Hello Devout Worshippers and Horrified Newcomers!
I hope you have your heads bowed and your minds untethered from reality. In light of what happened last Saturday on the stream…
This week’s Writing Group prompt is:
The Flesh Horse
RULES AND GUIDELINES BELOW!
Make sure you scroll down and read them if you haven’t! You may not be eligible if you don’t!
It all began one April afternoon last year, when Arith Winterfell graced us with a story of a dream, a hallway, and a horse made of flesh. Not to be confused with ordinary horses—this was something far more spooky and sinister; dead flesh crawling along the floor, coalescing into the form of a horse. A dream. A vision. An eldritch revelation. (Here is the link to that story: “At the Nexus,” written for the End of the Hallway—the first Flesh Horse story. And the second canon story Arith wrote about The Flesh Horse for Hour of the Wolf “Things Unseen“).
I don’t remember what got us all attached to the idea of the Flesh Horse, but we certainly did, proceeding to mention it in subsequent streams, and the streams after that, until we mentioned it almost every stream. All the while adding to its lore, creating stories about The Flesh Horse, and terrifying the new arrivals with our devotion.
I’ve been talking about making it a prompt, and better yet an April Fools prompt, for a while now, and it’s finally here! It’s time to pour all your admiration and horror into your stories this week.
Now’s the time to write those stories you joked about during the stream, about the Flesh Horse fending off lag goblins, of watching our streams, or flitting in and out of universes to dine on the best of BBQ, roasts, and human sanity.
If you are someone who writes all their stories in the same universe, you could have The Flesh Horse grace your universe—whether as something canon to your world, or an AU. I’d love to read about how your personal characters would react to the character we’ve been collectively discussing and joking about all these months. The Flesh Horse is an eldritch being after all; it might not even appear in the fleshy, horsey form we’ve come to know and love. You’ll just have to make it clear it is The Flesh Horse somehow.
If you find yourself completely at a loss for how to use THE Flesh Horse in your story, you could easily write about a generic horse, or generic horse’s flesh. You could even make the joke we often make on the stream “Aren’t ALL horses’ flesh horses?” in your story. Or you could write about a dead horse, such as one who fell in a battle. Or you could write about a place where horse flesh is considered a delicacy. Perhaps a talking horse gets hurt during a race and tells their jockey “Tis but a flesh wound!”
You could even write about flesh and a horse as separate things, but together in one story, finding some way to connect them. Such as a horse getting disgusted by seeing the flesh of a dead animal on the side of the road. Or a horse bucking off a rider, and the rider saying something like “You cut my flesh, Horse!”
Now, do keep in mind that The Flesh Horse was Arith Winterfell’s original idea, and ultimately belongs to him—our stories are more like fanfiction of his character. If you are concerned with making sure the Flesh Horse is accurate to canon, or simply want to make sure you are being respectful of his character, you can feel free to contact Arith himself.
I do also want to call attention to something The Flesh Horse itself mentioned last Saturday: we do still have guidelines. This prompt very much lends itself to gore, horror, and death, but your stories are still meant to be “safe for work” and will still be disqualified if they break this rule. If you are ever unsure if your story breaks the rules, don’t hesitate to contact me to give it another look.
Also, if you decide to create art of The Flesh Horse, especially this week, tag me!
No challenge for this week. I think this prompt is challenge enough.
Now, go forth, my friends. Run to the edge of the known universe, fall into another. Gaze into the abyss. But don’t be surprised when gazes back. Or tries to eat your fingers.
—Kaylie & Paul
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Remember, this is part of our weekly Writing Group stream! Submit a little piece following the rules and guidelines below, and there’s a chance your entry will be read live on stream! In addition, we’ll discuss it for a minute and give you some feedback.
Tune into the stream this Saturday at 3:00pm CST to see if you made the cut!
The whole purpose of this is to show off the creativity of the community, while also helping each other to become better writers. Lean into that spirit! Get ready not just to share what you’ve got, but to give back to the other writers here as well.
Rules and Guidelines
We read at least five stories during each stream, two of which come from the public post, and three of which come from the much smaller private post. Submissions are randomly selected by a bot, but likes on your post will improve your chances of selection, so be sure to share your submission on social media!
Text and Formatting
- English only.
- Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
- Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
- Your piece must be between 250-350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
- Use two paragraph breaks between each paragraph so that they have a proper space between them (press “enter” or “return” twice).
- Include a submission title and an author name (doesn’t have to be your real name). Do not include any additional symbols or flourishes in this part of your submission. Format them exactly as you see in this example, or your submission may not be eligible: Example Submission.
- No additional text styling (such as italics or bold text). Do not use asterisks, hyphens, or any other symbol to indicate whether text should be bold, italic, or styled in any other way. CAPS are okay, though.
What to Submit
- Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
- Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
- Write something brand new; no re-submitting past entries or pieces written for other purposes
- No fan fiction whatsoever. Take inspiration from whatever you’d like, but be transformative and creative with it. By submitting, you also agree that your piece does not infringe on any existing copyrights or trademarks, and you have full license to use it.
- Submissions must be self-contained (everything essential to understanding the piece is contained within the context of the piece itself—no mandatory reading outside the piece required. e.g., if you want to write two different pieces in the same setting or larger narrative, you cannot rely on information from one piece to fill in for the other—they must both give that context independently).
Submission Rules
- One submission per participant.
- Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
- Submissions close at 12:00pm CST each Friday.
- You must like and leave a review on two other submissions to be eligible. Your reviews must be at least 50 words long, and must be left directly on the submission you are reviewing, not on another comment. If you’re submitting to the private post, feel free to leave these reviews on either the private or the public post. The two submissions you like need not be the same as the submissions you review.
- Be constructive and uplifting. These submissions are not for a professional market, and shouldn’t be treated as such. We do this, first and foremost, for the joy of the craft. Help other writers to feel like their work is valuable, and be considerate and gentle with critique when you offer it. Authors who leave particularly abrasive or disheartening remarks on this post will be disqualified from selection for readings.
- Use the same e-mail for your posts, reviews, and likes, or you may be rendered ineligible (you may change your username or author name between posts without problem, however).
- You may submit to either or both the public/private groups if you have access, but if you decide to submit to both, only the private group submission will be eligible.
- Understand that by submitting here, you are giving us permission to read your submission aloud live on stream and upload public, archived recordings of said stream to our social media platforms. You will always be credited, but only by the author name you supply as per these rules. No other links or attributions are guaranteed.
Comments on this post that aren’t submissions will be deleted, except for replies/reviews left on existing submissions.
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