# October 2015 Theme Voting



## kilroy214

Thirteen Themes go in, one comes out. There can only be one! (insert any other cliché of your choice) Pick your favorite one, one vote a piece. Poll closes Wednesday, 30 September at 04:40GMT.


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## Teb

Where's the options?

Edit - bit hasty there[-X


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## Harper J. Cole

Pouch cream. *Pluralized's* persistence should not go unrewarded. 8)


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## Pluralized

Harper, you're a man/woman/robot after my own heart. *Smooch*


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## Ariel

Forget it.  Pouch cream needs to be retired.  I'll judge it if I have to but only because my husband's the host.


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## aj47

I have a *plot* for pooch cream.  But I voted for something else.


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## Pluralized

amsawtell said:


> Forget it.  Pouch cream needs to be retired.  I'll judge it if I have to but only because my husband's the host.



I will continue to nominate pouch cream as long as I draw breath. Luckily none of you know where I live. 

*back under my rock*


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## Ariel

According to your profile it's somewhere in Colorado.


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## Sleepwriter

Now we just have to check for any freshly moved rocks and we should be able to find him.   Anyone up for scouring roughly 105 thousand square miles?


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## J Anfinson

Pluralized said:


> Luckily none of you know where I live.



I need you to take like three steps to your right so you're in front of a window again. My guy can't get a clear shot.


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## Pluralized

Yeah, okay. I'll be Jason Bourne. No, better yet, I'll be Tuna-Tits Johansseeooon, 642 Beaver Pelt Road, Svalb'gobble, Sweden, 0054294


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## joshybo

I was the first person to vote for pouch cream in this one, and I will keep voting for it until it someday wins.  It's probably best if we all just agree that the time has come.  POUCH CREAM IN OCTOBER 2015!


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## W.Goepner

Pouch cream, I am a deranged man, I keep envisioning a kangaroo with a pouch full of cream.


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## Crowley K. Jarvis

I just imagined Pocket Flan. xD


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## Ariel

_Seriously?!?_ You're all going to make me read about pouch cream?


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## Deleted member 56686

I guess I should note that the host always has veto power. Just sayin... :-\"


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## Pluralized

I don't have some perverse attachment to this weird prompt, despite what you might think. But 'Eyes in the Dark' is another boring prompt, requiring minimal effort to dream up ideas for *something* peering out of a dark space. It's become the mascot of the LM, that thing, and it's totally fine. Whatever produces inspiration. But I'll always put forward unusual prompts because you need to plumb the depths of your imagination and that is part of why I like writing to prompts in the first place. Hell, I can write about eyes in the dark just about anytime (and have done so way too many times). 

Just being a contrarian voice, but also I truly believe we are at our collective best when challenged with a prompt that seems oblique on its face. And, as host, I would hope you guys remain impartial as has been the spirit of the LM for a very long time. I'd invite you to read Fin's comments on prompt nominations; the guy was always fair and left the community to their vote. If the host was to go through and 'veto' our ideas, and cherry-pick what they wanted, that would drive people away and cheapen the entire process. Say what you want about the other challenges, the fiction LM has proven to be the pinnacle of Maneuvers. Manoeuvres, too.


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## Ariel

I highly doubt that Kilroy will veto what wins based on my opinion of the prompt.  We're fairly even-minded people (he moreso than I).


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## aj47

Plu, being "contrarian" for its own sake is NOT noble. It's closer to asinine.


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## joshybo

I feel like this issue is getting blown out of proportion.  I also don't think it's fair or consistent with the rules of this site to refer to someone (or their actions) as "asinine" simply because we disagree with them on an issue.  There is a certain validity to unusual prompts, at least as far as I can see.


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## Shi

Wait wait wait. Is 'pouch cream' what I think it means?

I don't even know what I think it means. It might be something...best confined to private chambers, so I won't ask what it means here, but could someone kindly provide a link or something that will enlighten me?

I'm probably too innocent? :'[


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## Kyle R

It can be anything you want. You can have a space traveler who discovers a leather pouch full of ointment—the only ointment in the universe that can stop an invading species of giant killer slugs.

I can think of dozens of other ways to interpret the prompt.

I'm on Plur's side on this one. _Eyes in the Dark_ is an easy prompt, to me. It's solid and crisp. It's like _A Man with a Gun_ or _A Dog with Rabies_. It's clear. It's specific. It conjures immediate imagery.

_Pouch Cream_, on the other hand, is unique, bizarre, and borderline inappropriate (lol). It takes a little more imagination to craft a story out of it (in my opinion).

Give me a prompt like, _The Bad Guy Wears Denim_ and I'll think, "Okay. Not much of a challenge here. Story practically writes itself."

Give me a prompt like _Automatic Zucchini_ and I'll go, "What the hell? Okay, now _that's_ a challenge."

Just my perspective on it. :encouragement:


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## Ariel

^ And this is why I object to the prompt in question.  My first reaction was not innocuous and about beauty products but rather about something worse--which is part of the reason why I think so many of you have voted for it.  The idea is titilating because it seems _scandalous_ in some way.


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## Riptide

The challenge arises from trying not to write the first thing that pops into you head. To make the story unique in the face of tried and true. It could be a box of cereal always peeking from a crack in the pantry who a guilt stricken guy has attributed human qualities to.


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## J Anfinson

Just to argue, while some prompts are unique by proxy, ones like Eyes in the Dark can also be a challenge. Sure, you can go with the obvious, but the challenge to me is to give you something you're not expecting. Just saying.


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## Kyle R

I agree. I think taking a seemingly direct prompt and going a unique route shows great imagination.

Me, personally? I'm more a fan of prompts that appear to have no obvious route. Like _Pouch Cream_ or _Frizz Trappings_ or _Walnut Revolution_. Prompts that make you go, "This makes no sense. How can I find a way to use it?"

I like the puzzle aspect of it.

To each their own, though! :encouragement:


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## Phil Istine

I guess it must be my dirty mind.  When I first saw "pouch cream" a while back, my first thought was to write a piece that involved sexual behaviour.  Not that I object to that, but my afterthoughts see other possibilities.  Being a fiction challenge expands the possibilities more readily.
N.B. I haven't yet voted on which prompt.


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## TJ1985

My mind's eye sees a cartoon mother Kangaroo with inflammation... I need to get out more. I really need to get out more....


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## Pluralized

W.Goepner said:


> Pouch cream, I am a deranged man, I keep envisioning a kangaroo with a pouch full of cream.



Joey Salve!



Crowley K. Jarvis said:


> I just imagined Pocket Flan. xD



Yes!



amsawtell said:


> _Seriously?!?_ You're all going to make me read about pouch cream?



Zeus willing.



Shi said:


> Wait wait wait. Is 'pouch cream' what I think it means?
> 
> I don't even know what I think it means.QUOTE]
> 
> Therein lies the beauty.
> 
> 
> 
> Kyle R said:
> 
> 
> 
> It can be anything you want.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For sure!
> 
> 
> 
> amsawtell said:
> 
> 
> 
> My first reaction was not innocuous and about beauty products but rather about something worse
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> POUCH CREAM! Okay, I don't know about you guys. What kind of 'pouch' are you thinking about? I was thinking about a cream for conditioning a leather satchel, perhaps worn by a bearded traveler. But if you want it to be dirty, I guess it can. But so could eyes in the dark. Anything can be dirty if you want it to be.
> 
> 
> 
> J Anfinson said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just to argue, while some prompts are unique by proxy, ones like Eyes in the Dark can also be a challenge. Sure, you can go with the obvious, but the challenge to me is to give you something you're not expecting. Just saying.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You're totally right, of course, but I'm just arguing we need a healthy mix of prompts and not just a list of dragons, monsters under the bed, and eyes in the dark. We've written about shadows, fairy tales, Saturday night in the city of the dead, stranger at the door, a children's story, etc etc. But we've also written things like unexpectedly nude and killing things best when selling nothing, both of which garnered unexpectedly awesome results.
> 
> As Kyle said - to each their own.
Click to expand...


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## kilroy214

I maintain the philosophy that there is no such thing as a boring prompt, only a boring writer.

If you can't come up with something compelling, new, and exciting from any of the 13 prompts above, or any from those nominated on this forum ever, then the problem lies within you.

I have never been a fan of the extremely odd prompts, and personally I don't think 'pouch cream' is really out there (Plums Defy!, now that's an odd one) because you can write anything you want. The more vague the prompt, the more vague the writing. If you're going to do that, you might as well just have a Free Write competition. 

This, of course, is my own opinion, and in no way reflects on my duty as a host here. I have no intentions of vetoing a prompt if it is chosen. I might not be Fin, but I am a writer, and by proxy an artist, complete with an artist's integrity. I would like to point out that all rules apply for competition as they do for any other section of the forum, so keep that in mind for whatever prompt wins.


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## Terry D

We had the same concerns about Alien Mating Rituals (which, BTW, was another prompt that was around for several months before being chosen) and few, if any, of the submitted stories were salacious in any way. Pouch Cream doesn't trip my trigger, but I could give you a decent story from it. Remember, the story doesn't have to be _about_ the prompt -- it just needs to include it in some way. Hell, you could write about a shoot-out in a drug store and have one of the characters throw a jar of something called 'pouch cream' at a cop.


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## ppsage

Some tribe or another, probably of Mongolian origin, makes cheese or yogurt or butter or some creamy stuff by filling up a stomach with dairy, attaching it to their saddle, and riding around with it for a couple weeks. What's so disgusting about that? I can't figure out what you guys are talking about. I thought everyone knew about Plur's barbarian roots, and I'm sure that's where this came from.


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## Terry D

ppsage said:


> Some tribe or another, probably of Mongolian origin, makes cheese or yogurt or butter or some creamy stuff by filling up a stomach with dairy, attaching it to their saddle, and riding around with it for a couple weeks. What's so disgusting about that? I can't figure out what you guys are talking about. I thought everyone knew about Plur's barbarian roots, and I'm sure that's where this came from.



No, no... that's saddle cheese, another story entirely.


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## LOLeah

Very difficult to choose! I like the kind of creepy vibe I'm getting from a lot of these options, just in time for my favorite time of year.  I will have to think on this awhile...


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## J.J. Maxx

Just my 2 cents, but I find 'pouch cream' a little too restrictive. Being an imaginary thing, all a writer must do is imagine an object, and give it the name 'pouch cream' and incorporate it into their story. (Which will undoubtedly not be centered around the object.) However, the prompt is simply a label for something else, anything else in fact. The prompt might as well be 'zartaflast' or 'bikkenherp'...

For what it's worth, I voted for 'Drowning' because I prefer the macabre, but 'Eyes in the Dark' works just as well.

That being said, I will write the hell out of 'pouch cream'. 

Cheers.

~ J. J.


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## W.Goepner

Like I said before. It is my disturbed imagination, but yes, like "Alien Mating Rituals", one does not have to go with the weird or unusual as the prompt suggests. I only stated where I envisioned it to be. But a real logical and I believe true use of the term for pouch cream is, a combination of oils which are used to soften the leather in a baseball glove, especially in the area around the webbing and the palm. (also known as the pouch.)

"Eyes in the Dark", There are so many ways to take that for me, There is the unseen enemy, where when you see the eyes you can be the next victim. Or being at a party and having the lights go out and seeing everyone's eyes glowing. Or even better a blind man's ability to see where everyone else is unable to.

I must apologize for voicing my dirty opinion on the subject.


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## Smith

I would have voted for Eyes in the Dark, because as somebody else said, I find turning the 'typical' into the 'unique' a good challenge.

However, I selected "Anything, just give me something to write" because that was how I felt at the moment. Doesn't matter to me what wins this time around.


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## Arthur G. Mustard

Come on Without a Paddle! Late finisher coming up on the rails.


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## StephLondon

It's my first time voting and wow, thems some interesting topics... I'm wondering who came up with 'pouch cream' and what made them think of it. Seems that it has been around for a while now, haha.


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## Harper J. Cole

'Pouch Cream' is *Pluralized's* baby. As to what made him think of it, who can guess ... :hororr:


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## kilroy214

It's best not to ask those kinds of questions. Sheeesh, leave something to the imagination.


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## Pluralized

Yeah, trust me -- you don't want to know.


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## kilroy214

Eyes in the Dark it is.


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## Kyle R

Sorry Rob. We tried. The world isn't ready for creamy pouches yet.


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## Teb

But people are warming to the idea.


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## bazz cargo

Shoes on a wire.


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## Teb

Methinks it's going to be the turn of Pouch Cream to moisten our creative tendencies.


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