Team Tolkien 2023
Announcing the 2023 Inklings Challenge team assignments!
Members of Team Tolkien are challenged to write a science fiction or fantasy story within the Christian worldview that fits into one of these two genres:
Secondary World Fantasy: Stories that takes place in an imaginary realm that’s completely separate from our world
Time Travel: Stories exploring technology that allows travel through time
These genres are open to interpretation, and creativity is encouraged.You can use either or both of the prompts within your story, or if you’re feeling ambitious, you can write multiple stories.
Team Tolkien members are also asked to use at least one of the following seven Christian themes to inspire some part of their story.
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit the imprisoned
Bury the dead
Writers are challenged to complete and post their story to a tumblr blog by October 21, 2022, though they are encouraged to post earlier if they finish their story before that date. There is no maximum or minimum word limit. Writers who have not completed their stories before the deadline are encouraged to post whatever they have written by October 21st and post the remainder at a later date.
Posting the Stories
All stories will be reblogged and archived on the main Inklings Challenge blog. To assist with organization, writers should tag their posts as follows:
Mention the main Challenge blog @inklings-challenge somewhere within the body of the post (which will hopefully alert the Challenge blog).
Tag the story #inklingschallenge, to ensure it shows up in the Challenge tag, and make it more likely that the Challenge blog will find it.
Tag the team that the author is writing for: #team lewis, #team tolkien, or #team chesterton.
Tag the genre the story falls under: #genre: portal fantasy, #genre: space travel, #genre: secondary world, #genre: time travel, #genre: intrusive fantasy, #genre: adventure
Tag any themes that were used within the story: #theme: food, #theme: drink, #theme: clothing, #theme: shelter, #theme: visit the sick, #theme: visit the imprisoned, #theme: burial
Tag the completion status of the story: #story: complete or #story: unfinished
Team Members
The writers assigned to Team Tolkien are:
@ablatheringblatherskite
@afairmaiden
@angedemystere
@as-dreamers-do
@atlantic-riona
@brievel
@caitriona-3
@catkin-morgs
@challenger2013
@christian-latte-anon
@clarythericebot
@dragonladyzarz
@dragonteaandfairyhoney
@enchanted-prose
@enjoliquej
@esters-notepad
@friendrat
@frominsidetheblanketfort
@gailyinthedark
@lady-merian
@lilflightlessbird731
@maltheniel
@mentallydatingahotcelebrity
@misscrazyfangirl321
@musicofthedaylight
@olyia-stories
@on-noon
@onewingedsparrow
@plainshobbit
@politicalmamaduck
@queenlucythevaliant
@rachellesedai
@reneethegreatandpowerful
@ripple-reader
@rowenabean
@ru-tabega
@shakespearean-fish
@soulwindproductionsblog
@taleweaver-ramblings
@teabooksandsweets
Writing resources, including the Challenge overview, FAQ, writing prompts, and discussions of the genres are available at the Inklings Challenge Directory. Any writers with further questions can contact the Inklings Challenge blog for guidance.
Welcome to the Inklings Challenge, everyone! Now go forth and create!
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Newt and Hermann, peace?
INT. LOCCENT - DAY
The war clock: DEACTIVATED.
GOTTLIEB squeezes and 'excuse me's' his way through the crowd. The crowd looks lively. He, on the other hand, looks nauseous.
NEWT jabbers on to some technicians.
Gottlieb is almost towards the exit.
Turning away from his audience, Newt glances around.
NEWT: Hey, where's Hermann?
Finally, Newt spots Gottlieb dragging himself out of LOCCENT. Newt frowns. Then a solemn realisation dawns upon him, and he starts to shove his way out. The technicians glance at each other: I've never seen him look like that before.
INT. SHATTERDOME CORRIDOR - DAY
Newt finds Gottlieb supporting himself against a wall.
NEWT: Hey, Hermann, you ok? You look like you're gonna puke.
GOTTLIEB: You can't tell me you don't feel the same.
Newt hesitates-then gives in and slowly deflates.
NEWT: No, yeah, I can't.
He leans against the wall.
GOTTLIEB: Newt. We've made the situation worse.
Newt slowly slides down to the floor.
INT. SHATTERDOME CAFETERIA - NIGHT
Everyone here looks relieved and more relaxed than they have been in a long time. They're feasting; smiling and chatting; napping, in the case of some who accidentally fell asleep.
Everyone looks relaxed, except the two k-scientists.
Newt and Gottlieb sit across each other at a table. Although Newt has two trays of food for himself, he's only picking at the dishes. He's more focused on Gottlieb instead, who's staring at his own tray, frozen and dazed.
NEWT: Hermann? Earth to Hermann.
To try to get Gottlieb's attention, Newt steals a piece of food from his tray. No response. So Newt eats the piece. Still nothing.
Some shatterdome workers move past their table, glancing at Gottlieb.
SHATTERDOME WORKER #1: What's up with him? We won.
The world around Gottlieb is all doubled like an anaglyph 3D image.
To make it worse, images of the Anteverse are superimposing onto his food: churning seas of bioslurry, a spawning pool, unborn kaiju writhing in their sacs.
Gottlieb shuts his eyes.
NEWT: You get used to it.
He gets a look from Gottlieb.
NEWT (cont'd): Sorta.
Gottlieb sighs.
GOTTLIEB: This is hardly a 'peacetime' we're in. But nobody else knows that except us. You did hear it, right? The Precursor?
NEWT: Uh, no way I couldn't.
SHATTERDOME WORKER #2 (O.S.): Man, I can't wait to go home!
NEWT: Neither can we.
Gottlieb reacts. Newt jerks back, like he's been snapped out of a daze.
GOTTLIEB: You spoke for them.
NEWT: What? No! I didn't! I actually do want to go home…
GOTTLIEB: And so do they.
Realisation dawns on Newt.
NEWT: So that's why they seem so familiar.
FLASHBACK: A Precursor's face. From a distance, its eyes appear insect-like. But zooming into one of them, it becomes more like a human's…
INT. HEADSPACE
Newt and Gottlieb find themselves in a dark, foggy, dimensionless place, directly facing a PRECURSOR. It looms over them. The scientists crane their necks. Their jaws drop.
NEWT: It's you.
GOTTLIEB: The one we've been hearing.
The scientists wait, but the Precursor doesn't respond. Newt and Gottlieb look at each other.
GOTTLIEB: What do we-?
NEWT: I don't know.
The pair quickly return their gazes to the Precursor, anticipating.
EXT. KARLA'S HOUSE - DAY (FLASHBACK)
The main door opens. Behind it, Gottlieb's sister KARLA, wearing a paper domino mask and holding the hand of a small BOY, also wearing a mask. Karla's mask cartoonishly resembles an aquatic insect.
KARLA: Servus, Brüderchen. (subtitles: Hey, baby bro.)
GOTTLIEB (in German, subtitled): Please stop calling me that.
Karla grins mischievously.
KARLA: OK, Mändl.
She pulls the insect mask up and onto her head.
INT. HEADSPACE
A layer on the Precursor's face opens up, revealing a set of beady alien eyes. Gottlieb stares at it.
GOTTLIEB: What do you want from me?
EXT. ANTEVERSE - NIGHT
Gottlieb and Newt find themselves standing atop a cracked platform of bone. Around them, more bone platforms and paths, all cracked or simply obliterated into pieces.
Multiple Precursor corpses float about, with one drifting past Gottlieb and Newt. They turn to look at it. It's a horrifying sight:
Half a human face. The other half is the alien half-which they now know is a faceplate.
NEWT: So all of you are human. I knew it.
PRECURSOR (in German, subtitled): How have you been, Dr Gottlieb? It's been a long time.
The Precursor waits, but Gottlieb can't work up the courage to speak. Newt looks between the two of them, baffled.
NEWT: Wait, what?
The Precursor ignores Newt.
PRECURSOR (in German, subtitled): You must really love destroying homes, seeing as you did it again.
Gottlieb is still too scared to speak, so Newt does it for him:
NEWT: Hermann just drifted today. What do you mean, 'a long time'? And what do you mean by 'again'?
Continuing to ignore Newt, the Precursor stares down at Gottlieb.
Under the Precursor's intense attention, Gottlieb sees his own neurons short circuiting and tearing apart. This soon fills the whole screen.
Multiple streams of thoughts-all the Precursor's-bombard him, all mixing together in a whirlwind of noise. He squeezes his hands over his ears. Only a few words and phrases here and there can be made out, but the last two sentences are clear:
PRECURSOR (V.O.): Your end is coming. I'll make sure of it myself.
Gottlieb's vision starts to fade.
NEWT: Hey! I'm here too!
Gottlieb looks at Newt, distraught, but is too overwhelmed to do anything.
NEWT (cont'd): Tell me what you want, you jerk! You want a truce? Let's make one!
GOTTLIEB: Newt...
The Precursor and Newt stare each other down, both without a sign of fear. That's the last thing Gottlieb sees before blacking out.
INT. SHATTERDOME MEDICAL BAY - NIGHT
Gottlieb slowly comes to. As he sits up, he groans, then turns to one side and retches.
A bin is already waiting there.
Gottlieb grabs his handkerchief, wipes his mouth, and notices a bin on his other side.
A snicker.
NEWT: I told the nurses to put one on each side.
Gottlieb frowns at Newt, who's in the bed next to his. Newt looks terrible-even worse than Gottlieb does, and even worse than after his first-ever drift.
GOTTLIEB: Newt. What did you do?
Newt trembles. He tries to stop it. Hide it.
NEWT: Oh, well, you know. I managed to get humanity some more time. So you can go home and have that peace and quiet you wanted for a while. You're welcome.
GOTTLIEB: My God.
NEWT: But you better come back quick. Because we'll probably need some math done and I can't be bothered to do all of it. I'm gonna be so bored. So bored, to-
He coughs out a laugh and trembles harder. Gottlieb observes him, thinking. Then he huffs. Newt scowls.
NEWT: Hey! What was that noise for, huh? Why don't you-
GOTTLIEB: I'm not leaving.
Newt's anger dissipates.
NEWT: Huh?
GOTTLIEB: Not yet, anyway. You helped me, so it's only right that I help you in return.
NEWT: Oh. That sounds like a thank you, so, no problem. Anytime.
A moment of quiet. Gottlieb considers what to say.
GOTTLIEB: Newt.
Newt looks at Gottlieb, tearful and shaking.
GOTTLIEB (cont'd): We thwarted the Precursors' plans once. We can do it again. We will do it again.
Newt pauses, surprised at Gottlieb's confidence. Then he laughs. It sounds a bit like a sob too, but it's mostly a laugh.
NEWT: Yeah. Yeah.
His trembling slowly starts to fade away.
NEWT (cont'd): We'll figure this thing out. Looks like K-Science is back in business.
Newt smiles and sticks his hand out for Gottlieb to fistbump. Unable to stop himself smiling too, Gottlieb does it.
Then Gottlieb spots something that makes his smile quickly fade: there's a large blood stain on Newt's top.
Another drop of blood falls and lands on the fabric.
Then another.
The drops blooming across to merge with each other, the stain now almost makes it seem like Newt has been stabbed in the chest.
With blood dripping from his nose, Newt looks at Gottlieb, his tremors now returned.
END.
Notes: Many ideas of what the Anteverse is like, ideas of images of it being superimposed, and seeing your neurons becoming damaged while a Precursor was focusing on you were taken from Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization. It also heavily influenced the Precursor's personality and dialogue.
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