Once Upon a Fic....

[paradisi]

Dear Author,

Thank you so much for signing up! I hope that this letter is helpful and contains information that sparks your interest. :) Feel free to stay in the general likes/dislikes section if that's more your style, or proceed to my rambling/fandom flailing/prompts. I am super into all of my requests and I am sure I will love anything you write! 

 

 ***

 

General Likes/Dislikes

DNWs: A/B/O, child sexual abuse, incest, goreshock, kidfic/curtainfic, menstrual/period discussion,  stillbirth/miscarriage, unrequested ships.

 

Fic Likes: Banter, bittersweet endings, casefic, cigarette smoking (if character is a canon smoker), competence kink, complicated family dynamics, corruption, dubious morality/choices, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers (or anywhere in between), forgiveness/absolution, found families, horror*, hurt/comfort, loyalty kink/absolute loyalty, magical realism, moral ambiguity, religious ritual, slice of life, UST, winning in the worst possible way, worldbuilding. 

 

(*Horror: psychological, body, erotic, or paranormal/zombie/scifi; not: slasher, goreshock, torture, or “Saw”-like scenarios).

 

'Ship Likes: Angst, banter instead of sex, denial of feelings, first time/relationship firsts, forced proximity, jealousy, mutual/one-sided pining, possessiveness, sexual tension, trust dynamics (such as established trust issues, gaining/losing someone's trust, trusting-someone-despite-everything, etc.)

 

Kink Likes: Biting, breathplay, dubcon*, dirty talk, light bondage, masturbation, oral sex, orgasm denial, persuasion/reluctance, possessiveness, power dynamics, semi-public sex, sex pollen/whatever the canon equivalent of sex-pollen would be, uniform/suit kink, vampire bloodplay, voice fetishization.

 

(*A note on dubcon/noncon: I'm okay with a dubcon scenario leaning heavily toward noncon in a "my mind says no but my body says yes" kind of situation.)

 

AUs/Fusions: I love a good AU. You know what makes any story great? SETTING IT IN SPACE. I adore space opera AUs, apocalypse (esp zombies!), vampires, Rule 63*, detective/spy noir, state-mandated ghost hunting.

Fusion-wise, I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, Inception, Pacific Rim, & Firefly/Serenity.

I'm also into mundane AUs for this challenge! Political AUs, ice skating, modern/alternate job AUs, etc. are my faves. I'm not the biggest fan of high school/college AUs normally, but if you have a great idea, I'm sure I'll love it. 
 

(*Rule 63: If shippy fic, I'd prefer both halves of the pairing be swapped please!)

  

Ratings: I'm happy with G-E. I really don't mind violence, swearing, or anything like that. Gen is great. Smut is great. On the violence/gore scale, from Care Bears to the Saw films... my limit is usually right around Quentin Tarantino. 

 

If you're unsure about something in particular, a good indicator for me is usually 'canon typical.'

 

***

Allison Gross (Traditional Ballad)
Allison Gross, The Narrator

Source: Text / Song

Look. Dating is super hard when you're known as the ugliest witch in the North country.

I've always adored this song and been intrigued by the character of Allison Gross. This is just a poor lady with magical powers who really wants to get some and has TERRIBLE TASTE in MEN. Who cannot relate on at least one or two of those points?

The song is basically just her trying to convince some guy to be her true love, first through speeches, then bribery, and then getting frustrated and turning him into a beastie creature. (And later the Queen of Faerie has to come and turn him back into a man, begging the question how many times has she had to do that?)

Anyway.

• I would adore a modern AU and/or modern fusion (?) for this. How has Allison improved her methods in the digital age? 
• Allison gets together with other lovelorn witches of folklore/legend (feel free to crossover) to bitch about dating prospects/strategies
• As above, the Queen of Faerie apparently spends some time going around the countryside and transforming creatures back into young men after they've run into Allison. Tell me how THAT conversation goes when Allison meets her on ____ occasion.
• Allison finally finds love, conventionally or unconventionally. 
• The countryside has only so many handsome young men hanging around. How many times have they been each turned into creatures? Do they swap stories?

***

Hymn to Demeter - Homer
Hades (Hymn to Demeter), Persephone (Hymn to Demeter)

Source: Text

 

Note: Please consider my incest DNW suspended for this request.

This is one of my very favorite myths. To be clear, I am a fan of Hades/Persephone, mainly because I think the character of Hades is so different and interesting than other depictions of the Greek/Roman gods. Of all of them, he’s the only one that never takes a lover*, or acts like your typical Olympian, and for being the eldest of the gods it’s a very interesting choice to make him Ruler of the Dead rather than the Ruler of Heaven.

 

Persephone too, is just a master class in contradictions. Rebirth and Death all in one character—I’m fascinated. I really love stories where she has agency in the choice of staying or leaving Hades, as well as accepting her role as Queen of the Underworld. They’re my Greek god power couple OTP.

• Again, I'd love an AU, from weird space/vampire retellings to a mundane modern jobs AU. (No High School AUs, though, please.)
• What if their roles were reversed? Persephone captures Hades, or the Goddess of Death captures the God of Spring?
• I'll be honest, I'm totally sold on the whole "Persephone reclaims her power" bent that modern retellings have taken with this myth lately. Give me more of Persephone totally being into her role as co-ruler of the Underworld/her hot ridiculous broody husband.

*Besides the whole Minthe thing.

***

Einäuglein Zweiäuglein und Dreiäuglein | One-eye Two-eyes and Three-eyes

The Prince (Einäuglein Zweiäuglein und Dreiäuglein | One-eye Two-eyes and Three-eyes) Dreiäuglein | Three-Eyes Einäuglein | One-Eye Zweiäuglein | Two-Eyes

Source: Text

 

This was my favorite story as a child and I DON’T KNOW WHY. At first glance, it’s basically your typical Cinderella story with evil sisters and a prince that rescues the (middle daughter! You rarely see that) girl from her circumstances at the end. I think that I was really obsessed with it because of the fact that the one-eyed and three-eyed sisters were just so strange and monstrous. Her mother kills Two-Eyes’ pet goat! They hide away the middle sister “because she has two eyes like normal people”! It’s weird.

• I’d love another setting AU (or detective noir?) take on this story. Or space aliens! 
• I'd be interested in creepy slice-of-life elements from Two-Eye's perspective. What's it like growing up in that house?
• What do the sisters go on to do after their normal sister leaves? Yeah, I know “they repent and she accepts them” but that seems pretty typical. Give me an adventure after the fact.
• I think part of what draws me is the body-horror aspect of this story, so if that's your thing...that would be totally up my alley.

***
The Nixie in the Pond - Brothers Grimm
The Nixie, The Miller's Son, The Miller's Son's Wife

Source: Text / Illustration

So I first encountered this story in my big book of mermaid fairytales I had as a kid (10/10 would recommend) and it always struck me as how creepy it was. You have this kid, who through no fault of his own, basically gets promised to a mermaid and nobody tries to break this curse/fix anything until he's literally dragged into the first available pool of water he gets near. Then the poor wife (a relative newcomer to the story!) has to fix everything. And then it gets solved by becoming shepherds and just avoiding sources of water for the rest of their lives.

I have questions.

• I would love something from the wife's POV as she journeys to reclaim her husband and then loses him for like, YEARS, always missing him, only to reunite with him again when they're older. (Pining is one of My Things and this story has it!)
• The miller's son (or huntsman, in some versions) is also really interesting. What's his time like with the nixie/mermaid? Is he fighting to come back? Are there aspects he finds less horrific/likes? Does he secretly miss the dark underworld of the nixie's home?
• Do they really spend the rest of their lives just paranoid and avoiding all streams and lakes? Does the wife ever go back to try and buy/bargain with the mermaid/nixie? Does this affect their children? Do they also have to avoid water like, forever?
• The Nixie's POV would also be great. I mean, technically she was cheated. What does she do? Why did she want the miller's son in the first place? Does she keep trying to get him, for the rest of his life?

***

Again, thank you so much for signing up this year! I'm sure I'll love whatever you write. You can feel free to check out my Ao3 account (Apricot). My tumblr is here, and here's the fairytales and mythology tags for good measure, if you want to go lurking.)