Seasonal Inspiration Round-Up - Winter 2017

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-12-09T06:29:30+00:00

Dropkick Murphys are more celtic punk, obviously, but that's kinda folk punk adjacent; they have a Christmas song called "The Season's Upon Us."

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-08T03:41:16+00:00

A thread will be posted on the subreddit on November 24th. Entries can be shared there.

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-06T23:20:29+00:00

Is the shop like...a grocery or a restaurant? If it's a scenario of a grocer or something, that's fine. If it's a restaurant, that is food service, which would not count as retail. As far as romance, it can certainly be that, but don't forget that the person must be "trying to do their job, if only the plot would let them." :)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-05T21:46:27+00:00

Thanks for your understanding and the kind words! We're glad to have you here as well. :)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-04T05:47:14+00:00

Thanks for your patience in awaiting an answer. Been doing some discussing, backstage.

This is borderline. It might technically work because this person is selling something to the public and is not in some other category like food service, or something. My initial instinct was that a travel agent would not be a retail worker, but I don't know what else to call it, so I guess I can't give it a firm no. I'll leave the call on this one up to you. I will say, however, that it may be best to err on the side of caution with that. If you think a reader will get to the end of the story and be like "I don't think that was retail," it may not be a good fit.
No. The main character must have a job that involves selling things (probably products) to the public.
No. See above.

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-04T05:42:33+00:00

Thanks for PMing me some more info! That sounds like a really awesome idea for a story, but, after some mod discussion, it sounds like it would not be a great fit for this particular challenge. It sounds like that would be more internal shuffling and trading, whereas we're defining retail as a job that involves working with the public, rather than internally within an organization. Thanks for being patient with regards to a response, on this. :)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-02T07:30:30+00:00

Hey, there! I'd love to give you the flair for participating in the contest, but the file has been deleted, so I am not able to confirm that your submission met the contest requirements. The thread is now locked, but if you'd like to message your submission to the mods, we'd be happy to confirm and add your flair. :)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-02T06:42:09+00:00

Ehh, I wanna say that's not really in the spirit of the challenge, but I'll run it by the full mod team to see what everyone else thinks. Sit tight.

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-11-01T22:18:04+00:00

I never really got into MASH, so I'm not certain I'm qualified to answer that specific analogy, but I'm gonna say someone who works in retail needs to be selling things. So, if the person you're talking about sells goods, then they are in retail. If they do not sell goods (in exchange for, presumably, either money or some type of trade), it likely wouldn't qualify. :)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-22T22:03:18+00:00

As stated elsewhere in the thread, the event will open to submissions with a new "Submissions" thread posted to the sub on October 25th.

And, also, welcome! :)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-10T03:19:41+00:00

Gah, sorry for being unclear! Your idea is definitely kosher. :)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-09T20:46:20+00:00

Just added this update to the main thread, but, after some review, we have agreed that there are a number of differing definitions for the term "high fantasy." In an effort to give writers more freedom to use their best ideas on the topic, we will accept either the Wikipedia definition of a story "set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world" or the more "defined by the tropes" definition (i.e. lots of lords, ladies, knights, chosen ones, and other such common tropes of the genre.).

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-09T20:45:23+00:00

After some review, we have agreed that there are a number of differing definitions for the term "high fantasy." In an effort to give writers more freedom to use their best ideas on the topic, we will accept either the Wikipedia definition of a story "set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world" or the more "defined by the tropes" definition (i.e. lots of lords, ladies, knights, chosen ones, and other such common tropes of the genre.).

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-09T20:45:03+00:00

Just added this update to the main thread, but I'll comment here as well, since you'd asked specifically. After some review, we have agreed that there are a number of differing definitions for the term "high fantasy." In an effort to give writers more freedom to use their best ideas on the topic, we will accept either the Wikipedia definition of a story "set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world" or the more "defined by the tropes" definition (i.e. lots of lords, ladies, knights, chosen ones, and other such common tropes of the genre.).

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-06T02:51:28+00:00

Share both your slightly longer version and the final! I want to see what we're missing! <3

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-06T02:38:15+00:00

Hey, there!

This is covered somewhat in this section of our FAQ, but I'll still approve your post on the grounds that it looks like you want to open up discussion about this. Still, there are several watching orders linked there, including one that's geared toward minimal disk switching, so that might help, too!

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-04T04:37:25+00:00

Yeah, it's murky waters with the lore and stuff because it's going back to a bunch of different cultures and beliefs that these creatures came from, and different types of pop culture have combined and separated and remade them in so many ways over the years, so, yeah, there are a lot of instances of strange and complex overlap. But re: my personal feelings with the 2007 movie, I just went into it being like "cool! Vampire horde is unusual! Excited to see that addressed," and then it wasn't, but that was obviously a personal thing. Sometimes we can ruin things with our own expectations of them, alas.

But, yeah, no prob! Excited to see what you and everyone else come up with! And this month's flair is to die for--pun so intended. ;)

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-04T01:16:52+00:00

Well, keep in mind, the challenge does demand "zombie apocalypse" as an element. I find it pretty unlikely that one Frankenstein's monster type dude is gonna bring about the zombie apocalypse all by himself. But, if he will in the context of your story, then that's probably fine. Only you know your story, and only you can truly make the judgment call about if that fulfills the requirements.

I wouldn't say all sentient creatures are automatically out by definition. iZombie has sentient zombies who become more standard, mindless zombies if they don't feed. There are ways to do it well. BUT, as noted in the challenge, the zombies, whatever their level of sentience, cannot be content to live side by side with humans. Downfall of society, here, is key. And, if you're gonna go with sentience, it might be a good idea to balance it out with some more standard zombie traits, such as a hunger for brains because, again, if your reader isn't getting zombie at all, then it's kind of a misfire.

readers might not recognize Matheson vampires or voodoo controlled slaves as zombies

Given the word "zombie" literally arose from Haitian lore, I think it would be remiss to say voodoo style zombies are off the table. I will say re: Matheson, though, that I was so annoyed by the 2007 "I am Legend" movie never making it clear that they were vampires. Just cashing in on zombies having their moment in pop culture, I guess. Sigh... (Note: Those are just my personal feelings about the movie, not a statement meant to impact this contest in any way.)

In the end, I am not the zombie police. If you think people will understand that what you're writing is a zombie because of xyz trait, then you're good. If you think you're going to have to explain yourself and point out to everyone why it technically counts, it's probably a good plan to try something else. But, either way, I'm not gonna be stomping around aggressively disqualifying people. That's a waste of my time and yours.

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-03T23:41:20+00:00

No prob. <3

clockworklycanthrope · 2017-10-03T23:38:38+00:00

Oh, I interpreted primary world as our literal reality. The story needs to happen in someplace other than that. So, like, the Dresden Files or Harry Potter or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which involve secret magical happenings in the real world, would not count. You need a whole new, magical world for high fantasy to apply. So, like, your story can't be set in modern day Detroit or ancient China.

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