Epic 80s

SWG Epic 80s challenge banner - a 1980s typical stylized landscape, showing dark mountains and a stylized sunset behind "Epic 80s" in period-typical fonts

Whoa! It's our annual decades challenge and we're vegging out in the most tubular, bad to the bone decade for a month of rad fanworks. So spray up your hair, don your denim jacket, and tie on your skates to hang ten back to the 1980s!

For the Epic 80s challenge, you will choose from hella 80s-themed prompts to create a fanwork. Your fanwork totally does not have to take place in the 1980s. You can use these prompts however you want! It's most definitely legit to keep it chill with just a title from a prompt, or you can book it in a more bodacious way by using lines, lyrics, album covers, movie posters, plot points—like whatever floats your boat! Of course, crossovers are the bomb if that's how you want to step off. We encourage gnarly interpretations and use of prompts, including mad loopholing!

Thank you to Aneréa for this month's banner and stamps!

This challenge opened in .

Prompts

Choose your prompt from the collection below.

View Prompts

Literature

Fiction

  • Unfinished Tales, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien ed.
  • The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Douglas Adams
  • A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
  • The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel
  • Il nome della rose, Umberto Eco
  • Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni, Marin Preda
  • The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
  • Arabian Nights and Days (ليالي ألف ليلة), Naguib Mahfouz
  • Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie
  • An Ice-Cream War, William Boyd
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, August Wilson
  • Memorial do Convento, Jose Saramago
  • The Color Purple, Alice Walker
  • Se non ora, quando? Primo Levi
  • Las casa de los espíritus, Isabel Allende
  • The Belgariad, David Eddings
  • Dragon on a Pedestal, Piers Anthony
  • The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • 1985, Dalos György
  • A Tiger for Malgudi, RK Narayan
  • Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet
  • Pet Sematary, Stephen King
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
  • The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy
  • L'Enchanteur, René Barjavel
  • രണ്ടാമൂഴം/ Randamoozham (Second Turn), MT Vasudevan Nair
  • Sanaaq, Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk
  • Indian Nocturne, Antonio Tabucchi
  • Хазарски речник, Hazarski rečnik, Milorad Pavic
  • Yajnaseni: the story of Draupadi, Pratibha Ray
  • The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
  • El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Parfum, Patrick Süskind
  • Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
  • The Cider House Rules, John Irving
  • Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry
  • Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson
  • Beloved, Toni Morrison
  • The Shaping of Middle-earth, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, ed
  • Driving Miss Daisy (play), Alfred Uhry
  • A Perfect Spy, John le Carre
  • The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
  • Il pendolo di Foucault, Umberto Eco
  • O Alquimista, Paulo Coelho
  • The Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris
  • The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
  • The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
  • رحلة غاندي الصغير Rihlat Ghandi al-saghir, The Journey of Little Gandhi, Elias Khoury
  • The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
  • The Great Indian Novel, Shashi Tharoor
  • Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett

Poetry

  • Collected Poems, Sylvia Plath (posth.)
  • I is a long-memoried woman, Grace Nichols
  • The Dead and the Living, Sharon Olds
  • Standing Female Nude, Carol Ann Duffy
  • Chants de brumes, Kama Sywor Kamanda
  • El imperio de los sueños, Giannina Baschi

Nonfiction

  • Cosmos, Carl Sagan
  • Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism, bell hooks
  • Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey, VS Naipaul
  • Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, Noam Chomsky
  • A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking
  • The Rough Guide to Greece, Mark Ellingham (ed) (first Rough Guide)
  • How I Became a Hindu, Sita Ram Goel
  • Mi Cocina, Armando Scannone
  • Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, Audre Lorde
  • Kriminalgeschichte des Christentums, Karlheinz Deschner
  • Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World, Kumari Jayawardena
  • Kaffir Boy, Mark Mathabane
  • Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner
  • Maus: A Survivor's Tale (I: My Father Bleeds History), Art Spiegelman
  • And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, Randy Shilts
  • Touching the Void, Joe Simpson

Children's Literature

  • The Brave Little Toaster, Thomas M. Disch
  • The Paper Bag Princess, Robert Munsch
  • Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Beverly Cleary
  • The BFG, Roald Dahl
  • War Horse, Michael Morpurgo
  • The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
  • Angelina Ballerina, Katharine Hollabird
  • The Polar Express, Chris Van Allburg
  • If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Laura Numeroff
  • Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan
  • Redwall, Brian Jacques
  • Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
  • Where’s Wally?/Where's Waldo? Martin Handford
  • Matilda, Roald Dahl

Music

Movies

  • The Princess Bride
  • The Neverending Story
  • Labyrinth
  • E.T.
  • Clue
  • The Great Muppet Caper
  • The Goonies
  • Honey I Shrunk The Kids
  • Stand By Me
  • The Karate Kid
  • Dirty Dancing
  • Blade Runner
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  • The Return of the Jedi
  • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
  • Airplane!
  • Naked Gun
  • Coming To America
  • The Gods Must Be Crazy
  • Beverly Hills Cop
  • Crocodile Dundee
  • Good Morning Vietnam
  • Tootsie
  • A Fish Called Wanda
  • Raging Bull
  • The Untouchables
  • Chariots of Fire
  • The Color Purple
  • Rain Man
  • Gandhi
  • The Color Purple
  • Out of Africa
  • Dead Poets Society
  • Fatal Attraction
  • Excalibur
  • The Breakfast Club
  • Top Gun
  • The Big Chill
  • Flashdance
  • The Man From Snowy River
  • Urban Cowboy
  • Cinema Parediso
  • The Last Metro
  • The Big Blue
  • Das Boot
  • Der Himmel über Berlin
  • Au revoir, les enfants
  • Fanny och Alexander
  • Conan the Destroyer
  • Red Sonja
  • Terminator
  • Die Hard
  • Full Metal Jacket
  • Kagemusha
  • Ran
  • The Silk Road
  • The Adventures of Milo and Otis
  • My Neighbor Totoro
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service
  • Grave of the Fireflies
  • Akira
  • The Last Unicorn
  • Secret of NIMH
  • An American Tail
  • Land Before Time
  • All Dogs Go To Heaven
  • The Black Cauldron
  • The Little Mermaid
  • The Thing
  • Nightmare on Elm St
  • Friday the 13th
  • Aliens
  • Gremlins
  • Ghostbusters
  • Child’s Play
  • Beetlejuice

TV

  • Full House
  • Cheers
  • The Golden Girls
  • Dallas
  • Dynasty
  • Lindenstraße
  • Berlin Alexanderplatz
  • Yes Minister
  • Only Fools and Horses
  • Juliet Bravo
  • The Day of the Triffids
  • An Audience with…
  • Sherlock Holmes (Granada)
  • The Cosby Show
  • Murder, She Wrote
  • Miami Vice
  • The A-Team
  • Magnum PI
  • Play Your Cards Right
  • The Clothes Show
  • The Chart Show
  • After Dark
  • A Kick Up the Eighties
  • Gay Life
  • ALF
  • Knight Rider
  • Diff’rent Strokes
  • Postman Pat
  • Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
  • Punky Brewster
  • Fraggle Rock
  • Pee-wee’s Playhouse
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
  • She-Ra Princess of Power
  • Jem and the Holograms
  • Rainbow Brite
  • GI Joe
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Transformers
  • Smurfs
  • Inspector Gadget
  • Thundercats
  • DuckTales
  • Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers
  • Muppet Babies
  • Reading Rainbow
  • Square One
  • 3-2-1 Contact
  • Löwenzahn
  • Wetten, dass..?
  • MTV
  • Nickelodeon
  • HBO
  • CNN
  • ESPN
  • Channel 4

Historic Events

  • Assassination of John Lennon
  • Eruption of Mt. St. Helens
  • Gwangju Uprising
  • First space shuttle launch
  • UK Miners’ Strike
  • Assassination of Indira Gandhi
  • Bhopal disaster
  • Live Aid
  • Mexico City earthquake
  • Challenger disaster
  • Chernobyl accident
  • June Democratic Struggle
  • War on Drugs/Just Say No
  • First Intifada
  • Assassination of Thomas Sankara
  • AIDS epidemic
  • Glasnost & perestroika
  • Lockerbie bombing
  • Revolutions of 1989: Solidarity wins elections in Poland, Velvet Revolution, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Romanian Revolution
  • Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
  • Independence for: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Palau, Zimbabwe, Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Brunei
  • Loma Prieta earthquake

Science & Technology

  • First personal computer
  • USEnet
  • Macintosh
  • GM crops
  • Surrogate pregnancy
  • CD
  • Smartmodem
  • Portable phones
  • MS-DOS
  • Windows
  • MATLAB
  • HTTP
  • TCP/IP
  • GNU Project
  • Free Software Foundation
  • Halley’s Comet
  • Mir
  • Polaroid cameras

Fashion, Style, and Pop Culture

  • Big hair
  • Perms
  • Mullets
  • Jheri curls
  • Hi-top fade
  • Ripped jeans
  • Acid-washed jeans
  • Jean jackets
  • Denim mini-skirts
  • Neon clothing
  • Shoulder pads
  • Power dressing
  • Leather pants
  • Jumpsuits
  • Headbands
  • Spandex
  • Members-Only jackets
  • Lacoste
  • Leggings
  • Leg warmers
  • Off the shoulder shirts
  • Ray-Bans
  • Swatch watches
  • Bangles
  • Jelly shoes
  • Keds
  • Doc Martens
  • Crucifix jewelry
  • Parachute/Hammer pants
  • Punk
  • Valley Girls
  • Aerobics
  • Jazzercise
  • Thigh Master
  • The Moonwalk
  • Shopping malls

Toys and Games

  • Atari
  • Coleco
  • NES
  • GameBoy
  • Donkey Kong
  • Super Mario Bros.
  • Duck Hunt
  • The Legend of Zelda
  • Final Fantasy
  • Frogger
  • Galaga
  • Pac-Man
  • The Hobbit (video game)
  • Rubik’s Cube
  • Speak & Spell
  • Teddy Ruxpin
  • Walkman
  • Boomboxes
  • Garbage Pail Kids
  • Cabbage Patch Kids
  • Puffalumps
  • Pound Puppies
  • American Girl
  • Strawberry Shortcake
  • My Little Pony
  • Slap bracelets
  • Koosh balls
  • Nerf blasters
  • Inline skates

Fanworks Tagged with Epic 80s

This is a Writing fanwork

Dibbly Fresh, an Elfling-Sitters Club Story by annarobots

Need an elfling-sitter? Save time! Call The Elfling-Sitters Club and reach seven six experienced sitters.

Fingon, President
Daeron, Vice-President
Pengolodh, Secretary
Finrod, Treasurer
Maglor, Alternate Officer
Salgant, Snack Officer

Daeron has an important question to ask Maglor. And no, it’s not “can I get some more art supplies for my Kid-Kit?”

A Baby-Sitters Club fusion story, set in the 1980s.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

The Orphan Princess and the BFG by octopus_fool

Elwing is fleeing towards the Havens of Sirion when she spots a nightly visitor. 

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Silk Road by Artano

During a visit to Círdan, Finrod discovers a new hobby involving tying ropes around various objects.  Now, he's ready to take it to the next level, but there is a small kink in the plan - he wants a spotter to make sure everything goes well.  Fortunately, Edrahil is available.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Shepherd Princess by Himring

A princess and her sheepdog. (Drabble featuring a young Ancalime.)

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Playlist fanwork

Yacht Rock Silmarillion by Dawn Felagund

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the characters in The Silmarillion were smoooooth like they were sippin' a Sex on the Beach on a party barge in the harbor at Alqualondë? The "Yacht Rock Silmarillion" retells The Silmarillion as though the characters all had perms and had one too many buttons open, revealing too much chest hair, but hey, no one is killing anyone! This playlist follows the events of The Silmarillion through yacht rock songs.

Fanwork Information

This is a Writing fanwork

Changing Styles by StarSpray

“What did you do to your hair?”

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

The Message by Flora-lass

Borondir carries Steward Cirion's urgent request to Eorl the Young, with the help of his horse but at great personal cost.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Women's Work by Deborah Judge

When Finwë's wife Miriel died, leaving behind their young daughter Fëanor, Finwë petitioned the Valar for permission to remarry. Although he loved his daughter dearly, he said, he needed a son who could be his heir.

Or: Genderswapped Noldor politics, from Fëanor daughter of Finwë to Gil-galad daughter of Orodreth. 

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Is it raining with you? by AdmirableMonster

In the last days of Númenor, two very different men meet in Umbar and fall in love.

(Please note that while this work is heavily inspired by Disco Elysium, no knowledge of the game is necessary to read the fic!)

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

McShady by Babblecat

Melkor has himself a bad time in the Void. 

 

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents