Hey! So this is my first Gravity Falls fic so I'm not quite sure how this will turn out. The idea of this came from the Beauty and the Beast AU from Tumblr user saisai-chan. I hope I do justice to her brilliant idea and that you enjoy.
Once upon a time in a faraway land two brothers lived together in a grand palace. Though the brothers, a pair of twins, were alike in appearance their similarities seemed to end there. The first was a charming man, hiding his insecurities behind empty words and false smiles. The second valued knowledge above all else, isolating himself from the world around him in his quest for facts and answers. As they grew further apart the close bond they once shared began to strain until it eventually shattered, leaving them truly alone in the world.
One cold night a loud knock resounded throughout the still castle. Upon opening the doors the second brother was greeted by a young man asking for shelter. The brother hesitated for a moment before deciding to let the man in, the promise of hearing the tales he had to offer too enticing to turn down. When the other brother met the man though he was far less welcoming, feeling as though something about the stranger was off. Throughout the night he kept a close eye on the man despite his brother's confidence in him.
During the early hours of the morning his suspicions would be confirmed, catching their guest trying to make off with his brother's life work; a series of journals holding every shred of research he'd accumulated over the years. Furious over the deception the two threw the stranger out and slammed the door in his face. Before the siblings even had a chance to turn and walk away the doors flew open with a powerful force. In walked the stranger only now he gave off a bright red glow, clearly enraged. The twins quickly realized they had angered a powerful being and tried to apologize for their earlier rudeness to no avail.
The creature only scoffed at their attempts, claiming that he no longer cared about the journals. No after this treatment the being wanted to punish the brothers for getting in his way. Their suffering would be more enjoyable than any knowledge the dusty old books would supply anyway. It was then that he placed a curse on the twins, their palace, and all who lived there. The first brother was transformed into a terrifying beast, manifesting his insecurities into a physical form. The second was turned into one of his precious journals that he'd poured so much of his life into creating. As for everyone else in the palace they were turned into household objects, alive but unaging. The fey explained that the only way to lift his curse was for the first brother to love someone and for them to love him in return. Until that time, he went on, his brother would lose a page. Each page represented the brother's memory and if all the pages were lost before the spell was broken he would he would die and the other, along with the servants, would remain as they were for all time.
Ashamed of the form he'd been given the beast remained in his castle, his only glimpse of the outside world coming from the books reflective emblem. Thirty years passed and the brothers fell into despair. After all who could ever come to love a beast?