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Once Upon An
Antimagical

Wren Johnson

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Wren Johnson

Violet Stars

About the Author

Wren Johnson is an ace Korean-American with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Literature. Her debut novel is the YA tale Once Upon an Antimagical. Wren is a writer and MI, which stands for "mentally interesting." It's a condition that has helped her better narrate a story about the characters, with understanding and empathy. She considers Once a tale about imperfect, strong young women as they do their best to find Ruse's (rhymes with Lucy's) missing mother. Wren doesn't hate running, writing, and being a cat mom. She finds it odd to type in the third person.

The Characters

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This is our girl Ruse (rhymes with Lucy). She's holding her new kitten, Honey.

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  • Fiercely protective of her new kitten

  • Bullied 

  • Suffers chronic anxiety

  • Has fair hand-to-hand combat skills 

  • While possessed of a great sense of fairness, she is known to be a little vindictive.

  • Likes sandwiches

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Fa (as in Do Re Mi) is Ruse's closest friend

 

  • ​Doesn't see Ruse in her visions

  • Dearly loves Orfiel, her duck familiar, although she teases him 

  • Suffers from chronic depression

  • The calm one of the trio

  • Can't stand white wine and canned snails

  • Likes custard

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This is Hana, Ruse's other friend. 

 

  • She firmly believes most problems can be solved with a well-placed fist

  • Or two

  • In a choice between peace and violence she often chooses violence

  • Opna, her bee familiar, is the delight of her life

  • Can't hold her liquor or a tune

  • Likes pizza

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From Whence Came...?

The PlayStation game Valkyrie Profile inspired me to discover my own story. Although the game presented the objective of preventing Ragnarok, the true point of the game is to allow it to happen. (However, it is very difficult to accomplish without the help of the handbook.) The protagonist of the game is Lenneth, the Valkyrie, who is tasked by Freya to gather the souls of the worthy dead to fight alongside Odin's army as einherjar against the Vanir. Lenneth's character undergoes a beautiful development wherein she transforms from a loyal mid-level goddess who blindly trusts the other gods to someone who discovers her own truth and family on her own terms. I took inspiration from Lenneth's persona to create the  funny, fierce, and feminist character of Ruse.

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This is my inspiration for Ruse, Lenneth Valkyrie.

Contacts

Email: Antimagical3@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antimagical3/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@antimagical3

Welcome to the blog

Wix is charging me to have a second webpage because, never having made a webpage, I thought a separate page was necessary. Live and learn. 

So this is my blog page now, not that it's a proper one, but I've already made inroads.

About

The Characters & The Inspiration

 

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