(Monthly) Short Story Writing Prompts Submission Thread

Discussion in 'Community Creations' started by AliceShiki, Oct 22, 2016.

?

June's Topic!

Poll closed May 21, 2018.
  1. Fictogemino

    6 vote(s)
    60.0%
  2. The Hero Proposed to me, but I'm the Demon King (or queen!)

    1 vote(s)
    10.0%
  3. Lights Out

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  4. Sinners

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Continue A Story (Feel free to choose any of the 3)

    3 vote(s)
    30.0%
  1. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    I like this.
    It's nice and simple
     
  2. Mizura

    Mizura Well-Known Member

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    (part 1/2)

    I'm posting for fun. Here's something I wrote on the spot.

    Title: Patterns
    Word count: 1434
    Genre: ... Sci-Fi I guess?

    He was dying.

    Though his thoughts were unclear, that single thought stood out, clear and sharp like a gleaming knife in a sea of haze. Ironically, as he was swaying on the border between life and death, he found his thoughts straying towards what would come next. Vaguely, a part of him found this amusing, as he would find out for himself in a short while anyway.

    Religious people would speak of the glorious afterlife known as Heaven. Apparently, one could get everything one wished for in Heaven. An immortal life, meeting with loved ones, and, depending on your method of death, 72 virgins, apparently. Why 72? He wasn't sure. Apparently, harems were available in heaven, but video games were not. It sounded like a terribly drab way to pass eternity. Oh, but, he certainly did not want to end up in Hell, either.

    At this point, atheists would counter that there was nothing after death. Not even silence. 'It is a mere cessation of thought', they'd point out while bringing out charts showing the cessation of brain wave activity. 'Much as what happens when one is sleeping, just more permanent,' they'd add. He… was okay with this. In his life, he should probably have slept more. He may have lived a longer life then. Oh but, if that extra time was spent sleeping, wouldn't it be the same, in the end? If he ever got the chance in a next life, he should seriously work out the numbers.

    Speaking of a next life, reincarnation was another theory. Back in the days, he would devour novels where the protagonist would reincarnate into another, fantastical land. They would be able to destroy buildings with their bare hands, use mystical magical powers, and soar in the sky like a majestic bird of prey. Often, he wondered how neat it would be to have even one of those superpowers.

    That is, until an acquaintance of his, who was something of a geek, poked fun at his aspirations. After all, why would one be unsatisfied with the current world? By merely lifting one's arms, one could counter the gravitational pull of the entire planet on that arm. Our senses could interpret a large density of electromagnetic waves, decipher a bouquet of complex molecules, or interpret interactions with the external world through a large surface of our bodies. Using one's mental capabilities, one could even come up with new worlds. Soaring in the air? We do that so well that air travel has become a mere hassle.

    At the time, he thought that it made so much sense. Except, it didn't. It took some time for his mind to really wrap around it. Once he did, for a while, he suddenly viewed the world in a different light. He started scouring the internet for various bits of knowledge, in awe at the complexity of the world, and feeling that this indeed would be a great world to reincarnate into. No wonder protagonists in stories would find themselves reincarnating into other worlds. The queue to This world, from all the beings clamoring to reincarnate here from other worlds, was surely supremely long.

    Except, he did return to reading fantasy novels. Neuroscience with its webs of complexity may have its unique appeal, but fantasizing about launching lightning and fireballs with merely a thought won out, in the end. Plus, he did enjoy reading something in plain, understandable English more.

    Aah, his thoughts had strayed. What was he thinking about? Ah, it was nice how many people he met in his lifetime. Though most were on the internet. No, no. That wasn't it. He was dying. Yes, that's what he was thinking of. He could already feel that most of his cells had gone cold.

    Idly, he noted that his breathing stopped. And then his heartbeat faded.

    Thump. Thump.

    Thump.

    Silence.

    And his thoughts exploded.

     
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  3. Mizura

    Mizura Well-Known Member

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    (2/2)



    This was not what he expected. What greeted him after death was not nothingness nor god nor even virgins. Instead, the moment all external and biological sensory activities ceased, it felt like his mind, his soul, was finally free of its biological constraints, and literally imploded into fragments of memories and concepts and even biological commands. All the information that was buried in his subconscious came pouring out, chaotic and incoherent like countless blots of Rorschach ink. Perhaps dying was like sleeping after all, except what greeted him was the unhinged imagery found only in dreams.

    “Consciousness is feeling of complex information being processed.”

    He managed to grab onto this concept among the sands of thoughts. He had come across such a quote while browsing online. “Law of conservation of information?” - was the next thought he precariously managed to chain onto it. He could no longer tell what made sense or not.

    The information that came pouring out went deep, way deeper than he could ever have imagined. Here lay fragments from previous lives, going back generation upon generation until the life-form itself was alien and unrecognizable to him. What these laid behind were thick sediments of… patterns. Information. Everything from biological movements, internal or external, that would manifest at birth, to brain patterns in the form of biases, reflexes and more. All these things he'd taken for granted were accumulated there as a result of selection of the best, most adapted patterns to living, to reproducing.

    “Everything in the Universe is patterns”, a mathematician once told him. “The world is this fierce competition of patterns. The successful ones are replicated and repeated, endlessly and endlessly, across individuals, across societies, across the macrocosm. The ugly, inelegant ones are weeded out. This is true of everything: from the molecules of DNA, to the dynamics of societies, to the patterns found in art and music and literature. Matter is but a medium. The molecules in your body are constantly renewed, after all. Only the pattern remains and evolves.”

    Was this the true nature of the soul, a competition for the best patterns? Even now, he could feel that the bundle of information making up his soul is the culmination of millions, if not billions of years of struggle: complex molecules forming and breaking until a strong, repeating pattern emerged in the form of DNA and other molecules. And then, more complex patterns formed on top of that. From a community of molecules, to a community of cells, to community of many, many individuals, information becoming ever more complex as it searched for means of survival. And when the physical patterns alone were no longer enough, information patterns emerged.

    Even now, he could feel his consciousness starting to struggle. Without a medium, it would collapse. It wanted, it needed to find another biological host in order to stabilize itself and resume itself. To ensure success, the less useful patterns were being shed while the ones that had the most impact would become a part of the very core of this mass of information.

    He felt the pull of a life and finally reached out.



    It was a bacteria. That made statistical sense, but even with most of his desires shut down, he did not want to reincarnate into a bacteria. Fortunately, a bacteria had low compatibility with such a mass of information, and he could break free easily. His search went on.

    bacteria bacteria bacteria

    No, something different from a bacteria, as different as possible.

    Archaea.

    Okay, it was certainly a whole other kingdom of life form at least. But it was further away from his goal than even bacteria. The ability to survive extreme environments, like the heat of hydrothermal vents or the freezing cold of deep Antarctica ice, was certainly nothing to sneer as, and with some luck he might end up in the gut of some human. But no. A mammal at least.

    It seemed the search function worked, as he honed onto mammal presences.

    rodent rodent rodent

    No no no, a beginner RPG monster was not his goal either. His soul reached out to ever more complicated life forms in the forming, until it finally found one, a life that was still a mere group of cells, but will one day become one of the most complex organisms on the planet.

    The consciousness affixed itself to it, and became dormant. While the cells multiplied, it seeped into these cells, guiding the formation of patterns of brain cells, installing instinctive information and biases, forming complex patterns of thoughts that would manifest one day. All the while, dormant, biding its time.

    A bright light reaches the mind of the new being. She opens her eyes.
     
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  4. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Here goes my late December Theme! Better late than never! \(^^)/

    Title: Love.
    Word Count: 1024 (lol, I got 2^10 out of luck! I swear it wasn't on purpose!)
    Genre: Romance
    Isn't love a strange thing?

    I mean, how do you even know what is love?

    It's something like friendship... But not the same, something more... Special.

    It's something like passion... But more... Meaningful.

    It's like an obsession... But not one you can be completely possessive about, you need to let it go, but remain close...

    Doesn't it seem way too complicated? When does one even know that what they feel is love? It looks like so many things it's really hard to know what it really is.

    Isn't it a lot easier to simply let it be? Love seems way too hard to deal with, wouldn't it be a lot easier to just live with the simpler things and have fun with them?

    I always thought like that, and never had a single problem... So... Why am I on this situation?

    My childhood friend is in front of me, his hand reaching the wall... Isn't that a Kabedon!? Why is it happening to me of all people!?

    He-he is getting closer... No, don't get near!!!

    I pushed him away and ran... I'm not ready for love yet!

    I ran towards the rooftop of the school, I always went there when I felt troubled by something... Most people don't know it, but the school staff actually lost the key to it, so anyone can climb with no worries, nobody tries though, so it's always free of people... Never understand why they didn't simply change the lock though.

    After getting up there, I leaned on one of the rails, looking at the surroundings...

    I guess it's for the best like this... I could never get to love someone, it's just way too complicated... I mean, sure, I cherish him, he is a great friend, and I want to stay my whole life with him... But that's not the same as love, right?

    Sure, he did do some really kind things, like always accompanying me back home even though his house was just on the other direction from school, helped me studying and even let me win on games that everyone knew he was better than me... But that's not that strange is it? It's just a bit of kindness between friends, right?

    Yeah, just because it already became a natural thing for him to get in my home without notice, it shouldn't be a problem, should it? We can keep things as is just as friends...

    Alright, I'm being stupid, it's obvious that it is more than just a normal friendship there... But can't we... I don't know, be best friends? Why does it have to scale towards love...?

    Love is weird, love is complicated, I don't know how to tell if I love him or not! It's too complicated! Friendship is just simpler! I can handle it just fine! I don't need to ponder if what I'm feeling is or is not friendship! It just is!

    The door to the rooftop opened, eh!? How come!?

    I turned around and saw... Why him of all people...?

    "How are you...?"

    "You always come to the rooftop when troubled."

    "Right... I told you since the day I found it out."

    "Yes you did."

    He came closer... Don't get too near!

    "Why...? Why did you need to do that?"

    "You'd never do anything if I just kept on waiting you come to terms with it, would you? I had to take the initiative somehow."

    "But I don't know if what I feel is really lo... That! I don't know if I can really feel this kind of strong emotion!"

    "We never do, do we?"

    "How... How can you act like this if you're not sure of it?"

    "Because I want to be with you, so I'm acting to make sure of it."

    "Don't you want to be with your friends too though?"

    "It's different."

    He was only a few steps away now.

    "How different?"

    "I don't know, I just know it's different."

    5 steps.

    "What!? Then how can you tell it's different!?"

    4 steps.

    "Don't you feel it's different when you're with me then when you're with the rest of your friends?"

    3 steps.

    "I do, but... Why would that be love!?"

    2 steps.

    "What else could it be?"

    1 step.

    "I dunno, best friends!? Family!? Anything!"

    He got in range...

    "I guess it could... But then... Would you really be like this when I did this?"

    He held my chin up and loomed forward, I was frozen, his lips slowly got closer.

    "I-I-I I don't think I'm-"

    He kissed me... It felt warm... Good I guess? Moist... What do I even take of this!?

    After a bit he let go and made a step backwards.

    "So...?"

    "I-It wasn't that bad..."

    "You're as red as tomato now, you know?"

    "Don't say those things out loud!"

    "Haha, so, are you okay with it?"

    "O-Okay? I... I don't know... What if... If this isn't love... Is just some random passion?"

    "If it is, we'll find out together."

    "But-but what then? What if we break up, what if we don't get close anymore... I don't want to stay away from you..."

    "And what if things go right, we end up getting married and later on get some children, wouldn't that be nice?"

    "Tha-that is... I... Think so? But what guarantee you have of that!? That things will go right this easily!?"

    "I don't."

    "You... Don't?"

    "I don't think anyone does, really... But isn't it worth the shot? Betting a good friendship on a life together? Seems like a good one for me."

    "I... Fine, but if it turns out it wasn't anything, like it, then I'm holding you to blame!"

    "Hahaha, sure, I'll take as much blame as necessary! Now come on, break is almost over."

    "O-okay."

    He held my hand and started bringing me downstairs... In the end, I never really understood what love was, or how different it was from those so many other feelings... But I felt good, holding this hand of his, going back together... It was definitely good, I guess it might not be so much of a bad thing to feel something complicated to one another.



    I had meant to make something about the boundary between friendship and love, on how hard it was to know which one is which, but I don't know if I did a good job with it... I had fun writing the story though, I hope you can also like reading it!
     
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  5. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    @Mizura Oi, ain't that the theme for November?!?!?
     
  6. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    It's not a problem, you can deliver late submissions.

    I just wish he had warned me, I had put his story at December on the table of contents... Oh well, fixed now, thanks for the heads up.
     
  7. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    Oh hell no.
    I never let my friends win in anything if I can.
    Fuck them for all I care, I'm taking that win.

    Wasn't the whole point to write something in between the boundaries? I think you did that pretty well.
     
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  8. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Well, the part below leaves it pretty obvious that even she doesn't think it's normal...
    \(^^)/ Thank you!
     
  9. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    I'm trying to be nice!

    My only complaint is that the dude is way too fucking suave.

    I mean, HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT'S SMOOTH
     
  10. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Well... It was made on the spot! >.<

    They don't even have names! He was there just to move the plot forward!!!
     
  11. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    2 characters and one is the smoothest fucker ever.

    Seriously?
     
  12. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Let him be smooth! As long as he makes her heart go doki doki is all good! He doesn't need to be a worthless dense MC that can't say his feelings properly! He can be a smart guy for once! Hmph!
     
  13. Mizura

    Mizura Well-Known Member

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    @brasca123 @NZPIEFACE I sort of did, though I wasn't really clear. *pokes fingers*

    See, I just discovered the writing prompts, and since I just discovered it, I obviously started reading from the first page. I came across the November prompt and got inspiration for that, though I think the story could Sort of qualify as a boundary between life and death.

    To be honest, I just wanted to write and post. I didn't particularly want to submit it up for competition, and if it didn't qualify for the theme, I was fine if it got disqualified, sorry. *pokes fingers again*
     
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  14. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    No worries, no competition....
    And no deadline either(?)
    Well, preferable before the deadline actually.

    Just.... the boundary between life and death? The main character in kind of clearly dead, ya know?
     
  15. Omnifarious

    Omnifarious Re: member

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    @Mizura
    It is NOT a competition!!!
    The monthly story submission is for writers to hone their craft, provide and receive feedback. There can't be "disqualifications" because there are nothing to qualify for.

    The prompts are for writers to get ideas, time limit is so there is a deadline, the combination is to urge writers to write within a restriction, a limit. and have discipline. they are all soft rules for people that want to get better.

    The rules and formatting is a common etiquette to this thread so it can be easily navigated. Again you can choose not to follow, and as you said you are simply writing for fun which is fine.

    That is also why I did not try to give any feedback.
     
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  16. Mizura

    Mizura Well-Known Member

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    @NZPIEFACE He was alive in the first half, and thinking about death. The last third was also about returning to life. I thought of it as a combination between the Novembre and Decembre themes, but you can think of it as just Novembre. xD

    @Omnifarious Oh, so that's how it works! Great, thanks for the clarification.
     
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  17. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Oh my, that's true!

    I hadn't noticed at all! >.<

    If you wish to write something for the December or the January theme, feel free to do it as well! \(^^)/

    Just remember to make it explicit next time if you're making something that is past the deadline already, okay? ;)
     
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  18. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    This came up as quite a short one... Still, for something that was solely dialogue, I got quite happy with the outcome!

    I don't have a really notion of the genre of it... It's just a bit of small talk.

    Word Count: 588.

    Title: Happily Ever After.

    *sigh* "He did it again."

    "You can't be serious, just when will he learn?"

    "With the way things are going... Probably never."

    "Come on, don't be that gloomy."

    "I'm not being gloomy, I'm being realistic, the guy is worthless... Seriously, what a pain..."

    "Well... At least he loves you, doesn't he?"

    "Ha! As if, why would he?"

    "But... Wouldn't your curse only be lifted by a true love kiss?"

    "A true love kiss... Do you really think you could love anyone you haven't ever talked to? He loved my pretty face, my status as princess, the kingdom he would get if everything went well, all the money he can spend on his drunkard activities... Me? Not one bit."

    "Well... That's unexpected, didn't know curses had loopholes."

    "I know! I was completely flabbergasted when I discovered it myself!

    Now I have to deal with a stupid king that goes to taverns, drinks his ass off, spends most of our money on paying for everyone's tabs, and does nothing of the government that he should!"

    "Seems quite harsh."

    "Harsh!? It's terrible! The kingdom is going downhill at a crazy speed! I slept for 50 years, my whole lineage died, the other nobles couldn't elect a new king, so they had to make this stupid council system to try and rule, but they never reach any agreement, so everything was going terrible! I could never believe it if someone told me nobles would get happy by losing power, but they made a big celebration when they discovered they would have a king again!

    Only... To get this kind of ruler... I can't even do anything since the system is completely biased towards males, only the king can rule, while I have to stay on the sidelines holding parties and trying to appease them as they grow more and more angry with each day..."

    "Wow... You really have it tough.

    Why can't you just take the reins though? I bet none of those nobles would be against it."

    "As if this husband of mine would allow it, he is stupid, but he won't simply give up on his power, if he does, he'll be killed in no time, to make sure he doesn't get in my way."

    "Then... Why don't you simply kill him anyway?"

    "... What?"

    "Yeah, kill him, make him fall off his horse, throw him off a bridge, eat something poisoned... Anything works, really, as long as you can avoid being blamed by it directly, you can take over and solve the whole problem can't you?

    Besides, you're already pregnant anyway, so you don't have to worry about not having a heir afterwards."

    "This... Is actually quite a sound idea, I can do this... Yeah, I could easily get the help of some nobles to make sure it would seem insconspicuous."

    "So, you finally have a plan?"

    "Seems like it... Good job Anna, even after 50 years, you're the best maid I could've ever asked for, I'm glad you are here for me, it's good to have at least one person I can trust."

    "No worries madam, I am here to serve, just glad you are finally looking cheerful again."

    "Well, guess I should get started them, time to finally get this kingdom back on track!"

    And so, I went out to kill my husband, and become the queen to rule this place again... Happily ever after, what a joke, gonna make sure to burn all those fairies that dared to say something like this when I woke up.

    Hope you can enjoy the reading! \(^^)/
     
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  19. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    ಠ_ಠ
     
  20. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    The word you're looking for is "Patriarchy".

    "solely dialogue"
    yeah, right