Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

SilasCrane t1_j6ez6e8 wrote

Reply to comment by AShellfishLover in [WP] The person you're dating comes to dinner to meet your family. But the instant you step in the door, your grandmother goes deathly pale, and shouts the name of a creature from her country's folklore. by Affectionate_Bit_722

Wow. Truly brilliant work. I loved the characterizations, the detail, and the use of language. The thing I liked most, however, was how you adapted the source material.

In your story, the classic folklore monster that lures mortals to their doom is not made out to be a tragic predator who just can't help itself etc. But rather, and more interestingly, I think, the one who seemed to be the fisherman in the story, was actually the bait.

And yet, even in taking that marked diversion from the source material, you didn't just stomp all over the lore of the Fossegrim. The poor girl does drown, and it's not unreasonable for a witness to think he was responsible; he says as much in his song.

Merely making an evil figure of folklore sympathetic is no longer a subversion of the trope -- it's become more the rule than the exception, if anything. But you gave a fresh take on an old story while respecting the story you drew your inspiration from. Again, brilliant!

27

AShellfishLover t1_j6f04x0 wrote

I really hate subversion as it has been used as a cudgel in contemporary urban/modern fantasy. I like the rules, and when we start into a point where you slap an old name on your creature because ours are different? Ugh, it's infuriating.

What I like to do is work within the 'rules' set forward by the specific creature, and then try to delve into the why. There's no real deep lore on why they drown their prey, or the reason for later redemption necessarily. Having a little base to build on and then make my own reasons? More fun.

9