Line #38 Literature/TheWishingMaiden


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_wishing_maiden_cover_art.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The Wishing Maiden, by [[https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7795001.R_H_Berry R.H. Berry]].]]
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4	--> ''"If I could have any wish,''
5	--> ''I'd wish that I could wed a prince.''
6	--> ''Be happy every moment since,''
7	--> ''The dearest wish that I have."''
8	-->-- '''The shop girl's lament.'''
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11	Written by [[https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7795001.R_H_Berry R.H. Berry]], ''The Wishing Maiden'' is available [[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PH8N5M7/ here]].
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13	[[FieryRedhead Red-haired rogue]] [[LadyOfAdventure Jacquotte]] leads the infamous Red Quintet, a team traveling where ever they please and doing as they like, all in the pursuit of adventure. Circumstance brings them to Felicitie, a thriving kingdom in which the citizens have fallen into the mindset that [[RichBoredom living in peaceful prosperity is dull]], and are starting to grow restless...
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15	Particularly as tales of a legendary maiden, who grants every wish she hears, start to spread as more than myth.
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17	The Red Quintet is charged with tracking down the Wishing Maiden on behalf of the Prince Caietanus and his [[YesMan showpiece of an adviser, Balthazar]], in exchange for not being thrown in prison.
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19	Interspersed with rhyme, ''The Wishing Maiden'' is a fatalistic FairyTale that explores the more destructive aspects of hope and dreams.
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21	!!Tropes found in ''The Wishing Maiden'':
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23	* ActionGirl: Jacquotte.
24	* AmbiguouslyBi: Asha makes mention of a man named Willem who loved her, but avoids stating how she felt about him.
25	* AntiHero: Jacquotte is on the wrong side of the law and is shown unrepentantly killing a vanquished enemy.
26	%%* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Caietanus.]]
27	* BarBrawl: The Red Quintet starts one, and are subsequently caught by the lawmen.
28	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Not the overall message of the story, but significant nonetheless.
29	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Asha, [[spoiler:despite being cuffed at the bottom of a well for a hundred years]], is still beautiful. Possibly a JustifiedTrope in that it's implied someone wished for her to be that way.
30	* BookEnds: The beginning and closing rhyme follows the same structure.
31	%%* BlessedWithSuck: Asha.
32	* BraidsOfAction: Bron, the most physically powerful of the Quintet, wears her hair in a long braid.
33	* CompleteImmortality: [[spoiler:Asha]] does not age, or die.
34	%%* DamselInDistress: Asha.
35	%%* DeathByIrony
36	%%* DeathByMaterialism
37	* DreamSequence: The Wishing Maiden first appears to Jacquotte in one of these. [[spoiler:She comes to her again the same way later, when being held prisoner in Felicitie.]]
38	%%* EmbodimentOfVice: Grete.
39	%%* EmptyShell: Asha.
40	* EroticDream: Part of the DreamSequence.
41	* ExactWords: The nature of wish-granting.
42	* ForYourOwnGood: [[spoiler:When Bron knocks out Jacquotte to steal Asha away.]]
43	* ForgivenButNotForgotten: [[spoiler:Jacquotte, to Bron.]]
44	* GreatOffscreenWar: Rather than having taken place in the past, one appears to be on the brink of brewing.
45	* HopeBringer: Asha; before she is freed, the idea of her gives the people something to dream about. Once she's out...
46	* HopeSpringsEternal: Inverted. Once 'hope' is free, everyone starts pursuing wild dreams, and chaos abounds.
47	%%* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Lyall.
48	* IncompatibleOrientation:
49	** Lyall and Jacquotte. [[spoiler:When Lyall wishes to be attractive, to her, he's turned into a woman.]]
50	** Caietanus (incorrectly) assumes this will be the case between Jacquotte and Asha, which is part of why he decided to send a woman to find his potential bride.
51	* InnerMonologue: Sometimes InnerMonologueConversation, written in [[SingleStanzaSong poetry]].
52	* KindRestraints: [[spoiler:Asha put herself in captivity, with the aid of her once-beau, Willem.]]
53	%%* LadyOfAdventure: Jacquotte.
54	* LipstickLesbian: Possibly Jacquotte; she is referred to as having long hair and being quite pretty, but there is some overlap due to her roguish tendencies and ability to fight capably.
55	* LiteralGenie: Asha cannot help but be this.
56	%%* LoopholeAbuse
57	%%* ManipulativeBastard: Balthazar, though it's mostly off-screen.
58	* MeaningfulName:
59	** The four other members of the Quintet all have names that identify a key personality trait: Grete is greedy, Bron is brawny, Lyall is loyal, and Sly is...well, sly.
60	** The Wishing Maiden's name is 'Asha', meaning 'wish, desire, hope'.
61	** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquotte_Delahaye Jacquotte Delahaye]] was a French pirate known for her vivid red hair.
62	** ''The Wishing Maiden'' is rife with this, including the names of places (Felicitie being a reference to 'luck', and ship they arrived on being called the ''Pandora''...)
63	* MysticalWhiteHair: Asha.
64	* PowerDegeneration: [[spoiler:Every wish Asha grants causes her extreme, potentially deadly, pain. However, since she's also cursed with CompleteImmortality, it just hurts like she's dying.]]
65	* PowerIncontinence: Asha has no control over which wishes she grants.
66	%%* PyrrhicVictory
67	* RescueRomance: Jacquotte thinks she's pursuing this. Turns out there are...other factors.
68	* RoyalBrat: Prince Caietanus is an adult version.
69	* ShroudedInMyth: Part of what makes the Wishing Maiden so difficult to find.
70	* SingleStanzaSong: Not always only one stanza, but the lyrical snippets that display the characters' thoughts aren't full-song length.
71	* ThrownDownAWell: [[spoiler:Where Asha is found.]]
72	* TreacherousAdvisor: Balthazar has plots of his own, against Caietanus. [[PointyHairedBoss He can't entirely be blamed for this.]]
73	%%* UnresolvedSexualTension
74	* UnwantedRescue: [[spoiler:Asha put ''herself'' at the bottom of the well.]]

Context Literature / TheWishingMaiden