Fairytales are an excellent example of transferable principles. Here’s three, very brief reimaginings of The Little Mermaid:
1. There was once a naughty young mermaid who ignored the conventional advice regarding witches. She made a deal with the local witch and got what she deserved.
2. There was a prince who lived by the sea. Sometimes, on the calm nights while voyaging at sea, he spied the glinting of scales in the ebb of the placid ocean. The sailors were superstitious, and believed the glinting to be merfolk spying on the from within the waves. One night, having had a little too much to drink, he dove into the ocean in search of the mermaids, and was never heard from again.
3. There was once a witch who lived deep under the sea. She had once been married to the king of the merfolk, and they had a daughter. The merfolk were afraid of the witch, and so she was banished into exile. One day, her daughter came in disguise, seeking the help of the witch in escaping the ocean to live on land. The witch did not recognise her daughter, and in a desire to spite the mermaid, placed a curse upon her.
What if the little mermaid was a tattoo? A constellation? The name of a seedy bar?