I came here looking for some dares and couldn't find a one! This forum is looking a little lonely without a good dares thread. I always turn to them when I'm out of ideas or need some quick inspiration. The rules are simple. If you come up with something so ridiculous that you think no one could possibly ever fit it into a rational plot, or maybe something so mad-hatter silly that you wish you could use it but can't, or you come up with a scene involving ninjas, dinosaurs, rocket propelled grenade launchers, [i]and[/i] time travelling super-babies, then post them here with corresponding bonus points for difficulty.
I'll kick it off.
Have a character who has a name with a silent letter in it, like "Jo[i]h[/i]nathan," and have him get really offended when people call him "Jonathan." Bonus points if he or she also corrects punctuation. Bonus points and cake if he or she never explains themselves, just repeats back what they said with grammar/letters fixed.
A: "Hey Jonathan." B: "Excuse me?" A: "What?" B: "It's 'Hey, Johnathan.'" A: "That's what I said!"
That's all I got for now! Can't wait to see some more ideas.
Someone in a recent meeting: Why should we believe you? Me: Because of the silent letters in my name. Someone: There are silent letters in J-o-h-n-s-o-n? Me: Fifteen of 'em all told. Someone: What are they? Me: They all come after the second 'n.' BA MSc Dip Eur Mktg.
Close enough, At Last The 1948 Show, which I have on vinyl. It did have half the Pythons in it, as well as two-thirds of the Goodies and Marty Feldman.
LocationProbably under my desk, frantically typing
JoinedOctober 27, 2010
Posts49
That's a really good one! Except, I tried to also use my friend's dare about have dopplegangers. So now I have John Oscar and Jon Oskar. And now I'm getting confused as the narrator -.- Still love the dare though :D
Challenge: Have a character disrupt a police officer on patrol.
10 Bonus Points: The police officer is on a horse. 20 Bonus Points: The character, in addition to his/her disruptions, slaps the horse's butt and send the horse running. 30 Bonus Points: The character gets away with it.
Have a key moment in your plot interrupted by something mundane, normal and expected. Like a high speed chase interrupted by a traffic jam, or a police car pulling them over. Or someone's quest stopped by a charity volunteer in the street 'Can I have a moment of your time to talk about ----". Bonus points if most of the characters go along with this without worrying too much. Double bonus points for having one character who is annoyed and gets progressively moreso until they burst out with a summary of what they were doing and why it's important and could they please get back to SAVING THE WORLD (or whatever).
Haha I did something similar to that in my second nano, I had a man rushing to save a psychic police officer from falling off a building... only to be stopped by a security guard who decided he was looking stressed, and who decided to offer advice for relieving it. Needless to say the guy yelled at him something awful :P
Quadruple points if the interrupting person is a Jehovah's Witness and the character draws a deadly atomic zap-gun and pulls the trigger, bundling the nuisance ignominiously into the Fourth Dimension.
Hard-boiled detective chasing a Reckless Delinquent through the street, only to be stopped and offered a gym membership as he evidently isn't fit enough to be jogging at this rate? First session gets you a free sauna! [Insert angry sleuth unbundling valuable top-secret investigation knowledge to hapless gym recruitment officer and could he please have a glass of water]
I was going to have the battle scene at the end interrupted by a cold-calling antimatter service provider asking if they wanted to make savings on their energy bills. Not sure if I will go with that, but the scene ended with a couple of the characters setting up an atomic torpedo to track down the source of the signal and destroy an asteroid call-centre.
Have a character who narrates their own life BP If they're not aware they're doing it DBP If, because of that, they end up insulting one of your other characters TBP If the character lets slip something important during the narration which helps your characters
I think I may have taken something similar from someone else before, but this is from one of my novels. (A monkey called Thack, who didn't know who he was, and as a talking monkey was shunned in society.)
This makes me inspired to create a whole new plot (I'm doing a series of short stories...so technically a novel since they're all about the same cat in the same setting) and add to my word count by putting general inconveniences in my novel! Like crumbs under a keyboard!
Also, somebody else besides me should add a general inconvenience ray gun to their plot used by their villain. :D
I thought that said 'fish fight' and was laughing hysterically, until I realized it was just my dyslexia :p You have to admit slapping them with fish would be much funnier than a fist fight (which would have been funny had I not read 'fish' first).
Have one of the characters shout "STOP!" and make the reader think something really important/crucial just happened, when they were actually shouting at an ice-cream van because they want a cone.
Bonus points if the ice-cream van doesn't stop. Double bonus points if everyone starts chasing the ice-cream van, including random people who aren't otherwise related to the plot but randomly decided that they needed an ice-cream. Triple bonus points if the character who shouted at the ice-cream van in the first place finally gets their ice-cream, after chasing the van for a few blocks, and then they drop it almost-immediately afterwards.
Haha, everyone else's are great, I'll try all of these if I can get them in. :)
Heh, my characters need the exercise too - they're from the future, and they're whizzing round in hover cars all the time, and no one actually does any walking xP
Here's another one: have one of your characters make up their birthday
BP if it's an impossible date, like 32nd of January or 30th February DBP if no one questions it TBP if they, and other characters, try to celebrate it, only to discover that the date doesn't actually exist
Dare: Your character, in an attempt to shut up an annoying and/or evil character, throws something at them and misses.
10 Bonus Points: The target was only a handful of feet away. 20 Bonus Points: The thrown object was elastic, and bounces back and hits the character who threw it instead. 30 Bonus Points: Your character ends up on the ground, and the target laughs so hard at this that they trip and fall on the thrown object. 50 Bonus Points: Your character gets a ticket for littering.
Is it fair to take all of these? I mean, I should be writing my story right?
Eh, who cares, I'm lousy at coming up with gags, the best I have is Mermaids/sirens talking in bad valley-girl accents because it worked well for them in the 80s.
Have the debonair, suave, mysterious gentleman in your story, who may or may not be the villain (or is the red herring), or even the potential romantic partner..... have a terrible lisp.
BP if he compensates by never using words with 's.' DBP if someone finds out anyway. TBP if he has a deep, dark secret (like owning a puppy-killing factory) that is still seen as less important than the fact that he hid his lisp for years from the main characters.
Any phrases literally happen. Like if someone says, "Curiosity made me do it," then a guy names Curiosity springs out of nowhere and screams that it wasn't his fault.
Have a character break the fourth wall, and then introduce a character, a builder who begins to rebuild the wall as the story continues. He’s the narrator of the rest of the story.
- Someone goes to a curtain shop (or some other shop) but the curtain shop sells carpets. The guy who goes gets really angry at the person at the pay desk. The person at the pay desk then calls their manager, who then calls their manager, who then calls their manager and so on. The person, in retrospect... should get quite tempermental.
LocationNow: Daejeon, South Korea/ Originally: Ohio, USA
JoinedOctober 4, 2009
Posts32
Sammeh wrote: Put this randomly into your story:
- Someone goes to a curtain shop (or some other shop) but the curtain shop sells carpets. The guy who goes gets really angry at the person at the pay desk. The person at the pay desk then calls their manager, who then calls their manager, who then calls their manager and so on. The person, in retrospect... should get quite tempermental.
Excellent! I doubt it will be a curtain shop, but I'm sure to be able to add this in some way. (Most likely a magic shop that doesn't actually sell anything worthwhile magically)
Dare: Make your characters stop to play a game. (board,video...you choose) Bonus points if only one character wants to do and convinces the others it's important. Double bonus points if the game isn't important. Triple bonus points if the other characters realize it isn't important halfway through, but like the game so they keep playing. Quadruple bonus points if the villain, object the characters are looking for is actually in the room, but your characters don't notice. Cookies if all the above are true, but in the meantime amazing things are going on all around your characters, but your characters are so involved in the game they don't notice.
How about character goes into 'The Great Curtain Shop', discovers it sells carpets, upon asking why the name, the assistant turns round and says "Mister Curtain, this fella here wants to know why the shop got it's name."
As I stole a dare from above I suppose I should leave one.
Have a character with an obsession with rubber ducks.
BP If this obsession gets in the way of important scenes, when he sees a rubber duck he just HAS to have and gets a little side tracked. DBP If someone uses his obsession against him, i.e. kidnapping his rubber ducks and holding them for ransom. TBP if the character with the obsession is otherwise evil and heartless.
LocationNow: Daejeon, South Korea/ Originally: Ohio, USA
JoinedOctober 4, 2009
Posts32
Well, my as of yet uncreated villain will likely be obsessed with rubber ducks! Thanks!
Leaving: You have a character that walks around with a wrapped gift for most of the novel. BP if the wrapping is ridiculously bright and gaudy. TBP if the package is somewhat unwieldy and gets in the way at times. QBP if all the other characters are obsessed with knowing what is inside the package or who it's for, but no one asks. Cookies if, when the package is finally opened, it is a huge disappointment. (for example, the receiver already has one)
Very interesting dares and several may be added or at least modified. For that, I feel I should add something to this wonderful collection.
Dare: You, the writer comes and interrupts the story with an important announcement. BP: The important announcement is that you are going to start the next chapter. DBP: As you write the next chapter during the announcement, you keep changing the opening sentence for the next chapter. TBP: The characters in the story come to stop the announcement. QBP: As they come to stop the announcement, they actually start to encourage you to continue it. With a Cookie: Your doing the announcement against your will, includes being cuffed and pushed to a writing desk, tazered to write, etc.
Have a Character Say "Why YOU-" * If the character is overweight and male (or male-ish) ** The character reaches out to strangle the person *** The character accidentally kills the person. **** The character is supposed to be really good or graceful. ***** The person killed was supposed to be the hero of everyone.
Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I came here looking for some dares and couldn't find a one! This forum is looking a little lonely without a good dares thread. I always turn to them when I'm out of ideas or need some quick inspiration. The rules are simple. If you come up with something so ridiculous that you think no one could possibly ever fit it into a rational plot, or maybe something so mad-hatter silly that you wish you could use it but can't, or you come up with a scene involving ninjas, dinosaurs, rocket propelled grenade launchers, [i]and[/i] time travelling super-babies, then post them here with corresponding bonus points for difficulty.
I'll kick it off.
Have a character who has a name with a silent letter in it, like "Jo[i]h[/i]nathan," and have him get really offended when people call him "Jonathan."
Bonus points if he or she also corrects punctuation.
Bonus points and cake if he or she never explains themselves, just repeats back what they said with grammar/letters fixed.
A: "Hey Jonathan."
B: "Excuse me?"
A: "What?"
B: "It's 'Hey, Johnathan.'"
A: "That's what I said!"
That's all I got for now! Can't wait to see some more ideas.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
That's quite good. I think I might use it, or something very much like it. :D
I can't think of anything that's not random for the sake of random at the moment.... will get back to you
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Thanks! I want to see the results :3
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Someone in a recent meeting: Why should we believe you?
Me: Because of the silent letters in my name.
Someone: There are silent letters in J-o-h-n-s-o-n?
Me: Fifteen of 'em all told.
Someone: What are they?
Me: They all come after the second 'n.' BA MSc Dip Eur Mktg.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Hehe love it! I have to use that some time.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
lol, I'm doing something like that, a character, Leonard, will befuddle a telemarketer by having him spell his name XPJZ or somesuch.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
"And we don't have Rarnaby Budge my Mmmmarles Pickqens with four M's and a silent Q!"
-cookie for the reference anyone?
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Haha, I love that Python sketch! Maybe I can fit in a couple references this month.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Close enough, At Last The 1948 Show, which I have on vinyl. It did have half the Pythons in it, as well as two-thirds of the Goodies and Marty Feldman.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Sorry, I think I've disabled cookies, so I can't give you one.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
That's a really good one! Except, I tried to also use my friend's dare about have dopplegangers. So now I have John Oscar and Jon Oskar. And now I'm getting confused as the narrator -.- Still love the dare though :D
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Challenge: Have a character disrupt a police officer on patrol.
10 Bonus Points: The police officer is on a horse.
20 Bonus Points: The character, in addition to his/her disruptions, slaps the horse's butt and send the horse running.
30 Bonus Points: The character gets away with it.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
YES. ALL OF THE YES.
Excuse caps, that is just perfect for me XD
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Yes! So taking this. It actually works out kind of perfectly. :D
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Inspired by the post above:
Have a key moment in your plot interrupted by something mundane, normal and expected. Like a high speed chase interrupted by a traffic jam, or a police car pulling them over. Or someone's quest stopped by a charity volunteer in the street 'Can I have a moment of your time to talk about ----".
Bonus points if most of the characters go along with this without worrying too much.
Double bonus points for having one character who is annoyed and gets progressively moreso until they burst out with a summary of what they were doing and why it's important and could they please get back to SAVING THE WORLD (or whatever).
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Haha I did something similar to that in my second nano, I had a man rushing to save a psychic police officer from falling off a building... only to be stopped by a security guard who decided he was looking stressed, and who decided to offer advice for relieving it. Needless to say the guy yelled at him something awful :P
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Quadruple points if the interrupting person is a Jehovah's Witness and the character draws a deadly atomic zap-gun and pulls the trigger, bundling the nuisance ignominiously into the Fourth Dimension.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I've got something like that already planned. I was wondering if I was listing it in the correct genre. Looks like I am! :)
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
love this! I can find tons of places for this!
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
that will go well with the arresting of "a Lexus" (instead of Alexis) and the fact the car is going to stall. A traffic jam would be comical.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Oh, this is perfect for mine. Now to decide which set of characters to inflict Normality on...
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Hard-boiled detective chasing a Reckless Delinquent through the street, only to be stopped and offered a gym membership as he evidently isn't fit enough to be jogging at this rate? First session gets you a free sauna! [Insert angry sleuth unbundling valuable top-secret investigation knowledge to hapless gym recruitment officer and could he please have a glass of water]
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Yes.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I know right where I'm going to put this. I'll take this challenge!
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I was going to have the battle scene at the end interrupted by a cold-calling antimatter service provider asking if they wanted to make savings on their energy bills. Not sure if I will go with that, but the scene ended with a couple of the characters setting up an atomic torpedo to track down the source of the signal and destroy an asteroid call-centre.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Well wouldn't the antimatter devour the missile? You don't want to be on the antimatter service reps's bad side. Could get messy.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I think you may have got the wrong idea there, the call centre's not made of antimatter. They just sell the stuff.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Exactly, so they'd have a perfect defense system :)
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Have a character who narrates their own life
BP If they're not aware they're doing it
DBP If, because of that, they end up insulting one of your other characters
TBP If the character lets slip something important during the narration which helps your characters
I think I may have taken something similar from someone else before, but this is from one of my novels. (A monkey called Thack, who didn't know who he was, and as a talking monkey was shunned in society.)
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Shunned in society? We are all talking moneys, aren't we?
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Sorry, that should have read "monkeys," not "moneys." I've been eating a biscuit and there was a crumb under the "k" key.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Freudian crumb, perhaps? :P
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Ohh... I like that... accidental threat (e.g. against the president or some other major figure) due to a crumb under a keyboard...
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
This makes me inspired to create a whole new plot (I'm doing a series of short stories...so technically a novel since they're all about the same cat in the same setting) and add to my word count by putting general inconveniences in my novel!
Like crumbs under a keyboard!
Also, somebody else besides me should add a general inconvenience ray gun to their plot used by their villain. :D
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
That makes me think of Brazil... The whole thing happened because of a fly XD
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Have a character get into a fist fight with a health food mascot.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I thought that said 'fish fight' and was laughing hysterically, until I realized it was just my dyslexia :p You have to admit slapping them with fish would be much funnier than a fist fight (which would have been funny had I not read 'fish' first).
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
the fish fight would be awsome is the mascot was vegan! Carp caps carob, Salmon slams strawberry....
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
This is actually fitting for my novel! She's already threatening self-checkouts with lettuce, this seems an appropriate next step!
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Have one of the characters shout "STOP!" and make the reader think something really important/crucial just happened, when they were actually shouting at an ice-cream van because they want a cone.
Bonus points if the ice-cream van doesn't stop.
Double bonus points if everyone starts chasing the ice-cream van, including random people who aren't otherwise related to the plot but randomly decided that they needed an ice-cream.
Triple bonus points if the character who shouted at the ice-cream van in the first place finally gets their ice-cream, after chasing the van for a few blocks, and then they drop it almost-immediately afterwards.
Haha, everyone else's are great, I'll try all of these if I can get them in. :)
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I can see the rest of the scene :P
"I'd like an ice-cream sandwich."
"What?? I thought the murderer was the ice cream guy!"
"Murderer? Oh yeah. No I just wanted some ice cream."
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Oh god. Totally stealing for my private investigator kitty story. XD
STOP THAT ICE CREAM TRUCK!
*wild chase scene ending in dropped ice cream*
Bahaha. My characters need the exercise anyways!
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Heh, my characters need the exercise too - they're from the future, and they're whizzing round in hover cars all the time, and no one actually does any walking xP
Here's another one: have one of your characters make up their birthday
BP if it's an impossible date, like 32nd of January or 30th February
DBP if no one questions it
TBP if they, and other characters, try to celebrate it, only to discover that the date doesn't actually exist
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Here's another one:
Dare: Your character, in an attempt to shut up an annoying and/or evil character, throws something at them and misses.
10 Bonus Points: The target was only a handful of feet away.
20 Bonus Points: The thrown object was elastic, and bounces back and hits the character who threw it instead.
30 Bonus Points: Your character ends up on the ground, and the target laughs so hard at this that they trip and fall on the thrown object.
50 Bonus Points: Your character gets a ticket for littering.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I needed something like this!! Might use the second one, lol =)
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Is it fair to take all of these? I mean, I should be writing my story right?
Eh, who cares, I'm lousy at coming up with gags, the best I have is Mermaids/sirens talking in bad valley-girl accents because it worked well for them in the 80s.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Of course you can take them all, it just means more bonus points for you! :D
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Have a character who summons frogs using the magical spell: "Here froggy, froggy, froggy"
BP if it works
DBP if it summons more frogs than the summoner can handle
TBP if it actually summons pigeons
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
"You fool! Don't use the here froggy spell! It has no natural predators here, they'll reproduce like crazy! We'll be drowned in frogs!"
It'd be especially awesome if it were somehow used to good effect at some point :D
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
I have used to froggy spell, but with hamsters.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
There must be a room in which the floor is a 3D map of the world.
BP if there's a Sharpie War.
DBP if it accidentally reinacts WW2.
TBP if nobody realizes it until the very end of the story.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Have the debonair, suave, mysterious gentleman in your story, who may or may not be the villain (or is the red herring), or even the potential romantic partner..... have a terrible lisp.
BP if he compensates by never using words with 's.'
DBP if someone finds out anyway.
TBP if he has a deep, dark secret (like owning a puppy-killing factory) that is still seen as less important than the fact that he hid his lisp for years from the main characters.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Yoinking this, thank you =) My villain shall be awesome, and uniquely tricky to write dialogue for.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Any phrases literally happen. Like if someone says, "Curiosity made me do it," then a guy names Curiosity springs out of nowhere and screams that it wasn't his fault.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Have a character break the fourth wall, and then introduce a character, a builder who begins to rebuild the wall as the story continues. He’s the narrator of the rest of the story.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Use the phrase, "No human has passed a Turing test in 150 years..."
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Put this randomly into your story:
- Someone goes to a curtain shop (or some other shop) but the curtain shop sells carpets. The guy who goes gets really angry at the person at the pay desk. The person at the pay desk then calls their manager, who then calls their manager, who then calls their manager and so on. The person, in retrospect... should get quite tempermental.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Excellent! I doubt it will be a curtain shop, but I'm sure to be able to add this in some way. (Most likely a magic shop that doesn't actually sell anything worthwhile magically)
Dare:
Make your characters stop to play a game. (board,video...you choose)
Bonus points if only one character wants to do and convinces the others it's important.
Double bonus points if the game isn't important.
Triple bonus points if the other characters realize it isn't important halfway through, but like the game so they keep playing.
Quadruple bonus points if the villain, object the characters are looking for is actually in the room, but your characters don't notice.
Cookies if all the above are true, but in the meantime amazing things are going on all around your characters, but your characters are so involved in the game they don't notice.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Used, thanks!
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
How about character goes into 'The Great Curtain Shop', discovers it sells carpets, upon asking why the name, the assistant turns round and says "Mister Curtain, this fella here wants to know why the shop got it's name."
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
As I stole a dare from above I suppose I should leave one.
Have a character with an obsession with rubber ducks.
BP If this obsession gets in the way of important scenes, when he sees a rubber duck he just HAS to have and gets a little side tracked.
DBP If someone uses his obsession against him, i.e. kidnapping his rubber ducks and holding them for ransom.
TBP if the character with the obsession is otherwise evil and heartless.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Well, my as of yet uncreated villain will likely be obsessed with rubber ducks! Thanks!
Leaving:
You have a character that walks around with a wrapped gift for most of the novel.
BP if the wrapping is ridiculously bright and gaudy.
TBP if the package is somewhat unwieldy and gets in the way at times.
QBP if all the other characters are obsessed with knowing what is inside the package or who it's for, but no one asks.
Cookies if, when the package is finally opened, it is a huge disappointment. (for example, the receiver already has one)
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Very interesting dares and several may be added or at least modified. For that, I feel I should add something to this wonderful collection.
Dare:
You, the writer comes and interrupts the story with an important announcement.
BP: The important announcement is that you are going to start the next chapter.
DBP: As you write the next chapter during the announcement, you keep changing the opening sentence for the next chapter.
TBP: The characters in the story come to stop the announcement.
QBP: As they come to stop the announcement, they actually start to encourage you to continue it.
With a Cookie: Your doing the announcement against your will, includes being cuffed and pushed to a writing desk, tazered to write, etc.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Taking this with a slight twist, haha. this sounds amazing. I may take it up to QBP, actually. Sounds great for a near meta section of my novel =)
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Haha well since my novel is a total meta-mess, this should fit in quite nicely :P
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Have a Character Say "Why YOU-"
* If the character is overweight and male (or male-ish)
** The character reaches out to strangle the person
*** The character accidentally kills the person.
**** The character is supposed to be really good or graceful.
***** The person killed was supposed to be the hero of everyone.
Re: Humor, Satire & Parody Dares
Dare:
Bright green ninja cows
BP: with radioactive axes