Brief Two; Tin Tin FanFiction

The Adventures of Tin Tin; Sky Tower Turmoil

Tin Tin steered through the window pane and into the distance, trying to make out the city’s edge. He had no such hope, as thick grey fog consumed everything further than the apartment block across the street. Tin Tin sighed and returned to sit on his bed. His plans for a day of exploring Auckland were looking slightly grim.

“Wouah! Wouah!” Snowy barked, tugging at Tin Tin’s trouser pant.

“Calm down, Snowy! We can’t go outside just yet. This isn’t India! It’s a temperamental place Chang said, it’s cold, hot, wet, dry, calm and windy all in one day. Now be patient boy, and hopefully soon the rain will clear!”

“Wouah! Wouah! Wouah!”

Snowy just wasn’t giving up this morning, and rightfully so…

“Snowy! Leave me alone!” Tin Tin growled back.

Snowy, and Tin Tin too, were having a few self-worth issues lately. It’d been a while since the pair’s presence had been requested by a Majesty or a Your Highness of some sort. However, they were making the most of their time off, and visiting parts of the world they’d never seen before. Their last mission was almost exactly a year ago, when they had been in India attempting to have a well-earned rest, but ended up leaving for Shanghai and busting a dangerous lot of opium traffickers. Auckland, New Zealand was their last stop before returning home. It had been suggested to them by Chang, Tin Tin’s great friend he’d made on the Blue Lotus mission, who was now carrying out an exchange at a University in Auckland city.

“Wouah!” Snowy barked, giving it one final go. Tin Tin didn’t budge.

Suit yourself, don’t listen to me, I’m just a dog! Thought Snowy. A dog with a much better sense for danger than you! Snowy growled. 

Tin Tin had always listened to Snowy in the past, but since the demand for their greatness had dried up, it seemed their bond had weakened too. Snowy left Tin Tin’s leg and curled up in the corner of the room, staring at the door that had now been ajar for quite some time.

Finally, Tin Tin came to his senses. He realised the door to his hotel room was open, when he’d locked it the night before.

“Snowy, did you open the door?!” Tin Tin questioned, getting up on his feet.
Snowy rolled his eyes, giving his owner a ‘now you acknowledge me’ look.

Tin Tin jumped towards the door and peered into the hallway. Not a soul in sight.

“How peculiar”, he thought out loud.

Snowy appeared between his feet, coaxing Tin Tin to look at the floor. A familiar white envelope lay untouched on the carpet. Hesitantly, Tin Tin reached for it, and began to break it’s seal. It’d been a while since he’d seen one of those; he’d almost forgotten what to do with it!

Unraveling the piece of white paper, Tin Tin read in hand written words,

“Sorry for this inconvenience?! I’m going on an adventure!”

It was 3:56pm. Tin Tin waited patiently with Snowy sat obediently by his side. And then, just as 4 o’clock came around, a black Mercedes pulled up at the curb. Out of the passenger door, rose an ordinary looking man in a black suit.

The man in the suit extended his hand.

“Ah, Tin Tin, pleasure to meet you. My name is John Key,” he said as they shook hands.  

“Thank you for showing up! Not that I doubted you would.” He added with a smile.

“No, it is my pleasure, Sir! Thank you for requesting my services.” Tin proclaimed. Snowy yelped in agreement.

Mr Key guided Tin Tin into the building, Snowy followed closely behind.

“Sorry, no dogs allowed.” grunted a large security guard. Tin Tin looked at the security guard, then across to Mr Key, and then back to the security guard. Their faces showed little remorse.

“Sorry, boy” said Tin Tin, shrugging his shoulders. Hurt, Snowy walked back outside, and again, curled up into a ball.

Time passed slowly, Snowy wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there for. Long enough for the sky to turn a much darker shade of grey…fifty shades darker even. The Mercedes was still parked in the same spot beside the curb. That driver must be blimming bored, Snowy thought to himself.

Suddenly, a black van pulled up behind the Mercedes. Out of the back jumped a broad shouldered woman, with short dark hair and stocky legs. She pounced onto the pavement, carrying a large weapon in her left hand.

Snowy barked and barked. He knew this lady was trouble, and she was headed straight toward the building’s entrance!

Nobody took notice of Snowy’s frantic barking. He was just a silly little yelping dog, hungry or taunting a bird, they assumed. With a name like mine, who could take me seriously anyways? Snowy thought, feeling ignored and upset.

But the woman didn’t turn into the entrance as Snowy expected. She continued down the footpath…she seemed to be headed straight towards him.

Me? Snowy thought, what does she want with me?! He jumped to his paws and attempted to scramble away, but it was too late. He found himself being scooped up into the women’s ‘weapon’, unable to escape the net surrounding him, forcing him into a squished bundle.

“Gotcha, pup!” the woman exclaimed in a rather manly tone. Snowy yelped.

“You should know better than to lurk around these city streets. This is my territory, and I keep it stray-free!” she continued, and Snowy found himself being lumped into the back of the van.

Meanwhile, Tin Tin walked down the stairs to the front entrance, accompanied by Mr Key.

“So be there at 12am tonight, Chang will give you the signal, and it’ll all fall into place from there.” Mr Key repeated, Tin Tin nodding obediently.

“Snowy? Where are ya, boy?” Tin Tin scanned the street, Snowy was nowhere to be seen.

The van engine rattled, and began to reverse out of its parked spot. Tin Tin gasped, reading the side of the van,

‘DOG CONTROL’

Tin Tin ran, but it was too late. The van sped off down the street, with Snowy yelping in the back.

“Sorry, Mister Prime Minister, this terrorist business will have to wait, you’ll have to save your own Sky Tower. I’ve got my best friend to rescue!”

*TO BE CONTINUED*

To what extent does your fanfiction replicate a component of, or all of Vogler’s plot points?

I originally planned for my fanfiction to be about another one of TinTin’s adventure’s, where he saves the day, preventing a terrorist attack on the Sky Tower. However, due to the 1000 word limit, I found it difficult to cover this plot with a strong three act structure in such little words. So, I focused my story on the relationship between Snowy and TinTin, creating a minor plot within the longer story, as I feel this is an aspect that has not been covered in depth before in Herge’s work.

In the end of my fanfic, we realise it was about Snowy all along. I chose a ‘to be continued’ ending to my story because I want to write this further, however did not have enough words for this particular project. I also feel it gives it the typical comic like cliff hanger ending, making you want to read what happens next. I have written the story so it could be translated into comic form, however unfortunately I don’t have the artistic skills for this myself!

I focused on the Act One component of my story, replicating Vogler’s ‘mythic structure’ (1998). The hero, TinTin, is ‘introduced in the ordinary world’, his hotel room, where he ‘receives a call to adventure’, in the form of a letter (a commonly used motif in many Tin Tin stories). Vogler (1998) states that in the first act, “the central question of the story is raised, the complication, which will be answered in the climax”. The underlying question we are proposed with in Act One is one of Snowy and Tin Tin’s relationship; will they strengthen their bond again? Will they be called upon again and work together to save the day? This question is answered in the climax, when, after ignoring Snowy throughout the entire story, Tin Tin realises what is most important to him, and sets off to rescue his beloved Snowy, instead of carrying out the mission at hand.

In regards to Vogler’s ‘seven archetypes’, Tin Tin of course plays the ‘Hero’, typically willing to “serve and sacrifice” (Vogler, 1998). I created a neutral ‘Herald’ archetype in Prime Minister John Key. Replicating Vogler’s plot points, Mister Key appears in Act One to “bring challenge to the hero”. He is also a new person, brings valuable information, and changes Tin Tin’s view point about being out of work and feeling un-needed, all aspects seen in Voglers ‘Herald’ archetype. As Vogler puts it, he is “psychologically the call to change” (1998).

If I were to extend the story, the dog catcher would represent the Threshold Guardian archetype, a “gateway” figure representing an obstacle. This character is testing the Hero, therefore advancing his powers – in this scenario, making Tin Tin realise how important Snowy is to him, by taking him away. However, since my story is in shortened version, the dog catcher could be considered the bad guy, a Shadow archetype, who challenges the Hero, represents what the Hero must ultimately overcome.