EDIT: People have sometimes asked me for what is acceptable in the Vignette thread. Well leaving aside the general Dumpshock rules which apply across all threads, I'll say only the following:
You must enjoy writing the piece. This thread is for people to write for their own satisfaction without constraints of quality, length or intelligibility.
It must be Shadowrun fiction, obviously.
Keep comments out of the vignette thread. There is no need to preface or explain your work. If you want to, add it to the comments thread.
Never apologise here or elsewhere for your Vignette. You have no right to be insecure about the quality, to be afraid of being judged, to compare it negatively to other people's work or any similarly boring apologetics. Everyone gets to write. Everyone gets a round of applause. That's the way it is.

The way that people have just quietly posted their writing in the Vignette thread is beautiful and I didn't have the heart to break up the flow of narrative with comments.

But I had to say how great everyone's work in that thread has been. There's some truly remarkable writing and I've enjoyed them all.

I like writing. It's fun to bash out a bit of Shadowrun fiction. But it can be a lot of work to produce a full story. I'm really glad to see others who enjoy writing these fragments too.

That's all really. I just needed to say somewhere how impressed I am with people's skill and how people have obviously enjoyed writing them as well.

More to come, I'm sure.

Peace and fun writing,

Khadim.

EDIT: I added an index at the start. I assigned some titles at the start so that people could easily find which vignette they wanted. But no presumption is intended. If anyone wants to give a different title, just let me know and I'll change it. They're not really titles anyway - just hints so that people can find the post.

In addition to knasser's general "everything so far has been pretty cool" comment, I'd just like to say fuck you, knasser, for doing something like this when I really, really, should be working on some (non-Shadowrun) freelance stuff and/or a paper for a Brit Lit class. Jerk. I should be doing genuinely grown-up productive stuff, and instead I'm kicking around ideas for a short story. Thanks for nothing!

*smiles and waves graciously in acknowledgement*

Interesting how many of the vignettes have a musical element.

Indeed. And it might be about to get even more so as I have an idea for another vignette on a musical theme. But having just seen yours, I don't know if I should.

But then I reminded myself that its the pleasure of writing it out that matters, so if there's a little overlap with the predecessor, I dare say it doesn't matter too much.

Nice piece.

K.

The more, the merrier. Thanks.

I haven't been inspired to sit down and write something in years. Literally.

Thanks for giving me some motivation, Khadim.

-paws

If the gunpowder wants to thank the match, then by all means flatter me. But that little explosion of literary adrenaline was all yours, mate.

You should find the time to write more. It was fun to read.

K.

I seem to be getting addicted to these little pieces. I always loved writing, but my problem is that I couldn't write anything long and complex, just specific scenes that seemed powerful.

Yeah, you made me waste an entire two hours of work writing mine. Damn you knasser!

I was lucky that I had one I could just clip, clean up a smidgen, and re-posted. The problem is now I'm working on another piece just for the thread, and I had to make sure it didn't go into the longer work I am doing with the character. Thanks a BUNCH. I just hope somebody's reading all those stories, for the work the authors are putting into them. *wry grin*

Reading these is way more fun than those interminable arguments about minutiae!

Is not! It's moderately more fun, at best. Only an idiot and total noob to the game would think it was way more fun! Read the errata and learn what you're talking about before you open your stupid mou--heeeeey, wait a second.

*Smacks Critias with a large halibut, then blows a raspberry*

(Yes, I laughed hard. Doesn't mean you don't deserve Da Feesh!)

I don't think your time was wasted at all. I very much enjoyed reading what you wrote and think the time you spent on it was far more useful to me than if you'd gone and done some work.



Writing is fun. But I think so many of us these days have ended up with the attention spans of puppies through excess web-browsing, action movies or working days filled with endless interruptions, that to sit down and just write for the length of time it takes to produce even a short story, becomes a real effort. Or maybe we're all just very busy. So perhaps vignettes are a way to re-awaken that part of our minds that loves to write fiction, without shocking it with a three hour prose-binge. We're all role-players here, so our minds should have a pretty well-developed love of telling stories already anyway.

Or maybe vignettes are "gateway fiction." I know that when I started writing "Freedom of the Hunt" I only intended to produce a short scene of some shadowrunners being hunted by a cybered animal. I just did a word count and its almost three thousand words. A couple of those and I'm in the short story category. Do others get sucked in like that?

And oh, I almost forgot: applies vigorous halibuting to Critias

Peace,

K.

Tossed something together quick..hope the grammar isn't too atrocious. Was fun want to do more now.

It was good. I have the urge to send one of the PCs in my game into a room with a Piasma now.

And welcome to the Vignette thread.

K.

The Vignette thread currently shows 358 views. We have 9 authors so far. Even accounting for authors refreshing the thread to read the new posts, that still leaves a lot of reads. And because people keep adding new posts, it's staying hovering near the top of the board where people can see it. I think it's getting attention.

K.

I hate how I write something, check it, double check it, and then notice some horrible spelling mistakes the next morning.
*shakes fist*

Thank you for the kind words knasser. It helps that I'm in a writing mood right now, as I'm working on my book yet again...

Mrillion: you're not the only one who does that. You would not believe how often I edit my posts three or four times, making everything seem just right.

I guess I will put something in myself soon, even though its gonna be horrible (english isnt my native language), but until then... I'm truly in awe Great works, chummers!

IF this sticks around for awhile might be interesting to have a new theme every week or with new releases.

Stumbled upon this thread last night during work. The stories are fantastic. Thank you for starting this thread Knasser.

Just realized my contribution was not Vignette in nature. >_<

Goes back to the drawing board.

Man, that was bitchin' fun. I enjoyed taking my heroic bloodshed/wuxia-inspired speed sam and putting him in the sort of crazy situation I imagine himself getting into (by no fault of his own, of course! )

There's something I threw together, a refinement of a piece I used as part of a character background last week.

Love this thread. Haven't played SR before or read any fiction, so it's great to see what sorts of stuff is out there.

I agree, weekly themes would be great. Maybe start a new thread with a new theme each week.

I decided to throw my hat in the ring with a tale about my eldest character, John.

BTW, knasser, I really loved Enter Violin and Wiggy was funny as hell.

Thank you. I especially appreciate the comment on Wiggy, because it's hard to tell whether something is actually funny when you've written it. Wiggy is actually my very own PC. Charisma 6, Logic 1, and played without abusing them (i.e. Wiggy will actually do stupid things if other PCs don't keep an eye on him).

I turned my back for a few days, and find there are another eight vignettes to read! What a pleasure! I'll update the index as I go.

About theme weeks... I personally think it would be nice to keep things "In Thread", that way we can maybe get this stickied and it could become a permanent feature. We can certainly use a resource of good fiction for newer players to get a feel for the setting as well as for all of us to enjoy. But if someone wants to start a theme thread, then don't let me stop anyone. I'll surely contribute myself and I can add links to the theme threads in the Index, as well. All I really care about is that people write for pleasure here. The thread was born out of my battling with a three part Shadowrun story to the point that, although I'm still enjoying writing it, the pressure was taking away from that slightly. Vignettes are a great way to throw out some literary joy whenever the muse strikes.

Anyway, off to catch up on my reading,

K.

EDIT: @SincereAgape: Doesn't matter if it wasn't a by-the-book Vignette. Just so long as its narrative, set in the Shadowrun universe and, most importantly, you enjoyed writing it.

Wow! I've finally caught up with reading all the vignettes, and it was a lot of fun. As I seem to be incapable of writing pure action without getting emotion-stains all over it, it's great to read some of the pure adrenaline pieces in there. Hell Money was fun and of course the moment I see a post by Critias, I go and get myself a drink and settle down to enjoy whatever he writes properly. But I have to make a special comment about "New Dog, Old Tricks" because not only was that a fine piece of writing, but it sneaked a Sally Tsung reference in there. Ah, memories!

@006: First off, welcome to Dumpshock! That's a great way to make your first post! You asked for feedback. What can I say? It was a nicely written piece of work. You took what I'm afraid is a bit of a cliché (there's always a "waking up in hospital and escaping story") and told it well enough that I didn't really notice. Am I right in reading that they kept him going in his hospital bed until they'd exhausted his bank account, sold off his saleable ware and only then brought him round so they could do the legal niceties before selling off his organs? I don't normally critique this sort of stuff, but just commenting as you asked for feedback.

@Shard: If no-one's said it yet, also welcome to Dumpshock and to SR4. You seem to be picking up the setting fast.

K.

Danke. I just have fun throwin' together kickass fight scenes. Half the draw of Shadowrun is the augmented combat, to me -- better, stronger, faster, with wiz tech and magic, all fun for making descriptive combat cooler than real life by a longshot.

I've been enjoying the thread quite a bit so far. Feels almost like one of Tisoz's old fiction contests, just a fun way to kill time and read some cool stories.

Agreed 006, you wrote a really great story there. Awesome job using astral sight for characters and showing how emotions change as you use manipulation spells on them. You had me reading to the end and then made me want even more. Really awesome.

I've got another idea for the thread, I just haven't had time to post it.

The Jake: I've just read "Cool White". Great piece. I actually have an NPC with something very similar to that in my game. It's a "cold professional" p-fix she runs whilst at work. The PCs have met her, but haven't worked it out yet. I'm wondering if they'll get into a fight with her or not. Your story also makes me want to go back and finish Dark King.

Nice work.

EDIT: Thanks Knasser. Your stories were fantastic and were what prompted me to write something. I've been meaning to write more fiction for ages. I just never seem to make time for it.

My story is inspired by a couple of sources.

1) The Grammaton Cleric sample character discussed here:
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...25788&st=50
the one with twin cyberarms and MBW(2).

2) Cool Whites, as described by Zormal here:
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...667&hl=chip

The backstory I had come up with in trying to find what Negative Qualities to assign. I basically took a classic 'Romeo and Juliet' style story and ran with it.

He is a former HK triad enforcer and falls in love with rival syndicate leader's daughter. They hook up and plan to elope.

His boss however assassinates her, to provoke a mob war and push this character to take sides. He choses neither. He kills his boss and a bunch of other triads (Big Regret, Wanted) and flees to Japan. In Japan he undergoes radical augmentation (major modification, cyberarms + MBW2) using Sorayama. He comes away looking like a heavily augmented Japanese-American. Gets a false SIN and travels to America to start a new life. Suffers from debilitating grief and depression he cannot shake (Will To Die). Turns to meds and eventually BTLs to cope (Addiction). Gets busted with under the influence, loses his job, turns to the shadows out of desparation.

Hope you like it. I welcome any feedback (good/bad - so long as its constructive). It isn't grammar checked properly, mostly because it is late and I just had a moment of inspiration and wanted to share it (strike while the iron is hot).

- J.

Just a quick head-up and thanks to knasser for getting the ball rolling - and proving that DS can indeed be more than hundred-page rules-bitchathons!
Also, kudos to all the contributors, it's nice to read these little sketches of individual views of "our" sixth world!

(Ninja bump? Nawww!)

Well I started this thread. I just hope my last addition ("NSFW") doesn't end it! I can't believe I just wrote that.

@kanislatrans: You don't need to preface your additions with attempts to downplay people's expectations. It's fine. Am I right in thinking that the viewpoint character is a horror? There was one, I don't remember the name, that I think took on people's bodies... Nemesis? Or was it Chantelle? (I'm sure that latter is not the correct name of a horror).

i believe the name you're looking for is chantrel's horror, and no it isn't that one. chantrel's is the one that murders (via dissection) everyone that you care about, and is either only able to attack your friends or only wants to attack your friends (leaving it as your only 'friend'). you are quite right in that it isn't the name of a horror, it's the name of the person the horror had marked.

nemesis is a shapechanger, not a bodysnatcher. he sells information and weapons to allow people to kill other horrors, but corrupts people through his gifts, and in the end they kill each other, and he uses any money he gets to buy slaves so he can make them battle each other to the death.

in any case, i would be more inclined to expect a lesser horror, perhaps not even named. the greater horrors need more energy, and there's a more-or-less endless variety of horrors.

[edit] more likely, it's "just" a shadow spirit. which is close enough to being a lesser named horror anyways. [/edit]

Ah, yes - those were the horrors. I suppose I got Chantrel's Horror (not Chantelle. ) in my head because of the vivsection link. And Nemesis I got confused in there because I recalled that one having a human form. Yes - in retrospect, obviously "just" a shadow spirit. I remember when they were called wraiths and there were suggestions that these were minor horrors anyway.

I have an outline of an adventure lined up set in a prison where a shadow spirit starts taking over. But there's no way my group are ready for something like that, yet.

Well, it looks like my previous entry was so bad that it really did kill this thread.

Oh well, one more try...

lol,sorry for not following closer...

Although the title was "Horror Story" I was thinking shadow spirit or wraith when I wrote it. I always felt that true horrors would be much more Cthulu like, more "AAAGGGGHHHHH!!! IT'S SO EVIL, MY EYES ARE MELTING!!!!!"kinda thing.

Just been a bit overwhelmed with schoolwork lately. Gimme a bit, I'll probably toss a new one together.

I've been kicking around ideas for another story about John, but I want to make sure I don't overdo the whole "ass-kicking old guy/generational differences" schtick. It's fun to write but something tells me it could get old fast. Pun intended. I dunno, I have got some serious ruminating to get on with. Hrm. [/rambling]

Crash I really enjoyed your story about John.

I say write what inspires you and what you enjoy. Let the words flow.

- J.

I wrote a full short story. I enjoyed writing it and it was well-received. But it was also quite a lot of work. I have about half of the sequel written and have done for quite some time. It's also fun to write, but also quite a lot of work.

The vignette thread was born out of a need to simply enjoy writing Shadowrun fiction again without all the constraints on subject, tone or length that were taking away from that pleasure.

Write what you like and enjoy doing so. If you want a thread for people who beat themselves up about what they're writing, go start your own!

Seriously - your vignette was lots of fun. We want more of it. And if you do a "schtick" well, it's called a "theme", or a "running gag" or a "motif" or some other respectable term.

Peace,

Khadim.

Well I am posting my second story about John. Feedback always appreciated.

@ knasser and The Jake: Thanks for helping to get my ass in gear to keep writing.

@Crash2029. I just finished both stories about John. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite Shadowrun characters, and hell, I wish I could PC or GM for him. The Maria Mecurial, Sally Tsung, and Jet Black references are really great. Keep writing.

@Knasser. Thank you for starting this thread. Despite suffering from Dyslexia I am having a great time reading what I can. Hope to get a piece up after I create a main character

-End rant.

Food Fight was actually based on a genuine intro-run with our gaming group. My dice could do no wrong that night. We were told OOC that we should have plans for our character for New Year's Eve night and when we arrived at the game, were further told it was 10:30PM and that we needed to come up with a reason to be at the Stuffer Shack^TM, but we had been told we'd be starting there, so only the time required a little fixing. Kerenshara, as Felicity Danforth, was supposed to be going to a party to celebrate and (mostly) blow off a little steam. Unfortunately, she failed to check to verify certain mission-critical items, and that led her to be in a particular store on a rainy evening in Seatle. I decided it was funny/interesting enough to turn into a story and it's been down hill from there.

It was great. Really made me laugh. One of the best ones yet!

K.

I'm glad. Food Fight, all the way back to SR1 (we re-statted the scenario from the first printing, vastly prefering it to the more recent published versions) was a light-hearted and fun way to get a group into the shadows together. It always has SOMETHING interesting happen. My GM wasn't particularly thrilled at the way it worked out (NONE of the badguys managed to see through the Improved Invisibility, so it was literally target practice), but it was instructional.

For those who were paying attention, Kerenshara's got an interesting internal dialogue going that's usually pretty jaded and acerbic, and she gets pretty deeply into her assumed personae, which is the reason for the somewhat disorienting way I refer to her as both her persona and her handle at the same time in the same story depending on what's going on and which facet of the character I'm describing at any given moment. I'm trying to put it into something more like chapters where each chapter will give a date, time, place and active persona... just to keep things straight.

Food Fight just had that wildness to it that characterised 1st Edition. There was less of the serious need to make everything deep, consistent and realistic that characterises 4th. Not that I'm criticising 4th. For the long term, I prefer what we have today. But something like Food Fight is a chocolate bar to Ghost Cartels three course, veg rich meal. Sometimes, I guess you just enjoy a bit of the former.

I did spot the changes of how the character referred to herself. I thought it was a mistake, or that maybe you were just really projecting yourself into the story.

The only thing that really threw me was that bizarre americanism of "I could care less". In the UK, you'd say "couldn't care less" and the other one just sounds, infuriatingly non-sensical.

K.

Looks interesting, all the contributions. I may also post a story that's been sitting in the back of my mind lately, but I'll need to type it up first.