Welcome to 2024, folks! The lead-up to 2023's end already got a prompt about changeovers and new beginnings out of the way, so with this being one of those special Halo numbers, I want to take advantage to look back a little at SPARTAN-B312, and the game that got quite a few of us today into Halo and the background story Reach hinted at.
So the prompt is simple: give me a story about some minor character in Halo: Reach brushing up against Noble 6 during the campaign. It could be one of those civilians in Exodus waiting for the elevator as B312 holds off Brutes, an Army trooper holding out just long enough to be saved by Noble Six's arrival, or a Covenant soldier trying not to get killed by the hyper-lethal vector. Readers will be familiar with the scenarios you describe, so use it too hook them in! You can feel free to specify Six's identity in your own work or not as preferred. The 1000 word ballpark is the target as usual; try for within 100 words of the goal in either direction.
Subject Carbon by Arminius Fiddywinks: So, wanting to start off by saying your characterization of different team members is strong here. Serious concern for the mission from Kai, aloofness from Basab, the voices are unique to each. And, while surprising for a moment, I actually kinda like the reversal of typical human-Sangheili interactions during the war with Noble Six professing a kind of faith where Kai doesn't seem very reverent. It definitely deviates from the end of Halo: Reach as we see it, but not by too much. Six still ends up dead, just a few seconds later than that last camera cut from Lone Wolf. But, here's where I really gotta have it out. You're very able to convey different personalities between characters, but the specific voices you choose to give these characters aren't Sangheili voices. I've remarked before they sound like Generation Kill characters, which I was actually told you may've included as one of your inspirations? Good series, but those voices don't make for very convincing aliens. It pulls me out of suspension of disbelief when every canon source portrays Sangheili diction so differently. I encourage you to read The Flood or Cole Protocol, or even review some of the Arbiter cutscenes from Halo 2. That's the culture which Sangheili come out of, and their speech is result of it. You could maybe say Kai, Mik, and others are from a Sangheili colony world with a bit of a different speech pattern, but the Covenant's religious monoculture doesn't make a lot of allowance for dissent. Even with that excuse, you'd still end up with aliens that just don't sound alien. Heck, replace "boss" with "excellency" and you're already a decent amount of the way there. On a technical level, the prose is great--it's just this insistence on a human speech pattern that really throws me out of enjoying the story.
Black Ink by AlphaBenson: Descriptions are solid here, from greasy hair in waves to Julia's nail-biting habit. It does, however, leave me wondering where to place it a little bit. Since it's not about familiar characters and is circumspect about what exactly the "Party" is, this could be happening at a lot of points in the timeline, though I do think of the "heard Noble Team had an interesting morning" line from the old Gamescom trailer. Though I guess that morning, Six wasn't part of the team yet... anyway, this might actually be a good time to use a Time Stamp template, mimicking the Halo novels' giving of Military Calendar times and locations. Gives the reader their bearings at once without requiring anything inserted into the prose's flow. I do end up wanting a bit for description of Noble Six, since the prompt was about rubbing shoulders with them, but this does allow us to see them in action from the other side. And what's more, having them completely unseen thanks to Active Camouflage means everything from gender to armor configuration remains unspecified for the reader, which may have been your intention. If it was, the lack of specificity for the time and place and Party in question makes more sense. It's been thoroughly considered for its audience, and for that, it's got my support for the week.
Last year I kicked things off with an attempt to create a series of interrelated prompts, an effort that I thought pretty well during the time I kept it up. I hope to do something similar once my schedule quiets down a little. In the meantime, here's a prompt I've had banked for a while now. Perspective is an important tool to use in prose, conveying nuances in character through how individuals understand what's happening around them. Just because you and your friend witnessed the same thing doesn't necessarily mean you have the same perspective on what happened. Prose can be a powerful tool for exploring this fascinating reality. A grizzled Marine veteran may experience a battle briefing on the Infinity very differently from one of the "egghead" support scientist. For this prompt, come up with a single scene and then depict that same scene from two different characters' perspectives. Do your best to show how the characters pick up on different things that may completely change the direction of the scene.
Since you're essentially repeating the same events, aim for brevity on this prompt - allow about 300 words for each of the perspectives you're depicting, with a combined total of approximately 600 words. As always, if you have any questions about this prompt feel free to ping me on Discord.
Two Sides of the Same Coin by TheAussie1417 (Winner) : You jumped into the core concept of this prompt, offering two perspectives on the same terrible battle while making good use of the prompt limit to quickly give your reader insight into both Hari and Glikbap’s character. One suggestion I would offer would be to switch the order of each POV segment, offering Glikbap’s more triumphant perspective before switching to Hari to unveil the full horror of the Covenant’s victory.
Pelahsar and Rassiron by Arminius Fiddywinks: This is a tough piece for me to provide feedback on, since in my opinion it is one of your best entries to date and meshes beautifully with the prompt while also falling well outside the word count I set. I’m willing to take most of the blame here as in hindsight the limits I set didn’t give writers much space to work in. While I must ultimately decide in favor of “Two Sides” by virtue of staying closer to the word limit, this is a wonderful piece exploring the lesser-touched aspects of Sangheili history. I particularly liked your concise prose surrounding the fight itself, which conveyed the swiftness of the violence while leaving yourself more space to explore the characters and motivations. Well done and I hope to see more entries like this in the future.
The New Year is a time for resolutions and new beginnings. These resolutions are sometimes the hardest part of enacting change. It takes courage to change our circumstances for the better. This is doubly truth with writing, where sometimes the hardest part is simply creating space and time to put words to paper (physically or digitally). For this prompt, write a piece in which a character resolves to change something--either externally or internally--and takes steps to change it. Be sure to make it clear to the reader what it is the character is after as well as to include some challenge to their plan of action to make the entry more interesting. Aim for around 750 words with this one.
This is a prompt I'm shooting out on my way out the door to go out of town; next week's prompt will return to something a bit more thematically Halo in tone. I'll also get feedback in to entries for previous prompts next week.
Resolve by Brodie-001 (Winner): Magnus is a character with a lot of history behind him and this piece serves as a good refresher for his unusual presence within the Halo Fanon pantheon. The action here is largely passive, limited to Magnus’s own internal ruminations, but his recollections work to establish not only his character but the ruthless party of killers he leads—characters who in some ways serve as extensions of Magnus’s own violent but constrained position. The final imagery of broken chains is also a great way to help visualize Magnus’s own visceral nature.
Departure by Valikeitel : I think I say this every time I encounter an entry dealing with the Banished, but more Banished on the site is a net positive. I also liked seeing you work your entry into events on Zeta Halo. This was a solid entry, but it felt a little rushed considering there was a higher word-count on this prompt. The brief exchange between Takra and Karth conveyed your story well enough but there was room to expand on this piece a little more, even if you just added more descriptive text or extended their dialogue a bit. You set up interesting future events here, but the piece left me wanting just a little more depth.
DT 2024: For My Friend by Distant Tide : I’ve noticed a few Roland-centered entries from you, an interest that took on an added poignancy when I double-checked my lore and realized that Roland has been MIA since the /Infinity/’s destruction. Your exploration of Roland’s efforts to stay in touch with the ship’s embattled crew, especially poor, comatose Murphy was quite enjoyable and served as an interesting window into the grind of ship-board life amidst the chaos of staying free in a Created-run galaxy.
One of the most compelling components of the Halo universe are the eerily beautiful Forerunner ruins that make up the majority of the games' locales. From the very first scene in Combat Evolved we are invited into the haunting legacy of profound alien power. The organic environments of Combat Evolved, the overgrown temples of Halo 2, the incomplete ring in Halo 3 and the damaged superstructure in Infinite all tell a story that stretches beyond the science fiction battles raging on the screen. For this week, use whatever language you can to harness some of this sense of wonder and mystery at the heart of Forerunner technology. Feature any characters or situation you want. My one stipulation is that you not write any scenes featuring the Forerunners themselves and instead work to evoke the celestial mystery their absence evokes through what they left behind.
DT 2024: Hibernation Promise by Distant Tide (Winner) : I was already intrigued by your earlier focus on Roland and this piece serves as an excellent follow-up to your previous entry. Writing for AI characters is always a mix of challenge and opportunity, and you captured the poignancy of Roland’s uncertain fate in the aftermath of the Infinity’s destruction. Your descriptions are often the strongest part of your writing and you did a great job of conveying Infinite’s beautiful Zeta Halo environment in prose form. There was a sense of awe and grandeur in Roland’s recollections that I think did a wonderful job tapping into this prompt.
The Temple by Arminius Fiddywinks: Another remarkably evocative entry that did a great job conveying both the mundane and the alien. The discussion around the temple reminded me of the scene in Glasslands where Sangheili farmers detonate a previously sacred shrine to clear away farmland. You put a lot of work into throwing out a lot of alien terms to ground the reader on the planet and to convey the life Prin and Kre are living. My only substantive criticism is that this entry was almost double the prompt word limit. Great job all the same.
Despite all the action-heavy set piece battles encountered in the Halo games, a good chunk of the lore we enjoy in this universe is centered around espionage and cloak and dagger affairs. ONI plays a massive role in the Halo canon, influencing galaxy-shifting events from the shadows and inspiring countless concepts and characters present on this site. For this prompt, write a scene involving clandestine activities or backroom machinations. Naturally you don't have to limit yourself to ONI--there's also the quiet movements of Insurrectionist cells, corporate skullduggery, and even the vast machinations of the Covenant and other alien entities. Challenge yourself to limit the action and instead craft an interesting scene through more subtle methods.
Actene requested I take over the Weekly this week while he takes a break to catch up on his backlog. It's that week this week, that day of the year again. Valentine's Day is here. Romance isn't a pillar of Halo fiction, but fanfiction certainly weaves romance into any and all fandoms through shipping wars and occasional canonical stories featuring B-plots about some relationships, even for Halo. Some are more steamy than others, of course. That said, this week, write a short story of about 1000 word-target featuring a theme relating to romance. This prompt does not require actual romance, but anything related to the genre is acceptable: heartbreak, one-sided attraction, etc.
Confessions by StribogE17 - Winner: I had hoped for more entries but if it feels of anything special, I'm glad you offered me a Valentine's Day story to read. It's very natural feeling, the characters of Ava and Vilmos (mentions of Yvan are always appreciated too) are animated, subtle, and conversational - I really enjoy their back and forth dynamic, talking about what might be of little importance, daily chatter but for these characters, its a matter of dear life. They're all Headhunters, and being special and sent out into the galaxy to do nigh-impossible things gets just darn lonely. Then, the tech comes down and the walls with them. I love seeing your characters' backstory lore come to life this way, a step forward from summaries on a wiki page and exploring who your characters are dynamically, meeting them at their most honest and most vulnerable. I would say this piece ultimately doesn't do much with romance, but it does focus especially on intimacy and vulnerability, and makes mention of faux-romance. For those elements, I'd say this piece fits well enough and is the winner this week. Great work! - Distant Tide:Hunter - Killer
There's been a tonal shift in recent Halo lore that seems to minimize the destructive nature of the Human-Covenant War. Decades of war, dozens of colonies glassed, and billions of humans dead, yet most of human society shrugs its shoulders, makes peace with the Sangheili and other ex-Covenant species, and moves on. While there is some historic precedent for the human desire to just get on with life it can be a little disconcerting when Olympia Vale starts chanting Sangheili prayers in front of HCW veterans like Locke and Buck. For this prompt, write a scene in which a character reckons with the destruction wrought by the "Great War." They can be a colonist grieving over lost home and family, a soldier coming to terms with the cost of war, or even a former Covenant warrior reckoning with what their holy war wrought. Hew to about 1000 words here.
Helping Humanity and How We Failed the First Time with Pud B'Scul (excerpt) by Arminius Fiddywinks (Winner): Seeing as this is your third entry in recent weeks that has slipped well over the prescribed wordcount (nearly triple, this time), I feel obliged to point out that I do check these things when I read entries. This was a reasonably interesting piece with the creative setting of a late-night talk show, though the viewpoint character's removal from the conflict limited the emotional engagement somewhat.
After a few more specifically honed prompts, I'm in the mood for something basic this week. Write 1000 words or so of a scene featuring the sci-fi staple of an exotic alien locale. Do whatever you want thematically, just make sure to incorporate a strange planet or alien culture into what's going on. I'll narrow the scope a little bit by saying that if you choose to focus on the strangeness of a culture, use an existing Halo species and be creative within the bounds of established lore. Use your imagination and do something interesting!
DT 2024: Baoding Suns by Distant Tide: I appreciate how thoroughly you embraced the “strange” element of my prompt. We’ve debated the merits of highly descriptive prose before, and here you really played to your strengths by imbuing the Forerunner apparition with a wonderfully ethereal quality. Merlin’s disembodied musings were contrasted with the UNSC vessel’s businesslike approach to solving the problem. I do wonder if you might benefit from slapping timestamps on your “DT” shorts just to help readers place where they are in your ongoing saga. Overall this was a fun, short piece that captured the space and time bending wonder of the Forerunners.
Rock Music by Arminius Fiddywinks (Winner): This was a fun piece, especially given its framing during Operation: TREBUCHET or one of the other Insurrectionist-focused conflicts. The juxtaposition of the entirely human combatants with the alien environment made for some great imagery. The cleverly titled “rock music” itself was also very evocative, especially when contrasted with the tension-breaking combat. While it was a difficult decision as always, I decided to give the win for this prompt to “Rock Music” for its condensed but fully formed narrative.
Sometimes characters surprise you. Sometimes a character you invented just because you needed a name dropped in somewhere or a minor detail smoothed out grows and takes on a life of their own - and maybe becomes one of your favorites in the process. For this prompt, take a minor character from your work and flesh them out. Think about things from their perspective, give them hopes and dreams and motivations. Do whatever you want as long as you aren't focused on your "main" characters. And if you don't happen to have anyone who fits the bill, create someone out of whole cloth and start writing fresh with them. 1000 words or so, please.
I'm stretched a little thin this week so I'll keep it simple and ask for a scene involving naval combat in some way. It's a Halo staple so there's not much need to elaborate here. Just have fun with the prompt and write a compelling scene in 1000 words or so.
Fallen Oak by Falkeno (Winner): This entry’s a bit meaty at about 1500 words (I am checking these things a bit more carefully than I have in the past) but seeing as this was the only submission it’s not too big of a deal. I really liked the decision to narrate the kind of scene I’ve thought about many times: the frantic effort to evacuate a UNSC ship on the verge of destruction. Your narrative helped drive home the humanity of Kieran and the crew that form the lifeblood of any warship and I liked the frantic yet controlled effort to reach lifepods. This piece was a bit exposition heavy at the start (always a challenge in Weekly entries), but once the real narrative kicked off the evacuation flowed well. I did notice a few improperly capitalized nouns as well as some possessive forms in place of plural forms (frigate’s instead of frigates, Spartan’s instead of Spartans) that could do with some proofreading but otherwise a very solid entry.
You get two options for this week: you can take a more serious approach and write a 1000 word piece involving ODSTs or you can submit a 1000 word piece that embraces the site's new identity and takes place within the Helldivers universe, spreading managed democracy one word at a time. No other stipulations here, just enjoy yourselves with whichever option grabs your interest.
(For the latter option, be sure to post your entry in a namespaced article.)
Sage Advice by Arminius Fiddywinks (Winner): I don’t have too much feedback to offer on this piece, which I really enjoyed. The first half of the dialogue between Leo and Martin was very tight and believable, though it did drift a bit into cliché midway through. The reflection on Buddhist philosophy was an interesting way to wrap things up; the dialogue was definitely the focus of this entry, though the prose itself felt a little under wrought by comparison.
We all have that scene we're dying to write. The climax of story, a critical moment in a character's journey, a daring escape or exciting confrontation--these are the scenes burning a hole in your brain that you've just never had the chance to put into writing. Until now. And as someone who's managed to get many of these scenes out of my brain, I have to warn you: the end product isn't always the thrilling piece of literature you imagined. But that's all part of the writing process: get it out of your head where people can see and critique it, then double back and refine, refine refine. For this prompt, write a scene you've always wanted to write and give it a go. Be sure to provide a bit of context outside of the prose itself to help center the setting.
In order to give you more room to do your scene justice, I'm upping the word count to 2000 words on this one. Cut loose and have fun!
An Exercise of Wills by Sonasaurus (Winner): This was certainly a blast from the past, complete with a 2012 return to Corbulo academy. I appreciated your ability to do as much as you did—establishing the situation and multiple characters, drawing out the battle itself and then managing to wrap the story up as a self-contained episode. The action was quick paced and visceral, which helped you accomplish more in less writing space. The only thing I’d offer in the form of criticism is that some of the prose stated details the reader could be trusted to piece together on their own. As this story really stands on its own within the word count I decided to declare it the winner out of three really good entries.
Life and death by Falkeno: For a piece picking up in medias res you did a good job of establishing the situation for the reader; even without the flavor exposition prior to the scene I would have been able to keep up with what was going on. The choreography and visuals you wrote up for the fight between Artyon and his opponent were also quite striking. I appreciated how you used the action in the fight to convey personality and rivalry between the two fighters without the use of dialogue. You also knew just where to stop the fight before your reader got tired of the action. My only criticism is in regards to distracting punctuation inconsistencies throughout as well as a few awkwardly worded sentences and misplaced commas.
Isn't It a House? by Arminius Fiddywinks: I’m a little curious why this fairly innocuous scene is what you chose for the prompt, but that just made it all the more interesting of a read. I enjoyed the pacing and the deliberate way the team explored the Forerunner structure. One thing worth considering is that you shouldn’t be afraid to just use “said” as a modified for dialogue rather than more distracting words unless absolutely necessary. Your prose remains solid and the depiction of a mixed-species exploration unit conjured up some fun little adventure scenarios, though the Erdellians continue to stick out in the Halo setting.
Hey again, Distant Tide here stepping in to assist Actene while he's going through another busy week. This week's prompt will be another close proximity to canon. Write a short story about your characters and concepts occurring in the same vicinity of canon events or characters. Were your ODSTs or Marine pilots helping the Master Chief behind the scenes? Was your civilian family among those evacuated by Noble Team's efforts at Visegrad and New Alexandria? Did your character and faction get stranded thanks to Cortana's attacks with the Guardians? Are your characters and troops stranded on Zeta Halo in parts unknown trying to survive under Escharum's thumb?
The Ties That Bind by Sonasaurus - Ah, the cutscene camera just faded to black but the story goes on. Arbiter sees to his troops, a few agitated considering said Arbiter was a shamed heretic to their religion only a few days before. And now he's giving orders, and the human pet of his is too. Sergeant Johnson has some extra balls for sure. I admit I'm not caught up in Autel 'Vadam's lore but I seem to recall some details. I like how the pacing of this short brings out all the dirt and complexities Autel shares with Thel 'Vadam, all the history. It is a great set piece, intersecting canon events, canon context, and bringing in the elements of Fanon and with a complete picture of the fanon character. Overall, description and pacing of the prose was excellent. A well-rounded entry for this week's Weekly! This was a really close call, and I'm rather serious about that because I think Sona and Benson are up there among the best writers Halo Fanon has to offer. You both always bring solid, polished works to play ball no matter the project or contest. In the end, my vote has to go to Sona; I believe the Autel short story has a little more consequence and interesting dynamic with the Arbiter that I feel inclined to vote in his direction on this one. Thank you both for your contributions!
Cultural Exchange by AlphaBenson - Calson speaking my language, our language. No "Sangheili" in sight, why, they're stinky Alpha-Bravos after all! I know exactly the scene you're referencing here from Halo 3, even if not explicitly the characters in the scene itself. It's a nice gesture seeing fruits of labor beginning to emerge immediately as Elites and Humans try to coordinate together a little bit in their mutual fight to survive the coming battle, possibly the final battle for all they all might know. This piece does a great job exploring a range of views and concerns around the cultural exchange ahead of the Battle for the Ark: optimistic, pessimistic, opinionated, suppressed in the face of orders. Poor Olivia, the cost of a bag of bright blue balls! Great series of exchanges between the fireteam of characters, a solid and memorable cast, a great contribution overall for this one! This was a really close call, and I'm rather serious about that because I think Sona and Benson are up there among the best writers Halo Fanon has to offer. You both always bring solid, polished works to play ball no matter the project or contest. Thank you both for your contributions!
Hey again, it's Distant Tide stepping in to judge once more. There's not a particular a grand theme or concept behind this Weekly but let's take a shot at human-alien relations outside the lens of the Human-Covenant War view. Any story interpretations is fine as long as its not strictly warfare; I'd encourage angles of commerce, trade, and culture rather than strictly stuff like character-to-character relationships but that is acceptable too.
No Honour Among Thieves by Sonasaurus - Even in 2535, some Sangheili vagabonds eke out a miserable existence against the technological and resources peak of the Covenant civilization. Gotta barter them incubation pods, poor Autel! I like the quick, effective and short dialogue clearly moves the hostile negotiations to a resolution through mix of simple observation and action-reaction. No Honour Among Thieves is a slick, semi-spy thriller exchange with little frills and quickly carries the tale to a resolution, a cliffhanger, and an existential question to leave the audience on. I don't see any major issues with the prose either making it a very strong entry this week! Overall, I feel that Sona's entry edges out the competition balancing its different elements that makes it this Weekly Winner! Congrats, and great work everyone!
Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give Vadam by TheAussie1417 - A great collision between canon and fanon elements, having the tried-and-true tropes we come to expect from the ONI-Swords of Sanghelios relationship playing out of lies and mistrust. I do feel that some of the expositive elements are problematic: 'ONI Section 4 is a deep state division known only to itself' doesn't work for a highly bureaucratic system like the UNSC. At the very least Section 4 should have a true public face the way other Sections do and known intimately by Section 0 for Internal Affairs purposes. Some of the character descriptions are lacking but acceptable within a shorter word count limit; trading it for expositive dialogue is preferable. Overall, a great little piece of archetypes emergent as characters in a less conflict-driven short, though I find the 'state as fact' behavior might not live up to the lofty goal of some of the double speak stated in the narrator's omnipotent perspective.
What Comes As Expected Is Unexpected by Valikeitel - The choice of an omnipresent, second-person perspective is an odd direction for writing this short piece, leaving me somewhat uncertain on the effectiveness of internal thoughts mixed with third person observations and actions. We're in pilot Omar Wright's head but we also are not. Still, this approach does not hurt the readability or clarity of events displayed in this short story as a moment-by-moment dread follows him to the ground and out of a desperate sky battle. Valik's piece here offers a unique setting and consequential snapshot of odd politics in the early-late end of the so-called Post-war era for the Halo franchise but leaves some missing context to the wayside. "Why is our protagonist here?" Some of it might be implied by ONI/UNSC support elements working in tertiary lore with Swords forces in joint task forces but more information towards Omar's role would've gone a long way to paint a bigger picture for what a human might be doing, stranded on an alien world.
At Least It's Over (?) by Arminius Fiddywinks - This was a great snapshot of post-war existentialism that I really look forward to when it does make a rare emergence. While not much is given why the Sangheili ship is in port, it's not immediately important to the audience as the same for the protagonists discussing the circumstances after the Covenant War has come to an end. Humanity understands the important distinction: they survived; they didn't win. And the bitterness of survival and of those who did not - "war's [BLAM]-ed," I really appreciate the dialogue choices and particular descriptors that reveal only what is important to the conversationalists. The end of the war doesn't feel fair and that shows through.
With the recent "Banished Honor" announcement for Halo: Infinite, I thought it would be good time to dust off an old prompt and ask for entries featuring the latest villains in the Halo canon, the Banished. This week is simple, just write up any scene featuring the Banished. I'd prefer you to write your piece from the perspective of a Banished-aligned character, but if you just can't bring yourself to cover that an entry featuring them as the antagonists will also suffice.
Roughly 1000 words please, not counting any framing explanations you provided before the start of the scene.
Into The Light by Valikeitel : I really enjoyed the content of this piece, especially the weight you gave to Takra’s experience with his wounded brother and your attention to detail when describing the efforts to save Kham’s life. I also appreciated your soliloquy at the start of the piece; including these observations in your writing is a great way to give a scene weight and meaning beyond the immediate action. I would, however, recommend relocating the observation elsewhere in the piece. As a scene opener it is more confusing than elucidating and it would be better introduced further down once your scene and characters are established in the reader’s mind. I would also recommend reviewing your quotation attributions—phrases like “he said” ought to be introduced in lowercase when following a quoted sentence.
DT 2024: Kill Your Kind by Distant Tide : Your entry seemed to only tangentially engage with the Banished, though given the time frame of this prompt the lore drop on Ilsa Zane would have been pretty fresh. I’m afraid I don’t have a ton of feedback to offer on this entry—the prose is well crafted and you offer some interesting tidbits about potential plotlines for Andra to come, but unfortunately this piece does fall into that common Weekly trap of being a scene in which two characters just talk in a room together. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself but it does leave me wanting a little more at the end.
Money Talks by TheAussie1417 : Out of all the submitted pieces, I thought that your entry best portrayed the Banished as a cultural force within the Halo universe: a harsh, mercenary, and chaotic force tearing at the shattered remains of galactic civilization. The cultural tensions in the meeting between Varus and the Spartans summed the power dynamics up well, especially when contrasted with the tired and run-down UNSC forces. I would have liked a bit more exposition on the back end to better convey why exactly the information on the “Ghouls” was so valuable, if only to end the scene with more clarity of purpose. All in all a good depiction of the Banished and my pick for this prompt’s winner.
Every journey has an end, every path diverges, and all things eventually draw to a close. For this prompt, write a scene that depicts an end: of a journey, of a period in a character's life, or the close of a life itself. Try to be authentic and poignant in your piece and tap into the bittersweet emotions that well up as something fades away - and perhaps something new begins.
Roughly 1000 words please, not counting any framing explanations you provided before the start of the scene.
Out of the Ashes and Into the Fire by Sonasaurus : Another really solid piece, though it felt a little more focused on providing exposition on the circumstances surrounding Felix’s journey to Corbulo than on the scene itself. That’s purely subjective of course and always a challenge when it comes to drafting up Weekly shorts—always remember that you can drop a little introductory blurb before a piece that isn’t included in the word count if you think your reader needs a little something to orient them. That aside this was a good read with a lot of details packed into each paragraph, which is one of those things that we could all do more to work on when writing here on the site.
The Old Way by AlphaBenson : This piece was an absolute joy to read. Jiralhanae are a fun bunch to write about and you captured the rough brutality of their culture while holding onto the poignancy of the Captain’s musings throughout. His exchange with the young Bartium felt like a condensed run through the Jiralhanae history and their tenuous place in the galaxy and really fit the imagery of a grizzled warrior trying to make sense of his brother’s death while laying him to rest. My one piece of advice (since I’ve seen it a few times in recent submissions) is to remember that for “he said” attributions the “he” should be lowercase. This was all in all a great piece and my pick for the winner.
The Morning After by GazpachoSoupreme : This was an interesting piece to read, particularly given the uncommonly well-used second-person present narrative. The lack of clarifying exposition was a bit disorienting but the result was that you sharpened the focus on the dialogue and the narrator’s observations. Everything about this piece was tightly focused on the perspective character’s numb disorientation, which served to highlight their experience in the medical ward. This entry is a really great example of using a particular narrative style to convey feelings and themes to the reader, which is very useful in the short story format.
Hello everyone. I'm an old-timer as you probably know, so forgive me for invoking the name of an infamous RP that my fellow old-timers are doubtlessly familiar with. In keeping with this week's theme, the prompt will be fairly relatable to the good old days, at least the way I remember it. One of my core memories of playing Halo, particularly Halo: Reach but also Combat Evolved to some extent, has been deeply steeped in the trope of the Dwindling Party (see the TV tropes page if you're unfamiliar with the name, because you are most likely acquainted with the concept already). Write a scene where your chosen POV character is soldiering on through an increasingly bleak situation with an ever-diminishing group, where the odds of completing their objective — or even their own survival — are becoming less and less of a certainty as their numbers drop off one by one. Due to the limited word count of The Weekly, you don't have to write in detail about the fate of every individual party member, so maybe hone in on the tail end of the mission, or even when the first death ripples like a shockwave as the reality hits home for the characters. The point in time you choose is less important than the quality of the writing itself, so really try to sell me on the emotional gravitas above all else.
Given that I'm a sucker for writing longer prompts as a Weekly participant, I will up the word count to 2000. Good luck!
Hope You're Alright by Underlord1271 (Winner): Well, that was intense. I wasn't expecting any submissions in the form of a letter, but it's a visceral look into the harsh realities of a colony getting glassed. A sadly all-too-familiar occurrence during the 27-year hell that was the Human-Covenant War, and one that never gets easier to look at. Especially when it's viewed through the lens of the helplessly angry and terrified civilians who know that their survival is a constant dice roll — no, a lottery draw at best. Not to mention making it out with your entire family is astronomically impossible, and even if you do make it, the best you can hope for is to be shuttled to the next colony that will probably be found by the Covies before long. A never-ending cycle of dread and despair that you've encapsulated very well in this one letter, and I don't have a whole lot of criticism except to maybe refrain from having the POV character write "I was traumatized", since that feels more like telling than showing. Otherwise, great job.
Absent Comrades by Lieutenant Davis: What's this? A familiar name penning a story of a character from our glory days of RPing on the IRC? From the premise of this piece, I can't help but think of how it translates to the authors who used each of the mentioned Freelancers as their character vessels, most of us having been scattered by time and all the different places life has brought us to. I wonder if that was on your mind when you wrote it the way it is on mine as I read this. It's certainly a melancholic sentiment, to be a bit older and wiser in the wake of some catastrophic event that pulled everyone apart, or simply the end of an era like the HCW that brought about a new set of problems to tackle in the ever-changing universe. In terms of feedback, I'd be a little more consistent with the naming conventions, since I noticed you switch between the first and last name without any particular reason, and I would focus more on sinking deeper into how Jerrold feels about his thoughts rather than listing out the hard logical facts with apparent detachment. Still, it was a treat to read this after it's been so long since I revisited this corner of our collaborative efforts.
We're all well-acquainted with action scenes set on a ravaged battlefield, whether it be on an ancient ringworld, an evacuated city, or in the middle of nowhere. But far less commonplace are the firefights and secret ops set in the middle of a thriving and otherwise ordinary civilian-populated district. An easy example that springs to mind would be Johnson's mission at the beginning of Contact Harvest, and there are probably several others for those who are more up-to-date on the current canon than I am. So that will be the assignment for this week, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a UNSC op or even a mission in the traditional sense. It could be espionage, a disagreement that escalates into a gunfight, an act of terrorism, or even something entirely non-human in the throes of alien political unrest. Be creative, as long as the incident occurs in a relatively everyday setting not seen in your usual game campaign level.
Roughly 2000 words, though shorter submissions are welcome too. Quality over quantity and all that, I just like to leave a little more breathing room for creativity.
Missed Opportunities by TheAussie1417: For a setting and time period utterly unfamiliar to me, you did a great job with setting the scene and providing the appropriate amount of context. I don't have to know the full story behind Kropotkin, the RISC, or their adversaries who don't seem exclusive to the Pinks. As is often the case with an ongoing civil war, the situation is chaotic, shows blatant disregard for the safety of the civilians in the area, and though I have no real idea what the conflict is about, I consider that to be a feature rather than a flaw. The one suggestion I do have is to utilize sensory information more often than direct info − in other words, show, don't tell. I caught a few instances where the heightened sense of danger would have been better conveyed through the POV characters' reaction to a gunshot or an explosion, rather than simply registering that it happened. Other than that, great piece.
The Wrong Side of Divine Intervention by Actene: Being able to read these stories with the benefit of hindsight is always fun, as we the audience know full well that the pride the Sangheili take in their crusade is not only arrogant but completely misguided. Which makes Anha's disdain for the Ossoona's role all the more foolish, given that in truth they are both cogs in the same machine. So good job capturing his fanatic zealotry, it came across very viscerally within the first few paragraphs. Which makes it all the more satisfying when the Scorpion (operated by a Spartan we are all very familiar with) systematically eliminates Anha's forces and wipes the confidence from his demeanour. If I have one reservation, it's the brief POV shift from him to Noti, within the same scene, a writing choice I have habitually avoided in the last few years. But aside from that, this was well-written as I have come to expect, and though I did have a more civilian-populated setting in mind, this does technically fit the specifications I wrote down for the prompt. Solid work.
Quite the Leap by Arminius Fiddywinks (Winner): A short story written in first-person? Now those are very rare indeed. It took me a moment to realize the POV character was a Sangheili, something I would have made clear from the opening paragraph seeing as you don't have the usual luxury of disambiguating with a full name as a third-person narrative would. I don't actually know what a "kort" is, but the surrounding details give me enough to work with. And this actually came up in a conversation I had on Discord earlier this week, but the image of Sangheili enjoying snack foods is rather wholesome, and a novel concept to boot. Engaging in a public brawl is not something I have seen from Sangheili before either, but given their racial background, it's hardly out of character for them. Although the prose is a tad unpolished here and there, I must say I enjoyed the lighthearted tone of this short and the glimpse into a lived-in Urado culture which is otherwise unfamiliar to me. Not to mention the rarity of seeing Sangheili exhibit an actual sense of humour, something I myself have struggled with depicting organically in my own work. For these reasons and a few extra points for creativity, I choose this piece as the winner. Well done.
As we move from May to June and enter the long, hot weeks of summer, I want to take the opportunity to offer another themed series of Weekly prompts. For the next few weeks I invite you to submit prompts that link with each other according to the prompts I offer (Though the prompts themselves will be left open-ended enough to accommodate writers who weren't able to catch previous prompts!). The theme for this summer will be that of a journey-the winding roads of life that characters embark upon during their quests for meaning, truth, love, vengeance, or simply survival. Take this opportunity to send a character or characters on a journey and weave a tale or at least a series of scenes laying out the path these people walk. For this week, the prompt is the start of a journey. Show a character encountering something that sets them off on a different path from what they've done or experienced in the past. Focus on both whatever instigates this journey and the first steps (figurative or literal) taken to begin it.
Since the last few prompts have been set at 2000 words, I will keep that as the standard limit for the rest of the summer. Try to keep entries within that limitation, though there's always some grace extended to about 100 words over the maximum.
Kindling by KingOfYou115 : I always find it exciting to be introduced to new characters in Weekly prompts (apologies if Erin has been featured before, sometimes it’s hard to keep up) and I found this start to Erin’s new journey to be intriguing. I did stumble a bit at first trying to sort out exactly why she was put in cryo-sleep to begin with and you certainly had more room to provide more exposition to make the situation clearer for your reader on the front end. However, Erin’s situation was evocative and compelling and this piece left me curious to see where her journey will take her from here.
The Book of Zar, Part 1 by Arminius Fiddywinks : This was a very compelling piece—I was not expecting the Banished to make an appearance, so Zar’s recruitment during the prison break was a welcome surprise. I also found the work you put into establishing the daily routine in the prison intriguing and it did a lot to set the tone and setting for the rest of the piece. I appreciated your efforts to establish Zar and Verth’s character through their dialogue; the prison escape plan did seem a bit rushed but you made a point of acknowledging that in Zar’s point of view. This is clearly intended to be the first of many entries in Zar’s story and I’m really interested to see where you take things from here.
Back in Action by Lieutenant Davis : It’s been a while so I’d honestly forgotten about Jerrold’s Freelancer angle. That revelation threw me for a bit of a loop at the end, but I really enjoyed your buildup throughout the scene leading up to that exposition dump. The prose movement from the murder of the criminals through Jerrold and Bramnov’s interaction did a great job setting the scene and introducing me to Peruggion as a setting. A few minor prose quibbles aside I had a great time reading this piece. The way you established both Jerrold and Bramnov’s characters through their dialogue set it apart and leads me to name this entry as the winner.
A sense of place grounds a reader in the here and now of a story. The setting of any story becomes part of the relationship between a character and the world around them. Relationships between characters and setting provide insight into a character's sense of place and what they believe about themselves. For this next phase of the summer journey, write an entry that shows how an environment effects a character's feelings, actions, and perhaps most importantly their motivation for carrying on in their journey.
2000 words or less, with the usual 100 word margin of error.
A Phoenix Unfurls Her Wings by KingOfYou115 : It’s interesting viewing these linked entries in context with each other, and I really enjoyed the dynamic you established through making Erin pass the S-III jump test twice. The way you framed this scene did force you to use a lot of passive voice and I wonder if more of an explanation on the front end—rather than Erin’s reminiscing—might have helped avoid that. As with your last entry I will repeat my advice to use the heightened word count allowance to make your paragraphs more meaty. I want to extend particular praise to the Phoenix metaphor you used to link the entry’s title with the wings on the jump-pack the trainees used, and I wished you’d made more use of that imagery in the prose itself, even if the comparisons were just happening in Erin’s head.
The Book of Zar, Part 2 by Arminius Fiddywinks : This was an excellent continuation to Zar’s story. I would advise you to compile these into a single article at some point to link them together for both future readers and potential awards. In the meantime, great work using these prompts to move Zar forward as a character through these snapshots of his life in the Banishes. I particularly appreciated the effort you put into detailing Krathun’s setting, from the activity in the bazaar to Zar’s observation of the birds in the trees. The visceral aftermath of the bombing also stood out and I’m one again curious to see where Zar’s service to the Banished takes him from here.
A character pursuing their goals is not complete without the drama of encountering obstacles that interfere with that goal. Some of the most exciting and dramatic relationships in stories involve an antagonist interfering with a character's attempts to reach their goals. Antagonists create obstacles, confusion, and diversion while scenes between them and the protagonists create tension, conflict, and curiosity. Create such a scene for this week that either introduces an antagonist figure or builds on an established antagonistic relationship between two characters. I want to emphasize that this should be more than just idle grousing or arguing - one character should be actively working to impede another in some way, either by force or otherwise. Try to craft tension between these opposing characters while still keeping your entry entertaining to read.
2000 words or less, with the usual 100 word margin of error.
A Kaidon Falls by Sonasaurus: This was a very well put together scene that again worked to do quite a bit of storytelling within the limitations of the prompt word count. Thel ‘Vadamee himself was a surprising choice of antagonist, but the confrontation between him and Autel did a good job establishing both of their characters. I do wonder if some of the exposition surrounding Autel’s relationship with Thel might have been better conveyed as part of Autel’s internal narrative rather than spoken dialogue during the duel, but that’s all simply a matter of convention. Overall this was a very well constructed piece with the added bonus of featuring quite a bit of flavor text establishing Rahnelo’s unique customs within Sangheili society.
The Book of Zar, Part 3 by Arminius Fiddywinks: I had wondered when the Erdellians would rear their furry heads in these pieces. As always the Erdellians and their assumed prominence is a bit distracting, though the introduction of other species like the fungoid Ukhno gave the raid on the conference a more interstellar, Mass Effect-like tone. The Banished raid gave Zar further chances to descend into piratic villainy, though the focus of the story seemed to be more on Zar’s efforts to get through the hostage taking rather than his antagonism with Kai, who felt more like a run of the mill obstacle rather than anyone particularly significant, despite his past with Zar.
Forced Meeting by Lieutenant Davis: The continuation of Jerrold Pershing’s adventure threw an interesting twist into his scuffle with local crime bosses by pitting him up against a corrupt sheriff rather than an enforcer. The dialogue between Jerrold and Bianchi did a good job setting the tone for Jerrold’s character, though the exchange felt like a bit of a missed opportunity by not doing more to contrast Jerrold and Bianchi’s backgrounds and motivations. Although your space is limited by the word count, some deeper insights within the dialogue would have added some added pathos to the conversation’s violent conclusion.
A character can't always be in control of their situation. In fact, most of the dramatic tension in a story comes from a character's response to challenges that threaten to strip them of control or push them in directions they don't want to go. In the previous prompt I asked you to establish an antagonistic figure into your narrative. This week, follow that up with a scene involving a response to that antagonist (or to antagonistic forces more broadly). How does your character's fear, flaws, hatred or other negative emotions inflamed by their antagonist drive the actions they take as you move the narrative forward? Use this as an opportunity to explore your character's reactions to weakness revealed to them by the challenges they now face.
If you didn't get an entry in for the previous prompt, by all means submit one for this week. Just make sure you feature a character grappling with challenges or with the consequences of an antagonist you're free to establish or allude to. (Bear in mind that you can always provide a bit of introductory text outside your prose submission to contextualize the scene. This introduction doesn't add to your word count.) 2000 words or less, with the usual 100 word margin of error.
In Blood and Honour by Sonasaurus: Following up immediately on the events of your last entry made this a nice continuation, and I especially enjoy your neat formatting of relevant Sangheili cultural artifacts and words. I’ll definitely need to reference these entries for future work. And just when I was wondering if this entry might fall into the “two characters talking” Weekly formula—there’s a lot to be said on why that’s both a good and bad thing, but that’s for another time—you pulled out a fun action sequence that showcased the friendship between Autel and Fira. The warriors’ banter did feel a bit formulaic but overall another solid entry into Autel’s revised journey.
The Book of Zar, Part 4 by Arminius Fiddywinks : I enjoyed the setup to the assassination scene, particularly the interesting detail regarding Zar’s injured arm. You did a particularly good job of setting up the atmosphere of your set-piece, though a few more alien details would have helped keep my brain from simply conjuring up the imagery of a human city based on the terms you used. I also noticed a few awkward phrases such as “he dual-wielded old plasma rifles” that might have looked better as something like “he held a plasma rifle in either hand.” However, these only stood out to me because you are usually much better with these turns of phrase. I do appreciate how you’ve been able to keep Zar’s narrative coherent over the course of these prompts and I’m interested to see where things go next.
Trencher Fed by GazpachoSoupreme (Winner) : I often find myself advising Weekly entries to make better use of the prompt space to flesh out characters and scenarios, but with this entry I feel that you did a great job using the word count to its full advantage. This scene felt very well paced, first with the scene setting and the conversation establishing Arianne and Amani’s relationship, the chase, and finally the confrontation ending with Arianne’s grim satisfaction. I thought this was a character-driven and emotionally effective entry that used Arianne’s “triumph” over the thief to highlight her internal struggles. The good use of the theme along with your concise pacing made me choose this entry as the winner for this prompt.
The last two prompts have been fairly situational, so I'll keep this one simple. Demonstrate a character's flaw as they take another step toward their goals. Show how this flaw interferes and sabotages with their own progress towards whatever it is they want. However, to create a bit more depth to the scene, keep this self-reflective insight a secret from the character. Try to demonstrate the flaw and its consequences to the reader without being too obvious about it.
2000 words or less, with the usual 100 word margin of error.
Pawns of the Prophet by Sonasaurus : I’ll start with a minor detail first in that I appreciated the sense of foreboding (intentional or not) that you established through having a Jiralhanae vessel routed to support Autel’s team given what we as the readers know is on the verge of happening. I struggled a bit with this piece, mainly due to the heavy exposition on the front end. The details surrounding the Secoona assassins were interesting, though the team dynamics felt a bit routine without contributing much to the scene. I also felt that Vena’s presence needed more explanation, especially given that a juvenile Sangheili’s public disrespect to an authority figure went utterly unremarked upon. The parting between Autel and Vena felt as it ought to be important but lacked much weight within the context of the scene.
The Book of Zar, Part 5 by Arminius Fiddywinks : This was a difficult piece for me to review. It felt clunky and rushed in some areas and yet I really enjoyed your use of Zar’s situation as an opportunity for him to explain his past. Zar’s narration helped explain his character and make him a more sympathetic figure than he’s been in previous entries. The details surrounding his fall from grace and imprisonment were interesting and I also thought you made good use of the first-person narration to speed up Zar’s escape from the planet in order to wrap up the episode and narrate consequences with En’Geddon. While there was certainly room for improvements stylistically I enjoyed reading this entry and the conclusion of events on Zarid enough to mark this as the winner.
Naval Games by Voidlazarus : I enjoyed your quick setup of various characters from a range of backgrounds as well as some really lovely details in scene descriptions. You also did a good job of maintaining scene brevity without feeling too rushed, an important skill to have in Weekly entries and writing in general. While I try not to hang too much feedback on stylistic choices, I will say that italicizing all quotations was a bit distracting and I’d caution against overusing all-capitalized dialogue as much as possible. I also found more than a few grammar and punctuation issues (particularly in dialogue) that were more distracting than engaging. I’d recommend giving this piece some re-reads to catch some of the errors.
Often times, you don't get to pick a family, and in the horrors of the Human-Covenant War, your family can be taken in an instant. For those who have lost their family, or separated from them, they may come to find their own family. While it might not be the traditional nuclear family, for those scarred by the war it might be enough to get them through. I want the subject of your story to be a found family, the makeup is entirely up to yourself so long as it can still be identified as a family.
Madison by KingOfYou115 (Winner): I liked the descriptions of the location, and of people's movements, it felt very natural and maintains a clean mental image for the reader. One thing I found lacking is descriptors for the large majority of dialogue. These serve to set the emotion and tone for the dialogue, and without them we can only infer the intention the speaker has. Its a minor thing, but you've sidestepped one of my big bugbears by introducing some fictional future stuff to replace modern options. Overall I liked it, and the time skip works well to shift the tone of the story as it evolves.
Without Name or Number by Sonasaurus: I liked the scene setting, as we consistently had a really good visual of what exactly was happening during the course of the story, which helped to set the stage well. I found the dialogue itself it be somewhat stilted, and the weaker part of the story, as it doesn't feel like a natural conversation. It feels like dialogue from a movie, rather than dialogue actual people have, and is the weaker half of the story.
The Book of Zar, Part 6 by Arminius Fiddywinks: Lack of exposition on the dialogue makes it difficult for the reader to interpret the intended tone or emotion. There was significant wording left in the budget, which I think could have been used to give a hint of exposition, or set some of the scenes a little better, as when read in isolation its a little tricky to gather all that's going on. I do love the internal dialogue that Zar has during the course of the story, as it does an excellent job of setting his mood, though there is a weird moment where he has contradictory thoughts about Verth that switch back-to-back within two paragraphs, that don't really align with one another, and is a little confusing.
Glassed Memories by Voidlazarus: In a few places, the wrong word shows up, like tome instead of tomb, or dissembled instead of dismembered. Similarly, the tense changes, and looks to be unintentional. I think this probably needed a few more proofreads just to weed those out. The characters don’t always act naturally, like how Saffron had previously been on the edge of death, and severely wounded, and a short while later is jumping up and down and screaming. Just remember to keep an internal consistency with people, their state, and their actions. Make sure similes fit the context. “laughed at her confusion as if she were a worm in the rain” is a bit weak, as opposed to lets say, “laughed at her confusion as if she was prey caught in a snare.”. Similes work best when they invoke a strong mental image. The dialogue is good, and is the stronger part of the story, but just make sure to read through it a few times, and ensure the people sound natural, and act naturally, similar to the previous comments. Its a good start to writing, and some pointers to grow from.
Tranquility by S-D379: There's some run on sentences, where they go a bit too long. These should have been broken down into smaller sentences, to make them easier to read. I think you may have wasted too much time on the exposition, showing us how Vaish and Parisa got here, time that would have been better spent focusing on their relationship and time together. I do like the setting they find themselves in, and the struggles she has in trying to write, and how you've translated that into your writing.
Ah Alpha Company, the Spartan-III Company that seems to have fallen through the cracks compared to the giants that are Gamma Company and Delta Company, well at least until I got involved that is. So in honour of me deciding to get Alpha's lore sorted, I've decided that for this weekly I want people to write a stories about this 'so far' unloved company. Maybe you have always had your own ideas for an Alpha that you've never had the drive to write for some reason, maybe some of the new lore's put a story concept in your head, maybe you just want to stick to the canon and write a last stand during Operation: Prometheus, or maybe you want to have some other Spartan's discussing the tales from Alpha Company. Well this is your chance to finally do it.
Word count is 2000 words or less (anything over 10% of the max will be counted against the submission).
Weekly 336: What Lurks Below by BardoXCIX (Winner): Writing children is a hard task for any writer. Normally, when we try to get into our character's heads, we do so with the idea that they generally think like we do. However, when we write from the perspective of a child, we have to factor in the fact that children's brains think in simpler terms than adults. They are easier to distract, argue over trivial matters, and lack the maturity that develops with age, even with a few years of military training. Yet despite this difficulty, you seem to have written a story that sounds like it was from the perspective of a child. Your protagonist is distracted by colours in the wall, how Ezekiel nearly argued with Delvin over just bumping into him, and how Halle (who seemed the most mature of the trio, and is naturally the team leader) had to get them back in line. You even managed to get characterisations in for each character, Halle I've already mentioned, Ezekiel who seems to have found his niche and takes it very seriously even if he still needs to do some more 'growing up'. Finally, there was Delvin, who sounds like the youngest member of Team Salamander. He still has some of the childishness that comes with youth, an interesting contrast to the hardened Spartan he later becomes, which adds depth to his character. The choice to have a sentinel appear was an unexpected, but intriguing surprise and hints that his encounter with one could have been a precursor to what later befell Team X-Ray. Whilst my grammar is so famously terrible that I can't spot any flaws, one thing that I did notice was the random fight breaking at the end. I don't know why you thought to include it, since I feel you could have instead added something to expand the story further. But that's me just nitpicking an all-around good piece.
After a couple darker prompts (as well as about a month of inactivity on my part) it's time to introduce some brightness back into your characters' journeys. The last prompt (discounting guest prompts) called for struggle and defeat for the protagonist. Now show them picking themselves up and striving towards a brighter future either for themselves or for those they care about. Note that this doesn't necessarily mean that they are free of their struggles, only that they are able to look past the immediate challenge and have hope for a better future. Try to include some action and engagement with other characters rather than engaging with pure introspection. In order to leave room for both, I'm keeping the prompt limit at 2000 words. As always, if you haven't submitted anything for my previous prompts in this series that's no reason not to submit an entry, just make sure your theme lines up with the prompt.
I'm also pushing the time limit for this prompt out to two weeks since we still have a fair amount of unjudged prompts in the wild and because this continues to be a fairly busy period for me with other commitments.
The Book of Zar, Part 7 by Arminius Fiddywinks : This entry was surprisingly short, but life being what it is I understand the feeling of writing under a tight deadline and commend your resolve to submit an entry anyway. As brief as this entry is I thought you did a good job in the exchange between Zar and Verth, particularly in how you set up Verth’s easygoing character and perhaps even (unless I misread) allowing some room for the reader to question his commitment to the friendship. As this piece was relatively short all I might offer by way of feedback is to suggest that you might have added more details to your paragraphs in order to give the piece a bit more weight.
Lifeline to the Stars by Sonasaurus : I wasn’t expecting any entries to incorporate an actual tunnel, so color me surprised. This was a solid mix of action and character interactions. I appreciated the details surrounding the assault on House ‘Cazal, which felt particularly grounded and Halo-appropriate. The assault helped foreground Autel’s conflict with Thel and the reunion with Ceyla offered a different side to Autel’s personality. Despite the grim danger of the conflict you still ended on a convincing high note with another solid entry into Autel’s personal journey.
I'll follow up the previous prompt with another simple situation. Write a scene in which a character attains some meaningful goal that they've been striving for, either in previous entries or in some prior experiences that you're free to elaborate on in your post. Try to convey just how meaningful this goal is to your character without relying too heavily on blanket exposition. I'm not a huge fan of "show don't tell" as a universal writing tool but in this case do try to show rather than tell. I leave it up to you to decide whether the goal turns out to be everything your character hoped or if they find that victory rings hollow. Since this is a more toned down prompt I'll draw the word limit back down to about 1000 words.
Hope You're Doing Well by Underlord1271 : As short as this entry was I appreciated the rural simplicity described in the heartfelt communique. The interesting blend of pastoral and industrial scenes gave this piece an out-of-time feel not unlike the epilogue in Halo: Reach. The disconnect from more tangible plotting and characters makes it a bit hard to offer more feedback on this entry but I can hardly fault you for a stylistic choice. All in all a fun read and a nice follow-up to your entry in May.
The Book of Zar, Part 8 by Arminius Fiddywinks : After a series of well-paced entries chronicling Zar’s journey this entry felt a bit disconnected from the prompt and more than a bit like filler content. You continue to use Zar’s first-person point of view to convey interesting details—I particularly liked the comment that Zar could not recall his Unggoy or Kig-Yar subordinates’ names—but the gangster-style robbery passed by quickly and seemed a bit rushed even within the word constraints of the prompt.
A Kaidon Rises by Sonasaurus : I heard some rumblings about the reduced word count for this prompt but quite frankly I thought this scene fit well within those constraints. Autel’s brutality in finishing off N’von felt appropriately Sangheili and helped establish the gravity of the scene. The focus on action drew away from the internal impact of Autel’s rise, though I felt that you offset that through his unspoken interaction with his uncle Jido at the end of the piece. Out of all the entries for this prompt this felt like the most balanced and was therefore my pick for the winner.
Some of the best narrative storytelling happens when an author carefully and deliberately plots out causation into their story. Put another way, when drawing up a plot "because" is always a better conjunction than "and then." This heightens tension, builds drama, and makes outcomes far more interesting. Your story unfolds at a deliberate pace rather than simply being a string of connected events. For this prompt, take a previous Weekly entry and show how the events of that piece lead to consequences in your entry. If you're new to the Weekly or just don't have a previous entry you're interested in expanding on feel free to simply have your entry reference past events while showing how they are affecting the present events in your entry. This prompt is fairly loose on the details so feel free to explore and experiment so long as you make it clear that the events you're writing about are influenced by previous developments.
DT 2024: She Acted Alone by Distant Tide : It’s been a while since you submitted something for the Weekly and I particularly enjoyed how this piece demonstrated your growth as a writer. The opening descriptions of Meredith Freeport had some poetic vibrancy to them and your way with words has become a lot sharper and grammatically clearer. I did notice some sentence fragments that were more jarring than prosaically licensed but overall the setup and exchange between Andra and Kallas was very well done. Thematically my only note is that Kallas came across as a bit too squeamish for a skull-masked ONI ghost in his exchange with Andra. I’m not sure if this was intentional but a bit more implied ruthlessness on his part would perhaps serve his character better, even if your intent here is to contrast his discipline with Andra as a loose cannon. That aside, great job with this entry. In another hard fought category I decided to go with this entry as the winner for the literary flair exhibited in the description of Meredith Freeport.
The Book of Zar, Part 9 by Arminius Fiddywinks : I enjoy the continued—and much needed—exploration of life within the Banished network, particularly the more humdrum details of operations away from combat. Zar’s development as a character was displayed well here, particularly in his envy at Verth’s continued success and his own emotional confusion springing from these feelings. Relatable touches like this are a wonderful way to keep even as morally compromised a character as Zar relatable and sympathetic for your readers. You do such a good job burrowing into the Sangheili mindset that a few of the more “human” gestures (I noticed at one point that Zar raises an eyebrow; it might be best to invent a more particular Sangheili gesture here) almost pass by unnoticed. Well done with Zar’s continued journey and development.
Reality Check by Sonasaurus : Well written and paced as always. Without wanting to harp too much on it I did find the emphasis on Vena’s adolescence early in the entry a bit distracting when coupled with what she’s shown to be capable of; there does seem to be an impulse to do as much as possible to mark her as special, as seen with the Huragok-fashioned armor. That aside, the piece was well crafted. The transition from Autel to Vena’s perspective is interesting, particularly in light of the Great Schism’s chaos and I’m interested to see where her journey leads now that her path has intersected with Shinsu’s. (For any interested third parties, I’m rather in the dark on this despite the obvious and for the sake of my own entertainment I’d like to keep things that way.) Another great detail I noticed on a second read is how small details within Zacynthus’s behavior and dialogue helped to quickly flesh out an otherwise one-note figure and introduce more variety into the scene.
Sleight of Hand by GazpachoSoupreme : I usually don’t make note of formatting in my feedback but I have to shout out your formatting on this and other pieces. Fandom’s wiki formatting is becoming increasingly harder to read and your page layout offsets this problem for a much more pleasant reading experience. I’m considering copying your formatting for some of my own work. I also must confess that this entry made me deeply regret setting the word count so low. This was by far the most interesting read and sadly it was made so by more than doubling the allotted word count—the only reason I didn’t declare this entry the winner. How Spartans (particularly renegade, under the radar Spartans) try and fail to blend into ordinary life is an interesting route to explore and Ari’s playful scam—and its less than playful results—not only breathed life into her character but helped to explore the relationship between her and Reyes. Returning to Ari’s life in the unglamourous world of space-docks and freighter crews was an enjoyable read and I look forward to catching your next entry.
Distant Tide here again, filling in for a busy Actene. Halo World Championships was this last weekend, not that many of us keep track of that sort of thing. The new Operations Pass for Halo Infinite featured a gladiatorial arena with a roaring crowd of multiple species, including Jiralhanae and Humans. Now what kind of event would bring existential foes together to celebrate? The Spartan inside the arena might suggest bloodsports, so that's this extended Weekly's theme: Bloodsport.
Now, this prompt does not require you to write about Spartans in a gladiatorial arena, instead, I am asking you to write about your characters participating in aggressive sporting events and to explore the setting and consequences. This could be Spartan simulation War Games which we're all familiar with, it could be a Banished gladiatorial arena or a firefight last stand inside Escharum's House of Reckoning, or maybe its a Grif/Gravball arena sporting event. Whatever your flavor, try to explore a new facet of worldbuilding or characters with this Weekly. You'll get an extended couple days so we can reset the Weekly schedule to the start of a week.
Everything comes to an end eventually. Throughout the summer I've offered prompts that asked entrants to build upon previous submissions in order to craft storylines for their characters. As summer becomes fall (at least in my climate) I think it's appropriate to bring this ad hoc series to a close. For this entry, offer a scene reflecting some kind of conclusion or resolution. This can tie in with previous submissions or it can stand on its own within whatever gives you a flash of inspiration. If you want to reference an older submission or a story/article outside of Weekly submissions just be sure to provide some context in a blurb outside your prose. Your scene can be joyful, tragic, bittersweet, or any mixture of emotions. And of course this doesn't have to be any definitive end for your characters or their narratives; just write this entry as if you were providing your readers with a conclusion to a novel or longer story.
The Book of Zar, Part 11 by Arminius Fiddywinks : I enjoyed the pacing in this entry. The sequence of farewells with Zar’s team created a bittersweet tone that resonated even with more banal moments like Zar’s admission that he doesn’t know his Unggoy underlings’ names. The act of departure from one team only to move on to another highlighted the series of encounters and farewells that have resonated throughout Zar’s journey. The ending of this piece did leave me wanting a bit more, particularly regarding Zar’s destination in his service to En’Geddon—a detail made all the more intriguing knowing En’Geddon’s ultimate fate. Zar’s musings at the end of the story were a great way to bring the narrative to a close. The open-ended nature of the story fits with Zar’s morally gray narrative but I think it might have been more powerful had Zar come away with something deeper than simply determination to continue serving with the Banished in his search for meaning.
The Onyx Chronicles/Farewells Are in Order by S-D379 : The Onyx Chronicles are another one of Ahalosniper’s charming and lasting contributions to site lore (Very much like The Weekly!) and so I’m glad to see one entered into my final prompt. Vilmos was certainly the highlight of this entry; it’s good to see the oft-referenced but rarely appearing Spartan alive and kicking despite his creator’s protestations. The Onyx Chronicles always wove an interesting line between adolescent camp antics and the grim military reality of Spartan training. The graduation celebration here really encompassed that contrast, and while it perhaps leaned a bit too far into the former category you offered decent justification for the lapse in discipline. The closing seen of Iris and Senna watching the fireworks was sweet but a bit predictable and might have benefitted from some more introspection about the grim realities facing the Gamma Company graduates in the universe beyond the firework-lit sky.
We Were Strangers, Once by GazpachoSoupreme (Winner) : Another lovely entry in Arianne’s strange spacer journey. I can tell you put a lot of effort into the prose and flow of this piece. The stream of consciousness style writing made your writing flow much differently than your usual fan fiction fare and that really sets this apart from other writers. One of the risks you take in writing like this is that you may confuse readers who aren’t 100% familiar with what is going on and piecing together the flow of events—particularly in the transitions between Arianne and “Red”’s perspectives—took me out of the story a little bit. Don’t take that as any sort of need to pull back from this style, just a reminder to be aware of the risks you take with this sort of writing. Although I suppose I won’t be judging more entries like this in the future I look forward to seeing more stories about Arianne elsewhere on the site. In another tough-to-judge category your stylistic risk-taking was the deciding factor in declaring this piece the winner.
The Lucky Ones by Sonasaurus : It’s always a risk writing an OC side by side with a canon character but here you did a great job capturing the Master Chief’s distinctive voice without crowding out Felix or making either character too deferential to the other. Master Chief’s own reminiscing and regrets felt right at home with his character in Infinite while Felix’s own narrative pointed to a way forward out of the Created Crisis and on into an uncertain future. There’s not much I found in this piece to critique—the dialogue flowed well and carried the characters along their respective arcs. It might be worth reviewing dialogue attributions; I find that alternatives to “said” feel unnecessary when they might be replaced by a longer observation or omitted altogether. A few moments of expository prose (the interesting detail regarding the “Kangal Shepherd” comes to mind) might be adjusted to read a little better but that’s more nitpicking than anything else.
Actene: Full Circle[]
All good things must come to an end, and (if I may presume to label my stewardship of the project “good”) so too must my time as manager of the Weekly. I’ve been honored to oversee this project for the past three years and now the time has come to step aside. The Weekly will go on a brief hiatus while my fellow admins sort out a new person brave or foolhardy enough to pick up the reins. I do have a few prompts left to provide feedback for—including one long neglected prompt from February—and will work to complete these in the coming weeks. I apologize for the delays in judging that have increased these last few months. It has been a very busy year for me spiritually, personally, and professionally and my site responsibilities often took backseat to all of that.
I wholeheartedly thank the entire Halo Fanon community for its past, present, and future contributions to the Weekly. Prose writing sits at the heart of fan fiction. Stories, characters, and their emotional and thematic hues live on long after the page is turned or the browser turned off. Some of the stories I’ve read here on the site continue to resonate with me and impact my approach to my own work. It takes real courage to put your work out there for all to see. It takes even more nerve to submit your work for some stranger to critique and evaluate against other people’s entries. Anyone who ever submitted an entry to one of my prompts afforded me a great deal of trust. I hope that I proved worthy of that trust.
After three years of prompts and feedback I think that I’ve earned the right to dispense a few self-important pearls of wisdom, so allow me a few parting thoughts. When it comes to writing, as with so many other things in life, talent is overrated. Writing is hard work. Joyful work, when approached with an open and creative heart, but hard work. You only get better by writing more and more often. If you aren’t satisfied with your work, write more. If you think everything you’ve ever written is garbage, write more. If you’re exhausted, take a break. Read something, get inspired… and then come back and write more. And never discount the impact your work may have on someone else, even if you don’t see it. Don’t lose the joy or passion or whatever else drove you to write in the first place. And when in doubt, write more.
Dorothy Sayers, one of my favorite playwrights, believed that the creative spark is one of the most profound ways human beings come close to God’s divine act of Creation. Put more simply, writing is one of the best ways to create rather than simply consume. So don’t be afraid to write. Let it be something joyful and lifegiving. This website may be a place for fan fiction, but that fiction is yours to create, improve, and cherish.
It’s been my privilege to steward this project for so long. I hope to submit my own entries to future prompts in the years to come. Keep writing and never forget to take joy in your work.
Actene has passed the torch. The days are spookier but not for very much longer. There's a chill in the air, but it might not be a ghost over your shoulder. The days are shorter and hot breath condenses in the open air. I apologize for starting the new Weekly off with a haphazard opening and little fanfare, but life got busier than I planned for. We will return to more regular scheduling for the Weekly with rotating judges by the Administration's choosing. For the next Weekly, our old friend Brodie-001 will be stepping up to the plate. I leave the theme and schedule to his discretion since we started late in the midweek. Thank you all for the patience as we continue to maintain one of the site's longest, hallowed traditions.
Without locking into a particular festive mood or theme, write a short story this extended weekly period mixing horror with a secondary theme or literary device of your choosing. Explore an additional item while using horror as your vehicle. This way we get a late Halloween theme and we can do a little more with the November end date.
As writers of Halo fan fiction, we often find ourselves including our own characters in larger battles and events that take part in the canonical Halo universe. Sometimes these stories bring our characters so close to the main story that it's been a running joke in our community that if you moved the camera slightly in any given Halo game cutscene, a bunch of our guys would be standing there. Sometimes this gets a little close to the line as far as plausibility is concerned, but hey, we make it work (mostly).
So, as a prompt for our 343rd Weekly contest, I would like our writers to do exactly that! In 1500 words or fewer, write a short piece featuring an original character involved with the ongoing events of one of the Halo games. It could be an Army trooper present for one of Noble Team's missions on Reach, a civilian sheltering from New Alexandria's glassing, or a lucky alien who escaped a brush with death at the hands of the Master Chief. For an extra layer of difficulty, top marks will go to particularly creative ways of doing this, beyond the POV character being a generic soldier you'd encounter in any of the Halo games.
Egret Egress by Actene: The chaos and destruction amidst the evacuation efforts on New Alexandria is definitely one of the more emotional moments in Halo: Reach, especially the spaceport evacuation (which I'd also written a short story in once upon a time, come to think of it). I've seen plenty of stories about narrow escapes from the Covenant onslaught, so one about someone who doesn't escape is a nice twist. Reda was developed well for someone in such a short story, and I liked his honestly fairly relatable outlook and details of the events leading up to him being aboard the doomed transport craft. This little tale of sort-of accidental redemption taking place just a short distance away from the finale of the campaign level was exactly what I wanted from this prompt. Maybe B312 spotted them?
The Exchange, or, The Loss of Bazi IV by Arminius Fiddywinks: Quick thing to note as it's a mistake I'd often make in the past - the word 'human' doesn't need to be capitalised like the name of an alien species. I think I like the idea of this post - the point of view of one of the Covenant Separatists aboard the Shadow of Intent after joining forces with the UNSC on Earth - but unfortunately I think it falls a bit in its execution. The way it's written feels more like a diary entry than an actual scene, running over the events of the cutscenes that take place after Floodgate with a focus on the little exchange of arms at the end. There's also a mix of tenses once or twice from past to present tense that you should watch out for for consistency's sake, and the piece could be formatted better in terms of paragraphs and focus. Again, good idea, but I think this piece was a bit disjointed. I do like the idea of Johnson accidentally pilfering someone's personal weapon for his gesture of interspecies cooperation, though.
I've made no secret in my time on Halo Fanon of my love of writing about combat between planes, starfighters, and the like. It's something that has gotten some love in the Halo games, from the Sabre scene in Reach to Halo 4's Broadsword section, but the franchise's love of the Pelican has led to the sidelining of our brave fighter pilots and I think that's a shame. Anyone willing to launch into combat in a universe where an errant missile or ship laser might vaporise you instantly is an instant badass, and I want to hear their stories.
This week's prompt will be nice and simple. In 1500 words or fewer, I want anything that involves a character flying some kind of fighter - no dropships! These can be human or Covenant in origin (alien fighter pilots are very few and far between on the site) and while it it doesn't have to necessarily be a combat scene, I'll be looking out for the most exciting entry to declare the winner.
Silver Arrow by Ajax 013: I couldn't help but get a few Ace Combat vibes while reading this piece, whether it was intentional or not, and you'd clearly put some work into the physical effects of fighter combat, something that many readers (myself included, admittedly) often omit in sci-fi work. I like the inclusion of the Covenant fighter ace and the clear rivalry between him and Foxley, though I do wish he'd been given a little more character; aside from his acknowledgement of Foxley as 'red tips' it might've been interesting to hear his panic over the COM as the human craft manages to best him instead of the usual cookie-cutter human-hating alien zealot dialogue. I'd also give the story a once-over as I noticed a bit of missing punctuation - nothing too serious but enough for me to note. Still, it's an engaging piece and I enjoyed the read. It's a very tough decision between entries this week but I think I'll give this one the winner by virtue of being a little more what I envisioned with the prompt.
Takeoff by Actene: A human pilot flying a Covenant-made fighter was certainly a surprise, but an interesting concept that I don't think I've seen at all on the site, surprisingly. I was hoping to actually see some combat in the post, though the end makes it clear that the outcome of the dogfight is a foregone conclusion in any case. Tamar and the crew are quickly but effectively introduced and personalised, and I like the notion of pilots 'becoming' their craft via neural interface connection - something I'd forgotten to include in some of my work, come to think of it - and the launch sequence and buildup was great. I just wish I'd gotten to read the actual fight, but hey, word limits.
More often than not on Halo Fanon our character biographies are a list of battles and conflicts, following the lives of supersoldiers, not-so-super-soldiers, alien warriors and the like through the Halo franchise's many wars. Often you'll see an early life section detailing their upbringing, homeworld and family, but rarely do I ever see what happens to these characters when they come back. Where do they go when the war is over? Home can mean many things to many people, and quite often in Halo there's no home to come back to.
For this prompt, write a piece about a character's homecoming. It doesn't have to be about their house or their family; it could be a place they haven't seen in years, or the feeling they have of being back on familiar ground. Since it's December, you can even make it about Christmas if you'd like. Have fun!
With the Annual Awards ongoing this will be the final Weekly prompt of 2024, so I'm going to set the word limit to around 3000 or so. Enjoy yourselves, and I hope to see some good entries in the new year!
Prison of the Mind by Minuteman 2492: I'll admit I was expecting more heartwarming stories when I wrote this prompt, but hey, at least you wrote one! I think you nailed a lot of the setup here, with Flowers returning to a place that no doubt contained nothing but awful memories for him. It's a grim story, and while we don't really get much in the way of Flowers' inner thoughts, the reader can infer pretty easily how badly affected he was by the sights of the old prison. Even with the bigger word count I found myself wanting to read more, but it's a decent standalone piece.