Annual SciFi Dares thread

Tresa ChoGlowing Halo
Annual SciFi Dares thread
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Okt 5, 2009 - 15 56

It's indeed that time again, folks! Time to bring your dares into the light and see who is gutsy enough to take them. As per forum rules, they must be science fiction centric. Take some, leave some, it is an open market of joyous, hilarious, and somewhat frightening dares!

*Have your view point be from a character's belt buckle
**Bonus Points if it's a character a la Captain Kirk
***Double Bonus Points if the character dies and comes back to life
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Mercwriter

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Okt 5, 2009 - 19 13

- Include a cyborg bunny
+ if it's pink
++if it also out to conquer the galaxy

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Shahmeran

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Okt 5, 2009 - 23 14

I dare someone to...

Have an alien race that survives by eating the soil or specific minerals in their planet's crust.
+if this is an intelligent race
++if they are spacefaring
+++if they go to great lengths to get ore/minerals/dirt from a specific place (either on their planet or another) that they consider to be especially tasty.

TrelkGlowing Halo

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Posted on:
Okt 6, 2009 - 15 43

I'm definitely aiming to take the cyborg bunny for the double bonus points.

Dare: Jesus turns out to be a time traveler who was stranded and then rescued at the time of his ascension.
BP: If Jesus is in fact a hippy
BBP: If he took Mary Magdalene with him to the future
BBBP: If Jesus makes a joke about the robes he wore at his resurrection being made of Poly-Easter

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AtalantaGlowing Halo

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Okt 6, 2009 - 18 49

* Include a sentient ship going through a mid-life crisis.

And a gamer's dare:
* Have your characters encounter a crate that contains weapons, food, med-packs, etc.
+ Bonus points if it has to be kicked open
++ Double bonus points if power-ups come out

Paradox

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Okt 6, 2009 - 20 52

Include robot pixies in your novel
+ if they are evil
++ if they are fuzzy and pink
+++ if they are actually gods

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UnderwaterBonfireGlowing Halo
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Okt 6, 2009 - 21 02

WARNING WARNING: TVTropes madness ahead!

+Refer to some galactic phenomenon as a Negative Space Wedgie in a serious context.
++for every additional sci-fi trope invoked by name.
+++for every additional trope, period, invoked by name.
++++if said tropes are from a completely different genre.

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Commandrix
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Okt 7, 2009 - 11 30

My dare: Include a cute alien as a major character.

++if it doesn't look like Mini-Me, Balok, or a guy in a teddy-bear costume.
+++ if it isn't somebody's pet or slave.
++++ if it saves the day in a plausible, non-Deux Ex Machina sort of way. (A Deux Ex Machina is a sudden, surprising, ultimately unsatisfying save from a tight situation.)

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zenkenGlowing Halo
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Okt 7, 2009 - 11 44

+if this is an intelligent race
++if they are spacefaring
+++if they go to great lengths to get ore/minerals/dirt from a specific place (either on their planet or another) that they consider to be especially tasty.

Didn't Galactus (Marvel) and Unicron (Transformers) do this? Oh wait, that's a planet eater.

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glynesGlowing Halo
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Okt 7, 2009 - 15 09

I can use the mineral-eating alien race. An interesting take on environmental impact.

My story only just migrated from a 1930's adventure to futuristic sci-fi, so my sci-fi trick bag is a bit light yet, but I will be back with some ideas as soon as they occur.

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wren10514Glowing Halo
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Okt 8, 2009 - 02 34

Have a giant slingshot as the only way to get into space

++If there are frequent accidents that cause the crafts to end up in the sea
+++If the accidents are almost always fatal and yet people still continue to use it on a regular basis.

murazrai
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Okt 8, 2009 - 03 16

I dare someone who write something about:
-Cybernetic existence
-DNA transformation to binary data
-Programming to create life

I guess I'll take "Have your characters encounter a crate that contains weapons, food, med-packs, etc.".

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matthias_oreklein

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Okt 8, 2009 - 08 28

Include a character that always says science puns
DBP if he says, "Covalently or ionically" when people ask if he'd like to bond.
TBP If he uses physics pick up lines: "You defy the laws of gravity because your incredibly attractive but not very massive."
QBP if he actually gets girls that way.

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sail4seaGlowing Halo
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Okt 8, 2009 - 08 29

zenken wrote:
+if this is an intelligent race
++if they are spacefaring
+++if they go to great lengths to get ore/minerals/dirt from a specific place (either on their planet or another) that they consider to be especially tasty.

Didn't Galactus (Marvel) and Unicron (Transformers) do this? Oh wait, that's a planet eater.

Lexx did it too, but it was a giant bug ship.

sail4seaGlowing Halo
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Okt 8, 2009 - 08 40

I used the traveling shovel of death last year. I made it destroy a starship.

I dare you to:

-Have your characters wear coveralls
BP - if they aren't working while wearing them
DBP--if it's to take a trip shopping.
TBP---If no one notices that they are dressed like that.
QBP----If that's because everyone dresses like that.

Funny how coveralls are the staple of every science fiction costuming department before the advent of the cat suit.

TrelkGlowing Halo

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Okt 9, 2009 - 16 40

Ok the science puns are totally going into mine. I may have to use XKCD for inspiration.

Dare: The first aliens to visit earth are snake oil salesmen
BP: if they sell it on ebay
DBP: if while doing this they end up spending all their money and resources buying stuff on ebay.
TBP: If it's all useless crap which ends up stranding them on earth.

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Artaxiad Prescott
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Okt 9, 2009 - 16 44

murazrai wrote:
I dare someone who write something about:
-Cybernetic existence
-DNA transformation to binary data
-Programming to create life

*choke* This may not have been what you intended, but I've been playing with the idea of a DNA programmer (as in, writing DNA like one would computer code). Whoa.

Anyway.

Your mission:

Include mad scientists.
BP: They don't actually make crazy things. They just theorize about them.
TBP: This does not prevent them from getting up to all the usual mad scientist hijinks.
QBP: In fact, they're the main villain.

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...well, real people are moral shades of grey, not absolutes.

Universal Poseur

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Okt 9, 2009 - 17 52

Posit a universe in which e is 5/2. It doesn't have to be the main universe, you just have to spend some time there.

3KillerBs

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Okt 9, 2009 - 18 48

I'm sure that as they unload the colony ship there will be crates of supplies. And a strong, young man might well kick one open.

Power-ups, not so likely.

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3KBs

2009 -- Onward to New Caanan

The Swiss Family Robinson in space? Little House on a New Planet? Why not?

UnderwaterBonfireGlowing Halo
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Okt 9, 2009 - 19 05

Universal Poseur wrote:
Posit a universe in which e is 5/2. It doesn't have to be the main universe, you just have to spend some time there.

What's e again and what is its bearing on reality? (Like, is it a fundamental constant like c?) I haven't taken a math class in years.

Also, that thing about DNA transformation to binary data was something I was seriously including.

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chrisdd

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Okt 9, 2009 - 19 35

Here's my dare.

Researches discover the way to turn off the DNA link to cancer, but doing so triggers strange things to happen. Not zombies, maybe skin diseases, a type of plague goes through population because they are susceptible to harmless viruses. Maybe they turn use it as a mandatory vaccine; insurance companies will not insure you without it?

And once the link is turned off, scientists don't know how to restore it.

Cause and effect with modern medicine.

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chrisd
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murazrai
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Okt 10, 2009 - 00 20

Artaxiad Prescott wrote:
murazrai wrote:
I dare someone who write something about:
-Cybernetic existence
-DNA transformation to binary data
-Programming to create life

*choke* This may not have been what you intended, but I've been playing with the idea of a DNA programmer (as in, writing DNA like one would computer code). Whoa.

Anyway.

Your mission:

Include mad scientists.
BP: They don't actually make crazy things. They just theorize about them.
TBP: This does not prevent them from getting up to all the usual mad scientist hijinks.
QBP: In fact, they're the main villain.

Maybe you are right, but this idea is very interesting.

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NutmegAngel
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Okt 10, 2009 - 10 02

I'm going for the catapult, and there will be accidents (hence my MCs nervousness about going to the moon). However, I think there will have to be a second stage nuclear thing involved, is that cheating?

Fluffy orange aliens.
Bonus points if they're sentient.

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NutmegAngel
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Fuelled by tea.

ljbookworm
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Okt 10, 2009 - 14 18

I love the Jesus-as-the-Time-Traveling-Hippie dare, and might use a variation of it.

- Have a character repeatedly fall in love with unattainable women
BP- if one of the women is technically undead
TP- if one is the geekiest girl ever likely to exist but for some reason the MC finds her irresistibly attractive on looks
QP- if the MC always thinks that he/he has found true true love
(what's after QP?) - if these relationships are integral to the plot
- if one of the woman isn't human/corporeal/a sentient being
- if one of the women turns out to belong to an alien third sex........................
if MC is gullible in love but really cynical and efficient at work and all other aspects of life

Think a non-naive Harry Kim with the world's worst luck.

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lernu!

Roecourt
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Okt 10, 2009 - 17 42

A) Robozombies.

B) Destroy a spaceship with a trebuchet.

C) Avoid all Jedi like beings.

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TrelkGlowing Halo

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Posted on:
Okt 10, 2009 - 19 04

ljbookworm wrote:
I love the Jesus-as-the-Time-Traveling-Hippie dare, and might use a variation of it.

- Have a character repeatedly fall in love with unattainable women
BP- if one of the women is technically undead
TP- if one is the geekiest girl ever likely to exist but for some reason the MC finds her irresistibly attractive on looks
QP- if the MC always thinks that he/he has found true true love
(what's after QP?) - if these relationships are integral to the plot
- if one of the woman isn't human/corporeal/a sentient being
- if one of the women turns out to belong to an alien third sex........................
if MC is gullible in love but really cynical and efficient at work and all other aspects of life

Think a non-naive Harry Kim with the world's worst luck.

First off I'm glad to see someone appreciate that one. Second I do believe I'll need to use the one you just posited.

I'm actually looking to write my novel all based on Dares.Thirdly:

Dare: Have an alien who is obsessed with Disco
BP: if the rest of his race couldn't care less about it.
DBP: if the alien is particularly fearful of a strange fever that only strikes on saturday night.

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wrytersblock
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Okt 10, 2009 - 22 49

Dare: Have a character that speaks in song lines/song titles almost exclusively, whenever possible, and the more obscure the song, the better.
BP: The character's dialogue makes sense for the given situation.
DBP: Your other characters understand the reference and say so.

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ljbookworm
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Okt 11, 2009 - 12 38

Dare- Include a giant space mushroom
BP- if a giant space caterpillar sits on it, talks in riddles to ship's computers and smokes tobacco.

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lernu!

Will the Great

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Okt 11, 2009 - 23 22

Dare - Invent an interstellar drive powered by a cat in free-fall with a piece of buttered toast fixed face-up to its back
BP - If it isn't a cheap knock-off of H2G2's improbability drive.

Azbel
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Okt 12, 2009 - 06 54

Trelk wrote:
Ok the science puns are totally going into mine. I may have to use XKCD for inspiration.

Dare: The first aliens to visit earth are snake oil salesmen
BP: if they sell it on ebay
DBP: if while doing this they end up spending all their money and resources buying stuff on ebay.
TBP: If it's all useless crap which ends up stranding them on earth.

I had something a lot like that in my nano three years back. I also had something I will leave as a challenge...

Animatronic strippers - Think more like Chucky Cheeses and less like sexy robot.

plumeriaflowerGlowing Halo
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Posted on:
Okt 12, 2009 - 07 55

i think i might be taking the fluffy orange alien species...i need some alien beings that would want human slaves...and a fluffy alien wouldn't be able to much for itself...at least not the kind i'm imagining!

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