once_upon_fic letter
Dear once_upon_fic creator,
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badritual. I'm super excited we matched up for this challenge! I'm sure I'll be thrilled with whatever you decide to write, and I hope something here pings your interest! Gifts are enabled if anyone wishes to leave extra treats.
I like gen, het, slash, femslash, poly-ships (poly-v too), etc. You're welcome to interpret my character noms as any, rather than all, though you're free to include all characters in a fic if you want! I'm also okay with not including all of the nominated characters. Also, if you want to include unnominated characters, I'm absolutely okay with that too!
I have used parts of previous letters to compose the body of this letter. If anything is confusing, or you have any questions or need clarification, you can reach me through the mods or you can anonymously message me via tumblr!
What I Love:
I'm really, really into gothic romance/gothic horror/horror of any stripe. I also love ambiguous/happy for now/sad endings. I love things that are not necessarily tied up with a neat pretty bow. That's not to say I don't enjoy a happy ending, though! This is mostly just to reassure you, the author, that if a happy ending doesn't seem to fit the story, or isn't coming, don't stress about it. I love endings that fit the story being told, regardless of whether or not they're happy. Aside from horror, I like romcoms, romcoms/comedies of errors, found family/families of choice, strong platonic friendships, broad comedy, understated/subtle comedy, cats (characters adopting/owning cats, turning into cats, caring for cats, cat familiars, werecats, etc.), religious and philosophical themes, postmodernism, and pastiche/epistolary to name just a few.
I tend to leave all art decisions up to the individual artist. The only art style I'm not into is chibi art, but other than that, knock yourselves out!
My main DNWs are listed below. Exceptions will be noted within the body of the letter:
DNWs:
• domestic violence/abuse
• permanent character death of requested characters
• violence against animals/animal death/animal harm
• sexual content of any rating involving teens 15 and under
• A/B/O, BDSM, and kneeling 'verses (these tropes appearing as "one offs" is fine, not interested in universes structured around them)
• mpreg
• pregnancy/kidfic (unless the kid is already an existing character in canon)
• watersports/omorashi/scat/etc
• feeding/stuffing
• fatphobia/bodyshaming/focus on eating disorders/focus on appearance
• focus on unrequested or background pairings at the expense of requested pairings
• mundane AUs (i.e. coffee shop, flower shop, cafe, high school/college, etc)
• vampire/werewolf/zombie AUs for fandoms where they don't exist
• dystopias/dystopian AUs
• horror that centers on mental institutions/hospitals/etc. (characters just being hospitalized or institutionalized for health reasons is okay)
• inclusion of current real-world events such as ongoing wars/U.S. politics/etc (exception to this being COVID as even passing references are hard to avoid)
Some Stuff I Like:
• gothic/gothic romance/horror/ghost stories!!!
• southern gothic/midwestern gothic/suburban gothic/urban gothic/regional gothic in general
• space gothic (think Event Horizon and the Alien series)
• cosmic horror
• body horror
• monsters!!! sentient monsters!!! monsters that just wanna eat things!!!
• eldritch architecture/houses/houses that want to eat you
• eldritch nature/nature that wants to eat you
• eldritch spaceships/planets/etc. (that want to eat you)
• bodyswap
• gray morality/shady ethics/etc.
• forced/close proximity
• time travel/time loops/time fuckery
• pining
• ghosts/hauntings/etc.
• miscommunication (within reason)
• poly/poly-v relationships
• enemies to lovers
• friends to lovers to enemies to lovers
• friends to enemies to lovers
• unhealthy/codependent relationships
• obsession/obsessive relationships
• relationships with a power imbalance (i.e. mentor/pupil, priest/parishioner, older partner/younger partner, queen/subject, etc.)
• power imbalances/power dynamics inverted (i.e. the student in the professor/student relationship has/gains the power, parishioner has/gains power over the priest, subject controls the queen, etc.)
• manipulation/mindgames (especially mutual manipulation/mindgames)
• characters facing/dealing with mortality (of their lives, their livelihoods, careers, etc.)
• age gap
• platonic soulmates
• amnesiafic
• epistolary/social media pastiche
• future fic
• casefic
• ensemble fic
• found family/families of choice
• complicated relationships
• professional/career-related jealousy
• ritual sex/resurrection rituals
• public consummation of marriage
• witchcraft/witches
• scary/creepy/spooky interpretations of fairytales/mythology/folklore/etc.
• deals gone wrong (supernatural demon deals/deals with the devil literally or figuratively... not talking like business deals that fall through, although if that was a metaphor for something...)
• small town AUs (small town in the suburban gothic sense rather than cute, quaint villages and whatnot)
The following prompts are meant as suggestions. I'll be perfectly happy with any combination of Stuff I Like, favorite tropes, freeforms, etc., if none of the ideas I've offered grab your attention. I also probably won't have prompts/ideas for every iteration of the characters I've nominated, but if you would prefer to focus on an individual character rather than a friendship or romantic pairing that's fine too!
The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs (Urban Legend)
[source]
Characters:
Babysitter
The Man Upstairs
Child Being Babysat
Prompts/ideas:
Give me a version of the story where the babysitter turns the tables on the man upstairs. Or, you can't go wrong with setting it in outer space! Claustrophobic space gothic for the win! Or go meta with it and give me the social media pastiche...
Maybe mash up this urban legend with a modern horror movie setting/scenario, like Happy Death Day, Halloween, or Scream, for example. I like time loops/time travel and slasher/horror movies. I also love the atmosphere of Taxi Driver and Joyce Carol Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, so something set in the '60s/'70s would be right up my alley.
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'd prefer no child-harm. The child can be under threat of harm, I just don't want them to actually be hurt. Also, if you want to write something sexually explicit between the babysitter/man upstairs, I'd prefer the babysitter to be 16 or older; I'd also prefer them not to be cis male.
La Barbe bleue | Bluebeard - Charles Perrault
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
La Barbe bleue | Bluebeard
La dernière femme de la Barbe bleue | Bluebeard's Last Wife
La première femme de la Barbe bleue | Bluebeard's First Wife
L'avant-dernière femme de la Barbe bleue | Bluebeard's Penultimate Wife
Prompts/ideas:
I adore any and all interpretations of this story, from the original tale to movies like Crimson Peak, Elizabeth Harvest, and Ex Machina, and books like Catherynne M. Valente's Comfort Me With Apples and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber.
I would love if you reinterpreted the tale in space. Maybe Bluebeard's a sentient space ship intent on devouring the last inhabitant, rather than a menacing husband. Or perhaps he and his wife are space travellers trapped in space together. Maybe they're aliens!
Or take a look at it with modern eyes. Maybe, rather than a new husband and wife, they're a businessman and a new employee, or professor and his new student.
You could even sexswap them, with Bluebeard as an older woman. Maybe the new spouse is a younger man or woman, or not even a spouse but a new employee or co-worker. How do these changes alter the story? Feel free to take the story to new and unfamiliar places. Look at it from a queer lens, if that interests you!
Tell me more about the penultimate wife; did she ever get close to getting free of Bluebeard? Perhaps, in a twist, she does manage to save herself and she's able to pass on her knowledge to the last wife...
I'd also be really interested in epistolary storytelling and outsider POV with the Bluebeard tale; maybe the story is retold as a found footage film or a series of correspondence between one of the wives and someone outside Bluebeard's castle?
I'd also be interested in character studies of Bluebeard's wives: who were they? Why did they marry Bluebeard? Did they have a choice, were they forced into it or given away by family?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'm fine with canon-typical levels of violence and threats, and will make an exception for non-physical abuse (emotional/mental/psychological/etc) in a relationship for this fandom.
Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen
[source]
Characters:
Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid
Prins | Prince
Prinsesse | Princess
Heksen | Sea Witch (Den lille Havfrue)
Prompts/ideas:
While I'm not opposed to sad/bad/HFN/etc endings, I'd love a happier ending for the titular mermaid, either in the arms of the prince or reunited with her sisters. If you're open to it, I'd also be happy with Mermaid/Prince/Princess, or Prince/Princess.
On the flipside, I'm always down for some dark, manipulative Mermaid/Sea Witch. Perhaps the sea witch seduces the Mermaid into giving up more than she originally meant to. Or maybe the Mermaid finally turns the tables, getting the sea witch under her thumb. Perhaps the sea witch targets the prince, as she did in the Disney movie, but has more tricks up her sleeve.
Additional Notes:
N/A
Dornröschen | Little Briar-Rose - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
[source]
Characters:
Little Briar Rose
Thirteenth Wise Woman
Twelfth Wise Woman
Prompts/ideas:
Like many other requests I've made for this challenge, I enjoy most of the takes on Sleeping Beauty/Little Briar-Rose/etc. from Grimm to Disney to Anne Rice.
Feel free to throw the characters into a space AU, a gothic/horror setting, or even some other fantasy setting. I'm up for queer interpretations/variations too. I'm also fine with dub/noncon along the lines of the Anne Rice Sleeping Beauty retellings.
Backstory on the thirteenth wise woman would also be fascinating (while steering away from material like Maleficent as I'm not familiar with the movies).
If you could figure out how to work out a story focusing on Briar Rose and the wise women, that could be interesting too. Maybe in this instance, the princess possesses some magic of her own?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
N/A
The Heavenly Maiden and the Wood Cutter - Zong Dog-Bong
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Wood Cutter
Heavenly Maiden
The Wood Cutter's Mother
Prompts/ideas:
I grew up with the Korean version of this fairy tale and it has a special place in my heart. Maybe update it to the modern day, or set it in the future, or in outer space! Rather than a heavenly maiden, maybe she's a space princess and the wood cutter is a space pirate or an alien prince or explorer. Or perhaps she's now a pop star and the wood cutter is an admirer!
There are many versions of this tale, or similar stories; perhaps the maiden and woodcutter are reincarnated every generation and forced to re-experience their tragic tale until they get it right...
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
N/A
The Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden - Dr. R. Wilhelm
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
White Jade Ruler
Weaving Maiden
Herd Boy
The Yellow Cow
Prompts/ideas:
I grew up with the Korean version of this tale, too. Fairy tales just seem well-suited to space AUs, and I know I suggest space AUs a lot, but I think this one would really work as one.
Or you could stick with the fairy tale and write a moment where the Weaving Maiden and the Herd Boy are able to have some time together after the events of the fairy tale. What about something from an outsider perspective?
What about a modern AU? How would you update the fairy tale to the modern age?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
N/A
The Slit-Mouthed Woman (Japanese Urban Legend)
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Kuchisake-onna | The Slit-Mouthed Woman
Samurai Husband
The Slit-Mouthed Woman's Victim
Prompts/ideas:
A modern feminist and/or queer update to this urban legend could be interesting! Update it for the modern day, send them to outer space, or put a horror/slasher movie spin on it (or borrow from the plot of a movie, if you wanted). Give the slit-mouthed woman a happier ending, put her to rest, let her get revenge on her samurai husband, and/or find a victim. Did Kuchisake-onna have children? If so, what does her child think of their mother's legacy? Does she visit her child? Does her child visit her?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'll make an exception for domestic violence for this fandom, considering the source material.
Snedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Gerda
Kai
The Snow Queen
Prompts/ideas:
The love story of Kai and Garda is timeless and sweet, but I'm also interested in the relationship between Kai and the Snow Queen as well. A further exploration of Kai's time with the Snow Queen or a post-canon story where she returns for him would be amazing.
I'd also be happy with a modern retelling, the characters transposed into a horror story, or a sci-fi take. Maybe Kai and Garda are space explorers and the Snow Queen is a sentient spaceship that develops an attachment to Kai. Or put them in a gothic romance/horror: Kai is abducted by a dark figure and whisked away to her foreboding manor, while Gerda must find him before it's too late (which is kind of the plot of the fairy tale, I guess, BUT nevertheless).
Additional Notes:
N/A
장화홍련전 | Janghwa Hongryeon Jeon | The Story of Rose Flower and Red Lotus
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Hongryeon | Red Lotus
Janghwa | Rose Flower
Stepmother
Eldest Son | First Son
Prompts/ideas:
There have been a few modern adaptations of this story, including A Tale of Two Sisters and the American remake, The Uninvited. You can mine those for story/plot/etc., or you can stick to the original tale. You can also retell it with original characters of your own!
Throw the characters into a modern AU, or set it in the future. Maybe put them in outer space, a dystopian post-apocalypse, or even put them in another fairy tale. Retell the folktale as a proper ghost story, or a psychological thriller. What if Janghwa faked her death to torment the Stepmother? What if she and Hongryeon were in on it together? What motivates the Stepmother? Why does she hate her stepdaughters so much?
I love this story so much and I truly will be happy with anything you write about these characters.
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'm okay with depictions of familial abuse (on the part of Stepmother and/or Eldest Son vs. the stepdaughters).
콩쥐 팥쥐 | Kongjwi and Patjwi | Korean Cinderella (Korean Folktale)
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
콩쥐 | Kongjwi
팥쥐 | Patjwi
Prompts/ideas:
This version of the tale lends itself well to horror, with Patjwi drowning Kongjwi, Kongjwi returning as a vengeful ghost, as well as the (accidental) cannibalism. Transpose the tale of Kongjwi and Patjwi into a modern horror story (or a futuristic horror story)! Or perhaps Patjwi and her mother also return as ghosts to torment Kongjwi. Maybe even the father gets in on the act, returning as a ghost? How did he die anyway; could Patjwi or the stepmother have killed him?
I really would adore a darker, more grotesque, horror-ish take on this fairy tale!
Additional Notes:
N/A
Once again, I'd like to emphasize that these prompts/ideas are only suggestions! Please don't feel constrained by them! Mix and match as you please, or come up with something completely on your own. Optional details are optional!
If you have any questions don't be afraid to contact the mods! Thank you and happy writing!
Welcome! I'm
badritual. I'm super excited we matched up for this challenge! I'm sure I'll be thrilled with whatever you decide to write, and I hope something here pings your interest! Gifts are enabled if anyone wishes to leave extra treats.I like gen, het, slash, femslash, poly-ships (poly-v too), etc. You're welcome to interpret my character noms as any, rather than all, though you're free to include all characters in a fic if you want! I'm also okay with not including all of the nominated characters. Also, if you want to include unnominated characters, I'm absolutely okay with that too!
I have used parts of previous letters to compose the body of this letter. If anything is confusing, or you have any questions or need clarification, you can reach me through the mods or you can anonymously message me via tumblr!
Table of Contents
- What I Love
- DNWs
- Stuff I Like
- The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs (Urban Legend)
- La Barbe bleue | Bluebeard - Charles Perrault
- Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen
- Dornröschen | Little Briar-Rose - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
- The Heavenly Maiden and the Wood Cutter - Zong Dog-Bong
- The Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden - Dr. R. Wilhelm
- The Slit-Mouthed Woman (Japanese Urban Legend)
- Snedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen
- 장화홍련전 | Janghwa Hongryeon Jeon | The Story of Rose Flower and Red Lotus
- 콩쥐 팥쥐 | Kongjwi and Patjwi | Korean Cinderella (Korean Folktale)
What I Love:
I'm really, really into gothic romance/gothic horror/horror of any stripe. I also love ambiguous/happy for now/sad endings. I love things that are not necessarily tied up with a neat pretty bow. That's not to say I don't enjoy a happy ending, though! This is mostly just to reassure you, the author, that if a happy ending doesn't seem to fit the story, or isn't coming, don't stress about it. I love endings that fit the story being told, regardless of whether or not they're happy. Aside from horror, I like romcoms, romcoms/comedies of errors, found family/families of choice, strong platonic friendships, broad comedy, understated/subtle comedy, cats (characters adopting/owning cats, turning into cats, caring for cats, cat familiars, werecats, etc.), religious and philosophical themes, postmodernism, and pastiche/epistolary to name just a few.
I tend to leave all art decisions up to the individual artist. The only art style I'm not into is chibi art, but other than that, knock yourselves out!
My main DNWs are listed below. Exceptions will be noted within the body of the letter:
DNWs:
• domestic violence/abuse
• permanent character death of requested characters
• violence against animals/animal death/animal harm
• sexual content of any rating involving teens 15 and under
• A/B/O, BDSM, and kneeling 'verses (these tropes appearing as "one offs" is fine, not interested in universes structured around them)
• mpreg
• pregnancy/kidfic (unless the kid is already an existing character in canon)
• watersports/omorashi/scat/etc
• feeding/stuffing
• fatphobia/bodyshaming/focus on eating disorders/focus on appearance
• focus on unrequested or background pairings at the expense of requested pairings
• mundane AUs (i.e. coffee shop, flower shop, cafe, high school/college, etc)
• vampire/werewolf/zombie AUs for fandoms where they don't exist
• dystopias/dystopian AUs
• horror that centers on mental institutions/hospitals/etc. (characters just being hospitalized or institutionalized for health reasons is okay)
• inclusion of current real-world events such as ongoing wars/U.S. politics/etc (exception to this being COVID as even passing references are hard to avoid)
Some Stuff I Like:
• gothic/gothic romance/horror/ghost stories!!!
• southern gothic/midwestern gothic/suburban gothic/urban gothic/regional gothic in general
• space gothic (think Event Horizon and the Alien series)
• cosmic horror
• body horror
• monsters!!! sentient monsters!!! monsters that just wanna eat things!!!
• eldritch architecture/houses/houses that want to eat you
• eldritch nature/nature that wants to eat you
• eldritch spaceships/planets/etc. (that want to eat you)
• bodyswap
• gray morality/shady ethics/etc.
• forced/close proximity
• time travel/time loops/time fuckery
• pining
• ghosts/hauntings/etc.
• miscommunication (within reason)
• poly/poly-v relationships
• enemies to lovers
• friends to lovers to enemies to lovers
• friends to enemies to lovers
• unhealthy/codependent relationships
• obsession/obsessive relationships
• relationships with a power imbalance (i.e. mentor/pupil, priest/parishioner, older partner/younger partner, queen/subject, etc.)
• power imbalances/power dynamics inverted (i.e. the student in the professor/student relationship has/gains the power, parishioner has/gains power over the priest, subject controls the queen, etc.)
• manipulation/mindgames (especially mutual manipulation/mindgames)
• characters facing/dealing with mortality (of their lives, their livelihoods, careers, etc.)
• age gap
• platonic soulmates
• amnesiafic
• epistolary/social media pastiche
• future fic
• casefic
• ensemble fic
• found family/families of choice
• complicated relationships
• professional/career-related jealousy
• ritual sex/resurrection rituals
• public consummation of marriage
• witchcraft/witches
• scary/creepy/spooky interpretations of fairytales/mythology/folklore/etc.
• deals gone wrong (supernatural demon deals/deals with the devil literally or figuratively... not talking like business deals that fall through, although if that was a metaphor for something...)
• small town AUs (small town in the suburban gothic sense rather than cute, quaint villages and whatnot)
The following prompts are meant as suggestions. I'll be perfectly happy with any combination of Stuff I Like, favorite tropes, freeforms, etc., if none of the ideas I've offered grab your attention. I also probably won't have prompts/ideas for every iteration of the characters I've nominated, but if you would prefer to focus on an individual character rather than a friendship or romantic pairing that's fine too!
The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs (Urban Legend)
[source]
Characters:
Babysitter
The Man Upstairs
Child Being Babysat
Prompts/ideas:
Give me a version of the story where the babysitter turns the tables on the man upstairs. Or, you can't go wrong with setting it in outer space! Claustrophobic space gothic for the win! Or go meta with it and give me the social media pastiche...
Maybe mash up this urban legend with a modern horror movie setting/scenario, like Happy Death Day, Halloween, or Scream, for example. I like time loops/time travel and slasher/horror movies. I also love the atmosphere of Taxi Driver and Joyce Carol Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, so something set in the '60s/'70s would be right up my alley.
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'd prefer no child-harm. The child can be under threat of harm, I just don't want them to actually be hurt. Also, if you want to write something sexually explicit between the babysitter/man upstairs, I'd prefer the babysitter to be 16 or older; I'd also prefer them not to be cis male.
La Barbe bleue | Bluebeard - Charles Perrault
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
La Barbe bleue | Bluebeard
La dernière femme de la Barbe bleue | Bluebeard's Last Wife
La première femme de la Barbe bleue | Bluebeard's First Wife
L'avant-dernière femme de la Barbe bleue | Bluebeard's Penultimate Wife
Prompts/ideas:
I adore any and all interpretations of this story, from the original tale to movies like Crimson Peak, Elizabeth Harvest, and Ex Machina, and books like Catherynne M. Valente's Comfort Me With Apples and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber.
I would love if you reinterpreted the tale in space. Maybe Bluebeard's a sentient space ship intent on devouring the last inhabitant, rather than a menacing husband. Or perhaps he and his wife are space travellers trapped in space together. Maybe they're aliens!
Or take a look at it with modern eyes. Maybe, rather than a new husband and wife, they're a businessman and a new employee, or professor and his new student.
You could even sexswap them, with Bluebeard as an older woman. Maybe the new spouse is a younger man or woman, or not even a spouse but a new employee or co-worker. How do these changes alter the story? Feel free to take the story to new and unfamiliar places. Look at it from a queer lens, if that interests you!
Tell me more about the penultimate wife; did she ever get close to getting free of Bluebeard? Perhaps, in a twist, she does manage to save herself and she's able to pass on her knowledge to the last wife...
I'd also be really interested in epistolary storytelling and outsider POV with the Bluebeard tale; maybe the story is retold as a found footage film or a series of correspondence between one of the wives and someone outside Bluebeard's castle?
I'd also be interested in character studies of Bluebeard's wives: who were they? Why did they marry Bluebeard? Did they have a choice, were they forced into it or given away by family?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'm fine with canon-typical levels of violence and threats, and will make an exception for non-physical abuse (emotional/mental/psychological/etc) in a relationship for this fandom.
Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen
[source]
Characters:
Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid
Prins | Prince
Prinsesse | Princess
Heksen | Sea Witch (Den lille Havfrue)
Prompts/ideas:
While I'm not opposed to sad/bad/HFN/etc endings, I'd love a happier ending for the titular mermaid, either in the arms of the prince or reunited with her sisters. If you're open to it, I'd also be happy with Mermaid/Prince/Princess, or Prince/Princess.
On the flipside, I'm always down for some dark, manipulative Mermaid/Sea Witch. Perhaps the sea witch seduces the Mermaid into giving up more than she originally meant to. Or maybe the Mermaid finally turns the tables, getting the sea witch under her thumb. Perhaps the sea witch targets the prince, as she did in the Disney movie, but has more tricks up her sleeve.
Additional Notes:
N/A
Dornröschen | Little Briar-Rose - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
[source]
Characters:
Little Briar Rose
Thirteenth Wise Woman
Twelfth Wise Woman
Prompts/ideas:
Like many other requests I've made for this challenge, I enjoy most of the takes on Sleeping Beauty/Little Briar-Rose/etc. from Grimm to Disney to Anne Rice.
Feel free to throw the characters into a space AU, a gothic/horror setting, or even some other fantasy setting. I'm up for queer interpretations/variations too. I'm also fine with dub/noncon along the lines of the Anne Rice Sleeping Beauty retellings.
Backstory on the thirteenth wise woman would also be fascinating (while steering away from material like Maleficent as I'm not familiar with the movies).
If you could figure out how to work out a story focusing on Briar Rose and the wise women, that could be interesting too. Maybe in this instance, the princess possesses some magic of her own?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
N/A
The Heavenly Maiden and the Wood Cutter - Zong Dog-Bong
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Wood Cutter
Heavenly Maiden
The Wood Cutter's Mother
Prompts/ideas:
I grew up with the Korean version of this fairy tale and it has a special place in my heart. Maybe update it to the modern day, or set it in the future, or in outer space! Rather than a heavenly maiden, maybe she's a space princess and the wood cutter is a space pirate or an alien prince or explorer. Or perhaps she's now a pop star and the wood cutter is an admirer!
There are many versions of this tale, or similar stories; perhaps the maiden and woodcutter are reincarnated every generation and forced to re-experience their tragic tale until they get it right...
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
N/A
The Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden - Dr. R. Wilhelm
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
White Jade Ruler
Weaving Maiden
Herd Boy
The Yellow Cow
Prompts/ideas:
I grew up with the Korean version of this tale, too. Fairy tales just seem well-suited to space AUs, and I know I suggest space AUs a lot, but I think this one would really work as one.
Or you could stick with the fairy tale and write a moment where the Weaving Maiden and the Herd Boy are able to have some time together after the events of the fairy tale. What about something from an outsider perspective?
What about a modern AU? How would you update the fairy tale to the modern age?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
N/A
The Slit-Mouthed Woman (Japanese Urban Legend)
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Kuchisake-onna | The Slit-Mouthed Woman
Samurai Husband
The Slit-Mouthed Woman's Victim
Prompts/ideas:
A modern feminist and/or queer update to this urban legend could be interesting! Update it for the modern day, send them to outer space, or put a horror/slasher movie spin on it (or borrow from the plot of a movie, if you wanted). Give the slit-mouthed woman a happier ending, put her to rest, let her get revenge on her samurai husband, and/or find a victim. Did Kuchisake-onna have children? If so, what does her child think of their mother's legacy? Does she visit her child? Does her child visit her?
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'll make an exception for domestic violence for this fandom, considering the source material.
Snedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Gerda
Kai
The Snow Queen
Prompts/ideas:
The love story of Kai and Garda is timeless and sweet, but I'm also interested in the relationship between Kai and the Snow Queen as well. A further exploration of Kai's time with the Snow Queen or a post-canon story where she returns for him would be amazing.
I'd also be happy with a modern retelling, the characters transposed into a horror story, or a sci-fi take. Maybe Kai and Garda are space explorers and the Snow Queen is a sentient spaceship that develops an attachment to Kai. Or put them in a gothic romance/horror: Kai is abducted by a dark figure and whisked away to her foreboding manor, while Gerda must find him before it's too late (which is kind of the plot of the fairy tale, I guess, BUT nevertheless).
Additional Notes:
N/A
장화홍련전 | Janghwa Hongryeon Jeon | The Story of Rose Flower and Red Lotus
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
Hongryeon | Red Lotus
Janghwa | Rose Flower
Stepmother
Eldest Son | First Son
Prompts/ideas:
There have been a few modern adaptations of this story, including A Tale of Two Sisters and the American remake, The Uninvited. You can mine those for story/plot/etc., or you can stick to the original tale. You can also retell it with original characters of your own!
Throw the characters into a modern AU, or set it in the future. Maybe put them in outer space, a dystopian post-apocalypse, or even put them in another fairy tale. Retell the folktale as a proper ghost story, or a psychological thriller. What if Janghwa faked her death to torment the Stepmother? What if she and Hongryeon were in on it together? What motivates the Stepmother? Why does she hate her stepdaughters so much?
I love this story so much and I truly will be happy with anything you write about these characters.
If none of my ideas strikes you, please feel free to play with my tags/freeforms/likes/etc to come up with something!
Additional Notes:
I'm okay with depictions of familial abuse (on the part of Stepmother and/or Eldest Son vs. the stepdaughters).
콩쥐 팥쥐 | Kongjwi and Patjwi | Korean Cinderella (Korean Folktale)
[source 1] | [source 2]
Characters:
콩쥐 | Kongjwi
팥쥐 | Patjwi
Prompts/ideas:
This version of the tale lends itself well to horror, with Patjwi drowning Kongjwi, Kongjwi returning as a vengeful ghost, as well as the (accidental) cannibalism. Transpose the tale of Kongjwi and Patjwi into a modern horror story (or a futuristic horror story)! Or perhaps Patjwi and her mother also return as ghosts to torment Kongjwi. Maybe even the father gets in on the act, returning as a ghost? How did he die anyway; could Patjwi or the stepmother have killed him?
I really would adore a darker, more grotesque, horror-ish take on this fairy tale!
Additional Notes:
N/A
Once again, I'd like to emphasize that these prompts/ideas are only suggestions! Please don't feel constrained by them! Mix and match as you please, or come up with something completely on your own. Optional details are optional!
If you have any questions don't be afraid to contact the mods! Thank you and happy writing!