Short Stories I will never write...

[Piisfun]

Consider the following free ideas:

A young wyvern plays fetch with a surface-to-air missile.

A nation attempts to "summon a hero to save the world." Having failed to specify which world, they get a hydrogen bomb that is seconds from exploding.

A dragon abducts a princess. Three days later, the dragon returns the princess and instead abducts the castle's head chef and several maids.

 

[DarklyReadsBooks]

what in the fu...

 

[Jemini]

With the exception of the middle one, the other two are actually pretty good ideas for story prompts. The middle one might be an interesting concept to have included in a wider world as something about how a summoning can go disastrously wrong.

 

[Cipiteca396]

With the exception of the middle one, the other two are actually pretty good ideas for story prompts. The middle one might be an interesting concept to have included in a wider world as something about how a summoning can go disastrously wrong.

Dunno, I think it'd be pretty funny to read a 2k story about the Evil King's last thoughts as he realizes how screwed he is. Maybe some regrets. Maybe a few paragraphs from the other side, "Huh? Was it a dud?"

 

[Jemini]

Dunno, I think it'd be pretty funny to read a 2k story about the Evil King's last thoughts as he realizes how screwed he is. Maybe some regrets. Maybe a few paragraphs from the other side, "Huh? Was it a dud?"

Doesn't really work though, unless you are talking a civilization of highly advanced magi-technology that is already Earth-level or higher. In which case then, wouldn't they have some kind of shield protocol around the summoning circle to start with?

The more likely scenario is that it is a world of suppressed technological growth due to the existence of magic in their civilization, and they wouldn't even know what the nuke is in the first place. Most of their ability to detect any threat the weapon could pose would likely be magic based, and the nuke is completely non-magical and thus would not show as dangerous to them until the very moment it has already gone off. In which case, once it has gone off the people around would not even have enough time to think before they are completely incinerated.

Although, now that I have considered all the reasons why it would NOT work, a take on it that might make it so it COULD work would probably be a Junji Ito like take on it, except instead of it being a paranormal thing causing horrible unspeakable things to happen to the story protagonists it is a magical people wondering about this unknown technology that the reader is at least tangentially familiar with. Then, it gets accidentally triggered as the mages are trying to experiment with it. Next scene, we see things from the POV of the enemy they were trying to save themselves from as they document about the horrible explosion of unknown cause that happened in the kingdom. The kingdom is completely wiped out.

(Just imagine the final scene of Hellstar Ramina, except it's a nuclear explosion.)

 

[Cipiteca396]

Next scene, we see things from the POV of the enemy they were trying to save themselves from as they document about the horrible explosion of unknown cause that happened in the kingdom.

Ooh, I think I've read something like that somewhere. It also occurred to me that any mages researching atomic division might end up creating a scene like this in some magical worlds. And I vaguely remember a radioactive zone in the Eragon books.

Most of their ability to detect any threat the weapon could pose would likely be magic based, and the nuke is completely non-magical and thus would not show as dangerous to them until the very moment it has already gone off. In which case, once it has gone off the people around would not even have enough time to think before they are completely incinerated

I admit my first thought was the big, beeping timer on top of it with a few seconds to boom. That's kind of unrealistic though. I could understand having it(since it keeps the bombing crew from making a dumb mistake like not activating it), but not having it makes more sense.

I also sort of expected a scenario where they would survive by raising a shield at the last second, like you mentioned. Theoretically, summoning a 'Hero' capable of going toe to toe with the demon lord should involve a really strong shield from the beginning. What if they panic and go on a killing spree? Gotta give them time to explain themselves.

Then again, if it's a short story with a somewhat comedic premise, there's no reason to be too realistic.

OOF. New thought: Instead of a hydrogen bomb, make it a dragon(or something similar). That's obviously going to be a problem.

 

[Piisfun]

Doesn't really work though, unless you are talking a civilization of highly advanced magi-technology that is already Earth-level or higher. In which case then, wouldn't they have some kind of shield protocol around the summoning circle to start with?

The more likely scenario is that it is a world of suppressed technological growth due to the existence of magic in their civilization, and they wouldn't even know what the nuke is in the first place. Most of their ability to detect any threat the weapon could pose would likely be magic based, and the nuke is completely non-magical and thus would not show as dangerous to them until the very moment it has already gone off. In which case, once it has gone off the people around would not even have enough time to think before they are completely incinerated.

Although, now that I have considered all the reasons why it would NOT work, a take on it that might make it so it COULD work would probably be a Junji Ito like take on it, except instead of it being a paranormal thing causing horrible unspeakable things to happen to the story protagonists it is a magical people wondering about this unknown technology that the reader is at least tangentially familiar with. Then, it gets accidentally triggered as the mages are trying to experiment with it. Next scene, we see things from the POV of the enemy they were trying to save themselves from as they document about the horrible explosion of unknown cause that happened in the kingdom. The kingdom is completely wiped out.

(Just imagine the final scene of Hellstar Ramina, except it's a nuclear explosion.)

The way I envisioned the second idea working requires it to be viewed from both worlds.

On one side, confusion reigns over what they just summoned right up to the moment it explodes.
On the other side, panic reigns up to the moment that the bomb disappears, followed by nervous relief and confusion. Later, investigations are launched, all of which prove to be inconclusive.

So the world the saved was the one they summoned the bomb from...