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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

I'll trade you this picture for a 1000 words - Update 03/29/2010

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Fanficfan, Feb 26, 2010.

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  1. Fanficfan

    Fanficfan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    This is a revival of Ophelia's thread from back in 2006, I thought it was time to try again.

    The idea is that I'll put up a picture of some obscure place/thing/person/other and you write a backstory for it. There's no real limit's (outside of ToS) to what you can write for this, there's no criteria other than it be inspired by the picture.

    This thread is not intended to be a competition, it's for inspiring plot bunnies and having a bit of fun writing short stories. If you?re willing to let others use elements of your posted backstory, please let us know, and include any special conditions you may have. (Only with permission granted via PM, only element X and not element Y, etc.) Backstories without public usage notes are assumed to belong only to the author.

    I'll probably update the image every 2-3 weeks, depending on peoples interest.

    So here's the first image:

    [image=http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab107/fanficfan/1000%20Words/glowingfog.jpg]

    FAQ:
    Q - Do I post my story in a new thread?
    A - Nope, unless the picture has inspired an epic, just reply in this thread. If you do commence an epic then drop a link in so we can check it out

    Q - Do I have to write exactly 1000 words?
    A - Nope. It's a play on a picture being worth a thousand words.

    Q - Is the submission period over when the next picture is posted?
    A - Nope, you can write for any of the previous images if you wish, just let people know which picture you're using.

    Q - Are there going to be a winner announced for each picture?
    A - Personally I'd rather this just be for fun. If the mods wanted to run the occasional competition through this thread then I have no problem with that.
     
  2. Alexis_Wingstar

    Alexis_Wingstar Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 16, 2006
    I cannot see the image, even after refreshing.
     
  3. Fanficfan

    Fanficfan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    OK, so me and TF.N had some disagreements about the adding a picture thing. I've made it a link instead and it should work now. Sorry about that folks.
     
  4. moosemousse

    moosemousse CR Emeritus: FF-UK South star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    Click the link, right click the image, click 'view image', copy the url, use that to post as image. That should work.

    Can't think of anything for this picture, but I look forward to the next one.
     
  5. Ceillean

    Ceillean Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2001
    That picture is beautiful.
     
  6. Alexis_Wingstar

    Alexis_Wingstar Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 16, 2006
    Agreed.

    [face_thinking] Possibilities are rising.
     
  7. Fanficfan

    Fanficfan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    Ok then, so I was going to wait until someone else posted a story so that this thread didn't seem too self gratuitous... Oh well, here's my offering.
    Would everyone like me to post up a new image this week? Or is anyone still working on a story for this one?


    ***
    An old man stood on the rocks and watched as the clouds rolled in. They were going to get rain, possibly even a storm judging by the colour of those clouds.
    The old man, moving with surprising agility for someone of his age, swiftly made his way across the rocks until he stood at their very edge. Then he sat, legs crossed, and removed a weather-beaten cylinder that had probably once been silver. But time and use had long since stolen its sheen. The silver casing, once gleaming, was now pitted and worn. The black rubber of the handgrip had lost its definition and shape over the years as it gradually conformed to fit the contours of his hand.
    He gently ran his hand down the thirty centimetre length of the cylinder. It was almost as if his fingers were caressing every indentation, every imperfection that made it... Beautiful
    It had never been intended as a thing of beauty. He knew that once upon a time, lifetimes ago, other people had created works of art, exquisite designs of gold, silver & electrum. They were wondrous to behold and for some, their form meant far more than their function. These people hadn?t built tools, they had crafted masterpieces.
    He had not. He had been given a tool with which to ensure the successful completion of his duties. And never, in all his years of service, had he wanted more than that. The form had meant nothing to him, all that mattered was that the tool in his hand functioned perfectly every time he had need of it. And it had done so. For all those many years the tool had fulfilled its function so that the man could fulfil his duties, and that was all the beauty he needed or expected.
    And now, decades since he had been called to duty for the last time, an old man sat on the rocks as the clouds began to roll in around him, and he admired not the tool he had been given over a century ago, but the beautiful work of art that he had turned it into.
    He gripped the cylinder fully for the first time in more than ten years, noting the way his hand still fit perfectly into the worn rubber grip. His thumb gently traced the scores of marks and dents on the casing, each one holding a story, an image, a memory. Some were good, and some were bad but they were all his. And they had all contributed to the crafting of his masterpiece.
    He rose to his feet, disturbing the mass cloud that gathered around his knees and stretched out beyond the horizon. He could feel the water vapour condensing against his legs as the cloudbank pushed further over the cliff face. He saw a bright flash of lightening and felt as much as heard the clap of thunder that followed. His feet shifted on the rock below him. Left foot forward, right foot back, about shoulder width apart. His weight was balanced as he raised the cylinder to chest height, both hands wrapped around it as if he were holding a sword. For a moment his thumb hovered over a raised black stud near the top of the cylinder. His breath caught in his throat and his hands shook slightly as he stared at the black stud. Then another flash from the building storm broke his reverie and again he felt the thunder roll through the now waist-deep clouds.
    He slowly slid his hands down the cylinder until he held only the very bottom in one hand. He drew his arm back and hurled his last tie to his old life deep into the storm. The light flashed again as the cylinder disappeared into the clouds but this time there was no crack of thunder, no reverberating boom. Only a sharp snap-hiss, and the old man humming tunelessly as he made his way back across the rocks.
    ***

    Comments and ConCrit are welcome.
    Hopefully see some more stories on here soon.
    Fanficfan
     
  8. Fanficfan

    Fanficfan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    Ok so despite (or perhaps in spite) of the apparent lack of interest for the last picture, here is the second picture to hopefully inspire some mini (or major) plot bunnies.

    [image=http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab107/fanficfan/1000%20Words/gold_orb.gif]

    Some question to get you thinking
    * Who is that guy
    * What is the device?
    * What does it do? (if anything, maybe it's some avant-garde art work)
    * Where is it?

    Feel free to use some, all or none of the questions at your leisure.
    I look forward to reading some of your creations
     
  9. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    In my story Aaquilin and Darrin is an orb used and this is an excerpt from that chapter where it is used for the first time

    [image=http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/earlybird-obi-wan/forcenetart/aaquilin01.jpg]


    ?I will get them out,? Anka stated and closed her eyes. With the Force she saw where the two men were trapped and she felt something else. She shied away first but felt the power and heard the seducing ?I will help you. Don?t be afraid. No harm will come to you. You want to save lives.? She began to concentrate and felt the object starting to move towards her passing through the cracks in the rocks. ?That will help me.?

    She smiled when the object came sailing through the last large crack and settled in her outstretched hands. It was a crystal globule that shone with the reflected light from the gloomy sun, giving it a yellow dusky appearance.
    She admired the smoothness of the perfect sphere and stroked it softly. It was cold but her hands started to warm it. And the object changed. Yellow mists were swirling and small red dots were appearing.
    She felt the power coming from the globule and gazed in the red swirling mists trapped in the glazed globule. And only she heard a song in the Force.

    ?Darrin, darrin, darrin, your son will become the most powerful darrin.
    Darrin, darrin, darrin you will best the aaquilin.
    From times immemorial the aaquilin has slain the darrin.
    Darrin, darrin, darrin you have to hunt the aaquilin
    Slay him
    Now the darrin will have his revenge.
    ?

    And Anka was mesmerised when she saw the red light shining on her belly. It was coming from the globule, reflecting the sunrays that shone on it.

    She closed her eyes again and moving the globule in front of the rubble she used it and the Force to create a path inside the cave. The globule was put in one of her pockets.


    further in the story the globule is used again

    Darth Plagueis saw Ann placing the two almost identical crystals in the vault. Only he knew that one of them was hollow and equipped with a stasis field. The contents would wait for him when he needed them. First he had to search for a suitable test-subject and he didn?t know how many years that would take. And he was almost sure that he had to wait many years. ?Maybe I have a new apprentice. If Darth Dynonychus is not strong enough I will need another one.?

    Ann was now opening the wooden box.

    Ren wanted to hold the globule once more before it returned to the vault. He had donned a pair of leather gloves and took the globule in his hands.

    Rays from the noon sun caught the globule and now it shone with a golden light.

    Ren Dooku had eyes only for the face of his wife that was even more beautiful now with the golden reflection in eyes and on her cheeks.
    But Darth Plagueis had eyes for the globule and saw more in the globule. Two Sith lords could be seen and one had a mask.

    [image=http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/earlybird-obi-wan/forcenetart/aaquilin37.jpg]


     
  10. moosemousse

    moosemousse CR Emeritus: FF-UK South star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    Got a bigger version of that picture?
     
  11. NYCitygurl

    NYCitygurl Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2002
    This is such a great idea for a challenge :D I'm going to tr to participate :)
     
  12. Raphire

    Raphire Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2008
    I'm working on one for the first pic.
     
  13. KELIA

    KELIA Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2005
    I'm with moosemousse - can you post a link to a bigger picture?

    Hopefully that will entice my muse....
     
  14. Fanficfan

    Fanficfan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    I'm pretty sure I fixed it. Copied the wrong url for the picture just because I'm clever like that.

    It's nice to see some interest generating, I'm looking forward to reading whatever your muses come up with.
     
  15. Raphire

    Raphire Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2008
    The Pouring of Life

    Storm clouds approached from the south and Shania could feel the rain start to drizzle onto her face. She arched her head

    back and stared up at the sky. Small sparkles of stars were just starting to peek out from the wispy clouds and the horizon

    glowed gold. The gulls had stopped their flight and were slowly going to their nests. Waves swept beneath her and she could

    feel the hard stone under her bare feet. She stood alone, one with nature and away from the cares of the world and the

    troubles of the academy. The wind whipped her hair into her face and for the first time in a long while, she felt truly

    alive. Off in the distance lying just out of sight was the wreckage of an old castle. Its walls were crumbling and one of

    its turrets had toppled over. It lay propped against the building and for some odd reason, it tugged at her heart. The

    whole setting made her feel very emotional and yet surprisingly fulfilled. The rain was falling rapidly now and Shania was

    surprised to see storm clouds right before her. Lightning bounced between the clouds but none came to the earth. Yet.

    Thunder boomed in her ears and the waves, as if sensing the turmoil that was approaching responded in kind. They crashed

    against the rocks with surprising force and Shania felt her pants grow wet with spray. As the storm raged on, a strange

    thought shook her to the core. The Force is in all of us, in nature and in beings. It binds us together and sets the world

    on its course. It is part of the birds and directs the water. It is in the storm that surrounded her. In the midst of all

    beauty it was also there. But why then was nature filled with such violent emotions? Rage filled the air and lightning

    crackled with it. Thrived in it. The ocean roared with power and might. But without emotion, where was it? Remove passion

    from the mix and nature was nothing. Nature flourished in feeling not tranquility. So why then were Jedi banned from such

    displays? Around her the storm reached a crescendo and mist sprayed into her face. Bringing her back to reality. She stood

    and made her way back to the beach. There she walked along the shore lost in thought. She thought about the Sith. What made

    them in the wrong? Was it their emotion or their lust for power? The council had sworn that emotions made them weak. But

    the storm around her didn?t seem weak at all. Nor did it seem out of control. Even in all the violence there was order. In

    all the power there was restraint. And in all of Nature there was the Force. Why then were the Jedi shackled; limited from

    reaching their true potential? Another thought struck her and she gasped. Who was the captor here? Was it themselves or the

    council? Fed these lies from infant, how had they any choice but to accept them as truth? And now as adults, how were they

    supposed to decipher the truth when they lived in a temple of lies? The thought chilled her to the bone and she quietly

    turned to go. She went up past the ruins and there she paused. The sight of such a regal building, once proud and

    respected, now in shambles and disarray filled her with sorrow. In silence she returned to her ship and left the planet

    with new eyes. On the planet below, her footprints in the sand were slowly washed away. Erased by time. Except for the ones

    by the castle, there protected by rock and stone two footprints remained.


    A week later a news reel played in the rooms of thousands of Republic citizens. One Jedi was tried before the council for

    blasphemy and put to death for treason.

    End
     
  16. moosemousse

    moosemousse CR Emeritus: FF-UK South star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    Just checked and it's a good size, I can actually see what's going on! :D

    Will try and do something this weekend as I'm busy until Thursday evening.

    Edit: does it have to be Star Wars?
     
  17. Fanficfan

    Fanficfan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    moosemouse - Well this is the star wars fan fic resourse forum. However, i personally don't have any problems with the story not being star wars. Just tell us where it is from so we have a bit of context.
    If the mods tell me otherwise i'll let you know.
     
  18. Alexis_Wingstar

    Alexis_Wingstar Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 16, 2006
    If the mods in the NSWFF allow it, perhaps you could post a sister thread to this one there.

    BTW, I do have a plot bunny for the first picture. I just gotta get to writing it.
     
  19. Fanficfan

    Fanficfan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    Well I've decided not to start a sister thread for NSWFF Resource unless a Mod asks me not to have any non star wars material in this thread. If that happens I will let you know, until then feel free to post whatever these pics inspire. And speaking of pics, here's the next one.

    [image=http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab107/fanficfan/1000%20Words/Sphere-Isosurface.jpg]

    Questions
    * What is it? A toy? Artwork? Perhaps a tool of some kind? Is it a life form?
    * Who's is it? Have they lost it? Found it?
    * Where is it? How did it get there? Where did it come from?
    * Who made it?

    As before, feel free to answer or ignore all or some of the questions.
    Fanficfan
     
  20. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    The new picture of the swirling globule appears in

    Tetrahedron

     
  21. Harpalyce

    Harpalyce Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2010
    (Since all other works need to stew in my head for awhile, but I promised myself I'd try and write or do something every day, I'll give this a whirl.)

    --

    It was the third time in his life that he had seen one.

    The first time tied neatly into the second. They had been strolling through a junkyard, a small break on a search for information about the latest target the Jedi Order wanted them to hone in on to help the war end faster. Truthfully it was more his desire than Ahsoka's, but he was the Master and her the Padawan, after all, so if he wanted to go search for a spare part for "whatever gizmo it is this week" (as she derisively had called it), then that's what they went to do.

    The glint of metal seemed to catch her eye, and she picked the sphere up, cradling it in her red palms. "Woah! - What's this?"

    And he laughed. "It's broken, that's what it is. - Part of a gyroscopic array. There's supposed to be a censor in it." She quirked an eyebrow as he took it from her with an expression of fondness she had rarely seen.

    "You've used one before?"

    "I guess you could say that." He turned it over in his hands, and tossed it up, then caught it again - a satisfying, substantial weight. "I owned one, anyway. ...When I was much younger." Truthfully, it was the closest he had ever come to having a toy, besides C-3PO and the endless parade of spare parts he yearned to make into something more. But the broken gyroscope was something Watto turned a blind eye to, when he had a few spare moments to see his friends. They even found a stick - a real rarity, on Tatooine, with no trees - that made a decent bat, and turned it into a game. For maybe fifteen minutes a day, on average, he could actually be a child, with other children, playing a game.

    I wonder where they are these days, he thought, gaze going distant as he tried and failed to remember names, but he knew all of their faces quite well, despite the years.

    Ahsoka had brought him out of it by grumbling something about how she was going to be stuck in the junk shop forever. He had answered her by teasing about how she should just learn to take up tinkering things too, and then he tossed it at her head when she tried to make a snappy comeback.

    The third time he saw it was not as eventful.

    They had been walking over the rubble, and of course the 501st would barely give him enough space to breathe, much less to move. He had wondered if the aching pain from his false legs was as close to arthritis as he would ever get. Much more pressingly, he wondered if the smouldering remains would yield any information as to where Skywalker - no, he corrected himself, his son - was. But it was a hopeless tangle of destroyed bits and pieces.

    He would find the reckless bomber pilot and deal with the wretch appropriately.

    One of the stormtroopers bent over, catching a glint out of the corner of their eye. He came up holding a familiar swirled sphere in the same dull metal, retrieved from the sizzling gut of what used to be a droid. "What's this?" The stormtrooper said, mostly to himself.

    "Absolutely useless," he answered promptly.
     
  22. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    A great little viggie. Loved it.=D==D=

    And that picture inspired me for this (small part of chapter 2 of Tetrahedron)

    Jocasta Nu smiled when the count made more flattering remarks.

    ?Rakata history, your padawan Jerec was the one who taught me all,? Count Dooku ended.

    ?Yes, I still remember our first meeting in the archives. You had heard the story about the Aaquilin and Darrin from your crèche master and wanted to know more about Darrin. And that?s a symbol of a Darrin.? Jocasta pointed towards the Dantooine display where a stylized winged creature could be seen. ?Master Jerec sent an artifact with the same symbols to our archives a few days ago with the transport that was bringing new supplies. He is now investigating where that artifact originated but it must be in one of the tombs on Korriban. This little piece of engraved rock was offered to the museum by us.? She began to chuckle softly. ?A Rakata toy or something like that.?

    And Count Dooku admired the piece of art. It was a perfect sphere with spiralling bands surrounding a void. ?Rakata toy indeed. Only a Rakata using the Dark Force could have made that.?


    [image=http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/earlybird-obi-wan/forcenetart/tetrahedron02.jpg]


     
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