SFF Sekrit Santa 2010!

geardrops · Oct 17, 2010

EDIT 10/25: Signups are closed.

It's that time again!

So, signups are open as of right now, and will CLOSE on OCTOBER 25th. I will be PMing you your assignments by October 27th (before I leave for WFC f'sho).

THE RULES

(1) If you ask to GET a story, then you are offering to GIVE a story, NO EXCEPTIONS. I mean that seriously. If it wasn't for some amazingly generous people, in past years some folks would not have received anything. Please, please, please don't make someone sad by bailing. Please check in regularly, if you are able to, so we are not panicking at 11:59p on the due date. This makes for a happy pack of Santas.

(2) Stories must be 1000 WORDS MINIMUM. There is no upper bounds. People have written whole novels in the past! (Just a comment, not laying down a challenge.

)

(3) Stories will be DUE DECEMBER 20th. In your email of your story please include your forums name, as that's what I'll be using to index youse guyse.

(4) Have fun with your challenge!

So when you post, please list your interests/preferences. Things like, "I like dark stories," or "My favorite author is Cat Valente," or "I'm sick of vampires, please, no vampires!" I'll keep a list on this page of who's in and who's out.

(Related: Because this has come up in the past, if there's someone you do not want to write for, for any reason, please let me know in private via PM. I will keep this in mind when I use my d20 to figure out who shall write for who

)

That's it! Let the fun begin!

SIGNED UP SO FAR
Fenika
Kitty Pryde
AnnieColleen
SaraP
Etola
LGwenn
Kateness (please see thread for caveats)
Sianshan
Lyra Jean
Faide
Pthom
IdiotsRUs
Randman
jgold
ELMontague
JimmyB27

Fenika · Oct 18, 2010

!

Oh, how exciting

Now I have to think of a prompt.

Mr Flibble · Oct 18, 2010

Ugh, no time, no time! But I really enjoyed the last ones...

I'll have to think about it.

Maybe if I take a week off work with 'Bubonic plague'. It'll work, right?

Kitty Pryde · Oct 18, 2010

Sign meeeeeeeeee up dempsey!

My request: Something with skiing, and with at least one non-standard fantastical creature (ie not a vamp, were, ghost, fairy, mermaid, angel, demon. Something more like a wendigo, nixie, naga, etc.)

I will thank you not to point out that this was my request from last year

Fenika · Oct 18, 2010

IdiotsRUs said:
Ugh, no time, no time! But I really enjoyed the last ones...

I'll have to think about it.

Maybe if I take a week off work with 'Bubonic plague'. It'll work, right?

We want pics of your Bubos!

Kitty Pryde said:
Sign meeeeeeeeee up dempsey!

My request: Something with skiing, and with at least one non-standard fantastical creature (ie not a vamp, were, ghost, fairy, mermaid, angel, demon. Something more like a wendigo, nixie, naga, etc.)

I will thank you not to point out that this was my request from last year

Looks different to me

geardrops · Oct 19, 2010

Just giving this a little bump -- we need more than two people or it's going to be a little obvious who wrote for who

AnnieColleen · Oct 19, 2010

I'm in!

Request: a story about a game, any SFF genre.

* must be a real, literal game, not something metaphorical like Kipling's "Great Game" (though a story with both would be fun

)
* preferably not a virtual/video-type game, though I won't rule these out if you have a new, cool twist
* PG-13 or below please

Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

SaraP · Oct 19, 2010

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!

I'minI'minI'minI'minI'min!

(Now to think of a prompt...)

Etola · Oct 19, 2010

Sure, since I had such a ball last year!

Okay, my prompt: Somebody finds a unicorn in an odd place.

It could be light, serious, dark, whatever: just keep it at PG-13 or below, please ^.^ Also, no "And it turns out the MC was in a mental institution the whole time" stories, please. Get creative! And have fun

Fenika · Oct 19, 2010

Okay, my prompt:

I want something character driven that is set exclusively (minor cheats okay) within a castle. I'd also like some unique/atypical animals playing a role (less with the rats and dogs and domestic cats and more with the magpies and squirrels and whatnots)

DeleyanLee · Oct 19, 2010

I won't be joining in this year, but I highly recommend the experience!

Have fun guys!

LGwenn · Oct 19, 2010

I'm in!

Prompt..hmmm... how 'bout I leave it nice and vague so the writer can play?

Mc goes to retrieve something-- gets a nasty surprise (see that way it can be Sci fi or Fantasy! )

Kateness · Oct 19, 2010

Yes, I'm in. Doing this earlier in the year was super-fun. If I get an awesome prompt for it, I might work it into a NaNo project this year.

So, my prompt?

High fantasy, no magic or dragons, but other fantasy tropes are cool. The MC is the opposite of a traditional high fantasy - he wants to go out questing and adventuring and what-have-you. The problem? He just *isn't* the Chosen One. And I don't want it to be a comedy if you can help it.

_Sian_ · Oct 20, 2010

I'll have a go.

My prompt:

The MC gets accused of a crime, and locked up. He must use his dream-walking powers to figure out who really did it. The only problem after that is convincing someone that he's not mad in his assertions.

SPMiller · Oct 20, 2010

Kitty Pryde said:
Sign meeeeeeeeee up dempsey!

My request: Something with skiing, and with at least one non-standard fantastical creature (ie not a vamp, were, ghost, fairy, mermaid, angel, demon. Something more like a wendigo, nixie, naga, etc.)

I will thank you not to point out that this was my request from last year

And two years ago. I got this prompt in 2008.

I could barely handle last year's prompt, so I must decline.

Lyra Jean · Oct 20, 2010

I'm in.

Prompt: A story set on Mars. Doesn't necessarily have to be hard SF just sound believable. I actually prefer something more in the soft SF side. Aliens are optional.

AnnieColleen · Oct 20, 2010

Kateness said:
High fantasy, no magic

Point of order...high fantasy, no magic? No macguffin-stones, no places of power, no prophecies, nothing? ('Cause, um, without prophecies at least, how is there a Chosen One for the MC to not be?)

SPMiller · Oct 20, 2010

Lord of the Rings is high fantasy with almost no magic. As I recall, Gandalf only did minor tricks in view of other characters.

Etola · Oct 20, 2010

AnnieColleen said:
Point of order...high fantasy, no magic? No macguffin-stones, no places of power, no prophecies, nothing? ('Cause, um, without prophecies at least, how is there a Chosen One for the MC to not be?)

Good point about the prophecy! Thinking about it, isn't the amount of magic what separates the genres of low fantasy and high fantasy? (e.g., high fantasy has boom-chucking wizards, and low fantasy has little to no magic, just a fantastic setting.) Feel free to correct me if I'm totally off base, though.

Or it could be that the challenge requires a world with magic, but where the plot isn't reliant on the magic? Kateness, could you clarify?

AnnieColleen · Oct 20, 2010

SPMiller said:
Lord of the Rings is high fantasy with almost no magic. As I recall, Gandalf only did minor tricks in view of other characters.

Yeah, but there's the magic ring driving the plot.

Fenika · Oct 20, 2010

Prophecies can fall anywhere in the spectrum from religious beliefs to lies to ESP to witch-craft to other magic. So you can have prophecies without magic. Nostradamus was no Gandalf.

Kateness · Oct 20, 2010

I see I've been called upon.

What I meant up there, and I'll edit the post to reflect it, is that there can be prophecies and such, but magic is not an everyday thing. There aren't magical spells and such. Does that make sense? [I'll edit the post as soon as we can agree on what clears things up]

Fenika · Oct 20, 2010

So magical elements but no Fireball level 10 or Turning folks into a Newt or Turning newts into Folks, ya? No charms?

Kateness · Oct 20, 2010

Correct.

LGwenn · Oct 20, 2010

So objects can be magic, but people can't practice magic?

SFF Sekrit Santa 2010!

Good thing I like my day job

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

i luv you giant bear statue

Good thing I like my day job

Invisible Writer

You can't forget those you've loved

Still looking for stars...

Writing Anarchist

Rollin' Boulders, FTW

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D

Prodigiously Hanged

Two years old now.

Invisible Writer

Prodigiously Hanged

Still looking for stars...

Invisible Writer

Rollin' Boulders, FTW