Hi everyone! This is my first Disney fanfic. One day I was watching a bunch of Disney theory videos and decided to come up with one of my own. I was thinking to myself "Hmm... Beauty and the Beast takes place in France. So does Cinderella. What if..." and this story was born. However, I just want to clear some things up before we start this story.
1. I know this theory is highly unlikely to be true. At the time I was creating this theory, I was not aware that France had a second monarchy sometime in the 19th century. I now realize this second monarchy is most likely when the events of Cinderella took place, but by the time I found that out I was much too invested in this story to throw it away. So if its not too much trouble, let's just pretend that gas lamps existed in the 18th century. Or maybe those weren't gas lamps at all in that scene? Point is this is just a fun "what if" tale so please don't get too angry with me if its not historically accurate.
2. This story is based off of the animated films, the original written tales, and a little, teensy, tiny bit of the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. There is nothing at all in this that is based on the live action remakes, but if those are the versions you prefer, you're more than welcome to envision the story using those casts.
3. Disney likes to put "Easter eggs" in their films, so I thought I'd make some of my own, in the form of names. There are several names sprinkled throughout this fic that have something to do with the writers, voice actors, their families, etc. For example, Paquette and Pierre were the names of Charles Perrault's parents, Charlotte was the name of one of the stepsisters in the original Cinderella, and Diane is a French name that happens to belong to the daughter of Walt Disney himself. Be on the look out for things like these and if you think you find something, leave it in the reviews. When the whole fic is over, I'll reveal all of the "Easter eggs."
4. I will quote the written versions of the story when necessary. There are some twists that a lot of you are probably not expecting and I think its only fair to reveal where they came from.
5. Characters from the sequels/midquels will be present in this. There is a lot of speculation over whether or not A Twist in Time and Dreams Come True take place in the same universe or are in separate timelines. Therefore, I'm going to try to keep things as up to interpretation as I can. (Though if you ask me I think DCT takes place after ATIT) In a deleted scene of the 1950 film, the fairy godmother was going to appear before the royal court when Cinderella was brought back, so either way, everyone knows about the magic. ATIT suggests in the credits that Anastasia still meets the baker so I feel its reasonable to include him either way.
6. When I first started writing this fic, I was unaware that mice typically only live two years at most. But once again, I was too invested in them by that point to write them out of the early chapters. I've come up with a reason for why they've lived so long in this fic, but they will eventually die. But I'm going to try to make it as not sad as possible.
7. There will be large time jumps in this story. If there wasn't, it would probably be several hundred chapters long. You'll hopefully find out why as soon as this story starts. Even so, this is gonna be a very long story, though hopefully not as long as, ahem, other fics of mine.
8. I have not read the Disney prequel The Beast Within. I don't know what happens in it and I don't know if its official canon. I hope not so that people won't be mad at me for writing this. If it is canon I'm sorry. Hopefully this can still be enjoyable as a "what if" tale.
9. That lovely cover picture you see was created by Lonewolf-Sparrowhawk on deviantart, so please give her some love.
10. There is a main plot here, but there are also several subplots. I hope that there's something in here that everyone can enjoy.
That's all I have to say for now. I hope you will all enjoy this story. To quote Wotso Videos:
Have a magical day!