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So, I'm working up my take on the Grimms' fairy tale Hans my Hedgehog (that version is translated by D. L. Ashliman). I promise I'm being good, and staying true to the original -- even including the "Happy" reconciliation with the emotionally abusive father.*
But the more I've got this going around in my head, the more I want to write my own, fleshed-out, novella-style, version like the stories in the Snow White, Blood Red anthology series. And in my version, Hans would keep his hedgehog skin, instead of shedding and burning it, since the original story is basically about how you can't join society until you are cured. And cures just aren't coming for most people. And also: continuing to claim your humanity and your rights and personal power while being a monster just has many more layers of interest, in terms of storytelling potential, then playing the role of king while being handsome and strong and pretty to look at (imnsho). And in my version, a major subplot would be his relationship with his riding rooster, and how the bird came into his life, and whether it was a normal sized rooster, and Hans was normal hedgehog-sized, or whether Hans grew to human-sized, and the rooster was giant.
Also, in order to get into the proper frame of mind, since Hans' bagpipe-playing is a major plot point, today, I've been wallowing in YouTube videos of German bagpipes. I can't decide whether Hans is playing the full-sized "Shepherd's Pipe" (since he's taken on the job of being a shepherd), or the smaller "Chamber Pipe" (since that's smaller, and closer to hedgehog/boy size. In any case, he'd need human fingers and elbows to play it, so he can't be 100% hedgehog from the waist up...
So, anyway. That's been my day, so far.
*there is not enough "Blech!" in the world to express my true feelings on this.
But the more I've got this going around in my head, the more I want to write my own, fleshed-out, novella-style, version like the stories in the Snow White, Blood Red anthology series. And in my version, Hans would keep his hedgehog skin, instead of shedding and burning it, since the original story is basically about how you can't join society until you are cured. And cures just aren't coming for most people. And also: continuing to claim your humanity and your rights and personal power while being a monster just has many more layers of interest, in terms of storytelling potential, then playing the role of king while being handsome and strong and pretty to look at (imnsho). And in my version, a major subplot would be his relationship with his riding rooster, and how the bird came into his life, and whether it was a normal sized rooster, and Hans was normal hedgehog-sized, or whether Hans grew to human-sized, and the rooster was giant.
Also, in order to get into the proper frame of mind, since Hans' bagpipe-playing is a major plot point, today, I've been wallowing in YouTube videos of German bagpipes. I can't decide whether Hans is playing the full-sized "Shepherd's Pipe" (since he's taken on the job of being a shepherd), or the smaller "Chamber Pipe" (since that's smaller, and closer to hedgehog/boy size. In any case, he'd need human fingers and elbows to play it, so he can't be 100% hedgehog from the waist up...
So, anyway. That's been my day, so far.
*there is not enough "Blech!" in the world to express my true feelings on this.
