Beauty and the Beast

[beastlover]

So, I prolly shouldn't have written that oneshot last night because I now want to write. This is bad. I feel like writing and am fairly good at it but I am good at writing scenes. Entire stories? With plots? Not so much.

I've been working on my own version of Beauty and the Beast because I grew up on that story. I've read about 20 different versions, some of them multiple times, and seen every movie/play of it I've had to opportunity to see. It provided a base for a lot of my opinions/feelings about stuff like love, home, family, the big stuff. I started with the intention of 'fixing' the story. Every version always has a little something that doesn't quite fit, or is just blatantly wrong and I was going to write it without all that stuff. It's very slow going because I'm lazy and I chose to write it in a style that doesn't agree with me. I have decided to change to style to a more conducive one for me and maybe I'll get a little farther.

Anyway. Here's the prologue type thingy cause I'm kinda short on time at the moment but I've been bit by the writing bug and HAD to do something.

The Beginning

Once, several hundred years ago, the world was full of magic. Enchantments lay thickly over everything and those who could control enchantment were honored and feared. Magic itself was feared most of all; for, like any all-powerful, sentient force, it had an unpredictable mind all its own. People were wary, not of change because change was normal; it was common to see your socks turn into hedgehogs when you tried to wash them, but of sameness. Anything that stayed the same for longer than a week was obviously a powerful magical object and should be treated with caution.

 

In those days, men who were heedless of the perils of magic, though few, died young or disappeared.

 

As the years passed, magic became more academic and refined. Magicians and wizards studied in universities. Witches, though few, continued to practice magic the old way. Magic became less visible, less obvious. There were people who did not know magic existed. The universities slowly were deemed unnecessary and closed. Eventually, only the few people that still practiced magic believed in its existence. Perhaps one in every thousand people still knew of it. That was one of the problems of modern life; the lack of belief in something more powerful than one's self. The other problem, the neglect of love and a widespread ignorance of its power, was far more troublesome. Yet, it was never recognized, except, by those who practiced magic. Magic relies on love for a large part of its power because both love and magic are based on belief and strength. Needless to say, the magic was not pleased with the state of things but it had been weakened by its dry, academic treatment and could do nothing. It needed a catalyst.