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Prompt Ideas

Discussion in 'The Lone 2017 Competition' started by Ched, Jan 19, 2018.

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  1. Silirt

    Silirt Chief Warlock DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Jun 20, 2019 #101
    Things that give Cornelius Fudge a headache
    Anonymous Anonymous (left out students of Hogwarts introduce themselves with 'Hi, I'm Daphne Green Grass, and I'm not really a character'. Supportive bit-parts reply 'Hi, Daphne'.)
    Universe vs. J.K. Rowling
    Seven assassins, seven thousand galleons, one night to kill the boy
    What do Hogwarts staff do during the summer?
    A disillusioned adult Harry lives through a depressing year, reading fanfiction on the internet in 2005.
     
    Majube
  2. Microwave

    Microwave Professor

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    Jun 20, 2019 #102
    @Anarchy and I were talking about it in IRC, it'd be a fun challenge to try and integrate the Law of Surprise from the Witcher into Harry Potter.
     
  3. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Jun 20, 2019 #103
    That's interesting though a bit tricky. We'd need to explain it beyond the wiki article but yeah - interesting in a good way.
     
  4. Anarchy

    Anarchy Half-Blood Prince DLP Supporter

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    Jun 20, 2019 #104
    It's an interesting concept, but I think it would be hard to make open ended enough to work for a competition. The foundation is there canonically to have magical oaths like that work, but in fanfiction they're already super cliche.
     
  5. enembee

    enembee The Nicromancer DLP Supporter

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    Jun 20, 2019 #105
    Marriage Soul Bond should 100% be our next prompt
     
    Donimo, Newcomb, Striker, Thaumologist, Conquistador, 9th Doctor, Halt, H_A_Greene, Blorcyn, Red
  6. Blorcyn

    Blorcyn Chief Warlock DLP Supporter ⭐

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    Jun 20, 2019 #106
    Fable or Wizarding Historical Fiction would be excellent prompts, I think.

    (I was a sucker for Starnlicht, and you rarely see the like)
     
  7. Skeletaure

    Skeletaure Magical Core Enthusiast ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Jun 28, 2019 #107
    The key to a good prompt is surely that it is simultaneously specific enough to narrow stories down to a distinctive common element, but broad enough to produce a diversity of entries.

    To that end, I think the following types of prompt fit the bill:

    Location-based

    - The Forbidden Forest
    - The Auror Office
    - The Prefect's Bathroom

    Character-based

    - The House of Black
    - The Dark Lord Ascending
    - Vampire

    Organisation-based

    - The Wizengamot
    - The Daily Prophet
    - The Dark Force Defence League

    Event-based

    - Betrayal in the Order
    - The Birth of a Death Eater
    - Star-crossed lovers

    Genre-based

    - Canon-compatible missing moment
    - Meet-cute
    - A day in the life of...

    Combinations (can be too specific)

    - Christmas at the Longbottoms (location + event + character)
    - The rise of Bellatrix Black (character + event)

    Edit: of course, there's another category:

    Trolling-based

    - Wizards vs. Muggles
    - Ron Weasley: best friend or traitor?
    - Severus Snape did nothing wrong
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2019
    Nevermind, Blorcyn, Majube, Raigan123, Joe, H_A_Greene, Ched
  8. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Jun 28, 2019 #108
    Well said. /10char
     
  9. Microwave

    Microwave Professor

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    Jun 28, 2019 #109
    French Revolution/Napoleonic fic with wizards.

    pls
     
    Blorcyn, H_A_Greene, Halt
  10. Halt

    Halt 1/3 of the Note Bros. Moderator

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    Jun 28, 2019 #110
    AirshipPotter
     
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  11. Joe

    Joe The Reminiscent Exile ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter ⭐⭐⭐

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    Jun 28, 2019 #111
    Oof, I just had an idea where DLP authors write a fic together. Each author has their own airship, are assigned a character captain of that airship, and write chapters based on forming alliances/betrayals with other authors. The writers work behind the scenes, of course, to steer the story, and can drop out (in which case their airship is either destroyed or disappears), or have little side stories that don't impact the overall narrative. Someone would be assigned Voldemort, and the overall story remains in the spirit of HP - Harry vs. Voldemort.

    I imagine it would be a beautiful mess and entirely unworkable, and as such I call Sirius as my captain.

    Anyhoo, my entry for the Daphne/Azkaban prompt would have focussed on an obscure magical creature. I still intend to post it once it's polished, but there's a prompt: Obscure magical creatures
     
    Conquistador, AlbusPHolmes, enembee, Sey, 9th Doctor, Blorcyn, Halt, H_A_Greene
  12. Sey

    Sey Not Worth the Notice DLP Supporter

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    Jun 28, 2019 #112
    This is kinda something that me and @Lungs @Selethe and others did once, with a long forgotten idea.

    @Lungs let's revive it!
     
  13. Jeram

    Jeram Elder of Zion ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Jun 28, 2019 #113
    Yeah I remember one of those. Twas ironically the daphne story.
     
  14. Sorrows

    Sorrows Queen of the Flamingos Moderator

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    Jun 30, 2019 #114
    I kind of love the 'What the Professor's get up to in the summers' prompt. You could have so much fun with that and there are so many charecters to choose from.
     
    Ched, H_A_Greene, Microwave, Paradise
  15. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Jun 30, 2019 #115
    Going to go with Sorrows prompt since it seems to go reasonably well with the ones I got from the winner and runner-up.

    In the future let's try to post prompt ideas 1-per-post so that I can better utilize the "thumbs up" feature to sort them. It won't always go to the one with the most thumbs, since I want to get one that is suitably different from what the winners give me, but it's one way I sort out what we want to add to the poll.

    NMB's Marriage Bond idea will probably show up next time I need a more specific prompt to toss into the pile.
     
  16. Sorrows

    Sorrows Queen of the Flamingos Moderator

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    Jun 30, 2019 #116
    As much as I'd like to take the credit, @Silirt thought it up.
     
    H_A_Greene, Silirt, Ched
  17. Spanks

    Spanks Chief Warlock

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    Jun 30, 2019 #117
    Post wrong!BWL. You know, that part of the story that never gets written in this genre. Life after finding out Harry is the real BWL who has to defeat Voldemort. Gratuitous use of genre cliches is encouraged.
     
    Majube
  18. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Jul 1, 2019 #118
    Any interest in a LENGTH-based prompt? Like, Flash Fiction - word count requirement is 1000-1500 words, no exceptions, any topic. We'd get some fairly tight stories.
     
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  19. H_A_Greene

    H_A_Greene Unspeakable –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    Jul 1, 2019 #119
    Definitely an interest in that.
     
  20. Halt

    Halt 1/3 of the Note Bros. Moderator

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    Jul 1, 2019 #120
    Ew. 3million words or bust.

    (jk)

    Could be interesting
     
    9th Doctor
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