What Stories Should I Write This November? (A Poll)

[Wig_Powder]

I've never done a poll before, so hopefully I do this right.

National Novel Writing Month is coming up soon, and my plan this year is to write a bunch of sneezefic for it and try to get some of the ideas in my head down on paper. I figured, since I'd be sharing the fics with you guys anyway, I'd let you decide which ones I should work on.

I'm going to start with a dozen fics, then add on if I need more words to reach 50,000. I've already selected most of them myself, but I need three more. So here's how I hope this works out;

I've posted a poll above, and will give slightly more detailed explanations in this post as to the story idea. The poll will close in a week. At the end of it, I will pick the top three winners. If there's no clear consensus, I'll drop the lowest vote getters and create another poll on the 22nd.

Thanks for your help, guys! Feel free to comment to ask questions (I can't guarantee I'll answer them if I want to keep certain story details secret) or gush over your favorite premise. I'll take those into account come vote tabulating time.

THE PREMISES:

1. A manor house (I'm picturing this as a period piece) has an unusual protocol when it comes to illness in the house. If someone gets sick, they go to a specific wing of the house to quarantine themselves. However, servants volunteer to accompany the sick person, so the sick person can be fed and taken care of. This does mean the first day of quarantine is spent ensuring the volunteers get sick so they can all recover at around the same time, but it's a system everyone is satisfied with.

2. A Victorian era gentleman's club has been created for the sole purpose of enjoying sneezing. Despite the name, ladies are allowed (though they need to sneak in through the back door to keep up appearances). The club is divided into Cold Lovers, Allergy Enthusiasts, and Inducers. The story will allow us to explore all three areas, and will have a slight choose your own adventure element.

3. A couple who both have the fetish have some fun playing with a bouquet containing flowers one or both of them are allergic to. This one may end up on the Adult forum.

4. A fairy was cursed to only be able to cast magic when she sneezes. Fairies, however, are a mischevious lot, so she's not only learned to turn her sneezes into spells, she tends to make sure the recipient of the spell ends up sneezing too.

5. A Gulliver's Travels-eqsue story where a journalist/explorer type travels to different areas to see what their cold and flu seasons are like. Not to give everything away, but two examples include a cold that inhabits a single person and can only be passed on if you're directly sneezed on (at which point the original sick person is immediately cured), and a place where colds come from eating a certain berry, so it's like when different fruits are in season here in our world.

6. The fantasy realm and our human realm are separated by a magical barrier. Said barrier needs to be reinforced every year, and this is done by having certain magical creatures sneeze simultaneously. Again, not to give everything away, but dragons are involved.

7. Another period piece. A noblewoman who grew up in the country has been raised to believe that cold air is invigorating and good for the health. When she comes to the city and gives a ball during the winter, she tries to encourage this way of thinking by leaving all the windows open during the ball. Instead, everybody who attends the ball (except her) gets sick, and we see snapshots of the various guests in the aftermath.

8. A model is having a lingerie photoshoot, but gets a bit chilled in the process. Undaunted, she and her photographer keep taking photos and just incorporate sneezing and illness into it (fires and bearskin rugs get involved).

9. I unfortunately can't say too much about this one without spoiling things. All I can say is that there's a cold and sneezes from a literal giant.

10. A sequel to my fic "A Knight's Mission, a Fool's Errand". At the end of that fic, I left the possibility for a sequel open by saying that Hilda the knight eventually got something named after her. This is that story, involving cold weather and having to take shelter from the snow.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Wig_Powder

[Via]

already voted, but just wanted to double down on my support for #2! i've always adored that premise, and have zero doubt you would absolutely do it justice.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Subsiss

[oOMariusOo]

I voted for the fourth idea, it's really the one that seems to please me the most. But I am also curious about ideas number 6 and 9. 

[silentdreamer789]

I voted 5, but 1 and 7 sound really good too!

[Wig_Powder]

The poll is now closed! Thanks to everyone who voted!

I was a little worried that ten choices would spread the votes out too much and I'd have to have a second round, but it seems we have three clear winners; the model fic, the gentleman's club fic, and the fairy fic. The model and fairy fics took early leads, so I'm not surprised they won, but the gentleman's club fic had a surprising surge of popularity, going from third place contender to second place. In truth, I'm glad that one was one of the winners--not only do I have a lot of ideas for it, it's a great one to help me reach the 50,000 word count.

You should be seeing the fruits of my labors over the course of next year. And for those of you who voted for stories that didn't win, don't worry, because I plan to write those stories eventually. I wouldn't have put them on the poll if I didn't have any interest in them, after all.

[Sneeze-aholic]

I missed the poll, but in a way I'm glad.  Trying to choose between these ideas would have been so hard.  I've loved everything of yours that you've written and I'm sure these will the same. 

[Wig_Powder]

@Sneeze-aholic That's very flattering to hear! Hope you enjoy them when they finally materialize!

[Wig_Powder]

Update for the curious;

I did, in fact, successfully complete National Novel Writing Month with 54, 142 words. However (and I'm not sure if this is a good sign or a bad sign), I only completed one of the dozen stories I was working on during that time, and the other eleven range from relatively close to finished to having a long way to go. But I intend to keep plugging away at them (one, in fact, is absolutely going to be finished by Christmas) and I'll share most* of them with you when they're ready.

*One of them is vanilla enough that I'm hoping to post it elsewhere, and another (though not one of the three that won the poll) has been fighting me and may end up getting scrapped if I can't figure out the right tone and direction for it.

As a combination of thanking you for your help and a teaser of what's to come, here's some snippets from the three fics you guys chose;

MODEL FIC

Everything went smoothly after that for a few minutes. He took a few more overhead shots, then moved to the side to capture the scene from a different, lower angle. After that, he had Liliya change position so that she was parallel to the fireplace, and posed her so one leg was balanced on the other, the fire visible between them. He took five shots of her with her half-sitting up, resting her weight on her arms as she smirked at the camera, then had her lay down, head resting on her shoulder to keep the fur out of her face (though they arranged her hair so this wouldn't be obvious). He'd taken three photos and was lining up his camera for a fourth when he saw Liliya grimace. “Do you need to shift position?” he asked.

“No,” she said, nose wrinkling, “I feel another sneeze coming on.”

Claude immediately set down the camera and grabbed a tissue box. “Here,” he said, holding it out to her, “Go ahead and sit up if you want.”

Liliya rolled over onto her side, grabbing two tissues before sitting up and pressing them to her face. She closed her eyes and remained still for a moment, then her body gave one small jerk and she bent forward. “Huh...Hutchh!”

“Bless you.” Claude said. Then a thought occurred to him. “How do I say 'bless you' in Russian?”

Liliya sniffed and carefully dabbed at her nose. “To me, 'Bud' zdorova'.”

“A bit of a mouthful, but I'll try to use that from now on.”

“That's sweet of you, Claude, but you don't need to do that for me.”

“You've saved my photoshoot. The least I can do to return the favor is bless you in your native language.”

 

GENTLEMAN'S CLUB

She moved to the card room, rapping on the doorframe to get everyone's attention. Heads turned in her direction, several people's eyes lighting up when they saw the feather duster in her hand and the streaks of grey on her uniform. “I've just finished a turn in the library,” she said, “And my duster needs a good shake. Which table shall I give it to?”

“Half a crown!” a man at the center table called out immediately.

“Ten shillings!” a woman at the rightmost table countered. Henrietta turned expectantly to the left table, watching as they talked among themselves. Then one man reached into his purse and pulled out a large coin.

“One guinea!”

“Done!” Henrietta said, moving over to them. The man handed her the coin, the rest of his table passing over some shillings to cover their share. Once she had the coin safely in her pocket, Henrietta fetched the stepstool and climbed to the top of it, stretching her arm as high as it would go. She looked down at the table for guidance, and several of them nodded encouragingly before returning to their game. Ah, so they were the “play through adversity” types. She waited until they began to announce their hands, then flicked her wrist up and down, a cascade of dust falling over the table. She was far enough back that the dust merely caused a faint itch this time, allowing her to rub her nose with her free hand as she watched the players react to the new influx of dust.

The game continued without interruption for a few moments, though several people sniffed loudly and quite a few rubbed at their own noses. Then the hitching started.

“Te-eeh-n.”

“Ja-ah-ck.”

“K-ihh-ng,” said an older woman, sounding satisfied despite her trembling breath, “My trump. Uh-unless someone wants to make a...ahh...an offer.”

“Three florins?” a young man said, pressing the back of his hand to his nose.

The woman shook her head, looking at the others. When no one else said anything, she smiled and gathered up the money piled on the table, while one of the men gathered up the upturned cards. As he passed out new cards, he finally succumbed to the dust, a card slipping out of his hand as he sneezed. “Et-gishh!”

“Bless you, Rowland,” said the man who had given Henrietta the guinea, as he took up the card the man had dropped, “At least you...didn't...ashhh!!...flip it over prema...ah...atchhh!!...prematurely this time.”

 

FAIRY CURSE

Over time, I came to realize that fairies (and people) make specific sounds when they sneeze. While there can be some unique variations, in practice there are four primary sounds used to end a sneeze. These are “oo”, “chh”, “shh”, and “ee”. I also noticed that it's possible to speak through a sneeze, although imperfectly. With both of those facts in mind, I began to train myself to sneeze in words that fit those four sounds. Returning to the plant from before, I'll still take a moment to visualize it growing, but instead of concentrating on that image as I sneeze, I open my eyes long enough to aim as I inhale the dust, and then let out an “Ah-grew!” It's still not perfect, but it gives me a bit more control of the spell, and I admit that I like the challenge of finding a word that fits one of those sounds.

While I've learned how to manage this curse, I admit to being frustrated at times that I can't cast spells as easily as all the other fairies. But as with all the other aspects of this curse, I figured out a way to turn that weakness into a strength. It's in our best interest to have humans see us as mercurial, just as likely to curse them or grant their wishes (or a mix of both) depending on our moods. And the slightly unorthodox nature of my magic fits in with that worldview near perfectly. So I've made my home on the edge of the forest, and keep an eye out for humans who seem to be seeking out our aid. When I see one, I occasionally offer my services (sometimes they look like they deserve to spend some time wandering around the forest, and it's best to allow the other fairies opportunities to interact with humans as they see fit). Then, depending on the request, I grant it to varying degrees. It's perfect; I maintain the reputation of the Fae, I help those who truly deserve it, I have an opportunity to go into the kingdom and replenish my supply of dust, and when I feel like it, I can punish the humans for being partially responsible for my curse. Indeed, I try to make at least one human sneeze in the course of my wish-granting, a task made easier by the fact that most of them tend to sneeze when they inhale fairy dust.

 

Hope these whet your appetite for the final products!

[Sneeze-aholic]

I'm loving these so far, thank you for sharing them.