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The Hugs Went Away Again · FiM Short Story ·
Organised by RogerDodger
Word limit 2000–8000
Show rules for this event
#1 · 4
·
I have another journey of a thousand miles to undertake and I can't commit to writing a story, but I will draw a pic for everyone who submits.
#2 ·
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Pretty sure with 99.999 percent certainty I'll get my story in before the deadline.
#3 · 1
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Depending on how things go:

This afternoon, I might have one to submit, too.

Mike
#4 ·
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… interesting collection…
#5 ·
· on ~~~
In which the cycle of hugs goes on...? Maybe?

My gripe with it is twofold. One, Party Piece seems to go from 0 to 100 with not much justified explanation/build-up when you mention that the griffon victim is in the hospital and then apparently also paralyzed. It's a way to disrupt Piece's daily routine and change up creatures' opinions of Piece in a jiffy, but it's not a natural one. It feels forced, simply there for the sake of moving Piece forward.

And two, what is the point or moral of Piece's arc? I learn that she's got parental issues and, given that the original Pinkie is admittedly on the touchy and huggy side, Piece would be uniquely affected by the hug-censoring curse... but then what? Is it that she realizes that she's so touchy/huggy and needs to change? But then that doesn't work since everyone in her hometown was fine with it before the curse happens. Or perhaps it's a tragedy in which taking away one of her defining features(?) will upend her? But then, there's not much catharsis for the reader; it's simply Piece and a bunch of other ponies suffering because they can't fully and literally comprehend what a hug is anymore.

On the plus side, though, it is admittedly a way to tackle the prompt in a literal sense. A more casual SCP-esque tale, mayhaps? I realized that this story is pretty much an epigram of sorts, having no mention of the word hug (though embrace is cutting close), so there's certainly an A+ here for the effort and unique idea. And it's a bold effort to get OCs all the way for an MLP contest.

Anyway, it's still a mysterious and surreal way to start off the selection! Thank you for the story.
#6 · 1
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Ah… I was thinking of doing a pic, but I'm exhausted and wouldn't get it in in time… hmf.
#7 ·
· · >>Griseus
As promised, all fics now have a pic from me. I hope you like them!
#8 · 1
· on Night Fight · >>GroaningGreyAgony
Yeah:

I've been there... :)

Thanks!
Mike
#9 · 1
· on Neighbors
My problem:

With this story is that it doesn't seem to be about anything. A lot of stuff happens, but when I asked myself, "What's this story about?" I couldn't come up with an answer. I'm hoping to figure something out before I post it at Fimfiction. :)

Mike
#10 · 1
· on Healing Over · >>GroaningGreyAgony
LOL
#11 · 1
·
>>GroaningGreyAgony
Like 'em a lot.
#12 ·
· on Night Fight
>>Baal Bunny

Night Fight

Thanks for the gold, both to the voters and the other artists who failed to enter something. : )

My first approach for this story was Derpy trying to stuff the mailbox, but the fight scene definitely scored more points for an interesting and fun scene to draw. I was considering reaction faces that could be made by one of Carrot's foes, then suddenly the horse from Guernica popped into my head and I couldn't stop laughing. After one draft sketch, this is what emerged.
#13 ·
· on Healing Over · >>Griseus
>>Griseus

Healing Over

This one didn't drift far from my initial draft scribble, though I initially had her lying in bed. It seemed fitting for a wounded Pegasus to be in pseudo-flight while healing, so to speak.
I had to make Lead Balloon's mark mean something, so I picked a symbol from a famous album.
#14 ·
· on Letting Go
Letting Go

I spent the most time on this one, trying to get a reasonable layout with accurate symmetry, as I only had one piece of scratchboard at hand. I used a teacup, CD and mousepad to outline most of the circles, and a food dye bottle for those big eyes.
#15 ·
· on Healing Over
>>GroaningGreyAgony
Just like the look on her face and can imagine it's the look of someone who knew that they screwed up.