If you could make a fairy-tale come true...

[Coidzor]

What would you choose to be your test run of this?

Suppose, for example, that after going to sleep one night, instead of dreaming and waking up roughly where you went to bed, instead you're in a strange city whose name you vaguely remember from a children's story or fairy tale. Further inquiries amongst the populace yield an alien geography and investigations at a library led to finding the only familiar stories being real world events that are marked as fiction.

Eventually the thought that this seems to be a world where mildly obscure fairy tales, urban legends, and children's stories are true might cross your mind.

Let's, say, expand this scenario to effect a group of you and your friends, and you or one of your friends propose the idea of coming up with a story to see if coming up with a story only known to a few of you would have an effect on this world's reality or not.

What kind of story would you try first? Something simple and relatively safe so as to not Monkey's Paw yourself too hard? Something so grandiose that it would be clear, concrete proof that couldn't be missed or accidentally overlooked? A pile of nubiles? A ticket home?

And, if after testing it seemed out to vary from completely as-is for very minor things, to subtly altered for more major things and outright monkey's paw'd for outright abusive wishes, where would you go from there? What if things that were clearly wishes didn't work, but stories with a clear narrative that could be of benefit if one found the right time or place to exploit it?

Alternatively, how would you test it out to see if it varied depending upon the scale of the story/wish?

[Feytalist]

Simply fall down a well. If you end up in a place with fantastic creatures and heaps of treasure, you're in a fairy tale. If you drown, you're not.

If it's been concretely established that I'm in a fairy-tale world, I'd go find a third son and hang around him. Third sons always succeed in everything they do.

[Mauve Shirt]

NOT the one where the sausages try to kill each other.
Find Simple Hans, or Boots, or a discharged soldier. They always win the kingdom, maybe they'll give me something if I help them. St. Peter wouldn't care for my motives very much.

[Eldan]

Aladdin.
Bam, two artefacts of infinite wishes! I could totally pull that "Exchange your lamp for a new and shinier lamp" con.


Alternatively, the table that produced never-ending supplies of any food you wished.

[Telonius]

Oh man, if that ever happened to me, I'd be totally set. Being a foundling and all that. I'd probably be king within a month. :smallcool:

For the stories, I'd tell them my short story/fable about the three brothers at the crossroads. Then, the one about the artist in the shrine. Neither of them are very dangerous, and nobody gets particularly hurt in them, so it would be easy on the conscience to see if it works.

To test how big of a scale it works on, I'd start telling them the story of my book. That's grandiose and world-altering enough for a typical fairy-tale place.

[Pokonic]

Silly. Go and hang out with the Goose Girl. Food!:smalltongue:

[Mando Knight]

Problem: The eldest two brothers always fail. Also, I don't hate my mother.

[Othesemo]

Speaking as the youngest of three brothers, my immediate reaction to such a thing would be to do a happy dance. I'd just loaf off for a few years before becoming a kind and living happily ever after.

[Kyberwulf]

i would make my girlfriend love me again.

[Eldan]

Speaking as the youngest of three brothers, my immediate reaction to such a thing would be to do a happy dance. I'd just loaf off for a few years before becoming a kind and living happily ever after.

I am the oldest brother, but we're only two, so I should be at least partially safe. However, I was born on a Sunday, so I could at least talk to that one forest spirit that hands out free wishes to those born on Sunday...

[Nai_Calus]

Interesting premise.

I don't have siblings I live with who look down on me, though, and I'm the older of two half-siblings, the other of which is eight years younger than me, and we never lived together because we have a common father, not a common mother. So other than a vague jealousy towards her for being the one who got to live with our father and the one who always got more cool stuff we don't have much of a relationship, though she only lives a couple of states over so if she were ever in trouble I'd be in the car and over there faster than you can say Rumplestiltskin. So that puts me in a bad position there because the family loyalty thing isn't enough to overcome being the older half-sibling. :smalltongue:

I do have a kindly sympathetic father, a mother I despise and an evil former stepmother, though. And I'm genre-savvy enough to not fall prey to the common mistakes.

I'd probably just shrug, proceed to be kind to everyone I meet and take up with a kindly mentor to teach me how to fight with a sword so I can make a living as a wandering swordsman, eventually rescue a princess/prince in need, marry them and live Happily Ever After. Because marrying someone you've known for five minutes is totally always successful. :smallwink::smalltongue:

[Worlok]

If I could make a fairy-tale come true, I'd totally just pick one of the ones that have some sort of epic quest and aim for kingship, I presume. Hell of a sense of accomplishment, and if I actually make it through, a lifetime's worth of everything one'd want. My brother and I are also on fairly good terms, meaning I'd most likely get to share some of the spoils in case he hits it lucky once again.

Then again, I could just witch my way to glory, I would think. Get me some magic on and never once look back - Are guinea pigs acceptable familiars, anyone?

Alternatively, Snow White should be all grown up by now... :smallamused:

[Xondoure]

I'd test it with a very simple story. A beggar on the side of the road is secretly a kind spirit waiting to meet someone willing to help it, and then have one of my less aware friends run across a beggar's path (us knowing the story would negate the proper innocence needed.)

After that, well, I'd probably venture off on a quest with both of my younger siblings (to at least attempt to avoid fate as much as I could.) And begin a pursuit for happiness and the meaning of life. See what that does to this little world.

[The Durvin]

My worry is that I took a test online to check my alignment, and I came up Lawful Neutral. We do not fare well in these stories; I'm more likely to get tricked into buying a wooden cockerel or something than wind up king.

If I was there nonetheless, I would try to keep a low profile and make my way to Big Rock Candy Mountain on the back of one of those tsukumogami that used to be a mattress.

[Xiander]

I'd head of to find the wizard to get myself some courage...