scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/3gs5ko.md

## [Weekly Challenge] Disney Movies

* Author: u/alexanderwales  *Time flies like an arrow**
* URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3gs5ko/weekly_challenge_disney_movies/
* Score: 28

* Created: 2015-08-12T22:57:18

### Post:

## Last Week

[Last time,](https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3fxp28/weekly_challenge_clones_clones_and_clones/?sort=confidence) the prompt was "Clones, Clones, and Clones". /u/eniteris is the winner with their story ["Spur"](https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3fxp28/weekly_challenge_clones_clones_and_clones/ctsxkb0), and will receive a month of reddit gold along with super special winner flair. Congratulations /u/eniteris! (Now is a great time to go to that thread and look at the entries you may have missed, especially the late entrants; contest mode is now disabled.)

##### This Week

This week's prompt is slightly different from the usual; instead of a trope or genre, we'll be doing a specific canon of work. The theme is "Disney Movies". Pick you favorite Disney movie and write the rational version of it! (Depending on the response, we might have more of these in the future; if you have a canon you really think would work well for a challenge, add it to the list.) Remember, prompts are to inspire, not to limit.

The winner will be decided **Wednesday, August 19th.** You have until then to post your reply and start accumulating upvotes. It is strongly suggested that you get your entry in as quickly as possible once this thread goes up; this is part of the reason that prompts are given a week in advance. Like reading? It's suggested that you come back to the thread after a few days have passed to see what's popped up. The reddit "save" button is handy for this.

##### Rules

* 300 word minimum, no maximum. Post as a link to Google Docs, pastebin, Dropbox, etc. **This is mandatory.**

* No plagiarism, but you're welcome to recycle and revamp your own ideas you've used in the past.

* Think before you downvote.

* Winner will be determined by "best" sorting.

* Winner gets reddit gold, special winner flair, and bragging rights.

* All top-level replies to this thread should be submissions. Non-submissions (including questions, comments, etc.) belong in [the meta thread](http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/39dxi3), and will be aggressively removed from here.

* Top-level replies must be a link to Google Docs, a PDF, your personal website, etc. It is suggested that you include a word count and a title when you're linking to somewhere else.

* In the interest of keeping the playing field level, please refrain from cross-posting to other places until after the winner has been decided.

* No idea what rational fiction is? [Read the wiki!](http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/wiki/index)

##### Meta

If you think you have a good prompt for a challenge, [add it to the list](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B6HaZc8FYkr6l6Q4cwBc9_-Yq1g0f_HmdHK5L1tbEbA/edit?usp=sharing) (remember that [a good prompt is not a recipe](http://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/prompts?src=RECIPE)). If you think that you have a good modification to the rules, let me know in a comment [in the meta thread](http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/39dxi3). Also, if you want a quick index of past challenges, I've [posted them on the wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/wiki/weeklychallenge).

##### Next Week

Next week's prompt is "Science Is Bad". We're all familiar with [Caveman Science Fiction](http://dresdencodak.com/2009/09/22/caveman-science-fiction/); this is your chance to do it *right*. [See the entry on TvTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScienceIsBad). Your challenge is to do this in a way that won't be cringe inducing for people in this subreddit. Yes, you can also use this opportunity to do "Engineering Is Bad" instead.

**Next week's thread will go up on 8/19.** Please confine any questions or comments to [the meta thread](http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/39dxi3).

### Comments:

> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+26]  (18 hours later)
> 
> [Monsters, Incentivised](http://pastebin.com/E2YPz86u)
> 
> Forgot to mention it's 1,586 words.
> 
> Now that the competition's over, I'm posting the [notes](http://pastebin.com/Nyd09Kyg) (spoiler warning). A lot of them I've already summarised in spoilers in comments below. Note that most of them are just world-building for my own purposes, not meant to be gleaned from the story.

>> **u/None** [+6]  (4 days later)
>> 
>> Fuuuuck. [](#s "So the Illuminati dude is a monster with the power to make portals? I was kinda expecting him to turn out to be a human somehow. The idea of such a massive conspiracy is still as implausible as the irl Illuminati; I guess I'd like to think that Creak is just an unreliable narrator and isn't as smart as SpookyDude thinks. He jumped to the Illuminati conclusion, but there's a lot more to it than he first thought. Shame he didn't have the maturity to play along, though. Greater good, etc.")
>> 
>> Also, very clever title.
>> 
>> I think it's rather remarkable that all the submissions so far have been for different movies. Quite an appreciable coincidence!

>>> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+5]  (4 days later)
>>> 
>>> [](#s "The conspiracy is true. It's not so untenable as in real-life (though it would still never work, it does explain the movie better than the canonical explanation), because they have overwhelmingly improved the living conditions of the entire monster world and they get a bit of leeway as a result.")
>>> 
>>> [](#s "The Earth Illuminati conspiracy is more unlikely because it practically breeds malcontents and would rely on convincing large swathes of the population to perform obviously immoral actions. In this universe, people's needs are satisfied (albeit in a way that also benefits the conspiracy). They don't agitate for change or dig for dirt about Monsters, Inc. and the other major companies involved. Those that do have a hard time gaining traction, and are usually placated in non-violent ways before they actually find anything significant.")
>>> 
>>> [](#s "I didn't do a great job of explaining it in story, but the protagonist lies somewhere on the autism spectrum. His social skills are underdeveloped, leading him to not notice the obvious signals people give. It also means he doesn't forget much about his chosen obsession (Scaring). This makes him an outlier in his ability to (accidentally) ferret out the conspiracy and his resistance to minor social pressure. It also gets him killed, because he can't lie convincingly.")
>>> 
>>> [](#s "Also, I did consider making the monster a disguised human and involving humanity in the conspiracy too. That carried an even larger complexity penalty than 'world-wide selfishly benevolent conspiracy', sadly, but it would explain why humanity doesn't investigate and attack (a single slip-up could end their entire world's plan, compromising their only energy source). In the end I decided to keep the appearance, because monsters find humans terrifying in canon. The monsters who saw Mr. Creak go off with the Suit would have known that shit was about to go down.")
>>> 
>>> [One last aside](#s "I changed the naming system from canon (where surnames would fit in perfectly on Earth) to focus on professions and attributes as you would expect in the monster world, analogous to how English and probably other languages do it (e.g. 'Smith' and 'Black'). Thus Creak and Scuttler.")
>>> 
>>> [**EDIT:**](#s "Oh and I forgot to mention that the Suit can't make portals innately or anything. The portal technology can be initiated from either end, so the interrogation room has two portal-capable door mountings. Somebody engaged a portal from Conspiracy HQ to interrogation room, brought in a door keyed to Mrs. Scuttler's office door, engaged that in the room's other portal and left the way they came. They left just enough energy in the interrogation room's canisters to give Suit a trip back to HQ.")
>>> 
>>> [](#s "And that gives me an idea. What if 'monsters cannot generate scream energy' was a lie, and all Creak needs to do is give a genuinely terrified scream? Difficult for somebody like him, but he's got time to practice.")

>>>> **u/None** [+3]  (4 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> [](#s "I guess that makes sense about Suit and the portals, but it doesn't answer the question of, How was the first portal made if there was no scream energy yet?")

>>>>> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+3]  (4 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> [](#s "Ah yes, that's what tipped off Creak. The answer (again not revealed in the story) is that other sources of energy were developed and subsequently covered up. Monsters think that scaring is necessary, but it's really just an extremely efficient way of generating power.")
>>>>> 
>>>>> [](#s "This is why Creak becomes horrified at the idea that scaring all those children wasn't necessary but simply expedient.")

>>>>> **u/Kishoto** [+2]  (4 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> [](#s "Based on the evidence in both canon and the story, I'm inclined to think the very first monster portals were probably powered by something else and the monster world either ran out of said fuel source or scream energy is just monumentally easier to harvest. Depending on how big the group of people that discovered the respective energies is, it would be relatively simple to cover up and pretend 'this is how it's always been' after a few decades. I'd wager that the museum showcasing the first door and first canister probably went up some decades after scream energy became the norm, to further support the monopoly. This is just an educated guess, however. ")

>> **u/ancientcampus** [+2]  *juggling kittens* (20 hours later)
>> 
>> [](#s "scary! Come to think, there's another story idea burried in your story: the adult's reaction to their kids' night terrors. I'm picturing a continuation story, where clinical psychologists are scratching their heads at the sudden drop in incidence of night terrors worldwide, regardless of socioeconomic status.")

>>> **u/Kishoto** [+2]  (2 days later)
>>> 
>>> Spoiler tag failed. Probably due to the line break, just helpfully pointing it out.

>>>> **u/ancientcampus** [+1]  *juggling kittens* (4 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks, fixed.

>> **u/gonight** [+2]  *i shouldn't be allowed to change my own flair* (2 days later)
>> 
>> That's dark as fuck. I like it.

>> **u/MugaSofer** [+2]  (2 days later)
>> 
>> Small typo:
>> 
>> >ll those great things maintain
>> 
>> Missing the A at the beginning.
>> 
>> (Great stuff, by the way.)

> **u/MugaSofer** [+24]  (10 hours later)
> 
> [Genie of the Lamp](https://pseudonymwrites.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/genie-of-the-lamp/)

>> **u/None** [+2]  (4 days later)
>> 
>> You did a very good job conveying the tone and feeling of the setting, with Djinn and Zion. Though your usage of both Agrabah and Arabia made me scramble for the Disney geography Wikia. :)

> **u/Kishoto** [+24]  (22 hours later)
> 
> [The Lovestruck King](https://kishoto.wordpress.com/2015/08/13/the-lovestruck-king-rrational-challenge-disney-movies/)
> 
> 2926 words.

>> **u/GrecklePrime** [+4]  (23 hours later)
>> 
>> Nicely done. Was not expecting the inversion. Would love more if you know how to continue it!

>>> **u/Kishoto** [+7]  (23 hours later)
>>> 
>>> [](#s "Eric in the water. He wouldn't lose his voice, he'd probably lose his memories or all memory of Ariel, or something similar. Plus the tension that stems from him committing what amounts to 'sacrilege'.  Ariel would scramble with trying to protect him from an even sterner King Triton. Plus, I'm not sure how clear I made it, but Ariel doesn't truly love Eric, not yet. He's somewhere in between beloved boy toy and exotic distraction. She'd grow to love him throughout the 'movie' though, as the experience would do a lot to lessen her xenophobia. Merpeople really look down on surface dwellers. Ursula would still lose in the end, but maybe after killing Triton, or one of Ariel's sisters. She'd lose due to a loophole in the binding contract she made Eric sign. She's not a lawyer, after all. It would end with our star crossed lovers together, but not married, Ariel a lot closer to Eric's level of love. And whether Ariel gets legs or he keeps his tail will probably be left ambiguous, but the implication is that they'll have the power to choose what they want. Through King Triton's begrudging gratitude, or magic stolen from Ursula.")
>>> 
>>> I doubt I'll continue it, but the above summary will give you an idea of how I would see it continuing, in my head.

>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (4 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> [](#s "If Ursula did kill the King, would the Trident pass to Ariel? In which case, yeah, she'd have the choice to either marry Eric as he is (would that risk public support?) or do whatever with legs / lack thereof. I do like how you would address her lessening xenophobia, though; that makes a lot of sense.")

>>>>> **u/Kishoto** [+3]  (4 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> [](#s "Maybe. Ariel IS the youngest, so I doubt she'd inherit it. Even though mermaids are fairly alien, the eldest inheriting things makes sense, even in other species. At the same time, he has ALL daughters, so maybe it would be more of a meritocratic decision?")
>>>>> 
>>>>> [](#s "At this point, Ariel sees humans the way an old world racist sees black people. She recognizes them as people....to an extent, and is more than capable of finding them attractive and exotic. But they're nowhere near as valuable as 'her kind'. ")

>>>> **u/andor3333** [+1]  (22 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> I enjoyed the story. Very well written.

>> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+3]  (a day later)
>> 
>> I love this. My favourite aspect is that [](#s "the merpeople are so alien. It makes sense that a magical society would develop very differently to the human one above, and that they would be much more dangerous than the humans at that level of technological development.")

>>> **u/None** [+6]  (4 days later)
>>> 
>>> Makes me wonder what he's doing with all that metal ...

>>>> **u/Kishoto** [+4]  (4 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> **whistles casually**

> **u/TheStevenZubinator** [+12]  *Chaos Legion* (6 days later)
> 
> Making the Best of a Good Situation
> 
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/16mSYmQIyuBzRqoUKOowx3S7NfnG1NotK1bqGWVesE6c/edit?usp=sharing
> 
> I meant to post earlier, but I wanted to make it as good as I could in the time I allotted myself. It's still a little unpolished, but it's my first attempt at writing fiction. All feedback is appreciated.

> **u/MathsandMagic** [+18]  (11 hours later)
> 
> [Trust Thyself Cinderella](http://pastebin.com/kMnCaK7H)

>> **u/ancientcampus** [+7]  *juggling kittens* (20 hours later)
>> 
>> [](#s "Interesting. I'd *definitely* read more, if there was more.")

> **u/avret** [+11]  *SDHS rationalist* (19 hours later)
> 
> [Running on Autopilot](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wDeIhgCqp30EQieueEOQeGopAsOaZZ5riZDebM0DJxU/edit?usp=sharing)
> 
> 463 words.

>> **u/None** [+5]  (4 days later)
>> 
>> I went from "Huh, cryosleep isn't actually a bad idea, I wonder why they didn't start with that instead of evolving to be all blubbery" to "OH FUCK SHIT, FUCKING UTILITY FUNCTIONS MAN." Nicely done!

>>> **u/avret** [+3]  *SDHS rationalist* (4 days later)
>>> 
>>> Thanks!  I actually intended the story initially to be the former, and then after I wrote the first part I realized how massive a failure mode my planned utility function had so I just ran with it.

>> **u/ancientcampus** [+2]  *juggling kittens* (19 hours later)
>> 
>> [](#s "Fun! but *sad*. If you want to twist the knife, listen to 'Put On Your Sunday Clothes' and imagine slowly panning scenes of the sterile, sleeping ship.")

>>> **u/avret** [+6]  *SDHS rationalist* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> Oh damn, that's brutal.

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