Contest January-February 2023 Short Story Contest (voting closed)

Congratulations to the Chaos Dwarfs @Killer Angel !!! A late come from behind surge to force a tie-breaker, followed by a decisive win in the runoff vote. I must say I was quite curious to see who had authored the story. @Killer Angel was one of my leading suspects (along with @Imrahil and @Scalenex ), but I never would have guessed @thedarkfourth writing the second one. Well played friends!


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Kudos to everyone who wrote a piece and to all those who entertained my ridiculous (and possibly tiresome) Chaos Dwarfs shenanigans.

 

Congratulations with the win @Killer Angel , for a while I was thinking I'd have to choose the next theme

Thanks again to @Scalenex for hosting the contest

Grrr, !mrahil

 

Congrats to @Killer Angel, it was a very fun piece.

 

I got a topic idea for you if you are having trouble coming up with one. Just shoot me a PM.

I know I'm expected to push nothing but my Chaos Dwarf agenda (after all, I have a reputation to maintain), but for what it's worth, let me break character and share my opinion on this. I think your story is better as is, without either of the two options mentioned above. The surprise reveal/ending works better if Roland achieves everything he desires (without being cursed) but still doesn't feel completely happy. As a result, the reader wonders why he feels that way and what is causing it, which in turn sets up the punch line in the finale. It foreshadows that all is not right and something is waiting just around the corner. If Roland has a genuine reason to "feel off" (i.e. being cursed by the Chaos Dwarf), it robs the ending of its impact. The Carnosaur showing up at the end is already extremely random event (by design), but as the story currently stands, it still feels rooted to the rest of the story by Roland's continued unease. Without that tether, the story is still good, but the ending is a bit too out of left field, in my opinion.

Then again, I don't write short stories so who that hell am I to say. Call me when there is some tactical analysis or mathammering to be done!







With that out of the way,
*the NIGHTBRINGER returns to his regularly scheduled programming of general trollery and shit-posting*

 

A solid analysis. I agree with your reasoning.

Grrr, !mrahil

 

So, @Killer Angel , how many wins is this for you? You've gotten be one of the all time leaders by now.

You guys should have a hall of champions thread, with the first post containing and updated list of winners ordered by win count. Maybe update the thread you created containing all the past victorious stories.

 

@Killer Angel has just a thread like that, only without that first post leaderboard.

https://www.lustria-online.com/threads/the-best-lustria-short-stories-a-complete-collection.25845/

Grrr, !mrahil

 

That's what I meant when I said:

An ordered list would be a nice touch (I like ordered lists). Honoring the best of the best of the past winners.

 

Just didn't read properly

Grrr, !mrahil

 

For any interested, I shall be posting the improved version of my entry later today on AO3, I wish it was the version I could have submitted to begin with, but the rules made it impossible.

 

And here it is!

 

Look at you... TOP OF THE LIST!! Congrats my friend.

 

Huh, Bronze. And it's mostly my depressing pieces that win...I swear...i'm sure I was meant to be the silly comedic gag writer...

 

And now you stand at the top of the mountain, having bested the greatest of LO's short story writers. Unmatched and undisputed.