Once Upon A Fic Letter
General Info
DNW: No anal sex, infidelity, or humiliation. No unrelentingly dark fic or outright unhappy endings. Please don’t portray the romance between Beauty and the Beast or Hades and Persephone as Stockholm Syndrome.
Favorite Things: Het, femslash, or gen. Fic of any rating from G to E (see previous letters for smut likes). Happy endings, characters having to earn their happy endings, and bittersweet endings. Traditional fairytales, fractured fairytales, and dark fairytales. Queering the narrative. Character-driven stories. Atmospheric fic. Love triumphant. Characters dealing with the aftermath of their adventures. Fic that leans into fairytale logic and fairytale magic, and fic that tries to make rational sense of events. Magic, curses, and (literal or metaphorical) transformation narratives. Setting change retellings (Steampunk, Regency, Prohibition Era, Modern, In Space ... the possibilities are endless). Otherworldly, amoral fae, and all manner of weird fae shit. Focus on female characters. Clever girls taking control of their own destinies. Strong female characters, both those who succeed in traditionally masculine roles and those who are no less awesome for being traditionally feminine. Flirtation. Teasing. Banter. Snark, affectionate or not. Anything involving dance. Slice of life/domesticity/quiet moments. Strong characters having moments of weakness, and being able put down their armor and lean on those closest to them. Family interactions. Good friends being there for each other. Realistic relationships, where people have flaws and not everything's perfect but they work things out anyway. Romances that stress trust, support, equality, and deep friendship. Relationships that overcome a bad beginning to make things work. Friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, and reluctant-allies-to-lovers.
Feel free also to browse my previous exchange letters.
Beauty and the Beast - Joseph Jacobs: Beauty, Beast
Romances between characters who get off to a completely awful start but overcome it to fall in love anyway are like catnip to me; I think that says a lot about why I love this fairytale so much, and I would be thrilled by anything that plays up that dynamic. I also really adore the idea of Beauty being a bookish heroine, and her softening towards the Beast starting out with intellectual bonding.
Enemies to friends to lovers: I’d love slowburn fic of their developing relationship, or slice of life of sometime in the middle of the story. Maybe an AU where there is no Beast almost dying incident to catalyze the realization of feelings and their relationship turning from friendship to romance happens more gradually. Or maybe Beauty is a monsterfucker on main and happy to bed the Beast but reluctant to admit feelings.
Genderbend: There are some unfortunate implications in the idea that a man can be a hideous beast and still be worth redeeming, but the woman who saves him has to be beautiful, so I’d be really curious to see a femmeslash retelling and how altering the gender dynamics changes the story. (This is not a requirement, though; I’m also hugely fond of the traditional het version.)
Backstory: Beauty’s relationship with her father and/or her sisters, and their life before she goes to the beast’s castle. (Beauty by Robin McKinley is one of my favorite retellings, and I could have read a whole book just of the section of it where Beauty’s family is adjusting to their reduced circumstances and settling into village life.) How the beast ended up cursed (and did he truly deserve it or was it more of a fae being easily offended and capricious kind of thing?), or the early days of adjusting to his transformed state.
Post-canon: How does a bookish merchant’s daughter feel about suddenly becoming a princess? How does the Beast-Prince feel about interacting with the world as a prince again after having been a hermit for so long as a beast? Is the breaking of the curse an entirely happy thing, or do either of them ever miss the beast?
Dark-Eyed Sailor: Lady, William
I adore this ballad and its romance, but am a little unsettled by the way it seems to present itself as a sweet story with a totally happy ending, because the sailor tricking his lover into thinking he’s dead until she protests her loyalty beyond all hope strikes me as a really dick move. I’d really love to see fic that explores either of two possibilities:
1 - After she gets over the initial euphoria of “I’m so glad you’re alive and back”, she calls him out about “that was a really dick move and don’t you dare pull anything like that ever again” and they have to work on rebuilding trust as they learn to be together again once he’s home
2 - What if in the course of his voyages, the sailor was ensnared by some sort of ocean spirit or fae and was under a magical compulsion so he couldn’t reveal himself to his lady until she’d passed the test and so broken the fae’s hold on him?
Hymn to Demeter: Hades, Persephone
I’d like fic that focuses on the relationship between Hades and Persephone, but their interactions with any of the other nominated characters would also be welcome. I’m interested in pretty much anything about these two: retelling of the abduction myth, slice of life fic during or after the events recounted in the Homeric Hymn, interacting with the modern world, Hades and Persephone as patrons of long-distance relationships, something focusing on the duality of life and death in the natural world, shameless smut (dubcon or otherwise)....
If you want to stick close to the Homeric Hymn, I’m particularly interested in the unseen journey of their relationship from unwilling abduction to the point where Persephone chooses to eat the pomegranate seeds. Don’t feel you have to stick too close to that source, though; I’m also very fond of retellings that put a different spin on the story. “Hades is a socially awkward introvert and Persephone is the scary one” is among my favorite character interpretations. I enjoy any take on their dynamic from "Persephone arranged her own abduction" to 100% nonconsensual beginning. However, I firmly believe that Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds willingly, and would prefer to reach a place of "they really do love each other" in the end (part of their appeal for me is that I have a ginormous weakness for relationships that start off horribly wrong but overcome that bad start to fall in love anyway).
Alternately, the song “Mother” by Tori Amos recently struck me as having very strong Hades and Persephone vibes, particularly this stanza:
Mother the car is here
Somebody leave the light on
Black chariot for the redhead dancing dancing girl
He's gonna change my name
Maybe you'll leave the light on
Just in just in case I like the dancing I can remember where I come from
I’d love to see something inspired by that (and if you choose to work with this particular prompt I’m okay with a less positive take on the consentuality of their relationship).
Feel free also to check out my Hades/Persephone tag on Tumblr.
Tam Lin: Janet, The Queen, Tam Lin
Janet and Tam Lin’s relationship, or Tam Lin’s relationship with the Queen before Janet comes along, or Janet and Tam Lin somehow get mixed up in fae trouble again later on.
I’m particularly fascinated by Janet’s character: her independence and determination, the way she seems to take the warning “don’t go to Carterhaugh on pain of losing your maidenhead” as a dare and how confidently she tells her father and his entire court to fuck off. One page I’ve read included in notes on the ballad’s origin that she may have been intended to have magical powers. Why is she so disdainful of her father’s knights, and why does her father seem a bit intimidated by her? I’d love to see more of her first meeting with Tam Lin (and am open to either consensual or non-consensual interpretations of that encounter, given that ballad versions differ widely), or of what if any development there was in their relationship between then and the day he tells her how to rescue him, or dealing with the aftermath of his rescue. Alternatively, Tam Lin’s life with the faeries and what the fae court is like. If you’re so inclined, feel free to lean all the way in to the possibilities of weird fae shit and weird sex shit that this ballad provides.
DNW: No anal sex, infidelity, or humiliation. No unrelentingly dark fic or outright unhappy endings. Please don’t portray the romance between Beauty and the Beast or Hades and Persephone as Stockholm Syndrome.
Favorite Things: Het, femslash, or gen. Fic of any rating from G to E (see previous letters for smut likes). Happy endings, characters having to earn their happy endings, and bittersweet endings. Traditional fairytales, fractured fairytales, and dark fairytales. Queering the narrative. Character-driven stories. Atmospheric fic. Love triumphant. Characters dealing with the aftermath of their adventures. Fic that leans into fairytale logic and fairytale magic, and fic that tries to make rational sense of events. Magic, curses, and (literal or metaphorical) transformation narratives. Setting change retellings (Steampunk, Regency, Prohibition Era, Modern, In Space ... the possibilities are endless). Otherworldly, amoral fae, and all manner of weird fae shit. Focus on female characters. Clever girls taking control of their own destinies. Strong female characters, both those who succeed in traditionally masculine roles and those who are no less awesome for being traditionally feminine. Flirtation. Teasing. Banter. Snark, affectionate or not. Anything involving dance. Slice of life/domesticity/quiet moments. Strong characters having moments of weakness, and being able put down their armor and lean on those closest to them. Family interactions. Good friends being there for each other. Realistic relationships, where people have flaws and not everything's perfect but they work things out anyway. Romances that stress trust, support, equality, and deep friendship. Relationships that overcome a bad beginning to make things work. Friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, and reluctant-allies-to-lovers.
Feel free also to browse my previous exchange letters.
Beauty and the Beast - Joseph Jacobs: Beauty, Beast
Romances between characters who get off to a completely awful start but overcome it to fall in love anyway are like catnip to me; I think that says a lot about why I love this fairytale so much, and I would be thrilled by anything that plays up that dynamic. I also really adore the idea of Beauty being a bookish heroine, and her softening towards the Beast starting out with intellectual bonding.
Enemies to friends to lovers: I’d love slowburn fic of their developing relationship, or slice of life of sometime in the middle of the story. Maybe an AU where there is no Beast almost dying incident to catalyze the realization of feelings and their relationship turning from friendship to romance happens more gradually. Or maybe Beauty is a monsterfucker on main and happy to bed the Beast but reluctant to admit feelings.
Genderbend: There are some unfortunate implications in the idea that a man can be a hideous beast and still be worth redeeming, but the woman who saves him has to be beautiful, so I’d be really curious to see a femmeslash retelling and how altering the gender dynamics changes the story. (This is not a requirement, though; I’m also hugely fond of the traditional het version.)
Backstory: Beauty’s relationship with her father and/or her sisters, and their life before she goes to the beast’s castle. (Beauty by Robin McKinley is one of my favorite retellings, and I could have read a whole book just of the section of it where Beauty’s family is adjusting to their reduced circumstances and settling into village life.) How the beast ended up cursed (and did he truly deserve it or was it more of a fae being easily offended and capricious kind of thing?), or the early days of adjusting to his transformed state.
Post-canon: How does a bookish merchant’s daughter feel about suddenly becoming a princess? How does the Beast-Prince feel about interacting with the world as a prince again after having been a hermit for so long as a beast? Is the breaking of the curse an entirely happy thing, or do either of them ever miss the beast?
Dark-Eyed Sailor: Lady, William
I adore this ballad and its romance, but am a little unsettled by the way it seems to present itself as a sweet story with a totally happy ending, because the sailor tricking his lover into thinking he’s dead until she protests her loyalty beyond all hope strikes me as a really dick move. I’d really love to see fic that explores either of two possibilities:
1 - After she gets over the initial euphoria of “I’m so glad you’re alive and back”, she calls him out about “that was a really dick move and don’t you dare pull anything like that ever again” and they have to work on rebuilding trust as they learn to be together again once he’s home
2 - What if in the course of his voyages, the sailor was ensnared by some sort of ocean spirit or fae and was under a magical compulsion so he couldn’t reveal himself to his lady until she’d passed the test and so broken the fae’s hold on him?
Hymn to Demeter: Hades, Persephone
I’d like fic that focuses on the relationship between Hades and Persephone, but their interactions with any of the other nominated characters would also be welcome. I’m interested in pretty much anything about these two: retelling of the abduction myth, slice of life fic during or after the events recounted in the Homeric Hymn, interacting with the modern world, Hades and Persephone as patrons of long-distance relationships, something focusing on the duality of life and death in the natural world, shameless smut (dubcon or otherwise)....
If you want to stick close to the Homeric Hymn, I’m particularly interested in the unseen journey of their relationship from unwilling abduction to the point where Persephone chooses to eat the pomegranate seeds. Don’t feel you have to stick too close to that source, though; I’m also very fond of retellings that put a different spin on the story. “Hades is a socially awkward introvert and Persephone is the scary one” is among my favorite character interpretations. I enjoy any take on their dynamic from "Persephone arranged her own abduction" to 100% nonconsensual beginning. However, I firmly believe that Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds willingly, and would prefer to reach a place of "they really do love each other" in the end (part of their appeal for me is that I have a ginormous weakness for relationships that start off horribly wrong but overcome that bad start to fall in love anyway).
Alternately, the song “Mother” by Tori Amos recently struck me as having very strong Hades and Persephone vibes, particularly this stanza:
Mother the car is here
Somebody leave the light on
Black chariot for the redhead dancing dancing girl
He's gonna change my name
Maybe you'll leave the light on
Just in just in case I like the dancing I can remember where I come from
I’d love to see something inspired by that (and if you choose to work with this particular prompt I’m okay with a less positive take on the consentuality of their relationship).
Feel free also to check out my Hades/Persephone tag on Tumblr.
Tam Lin: Janet, The Queen, Tam Lin
Janet and Tam Lin’s relationship, or Tam Lin’s relationship with the Queen before Janet comes along, or Janet and Tam Lin somehow get mixed up in fae trouble again later on.
I’m particularly fascinated by Janet’s character: her independence and determination, the way she seems to take the warning “don’t go to Carterhaugh on pain of losing your maidenhead” as a dare and how confidently she tells her father and his entire court to fuck off. One page I’ve read included in notes on the ballad’s origin that she may have been intended to have magical powers. Why is she so disdainful of her father’s knights, and why does her father seem a bit intimidated by her? I’d love to see more of her first meeting with Tam Lin (and am open to either consensual or non-consensual interpretations of that encounter, given that ballad versions differ widely), or of what if any development there was in their relationship between then and the day he tells her how to rescue him, or dealing with the aftermath of his rescue. Alternatively, Tam Lin’s life with the faeries and what the fae court is like. If you’re so inclined, feel free to lean all the way in to the possibilities of weird fae shit and weird sex shit that this ballad provides.