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The Noir Challenge | 30 August 2020


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Posted

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Give me your femmes fatales! Your hardboiled detectives! Your cynical anti-heroes! Your moral ambiguity! Your gin joints!

 

Challenge Name: The Noir Challenge

Challenge Deadline: 30 August 2020

Accepted Fandom(s): HP and OF (however, if there's another fandom you're itching to write this for, please check with me! If I'm familiar enough with the fandom, I will accept it!)

Accepted Ratings: Any

Challenge Details: Write something in the noir genre, or with noir aspects/influences (see below for more on this). It doesn't have to be prototypical noir; you can pick and choose some noir elements and make it your own. You're free to interpret this genre broadly, not restrictively. As long as I can identify the noir influence in your work, you're good! (For example, hardboiled detective fiction is really not the same as "noir" if you go by technical definitions, but it shares some elements and is hella close enough that I'll accept it.) And while noir is, well, dark (literally) and gritty and cynical, if you want to take it in a lighthearted or humorous direction, e.g. through parody, I am here for it! Also, while noir is actually a subgenre of crime fiction, your fic doesn't have to center around a crime or mystery if there's another way you want to apply noir elements.

 

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Rules:

  • Must be posted to HPFT archives
  • Any genre, rating, length
  • Must include "For RonsGirlFriday's Noir Challenge" in the story summary
  • If it's multi-chapter, must have at least two chapters in the queue by the deadline
  • Multiple entries are allowed
  • May be combined with other challenges
  • No pre-written entries
  • Must be a stand-alone work, e.g. a one-shot or a new multi-chap. Cannot be a chapter in an existing WIP in novel /short story/ etc format. The reason for this is I want to be able to understand your challenge submission on its own without having to read what came before it. However, if what you have is a multi-chap work that is a series of one-shots where each one truly stands alone and you want to write a chapter of that for your entry, meaning it tells its own complete story and I don't have to read anything else for context, I will accept that. 
  • Feel free to interpret the genre broadly, but the noir aspects should still be readily apparent to the reader.

 

Rewards:

  • I will review every chapter of every entry that is in the queue by the deadline (also, if you cross-post your fics to FFN or AO3, I'll cross-post my reviews if you link me)
  • Third place: Award graphic; link in my "about me" section for a month; 3 additional reviews on stories of your choice
  • Second place: Award graphic; link in my "about me" section for a month; 4 additional reviews on stories of your choice
  • First place: Award graphic; link in my "about me" section for a month; 5 additional reviews on stories of your choice (or, 2 reviews plus a very bad podfic of a story of your choice up to 3000 words)
  • (I reserve the right to include honorable mentions, with 1 prize review for those, if I get a metric shit-ton of entries and feel like I simply can't decide)

 

OKAY.

WHAT IS NOIR?

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Noir is a subgenre of crime fiction, seen in both literature and films, characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity. There's usually a lot of sex/sensuality, murder, and corruption. It's gritty and typically urban, the protagonist is an anti-hero, and everybody is tragically flawed. The noir genre has evolved over time, or elements of it used in more modern works, so that now we have neo-noir and all those good things.

Examples in literature (some also turned into films):

  • The Postman Always Rings Twice (James M. Cain)
  • LA Confidential (James Ellroy)
  • The Ice Harvest (Scott Phillips)
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
  • Strangers on a Train (Patricia Highsmith)
  • Joyland (Stephen King) (example of something that is really not actually noir but has some pulp noir feels about it)

Examples in film, whether classic, neo, or whatever (some based on books):

  • The Big Sleep
  • The Lady from Shanghai
  • Casablanca (example of something that is not defined as noir but uses noir elements, visually and in terms of content)
  • Drunken Angel
  • Sunset Blvd
  • Basic Instinct
  • Sin City
  • Shaft
  • Chinatown
  • Taxi Driver
  • The Matrix
  • Hitchcock, Tarantino, and the Coen brothers

 

Now give me all the noir!

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Guest Noelle Zingarella
Posted

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In.

Posted

I'm absolutely in

Posted

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I will attempt... Though I'm not crazy familiar beyond Tarantino, Taxi Driver, and Casablanca. 

Posted

gah. i shall try with you're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece even though i don't have a clue if it'll really end up being noir but it's def going to have an unhappy/doomed ending, fatalism, nihilism, sex, world ending..... sirius&lily being fucked up.

Posted

You like heroic type vampires with savior complexes? 
 

 

I have ideas - just not sure which direction they’re going in.

 

all my dark characters are at war in my head.

 

So - I’m in. 
 

Please send a search party (and cookies ? , wine ?, and breaking Benjamin CDs) if I don’t resurface.

Posted
2 hours ago, Noelle Zingarella said:

In.

I want noir Sevranda and noir McMalfoy and noir anyone else you got.

 

2 hours ago, maraudertimes said:

I'm absolutely in

Yasss! Can't wait to see what you do with this.

 

2 hours ago, Chemical_Pixie said:

A spin on the classic line The Postman Always Rings Twice: "With my brains and your challenge, we could go places."

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1 hour ago, ImaRavenclaw said:

I will attempt... Though I'm not crazy familiar beyond Tarantino, Taxi Driver, and Casablanca. 

I'm here for it!

 

10 minutes ago, grumpy cat said:

gah. i shall try with you're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece even though i don't have a clue if it'll really end up being noir but it's def going to have an unhappy/doomed ending, fatalism, nihilism, sex, world ending..... sirius&lily being fucked up.

I already think of a lot of your writing as very noir in style! Please give me all the Stargazer! :elmofire:

 

2 minutes ago, juls said:

You like heroic type vampires with savior complexes? 

I have ideas - just not sure which direction they’re going in.

all my dark characters are at war in my head.

So - I’m in. 

Please send a search party (and cookies ? , wine ?, and breaking Benjamin CDs) if I don’t resurface.

Noir vampires?? Yes please. And ? ? ?

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Participants:

Chemical_Pixie

grumpy cat

ImaRavenclaw

juls

maraudertimes

Noelle Zingarella

Posted

? i shouldn't but i'm so in

Posted

I have an original fiction idea I have had for years that would be great for this. So I'm in. 

Fictionalised version of my home town as the setting will be fun. 

"This place is riddled with crime, violence and the most greasy chips this side of the Yorkshire border" 

Posted

I have recently developed a new technique (to be fair - it's called being organised), that has so far been working wonders in getting me to write bits and pieces everyday. To that end ... I'm in.

Are you by any chance familiar with Judge Dredd? If not, I'll go with original fiction.

Posted
11 hours ago, BookDinosaur said:

? i shouldn't but i'm so in

Yay! I can’t wait to see what you do with this. ?

 

5 hours ago, northbound24 said:

I have an original fiction idea I have had for years that would be great for this. So I'm in. 

Fictionalised version of my home town as the setting will be fun. 

"This place is riddled with crime, violence and the most greasy chips this side of the Yorkshire border" 

I’m excited for this! I have a feeling your writing style will suit this genre well.
 

5 hours ago, Simplicius said:

I have recently developed a new technique (to be fair - it's called being organised), that has so far been working wonders in getting me to write bits and pieces everyday. To that end ... I'm in.

Are you by any chance familiar with Judge Dredd? If not, I'll go with original fiction.

Unfortunately, I’m not at all familiar, sorry! :kris: But I look forward to OF!

(And I must learn more about this ‘being organized’ thing...)

 

Participants:

Spoiler

BookDinosaur

Chemical_Pixie

grumpy cat

ImaRavenclaw

juls

maraudertimes

Noelle Zingarella

northbound24

Simplicius

 

Posted

and... chapter one is up! (I have a feeling there's to be many more)

 

A (Really) Cold Case

Posted

hey melanie! are sort-of wips accepted? i have a fic that i started for a nano way back when and it never got posted, but it would be perfect for this challenge, so i'm thinking of adding some new chapters to it and getting it up on the archives ?

Posted
1 hour ago, apondinabluebox said:

hey melanie! are sort-of wips accepted? i have a fic that i started for a nano way back when and it never got posted, but it would be perfect for this challenge, so i'm thinking of adding some new chapters to it and getting it up on the archives ?

If it has never been posted before, that’s totally fine! (I wouldn’t have known any different had you not said anything, haha.)

 

Participants 

Spoiler

apondinabluebox

BookDinosaur

Chemical_Pixie

grumpy cat

ImaRavenclaw

juls

maraudertimes

Noelle Zingarella

northbound24

Simplicius

 

Posted
1 hour ago, RonsGirlFriday said:

If it has never been posted before, that’s totally fine! (I wouldn’t have known any different had you not said anything, haha.)

eh, fair enough! i've talked about it on hpft and social media before, so i felt it was worth checking! and count me in for two entries :P 

Posted

Definitely getting a The Third Man vibe on this one - I'm in!

Posted

I have a story that would have been perfect (complete with characters watching Casablanca) but it's been completed for ages ? 

Posted

yes yes yes yes yes

I am in :D 

Posted
On 5/10/2020 at 4:54 AM, GKWriter said:

Definitely getting a The Third Man vibe on this one - I'm in!

A classic!

 

On 5/10/2020 at 6:10 AM, victoria_anne said:

I have a story that would have been perfect (complete with characters watching Casablanca) but it's been completed for ages ? 

I hate when that happens! :sad: Let me know if you do come up with an entry, though!!

 

4 hours ago, MuggleMaybe said:

yes yes yes yes yes

I am in :D 

:yay:

 

Participants:

Spoiler

apondinabluebox

BookDinosaur

Chemical_Pixie

GKWriter

grumpy cat

ImaRavenclaw

juls

maraudertimes

MuggleMaybe

Noelle Zingarella

northbound24

Simplicius

 

Posted

Deal me in. Even though I'm committing to too many challenges...

Posted
On 5/13/2020 at 6:59 PM, TidalDragon said:

Deal me in. Even though I'm committing to too many challenges...

Yus, join us all in wildly overextending ourselves. :elmofire:

 

Participants:

Spoiler

apondinabluebox

BookDinosaur

Chemical_Pixie

GKWriter

grumpy cat

ImaRavenclaw

juls

maraudertimes

MuggleMaybe

Noelle Zingarella

northbound24

Simplicius

TidalDragon

 

  • 4 weeks later...
Guest Noelle Zingarella
Posted

Thank you for hosting this challenge. Unfortunately I have to bow out of it. (But I will let you know when McMalfoy sails again ?)

Posted

I'm a very tentative maybe. It all depends on how far I'm able to run with the idea I have. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
On 6/16/2020 at 9:33 PM, MalfoysAngel said:

I'm a very tentative maybe. It all depends on how far I'm able to run with the idea I have. 

Yessss, excited!

 

Participants:

Spoiler

apondinabluebox

BookDinosaur

Chemical_Pixie

GKWriter

grumpy cat

ImaRavenclaw

juls

MalfoysAngel

maraudertimes

MuggleMaybe

northbound24

Simplicius

TidalDragon

 

Posted

I'm going to be in as well because another WIP is exactly what I need :whistling:

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