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NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge #185 - "Fresh"

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M

Mike M

Nick N
Theme - "Fresh"

Word Limit: 2200

Submission Deadline: Friday, Mar 25th by 11:59 PM Pacific.

Voting begins Saturday, Mar 13th, and goes until Monday, Mar 28th at 11:59 PM Pacific.

Optional Secondary Objective: Public Domain

Some of my favorite pieces of work have been done utilizing characters created by other authors that have had their copyright expire. Pick characters, locales, all of the above, go nuts. It’s not fan fiction, it’s a derivative work!

EDIT: Here's a list of characters to save you a Google search.

Submission Guidelines:

- One entry per poster.
- All submissions must be written during the time of the challenge.
- Using the topic as the title of your piece is discouraged.
- Keep to the word count!

Voting Guidelines:

- Three votes per voter. Please denote in your voting your 1st (3 pts), 2nd (2 pts), and 3rd (1 pt) place votes.
- Please read all submissions before voting.
- You must vote in order to be eligible to win the challenge.
- When voting ends, the winner gets a collective pat on the back, and starts the new challenge.

NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge FAQ
Previous Challenge Threads and Themes
 
N

NipplesAndToes23

Member
I can't make any promises. Last time I thought something was going to happen, then I got caught up and lost motivation. If inspiration comes, I'll write.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Nezumi said:
Uh, I like that secondary!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I had a "fresh take on public domain" idea, but never actually said it in the OP. Whoops! My legacy of fucking up the OP continues.

Blasian Persuasion said:
I can't make any promises. Last time I thought something was going to happen, then I got caught up and lost motivation. If inspiration comes, I'll write.
Click to expand...
No pressure from this end. Things tend to stop being fun for me the moment they start feeling like work, and these aren't intended to be homework assignments.

That said, I feel remarkably fortunate to only sit out once in the three years I've been doing this, and that was to edit something else I'd worked on. Nowadays I'd probably just have done both, as I've been on a crazy productive streak for the past six weeks.

Not to say I didn't have some stinkers in the mix, though.

StMeph said:
Incoming Sherlock Holmes + H. P. Lovecraft crossovers.

Not mine.
Click to expand...
Nobody do this, it's already been done.
 
M

Makonero

Member
I think I'll try writing something for this. First time's a charm, right? :\ It's been years since I've written anything of worth.
 
M

Makonero

Member
StMeph said:
Then incoming The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air + H. P. Lovecraft crossovers.

Also not mine.
Click to expand...

Let me tell you all about how
my life got flipped turned upside-down!
Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones appeared
and that's how I became the prince of R'lyeh.
 
R

Red

Member
I think I have read every Lovecraft story at least twice. I don't know if there are any I'm missing. What's left out of the Necronomicom?
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Crunched said:
I think I have read every Lovecraft story at least twice. I don't know if there are any I'm missing. What's left out of the Necronomicom?
Click to expand...
No idea. That's the volume I have as well, and I think it's pretty comprehensive.

EDIT: Or at least I have one of the same name. They're probably a bunch of Lovecraft collections with that title. The description claims to be complete.
 
F

Freeza Under The Shower

Member
StMeph said:
Then incoming The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air + H. P. Lovecraft crossovers.

Also not mine.
Click to expand...

ehm, I don't think Lovecraft is public domain. The whole 'let set the bar back to 22 (or 27 or whatever) would mean that any of of his work post 1930, which includes the entire chutulu mythos of I'm not mistaken, is not actually in the public domain.

And there is a very simple test for that too, because if it were public domain, Disney would have ripped it off for a new movie already. "my friend Chutulu", a movie for the whole family. Bring your kids, bring your souls, bring everybody! Yaaaay!

(that said, I would love to see a 'biography movie' that combines Hubble, Gödel, and Lovecraft into the 'horrors of uncertainty' created in and by the 20th century. Grand Budapest Hotel had a similar theme but went for melancholy instead - those last lines, sweat mother of mercy. Maybe I'll do this one for realsies. If they were public domain.... sigh)
 
F

FlowersisBritish

fleurs n'est pas britannique
I was super gun ho about a lovecraft inspired story, but seeing everyone else rush the floodgates is making this place a little crowded. Also Freeza being a killjoy kinda killed my joy.
 
M

mu cephei

Member
Disappointed to learn Superman isn't in the public domain, I had my gratuitous spaceship scene planned out and everything :p
 
M

Makonero

Member
mu cephei said:
Disappointed to learn Superman isn't in the public domain, I had my gratuitous spaceship scene planned out and everything :p
Click to expand...

You can always do a ripoff- I mean inspired story that's a "fresh" take on the mythos. ;)

I decided to go all the way back to Greek Mythology. I'm pretty sure no one's collecting royalties on those characters.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Mike M said:
Surely we'll get variety beyond Lovecraft and Doyle.

Surely.
Click to expand...
Nah, Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, Peter Pan and 1001 Nights were the things that immediately came to my head. Though with all the Cthullu Wars I've been playing lately Lovecraft might have been a good choice as well.
 
A

Ashes

Banned
Freeza Under The Shower said:
ehm, I don't think Lovecraft is public domain. The whole 'let set the bar back to 22 (or 27 or whatever) would mean that any of of his work post 1930, which includes the entire chutulu mythos of I'm not mistaken, is not actually in the public domain.
Click to expand...

It's legally murky and no one has really taken it to court to find out either way. Still, this is for the US. And for works post 1920 something.

For the EU, different copyright rules apply, thus his entire work has been in the public domain since 2008.
 
M

mu cephei

Member
Mike M said:
Guy's a dick anyway.
Click to expand...

:D I forgot that was your site!

Makonero said:
You can always do a ripoff- I mean inspired story that's a "fresh" take on the mythos. ;)

I decided to go all the way back to Greek Mythology. I'm pretty sure no one's collecting royalties on those characters.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it crossed my mind, I might try it. Also looking at Robin Hood, King Arthur, or perhaps Alexander The Great In Space, ala Ulysses 31.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
Makonero said:
You can always do a ripoff- I mean inspired story that's a "fresh" take on the mythos. ;)

I decided to go all the way back to Greek Mythology. I'm pretty sure no one's collecting royalties on those characters.
Click to expand...
Maybe not here, but once you travel the river Styx...
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Copyright law in the US is ridiculous. I say embrace the spirit of the thing and treat Lovecraft as public domain. It doesn't actually matter unless you're planning to publish, and not everything we write needs to be publishable. :p

Excellent secondary.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
mu cephei said:
:D I forgot that was your site!
Click to expand...
My new hobby is making up comic facts.
Did-you-know7.png
 
F

Freeza Under The Shower

Member
Ashes said:
It's legally murky and no one has really taken it to court to find out either way. Still, this is for the US. And for works post 1920 something.

For the EU, different copyright rules apply, thus his entire work has been in the public domain since 2008.
Click to expand...

*excited inhale*

yaaaaaaaay

Does this bring joy back to the joyless hearts of Doctor Flowers?
 
T

Tangent

Member
I can tell this secondary will make for some good reading. *rubs hands together*

Also, congrats MikeM! I was going to tally all the votes up but when I sat down earlier today, but I saw that Nezumi beat me to it. Thanks, Nezumi.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
That This House Has People In It video has me itching to do some sort of creepypasta for shits and giggles again. The mood strikes me periodically (and I'm on a dark kick lately, it seems), but I never get to it.

Which is a shame, because I like the format and I'm pretty sure I could do it well if only I could think of something to do.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Mike M said:
Anyhow, it looks like the universal feedback was that the speech at the end needs work. Anyone got suggestions or specific feedback on that part alone and how I might punch it up?
Click to expand...

As I read it, it makes explicit an idea that's already implicit in the rest of the story. I don't think it's necessary; to me it feels like not trusting the reader enough. I think it's ok for the MC to say something to the new arrival, to put a pin on that segment. But to me as a reader so much self-awareness neither feels natural nor serves the story.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
Mike M said:
That This House Has People In It video has me itching to do some sort of creepypasta for shits and giggles again. The mood strikes me periodically (and I'm on a dark kick lately, it seems), but I never get to it.

Which is a shame, because I like the format and I'm pretty sure I could do it well if only I could think of something to do.
Click to expand...

Never saw that video before. I stopped watching Adult Swim way back. Crazy how their programming changed. But I'm sure, watching this for the first time at night would have been pretty creepy.
 
F

felon

Neo Member
Probably going with wizard of oz, maybe alice in wonderland. This time I'm not going to overambitiously bite off way more than I can chew with the time and word limit given and tarry on the ideas phase until the last possible moment (or longer) like I always have with every project I've ever endeavored since middleschool. Everything's on the line as I throw those half-excuses against limitations out the window!
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
On a tangential note, I thought Wicked was going to be a comical take on The Wizard of Oz as told from the point of view of the Wicked Witch.

Yeeeeeeeah, it wasn't that. Was not the book I had expected at all.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Wicked is srs bsns.

Ok so retelling public domain stories from the perspective of the villain is definitely a thing. It's been done for Peter Pan, Oz, a whole boatload of fairy tales, a bunch of myths, Grendel, Holmes, The Thing, King Arthur, The Three Musketeers, Cthulhu, Lord of the Rings (not public domain so this is technically a fanfic), Dracula, Jane Eyre, probably a ton of other shit.

Someone needs to do Citizen Kane from the perspective of the sled.
 
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