Fairy Tale Central’s Choose Your Own Adventure Tag

I so enjoyed the tag they put out last year and the tag this year looks fun too, I love fairytale things. I’ve been looking through the lists of the retellings on their site for new authors to try, I have a few Mercedes Lackey books on my library shelf right now.

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?

Hmm, I think it would be cool to have different types of tests, tests on bravery, tests on sword-fighting, tests on character traits. Everyone would all take the tests and get ranked a number then I would choose based on how important I thought the combinations or maybe I would weight the various tests, then I would want the top winners (lets just assume in this scenario that I’m stunning and brilliant and will have lots of suitors, lol . . . otherwise this wouldn’t be interesting) to sort of apprentice at the castle for a period of time, so I could get to know them. Of course knowing me, it would be the guy who doesn’t enter at all or can’t that I’d want.

– 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?

Send food and relief to the two counties in the north (and make sure it gets there and given out properly, preferably with a magical seeing device so I can’t be assassinated if I go and can get a grip on the wars), and while that is being done look at the facts behind all the wars and agreements.

– 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?

Even if I climbed the trees, I could freeze to death, if I made an ice cave I could freeze or get mauled. Who knows what is in the cabin, but certain frozen death is outside, I’d risk the cottage, but take a peep in first or see if there was any outbuilding.

– 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’d invite them with a “gift list” included, with if possible a royal rule disallowing gifts not on said list.

– 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?

A dress the color of the silver moon, it just has so much of a ring of magic to the idea with the color and the moon, mysterious, mystical.

– 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.

I’ll choose to aid him to find the princess and hope for something to come up, either that I’m unknowingly a princess, there is “fine print” in the curse somewhere, etc. Things tend to turn up like that in fairytales.

– 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 be lost to the world than misrepresented.

– 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?

Not a phone or internet access, that would ruin the entire fun and adventure. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that wouldn’t spoil the adventure or couldn’t be done with magic.

– 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.

Does the golden touch extend to everyone? If no, then that one, if yes, then 1.

– 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?

Oh, no doubt I’d definitely be the one to bring about ruin to the kingdom. I have more than enough sisters in real life, I’d prefer to have a twin brother and maybe we could go on a quest to figure out how to thwart the prophecy, of course anything we do together would mean both of us would cause the ruin . . .