FWC: Flash, Flashier, the Flashiest Fiction! (Results)

[Mandle]

Voting (sorry for the delay), not sure if I will be able to find the time to do feedback:

50 words:

Spoiler

After the Month No Werewolves Came by RootBound

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200 words:

Spoiler

Lesion by Rootbound

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500 words:

Spoiler

There's No Taste Like Home by Stupot

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Overall favorite:

Spoiler

After the Month No Werewolves Came by RootBound

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[Sinitrena]

Alright, we got a lot of votes!

But now it is time to declare a winner.

First, though, some comments from me and the individual winners for each category:

After the Month No Werewolves Came

Spoiler

I really liked this one. A lot of mystery and suspense in such a short text. But, from all entries, this is the one that bends most to the word limit, using a slightly unusual word choice and phraising.

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Backlot to the Future

Spoiler

This has a nice little twist at the end, impressive in such a short piece. It reads exactly like a short, blurb-like comment on a review website. It received no votes, but that's probably just because it doesn't have a lot of plot compared to all other entries.

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2:31:15

Spoiler

Too much mystery, too little resolution for my tastes, but luckily tastes difffer, so that this entry won in its category!

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And these are the results for the 50 words category:

- Backlot to the Future ----------------- 0 points - 3rd place
- After the Month No Werewolves Came ---- 2 points - 2nd place
- 2:31:15 --------------------------------4 points - 1st place



Lesion

Spoiler

Wailing windows as an allegory for the children's pain. And even replaced, they still cry out - indicating that the family also still suffers, even with the perpetrator gone. Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into this, but this is certainly an imagery that could be further developed in a longer version - though I think they are already there. Well done.

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My Wife's Two Bottles

Spoiler

Picked right out of real life, I take it? A good lesson to always make new lables when putting new things in old containers. In this case, both things are drinking alcohol, but it can get dangerous with cleaning products, for example. Lable your things, people!

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Guarding Gay

Spoiler

Interessting possibilities here: Did the narrator realize that Trevor was the speaker and killed him out of revange? Or did he really think Trevor was a potential attacker? I found this one a bit predictable, at least insofar as it turns out that Trevor is the speaker.

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Gatekeepers of Smoking

Spoiler

I like this one, probably my favorite in the 200 word category. It reminds me of this old joke/cautonary tale of the man drowning in a flood and he turns down all offers of help, saying God will protect him. In the end he dies, and complains that God didn't help after all, only to then get reminded of all the offers of help he did receive.

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Leaving Home

Spoiler

Interesting end. Either there is no more currency because all people are dead, or society has moved on from moeny. I think you were going for the first possibility, but the second one is more brutal in a way. Because then the protagonist could still have a community but is so caught in his own idea of wealth and success that he can't connect. On the other hand, the first possibility just means death, which is a bit less fascinating.

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And the winners of the 200 words category are:

Gatekeepers of Smoking------0 points - 3rd place
Lesion -------------------- 1 point  - 2nd place
My Wife's Two Bottles ------1 point  - 2nd place
Guarding Gay ---------------2 points - 1st place
Leaving Home ---------------2 points - 1st place

Not a clear winner in this category.


And now the 500 word category:

There's No Taste Like Home

Spoiler

I think this one needs a content warning! It was pretty clear to me that the family would eat the cannibal father. I seriously doubt Nathan's survival instincts. Why would he go into the apartment, why would he eat the meat? Also, weird little detail, but how fast are flies attracted to meat? They were already eating, they just needed to get an additional plate from the flat, should there really already be a substantial amount of flies there? The message this story might give off is a bit icky: If given the chance, people would gladly eat people.

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A Tragedy of Errors

Spoiler

Clever. All that can go wrong with Prospero's inventions does go wrong, except it doesn't in the end, which is, in a way, also something going wrong. I'd like a longer, more detailed version, with more descriptions of the inventions. But it is good as is, I just want more. Good job.

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And these are the 500 words results:

There's No Taste Like Home ---- 3 points - 1st place
A Tragedy of Errors by Baron ---3 points - 1st place

No winner (or two, however you want to look at it) in this category.




And now, let's look at the overall winner of this Fortnightly Writing Competition and the one, the only, who'll have to come up with a topic for the next round:


After the Month No Werewolves Came by RootBound - 1 point
Guarding Gay by Mandle -------------------------- 1 point
There's No Taste Like Home by Stupot ------------ 1 point
Lesion by RootBound ----------------------------- 1 point
A Tragedy of Errors by Baron -------------------- 2 points

It is close, with a wide spread of votes, but we do have a clear overall winner, so the category votes will not be used for tie-breaking.


Our winner this round is:

Baron!

Congratulations!

[cat]

Short reviews:

Spoiler

50 words:

- After the Month No Werewolves Came by RootBound
Blame the non-native speaker, but I didn't really understand the story.

- Backlot to the Future by Mandle
Nice, but I had to read it several times to understand it.

- 2:31:15 by Mandle
It has so many possibilities. I love that a tiny thing like a missing monitor seems to point to something huge.


200 words:

- Lesion by RootBound
The ghost story based on pain but all people still alive just didn't work for me. I don't know, I need a bit of distance there.

- My Wife's Two Bottles by Mandle
Yeah, that could have happened. But when she poured it away and didn't like the smell, it probably wasn't good anymore.

- Guarding Gay by Mandle
I recently thought about what would happen if I met my high-school bully. Luckily I don't have a gun It was well written with good character development.

- Gatekeepers of Smoking by Mandle
A fun joke

- Leaving Home by Mandle
Picking up on Sinitrena's thoughts, for me in the end humanity has left concepts like wealth and currency behind.


500 words:

- There's No Taste Like Home by Stupot
I knew what flesh this was pretty soon, when he said "Pork, perhaps?". There is an infamous Austrian movie where in the end they are inviting their neighbours to a BBQ eating another neighbour.

- A Tragedy of Errors by Baron
I love how in the end everything worked out. Is his second life going to be better? Or is it even his second or has this happened before? Will history repeat?

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[Baron]

Wow, that was a narrow victory! I can't help but feel that the 500 word category had a distinct advantage in this case, in that it was just easier to craft a more coherent story using more words. Having said that, thanks to everyone who voted for me!

I'll try to come up with another theme shortly.

[Stupot]

Congratz Baron. I look forward to seeing the next topic.