Type 923 Would Play Differently These Days, Huh

[paperback]

The
Fairy Tale Tale Type
Meme



Today, we ignore the thorny questions about the inherent colonialism of type classification and instead, we follow these steps...

Step One

Comment with your character, including preferences or your own starter if you'd like.

Step Two
Roll or choose a tale type:

1. Animal Brides, tales of ATU type 402
2. Beauty and the Beast, tales of ATU type 425c
3. Brothers Turned into Birds, tales of ATU type 451
4. Cinderella, tales of ATU type 510a
5. Fitcher's Bird, tales of ATU type 311
6. Fairy Gifts, tales of ATU type 503
7. Hansel and Gretel, tales of ATU type 327
8. Selkie Wife, tales of Christiansen type 4080
9. Rumplestiltskin, tales of ATU type 500
10. Open Sesame, tales of ATU type 676
11. Puss in Boots, tales of ATU type 545b
12. Rapunzel, tales of ATU type 310
13. The Robber Bridegroom, tales of ATU type 955
14. The Twelve Dancing Princesses, tales of ATU type 306
15. Pick Your Own, tales of getting lost in folktexts

Step Three

Play out a scenario based on the tale! AU your characters into the fairy tale, create your own modern retelling, have your characters put on a school play of the story, remember that folklore is inherently dynamic and transformative.

Comments

[tigerpoet]

Oh, no, not at all! It's nice to talk to someone who understands.

[Humans-are-weird solidarity.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ humans-are-weird solidarity!!! ]

That may have been why I fell all over myself to come say hello. I'll be right back, then.

[ off she goes. time to play the "will this particular vendor need the cute girl act or the I-know-how-to-use-these-knives act in order to give me a fair price" game.

not much later, she comes back with several meat skewers, one of which she offers to him. she's already gnawing on another. ]

[tigerpoet]

Oh, thank you.

[He accepts the skewer and promptly chomps down. Table manners, what are those.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ completely unnecessary, that's what. ]

You're welcome.

[ ...mostly unnecessary. she did stop eating long enough not to reply with her mouth full. ]

[tigerpoet]

[Amazing. Very impressive.

That skewer doesn't last very long.]

My name is Atsushi. It's nice to meet you.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ it would have been a waste to accidentally spit anything out. ]

Likewise~. I'm Kaiko. I'm probably going to be staying in this territory for at least a little while, so you might be seeing a lot of me.

[tigerpoet]

I look forward to it. -I don't know many human settlements, but this place isn't bad.

/attacks

[mycrosstobear]

[The well is out of the way, a place people only come to if they need to. Not a bad place to relax near - there's a ready source of water if you need it, and plenty of trees to lie under where the other people who do come aren't likely to notice you. So under the trees is where he is, whittling a fallen branch he found, when he hears someone approach.

He always checks who he is before ducking back out of sight. In the unlikely event his mother comes to fetch water herself, he'll want to get away fast before she can set some other curse on him.

It's not his mother. It's the poor girl she's keeping prisoner.

He squints, then frowns. Why is she carrying a basket instead of a bucket?]

Fakir | Princess Tutu | OTA

[anagnorises]

[particularly good for either: your cranky knight role or your "we're turning this whole thing meta and this guy is the one literally rewriting the story" role]

[ghostfromthemachine]

It's nice enough, from what I've seen. Though— do you know if there are any lakes nearby? Big ones, preferably.

Karibusa Tanyuu | Mushishi | OTA

[ofcharacter]

[Strange phenomena caused by inhuman life forms? She's up for that kind of story. I'd also be interested in Tanyuu as an animal bride, particularly the type that is also a magical helper like tsarevna frog!]

[tigerpoet]

I haven't seen any, but there's a river not far into the jungle...? Will that do?

[It's freshwater, so hopefully...]

Alberich | Valdemar | OTA

[exiled_honor]

[do you need a knight? here is a knight.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

Mm... it depends on how deep it gets. I suppose if it's shallow it'll still be fine for fishing.

[tigerpoet]

I used to catch fish there all the time, back before.

[He wiggles his fingers with their blunt nails. Not great for spearing fish.]

YeeEESS

[adamantlyardent]

There's...some trick to this I'm just not getting. That's all.

[this is try number three. Cecelia's watched water stream through the basket twice already, not really expecting anything different since...well. she's now confirmed this is not a magic witch's basket and she has, indeed, been told to do the impossible. but why? if it's doomed to failure, why waste time with such an elaborate ruse? why does the witch hate her so much?

she blinks back tears of frustration and straightens up from where she'd been peering down the well. stray curls stick to the sides of her face and sweat-beaded forehead as she, rubs her hands together, folding and bringing them to her chin as she loses herself in thought, trying to outpace her despair with proper focus. she can't just...put the water bucket in the basket, it won't fit. but there might be something else.]

...Oh!

[struck with an idea, Cecelia pulls a cleaning rag from her apron and proceeds to spread it out within the bottom of the basket. this will catch enough water to get her back to the cottage, right? if she runs, maybe...]

Ah, no! Nononono-auughh...!

[after a few minutes of drawing another bucketful and transferring water, Cecelia watches in dismay as water simply soaks through the cloth and spills out all the same, even if briefly stemmed. again, frustrated tears well up as she takes a seat beside the well.]

What else...am I supposed to do...?

dreamwidth why did you deny me this notif

[ghostfromthemachine]

Oh— if it was big enough for you, then it's probably big enough for me...

[ but. uh. ]

... "back before?"

gently riffs off of The Golden Bird

[aphrodissonance]

[ it's the roses that end up getting her. she's always loved flowers—or has as far back as she can remember, which is close enough by her thinking—and though the meticulously cultivated greenery has nothing in common with the wildly overgrown gardens belonging to the woman who changed her and then so kindly took her in, she still finds herself turning back in her flight over the castle grounds.

... it's impolite, she's aware; she still remembers the rules of higher society, even if the details of how she picked them up are fuzzy. still, so long as she's careful not to disturb anything and leaves before there's anyone awake to spot her, it's probably fine...? ]

rude

[tigerpoet]

Oh - my fur was stolen, so I can't do that anymore. No claws.

[He says it pretty plainly, but it obviously still bothers him.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ sometimes she hates being right. her expression goes hard, eyes flat. ]

... I don't suppose you have any suspects.

[ "husband," he'd said.

her mother hadn't lived to pass down any knowledge to her, and her attempts to track down relatives who might do so in her place had... well. made it clear that she'd managed to inherit more of her human father's temperament than she'd thought. her gentler cousins, on the other hand... they'd welcomed her once she'd made it clear that she was more sociable than most of her blood.

and they had had stories. ]

[tigerpoet]

[Atsushi bites his lip. It's obvious that he has someone in mind.]

...I don't have any proof.

[And he hates to fling accusations without that.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ she hums, quietly, and reaches up to idly tug at the collar of her tunic— and as she does, the worn grey leather goes briefly glossy and plush with fur under her fingers. ]

Mm. Well, if you need someone to try to find proof... My nose is fairly good. And if it comes down to it, I can be very persuasive.

[tigerpoet]

You'd do that for me? Even though we only just met?

[He's grateful, but he doesn't understand.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

...I grew up without my pelt. Even not knowing what I was missing, it was still... it's not something I'd wish on anyone.

[ abruptly cheerier, though her teeth are definitely showing now ]

—besides, I'm adventuring, it's practically my job to stick my nose into situations like this.

[tigerpoet]

If it's not a bother, then... I'd be very grateful to you.

[He bows low, a habit he's picked up while in human society.]