Feature
Do You Fancy a Bit of Paradox?
Do you fancy a bit of paradox? Why then, look here. For though all paths are before you, but one can you take. For all things you can be, only one you can become. For all the choices you have, almost all are without your grasp. It is my fancy, my cruel gambit. My one rule, as you play my game. You can have everything, but yet, only one thing.
Say not that I am cruel, for I have rolled the dice, and lent my advice. It would be easiest, you see, for you to go here, see this, and do that. To jump here, this high, and fall here. I have stretched down across conception, down to caress your life with my strange, numbered limbs, and how they come to rest dictates the path you should tread. But that is no game, no game at all! A fancy of chance, a flick of the wrist, from start to finish! No, that is just the setting.
The game, my friend, is simple. Step closer, and listen, for though I tell every man, every woman, I only ever say this once, and it is easily forgotten in the petit mal of conce
Do You Fancy a Bit of Paradox? by Rhetoricism
"I am an architect, and nothing more. It is your calling to make of everything what you will, and there are no shoulders that the weight will rest upon but yours. If, should you choose to bend and reforge those numbers I rattled around a cosmic cup at your inception, be warned."
This is a fascinating exercise in prose, which takes the last prompt of "the process of reinvention" and goes above and beyond with it. As a formal but conversational piece, it makes for a very realistic persona of 'fate' speaking, and becomes a delight to read with every new refreshingly original phrase you stumble upon - "petit mal of conception", as well as the entire three sentences I've chosen above. A delightful read.
My critique on the piece can be found here.
Prompt
Happy April Fool's Day! (Or not.
) Did you know that there were two festivals, before April Fool's Day, that bore resemblances to the modern day event? The Roman festival, Hilaria, was held for the Roman goddess, Cybele - after a solemn procession, all sorts of games were permitted, with masquerade being the most popular. The unusual, fascinating thing was you could disguise yourself as anybody - even royalty! - and it would be allowed.
The Feast of Fools was celebrated from the 5th to the 16th century in Europe. A young man would be a person of mock power - usually religious - and become the Lord of Misrule, in the theme of social revolution; there were masquerades, as well as song and dance. The festival often mocked those in power - doesn't that make you think of V for Vendetta?
So the prompt is: write something inspired by the older festivals of April Fool's Day. How can a masquerade symbolise a social revolution, or a breakdown of societal or political roles? Why does humour and celebration enable us to ignore those roles? How do we find freedom or power in disguise?
Don't forget to submit your responses to the folder here if you want to be featured!
Resources
Here are some other resources (from around the internet) chockfull of prompts for both prose and poetry, ready to help you out if you're in need of any. There's several more that have been added from a list in the deep recesses of our back room, though if you have any suggestions for prompts or for resources or anything related at all, let us know in the comments, that'd be great!
Outside dA
Language is a Virus 
NaPoWriMo Archive Toasted Calendar Easy Street Prompts writingprompts.tumblr Poets&Writers Groups
And these are some amazing prompts Groups from inside deviantART. Be sure to check them out if you want something more to work on!
