witer trapped in his story

A certain writer has always been terrible at describing people. In order to fix that, he starts basing his characters on real people he sees on the street. When these people start disappearing, he wonders (not really daring to believe it) if he had anything to do with it. It keeps happening, and the idea that it's his fault keeps nagging at him, until he finally bases a character on himself and finds himself trapped in the story.

AAP by KeikoCharna

The Talent Thief

A young boy lives with his mother in a small village. She's a laundress and works hard every day just so they can get by. The boy is sad that she has to work so hard and wishes he could help. One night when he can't sleep, he goes to talk to her and finds her still up sewing. But the thing is, when she's sewing it's like she's glowing with happiness because she's actually doing what she was meant to do. It's her true talent. The boy sees how happy she is sewing and the beautiful things she's making, and he asks her why she doesn't sell them. She says they're for people who can't afford it, and selling them wouldn't be right.

The next day he notices other villagers who seem to have these hidden talents, because when they are engaged in these projects they also give off this glow. There's a chamber maid who sings while she works, a grocer who writes amazing poetry on the back of receipts, and a butcher who paints in the back room of his shop. The boy's talent is seeing the true talents in others. No one uses their talents for their own gain; they all hide away and just enjoy/share their talents in secret.

One day the boy meets a girl about his age, who has also noticed the talents these people have. She doesn't have the same ability to see the glow; she has just heard the singing, read a snippet of poetry, etc. The girl tells the boy that she's found this door into another world where these talented people can go and share their talents all the time and be praised for them and never have to worry about slaving away in the real world.

The boy thinks this would be really cool so he uses his talent to point out what the people in the village can do. The girl takes the boy into the magical world and he sees the people using their talents and glowing away; but when he comes back to the real world and sees the people back there in their ordinary jobs, they seem to have forgotten all about their old talents and they're frustrated and angry. He assumes that it's just because they're trying to hide the fact that they're so happy in that other world.

Finally, he tells the girl about his mother's talent. He can't wait to see how happy his mother will be sewing in the magical world, but when he runs home he learns that her talent in the real world has totally disappeared. She doesn't remember that she could ever sew or why she would want to. She goes to bed exhausted after her work doing laundry and she's just sad and tired all the time.

The boy goes back to the magical world and finds out that the girl has been stealing the talents and set herself up as a kind of queen there where the poetry, singing, etc. are only used for her to enjoy. The boy has to figure out how to get the girl to give the talents back to the people in the real world.

AAP by CallMeMara

The Wizard's Wife

I was going to call it "The Warlock's Wife" or "The Wizard's Wife."

A human girl finds herself accidentally married to a brash young warlock, and because of the permanent nature of magical marriage, they find each other irrevocably bonded for life.

AAP by Lavender Ink

kid sucked into video game becomes villain

Here's a general plot that I seem to see every year (or maybe I'm crazy):

MC is obsessed with [insert video game] and starts to neglect everything else, family, friends, school, work, etc. Late one night while he's playing there's an electrical storm and it strikes his house and, through the game, so is he. When he wakes up, he's been transported into the game and he has to complete the task/win the game in order to escape.

*Alternative version* (which I have /not/ seen before and if anyone writes it and is comfortable sharing I would love to read it):

MC is obsessed with [insert video game] and starts to neglect everything else. This game is the type where you can choose your alignment (like Fable), meaning whether or not you're a good character. Anyway, he chose the dark side so, when he's transported into the game he is the villain. In order to escape the game he might have to defeat the heroes /or/ in order to escape the game the heroes have to win so he has to help the heroes while at the same time being the villain.

AAP by Imaginary_Rose

magic school, tech school, religious school

In the 21st century, an old-school (four elements) mage and a techno-mage (uses computers, etc.) start rival schools. Both work very hard to recruit the best and brightest kids (and the richest donors) for their schools, and both try to keep the public at large from learning of their existence.

Then they are joined by a third school, a school of religious magic...

AAP by Raksab

hero too stupid to live - sidekick saves world

I was cheerfully tearing apart a published novel where the main character had a bad case of Too Stupid To Live, and was wondering why his buddies kept hanging around and saving his behind anyway. Then I thought: what about a story where the side kick is the REAL hero?

The challenge was dished out to explain WHY the side kick would stick around, and this is what I came up with.

1) Sidekick was hired by "Hero". Although Hero is a complete moron, Sidekick was paid, and has a code of honor/sense of responsibility that keeps them from just dumping their stupid ass.

2) Younger sibling is determined to act the "Hero". Older siblings tags along lest they get themselves killed.

3) Young male plays the role of "hero" becuase, well, it's expected in his society that the males are the warriors! His girlfriend, actually the more skilled of the two, tags along becuase she loves him and someone has to keep saving him...

4) Chosen "hero" matches the prophecy but has all the common sense of a sheep. The prophecy-maker, feeling somewhat responsible for this poor clod's being sent on a mission that will likely lead to his death, feels compelled to stay with him.

5) Sidekick is very smart, but not charasmatic. He wants to be powerful and awesome and hero-like, but isn't cut out of "hero material". He finds someone who seems to be cut right out of heroic cloth. Nice, everyone loves him, but...his grasp of tactics and common sense is lacking. Sidekick thinks that being the real power behind the hero is a totally okay gig. Could very easily turn dark and sinister from there...

AAP by ObsidianDragon

upper-class demon-hunter

A girl has difficulty adjusting to her first job; in spite of her upper-class upbringing, she has chosen to join the ranks of the demon-hunters who risk their lives battling the plague of monsters which surge through the city every night. The girl's colleagues are certain she'll get herself killed before the week is out, but she survives to prove that she can hold her own. However, when her partner disappears, she begins to realize that the demons are not the simple monsters they appear as, and that a memory from her childhood might hold the key to ending the plague for good.

AAP by strdst_grl