Amethyst's 2020 story challenge

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Hey everyone.

Me and some of the other people on the Whateley Discord were joking around and created a set of rules for writing bad fanfics. I thought that it would be fun to create a writing exercise out of this. I'd love to make a contest of it, but sadly I wouldn't be able to provide any prizes with my financial situation right now, so the only real prize will probably be bragging rights. We have a long list of Rules of Bad Fanfic Writing and the authors involved will write the best stories they can using ten of those rules. Here's how the challenge will work:

1. Post in this thread affirming that you want to participate, or private message me and I will use a random number generator to select ten of the rules we came up with at random (a different set for each participant). I will pm those rules to the entrants and you will have to write a story using those ten rules. You can use more rules than the ten you are assigned, but you need to use at least those ten.
2. It can be fanfic or an original story, serious or funny, the whole point is to have fun and write the best, worst, or most campy story you can with the rules you are given. (The rules may have been a bit of fun in the Whateley Discord, but stories do not have to be Whateley related or a fanfic even, so do whatever you like and have fun with it)
3. Entrants must register through this thread or by PM before Sunday December 29th at 11:59 pm EST.
4. I will set up an official story challenge page once all entrants are registered with the keyphrase to use when posting your stories, entrants, story deadline date, voting dates and deadlines, and other details.
5. I will re-roll up to three rules of your choice if you get a combination that is too difficult to work with.

I think that this could be a really fun way to break in the new year, have a little fun, see some good stories, and get people involved in the BCTS community. Thanks for listening and I hope to hear from any of you that are up to the challenge soon.

*big hugs to everyone in the BCTS family*

Amethyst

Comments

Count me in

I will do a sequel to Wayne Manor

All my hopes,
Sasha Zarya Nexus

All my hopes
Ariel Montine Strickland

my list

#71. Leg cramps don't exist. - Null0Trooper

#49. You grew up your whole life wishing you had X powers, so when you reach adulthood, you of course get them. - RoseBunny
#49A. Or the opposite-themed powers, whichever is c00lest. - Null0Trooper
#49B. You definitely read. And its always scifi or fantasy novels. - Katssun
#49C. And it's considered cool that you do. - RoseBunny

#98. Hidden tropical island lairs are not cliche. - RoseBunny
#98A. Only the heroes have arctic bases. - Katssun
#98B. The villains use the Antarctic, even though there are plenty of actual civilian bases there. - Katssun

#114. Goth girls are super-depressing, unless they're the protagonist's friend, in which case they are sickeningly cheerful. - Amethyst
#114A. unless they're a romantic interest, then they're dark and brooding, but also sickeningly cheerful about it. - Abi

#81. That hotel, even if it was a motel, wasn't rancid and disgusting. Unless it was, and you never changed rooms, except when the government or enemy spy came after you. - Katssun
#81A. Bedbugs only exist if you checked for them or hoped they weren't there. - Katssun
#81B. Likewise for body lice, and scorpions. - Null0Trooper
#81C. The door chain was useless, and the deadbolt doesn't exist in this universe - Katssun
#81D. Windows don't exist (that's what the peep hole is for!), unless they're too small to crawl out of for an escape, or were definitely used to escape from the bathroom and only ever the bathroom. - Katssun
#81E. There is never an ice machine or soda machine on the same floor as your motel room, necessitating long trips outside. - Amethyst
#81E1. No one is ever encountered during that trip, except for the antagonist who's identity is still a secret at this point. - Katssun
#81F. Everyone must spend time in the hotel pool. - Null0Trooper
#81G. The fewer clothes you have on, the more likely you are to forget your keycard when you go for ice. - RoseBunny
#81H. And the more likely you are to slam the door closed on your towel. - RoseBunny

#73. If you have an alternate form, your clothes alter to suit it, unless you are a hot girl. In that case you end up naked. - RoseBunny
#73A. clothes are usually destroyed beyond repair if you end up naked. - Amethyst
#73A1. Like actually shredded and probably dissolve into the earth. - Katssun
#73C. If buttons pop off, they only hit bad guys or the comic relief character. - RoseBunny
#73D. Champagne corks can substitute for firearms. - Null0Trooper

#19. Every male character has a deep baritone and every woman is a soprano. - Katssun

#3. You have to be "totes popular" - RoseBunny

#108. If you write yourself into a corner, it was a clone of the main character that died. - RoseBunny
#108A Or a twin they knew nothing about until they were dead... and then they mourn. - Amethyst
#108B. Or you made Jobe make a clone of the main character just before they died. - Abi
#108C. Or a Life-Model Decoy. - RoseBunny
#108D. Or them from an alternate dimension or timeline. - RoseBunny

#124. Putting a cast list of the main characters... example: Protagonist - Insert hunky teenager's fantasy heartthrob here. - RoseBunny
#124A. Self insert. - RoseBunny
#124B. Subtitling it as " blank X blank ". - RoseBunny
#124C. Writing a " Blank X Blank" ( seriously nobody wants to read your "Me X Bert and Ernie"). - RoseBunny

DogSig.png

For the record, I got:

#56. The protagonist knows how to dance. Somehow. The romantic interest won't if it is a she, will if it is a he. - Katssun
#56A. A little sister, should they exist, does ballet. - Katssun
#56B. And are better than you are in everything. - RoseBunny
#128. There is always an expert around when you need them. you: "Oh no! the penguin is acting strangely, is there an Ornithologist in the house?" Random guy: "Why Yes, I'm an ornithologist!" - RoseBunny
#128A. Said expert is never given a name and is never seen again after being viciously used as a plot device. - Amethyst
#60C. Your 12 year old sister looks older than you, and constantly comes on to your friends. - RoseBunny
#60C1. And she calls you "Onee-chan!" while squishing your face in her DD cup cleavage. - RoseBunny
#133. Nerdy guys turn into hot Miss Hyde characters, but nerdy girls never become the Mr. Hyde ( I wish someone would pick this idea up and run with it. I can't do the Miss Hyde thing Justice) - RoseBunny
#98. Hidden tropical island lairs are not cliche. - RoseBunny
#98A. Only the heroes have arctic bases. - Katssun
#98B. The villains use the Antarctic, even though there are plenty of actual civilian bases there. - Katssun
#94. The cuter, the deadlier. - RoseBunny
#19. Every male character has a deep baritone and every woman is a soprano. - Katssun
#6. Access to things like private jets and limos is no big deal. - RoseBunny
#46. The cake is a lie. - RoseBunny
#46A. On the off chance that a parental figure does exist, they are really good at baking. - Katssun
#46B. Especially brownies, which always have marijuana baked in. - Null0Trooper
#46C. Bread though, does still make you fat. - Katssun
#107. Terminator references are a must in any situation which is supposed to be serious, but you don't want taken seriously. - Amethyst

But I may use others as well...

I'll be writing something for

Amethyst's picture

I'll be writing something for this as well, just for fun, and I had Rose roll my rules for me. I got the following rules, but I may add a few other ones for fun too:

#55. Most women can play the piano or violin. Not much else. - Katssun
#55A. Every romantic interest can play the guitar. Probably the bass. - Katssun
#55A1. Regardless of gender. - Katssun
#55B. Or flute, clarinet, oboe, anything that buzzes when you blow it. - Null0Trooper

#132. Any beach scenes for the protagonist must at some point involve an awkward mouth-to-mouth scene. Especially if the protagonist is a boy-turned-girl. - Amethyst
#132A. Any lifeguard scene must involve a guy nervously trying to figure out how to do chest compressions on a busty girl - even if they don't need them. - RoseBunny

#42. Life, the Universe, and Everything. - RoseBunny

#110 - Evil versions of the Protagonist from other dimensions must always have goatees. - RoseBunny
#110A - Even the female ones - RoseBunny
#110B - or twirled moustaches. - Abi
#110C Handlebar moustaches are also acceptable. The thing is facial hair must be evil at all times. - Amethyst

#114. Goth girls are super-depressing, unless they're the protagonist's friend, in which case they are sickeningly cheerful. - Amethyst
#114A. unless they're a romantic interest, then they're dark and brooding, but also sickeningly cheerful about it. - Abi

#69. All clothes must be sexy. - Null0Trooper
#69A. And never need cleaning. - Null0Trooper
#69B. Even unsexy clothes are made sexy when worn by the protagonist or 12 year old sister. - Amethyst

#123. Volcano lairs only erupt after or during attacks by the protagonist(s). - Amethyst
#123A. Probably because the protagonists destroyed the machines controlling the volcano. - Pyro Hawk
#123B. Such eruptions will only occur after painfully slow countdown sequences. - Amethyst
#123C. Trying to take ideas from Austin Powers and use them in a serious context. - RoseBunny

#103. The protagonist has trophies, rather than equipment, to prove they do an activity/sport. - Katssun
#103A. Actual equipment will never be shown or even referred to. - Amethyst
#103B. Except Cheerleading, which they will be forced into, or will reappear as a fetish outfit. - Katssun
#103C. Except for the story of how they got a certain convenient injury. - RoseBunny

#29. Have to learn magic? No problem. Just takes a few hours. - RoseBunny

#9. Main character has access to the Deus ex machina force. - RoseBunny

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Wherewithall

Andrea Lena's picture

I don't currently have the wherewithall to participate. I'll just post this here? Fanfiction for Dickens. The Protagonist suffers from endless dysphoria -

"It was the worst of times... it was even more worse than that of times... The end"
A Tale of the Same Old (deleted) City

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

Lol nice Andrea

Amethyst's picture

I wish you could be involved, I'd love to see what you would come up with but I can totally understand not having the wherewithal to do it right now

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

I rolled for you and sent you

Amethyst's picture

I rolled for you and sent you the list :)

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Near the bone

I just wasted half an hour of my life chortling over the list at Crystal Hall.

There's zero chance that I will have time to enter the competition, but I will point out that I must have broken a good dozen or two of these rules in the stories I have here anyway! (Although not all at the same time, I might add.)

I can also point out that a number of these rules apply to me in Real Life, and no, I'm not saying which!

Looking forward to the mayhem.

Penny

Broken or followed?

Daphne Xu's picture

Did you break those rules? Or follow them? Bad fanfiction is supposed to follow them, right?

-- Daphne Xu

Duh

Duh. I meant that I had inadvertantly followed them, of course.

Of course, I haven't done any fan fiction, just the ordinary sort.

Penny

I have too

Amethyst's picture

I think we've all used (or abused) at least one of these a time or two lol

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

I'd like to give it a try :)

Always love writing challenges and this one does sound like fun, so count me in :)

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Naming rule that I didn't see?

Here's one that you see in comics a lot that doesn't appear in your list.

All characters have first and last names that begin with the same letter. e.g. Reed Richards, Peter Parker, Susan Storms, Bruce Baxter, etc.

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Where...

erin's picture

Where his longtime partner, Jack Kirby, often gave punning names, like Ben Grimm, Lancelot Strong and Scott Free!

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Feel free to use it

Amethyst's picture

The name thing isn't on the list, but feel free to use it if you like ;)
And remember the ten rolled rules are only the bare minimum to use in the story, you can always use more from the list if there's some you didn't get that you'd really like to employ.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Well, like most everything else I do now, Rosey had a hand in it

Rosey just got me to join. You can see that she rolled my numbers on the Discord:

"30, 79, 36,45,107,44,108,67,4,68"

Gonna try for a Whateley Fanfic, gonna see how that works out!


And, in sorted order, the rules are... Hmm... Could do with indenting the whole thing, but should get writing...

  • #4. Vampires and werewolves in your world have to follow the rules set forth in Twilight. - RoseBunny
  • #30. Screw Physics, I need my bullet to go around corners. - RoseBunny
    • #30A. Screw Physics, I need to dodge bullets. - Malady
      • #30A1. All bad guys go to the Imperial school of Marksmanship. - RoseBunny
        • #30A1א. All the good guys do too. That's how they all met. - Malady
  • #36. Eyeglasses are always made of candy glass. - Null0Trooper
  • #44. Rich people are the best choice for high office, because they know the struggles of the poor and working poor. - RoseBunny
  • #45. The contents of a wallet are endless, or an expired bus pass. - Katssun
    • #45A. Every credit card is one of those black cards with no limit and a concierge. - Katssun
    • #45B. No withdrawal limits, ever. - Null0Trooper
  • #67. Ping Mal constantly. - RoseBunny
  • #68. Everyone has a maid. - RoseBunny
    • #68A. The only maid style is French. - Katssun
    • #68B. The maid is always a slut. - Amethyst
    • #68C. They are a martial arts master. - RoseBunny
    • #68D. Or a corporate spy. - Katssun
    • #68E. If they are newly hired during the story, they probably were your evil boss. - Katssun
    • #68F. Your maid might be a warship. - RoseBunny
    • #68G. The maids only use feather dusters, not dust cloths or cleaning sprays. Or.... - Katssun
  • #79. Normal towels have become scratchy and irritating, even if you didn't change gender. - Katssun
    • #79A. Hotel towels are never discussed, but you definitely used them. - Katssun
    • #79B. But towels never ever leave colored lint all over the protagonist. - Null0Trooper
    • #79C. Lint and static cling only exists for background characters or comic relief. - Amethyst
  • #107. Terminator references are a must in any situation which is supposed to be serious, but you don't want taken seriously. - Amethyst
  • #108. If you write yourself into a corner, it was a clone of the main character that died. - RoseBunny
    • #108A Or a twin they knew nothing about until they were dead... and then they mourn. - Amethyst
    • #108B. Or you made Jobe make a clone of the main character just before they died. - Abi
    • #108C. Or a Life-Model Decoy. - RoseBunny
    • #108D. Or them from an alternate dimension or timeline. - RoseBunny

Amethyst just sent me my list

So far as I read through this with my tongue firmly stuck into the side of my mouth, it looks doable :)

But Pachelbel hating Cello players? DUH! He was an organist of course he hated Cello players and anyone else who could CARRY their instrument...LOL

#8. The special secret key was inside them all along. - Katssun
#38. No matter how serious the cut, how many major blood vesels have been severed, the character will either keep fihgting or have an endless dying soliliqy. - Astrodragon
#38A. Transfusions are never required. - Katssun
#38A1. Unless it just so happened to unlock that special ability that you never knew was there. - Katssun
#39. "A wizard did it" explains everything, even in "hard" sci fi. - Null0Trooper
#57. Pachelbel hated Cello players. - RoseBunny
#59. Excretion? Not in this story! Unless it's comedically pathologic. - Null0Trooper
#68. Everyone has a maid. - RoseBunny
#68A. The only maid style is French. - Katssun
#68B. The maid is always a slut. - Amethyst
#68C. They are a martial arts master. - RoseBunny
#68D. Or a corporate spy. - Katssun
#68E. If they are newly hired during the story, they probably were your evil boss. - Katssun
#68F. Your maid might be a warship. - RoseBunny
#68G. The maids only use feather dusters, not dust cloths or cleaning sprays. Or...[redacted]. - Katssun
#70. Socks are only worn by the protagonist. Women only wear stockings. - Katssun
#70A. Stockings are always worn with a garter belt. - Amethyst
#70B. Runs only happen to the comedy relief, or to have the protagonist crash into hello. - Null0Trooper
#70C. Stockings roll up the correct way, never ending up with the toe or heel portion going the wrong side. - Katssun
#70D. Bras are never nude, neutral, or otherwise match a skin tone. They're black, or vibrantly colored. - Katssun
#71. Leg cramps don't exist. - Null0Trooper
#118. When a male becomes a female, they always just use a female version of their male name. - Amethyst
#118A. Even though they're using essentially the same name, nobody catches on. - Mylian
#129. When a guy becomes a girl, every single new experience or task is described in far too much detail and is over the top in 'how different it is as a girl then as a guy'. - Amethyst
#129A. Except things that actually are very different by sexual differences. Like sex and restroom use. Those get ignored. - Abi
#129A1. Unless they go into entirely too much detail on those. - RoseBunny
#129A1א. Or they are described improperly, such as peeing from one's vagina. - Amethyst

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Next time..

...I write something, I'll try ensure all these rules are followed though
Rule 40B has me laughing my head off "• #40B. Rectal bleeding isn't a superpower? "

Jo

lol

Amethyst's picture

yeah we had a lot of fun coming up with these

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Expressed as a Question

Daphne Xu's picture

Expressed as a question, does that suggest that rectal bleeding might be a superpower, or might be connected with a superpower?

That rule was in the list I received, and it fits in with bits of superheroine story that came to mind, even before this challenge.

-- Daphne Xu

With all this talk....

With all this talk of super powers involving the rectum and flying, you know someone is going to create a character that lights his farts for rocket powered flight :(

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Pretty much a given

Amethyst's picture

At this point it wouldn't surprise me, we're going to get some weird, but fun, stories I think. ;)

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3