Dear Storyteller...

[desertvixen]

So I really love this challenge. It gives me a chance to step outside the sort of thing I normally write, and it gives me the opportunity to get some nice ghost encounter stories and/or a mythology fix.

General: Try not to make everything too dark - some darkness in the progress of the story is fine, but don't end it that way. Bittersweet or slightly creepy "do I want to turn on the lights before I go up" is always good.

I also love crossovers. If you want to smash a few of the prompts together, I would be A-OK with that. I'd also be cool with you dragging in characters from other fandoms (Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys investigate the Ocean-Born Mary house or encounter "Room for One More"? Go for it.)

If you want more about my writing likes/dislikes, check out the "dear Yuletide writer" tag. My general writing preferences are here.

I'm good with sexual activity that fits with the characters and situation.  Please no extreme violence/gore/cruelty to animals.

 

1. Ocean-Born Mary (Ghost Story) 

House's Current Owner (Ocean-Born Mary Ghost Story)

Ocean-Born Mary (Ocean-Born Mary Ghost Story)

Don Pedro (Ocean-Born Mary Ghost Story)

I'd be interested in how Mary and Don Pedro meet up again, when he marries her.

But I'd also be interested in how Don Pedro's mother reacts when she about her little namesake. Or maybe she urges her son to go find her.

But I'd also also be interested in a story where people move into Ocean-Born Mary's house and interact with the ghosts... especially if they do the research to find out about the story.

I'd love to see Mary and Don Pedro interact. Perhaps there is a picture of the rare silk dress she is married in - or perhaps there is enough held back to marry Don Pedro in?

The version of the story told in C.B. Colby's Strangely Enough invokes the possibility that Ocean-Born Mary still haunts the place - you can roll with this.

Or maybe a young couple decides to renovate or restore? Do they find the treasure? Does the ghost help?  Feel free to bring in Nancy Drew or Poirot or Miss Marple.
 

2. Room for One More (Urban Legend) 

Visitor at the House (Room for One More)

Man Carrying the Coffin (Room for One More)

House's Owner (Room for One More)

 

So I have loved this story forever. I'm not so interested in Lord Dufferin, but more in the character types. Feel free to populate this story with some fresh characters.  Feel free to bring in Nancy Drew or Poirot or Miss Marple.

Nancy Drew, or perhaps M. Poirot and the good Hastings? I don't have many more suggestions. There's also the Twilight Zone adaptation of the story, "Twenty Two" that may be helpful.  Or stick with the classic of the elevator.

 

3. The Cat Who Became a Queen (Indian Fairy Tale) 

Mother Cat (Cat Who Became A Queen)

Cat Who Becomes A Queen (Cat Who Became A Queen)

Was there something special about the mother cat and/or kitten from the start? Does the mother cat live a good (possibly enchanted) life? Does the cat-turned-queen come back to see her mother? I am also interested in how the grateful wives treat the cat afterwards.

888

I don’t have much to add.  I just found this story when I was looking for another source, and now I need it.  This one doesn't cross well with other characters/stories (unless you want to mix in more fairy tale cats).

 

4.  Theseus and the Minotaur (Parallel Lives - Plutarch) 

Ariadne (Theseus and the Minotaur)

Seven Sacrificial Maidens (Theseus and the Minotaur)

Theseus may be the Hot Young Hero, but he's also kind of stupid and malicious (witness forgetting the black sails are up, and Medea). I'd love to see Ariadne help out the seven maidens rather than the handsome (kind of stupid) prince? Feel free to make the maidens somehow tied to the seven young men - friends/siblings/etc - but interested here in Ariadne helping the maidens out. Maybe she knows one of them?

To go along with some of the other requests, feel free to involve a cat.  I love Ariadne, but Theseus isn't really a huge prize.
 

5. The Baba Yaga: A Russian Fairy Tale (Wonder Tales from Many Lands - Katharine Pyle) 

Baba Yaga's Cat (Wonder Tales from Many Lands)

Please tell me what happens to the cat after it runs away....as long as it ends with belly scratches and treats for the kitty.

I guess you could mix this one with The Cat Who Became A Queen… I’m interested in the adventures the cat might have had, perhaps helping some other fairy tale characters?  Maybe she meets Puss in Boots? 

I do prefer the cat to be a female.