The 'how' of it is muddled since I just wanted cool monsters with evolving designs.
(But there is... sort of, an 'explanation'. With the gems acting as an 'anchor' for the creatures to the world, tethering to reality without needing the constant thoughts of their child creator to keep them 'alive' and existing.)
The red gem which are seeds from fruits bored by the World Trees, are physical fragments of the world. In layman's terms, they are concepts that existed in the world now condensed into a gemstone, which coincidentally allows the creatures to channel the surrounding elements into them using the gem.
While I did eventually stray from the concept of evolutions from the creature, the red gem as a Mcguffin in the story does necessitate some details to explain its relevance.
But at its core, the story is an exploration of the many childhood issues of the different kid characters, and it is where my attachment for the series stem from - as a way for me to work through my own medley of assorted issues.
Like a child's need for a parental figure in William's creation of a mother in Lucy. The desire for childishly simple things only heard of and never experienced, like Luke's desire to touch snow made manifest in Lucas. And the wants of an equal peer and friend like Viola who came about in one of Laura's lonesome nights.
And from there, with each of the kids having their desires met, the story explores how they come to interact with what is a manifestion of their desires, and a reflection of their inner self.
With many of their interactions coming from scenarios I wished where spoken to me or, words and actions I am terrified to say and do, intentionally or unintentionally. Many of these I hold dear to me as a hope I wish to achieve or a caution at the possibility to hurt other people.
Remembering and revisiting those memories of make-believe interactions brought back a lot of emotions embedded in the unfinishes notes and drafts. So much so I finally drew them, to try and capture what I had envisioned then and as a way to pay my dues to childhood me.
Who could only picture those moments in their mind and in crude pencil/pen drawings of what it would look like as a story book, with what limited skills I had then to sate my passion for the story then and still, now...
...And I hope you will enjoy them as well.
- Viola (Left) and Laura (Right)
- Nancy, Hymn, and Jem
- Lucy and William
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