Once Upon a Fic reveals and recs

[dolorosa_12]

Now that the authors have been revealed, it's time for me to write a brief round up of this year's once_upon_fic exchange, which is well on the way to becoming my favourite exchange in the calendar.

I'm going to share my own gift again, because I'm honestly just beside myself with happiness at the effort and care that went into this. It's definitely my number one rec from this year's collection.

Deals In The Dark (15412 words) by DragonflyPrince
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rumpelstilzchen | Rumpelstiltskin (Fairy Tale)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Müllers Tochter | Miller's Daughter/Rumpelstilzchen | Rumpelstiltskin
Additional Tags: Once Upon a Fic Exchange 2023, Light Angst, Motherhood, Arranged Marriage, the romance stuff is really downplayed
Summary:

A bargain was made for her life. Now she has no choice but to arrange her own escape.

I matched in my own assignment with a request for the Selkie Bride folk tale, and my recipient had prompted a fic that looked at how the selkie's seven children reacted to her return to the sea. This was perfect for me, because it brought together three of my favourite things: transformations, grief, and people whose lives are intertwined with the sea. This was the result:

Standing on the Shore (2504 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Selkie Bride (Folk Tale)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Selkie (The Selkie Bride), Selkie's Children (The Selkie Bride), Husband (The Selkie Bride)
Summary:

The lives of the selkie's children, after their mother returned to the sea, and they were left behind, to watch the ebb and flow of the tide, and wonder.

I also have a couple of other recs from the collection.



On the First Morning in May (2512 words) by laurasimonsdaughter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight - Anonymous (Song), Heer Halewijn (Traditional Ballad)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lady Isabel/Elf-Knight
Characters: Lady Isabel (Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight), Heer Halewijn | Lord Halewyn (Het Lied van Heer Halewijn)
Additional Tags: Ballads, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Romance, Depending on your definition~, Content warning for poetical description of/references to murder, Blood and flowery violence
Summary:

As the first of May crept closer, the latches on the windows were fastened and white-blossomed hawthorn hung above every door. There wasn’t a child that did not have their coat buttoned inside out and no young man, nor young lady either, still dared to go rambling where the roses grew wild. For with the month of May the fair folk would be roaming again, by noonlight and moonlight, wherever they pleased...

And He Was Right (1378 words) by DesertVixen
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Prinsessen paa Ærten | The Princess and the Pea - Hans Christian Andersen
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Prince/Princess
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Plotting, The King Ships It
Summary:

What if the prince's father was behind it all?

The Princess & the Plot (Pea Optional) (1689 words) by BardicRaven
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Prinsessen paa Ærten | The Princess and the Pea - Hans Christian Andersen
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Prince & Princess - Relationship, Prince/Princess, Prince & Queen
Characters: Prins | Prince (Prinsessen paa Ærten | Princess and the Pea), Prinsesse | Princess (Prinsessen paa Ærten | Princess and the Pea)
Additional Tags: Deception, Happy Ending
Summary:

The truth was, the Prince didn't want to be married. He liked his life just fine as it was, and saw no reason to change it any sooner than he had to.

Oh, he understood about duty, and succession, and all of that, but he still had no desire to change his life just yet.

He would do his duty.

He would.

Just... later.

So he invented all these reasons why the perfectly acceptable, if not desirable, young ladies were not, in fact, acceptable.

Were not, in fact, 'real' princesses, whatever that meant.

And saw them sent home, one by one, even if, one by one, more came.

This state of affairs would likely have continued for years, were it not for a conveniently-timed storm and the daring of a young woman with a Dream of her life being different.

roses rooted in your heart (3203 words) by niuu
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Little Briar-Rose - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Sleeping Beauty - All Media Types
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Characters: Little Briar-Rose (Little Briar-Rose - Grimm), Thirteenth Wise Woman (Little Briar-Rose - Grimm), Twelfth Wise Woman (Little Briar-Rose - Grimm), Wise Women (Little Briar-Rose - Grimm)
Additional Tags: Dark Fantasy, Body Horror, Fairy Tale Retellings, Curses, Middle Ages, Eldritch Princesses, Botanical Undead, Death, necrobotany, Necromancy, Plant Magic, Roses, Skeletons
Summary:

Briar Rose, you are the rot upon the plain, those that dwell in the dells, the thicket, the copse, the undergrowth of dreams. Little one, stew on these revelations for your heart lines speak of many things.

Did anyone else participate in this exchange? What did you most like from the collection?