Author's Note: So, I tried to give The Author the benefit of the doubt in the beginning. I really did. I mean, I get that sometimes you have to put characters through the ringer, and depending on why you do it, I could have sympathized with him. In the end though, he was just bitter.
Aside from that, he wasn't a very good writer. Okay, I did not read his book, so I don't know that for a fact, but based on what we know of his book, well, I have a few problems.
It wasn't so much that he made Snow White Evil and took away the happy endings. I could get that. As a fan of the show who loves the characters, I do not want him to hurt them, but if we were just talking about characters, I could totally respect a writer turning the classic fairytales on their head and switching good and evil around. It's an interesting concept.
However, when you are taking a story like that, a classic, longstanding story, one that is well known to have certain elements, you have to keep them. The author didn't make Snow White evil; he made an evil character and named her Snow White. I could have a daughter, name her Snow White, and she could be anything in the end.
It's not just the name that makes the story. You want an evil Snow White? Fine, you still need the stepmother. The author established an enemy/outlaw/orphan named Regina who was on the run from Snow White? What? She wasn't her stepmother, and the name Regina is meaningless unless you know the Once Upon A Time version, which nobody in the real world does. That just makes her some girl who apparently screwed up Snow White's life. How did that even work anyway? I mean, she's older than Snow White, so how did she screw up her happy ending as a child?
Aside from that, there was no huntsman who spared her, and no poison apple. These things are basic of the Snow White story. Make her evil if you want, but she still needs a stepmother to send a huntsman for her heart, and she needs to bite a poison apple. That's just how it goes. Otherwise, it is not Snow White, turned-on-its-head or otherwise.
And the whole thing with The Light One and The Dark One is also just in Once-Lore. It would mean nothing to modern readers; they wouldn't even notice the difference. As for Rumpelstiltskin, there needs to be some sort of baby-stealing and name guessing. I get that it's complicated because Once already turned fairytales on their heads, but I think there is a way to do it without disregarding everything that makes them fairytales.
I know there are a lot of attempts at Heroes and Villains by Isaac Heller. This one is mine.
Chapter One: The Light and The Darkness
Once upon a time, there was darkness. It always begins with darkness; there can be nothing before, and without it, there can be nothing after. Darkness is absence, the absence of light and the absence of hope. Darkness is fear. Darkness is creatures under your bed. Darkness is not knowing if you will wake up in the morning. Darkness is screaming when you close your eyes because you don't know if you'll be able to open them again. That is darkness. It can be fought, but it can never be destroyed. There must always be darkness, because without darkness, there is no light.
This is what was forged in the beginning. After there was darkness, there was light. More specifically, there was The Light One, a being of good, given the power to fight the darkness. It was a mantle that would pass from one to another. The Light One would fight the darkness and keep the people safe. He would protect them. And then, when the time came, he would pick another Light One to take his place, and he would gracefully accept death.
In the meantime, the darkness would do its work, corrupting good souls, rousing mayhem wherever it could. This is what it did with the ogres. It came down on them and drew them out, telling them to hunt and kill.
The townspeople were terrified. They didn't know what to do. Men went to war, and women stayed home and feared for their husbands.
There was one man, a pour spinner, who could not go to fight. He wanted to, but his wife was ill, and his son was barely ten. They needed him to care for them. He worked as hard as he could to earn a living, spinning as fast as he ever had, selling as much as he could to the locals. They were kind to him. They asked after his wife and his son, and he would tell them. He would ask of the fighting and what went on on the front lines. He so wanted to fight for his family. Still, none blamed him for hanging back. He was doing what he had to do; what choice did he have?
One day, it all changed. The soldiers couldn't hold the Ogres back any longer. They were approaching the village, and everybody was terrified. Nobody was more terrified than The Spinner. His son was young and his wife was ill. Could they run? He did his best to rush them to shelter with everybody else, but his wife couldn't walk. She was so weak. Everybody could see the Ogres approaching, and panic ensued. The Spinner lost track of his son.
Other villagers urged him to get inside, but he couldn't. "I must find my son." He said, desperation in his voice. He couldn't find his son. He couldn't find anyone. Then, he saw the Ogre. The creature was huge, ferocious, and frankly, disgusting to look at. It had large ears and dim eyes. The Spinner remembered learning that Ogres were blind. Maybe he could use that. Use that? He thought, horrified. You can't be planning to fight that thing? Then, he saw Baelfire, his son, standing dangerously exposed and out in the open.
Bae.
He didn't think. He didn't have to. He had to kill that beast, or lure it away, or something. Anything. He had to save his son.
Blind.
They were blind.
They respond to loud noises.
So, The Spinner let out a noise. The noise was strange; he wasn't sure what it was. Still, it was a noise, and it was loud. That's all he needed.
The Ogre turned to him, it large form terrifying The Spinner. Still, he stood his ground. What else could he do?
The Ogre drew close to him, and he started to run, making the noise all the way. He lured the Ogre to his hovel, and went inside. Desperately, he searched for something, anything to use as a weapon. Then, he struck gold. His spindle. It was sharp, and he knew how to handle. After all, he wasn't a knight. He was a spinner. This was his weapon.
He came out of his hovel, and went straight for the Ogre. The Ogre, however, was gone. It had lost interest and had turned away. It was heading for the hut everybody was hiding in. He heard a scream.
Milah!
He knew his wife's scream; she was in pain so often.
He headed for the Ogre, this time taking care to be quiet and not alert the monster. Then, he stabbed it. He stabbed it as hard as he could. He stabbed it and stabbed it, and stabbed it again. The thing bled, but it was still strong, still fighting him.
Then, there was light. A great light engulfed the village. He awoke in a clearing. A man stared down at him. No, not a man. Something else. Something special.
"What happened?"
"The Ogres attacked. You fought bravely. You must love someone very much."
The Spinner nodded, "My son? My wife? Where are they?"
The man … being … shook his head, "I'm sorry."
The Spinner sobbed, "No. No! No! No!"
The being held him and let him grieve. In time, he stopped sobbing, and the being spoke, "It may comfort you to know that you saved most of the villagers. I try to help, but I cannot be everywhere. There is so much darkness. I do what I can to blight it out, but it evades me. I was helping elsewhere, when I felt this overwhelming love call to me. Your love. Your bravery." The Spinner looked up in awe as the being began to glow. "I may not look it, but I am actually quite old. It is the curse of The Light One. We must carry on until we find someone worthy to take our place. I believe I have."
"I am just a humble spinner."
"You are more than that. You are a hero."
"How will I go on, without Bae? Without Milah?"
"Because people need you to, and a hero never walks away from that."
He reached out, and the light coming off him started to creep up The Spinner's skin. It was warm. It felt like love, and hope.
"Be warned, there will always be darkness trying to snuff out your light. It is in every creature, and if you are not careful of it, it will defeat you. You must remember hope and love. Remember what drove you this day." The Spinner nodded as he watched the Old Light One grow old and fade before his eyes, "One more thing. Your name, what is it?"
"It is very long, and very strange." The Spinner replied. His name had always embarrassed him.
"That's good. Because names have power. Never give your true name to anyone. If they know it, they will have power over you. Keep it a secret. Trust nobody with it. It is too dangerous."
The Spinner nodded. Then, the being was gone, and a poor spinner was reborn as The New Light One.
