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

[adamantlyardent]

[her blush is a beat late, but here it comes, hot and fast. she can feel tears starting to well up again just as indignation ignites.]

Do you think this is funny?!

[mycrosstobear]

No! [He snaps, equally indignant, before deflating slightly and burying his face in a hand again.]

I can't...help otherwise.

[Fun thing about curses: sometimes part of the curse is that you can't directly explain the curse. You can end up forced to dance around the topic for who knows how long!]

[adamantlyardent]

[of all the nonsensical, unkind things to put up with...maybe his mother put him up to this to humiliate her further? like setting her up like this wasn't enough!]

You could help by asking your mother to stop this farce, you know! With how she dotes on you, I bet she'd listen. Maybe then you'd earn something even remotely close to a kiss, but no sooner!

[mycrosstobear]

[He blinks. And then starts laughing, almost wheezing from it. That is how it looks to her, isn't it? Unbelievable, the things his mother pulls off. It's a few moments before he recovers.]

She doesn't listen to me any more than you.

[They're both tools, after all, being gussied up for different parts of the same stupid, awful purpose. Doting on him? All show, a meagre attempt at manipulation just for extra insurance on top of the curses.

It occurs to him, now, that maybe part of the point of that show is to make sure he and Cecelia would be at odds.]

[adamantlyardent]

[she looks utterly scandalized by his laughter. not only that he can laugh, because that's new, but because he is laughing. at her!!!!

with her eyes welling up with furious tears, she shoves the basket at him and leaps to her feet to storm off.]

Then it's all useless then, is it!! Wonderful! Laugh on, then!

[mycrosstobear]

[He takes a deep breath, sobering up as quickly as he can. If she runs into his mother like that, and without the task complete, there will really be trouble.]

It's not useless. I can put a spell on it. Just...not on my own.

[adamantlyardent]

[it's easier to stand her ground like this - where he's on the lower level and she can glare down at him. it gives her a little burst of confidence to vent her indignation instead of just run away crying.

there's plenty of time to run away crying, anyway.]

Well, I'm not magical! So I can't help you. I can't even help myself, clearly! And teasing me won't change that!

[mycrosstobear]

I'm not teasing you! I'm trying to help!

[He is definitely snapping at her, though. The picture of helpfulness, that's him.]

[adamantlyardent]

No you're not, you're just trying to take advantage of a girl in distress! [jabbing her finger at him:] What kind of help requires such a thing of me to even work!? That sounds faker than fake!

[mycrosstobear]

You're just trying to stew in misery by yourself! [Jabbing right back.]

A lot of magic sounds fake!

[adamantlyardent]

[she scoffs, lacking in any better rebuttals. look, kissing in magic stories always comes from like, sleeping curses or as a prize for the magic! this sounds...

it sounds stupid!]

How are you gonna be able to prove you're not just...just making this up, huh?

[mycrosstobear]

["Curses" is the active word here. Stupid curses.

He sighs, forcefully. How does he prove...no, he has a way to make it clear. Stepping forward, Nicholas holds a hand out over the basket and says a few words in an ancient language used for spells. Nothing happens. He steps back again and crosses his arms.]

Kiss me and see what happens when I try the same thing.

[adamantlyardent]

...

[he's crazy. he's absolutely insane!

...and she's going to die by dawn. stressed, distressed, and running out of options, Cecelia turns away, whimpering into her hands. this goes on for at least a minute, and he's just going to have to deal with that.

after dabbing her eyes and wiping her nose with an old handkerchief, she turns around, looking quite unhappy indeed, but in a more defeated, less heated way.]

I suppose dying with dignity...is still dying, isn't it.

[mycrosstobear]

[A minute is a long time to consider exactly how guilty he would feel for letting someone die when they refuse to accept help just because, he guesses, it would be slightly embarrassing. ...He'd still hate himself completely, but, he thinks, he'd also stay a little annoyed.

When she turns and speaks, he sighs with relief.]

Yes.

[Finally! We have a breakthrough!]

[adamantlyardent]

[he might be relieved, but she sure isn't!!! she hugs her arms to herself, still radiating discomfort as she looks him up and down. he's at least not appalling to look at? but one mustn't judge books by their covers! especially with that sassy mouth of his...

she gulps.]

So...so, what. What kind of...kiss. Like--if you just kiss my hand, is that fine?

[mycrosstobear]

[He's...actually not sure. The curse didn't give specifics on the type of kiss, only that it had to be willingly given. As in, he can't get around it by just kissing some unsuspecting girl himself (which would be an awful thing to do anyway, really).]

I don't know. But it'd have to be you kissing my hand.

[This is so awkward and stupid and why did his life end up like this?]

[adamantlyardent]

[she grimaces and scoffs. that's patronizing! she doesn't want to do that either! but if she's going to die anyway...well, if she's going to die anyway, she ought to die with a modicum of dignity, right?!

after a few more seconds of agonizing over this, pacing in a small circle, she stops, turning back to face him with an apprehensive frown.]

...Kneel down, then.

[mycrosstobear]

[Kneel? Just because she's embarrassed, she's going to make him beg-

wait this is because he's tall, isn't it. His expression switches from indignation to resignation. He drops to his knees with a sigh.]

[adamantlyardent]

[he should've just scoffed and left, the idiot!! what does he think he's doing, doing as she asked? stupid, stupid, stupid!

she gulps, her face flushing hot as she goes stiff as a board, arms glued at her sides, hands curled into tight fists. after a painfully long beat of silence, she steps forward, uncurling her fingers, lifting them away to reach forward, sweeping away some of that scruffy hair in order to bend forward and plant a delicate kiss on his forehead.]

[mycrosstobear]

[He does have the consideration to shut his eyes. It's to protect himself from yet further embarrassment rather than her, but it may still offer some relief. He flinches slightly, automatically, at the first touch brushing aside his hair, but otherwise manages to remain stock still. He gives it a few moments after the kiss (a very light, soft touch) before he opens his eyes again. Presumably, she'll have had time to turn away in a huff.

He blinks, then stands back up.

He doesn't feel like anything has changed. But then, he hadn't felt that anything had changed with the curse was first laid on him, not until he tried to cast a spell. So there's really only one way to find out.]

Can I see the basket?

[adamantlyardent]

Huh-?! [she startles, having braced for something else. a "gotcha" or some kind of rude nonsense to mock her caving to his seedy demands, but...]

What? [she double-blinks, darting a glance over her shoulder at him while that processes. what? basket? oh.]

It--it's there. [she points down. on the ground. there.]

[mycrosstobear]

[He nods, avoiding looking at her. The faster they can get this done, the faster they can get to pretending this never happened.

Nicholas picks up the basket. He closes his eyes in concentration, running a hand over the inside. Filling in the gaps is a matter of convincing the wood that it's solid, even if it doesn't start looking like it.

It's easier than it should be, after so long. That's his mother's influence. ...He blinks.] It worked?

[It felt like it worked. He'd always wondered if there being a way to lift the curse was a lie, another way to make a fool of him.]

[adamantlyardent]

It...it worked?

[no way. Cecelia's still stuck in place, but it's Wolfwood's tone more than anything is what starts to prod her out of place, to step forward, to peer at the basket.]

How-? Are, are you sure? Can I see? [she still has to actually complete her chore, and only has so much time left before sundown...]

[mycrosstobear]

Sure. [The basket does still look the same. But as Nicholas hands it over to her, Cecelia might notice that it feels heavier, as if it's more solid.

Because it is. If she tries drawing water with it now, the basket will hold it.]

[adamantlyardent]

[she takes the basket, turning it this way and that in her smaller hands, biting her lip before stepping around him to get to the well bucket she'd discarded in her dismay. this means she has to fill it up again - something she does with a bit of stammering and fussing because of the audience (any offers to help get met with a what if she KNOWS I didn't do it all myself?! and subsequently blown aside so she doesn't have to look him in the face again).

then...moment of truth: transferring the water to the basket. she does so with her breath held and her heart hammering, fearful to see it all soak into the ground just like the others, but--]

It...did work...! No way!! No way it worked it WORKED!