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Contest April-May 2017 Short Story Contest Voting Thread

Discussion in 'Fluff and Stories' started by Scalenex, May 17, 2017.

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Which Story or Stories Do You Like Best? (choose up to three)

Poll closed Jun 10, 2017.
  1. Story One: Awakening

    4 vote(s)
    28.6%
  2. Story Two: Blood for the Blood God

    5 vote(s)
    35.7%
  3. Story Three: The Knife

    6 vote(s)
    42.9%
  4. Story Four: Castoff

    5 vote(s)
    35.7%
  5. Story Five: Freedom Part Two: The Name

    4 vote(s)
    28.6%
  6. Story Six: Into the Starlight

    4 vote(s)
    28.6%
  7. Story Seven: Duty

    5 vote(s)
    35.7%
  8. Story Eight: Torn

    5 vote(s)
    35.7%
  9. Story Nine: Heartbeats

    2 vote(s)
    14.3%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    there were 5 pieces with the same votes.
    At a certain moment, at the top there was a tie between 2 pieces.
    Now we're back to three... tnx to you! :p
     
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  2. Y'ttar Scaletail
    Troglodon

    Y'ttar Scaletail Well-Known Member

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    Wow, this is a close one. :eek:

    Am slowly working on review-things...despite the "we hates you!" from that Ratty fellow.
     
  3. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    Yeah, I don't remember anything similar.
    It tells a lot about the overall quality reached by this comp.
     
  4. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    No question. The overall quality of the pieces goes up every contest.
     
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  5. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    Two days left and a three way tie. We need some more votes people!
     
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  6. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    The tie has been broken.
    But alas, in the wrong way for me. :confused:
     
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  7. tom ndege
    Skar-Veteran

    tom ndege Well-Known Member

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    Chances are good that we see at least a two way tie after the next voter...
     
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  8. Y'ttar Scaletail
    Troglodon

    Y'ttar Scaletail Well-Known Member

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    Not sure i'll manage to bash the rest out tonight but here's the first four:


    Story One: Heheh, I like the subtlety of this piece.

    I fear the first paragraph lost me a bit due to it not being formatted as if it was an entry in a diary. After a second glance over I got it, but it felt a bit jarring for me.

    However, this did little to hinder the rest of the entry. The pacing was largely well placed and kept me interested throughout, even with the shifts in point of view. The two main characters were also artfully written and were fun to follow.

    But for me it was the clever ending gambit by the wizard that made it for me. It reminded me a lot of a Hellbrandt Grimm graphic story where he uses the effigy of an open and burning maw to attract the attention of Orcs to wipe out a camp of heretics the church of Sigmar wanted destroyed. In his ending words he comments that whilst it loses much in translation, for an Orc such an effigy simply put means “dinner.” Getting that vibe with this piece made me very happy.


    Story Two: Hmm, good point.

    Killing Seraphon is kinda like killing Necrons or ghosts. No blood, limbs for trophies, nor parts for necromancy. Somewhere out there there’s some necromancer sobbing about not being able to use lizardmen parts for his winged nightmare. I know I am. *Sob*

    For a Khorne-thing, this must be very upsetting if everything you kill turns into sparkles and fairy dust, especially as there’s no Slaanesh around to punch in the face for it. So yeah, I feel for that daemon-thing.

    Indeed, I really liked it as a character (although perhaps it’s more alien/daemonic mind could have been played up a bit more.)

    The ending was good, but I felt like it could have been more. Not sure how though.


    Story Three: Quite a classic theme but done well.

    One thing I’ll say is that the author of this piece really seems to like bringing to life inanimate objects. It’s something I don’t see often, but when I do I often love it. This is one of those times as the simple use of the knife sets the stage so nicely, especially how it effectively begins and ends with it.

    The fight scenes themselves were alright, I’ve read better and much worse. I really liked the name Mournfury though, at first I thought it was a silly name but the more I said it the cooler it sounded.

    Whilst I think the lead up to the ending (with the Saurus’ reasonings) was a little weak, with the arguments for and against not feeling too overly compelling for me, I very much enjoyed the very end.


    Story Four: *Played the theme from the MGS series whilst reading this*

    Or maybe I had the Prisoner theme in my head-meat. I’m not sure.

    In either case this was a thrilling piece with suspense, action, and lots of leg wounds (actually...was this a WHFRP or FFG variant being played as the amount of leg wounds seems to match that?)

    The main lizzie was fun to read, especially at the start of the story which was beautifully written. I did however feel that the piece lost it a bit in terms of pacing and focus towards the latter end with the combat. I for one would like to see this author write a slow and reflective piece with little to no action, as I think they could probably outdo me at that.
     
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  9. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    Congratulations to @Y'ttar Scaletail for writing the winning piece "The Knife."

    "The Knife" was neck and neck with "Heartbeats" for winning the (coveted?) Scalenex Cup, but I just can't give the Scalenex Cup to a piece with gratuitous apostrophes. Congratulations to @Essmir for winning the Scalenex Cup.
     
  10. Y'ttar Scaletail
    Troglodon

    Y'ttar Scaletail Well-Known Member

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    I'm a bit stunned it was so well received. (Not trying to sound boastful) I frantically wrote the majority of my entry in the single night and had less than high hopes about it...especially when I read the other entries.

    So wow. Many hissing thanks to all those who voted, those who entered, and Scalenex for running this compy. :D
     
  11. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    sigh.
    And here I am, second place for one vote... :(

    and you won't be able to enjoy my great idea for a new theme! :p
     
  12. thedarkfourth
    Kroxigor

    thedarkfourth Well-Known Member

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    I think you mean - massive congrats to Y'ttar for another fantastic and well-deserved win, he has yet again proved what a true and unquestionable lizard he is and we can't wait to participate in whatever wonderful theme he picks for us next!

    Number of votes is a bit disappointing, although the even spread testifies to the amazing consistency of quality we're producing. I think we need to think of ways to convert those who post on other subforums to become more common participants in Fluff and Stories.

    Onwards!
     
  13. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    I cannot disagree.
    We had more writers in the January-February contest, than voters in this one! :meh:
     
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  14. Y'ttar Scaletail
    Troglodon

    Y'ttar Scaletail Well-Known Member

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    Well, on the plus side it's still far more entries and votes than the Skaven forum's competitions. That this forum actually has a successful competition that has kept running despite the drop in Warhammer and AoS forum goers is testament to the love and skill the fluff writers and mods on this forum have.
     
  15. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    I think I'll post my story in its own thread, hoping in further comments. ;)
     
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