Welcome to Week 4 of the first Elysian Fields Mystery Fic-a-Thon Event!
Just two prompts left! Are you ready to start thinking about how to wrap up your fic? Well, we’re here to throw a wrench in your plans. Maybe. You guys are super creative at coming up with great ways to answer these prompts. It’s only fitting, then, that Prompt 4 aims to throw something truly wacky and random your way.
Curious to see how the prompts are being addressed? Check out the fics on our Event Page.
Your prompt for Week 4 comes from our invaluable angelic_amy.
YOUR FIC MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE SPOKEN BY A CHARACTER: “ALIENS HAVE INVADED ZIMBABWE. THERE’S NO TIME FOR RATIONAL SOLUTIONS.”
So, uhh, good luck with that.
REMINDERS
- Your fic has a HARD goal of 5 chapters. This means the NEXT chapter is the last one! If you want to write more, great! But that’s sequel fodder, since more chapters should not be added to this fic (even after the event ends). If you want to write less, we get it, but that will likewise disqualify you from the event.
- All chapters MUST be posted within the allotted time-window to qualify for the event.
- Each chapter MUST include that week’s prompt. (This one seems obvious, but better safe than sorry.)
- Each chapter MUST be tagged with the prompt and the fulfilling line/paragraph/passage in your chapter’s end-notes by the time the posting window closes for that prompt. We will be checking and disqualifying fics (though the ones we’ve checked so far have been solid -- good work, team!). If you haven’t done this yet for Chapter 3, you have until EOD site-time on July 25.
- No NEW fics for this event may be submitted.
POSTING WINDOW FOR CHAPTER 4
- Start: July 26
- End: August 1
PROMPT 5 (AND YOUR FINAL CHAPTER) ANNOUNCED
- July 30
Happy writing, all!
--The Mods on July 22, 2021 05:02pm 13 Comments
I was freaking out at first because I read it too fast and thought it was the event we had to include. Then I re-read and saw it's just the spoken line. I can totally make this work!
And Amy has the nerve to call herself "angelic"?
Sorry about that
Pay me no attention, I was making a mess and the same comment popped out twice. Pertinent question: The phrase of the prompt has to be spoken all at once by one character, right? Or I can maybe have it said by the same character in the same conversation but split in two?
@relurker: as long as the phrase is intact, with no extra dialogue in between, it can be split by an action or dialogue tag. Example, "Aliens have invaded Zimbabwe," Giles said tensely. "There's no time for rational solutions!"
@OYB - This is the single greatest explanation ever given to a member question in the history of the archive. No lie.
So, uhh, good luck with that.
😆 I'm finding it so much easier to add a line or a character than an action. Prompt 3 sucker punched me @Pfeifferpack! I'm still attempting to work it in. But my inspiration is all, "Nope!"
As for who will say, "ALIENS HAVE INVADED ZIMBABWE. THERE’S NO TIME FOR RATIONAL SOLUTIONS," it's probably gonna be Xander. We don't have to use all caps, do we?
@OYB, where did you find such a sublime GIF?
@JustWriter: no, you don't have to use all caps. And thank you! I used my Google-fu skills ;)
I'm loving the variety of these prompts - really pushing me to work with a few different angles than I originally planned.
Question: Does it have to be spoken by a main character in the story? Or can it be a background character/sound?
@MillennialCryBaby: as long as a character (meaning they have a name), whatever their prominence, speaks the line (aka, must be actual dialogue in the story), you're good.
Easy peasy...it's perfect.