i'm having a hard time putting the images from the market into the blog post UGHHHHH ㅠㅠ i think i'll take inspo from nara and put them all in a little slideshow, n add little anecdotes there alongside the fully written review / exploration in the post itself.
i do have something else i want to share, though, and i want to ask (even though i think i might have asked it before?): how do you feel about modern fairy tale retellings?
i dunno. i think it works sometimes, doesn't at other times. the main thing for me that's important is how the themes of the original fairy tale come into play, and potentially the relationship dynamics that were present (especially how that changes in the contexts from the past to the present / future). also. if they claim to take inspiration / be based off of the fairy tale, and have like... almost no reference to the original tale at all aside from the names of the characters and their personalities, / hobbies then i don't really think that's a retelling...? i'm opinionated on it, but i understand it's always different for others. what do you think?
and of course, this isn't exactly to say that books that call themselves retellings and do the above are all bad, they're just not categorized right in some cases.
this thought popped up in my head because my friend recently shared a video with me of a nostalgic moment pertaining to [GROUP THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED]. i don't exactly remember the specific trail of thought, but somehow it brought me back to a weird fanfic i wrote (but didn't complete, eep) a long time ago, which was inspired by snow white somewhat...
it was called huntsman next door. the basic premise was that there was an evil queen up in the clouds, who siphoned "beauty energy" from girls her mirror pointed out on earth to be the prettiest. she'd send out her huntsmen, who'd find them and put them into a deep, nigh-eternal and nigh-inescapable slumber. then, the girls would be taken to the sky palace, laid in their rooms, and their "beauty energy" would be taken by the queen to keep herself beautiful for all time.
the main character bobae was originally targeted when she was a child (sort of parallel to how snow white was considered the most beautiful from the first moment the queen arrived), but the huntsman sent after her back then became her adoptive father instead and strove to protect her for the rest of his life. this angered the queen, and while he could fight off the other huntsmen that she sent or convince them to join him, he ended up permanently injured and weakened. (his character was also one of the older members of the irl kpop group.)
one day when she's in high school, he notices the queen's target on her again. only huntsmen and former huntsmen can see it. but, he doesn't tell her, as she was too young to remember anything about the queen or her huntsmen.
and then, well, enter the huntsman. he enrolls in bobae's school and befriends her. and of course, originally it was a fluke, but then it became for eels... they get froyo together, hang out and do homework, go shopping, etc etc... her father catches onto what he's doing, but doesn't know what to do without telling her everything, which (for reasons i don't recall) he stubbornly doesn't want to do. or maybe he just doesn't know how? she wouldn't believe him? i really don't remember.
then. their class goes on a big winter trip. it's cozy and beautiful, skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, all that. there's also nearby bakeries and kitchens to explore. on the second day of the trip, bobae decides to bake an apple pie to celebrate the fun winter trip, and her new friend. but then. he ends up slipping in the sleeping potion, and completes his mission.
only temporarily, though-- she ends up waking up again, though i don't remember why. i think it had to do with how the huntsman felt for her. he finds her in the cloud palace and wants to explain, but of course her trust has been completely shattered and all she wants is to go home and see her father and friends again.
he obliges, but this means this is the second time she's evaded the queen's capture...
and then i erased 90% my fics. including that one. i sorta regret it now because i wish i remembered exactly what i wrote and how things unfolded, but who knows? maybe i could rewrite it and make it more of an original thing. i think i was going for some weird explanation of my thoughts around the beauty industry / beauty standards.
i do remember i wanted to end it with all the girls stuck in the cloud palace being freed by bobae, and the queen defeated. but how? i also wouldn't know what to do with the huntsman's changed role in the story. because obvi she wouldn't want to be anywhere near him anymore, so???
what do you guys think?
sotd: spring garden from dynasty warriors online
5 comments:
yay image slideshow!! and little anecdotes would make it all the more better. i love that idea :D
i don’t read many fairytale retellings, but if i did i think i’d feel a similar way to u. i’d feel some type of way about such major changes for a story that claims to be based off of a fairytale.
woah ur such a great writer, all ur plots are so interesting~ i love how u connected it to real word problems of beauty standards, how creative. (if u ever rewrite it lmk bc that sounds like such a fun read!!)
YAY! THAT'S A COOL IDEA!!!!! and... omg huntsman next door sounds like such a cool concept actually ;; the whole "adoptive father huntsman who defied the queen" twist is so interesting, and the apple pie betrayal... i totally get why u regret deleting it (but also means you get to rebuild it however you want now~)
and i'm fully with you on the retelling take!!! it works so much better when the original themes are actually doing something rather than just being borrowed for the aesthetic.
for the ending i'm not totally sure but... maybe the beauty energy thing is the key? like the girls collectively refusing to give the queen anything more is what breaks her power, and bobae leads that from the inside? it feels thematically right (perhaps?)
as for the huntsman... i think maybe he just doesn't get a clean resolution with bobae, and that has to be okay. he could work alongside her father and focus on helping the freed girls instead. redemption through action rather than forgiveness, bittersweet but earned?? idk lol.
would 1000% read this eugeneeee >:333
thank u nara!!!!!!!! :D n v interesting, but it's cool to see we're on the same page :3
thank u thank u!!!!! i def will let u know if that happens, eep :3
WAAAAA THANK U KOIIIIIIII :3 i remember the adoptive father being my fave character to write, tbh. i think he'd be a fan favorite in gen, he'd be a really complex character. v fun. (wait u're so right................ IT CAN BE ANYTHING NOW. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--) also it seems as if we're all on the same page abt retellings! interesting~ :0
oooo i think i get what you're going for! it would be rather full-circle and satisfying. maybe we could add something about dreams too, in order to wake them up. i like it, eep~
WAIT I LOVE THE HUNTSMAN DEVELOPMENTTTTTTTT, it would be perfectly bittersweet but probs the most realistic / right way to go. thank u koi :3
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