Oh goody, an excuse to write a Vara story. Yay!
Prose that Blows 7: NOW OPEN!
Submissions will be due by Friday, October 14, 2011.
I'd also like to apologize for the delay in getting this posted. Pakona had his act together while yours truly most certainly did not.
Sun, 09/18/2011 - 05:44
#3
Sun, 09/18/2011 - 16:27
#4
doubleintegral
Who's Vara?
Sat, 10/15/2011 - 20:23
#5
oscar4111
When will the submissions be posted for voting?
Mon, 10/17/2011 - 13:44
#6
doubleintegral
Probably tonight.
Mon, 10/17/2011 - 17:20
#7
oscar4111
Yay! ^_^
Tue, 10/18/2011 - 14:33
#8
doubleintegral
Okay, all six stories and the polls are posted. Time to read and vote!
http://prosethatblows.wordpress.com
Tue, 10/18/2011 - 22:46
#9
Auriga
Voted. Fantasy is not a great restriction, I think. Most of stories are openly employing magic to inflate people. And the rest is employing magic dressed as comics science. Taboo was a harder challenge, I think.
That all is about of definition of magic, though. I think "That stuff just works, no idea how" - that's magic. For many people technology is magic, because they have no clue about involved physical principles.
Wed, 10/19/2011 - 01:22
#10
Well all stories there are emplying magic... given that this is your complaint maybe you should have enterred? I'm not seeing any comic science though.
- Inflations must be done with magic. It can be a spell, potion, incantation, whatever but regardless, it must have a supernatural element to it.
- The story’s setting cannot take place in the modern world. Dark ages, medieval times and fantasy realms are all fine. No modern technology though.
There was possibly room for some fantasy based steampunk but the writers opted for different iterations of magic considering the theme must "have a supernatural element to it"
Not hating just I feel that this was a great little contest and a shame that the turnout wasn't greater,
Wed, 10/19/2011 - 06:18
#11
Auriga
Its not complaint. I mean ALL inflation stories (not only at PTB7), may be just 99.5%, are employing magic. But some try to obscure it as sci-fiction.
Say its way harder to write a story without using any kind of magic .
Wed, 10/19/2011 - 13:27
#12
Ah ok sorry I got the wrong end of the stick on what you were saying... It would be harder to write a story without any kind of magic but then again, if you're only describing the physicality of the change then the cause could be anything magical or otherwise.
Your stories are interesting for instance but I still view it as a kind of magic whether science is involved or not. Part of the "magic" of the fetish from how I percieve it is in the magic because of how unrealistic I view it...
Wed, 10/19/2011 - 22:57
#13
Auriga
Thanks. Of course, I use "magic" too, it is so hard not to use it anyway.
There are very few workarounds I know:
Virtual reality.
Real inflation (which is rather limited and a big turn off for many, including me)
Suit inflation. Funny but also limited.
Various future tech nanobots, that rebuild inflatee's body to allow inflation. Personally I think it is still magic.
And mind transfer from human into body that allows inflation. This possibility lies far in the future, yet unlike previous variant looks theoretically doable.
Thu, 10/20/2011 - 22:10
#14
Personally I'd love to see a suit inflation PtB sometime, but that's just me. *whistles*
I might even be up to writing a story for that when it does happen!
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 10:51
#15
RenegadeKamui
Seconding that I'd like to see a clothing inflation PtB. I consider it a criminally-underrepresented genre.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 20:42
#16
doubleintegral
Personally, I don't really see suit/clothing inflation as being the same as body inflation. It's kind of like saying a woman stuffing her bra is the same as BE.
Sat, 10/22/2011 - 18:23
#17
RenegadeKamui
Actually, I remember at least one BE site (probably long-gone by now) that had a category specifically for stuffing. Clothing inflation isn't "the same" as inflation, but it's still something being blown up with gas, with basically the same consequences to the inflatee (except for popping... generally). You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but this very site has a CI category, so I'm not alone in my point of view.
Tue, 10/25/2011 - 21:24
#18
Inflate123
Agreed. I like both but I see them as different things.
Sun, 10/30/2011 - 11:53
#19
RenegadeKamui
When can we see the results?
Wed, 11/02/2011 - 15:17
#20
doubleintegral
Sorry, I'll get them posted tonight.
Wed, 11/02/2011 - 20:17
#21
doubleintegral
Alright, the results are up. Rathani came out the big winner, taking home three awards including Best Story.
Sun, 11/06/2011 - 19:42
#22
Thanks to everyone who voted for my story!
I had to cut the scene down a lot from my initial draft to get under the word limit, and there's a lot I hated to cut. I submitted an extended version with all of it added back in to the library here. It's also available right now on my DA page: http://rathani.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4f8yqv
Sun, 11/13/2011 - 01:14
#23
Will there be a PTB 8 before the end of the year or is that one for next year?
Sun, 11/13/2011 - 20:54
#24
doubleintegral
Don't know but my guess is that we'll wait until after the holidays.
Tue, 01/03/2012 - 19:33
#25
RenegadeKamui
So is #8 in the works?
Thu, 01/05/2012 - 21:05
#26
That's a good question. I suppose it's high time for a new contest.
Wed, 03/07/2012 - 17:20
#27
RenegadeKamui
Is this still going to happen? It's been four months since the end of the last contest now, and I'm eager to get started on the next one.
Wed, 03/07/2012 - 19:44
#28
doubleintegral
Sorry for the delay; it's largely my fault. Pakona and I will talk soon, and in the meantime if anyone would like to send either of us some topic suggestions they would be most appreciated.
Wed, 03/07/2012 - 21:18
#29
airtankgirl5
I have a suggestion for a topic. It's a little "out of the box".
Most of our work tends to be one person inflating in a normal world. How's about you Twilight Zone it up and make it one uninflated person dealing with an inflated world?
Just a thought ;)
Mon, 03/12/2012 - 21:54
#30
doubleintegral
I've done that before.
http://doubleintegral.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2tl41v
Trouble with doing it as a contest is that if you're really going to "Twilight Zone it up" then the contest topic itself is a major spoiler.
Thu, 03/08/2012 - 06:59
#31
Just a few ideas:
Romance: (originally Valentine's Day theme but a little late for that I suppose) Writing a senario that involves two potentional or steady lovers where at least one of them inflates.
Superhero: Writing a short story that has a superhero or supervillian inflating like a balloon. Maybe it's their superpower, maybe it's their weakness, maybe they're eleastic and they have to make use of some helium or maybe they were just a typical superhero zapped by a balloon ray. Of course, we can't use superheroes that already exist, especally if we're doing the hidden voting stuff (sorry Airtankgirl and Inflatrix).
Key Phrase: We write an inflation story of any sort but it must include a specific phrase and it must make sense within the context of said story, something vague enough to pretty much fit any story but still kind of bizzare enough to challenge the writer. Maybe something like "So this is how you get around nowadays". Alternatively, we could just narrow it down to a handful of keywords instead.
Thu, 03/08/2012 - 08:19
#32
As far as the "key phrase" idea, those of us who have experience with the Dying Earth RPG would have a bit of an advantage there, as that game system included such phrases as a game mechanic for gaining experience by working them into the story in play.
The superhero/supervillain idea would be a good one. I think that most or all of us are familiar with the genre.
A few ideas of mine for themes:
Therapy: Being blown up as part of a treatment for some medical or psychological issue.
Charity Fundraiser: Risking an explosive end for a good cause. Pop a cop, burst a banker, a billion-dollar balloon that's actually a billionaire. A weight lifter, bodybuilder, or other pro athlete trying to hold their air in. A military type being used as a balloon in a parade, but warned that if he salutes while the air is turned on it's a signal to the handler that means "set me off like a bomb."
That Isn't Hot: Non-sexy inflation... grandma dealing with falling over on the nozzle of a helium tank while preparing balloons for his grandchild's party. Retirement send-off for an elderly employee that literally is a send-off - into the sky. A quadraplegic trying futily to squirm on the end of the airhose when his social worker/handler has a heart attack and he can't call for help. A full bird colonel being flown as one of the big balloons in a parade, but warned that if he salutes he's signalling to his handlers to set him off like a bomb (or firework).
Inflation Into Something: Being blown up as part of being turned into an object or a specific form, rather that just losing your shape. Being made into a Humpty Dumpty-like egg person, perhaps, then shrunk into an actual (although still conscious) egg and put in the carton with others to worry whether you'll make it to being restored to normal or whether you're going to meet your end broken in a frying pan.
Fri, 03/09/2012 - 03:46
#33
As it happens, I'm working on a therapy story right now and I only just read your message. Non-hot would be an interesting challenge, though there's a problem finding something no-one at all would find arousing.
Mon, 03/12/2012 - 21:51
#34
doubleintegral
Me too, dammit! We can't do that one...
Sun, 03/11/2012 - 11:34
#35
Oh I wanted the story to be an suit inflation storie
Sun, 03/11/2012 - 18:47
#36
Well we got quite a few ideas on display here. I personally think we should go with a theme that challenges the writers in a way while still being vague enough to offer a variety of different stories but that's just my opinion.
The charity and therapy ideas are interesting but I don't think they offer quite enough room to ensure several different plots. Perhaps if we combine the two and scale back the concept into some sort of "Bettering the world through inflation" theme?
The non-sexy inflation pitch is also interesting but I bet that might take away the appeal of inflation stories for a lot of people. Maybe I'm wrong though.
The whole inflatable world concept is fasinating but I don't quite understand what we're supposed to focus on when writing it. If everyone else is already inflated, then there's no inflation process to describe, unless the non-inflated person is going to inflate as well. Is that the case?
An inflatable suit theme might be a cool idea but I'm a little worried that might restrict the plot possibilities somewhat.
Any rebuttals or new ideas anyone?
Sun, 03/11/2012 - 19:29
#37
RenegadeKamui
I submitted some ideas by email, but I can post them here if they'd still be considered. I basically agree with Pakona that most of these are too limiting, and would also submit that some of them require a fair amount of backstory to establish the world they take place in, which could be hard to work into ~750 words.
The trick is to come up with a concept that gives the entries some sort of structure, while still allowing the writer to work with their preferred style of inflation. The seasonal contests were a good example, but after three of them in a row, it was agreed that we were all tired of them. Taboo was maybe a bit loose structurally, but it did inspire some excellent wordplay. The fantasy contest I thought was a bit weak, because there are already plenty of fantasy stories in existence, and so the stories we got seemed a little run-of-the-mill.
Mon, 03/12/2012 - 00:50
#38
LutherVKane
I have an idea. I don't know how viable it is, but it might be fun. I thought that the rules for PTB5 were prohibitively challenging, and that contest resulted in some very impressive stories. So here goes.
Song parodies. Think Weird Al Yankovic, except that we'd rewrite popular songs with inflationary lyrics.
It's not an original idea. I have vague memories from the 90s of someone in the BE community reworking a couple of verses of Puttin' on the Ritz as Blowin' up the Tits. Years later I thought of it when I heard the Moxy Früvous song Boo Time and contemplated how it would be so much more entertaining if it were Boom Time. For a more contemporary example, the Ke$sha song Blow if halfway there already.
Mon, 03/12/2012 - 19:52
#39
Might not offer much in terms of original stories but hey, if everyone else wants to do it, I don't see why we couldn't try it.
Do we label a certain Sir Mix-a-lot song taboo however?
Mon, 03/12/2012 - 22:19
#40
doubleintegral
Hey baby
You'd make a fine dirigible
So let me blow you up
To show on the Inflatable Channel
That is an interesting idea, but the execution for proper effect could be pretty cumbersome. A lot of people may not be familiar with the songs that are chosen, so writers would have to link to some kind of audio and real lyrics of the song they lampooned. But even with that, the meter of the lyrics is really important, and the way the writer worked it out in his/her head may not be the same way a reader interprets it. For instance, the lyrics I posted above fit the beat of the song they're parodying when I read them to myself, but another person may not figure them out.
Plus, some people (myself included) are biased against some genres of music or even certain songs, so writers that happen to choose one of those would be at an automatic disadvantage with those readers. For example, I swear to God that if anyone were to pick "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" I would cast negative votes for them.
Looks cool. I want to enter, just not sure if I can -- very busy time of year for me, and the deadline overlaps exactly with some real-world shenanigans. Still, laptops work on airplanes...maybe I can sneak some writing time in!
Twitter | DeviantArt