Challenge Holiday Tropes “Challenge”

Holiday Tropes “Challenge”​

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Cheesy holiday movies are a guilty pleasure of many (me included). At the end of a long, stressful, horrible, lonely, cold year, you just need some brainless, predictable, feel-good distractions. This challenge is embracing all those warm and fluffy tropes you often see in holiday movies and brining them into fanfiction. Because we all need some fluff to get us through this holiday season.

Note, I am one of those people who think writing challenges should actually get the brain synapses going… but not this one. This year has been stressful enough and, as fun as Mav’s Fic-Gift exchange is (and I encourage everyone to participate when she posts!), it can take a lot of brainpower! This challenge can be simply a “writers-block buster”/inspiration, or a bit of a challenge if you want it to be. This challenge was created with Non-Star Wars fandoms in mind, but can also fit into Star Wars with some creativity. These fics also don't need to be mushy or fluffy.

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How to Play:

Below are 3 open categories + 1 bonus category. For the open categories, you can have a number generator give you a prompt (or have another user pick for you), or just pick whatever sparks your muse. Multiple people can pick the same prompts.

The mystery bonus category is optional. Pick a number (1 per story) and I will send you a random holiday or winter object or image, or even a song.


Holiday Tropes

Holiday movies often use the same cheesy storylines, and there’s comfort in that! Create your own spin on any of these well-used tropes… and maybe take out the sexism? (These are all from screenrant.com – which can be used as full on plots - or TV Tropes – which can be more minor plot elements):

1. Surprise! They’re royalty!
Honestly, it's not Christmas until you're watching the story of a character who meets a love interest with a cute accent, impeccable manners and a mysteriously powerful family, who surprise, is really royalty.

2. Back home to the small town (or planet?)
Hallmark definitely has a preference for small towns. Usually a former resident has to come home because life has taken a turn, and that’s when they figure out they never should have left.

3. Kids who are matchmakers
Two single parents who meet during the holidays and bond over creating a great Christmas for their kids. Once the kids figure out what a perfect family they make, they will stop at nothing to make their parents fall in love.

4. Ghosts
No, this isn’t Halloween, it’s carrying on the Dickensian tradition of 3 time and space-traveling ghosts on Christmas eve to show the grumpy character the past, present, and future the true meaning of the holidays

5. Everyone Hates Fruit Cakes, along with the Homemade Sweater from Hell, this serves as a reminder that Christmas ain't perfect.

6. Saving Christmas: Saint Nick is in danger, and we gotta Recruit Teenagers with Attitude to set things right.

7. Secret Santa: A classic gift exchange system that leads to many an Unwanted Gift Plot.

8. Let There Be Snow: To all kids Dreaming of a White Christmas down south, anything's possible this time of year.


Outfits
Sadly there won’t be many holiday galas, ugly sweater parties, or big family gatherings this year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have them in fanfic.

1. Tuxedos
2. Plaid Pajamas
3. Onsie
4. Ballgown
5. Ugly holiday sweater
6. Puffy snowsuit


Random Winter/Holiday Elements
Pick one, or pick several! You can even fit them all in!

1. Hot cocoa
2. Sleigh ride
3. Snowball fight
4. Peppermint
5. Feast Dinner
6. Candles
7. Snow falling
8. Icy pathways
9. Gifts
10. Baked goods



Mystery Bonus Prompts (Briannakin apologizes for the Bublé. Also 10 is particularly challenging)
1.
2. Brodiew
3. Kit'
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Seldes_Katne
9.
10.

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So, just to be clear, you want us to pick one item from each of the open categories for our story and choose the mystery item if we so desire?

 

Yeah, that's the basic idea but people really can use the prompts in different ways if the muse desires.

 

This has got so many short story ideas running around my head, even as I try and ignore them to finish my long fic and Snips and Snails...

*sigh*

 

Is it okay if we use these as, say, drabble prompts?

I'm working on a vignette, but it veered off into a different direction from what I'd originally planned, and now I have both the original and the new version drafted and I'm completely stuck on which one to go with. Some of the other prompts have inspired random little scenes that could be turned into drabbles though!

 

Do whatever you'd like with them

 

I did something "inspired" by this challenge. It has a ghost, peppermint, hot cocoa, and plaid pyjamas, and mostly just holiday fluff (because that's all my brain can do right now): Presidential Ghost of Hanukah Future

Honestly, some of the jokes at the end probably won't make sense unless you have read ALL the Dynasty fics, but most of it should make sense if you have seen TWW. I try to make my challenge fics readable for everyone... but this is 2020.

 

Started my first Holiday challenge as the founding story for Paramour 54 and other lovers...

Winter Dream

Had to find the title from a list of Christmas Movie titles...oh boy. Don't fall down that rabbit hole of reading the synopsis of all the Christmas Holiday movies...just wow.

 

LOL Hallmark movies in general are full of scrumptious tropes

 

I wrote this using Snow falling + Sleigh ride + Peppermint: A Sleigh Ride Together With You

This is the first part, it ended up a lot longer than I intended and I still have some editing to do on the rest. It's Stranger Things, of course, and pure trope-y fluff, of course. But it was honestly a lot of fun to write and I needed that, so thank you for coming up with this challenge!

 

A winter gathering on Naboo, some cross-cultural storytelling, interstellar fruitcake, and a surprise for one character (and the author!): Holiday Fare.

 

Interesting thread concept...