TellTaleTypist
Dune your mom
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I'll approach whichever prompt I get in good faith, just thought I'd make my feelings on the matter known.
Secret Santa Short Story Contest
- Thread starter Walker
- Start date
Kermie
Surprisingly Not A Frog
- Location
- Somewhere On The Planet
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
What's an APC?
Duke William of
I really need to finish my quests. :V
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The answers I got were a French ready to wear luxury brand, ambulatory pay classification, and an armored personnel carrier.
Armored Personnel Carrier
Rules Update: No Fandom-Specific Prompts
Taking into consideration the feedback here, and having honestly not considered that people would submit prompts set in a particular setting or the issues that might cause, I think this raises a pertinent issue. Whilst of course I love the enthusiasm from those who submitted fandom-specific prompts, I agree that it may make things a bit hard for other participants who receive those prompts and have no familiarity with the setting in question. This is worth amending the rules, I think.
Shortly I will edit the OP to make things clear, and PM the participants who submitted fandom-specific prompts and give them the opportunity to submit or edit in a new one. Apologies for the disruption everyone!
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Mrtts' prompt
Bitterman's prompt
Kitsune_Obsessed's prompt
Kitsune_Obsessed
(Lover of all things Foxy)
- Location
- Your Imagination
- Pronouns
- Floof
I wanna write something for someone for Christmas! I don't check SV much, so I'll probably need a DM when it's my time to write, or for someone to come bug me on discord. Here's a prompt so I can participate!
A fluffy Kitsune playing in the snow. Preferably cute, heartwarming, and Christmas themed.
Rob Rimsill's prompt
- Location
- Probably at sea
Sure, I'll give it a go!
As everyone knows, if you leave Christmas decorations up after January 06, they turn into goblins. Last year, we missed one, and the house has been plagued by mischievous pranks for twelve months. It is now 23:00 on January 05, and the little bastard wants company.
Photomajig's prompt
- Location
- Finland
Could be fun!
The will is read and the beneficiaries gathered for the division of a truly spectacular inheritance. The contents are a shock to everyone involved. Nobody gets quite what they expected, but perhaps they get what they truly wanted - or needed?
Rakashua's prompt
You've Prompted me to act...
"It's been over 20,000 years since they locked you in your lunar prison after you attempted to devour the pantheon and the rest of creation along with it. You nearly succeeded, and in the end they could only imprison, not destroy you. Well, you've had a long time to think about it and, if you read the weave correctly, there isn't even a deity in the current pantheon who knows you exist. The chains are weak, and unlike these new gods and goddesses, you do not need followers to believe in you for your power, ancient abomination that you are. But have you learned your lesson? Will you break from your horrible purpose and choose a different path, a new life? Or bring destruction and chaos one final time? The choice is yours... Fenrir..."
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BurnNote's prompt
StarSingerBlue's prompt
StarSingerBlue
Zenryoku Zenkai !
- Location
- The City of Lights
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Someone explores a house built in a dream. None of it makes any sense. They feel the sorrow of forgotten memories.
Dr Heaven M.D.'s prompt
- Location
- Somewhere with a Thousand Watchful Eyes
- Pronouns
- They/Them
A lineage of historic figures, both villanous and heroic, greets the youngest member of the family, making the nation wait anxiously for the reveal of which side the child will take. Years later, they've taken a third option. It's kind of a lateral move.
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Tempest Warden's prompt
- Location
- United States
Eh, I think I'll actually give a shot at trying one of these. Hopefully this works.
A story that comes full circle with events beginning and ending at the same location, a stranger calling out to the protagonist and speaking with them under a lone illuminated light pole as snow fell. After the Protagonist story comes full circle they take the place of the stranger at the end and have a similar conversation they had in the beginning with a different lone individual they call out to in the snow and while standing under the illuminated light pole. A major mid point in the story the protagonist goes through a location invoking the liminal space aesthetics.
Include a animal such as a fox, wolf, or lynx in some manor whether its just a theme, image, or physical animal etc. Alongside the involvement of a grandfather clock in some manner. Though both of these can be considered as optional.
A possible sense of the protagonist being alone but not really, the protagonist encountering characters they may or may not already know. Possibly include encounter(s) with the protagonists Family/Friends/Co-workers/classmates or whatever other group that may be chosen that the protagonist is apart of. Depending on what age is chosen for the protagonist whether their a kid to an adult, but the main thing would be those they encounter at the light pole being the same age range as the protagonist.
Suppose would involve having to check somewhere like wikipedia to get an ideal of what I mean by Liminal space (aesthetic)
Include a animal such as a fox, wolf, or lynx in some manor whether its just a theme, image, or physical animal etc. Alongside the involvement of a grandfather clock in some manner. Though both of these can be considered as optional.
A possible sense of the protagonist being alone but not really, the protagonist encountering characters they may or may not already know. Possibly include encounter(s) with the protagonists Family/Friends/Co-workers/classmates or whatever other group that may be chosen that the protagonist is apart of. Depending on what age is chosen for the protagonist whether their a kid to an adult, but the main thing would be those they encounter at the light pole being the same age range as the protagonist.
Suppose would involve having to check somewhere like wikipedia to get an ideal of what I mean by Liminal space (aesthetic)
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I hope this is an appropriate place to ask.
I'm wondering if we can use a "fandom setting" if it fits the prompt? I have no specific plans at the moment but I do keep wanting to do some fanfic stuff.
Information: Actual Rules Clarification
actual rules clarification
Someone else asked me this in PMs so it's actually really good timing that you asked here, as I wanted to clarify it in-thread where it's visible.
My ruling on this is that a fictional setting or fandom for your story, I.E. the short story you write based on the prompt you are randomly assigned, is absolutely fine. The rationale behind banning them for prompts is entirely based on the fact that it could make prompts inaccessible for someone unfamiliar with a given setting. By contrast, if it's just someone writing their short story entry, then by definition whatever helps them write it it is all to the good. Beyond respecting site rules, we have no desire to meddle.
My ruling on this is that a fictional setting or fandom for your story, I.E. the short story you write based on the prompt you are randomly assigned, is absolutely fine. The rationale behind banning them for prompts is entirely based on the fact that it could make prompts inaccessible for someone unfamiliar with a given setting. By contrast, if it's just someone writing their short story entry, then by definition whatever helps them write it it is all to the good. Beyond respecting site rules, we have no desire to meddle.
Now that being said, I think that you are quite right to say that any fandom you bring in should ideally flow organically from the prompt and not feel shoehorned in. That's not a rules question, because there's no way to legibly adjudicate that, it's more of a good writing question? There's a world of difference between getting the prompt "You are cursed into becoming a living snowman and have only 24 hours to break your curse or melt." and deciding to cross it with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, versus something like "You are a scientist cursed by their own invention, but for one day on Christmas you revisit memories of home and happier times." and making it about Bruce Banner, Victor Frankenstein, or so on. If that makes any sense?
Even then, I think it may be something of a high risk strategy, and it may be better to go with fictional conceits from media but with the serial numbers filed off, so to speak. For example you can easily write a story about Superman, and have people realise it's about Superman, without necessarily explicitly putting Superman in your story. The advantage there is that it can help the story to feel like more of a pure exploration of those ideas and themes, rather than like, being so bogged down in the specific lore and established characters of a given setting. Especially when you have only a short story to work with, this can be an advantage.
But everything other than the first paragraph here are essentially just my personal Hot Takes about how you might use other fictional settings in your stories. (This will to some degree be reflected in the judging but there will be at least two other people on the panel.) There a lot of SVers here who've submitted some great prompts, including some really experienced authors, so you might want to ask the opinions of other participants and start a discussion.
EDIT: I've stuck the actual rules bit in an info box just to make it clearer what is my personal writing advice, versus what is actually contest rules.
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Solark's prompt
Wheat Report's prompt
- Location
- Missouri
- Pronouns
- He/They
Oooh! Let me put something in right before the deadline.
A mech pilot, mercenary and a scoundrel has fought many battles. Now they fight their hardest one yet, living a life outside of war.
Zerohour's prompt
Sure I could use something to motivate me
A Witch and a Wizard have their traditional Christmas dinner together, all while trying to avoid the conversation they've avoided asking each other for years: Would you give up your magic for me?
(Concept is that magic must be their first and only priority. Anything less will slowly weaken them, though they will retain any knowledge that they have. They can choose each other, but neither wants the other to pay that price)
(Concept is that magic must be their first and only priority. Anything less will slowly weaken them, though they will retain any knowledge that they have. They can choose each other, but neither wants the other to pay that price)
Submissions officially close at Midnight (GMT) tonight and realistically, probably I would hope for all the prompts to have gone out to their Secret Santas by like, tomorrow evening?
We are going to be doing something along the lines of putting everyone's names into a column of a Google Spreadsheet, copy-pasting it, then randomising the rows of the second column, and use that for assigning, then actually writing and sending the forty-odd PMs.
FourthWall's prompt
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Teaching the meaning of Christmas, by any means necessary.
Prompt Submissions Closed