The Fairy Tale Tag: Choose Your Own Adventure

It’s time for another tag!

This one was created by the wonderful curators of all things fairy tale, over at The Fairy Tale Central blog. Which, if you haven’t checked out already, you really should!

This month at the Fairy Tale Central they’ve been doing a compilation of all things fairy tale, and I thought I should definitely weave in their tag, since it goes so well with what we’ve been doing over here at #FantasyMonth.

Feel free to grab the tag and do it yourself! And make sure you do so before the clock strikes midnight and the February is Fantasy Month ball closes and the ballgowns turn to rags and the carriages to pumpkins (so you can join the link up!!!)

The Questions

– Your father the king has declared a contest for your hand in marriage. But he’s allowing you to decide what kind of competition it will be. What do you choose? Is there a penalty for losing, or do the losers just go home while the winner remains to marry you?

Shall I be proud? Beautiful and terrible as the morning and the night? Demand an impossibly difficult relic be brought to me and prove my own worthiness through doing so?

Probably not.

No. Since I get to choose, I would ask my father the king to set up a series of tests to determine the kindness, compassion, and selflessness of each participant. I would want the tests to be designed so that only the man who solves the various problems through acts of generosity or kindness or gentleness will pass. (Courage will also be part of the test, as I don’t want to marry a wimp). Also humility and integrity. The final test will probably involve having to know something about ME as well… (this is gonna be a lengthy and complex test, folks) I don’t want someone who is going to ignore me, but I definitely don’t want to be put up on a pedestal, either.

I wouldn’t have a penalty, though perhaps the tests might be designed to inflict their own penalty for uncommon acts of rudeness or arrogance. Something that will teach a lesson and

– You’ve just been told that you’re the Chosen One – the heir to your kingdom’s throne. Of course you demanded proof, but you didn’t expect quite so much of it to be brought forward. You grudgingly ask the state of the land. Your kingdom is at war with two neighboring kingdoms, a third kingdom is expecting your kingdom to ally with theirs and help them fight in agreement with an old treaty, there is famine in two counties in the north, and the barons of the kingdom are fighting over who will supply the palace with food for the next year. What do you do first?

I throw myself out a window.

Okay, maybe not. But seriously… WHYYY is my kingdom so messed up? Who was in charge before me? They ought to be given a stern talking to… or maybe pulled down the street in a barrel studded with nails… naked. (I did not make this up, folks, that’s an actual thing in the original Goose Girl. Fairy tale authors can be a bit… dark).

Okay.

Sigh.

My first steps would be to delegate. (Thank you, Jethro). I’m the Chosen One, but that probably means I have a loyal group of trustworthy friends and supporters who have helped get me this far. So the first thing I would do is turn to them to divide and conquer. Together, we can surely whip this sorry kingdom back into some semblance of stable.

– You’ve set off to find your fortune but end up caught in a storm in the middle of the night in an enchanted forest…and there’s an ominous growl emitting from the trees. A warm looking cottage sits nearby but you’ve heard that questionable figures dwell in this wood. What’s your plan of action?

I quickly pull the dried meat out of my pack and set about making friends with the unseen growling creature. I’ve read enough to know that warm cottages in enchanted forests (particularly when they seem too convenient) are generally inhabited by someone who is liable to be more apt to eat or curse me than to share their food or comfort.

Misunderstood terrifying appearing beasts, however, often make the most faithful and dependable of friends.

– It is time to christen your dear new baby. It’s expected to invite the local fairies but they’re known for “gifting” babies with less-than-desirable characteristics (Ella Enchanted-style). Do you invite them anyway or “accidentally” forget to send out an invitation and risk the wrath of the petty (but powerful) fairy-kind upon your kingdom?

I issue a blanket invitation to the entire kingdom (no personal invitations, but this way nobody gets left out). I also issue a royal proclamation that it is my deepest wish for my child to learn self-reliance and other things the “old fashioned way” and that no gifts are necessary… but that if anyone does feel so inclined to give my child something, that it must be strictly a tangible gift. Since it would be the height of rudeness to disregard the royal wishes in this matter, and since nobody will be singled out for higher favors than anyone else… this will either solve the problem, or create a whole host of new ones.

There will be no special golden plates, either. EVERYONE will get a golden plate, or nobody will.

Oh man. Now I want to write this story.

– Your fairy godmother grants the choice of three gowns for your one chance to meet the prince at the ball: a dress the color of the golden sun, a dress the color of the silver moon, or a dress the color of the sky. Which dress do you choose?

I’m going to have to go with the dress the color of the sky. The deepest, darkest night blue sky. Something like this one:

– Your cursed beloved tells you that only when he marries a true-blood princess will he be set free. Do you choose to aid him by finding a princess that can set him free from his horrible curse? Or do you visit the witch of the forest and make a deal with her to become a princess – but you will only get to be with your prince one day a year.

How bad is this horrible curse? I mean… is it something he and I could live with? Because, I’m thinking that it it’s not too terrible, we could just bypass both options and get married and live happily ever after. Neither one of us probably wants to be royalty anyway… since the question doesn’t mention him being a prince to begin with.

Or maybe there’s a more powerful fairy than the witch of the forest? Who could make me a princess without the down-side?

If there’s no way out, however, I’d probably aid him and find a princess that could set him free. That whole one-day a year thing seems fishy. What happens to us the other 364 days of the year? Does his curse come back? Is one of us sent through a portal to another land? Does one of us end up asleep for most of the year? There are way too many catches to this cure.

– You’ve just completed a fairy tale adventure worthy to join the ranks of the world’s greatest legends. Alas, the kingdom’s most famous minstrel is also notorious for adding his own embellishments. Would you rather have your story lost to the world, your name and deeds forgotten, or to to be known as a hero throughout the land…just in a very inaccurate and mangled version of the story?

I’d rather have my name and deeds forgotten, please and thank you very much.

When someone tells a story and I know the details are all wrong… it’s very hard for me to just sit by. I’d rather the story not be told than have it be told as a lie.

– You’ve just been approached by a man in a pointy hat who says you’re the chosen one destined to save a magical world. Before you enter the portal to this new world, you are allowed to take one piece of modern technology with you. What do you choose?

I’m taking my car. With a full tank of gas. With that, I can cross pretty much any amount of ground I would otherwise have to walk. I have a safe and dry place to sleep. A place where I can hide and lock the doors against villains. And potentially, I guess it could even be a weapon if absolutely necessary.

Of course, once it runs out of gas, it’s not good for much other than shelter, but if it saves me 400 miles of walking, I think it’s going to be my best bet.

Also, the villain will be expecting someone who can’t get places faster than by horseback… won’t THEY be surprised when I show up before they’re ready for me?

– Your parents have angered a powerful witch in your land, and she has chosen to strike out at you to punish your parents. However, since you weren’t the one who actually angered her, she’s letting you choose your own fate: 1) sleep for 100 years and leave your parents to die of old age while you sleep, 2) be locked alone in a faraway tower so your parents will never find you, 3) lose your voice so you’ll never be able to speak to your parents, or 4) give you a fatal golden touch so that you can’t hug your parents lest you turn them into statutes.

I’ll go with #3. If we’re talking about my real parents, I definitely wouldn’t want to sleep until they (and everyone else I know) dies. How truly awful.

And being locked away from them is just as bad… I mean, that’s basically the same as option 1 without any of the upsides.

I need hugs too much (and would feel HORRIBLE if I accidentally turned anyone into a golden statue) to take the fourth option.

At least with losing my voice I could still write and hug and be with my parents without putting anyone else at risk.

– You just found out that you have a twin, and you two were separated from birth because an ancient prophecy claimed one of you would bring ruin upon the kingdom. Are you the prophesied twin of ruin, or is it your brother/sister? How do you figure that out, and what do you and your twin decide to do about it?

I am probably the prophesied twin of ruin. We would figure this out pretty easily, because if we base this on my actual sister, who is Rapunzel from Tangled mixed with Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter… she’s way too sweet and good to be able to ruin anything.

So, that leaves me. We’d figure it out based on process of elimination. I definitely have the darker sense of humor… and enough of a vengeful side to be apt to bring about ruin should I be prophesied to do so. (I wouldn’t do it on PURPOSE, of course… but we’re talking about a prophecy… that’s not exactly my fault). eheheh

However, as I would not have any DESIRE to bring about ruin… we would put our heads together (being the brilliant and well-read scholars of fairy tales and fantasy that we are) and decide that trying to avoid my fate is probably the very thing that will cause me to bring ruin on the kingdom, and thus we will ignore the prophecy and go about our lives the way we would have before we acquired this knowledge.

In this way, we will avoid fulfilling the prophecy and live happily ever after…. and so will everyone else.

Oh gracious that was fun!

Those are definitely not your normal, everyday, run of the mill Tag Questions! I highly recommend grabbing this tag and doing it yourself!

I’d love to hear your answers to any or all of these questions!