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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Macbeth" data-source="post: 2026060" data-attributes="member: 11259">Okay, first, my thanks to the judges and my opponent. That was fun!Second, onto the biggest issue here: by reinterpreting the story I mean 'almost completely rewriting' and I should have made this clearer. I think this story is just about as derivative as if somebody retold Cinderella in Kuwait with a fairy god-camel that demands favors in return for viscious pains inflicted on her sisters. Obviously, this isn't the original story (but now that I've written the outline, I kind of like it), it has both cosmetic, thematic, and (persumably) grammatical differences. It has the same basic plot points, but it is a different beast.To fend off any fears that this story was too derivative, let me (very briefly) retell the original story, or at least the version from the book I remember from my childhood:A young boy, Giovanni (the story was set in Renassance Italy), lives on the streets, but can juggle quite well. He finds a bit of work with a travelling troupe of actors/clowns, and develops into a prodigy, becoming a star in and of himself. He has a set act, ending with the rainbow balls and 'the sun in the heavens.' He sets out on his own, performing for kings and queens, lords and ladies. There's a biref scene that I always felt was a little out of place where Giovanni speaks with some monks who share his food while he travels to his next act (most of the story is told in a very fast, third person view, but this scene had dialogue and slowed quite a bit). He grows in fame until eventually people don't care anymore, and he becomes poor again, sleeping on the streets and so on. One cold night he decides to sleep in the back corner of a church, only toi be awoken by a midnight mass for christmas. He sees the ritch people leaving presents at the foot of a statue, and gives it the only gift he knows: a performance. He dies, the statue smiles, the end.Really, my story (without the monks, with the troupe, with the supporting characters, with the modern setting, with the fantastic powers, with the face beneath the church) is quite a bit different.But now I'm sounding too defensive. I knew I was taking a risk reworking a classic tale, but I wanted to do it anyway. Glad it turned out alright. I don't think I'm goign to try that again, but I'm glad I did it once.I have to say, seeing the comment that it 'sounded like a folk tale' is one of the best things I could have heard. I wanted it to be clear that it was a folk tale, but not loose my own vboice, and not hit the reader over the head with it.Overall, thanks to everybody. I'm ready for the second round, the sooner the better.</blockquote>

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