Dear Once Upon a Fic Author,
Hello! I am Liviania on AO3, and my apologies for not having this up before assignments went out. (I was banking on having this weekend!) As always, optional details are optional, so you can feel free to ignore all this anyway.
I'm going to copy my DNWs and general likes from Chocolate Box to start:
Do Not Want
Rape (dubcon is fine, as are any references to canon events that might contain rape)
Cheating (poly situations or AUs where the canon couple never happened or breakups are all fine)
Body horror (except in horror stories)
Hurt/comfort (I've recently had a discussion with someone about h/c, and I think it is more specifically the sick!fic genre that I don't want. I don't mind characters getting injuries and having them realistically treated; in fact, I prefer that to characters shrugging off bullet wounds.)
General likes
Humor
Violence and/or gore
Fantastical AUs/fusions (superheroes, vampires, Animorphs, etc.)
Genderswap
When it comes to fairy tales, myths, and folklore ... I'm a huge fan of basically anything. I will note that many stories tend to have fantastic things simply happening to the characters, and I am always a fan of retelling to explore the characters taking more action and being the ones propelling the strange events around them. I'm open to romances of any sort of gender configuration. I'm pretty open to anything from straight retellings, to alternate points of view, to prequels/sequels/epilogues, mishmashes with other stories, and I don't even know.
Theseus and the Minotaur - Plutarch
In this story, I'm curious about all those who can't choose their fates.
The Minotaur is born, then locked up. Does he get a bad rap, and the oracle lied that he could eat nothing but humans? (Given his heritage, it seems at least equally likely he could eat beef.) Would he rather leave the sacrifices alone, but has no other source of substances? Or is he truly a monster? Does he dream of revenge?
As for the sacrifices, you could focus on any one of them, man or maiden. How do they feel about their lot being chosen? Honored, scared, angry? How do they feel about the woman who orchestrated their rescue getting left behind (purposeful or accidental)? Do they have a home to return to when they survive? Or is this a doomed youth, before Theseus' group?
Theseus gets a kingom and forever lives on as a hero. Pretty much everyone else in the story (his father, Ariadne) loses out. And the other sacrifices might as well be set dressing. There's a lot of room to play around with their interpretations of events. (New one - maybe they're worried about war breaking off if the sacrifice doesn't go right?) The minotaur ends up dead, which sucks for him. And before that, he gets to eat once a year? Does he ration the fourteen sacrifices or hibernate? Does he have dreams of getting out of the labyrinth? Does he remember his mother?
Kemp Owyne (Childe Ballads)
How did Kemp Owyne first feel when he learned he had to kiss a dragon - three times? How does he react when the dragon turns into a fair women? (He does call her love, but they immediately get married.)
Does Isabel ever miss being a dragon? Sure, she was ugly, but there have to be some perks. What is it like to go back to being a woman after being a dragon? Is that whole thing with kissing Kemp Owyne super awkward, or was she into it?
How fun is this ballad? So much fun. It's got everything: kissing and dragons. Even better, they happen at the same time. Isabel could have some angst over being a hideous beast, I suppose, but overall I feel like this lends itself to goofy and fun stories.
Pecos Bill and Slue-foot Sue
I'm from the South, so I grew up hearing this goofy story. I'd love something that attempts to explain it.
Where did Sue get that powerful hoop skirt? Or a catfish that she could ride? What were her adventures like prior to meeting her husband?
Or maybe something after.
Does she think Bill jumped the gun with the whole shooting thing? Does she start haunting him? What would a ghost of this woman be like?
Now we're getting into the super goofy stuff. (Which makes me think it might be fun to come up with a very dramatic or suspense or otherwise more 'serious' take on the tale.) Slue-foot Sue is quite a woman, so I'm interested in pretty much anything about her: before, during, or after her ill-fated marriage. Where did she come from, where did she go?
Prinsessen i kisten | The Princess in the Coffin
She can't be seen by her parents for fourteen years, and then she's trapped in the realm of the dead for nearly a year, forced to attack her sentries at night. When she's finally rescued, she has to marry the guy.
How does she feel about all these rules? Does she know the little man who helps Christian? What does she do when she's finally free to live her life?
Alternately, I'd love to see a version where she has more agency in the goings-on.
This story lends itself to horror in a lot of ways. For the princess, I think, there's a great deal of horror in how she's forced to do things. She lived and died under arbitrary restrictions. I'd love to see a story that explored that angle, or something exploring ways she might have been an agent in her own bid for freedom (even as she's forced to sabotage herself). It might also be interesting to see something about her married life with Christian - how do her experiences affect the way she approaches ruling and parenthood and marriage? Is she entirely human? What might her children be like?
I'm going to copy my DNWs and general likes from Chocolate Box to start:
Do Not Want
Rape (dubcon is fine, as are any references to canon events that might contain rape)
Cheating (poly situations or AUs where the canon couple never happened or breakups are all fine)
Body horror (except in horror stories)
Hurt/comfort (I've recently had a discussion with someone about h/c, and I think it is more specifically the sick!fic genre that I don't want. I don't mind characters getting injuries and having them realistically treated; in fact, I prefer that to characters shrugging off bullet wounds.)
General likes
Humor
Violence and/or gore
Fantastical AUs/fusions (superheroes, vampires, Animorphs, etc.)
Genderswap
When it comes to fairy tales, myths, and folklore ... I'm a huge fan of basically anything. I will note that many stories tend to have fantastic things simply happening to the characters, and I am always a fan of retelling to explore the characters taking more action and being the ones propelling the strange events around them. I'm open to romances of any sort of gender configuration. I'm pretty open to anything from straight retellings, to alternate points of view, to prequels/sequels/epilogues, mishmashes with other stories, and I don't even know.
Theseus and the Minotaur - Plutarch
- Minotaur (Theseus and the Minotaur)
- Seven Sacrificial Young Men (Theseus and the Minotaur)
- Seven Sacrificial Maidens (Theseus and the Minotaur)
In this story, I'm curious about all those who can't choose their fates.
The Minotaur is born, then locked up. Does he get a bad rap, and the oracle lied that he could eat nothing but humans? (Given his heritage, it seems at least equally likely he could eat beef.) Would he rather leave the sacrifices alone, but has no other source of substances? Or is he truly a monster? Does he dream of revenge?
As for the sacrifices, you could focus on any one of them, man or maiden. How do they feel about their lot being chosen? Honored, scared, angry? How do they feel about the woman who orchestrated their rescue getting left behind (purposeful or accidental)? Do they have a home to return to when they survive? Or is this a doomed youth, before Theseus' group?
Theseus gets a kingom and forever lives on as a hero. Pretty much everyone else in the story (his father, Ariadne) loses out. And the other sacrifices might as well be set dressing. There's a lot of room to play around with their interpretations of events. (New one - maybe they're worried about war breaking off if the sacrifice doesn't go right?) The minotaur ends up dead, which sucks for him. And before that, he gets to eat once a year? Does he ration the fourteen sacrifices or hibernate? Does he have dreams of getting out of the labyrinth? Does he remember his mother?
Kemp Owyne (Childe Ballads)
How did Kemp Owyne first feel when he learned he had to kiss a dragon - three times? How does he react when the dragon turns into a fair women? (He does call her love, but they immediately get married.)
Does Isabel ever miss being a dragon? Sure, she was ugly, but there have to be some perks. What is it like to go back to being a woman after being a dragon? Is that whole thing with kissing Kemp Owyne super awkward, or was she into it?
How fun is this ballad? So much fun. It's got everything: kissing and dragons. Even better, they happen at the same time. Isabel could have some angst over being a hideous beast, I suppose, but overall I feel like this lends itself to goofy and fun stories.
Pecos Bill and Slue-foot Sue
I'm from the South, so I grew up hearing this goofy story. I'd love something that attempts to explain it.
Where did Sue get that powerful hoop skirt? Or a catfish that she could ride? What were her adventures like prior to meeting her husband?
Or maybe something after.
Does she think Bill jumped the gun with the whole shooting thing? Does she start haunting him? What would a ghost of this woman be like?
Now we're getting into the super goofy stuff. (Which makes me think it might be fun to come up with a very dramatic or suspense or otherwise more 'serious' take on the tale.) Slue-foot Sue is quite a woman, so I'm interested in pretty much anything about her: before, during, or after her ill-fated marriage. Where did she come from, where did she go?
Prinsessen i kisten | The Princess in the Coffin
She can't be seen by her parents for fourteen years, and then she's trapped in the realm of the dead for nearly a year, forced to attack her sentries at night. When she's finally rescued, she has to marry the guy.
How does she feel about all these rules? Does she know the little man who helps Christian? What does she do when she's finally free to live her life?
Alternately, I'd love to see a version where she has more agency in the goings-on.
This story lends itself to horror in a lot of ways. For the princess, I think, there's a great deal of horror in how she's forced to do things. She lived and died under arbitrary restrictions. I'd love to see a story that explored that angle, or something exploring ways she might have been an agent in her own bid for freedom (even as she's forced to sabotage herself). It might also be interesting to see something about her married life with Christian - how do her experiences affect the way she approaches ruling and parenthood and marriage? Is she entirely human? What might her children be like?