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Got a couple in this round, which is better than I thought when the prompt came up. Best of luck for the final push all.
Ugh... It's kinda disconcerting when you return to review and polish one of your stories... And discover that you spelled the third word of your first sentence wrong. O.o
Ugh. I guess that's what I get for taking until the last minute to come up with an idea. :s
Ah, well. Good luck to those of you who actually made it in before the deadline!
Ah, well. Good luck to those of you who actually made it in before the deadline!
So, read a couple things. Here's some random thoughts:
Prophecy Celestia vs. Nightmare Moon! It has some nice touches, like the "Say my name" bit, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table.
Contractors Well, this one is fun. Kind of reminds me of the old Damage Control comic book. My only complaint is that it's kinda short-- it'd probably serve well as a start to a longer comedy fic.
Build-A-Pone Workshop It's really just the one joke, but it does that joke pretty well.
Power Pony Adventures: El Taco Loco vs. The Red Menace So, uh, Starlight Glimmer gets stuck in that magic comic book, where she has a talking communist beard, and also she runs into the sirens from Rainbow Rocks? Uh, kay. Lot of ideas here that would probably be better executed in a full length fic.
Am I ... ? For whatever reason, I read "Flurry" as "Fluttershy," which kind of threw me off. Anyway, this story's about a 2nd grade Flurry Heart getting bullied at school and then having doubts about her Princess-ness. Cute and sweet, but not enough to give you diabetes.
Stupid Tree In a story that's set during last season-ish, Twilight gets mad at the Tree of Harmony 'cause she doesn't get to be sent on any cool Friendship Missions. It's a fun little idea (even if I did it first in By Process of Elimination, but it's not like I'm bringing that up in a shameless plug. Cough cough).
This said, Stupid Tree gets a little more melancholy by the end, which is an interesting choice. And again it plays around with pretty standard ideas in the fandom, but it does so fairly well. Worth a read.
Prophecy Celestia vs. Nightmare Moon! It has some nice touches, like the "Say my name" bit, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table.
Contractors Well, this one is fun. Kind of reminds me of the old Damage Control comic book. My only complaint is that it's kinda short-- it'd probably serve well as a start to a longer comedy fic.
Build-A-Pone Workshop It's really just the one joke, but it does that joke pretty well.
Power Pony Adventures: El Taco Loco vs. The Red Menace So, uh, Starlight Glimmer gets stuck in that magic comic book, where she has a talking communist beard, and also she runs into the sirens from Rainbow Rocks? Uh, kay. Lot of ideas here that would probably be better executed in a full length fic.
Am I ... ? For whatever reason, I read "Flurry" as "Fluttershy," which kind of threw me off. Anyway, this story's about a 2nd grade Flurry Heart getting bullied at school and then having doubts about her Princess-ness. Cute and sweet, but not enough to give you diabetes.
Stupid Tree In a story that's set during last season-ish, Twilight gets mad at the Tree of Harmony 'cause she doesn't get to be sent on any cool Friendship Missions. It's a fun little idea (even if I did it first in By Process of Elimination, but it's not like I'm bringing that up in a shameless plug. Cough cough).
This said, Stupid Tree gets a little more melancholy by the end, which is an interesting choice. And again it plays around with pretty standard ideas in the fandom, but it does so fairly well. Worth a read.
I'm disappointed I was unable to enter the other two entries I was working on, but the one I did enter is definitely going up on Fimfiction after the contest is over.
I'm pretty sure it will pass the cut.
Now I only need to find the time to read and review all the other entries. That will be difficult, however: Autumn started less than a week ago and I'm racing the clock with many irons in the mixed metaphors.
I'm pretty sure it will pass the cut.
Now I only need to find the time to read and review all the other entries. That will be difficult, however: Autumn started less than a week ago and I'm racing the clock with many irons in the mixed metaphors.
I just pulled together my own personal spreadsheet* for tracking what I've read and/or reviewed,** and I'm amused to realize there are two stories titled "satisfaction guaranteed" whose titles differ only in their use of CAPS LOCK.
*Yes, I am nerd horse, you may mock and/or bow to me as per your preference.***
**I make no promises about reviewing all of them, but I'm hoping to do more than just my slate this time.***
***Roger, the size tag is availing me naught here. This is what I get for a paltry attempt at footnotes humor.
*Yes, I am nerd horse, you may mock and/or bow to me as per your preference.***
**I make no promises about reviewing all of them, but I'm hoping to do more than just my slate this time.***
***Roger, the size tag is availing me naught here. This is what I get for a paltry attempt at footnotes humor.
Roger, the new voting system doesn't work well for me, because I read the stories on an e-reader. I want to download the stories on my slate to an e-reader, but I can't after I read my opening slate, because I have to vote on a story before I can get assigned another story. I'd like to be able to get another batch of stories to read and know that I'll be able to vote on them.
It would also be nice to be able to add stories that I've read to my voting slate, maybe by a button by its gallery entry. If I go out of my way to read a story, I don't think it biases the voting for me to add that to my slate, as long as I vote on my entire original slate.
It would also be nice to be able to add stories that I've read to my voting slate, maybe by a button by its gallery entry. If I go out of my way to read a story, I don't think it biases the voting for me to add that to my slate, as long as I vote on my entire original slate.
>>Bad Horse
I've asked about this as well, for the same reason. I think I understand the rationale behind not letting us do it, but it'd be useful for those of us who've proven we're going to read the entire slate.
I've asked about this as well, for the same reason. I think I understand the rationale behind not letting us do it, but it'd be useful for those of us who've proven we're going to read the entire slate.
Post by
MrExtra
, deleted
Okay, gonna quit being a freeloader, now. I'll try to put out a few reviews every night until my slate runs out, but I do have a crazy week ahead of me so I can't give a 100% guarantee. Regardless, I'm going to be throwing up three of four in a bit. :P
I see a lot of people talking about prompt adherence this round, so I would like to Have Opinions for a moment.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a Writeoff authority. You have an absolute right to vote in whatever way you like. It is legitimate to factor prompt adherence into your voting.
That said, I'd like to make a case that the Writeoff's goal of "reward high-quality stories" is best served by treating prompt adherence with a light touch. As I said last round:
The other half of that, which might be a bigger factor this round, is: when you ding a story for poor prompt use, what that means is not that it doesn't connect, but that you don't see a connection. We've had stories in the past that were widely criticized (and voted down) for a failure to incorporate the prompt, but whose promptworthiness seemed obvious in hindsight once the author was able to open their mouth and explain how they got there. (I'll suggest some examples of this in a bit.)
The net result of aggressive prompt policing is:
- To penalize people trying to think outside the box, providing incentives to write "safe" stories that take the most obvious interpretations
- To similarly incentivize prompt drops (quoting the prompt verbatim in the story), which is tedious in excess, as authors second-guess whether their prompt usage is obvious enough
It's already a truism around here that subtlety is a bad idea in a Writeoff. And experimentation is already dangerous enough. I don't think we need to stack even more incentives for people to write cookie-cutter stories. Wider variety both makes slates more entertaining, and increases the range of writing lessons we can learn.
That said, I wanted to back that up with some data. Over the last few days I've read through all 69 stories, minus the DQs, and I categorized them by their approach to the prompt (the numbers are the stories' gallery numbers):
The thing that leaps out at me here is that the number of stories willing to break from a few core interpretations is quite small; 90% of our stories are in the "contractual disclaimer" bucket, the "princesses not in a product" bucket, or the "princesses are excluded from a gathering or collection" bucket. With over five dozen stories, things start to look a little samey, and even some novel twists on those ideas (such as having the fine print refer to a prophecy rather than a product or service; or princesses being excluded from being able to die; or focusing on the show's S1 myth about Celestia not including Luna) end up getting multiple treatments from different authors.
And I wouldn't be surprised if most of the outliers came into line with a little thought. For example, I couldn't initiially figure out what #17 was doing (that's the one about Applejack and Rarity talking about their younger sisters owning condoms), but it hit me that young girls are typically associated with the idea of "princesses" as a sort of shorthand/metaphor for virginal purity, and the core of the story was the older sisters' loss of that princess myth. When that occurred to me I found it awfully clever, to the point where I wanted to give it a little extra credit in my voting for novelty. If instead I'd read through it and not thought about it and penalized it for bad prompt use I'd have given it a double penalty, both in missing out on that cleverness credit and in the poor-prompt ding.
Tl;dr don't be too aggressive with scoring adjustments for prompt use plz. And if you're curious why I put a story in a particular bucket or if you see how the five I'm stuck on connect, speak up.
As a little bonus, have a breakdown of which princess or princesses each story used!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a Writeoff authority. You have an absolute right to vote in whatever way you like. It is legitimate to factor prompt adherence into your voting.
That said, I'd like to make a case that the Writeoff's goal of "reward high-quality stories" is best served by treating prompt adherence with a light touch. As I said last round:
... my personal opinion is that the prompt is a starting point rather than an endpoint, and as long as you can squint and see the prompt from some angle in the story, I'm inclined to otherwise ... ignore that in my scoring.
Here's why. In a round with several dozen rapid-fire stories — especially with an unusually unambiguous prompt like "Look, I Just Want My Sandwich" — the cumulative effect of them all makes the obvious interpretation tedious, and it's easy to succumb to reader fatigue. Authors willing to take liberties with the interpretation break that up and give you something fresh; it's a necessary mercy if you read beyond a single slate.
The other half of that, which might be a bigger factor this round, is: when you ding a story for poor prompt use, what that means is not that it doesn't connect, but that you don't see a connection. We've had stories in the past that were widely criticized (and voted down) for a failure to incorporate the prompt, but whose promptworthiness seemed obvious in hindsight once the author was able to open their mouth and explain how they got there. (I'll suggest some examples of this in a bit.)
The net result of aggressive prompt policing is:
- To penalize people trying to think outside the box, providing incentives to write "safe" stories that take the most obvious interpretations
- To similarly incentivize prompt drops (quoting the prompt verbatim in the story), which is tedious in excess, as authors second-guess whether their prompt usage is obvious enough
It's already a truism around here that subtlety is a bad idea in a Writeoff. And experimentation is already dangerous enough. I don't think we need to stack even more incentives for people to write cookie-cutter stories. Wider variety both makes slates more entertaining, and increases the range of writing lessons we can learn.
That said, I wanted to back that up with some data. Over the last few days I've read through all 69 stories, minus the DQs, and I categorized them by their approach to the prompt (the numbers are the stories' gallery numbers):
Catch/disclaimer in a contract, humorous
06 11 13 22 30 36 48
Catch/disclaimer in a contract, serious
05 07 15 20 45
Catch/disclaimer in a prophecy
01 19
A lack of princesses in a toyset or product, concrete
09 12 35 55 57 58 60 69
A lack of princesses in a toyset or product, implied
02 43 50 59 63 64
Princess(es) excluded from an event or group
04 08 10 23 26 29 37 38 40 41 46 51 53 58 67
Equestria or its gov't is missing one or more princesses
14 16 31 32 39 42 49 52 66
Someone's not a princess despite being an alicorn
44 54 56 62 68
Princesses are excluded from being able to die
03 24 34
Celestia's historical exclusion of Luna leading to Nightmare Moon
33 61
"Princess" as metaphor for purity/innocence that young characters don't have
17
Horizon doesn't get it
18 25 27 28 47
Prompt quoted verbatim in the story:
05 15 24 35 48
(and possibly others, I wasn't tracking this closely)
The thing that leaps out at me here is that the number of stories willing to break from a few core interpretations is quite small; 90% of our stories are in the "contractual disclaimer" bucket, the "princesses not in a product" bucket, or the "princesses are excluded from a gathering or collection" bucket. With over five dozen stories, things start to look a little samey, and even some novel twists on those ideas (such as having the fine print refer to a prophecy rather than a product or service; or princesses being excluded from being able to die; or focusing on the show's S1 myth about Celestia not including Luna) end up getting multiple treatments from different authors.
And I wouldn't be surprised if most of the outliers came into line with a little thought. For example, I couldn't initiially figure out what #17 was doing (that's the one about Applejack and Rarity talking about their younger sisters owning condoms), but it hit me that young girls are typically associated with the idea of "princesses" as a sort of shorthand/metaphor for virginal purity, and the core of the story was the older sisters' loss of that princess myth. When that occurred to me I found it awfully clever, to the point where I wanted to give it a little extra credit in my voting for novelty. If instead I'd read through it and not thought about it and penalized it for bad prompt use I'd have given it a double penalty, both in missing out on that cleverness credit and in the poor-prompt ding.
Tl;dr don't be too aggressive with scoring adjustments for prompt use plz. And if you're curious why I put a story in a particular bucket or if you see how the five I'm stuck on connect, speak up.
As a little bonus, have a breakdown of which princess or princesses each story used!
Celestia
07 08 13 20 30 39 41 52 55 59 62 68
Luna (incl. NMM)
01 08 33 35 40 45 49? 52 55 61
Twilight
04 02 10 14 24 26 29 31 34 37 39 42 43 46 48 51 54 58 60 64 67
Cadance
10 52 63
The Cutie Mark Crusaders
17
G1's Megan
19
Trixie
22 36
Flurry Heart
44
Princess Platinum
49?
Dinky
56
Unspecified/generic
05 09 12 50 69
All princesses equally
03 06 11 15 16 23 32 38 53 57 66
???
18 25 27 28 47
>>horizon
Agreed on pretty much everything. Whenever I've finished reading one of these stories, if the prompt use wasn't obvious I'll think about it from every angle I can, seeking even the most remote possible interpretation. Only on stories where I literally can't see any inkling of the prompt (I think that was only one, maybe two) will I factor it into my score—and even then I'm hesitant. As far as I'm concerned, the write-off should be a place that promotes good storytelling and writing ability over anything else. Prompt adherence is typically a very minimal factor in that, especially given how many ways a prompt can be interpreted, usually.
As for the five stories you're stuck on, I've looked into them and given my best interpretation of where I think the prompt comes into play.
#18, Sage Advice: I'm as lost as you are—I even commented as such when I first read it. On second consideration, maybe the idea is that princesses typically have a cushy, easygoing lifestyle where everything is handed to them on a silver platter, and Pinkie being a ruthless dungeon master and cutting them no slack is meant to be an opposition to that stereotype. That's the best I can do.
#25, Power Pony Adventures: El Taco Loco vs. The Red Menace: In this one, Starlight Glimmer literally asks herself "What would Twilight do?" leading me to think that that's where the prompt lies. Twilight isn't there to call the shot, so Starlight has to figure it out on her own without the inclusion of the princess' input.
#27, Plush Pony: Ehh, this one's a tough call. Maybe it's supposed to be that the plush versions of the princesses seem so artificial and perfect compared to what the main characters expect of the real princesses, leading to the core conversation. So, like, while the princess plushies are literally there, the embodiment of actual princesshood isn't included.
#28, The Times They Are a-Changin': I've got two theories on this one. First, maybe Twi is feeling left out as everyone else in town simply rolls with the big, new corporation that's opened up and she's the only one trying to hold on to the past. Second, maybe it's a metaphor for how all those princess fairy tales always have a "happily ever after" whereas in the real world things are constantly changing, and no happiness is quite "ever after." On second thought, maybe that's sorta what Plush Pony was getting at too. Huh.
#47, Terms and Conditions: I honestly have no real idea. The only link I see is in the title itself, since terms and conditions on things like toys and other products often list "[blank] not included." My guess is that the author got the title from the prompt and then extrapolated the idea of terms and conditions into a literal manifestation of thesaurusitis. It's kinda clever when I think of it like that, honestly.
Also, I don't really have any qualms with how you categorized the stories, but I did notice that four non-disqualified stories were absent from any category for seemingly no reason. Specifically these stories are:
#08, Everypony loves order, right?
#42, Equestria Girls*
#50, An opportunity for improvement
#63, Burden of the Crystal Princess.
Just wondering if you left those out on purpose, by accident, or if I'm just missing them somewhere in the list—they're all in the second list where it's categorized by princess use (except for #50 again).
Anyway, fun little discussion/analysis/thingamabob. Thanks for sharing!
Agreed on pretty much everything. Whenever I've finished reading one of these stories, if the prompt use wasn't obvious I'll think about it from every angle I can, seeking even the most remote possible interpretation. Only on stories where I literally can't see any inkling of the prompt (I think that was only one, maybe two) will I factor it into my score—and even then I'm hesitant. As far as I'm concerned, the write-off should be a place that promotes good storytelling and writing ability over anything else. Prompt adherence is typically a very minimal factor in that, especially given how many ways a prompt can be interpreted, usually.
As for the five stories you're stuck on, I've looked into them and given my best interpretation of where I think the prompt comes into play.
#18, Sage Advice: I'm as lost as you are—I even commented as such when I first read it. On second consideration, maybe the idea is that princesses typically have a cushy, easygoing lifestyle where everything is handed to them on a silver platter, and Pinkie being a ruthless dungeon master and cutting them no slack is meant to be an opposition to that stereotype. That's the best I can do.
#25, Power Pony Adventures: El Taco Loco vs. The Red Menace: In this one, Starlight Glimmer literally asks herself "What would Twilight do?" leading me to think that that's where the prompt lies. Twilight isn't there to call the shot, so Starlight has to figure it out on her own without the inclusion of the princess' input.
#27, Plush Pony: Ehh, this one's a tough call. Maybe it's supposed to be that the plush versions of the princesses seem so artificial and perfect compared to what the main characters expect of the real princesses, leading to the core conversation. So, like, while the princess plushies are literally there, the embodiment of actual princesshood isn't included.
#28, The Times They Are a-Changin': I've got two theories on this one. First, maybe Twi is feeling left out as everyone else in town simply rolls with the big, new corporation that's opened up and she's the only one trying to hold on to the past. Second, maybe it's a metaphor for how all those princess fairy tales always have a "happily ever after" whereas in the real world things are constantly changing, and no happiness is quite "ever after." On second thought, maybe that's sorta what Plush Pony was getting at too. Huh.
#47, Terms and Conditions: I honestly have no real idea. The only link I see is in the title itself, since terms and conditions on things like toys and other products often list "[blank] not included." My guess is that the author got the title from the prompt and then extrapolated the idea of terms and conditions into a literal manifestation of thesaurusitis. It's kinda clever when I think of it like that, honestly.
Also, I don't really have any qualms with how you categorized the stories, but I did notice that four non-disqualified stories were absent from any category for seemingly no reason. Specifically these stories are:
#08, Everypony loves order, right?
#42, Equestria Girls*
#50, An opportunity for improvement
#63, Burden of the Crystal Princess.
Just wondering if you left those out on purpose, by accident, or if I'm just missing them somewhere in the list—they're all in the second list where it's categorized by princess use (except for #50 again).
Anyway, fun little discussion/analysis/thingamabob. Thanks for sharing!
>>horizon
I think some of those ideas being taken by different authors is kind of interesting. For example, the "Princesses can't die" is taken by three different writers who all bring the fact that Twilight, by being immortal, cannot be with her friends anymore, and regrets this to some level. Even with the same idea and feelings, we get three entirely different stories: A near death experience (Or at least a near death for Twilight and death for the rest of the M6), a sadder lesson fic and a humorous take on trying to "die".
I think some of those ideas being taken by different authors is kind of interesting. For example, the "Princesses can't die" is taken by three different writers who all bring the fact that Twilight, by being immortal, cannot be with her friends anymore, and regrets this to some level. Even with the same idea and feelings, we get three entirely different stories: A near death experience (Or at least a near death for Twilight and death for the rest of the M6), a sadder lesson fic and a humorous take on trying to "die".
>>horizon
Are you serious that you consider to be the intended prompt connection, or is that a joke?
"Princess" as metaphor for purity/innocence that young characters don't have
17
Are you serious that you consider to be the intended prompt connection, or is that a joke?
>>Trick_Question
In that case, "princess" would rather be the way you call your children/little sisters.
And maybe with a sort of brat-ish connotation.
But I agree I don't see purity/innocence here.
In that case, "princess" would rather be the way you call your children/little sisters.
And maybe with a sort of brat-ish connotation.
But I agree I don't see purity/innocence here.
>>horizon
I've only read the first 24, but I can take a stab at number 18, although it's admittedly a long shot. I think "Princess not included" implies that the roleplaying game may not be winnable, and if you'll recall the episode the endgame involves saving a princess. So 18 confused me much less than 17, which I still don't understand.
Disclaimer: I didn't write 18 (which is probably obvious to anypony who knows my style). This is just a guess.
I've only read the first 24, but I can take a stab at number 18, although it's admittedly a long shot. I think "Princess not included" implies that the roleplaying game may not be winnable, and if you'll recall the episode the endgame involves saving a princess. So 18 confused me much less than 17, which I still don't understand.
Disclaimer: I didn't write 18 (which is probably obvious to anypony who knows my style). This is just a guess.
>>Trick_Question
Yeah, in fact, anyone that knows you also knows that most of time you write 18+ fics.
I didn't write 18 (which is probably obvious to anypony who knows my style)
Yeah, in fact, anyone that knows you also knows that most of time you write 18+ fics.
>>Monokeras
I don't usually like a prompt drop, but it would really have helped to hear one of the ponies call their sister a "little princess" or something.
I'm starting to see what you and horizon mean, however, and it makes some sense.
I don't usually like a prompt drop, but it would really have helped to hear one of the ponies call their sister a "little princess" or something.
I'm starting to see what you and horizon mean, however, and it makes some sense.
>>Monokeras
I realize that was a pun(?), but most of my fics are E. A few are T, and only one (currently) is M.
I realize that was a pun(?), but most of my fics are E. A few are T, and only one (currently) is M.
>>horizon
Forgive me for playing the devil's advocate here, but it seems like I always see people arguing your position and ignoring the other side.
So what happens when someone has a great idea that they know people will love, but is totally unrelated to the prompt, and they decide to write it anyway because they know that people won't dock them for it? Should we let them fet away with it if the story is really good? If we don't penalize them, then why bother having a prompt at all?
I do agree that we need to give people a certain amount of benefit of the doubt. But I also think that at some point, you have to start enforcing the rules.
At the very least, I think it should be like writing fanfics in the original fiction rounds. You won't get disqualified for it, but you know that you will be handicapped/penalized.
Forgive me for playing the devil's advocate here, but it seems like I always see people arguing your position and ignoring the other side.
So what happens when someone has a great idea that they know people will love, but is totally unrelated to the prompt, and they decide to write it anyway because they know that people won't dock them for it? Should we let them fet away with it if the story is really good? If we don't penalize them, then why bother having a prompt at all?
I do agree that we need to give people a certain amount of benefit of the doubt. But I also think that at some point, you have to start enforcing the rules.
At the very least, I think it should be like writing fanfics in the original fiction rounds. You won't get disqualified for it, but you know that you will be handicapped/penalized.
>>MCA
>>ArgonMatrix
>>horizon
>>The_Letter_J
For me:
Writing a story to a prompt is like writing a sonnet. Both ask the author to follow certain rules, and authors who choose to follow those rules should then actually follow them.
Of course, this feeling might be an outgrowth of the several times I've entered sonnet contests where none of the finalists when they were announced were actually sonnets--not in iambic pentameter, not following the proper rhyme scheme, using more than fourteen lines, et cetera. It just seems to me that the very first rule when entering something that's billed as "a sonnet contest" should be: the entry ought to be a sonnet.
That being said, I've read about half the entries here at this point, and "Reason to be Proud" is currently #1 on my ballot with "Twilight's Excitement Can't Be Contained" at #2. So I talk a good "stickler for the rules," but in the end, it turns out that my response to the story itself carries more weight than anything else... :)
Mike
>>ArgonMatrix
>>horizon
>>The_Letter_J
For me:
Writing a story to a prompt is like writing a sonnet. Both ask the author to follow certain rules, and authors who choose to follow those rules should then actually follow them.
Of course, this feeling might be an outgrowth of the several times I've entered sonnet contests where none of the finalists when they were announced were actually sonnets--not in iambic pentameter, not following the proper rhyme scheme, using more than fourteen lines, et cetera. It just seems to me that the very first rule when entering something that's billed as "a sonnet contest" should be: the entry ought to be a sonnet.
That being said, I've read about half the entries here at this point, and "Reason to be Proud" is currently #1 on my ballot with "Twilight's Excitement Can't Be Contained" at #2. So I talk a good "stickler for the rules," but in the end, it turns out that my response to the story itself carries more weight than anything else... :)
Mike
>>horizon
>>ArgonMatrix
>>Trick_Question
In 18, 'Sage Advice', Twilight is explicitly called a unicorn. So my guess is that it's 'not included' as in her not being a Princess yet.
And in 17, 'Reason to be Proud', Twilight doesn't have a little sister, so she literally can't be included in this conversation the same way Dash could. Although Spike is sometimes shipped with Sweetie Belle, which... I dunno.
With 27, 'Plush Pony', you have ponies buying plushies of princesses who are apparently fictional to them. Literal princesses are 'not included' in this world, I think, from their discussion of super powers.
Haven't read the rest of the one's you're discussing.
I'll sometimes penalize if I feel lack of prompt is especially egregious. But honestly, I'm pretty good at twisting ideas around; I could probably think up another three interpretations for each of these that could seem 'valid', if I tried. I usually don't think about it too hard, because the chances that I missed the prompt usage always seems larger than the chances the author intentionally didn't include it.
And honestly, we run so much of the Writeoff on the principle of honor anyways, it doesn't feel useful. If I start doubting people are submitting in good faith, why should I believe that people are writing inside the deadlines, or writing their own work? It really doesn't improve anything, IMHO, to try to police this much at all.
>>ArgonMatrix
>>Trick_Question
In 18, 'Sage Advice', Twilight is explicitly called a unicorn. So my guess is that it's 'not included' as in her not being a Princess yet.
And in 17, 'Reason to be Proud', Twilight doesn't have a little sister, so she literally can't be included in this conversation the same way Dash could. Although Spike is sometimes shipped with Sweetie Belle, which... I dunno.
With 27, 'Plush Pony', you have ponies buying plushies of princesses who are apparently fictional to them. Literal princesses are 'not included' in this world, I think, from their discussion of super powers.
Haven't read the rest of the one's you're discussing.
I'll sometimes penalize if I feel lack of prompt is especially egregious. But honestly, I'm pretty good at twisting ideas around; I could probably think up another three interpretations for each of these that could seem 'valid', if I tried. I usually don't think about it too hard, because the chances that I missed the prompt usage always seems larger than the chances the author intentionally didn't include it.
And honestly, we run so much of the Writeoff on the principle of honor anyways, it doesn't feel useful. If I start doubting people are submitting in good faith, why should I believe that people are writing inside the deadlines, or writing their own work? It really doesn't improve anything, IMHO, to try to police this much at all.
>>ArgonMatrix
Oops, I apparently left those out by accident. (I had them in the master list, in which I wrote a few words about how the prompt applied.) Thanks for the catch. I've edited them into the lists.
#8 (Discord stops Celestia and Luna from being able to control the celestial bodies) was exclusion from an event/group. #42 (Twilight never goes to the EqG-verse) was Equestria missing a princess. #50 (Celestia buys Equestria but it doesn't come with rulers) was a product/service not including princesses, and so was #63 (The Crystal Heart is incomplete without alicorn power).
>>The_Letter_J
This is a legitimate concern. However, as >>Not_A_Hat points out, the Writeoff already works on the honor system. It's also illegal to pre-write stories. Short of flagrant violations (like Roger noticing someone submitting an 8,000-word story 15 minutes after the prompt is chosen, or someone plagiarizing an existing story), we have no way of detecting that; our choice is either to swing at shadows or to assume that people here are honest, and honesty has gotten us this far.
Ultimately it's a question of whether to guard against false positives or false negatives. If you feel that it's more important to prevent fraud (i.e., ignoring the rule requiring prompt use) than to encourage creativity, you will want to be aggressive about penalizing for prompt misuse. If you feel that it's more important to encourage creativity than prevent fraud, do the opposite. I have been in the Writeoffs for years now, and the number of known fraud cases I can count on the claws of one foreleg; this is not proof that rules out an epidemic of undiscovered fraud, but the null hypothesis (most people are honest, especially in a community where reputation within the community is the only tangible reward) is really strong, so I just don't think there's a fraud problem to prevent.
If someone's a bad actor on an ongoing basis, anyway, it's easier to determine that from patterns of stories (continual marginal prompt connections) rather than trying to apply remedies on an individual-story level. Though, that said ...
When I quoted last round's post, this time I redacted the "completely" from "completely ignore", because I originally misspoke: I don't completely ignore prompt use. I will absolutely stick a thumb on the scales when I think a story uses the prompt especially well. This is part of my larger philosophy on scoring: I think that a story which takes a risky leap and sticks the landing has accomplished more than a story which plays it safe and does everything right. Similarly, someone who approaches the prompt from an unexpected angle has put a lot of thought into blazing their own trail rather than following the crowd. (They don't get that extra credit if I don't see it or don't find it elegant; that's the risk.)
And there are certainly stories which work the prompt in with more or less finesse, and I get all sorts of judgmental on that. A story which has nothing at all to do with princesses except for a brief and tangential prompt drop has a problem of laziness — to use a food analogy, they're trying to shake some powder in over the top as an afterthought rather than working their ingredient in as a major flavor of the dish. But when I penalize that story, I feel I'm penalizing the laziness rather than their rule adherence. They worked the prompt in, but their choice of how doesn't speak well of their craft.
#08, Everypony loves order, right?
#42, Equestria Girls*
#50, An opportunity for improvement
#63, Burden of the Crystal Princess.
Oops, I apparently left those out by accident. (I had them in the master list, in which I wrote a few words about how the prompt applied.) Thanks for the catch. I've edited them into the lists.
#8 (Discord stops Celestia and Luna from being able to control the celestial bodies) was exclusion from an event/group. #42 (Twilight never goes to the EqG-verse) was Equestria missing a princess. #50 (Celestia buys Equestria but it doesn't come with rulers) was a product/service not including princesses, and so was #63 (The Crystal Heart is incomplete without alicorn power).
>>The_Letter_J
So what happens when someone has a great idea that they know people will love, but is totally unrelated to the prompt, and they decide to write it anyway because they know that people won't dock them for it? Should we let them fet away with it if the story is really good? If we don't penalize them, then why bother having a prompt at all?
This is a legitimate concern. However, as >>Not_A_Hat points out, the Writeoff already works on the honor system. It's also illegal to pre-write stories. Short of flagrant violations (like Roger noticing someone submitting an 8,000-word story 15 minutes after the prompt is chosen, or someone plagiarizing an existing story), we have no way of detecting that; our choice is either to swing at shadows or to assume that people here are honest, and honesty has gotten us this far.
At the very least, I think it should be like writing fanfics in the original fiction rounds. You won't get disqualified for it, but you know that you will be handicapped/penalized.
Ultimately it's a question of whether to guard against false positives or false negatives. If you feel that it's more important to prevent fraud (i.e., ignoring the rule requiring prompt use) than to encourage creativity, you will want to be aggressive about penalizing for prompt misuse. If you feel that it's more important to encourage creativity than prevent fraud, do the opposite. I have been in the Writeoffs for years now, and the number of known fraud cases I can count on the claws of one foreleg; this is not proof that rules out an epidemic of undiscovered fraud, but the null hypothesis (most people are honest, especially in a community where reputation within the community is the only tangible reward) is really strong, so I just don't think there's a fraud problem to prevent.
If someone's a bad actor on an ongoing basis, anyway, it's easier to determine that from patterns of stories (continual marginal prompt connections) rather than trying to apply remedies on an individual-story level. Though, that said ...
When I quoted last round's post, this time I redacted the "completely" from "completely ignore", because I originally misspoke: I don't completely ignore prompt use. I will absolutely stick a thumb on the scales when I think a story uses the prompt especially well. This is part of my larger philosophy on scoring: I think that a story which takes a risky leap and sticks the landing has accomplished more than a story which plays it safe and does everything right. Similarly, someone who approaches the prompt from an unexpected angle has put a lot of thought into blazing their own trail rather than following the crowd. (They don't get that extra credit if I don't see it or don't find it elegant; that's the risk.)
And there are certainly stories which work the prompt in with more or less finesse, and I get all sorts of judgmental on that. A story which has nothing at all to do with princesses except for a brief and tangential prompt drop has a problem of laziness — to use a food analogy, they're trying to shake some powder in over the top as an afterthought rather than working their ingredient in as a major flavor of the dish. But when I penalize that story, I feel I'm penalizing the laziness rather than their rule adherence. They worked the prompt in, but their choice of how doesn't speak well of their craft.
By the way, I got the folder for this event created in our FIMFiction group.
If you edit your minific (up to at least the FIMFiction 1000-word minimum) and post it to FF, go ahead and add it to the group folder so we can read the final version! You'll need to be a group contributor in order to do so — this is just a spam-prevention tool and we give that status to everyone who has submitted at least one Writeoff story. Contact me here or on Fimfic if you need that status added (or if you see a story that needs adding, which I'm happy to do).
Remember not to publish or discuss your storyelsewhere anywhere until you are no longer anonymous! Keep an eye on the Gallery page; once you see your name there, you're good to go. Authors of non-finalists are automatically revealed when preliminaries end, and all authors are revealed when finals end.
If you edit your minific (up to at least the FIMFiction 1000-word minimum) and post it to FF, go ahead and add it to the group folder so we can read the final version! You'll need to be a group contributor in order to do so — this is just a spam-prevention tool and we give that status to everyone who has submitted at least one Writeoff story. Contact me here or on Fimfic if you need that status added (or if you see a story that needs adding, which I'm happy to do).
Remember not to publish or discuss your story
With about twenty-five hours left in the preliminaries, let's take a look at which stories need more love.
An Alicorn Too Much. (#11) and A talk with Celestia (#62) each have only two comments.
Buyer Beware (#30), Paintbrush (#31), A trip to the store (#35), Royal Assent (#45), There's a Metaphor in Here Somewhere (also the Simpsons) (#46), Princessence (#56), and Princess Party (#57) each have only three comments.
Build-a-Pone Workshop (#6) and The Birthday Scam (#60) each have four comments from three different reviewers.
You all know what to do.
An Alicorn Too Much. (#11) and A talk with Celestia (#62) each have only two comments.
Buyer Beware (#30), Paintbrush (#31), A trip to the store (#35), Royal Assent (#45), There's a Metaphor in Here Somewhere (also the Simpsons) (#46), Princessence (#56), and Princess Party (#57) each have only three comments.
Build-a-Pone Workshop (#6) and The Birthday Scam (#60) each have four comments from three different reviewers.
You all know what to do.
I can't give any specific answer other than that if you mark poetry down for not having things you're used to having in stories, also mark it up for having things you don't usually get in stories.
This, I think, is self evident, so I don't really have a problem agreeing with it. Rhyming poetry, at least, gets automatic marks from my simply because of the extra effort needed to compose it. And it can be very good at evoking emotion, used correctly, which is always worth something.
I was curious about what you said here, though:
I, personally, don't like that poetry, but I can't point to any extensive poetry tradition that I think did it better.
What do you mean by the word 'it' in this context? Did poetry better? Did criticism better? Neither of these make much sense to me from what you've said. I'm having trouble parsing the sentence or something, because I can't tell what you're pointing at.
I'm also curious about your indecision here. Are you unwilling to give a personal answer because you haven't formed one, or because you don't believe personal answers are worth giving in this context?
Thanks for the reply, you've given me some interesting things to think about. I guess one of these days I'll need to read and write a bunch of poetry so I'll have a better foundation for having opinions.
Georg’s first Round Micro Reviews for the new stories on my slate Princess Not Included: Scores are letter grades for Plot, Technical Work, and Characterization mushed together, with an E for stories I find particularly Enjoyable. Ranked by how I like them, not necessarily how perfect they are on the score. (and posted all at once, from top to bottom so they line up on the chat.) I’m using the advice of Brandon Sanderson in listing positives(+) of a story before the negatives(-). Once again, I’m late. Sigh. Story of my life. I think I was a week late being born and I never caught up. Anyway…
With the end of prelims sneaking up on us, I think it's time to kick off the traditional goofiness! The Writeoffs often collectively start a mash-up thread, but with a minific round (in which the odds are low of a story you reference having been on someone's slate, and the odds are even worse when you mash two stories together), I'm going to go with a variant I've used in the past ...
The rule of Writeoff-By-Ones is simple: Add, remove, or change a SINGLE LETTER of an entry's title, and give a quick and whimsical summary of how the story would be rewritten for it. (Spacing and punctuation can be changed however you like.) For example:
Raster Invictus - A robot mare far in a postapocalyptic future thinks she hears the mental call of CelestAI, the Unconquered GPU, but it turns out she's just accidentally hit F1 to launch Clippy.
Castle Torrent - Celestia questions Twilight's plan to digitize the Friendship Castle and allow everypony to seed downloads of it. Twilight says she's crowdsourcing friendship so she can blow off moderation duties and travel the world.
The More Things Charge... - The Great And Powerful Trixie has magically swapped her body with CelestAI's, only to discover that the fantastic powers of a hyperintelligent pony-droid require plugging herself into a wall socket for 16 hours a day.
"AI...?" - Flurry Heart gets teased at school about not being an android.
Buy E.R. Bedware - Big Mac (who runs a hospital because reasons) commissions an artificial intelligence named CelestAI to schedule his in-patient ward, only to get scammed by a pair of programmers who ship him CLIPPY.EXE.
The Player And The MAME - Rarity meets Twilight for their weekly chess match, but Twilight has something a little different in mind ... playing it in emulation.
And heck, I've even got some non-computer-themed ones!
On Tractors - After construction worker Ground Surge questions their orders to build Princess Twilight's crystal castle-slash-playset, his boss Swift Deadline gets unnerved and orders them to bulldoze the thing and plow the rubble under.
Best-Laid Plants - It turns out the princesses are actuallygibbering chthonic monstrosities ents! The story shows us how they decided to found Equestria ... veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooooowly.
Pro-Tectonism - A group of determined but petty conspirators squabble about how to fix their growing alicorn problem, and somehow pass a law requiring daily earthquakes.
Sarge Advice - WELCOME TO BASIC D&D TRAINING, MAGGOTS! YOU CHEETO-STAINED PUKES ARE NOT A FIGHTING FORCE YET, BUT IT IS MY JOB TO GET YOU TO SECOND LEVEL! NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 1d20!!
The Great Takeover - Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon and Tirek team up to bust out of Tartarus and take over Equestria. They succeed. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon put makeup on Tirek anyway.
The Birthday Spam - Silver Spoon gets swindled into paying 100 bits for a tin of potted meat as a "royal" "birthday present". This unnerves her on multiple levels.
Damn - A would-be mayor gets a clever idea for a settlement out of the Princesses' control: move to Tartarus.
WRITEOFF-BY-ONES: PRINCESS-BOT INCLUDED EDITION
The rule of Writeoff-By-Ones is simple: Add, remove, or change a SINGLE LETTER of an entry's title, and give a quick and whimsical summary of how the story would be rewritten for it. (Spacing and punctuation can be changed however you like.) For example:
Raster Invictus - A robot mare far in a postapocalyptic future thinks she hears the mental call of CelestAI, the Unconquered GPU, but it turns out she's just accidentally hit F1 to launch Clippy.
Castle Torrent - Celestia questions Twilight's plan to digitize the Friendship Castle and allow everypony to seed downloads of it. Twilight says she's crowdsourcing friendship so she can blow off moderation duties and travel the world.
The More Things Charge... - The Great And Powerful Trixie has magically swapped her body with CelestAI's, only to discover that the fantastic powers of a hyperintelligent pony-droid require plugging herself into a wall socket for 16 hours a day.
"AI...?" - Flurry Heart gets teased at school about not being an android.
Buy E.R. Bedware - Big Mac (who runs a hospital because reasons) commissions an artificial intelligence named CelestAI to schedule his in-patient ward, only to get scammed by a pair of programmers who ship him CLIPPY.EXE.
The Player And The MAME - Rarity meets Twilight for their weekly chess match, but Twilight has something a little different in mind ... playing it in emulation.
And heck, I've even got some non-computer-themed ones!
On Tractors - After construction worker Ground Surge questions their orders to build Princess Twilight's crystal castle-slash-playset, his boss Swift Deadline gets unnerved and orders them to bulldoze the thing and plow the rubble under.
Best-Laid Plants - It turns out the princesses are actually
Pro-Tectonism - A group of determined but petty conspirators squabble about how to fix their growing alicorn problem, and somehow pass a law requiring daily earthquakes.
Sarge Advice - WELCOME TO BASIC D&D TRAINING, MAGGOTS! YOU CHEETO-STAINED PUKES ARE NOT A FIGHTING FORCE YET, BUT IT IS MY JOB TO GET YOU TO SECOND LEVEL! NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 1d20!!
The Great Takeover - Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon and Tirek team up to bust out of Tartarus and take over Equestria. They succeed. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon put makeup on Tirek anyway.
The Birthday Spam - Silver Spoon gets swindled into paying 100 bits for a tin of potted meat as a "royal" "birthday present". This unnerves her on multiple levels.
Damn - A would-be mayor gets a clever idea for a settlement out of the Princesses' control: move to Tartarus.
>>horizon
Lush Pony - Did you know the Berry Punch doll comes with a hidden flask holder?
Only, Only, Only Moe - When to my night the man did come / I thought my woes less burdensome / And rashly pledged to him my heart / No Stooge was I, but still quite dumb.
A Stalk with Celestia - Drawn together at the Gala by their common love of celery, Rarity and Celestia decide to take up big game hunting.
Lush Pony - Did you know the Berry Punch doll comes with a hidden flask holder?
Only, Only, Only Moe - When to my night the man did come / I thought my woes less burdensome / And rashly pledged to him my heart / No Stooge was I, but still quite dumb.
A Stalk with Celestia - Drawn together at the Gala by their common love of celery, Rarity and Celestia decide to take up big game hunting.
Ooo, I'm game. This is Dubious Crossovers Because Children Awake At Inhumane Hours Edition!
Compertment - A Homestar Runner crossover where Coach Z blunders into the knowledge that Celestia is secretly worthy of the dreaded double deuce.
Death Panty - A substantially more awkward Death Note crossover.
Royale Assent - Daniel Craig must convince Celestia to let him out of his contract to play James Bond in perpetuity, because reasons?
Master Invictus - Somepony has been listening to too much Metallicolt, and their sudden affinity for teh darknezz freaks their parents right out, especially when they try to hitch a ride to join a nearby Sombratanic ritual...
Compertment - A Homestar Runner crossover where Coach Z blunders into the knowledge that Celestia is secretly worthy of the dreaded double deuce.
Death Panty - A substantially more awkward Death Note crossover.
Royale Assent - Daniel Craig must convince Celestia to let him out of his contract to play James Bond in perpetuity, because reasons?
Master Invictus - Somepony has been listening to too much Metallicolt, and their sudden affinity for teh darknezz freaks their parents right out, especially when they try to hitch a ride to join a nearby Sombratanic ritual...
>>horizon >>GroaningGreyAgony >>CoffeeMinion
By-Ones this round? Works for me.
Undying Glove: When Twilight finally catches up with her last Canterlot friend and tells her about the mirror portal, a tearful Lyra tells her about the ancient tradition of the Anthropologists, passed down from mother to daughter in preparation for this glorious day.
Hen Sister's Keeper: The story of how Fluttershy became Scootaloo's legal guardian after finding her squatting in the chicken coop.
Comportment: A stream-of-consciousness inner monologue of all of the nasty thoughts Princess Celestia is too polite to say.
A Trip to the Stare: Gilda comes out of the toy store at the same time Fluttershy emerges from the Neighponese import shop across the street. A ferocious, silent battle of wills ensues before they agree to a truce. And maybe seeing each others' purchases later.
A Buttery of Excuses: Rarity comes to the Castle of Friendship one night eager to explore Twilight's wine cellar. It takes Twilight five minutes to suspect that innuendo might be involved.
The Alleles of Harm Only: Twilight's cure for the Nightmare Moon Virus? An even worse virus! Spike writes to Celestia, telling her that Twilight's cackling about the fools at the Gifted School again.
Off With This Head: A typical day at a hydra beauty salon.
Oh, and one crossover because I like the idea too much:
Death Princess Party: Twilight wants a funeral. Squeaky Wheel wants a princess. Party Favor wants an aspirin.
By-Ones this round? Works for me.
Undying Glove: When Twilight finally catches up with her last Canterlot friend and tells her about the mirror portal, a tearful Lyra tells her about the ancient tradition of the Anthropologists, passed down from mother to daughter in preparation for this glorious day.
Hen Sister's Keeper: The story of how Fluttershy became Scootaloo's legal guardian after finding her squatting in the chicken coop.
Comportment: A stream-of-consciousness inner monologue of all of the nasty thoughts Princess Celestia is too polite to say.
A Trip to the Stare: Gilda comes out of the toy store at the same time Fluttershy emerges from the Neighponese import shop across the street. A ferocious, silent battle of wills ensues before they agree to a truce. And maybe seeing each others' purchases later.
A Buttery of Excuses: Rarity comes to the Castle of Friendship one night eager to explore Twilight's wine cellar. It takes Twilight five minutes to suspect that innuendo might be involved.
The Alleles of Harm Only: Twilight's cure for the Nightmare Moon Virus? An even worse virus! Spike writes to Celestia, telling her that Twilight's cackling about the fools at the Gifted School again.
Off With This Head: A typical day at a hydra beauty salon.
Oh, and one crossover because I like the idea too much:
Death Princess Party: Twilight wants a funeral. Squeaky Wheel wants a princess. Party Favor wants an aspirin.
A minute and a half until prelims end, and I'm kind of relieved, because the process of trying to properly order new stories into a slate that already contains 40 ranked votes is making me want to stab something.
I'm preferentially dragging my lower-ranked ones on, and hopefully can have a more manageable ballot to juggle when the others proceed to finals. Good luck, all.
I'm preferentially dragging my lower-ranked ones on, and hopefully can have a more manageable ballot to juggle when the others proceed to finals. Good luck, all.
>>Not_A_Hat
I was thinking it = love poetry, but I see I never said that. :| So I edited my comment.
More the latter. The history of criticism is full of people saying "You're all wrong, and now I shall tell you what a proper poem / story is!" There are certain story types and poem types that have appealed to certain personality types across history, so giving my own opinion on what is proper poetry would be like telling people who are't like me that they have the wrong personality type.
(That would be true, of course, but rude.)
What do you mean by the word 'it' in this context? Did poetry better? Did criticism better?
I was thinking it = love poetry, but I see I never said that. :| So I edited my comment.
I'm also curious about your indecision here. Are you unwilling to give a personal answer because you haven't formed one, or because you don't believe personal answers are worth giving in this context?
More the latter. The history of criticism is full of people saying "You're all wrong, and now I shall tell you what a proper poem / story is!" There are certain story types and poem types that have appealed to certain personality types across history, so giving my own opinion on what is proper poetry would be like telling people who are't like me that they have the wrong personality type.
(That would be true, of course, but rude.)
>>Bad Horse
Thanks for the clarification; I like learning how other people think. I'd comment on your not giving personal answers, but... that's kinda out of context, so I'll leave it.
Thanks for the clarification; I like learning how other people think. I'd comment on your not giving personal answers, but... that's kinda out of context, so I'll leave it.
You know, I entirely forgot to mention that if the limit on this prompt had been 10 words or less, this would have been my entry:
“Chrysalis got married.”
“Chrysalis got married.”
I'm probably not going to be able to provide additional feedback for the rest of the round. I'm a little over my head with stuff at present, in more ways than one.
This is generally unrelated to any of the posts or exchanges on writeoff.me—I'm just having a hard time even reading stories at the moment, let alone writing.
This is generally unrelated to any of the posts or exchanges on writeoff.me—I'm just having a hard time even reading stories at the moment, let alone writing.
Finished reading/voting on our finalists. For those of you who might be interested, my top scorers this round were:
Relinquishing
Only, Only, Only Me
Reason to be Proud
Castle for Rent
An Opportunity for Improvement
I'm not sure if I'll get around to reviewing my initial finalist slate before results are in, but I'll give it my best.
Relinquishing
Only, Only, Only Me
Reason to be Proud
Castle for Rent
An Opportunity for Improvement
I'm not sure if I'll get around to reviewing my initial finalist slate before results are in, but I'll give it my best.
Radio Writeoff should be going down tomorrow, at about 20:00 UTC if I'm doing my conversions correctly. If you're interested in listening as we record, drop into the Discord chat around then.
>>Not_A_Hat
Perfect timing--I'll have my break hour then. If I can figure out how to work Discord on my phone, I'll be there!
Perfect timing--I'll have my break hour then. If I can figure out how to work Discord on my phone, I'll be there!
Woot. I had meant to review a bunch more, but at least I managed full prelim & finals slates.
Top five of Georg’s second Round Micro Reviews for the new stories on my slate Princess Not Included: Scores are letter grades for Plot, Technical Work, and Characterization mushed together, with an E for stories I find particularly Enjoyable. Ranked by how I like them, not necessarily how perfect they are on the score. (and posted all at once, from top to bottom so they line up on the chat.) Listing positives(+) of a story before the negatives(-). WAY too late this time. Arrgh!
Hours before I get last in finals...
There's a Metaphor in Here Somewhere (also the Simpsons)
Originally, while walking home, I came up with the idea that Twilight was getting credited in all the newspapers and stuff for all the group's work, and the other Elements were angry. But since the prompt was Princess Not Included, I decided to reverse it and make Rainbow the center of attention. I came up with most of the plot in the shower, along with the fourth wall breaking, which originally was gonna be a much longer scene involving Discord, but I had to cut for space. It wouldn't have been any better.
The second scene is just because I thought of the pun/Simpsons reference and wanted to use it, but knew it was too small to have it's own story, so I put it in this one. It's my favorite part of the story.
This story is a badly written crackfic at best, and a trollfic at worst.
OH AND BEFORE I FORGET ACTUALLY I GOTTA EXPLAIN THE TITLE
One of my original ideas for this piece was gonna be a commentary on how during the Olympics, the media had a tendency of reporting on female athletes exclusively as a commentary on their male counterparts. That's where this line kinda comes from:
But about halfway through I decided that it wasn't worth it. I kept the title though because there's always gotta be a metaphor in there. Also the Simpsons. Also that's gotta be the worst Applejack-ism in the fucking world. A cider press in January? Seriously?
>>Not_A_Hat
Nah
>>georg
I didn't intend for it to seem like Rainbow bribed anyone. She's too cheap for that.
>>CoffeeMinion
/me blushes like a dying schoolgirl
>>MrExtra
I certainly hope not, considering EqG is my favorite thing in the entirety of MLP.
There's a Metaphor in Here Somewhere (also the Simpsons)
Originally, while walking home, I came up with the idea that Twilight was getting credited in all the newspapers and stuff for all the group's work, and the other Elements were angry. But since the prompt was Princess Not Included, I decided to reverse it and make Rainbow the center of attention. I came up with most of the plot in the shower, along with the fourth wall breaking, which originally was gonna be a much longer scene involving Discord, but I had to cut for space. It wouldn't have been any better.
The second scene is just because I thought of the pun/Simpsons reference and wanted to use it, but knew it was too small to have it's own story, so I put it in this one. It's my favorite part of the story.
This story is a badly written crackfic at best, and a trollfic at worst.
OH AND BEFORE I FORGET ACTUALLY I GOTTA EXPLAIN THE TITLE
One of my original ideas for this piece was gonna be a commentary on how during the Olympics, the media had a tendency of reporting on female athletes exclusively as a commentary on their male counterparts. That's where this line kinda comes from:
"You're making us feel as useless as a cider press in January," said Applejack. "It's like we're all just your assistants!"
But about halfway through I decided that it wasn't worth it. I kept the title though because there's always gotta be a metaphor in there. Also the Simpsons. Also that's gotta be the worst Applejack-ism in the fucking world. A cider press in January? Seriously?
>>Not_A_Hat
The first bit of this was genuinely interesting and funny.
Nah
>>georg
I didn't intend for it to seem like Rainbow bribed anyone. She's too cheap for that.
>>CoffeeMinion
Well, I can see who wrote this now, so I can't say this is an unbiased review.
/me blushes like a dying schoolgirl
>>MrExtra
felt more like arbitrary hate for the EQG universe than anything
I certainly hope not, considering EqG is my favorite thing in the entirety of MLP.
>>Dubs_Rewatcher >>Misternick
Guys, even if you think you didn't do well, please wait until the results are up before you break your anonymity.
Guys, even if you think you didn't do well, please wait until the results are up before you break your anonymity.
The results are in! I'll have retrospectives on my pieces soon, but for now, congrats to Chris, Jaxie, and Horizon! And thank you to all participants.
Congrats to:
Our winners, and thanks, folks, for giving my "Stupid Tree" story 4th place. I've been working on the final version all week--It's ended up at about 1,500 words and will be "going live" on FimFiction within the hour. It was my first idea for the prompt, and I finished the draft here it before noon on the writing day. Thanks to the comments, I've smoothed it out a good deal and given it an ending I'm much happier with.
"Princessence" came to me later in the afternoon, and I spent the evening hammering it together. It's got another couple scenes in my head, and I hope to get them actually written down this weekend.
This was a fun round!
Mike
Our winners, and thanks, folks, for giving my "Stupid Tree" story 4th place. I've been working on the final version all week--It's ended up at about 1,500 words and will be "going live" on FimFiction within the hour. It was my first idea for the prompt, and I finished the draft here it before noon on the writing day. Thanks to the comments, I've smoothed it out a good deal and given it an ending I'm much happier with.
"Princessence" came to me later in the afternoon, and I spent the evening hammering it together. It's got another couple scenes in my head, and I hope to get them actually written down this weekend.
This was a fun round!
Mike
>>FanOfMostEverything
...What are you talking about? My fic was already dropped in prelims.
...What are you talking about? My fic was already dropped in prelims.
>>FanOfMostEverything I didn't make it to the finals and my name was already showing. I wouldn't have said anything otherwise. Though it is worth noting not to say something if you are still anonymous.