Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales, Part A

Two stories from this section stood out to me. The first was The Cave of the Beasts because of how awful the father was. He got the duck eggs for himself and his wife, but when his daughters ate them, he wanted to leave them to be eaten by wolves?! I think he sucks, and when the youngest daughters found all of the jewels, I was rally happy for them. I didn't like how he acted like he was grateful they were alive and then took all of the jewels back home. I think in my ideal story, the girls go back with the jewels and he is eaten by wolves. It's only fair.

The second story was one that I liked. The King of the Ants was a fun, short story that I thought was funny. The small people reminded me of Thumbellina (only even smaller!) which was a story I adored growing up. This is a story I would like to retell simply because I think there are a lot of fun and different possible outcomes! I was a little confused as to how the men were so tiny and why they went back into an ant hill? Maybe they rule over the ants and there are other tiny people somewhere? Why did no one really comment on the size difference between the small people and the scholar? Things I would definitely wants to address in my story.

(Cabinet Build Tiny People Little Helper on maxpixel)

Bibliography: King of the Ants and The Cave of the Beasts from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

Week 6 Storytelling: The Ghost-Brahman

Once there was a spoiled Brahman, who always got whatever he wanted from the world. Growing up he was allowed to do whatever he wanted, have any toys he wanted, and say whatever he wanted. When he was grown, and it came time for him to find a wife, he went around his village to all eligible women. He criticized each one harshly, causing many of the women to cry. After examining every last woman, he made his decision. He chose a woman who he saw to be the loveliest and best suited for him, and they were wed the next day. He took his new bride home to live with him and his mother.

In the Brahman’s home, he was even more vile than he was in public. Not only that, but he was violent as well. Any time things did not go his way, he would lash out at his new wife, often resorting to hitting her. When he stormed off in a rage, the mother would comfort the younger woman, for she had been on the receiving end of her son’s anger before he married. The women formed a bond this way that was as strong as anything.

One day, the Brahman told his mother and wife that he would be leaving to travel for a while. “I grow tired of this place,” he told them, “and I wish to go and see what else is in the world that can entertain me. I will be back whenever I please.” After dinner that night, he packed a small bag to take with him in the morning. Before the sun had risen the next day, he started off on his journey.

With the Brahman gone, the two women felt like they could breathe again, though neither had realized she was holding her breath. When the Brahman hadn’t returned by nightfall, they held a small celebration, eating and drinking some of their finest foods. Both women slept peacefully that night, for the first time in a long time.

The next morning, when the women awoke, they saw who they thought was the Brahman outside of their house. Unknown to them, this was a ghost who shared the exact likeness of the Brahman. He entered the house to find the two women looking frightened. With a large, warm smile, he held out his arms and said, “Fear not, mother and wife. I have returned a new man. Going forward, we shall live our lives very differently.”

Over time, the women saw what the ghost-Brahman had spoken was true. He was kind to the mother and wife, doting on them with love and caring for them at all hours of the day. For a month or so, the wife and mother were very skeptic of this seemingly reformed Brahman, but after a while they came to trust in his new nature. The three were living happily.

Some years went by, and eventually the real Brahman returned home. On the day he came back, he was shocked to find another Brahman, in his exact likeness, living with his wife and mother. Outraged, the Brahman stormed into the house and demanded that the imposter Brahman leave immediately. The ghost-Brahman refused. The Brahman vowed to set things right, and set off to do just that.

The angry Brahman searched until he found a king willing to hear his case. The king listened intently, and not knowing how to solve the dispute. He told the Brahman to come back the next day. This cycle continued for a week before the Brahman decided he had had enough. Seeking a second opinion, he stumbled upon some ranchers who claimed to have their own king. The Brahman asked to see this king, and they agreed.

The rancher king heard the Brahman’s case and said, “If you truly wish you settle this issue, return here tomorrow with this imposter Brahman, and I will set things right.” And so, the Brahman left to get the ghost-Brahman.

The next day, the Brahman returned with not only the ghost-Brahman, but also with his wife and mother. The four of them stood before the rancher king. He examined each Brahman, being sure to note any small differences he could find. After many hours, he concluded everything about them was exactly the same. To this, the wife spoke up.

“Your Majesty, I disagree. The Brahman who sought you out is a cruel and horrible man. He left many years ago to travel as he wished. This other Brahman has been here since he left, and he has been kind to us.”

Seeing a way to test the Brahman, the king asked, “Brahmans, you are willing you allow your wife to speak such things in your stead?”

The ghost-Brahman looked at his wife and then to the king. “Of course, King. She only speaks the truth, how can I be upset?”

The actual Brahman’s face flushed red. “Well,” he said, full of anger, “I will not stand for it. This woman speaks blasphemies and should be punished!”

The rancher king nodded after each Brahman spoke. After a few moments, he responded. “I have lived here a long time, so I do remember you, Brahman,” he said to the actual Brahman. “I remember how terrified your wife and mother were of you.” He then turned to the ghost-Brahman and said, “I remember when you first came to the village to live as the Brahman. You have treated these women well these few years, and even further you have been a strong, kind member of this community that the first Brahman never was. Because of these things, I declare you the new Brahman, rightful husband and son.”

Hearing this, the actual Brahman became even more enraged. Sensing this, the other ranchers grabbed him and carted him away. The ghost-Brahman revealed he was a ghost, but the wife and mother did not mind. The three went home and lived there happily for the rest of their days.

(Novovoronezh Sunset Summer on maxpixel)

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Author's Note: In the original story of The Ghost-Brahman, the Brahman was actually a poor man who left to get enough money for him, his wife, and his mother to live on. He was kind and not a bad man. The Ghost-Brahman came the day after he left on his journey. When the original Brahman came back, he was distressed that there was an impostor Brahman in his place. Seeking council with a nearby king, he told his story and was asked to come back every day for a long time because the king could not make a decision. After he left the palace crying one day, some gopis (cowboys) invited him to see their king. This king told the Brahman to return with the ghost-Brahman. The next day, the cowboy king told both Brahman that whoever could shrink down and fit inside of a tiny bottle would be the true Brahman. The actual Brahman said ti was impossible, but the ghost-Brahman complied and got in the bottle. The cowboy king put a stopper on the bottle, trapping the ghost, and the Brahman was free to go back to his mother and wife. 

I chose to change the story because I think the pattern of the impostor being outed is a good one, but is has definitely been done many times. Instead, I thought it would be interesting to have the ghost-Brahman be a better man than the actual Brahman, so he was allowed to stay. 

Bibliography: "The Ghost-Brahman" from Folk-Tales of Bengal by the Rev. Lal Behari Day, with illustrations by Warwick Goble (1912).

Reading Notes: Bengal, Part A

I really liked the stories for this week, but I think my favorite was The Ghost-Brahman. This story reminded me a little of the Bible story where two women had babies, but one woman's baby died. She then stole the other baby, and their case went before some king. He declared the baby should be cut in half , and half given to each mother. The fake mother complied, but the real mother pleaded that the baby should remain unharmed and given to the fake mother. The king saw her as the true mother and gave her the baby back. The Ghost-Brahman story was different from this in that nothing was going to be split up, but similar in that an impostor stole something and in answering/completing a task a certain way, they were found out to be the fake.

I have a feeling this sort of story may be found else where in the world, and I think it is an interesting plot to follow. Maybe when I rewrite a story this week I will rewrite this one using this plot device.I liked the persistent Brahman and think that would be someone I might focus on.

(Folk-tales of Bengal on wikimedia)

Bibliography: Folk-Tales of Bengal by the Rev. Lal Behari Day, with illustrations by Warwick Goble (1912). (Web Source)

Week 5 Story: Riddle Me This

Riddle Me This
(click the link to read!)

(Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York on Wikipedia)

Let me know your result in the comments, if you'd like!

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Author's Note: This week I wanted to re-tell a few of the riddles from the Twenty-Two goblins unit. Because of my Project, I have been learning how to use Twinery to create branching stories, so I thought this was the perfect practice. 

In the original stories, there is a King who is sent by a monk to bring a body containing a goblin back. The King gets the body, but the goblin tells him riddles. If the king answers correctly, the goblin goes back to his tree. The king repeats this cycle, you guessed it, twenty-two times. The last riddle stumps the King, and he is finally able to continue. In the original story, the goblin warns the king that the monk will try to kill him to gain power, and advises the king on how to kill the monk instead. In my interactive story, I took those parts out because it was getting a little long. 

Bibliography: Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati translated by Arthur Ryder

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, Part B

Part B of these stories might have followed the same pattern of riddle, correct answer, goblin escaping, repeat; however, these riddles had a different sort of pattern from the ones in Part A. These were more focused on "here is what happens, who is to blame/why did this happen?" Overall, I think I liked this set of stories more. The last one also had my head spinning so I wrote out the story and I think the children would simultaneously be each other's uncles/aunts and nieces/nephews.

(Diagram of the Family Tree made by me)

I feel a bit more inspired after reading Part B on what I might do for storytelling. I think I want to practice with Twinery and made a story that way. The stories would be written and someone could click the answer they want and the paths would move accordingly. The only thing is I don't have something concrete worked out for someone answering incorrectly on purpose. Maybe I can plan this week and figure something out.

Bibliography: Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati translated by Arthur Ryder

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, Part A

For reading A of this week, there was definitely a theme of "to which should the girl be given"  or "which one is the cleverest/bravest." I enjoyed reading these riddles and even managed to guess 3 of the 7 correctly!

In all honesty, I'm not sure what to say about these stories. I liked reading them, but nothing struck me as a "wow!" sort of moment, and I didn't think of any creative ideas about possible retellings. I chose this unit because I love riddles and I wanted to read a few. Maybe when I retell the story I will come up with very different riddles.

I do feel bad for the wise King because he has to go back and get the goblin so many times. I wonder if the conclusion is him giving up and his head exploding, or if the goblin finally asks a riddle the King cannot answer. After twenty-two times of retrieving a body, I'm not sure I could handle it any more.

I also like the parallel structure within the stories. Like when the three brothers are tested about their expertise in Food, Women, Cotton. That sort of structure helps the story flowing nicely and I think I'll definitely make use of it.

(The goblin in the tree)

Bibliography: Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati translated by Arthur Ryder

Comment Wall

Comment Wall for Dungeons & Decisions 

image: Colorful Cube Role Playing Game Play Craps on maxpixel (Web Source) edited by me

Week 4 Story: Ursa Major

Jupiter sees Callisto

(An urban farm in Chicago on Wikipedia)

Jupiter was in charge of a local community garden. Most days, while he was working in the gated off area, a young woman would walk by who caught his eye. She wasn’t like other women he knew; she wore a fitted leather jacket with a large bow and arrow patch on the back, jeans, and combat boots. Her long hair was always tied back with a white ribbon, the only soft looking element about her. He didn’t personally know the woman, but he did know her name: Callisto.

From what Jupiter had heard, Callisto belonged to a sort of… girl gang, headed by the toughest woman in the whole city, Diana. Their group was composed of women who took control of their lives and did what they wanted, when they wanted. But, what Jupiter wanted, was Callisto.

Jupiter rapes Callisto

(Boscombe: The Opera House on geograph.org.uk)

One night, as Jupiter was leaving the garden after working all day, he noticed Callisto walking by. He watched as she turned a corner, and made the decision to follow her. Walking behind her a ways, Jupiter saw Callisto enter into a nightclub that had a particularly harsh reputation. He went in a little after her, determined to speak to her.

----------------------------------

Callisto made her way across the dance floor to the bar. After ordering some water, she leaned against the counter and let the noises around her blur together. As she got her water, she noticed someone standing uncomfortably close to her. She turned around to come face to face with a man she didn’t know.

“Hi,” he yelled so he would be heard over the music.

“Uh, hi,” Callisto responded, stepping to the side to gain more space.

The man didn’t seem to notice her uneasiness. “You’re Callisto, right?” Finally sensing wariness from the woman, he added, “I’m a friend of Diana’s. The name’s Jupiter,” and he held out a hand. Callisto seemed to relax a bit and she shook his hand.

“Jupiter, nice to meet you. I don’t think Diana has ever mentioned you.

“Oh really? We were uh, classmates, in high school.”

“Oh cool...”

As Callisto trailed off, unsure of what to say, Jupiter leaned in closer so she could hear him better.

“Do you wanna go talk somewhere? It’s really loud in here.”

Trusting anyone Diana would call a friend, Callisto agreed and they made their way to an exit. They walked the nearby streets and talked for a while. Callisto thinking she had made a new friend, Jupiter formulating a plan.

After walking around for a while, Jupiter offered to walk Callisto to her apartment. She agreed, enjoying the company, and they made their way there. Once outside of the building, Callisto started saying goodbye, but Jupiter suggested hanging out a bit longer. Hesitantly, she agreed and let him in. Once the apartment door was locked, Jupiter made his move. Callisto fought him, but she couldn’t overcome him.

Afterwards, Jupiter left, leaving Callisto vulnerable and shaking in her living room.

Diana discovers Callisto’s shame

(Patch for The Golden Arrow, designed by me, ft. arc archery arrow)

The next night, Callisto showed up late to the meeting for The Golden Arrows, the all-woman group she was a part of. She slunk in the door, staying close to the back of the room and keeping her eyes down. Toward the center of the room, Diana stood talking with the rest of the group. They all wore the same leather jacket with a bow and arrow patch on the back. After the meeting had officially ended, Diana approached Callisto.

“Hey Callie, what’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” the boisterous woman joked. Seeing the look in Callisto’s eyes as she got closer, Diana’s pulse spiked. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Callisto turned her face away, but not before Diana could see the tears start falling.

“Callisto, please talk to me. What happened?”

By this point, the other members had noticed and they made their way over to the pair. After a few minutes of silence as the others waited for Callisto to decide if she wanted to tell them, she faced them again and explained what happened. At the end, Diana had her hands clenched into fists so tightly her knuckles were completely white.

An hour and a half later, all of the women walked out of the front of the building, silent and strong with a goal in mind. They piled into different cars and all set off in the same direction.

Callisto turned into a Bear

(Copper brass knuckles on flickr)

Later, five cars pulled up to a small apartment complex. A woman got out of the front car and walked up to the door and pressed the button for the buzzer. Moments later, Jupiter’s voice cracked over the small speaker.

“Jupiter. Who is it?”

“Hey Jupe! It’s Egeria! I never took you up on that movie hangout and I am here to collect.”

There was silence on the other end, and then the door buzzed and popped open. Egeria motioned to the others. Twenty women made their way up to Jupiter’s third floor apartment and knocked on the door. Jupiter answered, a grin on his face that fell as he came face to face with Diana with the other women behind her.

“Hello, Jupiter,” Diana said before pushing into his apartment.

After they were in the apartment and Jupiter was shoved to the floor, Callisto made her way to the front of the group to stand beside Diana. Jupiter started to open his mouth, but was cut off by a knee connecting with his chin.

Fifteen minutes later, twenty women exited the apartment building, most of them wiping of blood and sweat from knuckles, boots, ect.

Callisto becomes a Constellation

(Ursa Major on Wikipedia)

Months later, Callisto walked down the street with Diana. They talked about Callisto’s new work, talking to girls and women at a nearby YWCA about surviving sexual assault. As they talked, Diana said she could see the fire in Callisto’s eyes.

“Not fire,” Callisto explained, “but stars. Sort of my… guiding light.”

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Author's note: This week I wanted to retell the story of Callisto. In the original story, Jupiter takes on the appearance of Diana and rapes Callisto. When Diana finds out, she kicks Callisto out of her hunting troupe. The Juno, Jupiter's wife, sees that Callisto has given birth to Jupiter's son, she beats Callisto and turns her into a bear. Later, Callisto's son is about to kill her, so Jupiter turns them both into constellations. 

I wanted a different ending. I wanted Callisto to be supported by Diana's group and I wanted repercussions for Jupiter. I will clarify, he didn't die in this telling. Just got the crap beat out of him. To change the story to fit the outcome I wanted, I couldn't have it set in the original Greek setting, or at least, I didn't want to. So instead the setting is a major city of some sort. Diana's group is a gang and they all fiercely support each other. Jupiter is crap, I left that part. I also left the different section titles the same (except for the last one) because I wanted that parallel to the original story. 

Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses: Callisto translated by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses Books 1-4, Part B

(A Roman mosaic from Piraeus depicting Medusa in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens)

(tw: rape mention)

From the second part of this week's readings, I wanted to focus on Perseus and Medusa...but more specifically, the last paragraph where the story of how Medusa came to have snakes for hair was told. I looked up Medusa's Wikipedia page to rad more about her, but as far as the actual myth goes, there isn't much information, and what is there are differing stories. Going with Ovid's telling, since it's the one I read this week, Medusa was raped by Neptune (Posideon) in Minerva's (Athena's) temple, so Minerva turned Medusa's hair to snakes and made her turn people to stone.

This goes along with my Part A reading notes where I talked about Juno's reactions and punishments for women that Jupiter had raped. This is a common theme in Greek mythology, but not one I am a fan of. Looking again to Wikipedia at a list of people who were raped in mythology in general, 9 out of 18 entrees are about Greek mythology. Out of those 9, 7 were raped by gods, 4 by Zeus specifically. This list is not complete, by any means. It leaves out Callisto, which I talked about last week, and I'm sure countless others. What I am not sure of, is why this trope persisted so much. It probably had something to do with people making excuses or wanting to tell a good story, and perhaps the parts about the angry goddesses Juno/Hera and Minerva/Athena were due to who told the story and something to do with gods being unable to rally harm other gods.

A messed up, interesting pattern.

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Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses: Perseus and Medusa translated by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses Books 1-4, Part A

The two stories I want to focus on this week are Phaethon's Ride and Callisto. These were the two stories I found more interesting and might was to retell for this week!

Phaethon's Ride

This story was similar to the famous story of Icarus in that a son ignores his father's warning and is consumed by fire as a result. I had never heard Phaethon's story before and I enjoyed reading it. Phaethon was a young man, overly confident in his parentage, who thought he could wield Phoebus' own chariot, even though he explained not even Jupiter himself could do so. It fits in with other classic tales warning against arrogance and pride. 

If I retell this story this week, I would leave Phaethon's actions the same, but maybe set it in more modern times and have Phaethon's horrible driving be like an unknown cause of global warming/climate change. That is was I was thinking about reading the section that detailed the consequences to the earth for his mistakes. 

(Phaéton on the Chariot of Apollo by Nicolas Bertin)

Callisto

(tw: rape mention)

This was another story I had never heard before, but this one really got me going. It's no secret Jupiter was never able to keep it in his pants, that I hate. What I also hate is how Juno always made it out to be the woman's fault, in this case Callisto, even though Jupiter raped her. Victim blaming was alive and well in ancient Rome and Greece. 

I really felt awful for Callisto in this story because she was thrown out by Diana when she realized Callisto was pregnant. Callisto lost everything and was then turned in to a freaking bear, almost killed by her own son, and then turned into a constellation. 

If I retell this story this week, I would want to change multiple things. first off, the setting. I would set it more modern in like a large city. Second, the character's would be different and I would have Diana and her followers be in like a girl gang. In my story, when Jupiter rapes Callisto, the gang would come together, not shun her, find and beat the hell out of Jupiter. We'll see, I guess! 

(Diana and Callisto by Peter Paul Rubens)

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Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses: Phaethon's Ride and Callisto, translated by Tony Kline

Topic Research: Dungeons and Dragons: Jumanji Edition

For my more in depth research I am looking more into the myths I would use in my D&D/Jumanji style story. In my last post about it, I specifically mentioned Sedna from Inuit mythology, and after looking deeper into Inuit mythology in general, I think I want that to be a theme throughout my story. In this post I will explore potential story points I might use.

Another thing I am thinking on is how I want to tell this story. I'm thinking more of a narrative style, full of details and such, because that's how describing things in D&D usually goes. For combat, though, I want to include something about the unpredictability of D&D because of rolling dice. I want to include some part of that mechanic in the storytelling, but I'm not sure what yet. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

Now, on to the (potential) story.

Introduction

Our heroes will start off around a table at their regularly scheduled D&D game. Their goal that day is to find Sedna, the sea goddess, and appease her. They begin either a new campaign or part of their current campaign, when something odd happens and they are brought inside of the world they have created and now embody their characters.

Story #1

The first story would be about our party encountering Amarok from Inuit mythology. Amarok is a giant wolf trickster who with go after people who hunt alone at night. In my story I would have one character who is furious a their situation, storm off into the woods one night and, of course, encounter Amarok.

Story #2

After the night where one party member turns into a ghost, the party sets off to the nearest sea shore, since they know Sedna lives at the bottom of the ocean. Once they get there, they are at a loss as how to get to her. This is where Qalupalik comes and takes a member of the party.

There was actually a stop-motion film about Qalupalik made to tell the myth that I found really interesting.

Story #3

Finally on a ship, the remaining party members have issues with an Ahkiyyini, a skeleton spirit who can wreck ships by playing their music. Also in this story, the members meet Anguta, the father of Sedna and the one who ferries souls into the underworld. Towards the end of this story, leading into the next one, they also meet Qailertetang who will play an important role.

Story #4

In this story, our members finally make their way to Sedna and attempt to resolve what they traveled there to do. Once everything is done, for better or for worse, the session ends.

Ending

After the campaign is finally over, the players seem to black out and just be back at the table. I intend to write a short sort of...afterword to wrap everything up.


Now that that's done! This post was actually hard to write because I wanted to lay our all of my ideas, and I actually went back and deleted a lot because I don't want to give too much away (or commit to anything haha). I hope it all made sense and I am really looking forward to writing this!!!

(Blue D20s by Me)

Feedback Strategies: Feedforward and Praise

Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback by Marshall Goldsmith

I liked this article about the idea of "feedforward" a lot! Even reading the short overview of feedforward on the assignment page had me looking forward to finding out more. Reading what Goldsmith had found in his studies did not surprise me, but I was surprised that I had never heard of this before. Feedforward is the actually helpful sort of "constructive criticism" that people can learn and better themselves from.

I liked all of the different information Goldsmith had gathered about how people felt about feedforward and why. From my own opinion, I think people take a more positive outlook on feedback when it involves suggestions about what they can change, instead of just honing in on what they did wrong. Feedforward is definitely what I'll be using in my life as much as possible from now on.

(Thumbs Up Icon on Wikimedia)

The Difference Between Praise and Feedback by Mindshift

When it comes to my opinions on praise and feedback, I agree with Carol Dweck. I think the growth mindset and switching to commenting on a child's processes rather than the outcome can be beneficial to children. It puts the positive reinforcement on enjoying yourself and working well, rather than just getting something "right." Though I do agree with Dweck, I do not necessarily completely disagree with Alfie Kohn. Kohn's point about praising children as "good boy/girl" when they do something like take out the trash can indeed impact a child's perception of their self worth.
He gives the trash example and says a child may later feel like they aren't a good kid if they don't take out the trash. 

However, I also don't think Kohn's ideas directly go against Dweck's. I think there is a middle ground of praising your child for partaking in their interests and doing a good job, without making your love seem "conditional" or "manipulative." 

Week 3 Story: The Venus Games

(The Alnwick Garden : Sunshine and Roses In The Walled Garden by Richard West)

The shot opens on a beautiful archway covered in foliage and pink roses before panning up to view a large grassy courtyard. The camera moves slowly over the field where there are eleven people standing in a group, all waving to the camera. The scene cuts and instead we see a gorgeous woman with blonde hair, wearing a flowing white dress with the palest pink tint to it. Next to her sits a young man with strikingly similar facial features and the same golden blonde hair, except his is shorter and in disheveled mop of curls. He wears a similar flowing fabric, tied over one shoulder and secured with a belt at the waist. He has wings on his back, pure white and looking soft as clouds. As the music in the background fades, a band on trumpets picks up. The woman opens her mouth to speak:

“Listen to those beautiful trumpets swell! I love a good lead in, you know. And with that, we are glad to welcome you to the third annual Venus Games! I’m your host, Venus herself an-“

“And I’m your co-host, Cupid!”

“Yes, dear…Anyway! Back to this season’s contestants, my they are a lively bunch. Psyche, can you tell us a little about who we will be watching today?”

The camera switches to a front shot of eleven people down on the grass, and now their faces can be seen. Ten of them stand paired off in five sets, and one woman stands to the side. She, like our hosts, is incredibly beautiful. Her blonde hair is tied up in an intricate knot and her light blue dress seems to float on its own. She smiles at the camera and begins speaking: 

“Thank you, Venus! We have some wonderful contenders here today! We have Viola and Dante, Oscar and Sebastian, Alfie and Alice, Owen and Vanessa, and finally Eve and Illiana!” 

As Psyche recites the names of the couples, the camera moves by them and they all wave enthusiastically. 

The camera cuts back to Venus and Cupid in their booth. Cupid speaks: 

“So let’s talk a little bit about what today will look like. Here on Venus Games, each season we will have five couples compete in our games to challenge the strength of their love and see which couple can stand the tests of time, or the tests of Venus, I should say. Each day, we focus on just one challenge where each couple takes turns completing, or attempting to complete, it. However, at the end of the day, one couple is eliminated. The couple with the lowest score, either from not completing the task, or having the slowest time, will go home. Our last two couples take on the final challenge and one emerges victorious!” 

“A lovely explanation, my dear. You may recall our past winners, Pygmalion and Galatea from season two and our very own Cupid and Psyche from season one! Today we will be focusing on the sorting challenge. Psyche?” 

The camera is back with Psyche and the five couples. Psyche smiles warmly as she explains. 

“For their first task, our couples must sort a mountain of mixed beans, peas, and other similar items into different piles based on what they are. A pile for green peas, a pile for red beans, and so on! Let’s see that mountain!” 

The camera pans back and then past the group to show a pile as tall as one of them in the center of a large blue mat. After a few seconds, it cuts back to Psyche who is standing next to one of the couples. The woman has dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail, sharp cheekbones, and a mid-thigh length toga. The man has curly black hair, a jaw line that could rival Cupid’s, and a similar toga. 

“Our contestants will have fifteen minutes to sort the whole pile! First up are Viola and Dante. They have been married for only three months now, and they are confident they have this challenge in the bag. Let’s see if they’re right. On your marks, get set, go!” 

With that, Viola and Dante sprint to the mat and begin sorting. 

Only ten minutes later, Dante drops the final bean into its pile and a buzzer sounds. Psyche walks over and joins them on the mat and addresses the camera. 

“Well wasn’t that amazing! Viola and Dante have done it! Can I just say, I am truly impressed? This is the first task but it is not meant to be simple! Our other competitors have a lot to live up to after that!” 

The camera follows Viola and Dante as they leave the mat hand in hand, beaming. Then it cuts to Venus and Cupid. Cupid has his hands on his head in surprise. 

“That was incredible! Only ten minutes to sort the whole pile. That is going to be hard to beat!” 

“Yes, it will be. After a commercial break, we will see who gets to try next!” 

The camera fades to black.

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Picking back up after the other four couples have competed: The camera opens to Psyche and Cupid, standing with all five couples. In Cupid’s hand, a golden envelope with a kiss mark from Venus.

“Well after an intense day of competing, it is unfortunately time for one of our couples to go home. In my hands, I have the names of those two people.”

He faces the line of couples and slowly opens the envelope. While waiting, the camera shows different shots of worried expressions.

“Today’s couple that is going home is…Owen and Vanessa, so sorry loves.”

One of the couples hugs each other and cries. The other couples console them and hug them goodbye as they walk off. The camera then switches back to a shot of Venus.

“That’s all for day one, and we hope you join us for day two to watch our sheep shearing challenge! Until then, goodnight from us here at the Venus Games!”

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Author's Note: In the story of Cupid and Psyche, the couple must overcome things like Psyche's jealous sister's, mistrust, and Venus' wrath. In the original, after Psyche finds out she is married to Cupid, she is brought before Venus and Venus makes her perform tasks thought to be impossible. However, with the help of different creatures, Psyche completes all of her tasks and she and Cupid are finally together at the end. 

For this week, I did a retelling of Cupid and Psyche, but I wanted it to be really different. The setting is now a couple's game show hosted by Cupid and Venus where couples compete (performing the same tasks Psyche had to do) for the chance to win the grand prize of...ultimate love? I wanted it to be about Venus testing love because that is why I believe she made Psyche complete the tasks in the first place. I know this was long, so thank you if you stuck it out!! 

Bibliography: "Cupid and Psyche" from within The Golden Ass written by Apuleius, translated by Tony Kline