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The original Sunburst!
Mortarboard
Out of Time
FiM Short Story
4th
91%
523
Collapse Failure
Gold medal
Cutting Corners
FiM Short Story
1st
100%
400
Stitches
Ribbon
Forbidden Knowledge
FiM Short Story
9th
74%
376
Miracle
Gold medalLightbulb
Gone by Morning
FiM Short Story
1st
100%
294
Unplanned
Gold medalLightbulb
The Brightest Days
FiM Short Story
1st
100%
278
With a Terrible Brightness
Bronze medal
TBD
FiM Minific
4th
95%
229
Determination
Gold medal
Alone Together
FiM Minific
1st
100%
226
Rain
Ribbon
It's Your Funeral
FiM Minific
7th
91%
220
Rx
Ribbon
Things Left Unsaid
FiM Minific
10th
88%
208
In the Leaves
Ribbon
The Morning After
FiM Minific
7th
88%
207
Sore Loser
#1686 · 10
· · >>Caliaponia
>>RogerDodger
I think "when the event starts" should be defined as when prompt submissions open up, not when writing starts. Waiting until writing starts to notify people of an event doesn't help anyone take part in the prompt determination process. Making people feel like their chance to participate in the process has been skipped over kinda reduces the incentive to even bother with the writeoff event at all.
#14543 · 7
·
>>Posh
I love how the expression on your avatar matches that post. :D
#8005 · 5
· · >>AndrewRogue
>>AndrewRogue
Hmmm. You can try, but I just don't think a newborn is going to work as well as a keyboard. I mean, I'm pretty sure they don't have buttons, and how are you going to get it to plug into your computer? Even if you could, is there a driver for using those as an input device?
#11651 · 5
· · >>Fahrenheit
Oh, my prompt won? Neat! Probably just silly, but I feel like I've unlocked some sort of achievement.
#14538 · 5
· · >>georg
>Autumn is for Apples
For some reason, when I first read this at a glance, I thought it said Autumn is for Nipples.
And my first thought was, "Uhhhh... Well, I guess the weather *is* getting colder, and all..." XD
#6474 · 4
·
Woohoo! After missing the last... lots of writeoff events, I finally got something in for this one. I mean, I should be finishing off this final research paper that makes up most of the grade of one of my classes that I won't pass without completing it on time, but priorities, y'know? ;)

>>Posh
icantfaptothis.jpg
#11622 · 4
· on Don't Ask
>>Ranmilia
Wow, guess I touched a nerve.

Seriously, though, I didn't kill a kid to "buy Writeoff sympathy votes."
I did it because it's a situation in which the characters are quite understandably shaken and the only thing they can do about it is take a course of action that fits the prompt: Ignore it, and eventually it will go away.
What Sunset knows and what Rainbow Dash discovers is jarring.
And there's no "why" to it. Some things are just that way. There's no rationale, no bigger purpose, no reason at all.
There is no meaning to reconcile and come to terms with.
One of the Sunsets is dead. That's just how it is and there's nothing to explain.

The narrative might have been more satisfying to those with itchy curiosity if I had explained how human-Shimmer died, but that wasn't the point. That wouldn't have addressed the prompt. I very deliberately stayed away from writing anything about that because it was a sidetrack that didn't take the real story anywhere.

It also might have been more satisfying for those who demand closure if I had given Sunset and Rainbow some sort of emotional process to work through to a tidy conclusion - the whole bit about denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, life goes on - but again, that's not the prompt, or the point. Or, as I saw it, even remotely realistic.

In circumstances like this, there's no pseudo-wisdom to wedge in that helps, or philosophical rationalizing that's just going to magically console everyone and make it better. Sunset and Rainbow talk, but don't get anywhere, because there's nowhere to get to.

I just wanted to capture that messy part of how things are sometimes in real life, because to me, that's what the prompt was just begging to deal with.
#4322 · 3
· · >>Chryssi >>CoffeeMinion
>>billymorph
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.
#15827 · 3
· on Could-Have-Been
>>Trick_Question
>>The Power Wolf
>>Zaid Val'Roa
>>zaponator
>>GaPJaxie
>>CoffeeMinion
Thank you, everyone, for your reviews.

I definitely think this is way shorter than this kind of story should be - writing under time pressure is always interesting. This entire entry was written in a hair under five hours, and I hit submit with about one minute left on the clock. And yeah, it shows. I was left feeling a little frustrated at the time, because I had the distinct sense of having written a frame and hung whatever bits I could on it more than of having written a full-fleshed story. Still, I also felt I had a worthwhile concept that I could do something with because there's a lot to address and explore in it, so I was pleased with it in that way. With the feedback provided here, I have a lot of confidence that I can expand this out into something really good.
#16227 · 3
· on The Price She Paid
Very well executed. I disagree with Not_A_Hat and GaPJaxie's evaluation - I don't think a serious treatment with an overwrought melodramatic reveal and reaction would fit how Cadence would really approach this. There's no particular reason for her to be dramatic; this is something she's already presumably known for many years. Flurry might have difficulty accepting it, but that would most likely manifest over time, rather than being some explosive fit of emotion right there on the spot. Getting into that would be a longer story than a minific has space for.

This story does well by knowing what it's focused on, and sticking to what feels real inside just that timeframe without trying to cram in excessive drama or serious it up too much. Not overextending while still capturing the important central essence of some theme enmeshed within a relevant piece of narrative is a key thing in minifics, and this one hits just the right balance for me.