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This will be our Last Call. There’s No Turning Back; The Next Generation has arisen. They were waiting Under the Surface.
I won’t Lie You a River: Long Story Short, we’re Here at the End of all Things. The Writeoff that you knew is over. A Lightning in a Jar won’t serve as a Cold Comfort. There won’t be any Last Minute revelation, no new light revealing the True Colors of all this.
We have entered the Uncanny Valley. Who’s gonna be undone first is To Be Determined. We may have a way out But First, We Need to Talk About Parallel Universes, especially the one located Under the Sun.
It’s a Long Way Down to this place, but ignore the exhaustion; Ignore It and It Will Go Away. We only have One Shot if we want to retaliate. We will be like phoenixes, Rising From the Ashes, and this new generation will gaze at our might, and they will despair, Staring Into the Abyss of the vacuity of their life.
As we reach for this universe, be careful to not enter The Twilight Zone. It’s a place of Endless Struggle, where you starve with no way to eat, where your thirst cannot be quenched, where your desires are left unsatisfied.
So come forth, raise your pen and raise your hands. We won’t leave without creating. One. Last. Time.
*Big Up to GGA*
I won’t Lie You a River: Long Story Short, we’re Here at the End of all Things. The Writeoff that you knew is over. A Lightning in a Jar won’t serve as a Cold Comfort. There won’t be any Last Minute revelation, no new light revealing the True Colors of all this.
We have entered the Uncanny Valley. Who’s gonna be undone first is To Be Determined. We may have a way out But First, We Need to Talk About Parallel Universes, especially the one located Under the Sun.
It’s a Long Way Down to this place, but ignore the exhaustion; Ignore It and It Will Go Away. We only have One Shot if we want to retaliate. We will be like phoenixes, Rising From the Ashes, and this new generation will gaze at our might, and they will despair, Staring Into the Abyss of the vacuity of their life.
As we reach for this universe, be careful to not enter The Twilight Zone. It’s a place of Endless Struggle, where you starve with no way to eat, where your thirst cannot be quenched, where your desires are left unsatisfied.
So come forth, raise your pen and raise your hands. We won’t leave without creating. One. Last. Time.
*Big Up to GGA*
>>CoffeeMinion
I definitely want to. I should have the free time Saturday to put something together.
I definitely want to. I should have the free time Saturday to put something together.
I think I have the prompt in the bag this time. Unless you all vote for something terrible, you bad ponies.
Oh hey, I just realized that this doesn't reflect the updated word length for Minis that got talked about a couple months back. Was that still going to be the plan, or was there follow-up about it not happening after all?
EDIT: le context
EDIT: le context
>>Trick_Question
Why, we'd never. Just tell us which would be terrible for you. Y'know. Just to make sure we don't vote for them.
Why, we'd never. Just tell us which would be terrible for you. Y'know. Just to make sure we don't vote for them.
>>CoffeeMinion
You missed the final "e" ----> le contexte
(Le contexte est l'ensemble des circonstances dans lesquelles advient une chose, un événement, un fait, une idée, etc...)
You missed the final "e" ----> le contexte
(Le contexte est l'ensemble des circonstances dans lesquelles advient une chose, un événement, un fait, une idée, etc...)
Well, dang. I've tried PM'ing and posting here, but thus far, no word about the longer length thing. :fluttershysad:
I hate posting again and I won't continue making a fuss beyond this post now. But to me, adding some length is mostly about trying to address some common and recurring issues that FIM Minifics seem to run into. Yes, maybe the community could keep working to develop its skills at writing to the 750 limit, but it feels like the community's natural equilibrium tends to lie somewhere north of that. I feel that fighting that is interesting as an academic challenge, but I'm less sure that it is tending to promote more better fics in practice.
Again: not going to make more fuss. I love you guys and I value getting to participate in the community. :heart:
>>Fenton
Alas, it has been way too many years since I last studied French! One of these years I need to do a refresher and actually visit France and put the ol' skills into practice!
I hate posting again and I won't continue making a fuss beyond this post now. But to me, adding some length is mostly about trying to address some common and recurring issues that FIM Minifics seem to run into. Yes, maybe the community could keep working to develop its skills at writing to the 750 limit, but it feels like the community's natural equilibrium tends to lie somewhere north of that. I feel that fighting that is interesting as an academic challenge, but I'm less sure that it is tending to promote more better fics in practice.
Again: not going to make more fuss. I love you guys and I value getting to participate in the community. :heart:
>>Fenton
Alas, it has been way too many years since I last studied French! One of these years I need to do a refresher and actually visit France and put the ol' skills into practice!
>>Zaid Val'Roa
Hrrm, I do keep forgetting that's a thing. Recently had a buddy turn me on to that for real though. I'm usually bigger on async communication due to juggling commitments, but I'll gladly try that if time allows.
Hrrm, I do keep forgetting that's a thing. Recently had a buddy turn me on to that for real though. I'm usually bigger on async communication due to juggling commitments, but I'll gladly try that if time allows.
Mistakes Were Made
It starts with Idle Chit-Chat At the Sign of the Prancing Pony, Just Like Old Times:
"The End of Snow—"
"Who's Coming to Dinner?"
"No Sleep ’Til—"
"Oh By The Way, Which One's Pink?"
But mine is A Reckless Love. "I Love You" is The Construct with Terms of Service invisible during the Rites of Spring.
And, well... Time Flies When You're on the Run; The Wrong Words are spoken, and There's No Turning Back. One Cannot Reconcile the Goat and the Cabbage, nor Beat Dead Horses at What They Have Done. (Something Terrible, perhaps.)
It's A Familiar Story, Twice As Bright at the start but With a Twist at the end like an ankle on a stairway.
Hers is No Eloquent Exasperation: She's Like a Perceptual Motion Machine—
Bang bang, my baby shot me down.
I tell myself "Mind Over Matter" and "Windi-going, Windi-gone—", heh.
But I can see The Approaching Hollow.
And now can someone make one with a happier ending? :P
Folks:
I had a suddenly idea for a Ponyfic yesterday, one that would never fit into the minific's word limits. So I think I'll likely spend the weekend working on that rather than this. I mean, I've already found the perfect cover image and everything!
Mike
I had a suddenly idea for a Ponyfic yesterday, one that would never fit into the minific's word limits. So I think I'll likely spend the weekend working on that rather than this. I mean, I've already found the perfect cover image and everything!
Mike
That feel when you spend an hour writing a story about 'TBD' because you forgot about the time change... :facehoof:
(Okay, not really!)
(Okay, not really!)
noooooooooooooooooooooooo
My prompt did terrible! I was all ready to celebrate, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftbdCR6OjQg
Alright, time to open Google Docs.
My prompt did terrible! I was all ready to celebrate, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftbdCR6OjQg
Alright, time to open Google Docs.
>>CoffeeMinion
maybe it'll be adjusted in time for the next round, 3 months hence. or at least the next round after that, another 3 months.
maybe it'll be adjusted in time for the next round, 3 months hence. or at least the next round after that, another 3 months.
>>Haze
>>Trick_Question
It'd be great if it got updated at some point. In the meantime, I've got me a Writeoff towin lose. :rainbowdetermined:
>>Trick_Question
It'd be great if it got updated at some point. In the meantime, I've got me a Writeoff to
Well, I actually wrote something for the first time in ages. Not sure how happy I am with it, but something is better than nothing, and it has been way too long since I wrote anything substantial.
In, for better of for worse.
And because I'm a sharing person, let me offer you a song to get stuck on repeat in your head, the one that didn't left me since I discovered the prompt.
Let's go, altogether:
Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out
And because I'm a sharing person, let me offer you a song to get stuck on repeat in your head, the one that didn't left me since I discovered the prompt.
Let's go, altogether:
Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out
*le gallery has 23 stories*
*le slate has 16*
<_<
>_>
Man, one of these days I'm gonna get out of doing a self-review. :flutterrage:
*le slate has 16*
<_<
>_>
Man, one of these days I'm gonna get out of doing a self-review. :flutterrage:
>>CoffeeMinion
My way's easier: don't enter.
Or what I do when I actually enter: only post your review of a story once its author has been revealed.
My way's easier: don't enter.
Or what I do when I actually enter: only post your review of a story once its author has been revealed.
>>Pascoite
The only way to win is not to play? :-p
Naw, I noticed when you held all your reviews back recently. I agree that's workable, if not my usual preference. Maybe I'll just post reviews for ~11 entries and hold onto the rest...
The only way to win is not to play? :-p
Naw, I noticed when you held all your reviews back recently. I agree that's workable, if not my usual preference. Maybe I'll just post reviews for ~11 entries and hold onto the rest...
Woo! Just Like Old Times, TD has actually read and reviewed all of the stories in the first day of the competition! It has been far, far too long since I just did that.
Hooray.
My present top five, in no particular order:
Birthday Greetings, Bottle of Wine
My Gift to You
Bingo
Trigonometry: Fluttershy Writes Daily Poems, in April This Time
88
Man, it felt good to just do this again. Been waaaaay too long.
Hooray.
My present top five, in no particular order:
Birthday Greetings, Bottle of Wine
My Gift to You
Bingo
Trigonometry: Fluttershy Writes Daily Poems, in April This Time
88
Man, it felt good to just do this again. Been waaaaay too long.
Because I like to make bets and try to guess my own outcomes (as well as honestly rate my own self), I state here that I would vote my own story 7th (or maybe 6th) place this round. There were several better entries for sure.
That said, I also think I liked my story better than others for a change (I'm usually my own worst critic), and predict it will finish a fair bit lower even than that, at 12th or less.
Good luck to all going into the next round! I'm hosting a huge party on in 13 hours, and expect to be hung over well into Saturday. I'll check back then!
That said, I also think I liked my story better than others for a change (I'm usually my own worst critic), and predict it will finish a fair bit lower even than that, at 12th or less.
Good luck to all going into the next round! I'm hosting a huge party on in 13 hours, and expect to be hung over well into Saturday. I'll check back then!
Alas, I have failed my country and my people this time on getting through my slate. I largely blame the double whammy of moving house and attending Whinny City Pony Con this weekend. Excuses aside, though, I will try to do better with my finalist slate.
>>Xepher
It ripped off far too much from "Blade Runner." The whole idea of replicants, what the replicants want, how to test for them, what the tests consist of, the setting... I could buy that as part of the universe if this had been written as a crossover, but it isn't labeled as one, so that bulk copying of elements just doesn't sit right with me, like it's the author trying to say he came up with that stuff rather than he borrowed it. Credit where credit's due, after all. (Of the 3 reviews listed in the BMRL for this story, two were by people who haven't seen that movie; the third called it far closer to a Blade Runner fanfic than an MLP one.) What pushed it over the line for me is that the second chapter is almost a direct copy of the movie's scene in the corporate office. The characters, what happens, where the conversation goes, even the words of the dialogue itself—it hews very close to a shot-for-shot redo up until the detective leaves. Like I said, to that point, I was happy calling it generous borrowing, maybe uncomfortably so, but I got such an uncanny sense from chapter 2 that I could visualize the movie from it. It caught me off guard how intense that feeling was. I asked Cassius to read it so I could get his impression as well, and he agreed. We had some other thoughts about it, too, but how close it is to "Blade Runner" is the only one germane to this.
It ripped off far too much from "Blade Runner." The whole idea of replicants, what the replicants want, how to test for them, what the tests consist of, the setting... I could buy that as part of the universe if this had been written as a crossover, but it isn't labeled as one, so that bulk copying of elements just doesn't sit right with me, like it's the author trying to say he came up with that stuff rather than he borrowed it. Credit where credit's due, after all. (Of the 3 reviews listed in the BMRL for this story, two were by people who haven't seen that movie; the third called it far closer to a Blade Runner fanfic than an MLP one.) What pushed it over the line for me is that the second chapter is almost a direct copy of the movie's scene in the corporate office. The characters, what happens, where the conversation goes, even the words of the dialogue itself—it hews very close to a shot-for-shot redo up until the detective leaves. Like I said, to that point, I was happy calling it generous borrowing, maybe uncomfortably so, but I got such an uncanny sense from chapter 2 that I could visualize the movie from it. It caught me off guard how intense that feeling was. I asked Cassius to read it so I could get his impression as well, and he agreed. We had some other thoughts about it, too, but how close it is to "Blade Runner" is the only one germane to this.
>>Pascoite
Ah, okay, if you're saying it was too close to Bladerunner, then that we definitely did see. We discussed that a fair bit too, but the decision was that, while clearly being from the Bladerunner universe, we felt that the author was NOT trying to claim those ideas as original (the cover art alone is so clearly an homage to the movie as well.) Disqualifying something is a big step we don't want to take lightly, so the proof has to be pretty strong. And we have no rule against a reusing/rewriting scenes from pop-culture any more than we have a rule against rewriting canon MLP scenes. Thus, we decided the story was on the "fan fiction" side of the plagiarism line.
Ah, okay, if you're saying it was too close to Bladerunner, then that we definitely did see. We discussed that a fair bit too, but the decision was that, while clearly being from the Bladerunner universe, we felt that the author was NOT trying to claim those ideas as original (the cover art alone is so clearly an homage to the movie as well.) Disqualifying something is a big step we don't want to take lightly, so the proof has to be pretty strong. And we have no rule against a reusing/rewriting scenes from pop-culture any more than we have a rule against rewriting canon MLP scenes. Thus, we decided the story was on the "fan fiction" side of the plagiarism line.
Huzzah, I have reviewed all the finalists. Including my own at some point, evidently. I'mma have to come back with some mashups when I get some time tonight, unless folks beat me to it...
*jedi mind trick gesture*
*jedi mind trick gesture*
>>CoffeeMinion
A'ight, you guys didn't beat me to it, so lllllllllet's get ready to mashuuuuuuuuuuuup!!
My Gift To An Apple Asunder: Years before his formal break with the hive, a young but already Pony-empathetic Thorax discovers the Apple family in turmoil following a recent loss. He wants to help, and starts appearing to Applejack as her parents. Being young, though, he's not as careful about concealing his transformations as he should be, and a climactic encounter with Granny Smith almost leaves him on the wrong end of a can of Raid.
Divine Kites: A wild Rockhoof appears in Starlight's bedroom one day, and the two of them ignite a spark of passion over their shared interests in drinking and kite-flying. Soon, with inhibitions flying away like loosed kite-strings, Starlight finds herself only too willing to show Rockhoof the deepest and most exciting single-cell box kite in her private collection, and Rockhoof finds himself only too willing to show Starlight the full measure of steadiness and intensity that earned the word "rock" in his name. (Naturally, after a cut that seems like things are about to get more "adult" in nature, the two of them just end up on a hill flying kites together sedately--followed by Sweetie Belle popping up at random and shouting, "Oh come on!")
Bingo Greetings, Bottle Of Wine: Night Light always feels so young when the different numbers come to visit his assisted living home. He feels like a sporting young colt again when 17 drops by to shoot the breeze. Sometimes when 23 drops by she's lavender and makes him think, while sometimes 23 is pink and so pretty that he can't help but blush a little. Every so often 42 drops by and raises questions that he can't answer. His favorite, though, has got to be a slinky grey-and-purple number that's one shy of 70; sometimes she's just warm and supportive, but every so often she does things that make him feel young in ways that none of the others do.
A'ight, you guys didn't beat me to it, so lllllllllet's get ready to mashuuuuuuuuuuuup!!
My Gift To An Apple Asunder: Years before his formal break with the hive, a young but already Pony-empathetic Thorax discovers the Apple family in turmoil following a recent loss. He wants to help, and starts appearing to Applejack as her parents. Being young, though, he's not as careful about concealing his transformations as he should be, and a climactic encounter with Granny Smith almost leaves him on the wrong end of a can of Raid.
Divine Kites: A wild Rockhoof appears in Starlight's bedroom one day, and the two of them ignite a spark of passion over their shared interests in drinking and kite-flying. Soon, with inhibitions flying away like loosed kite-strings, Starlight finds herself only too willing to show Rockhoof the deepest and most exciting single-cell box kite in her private collection, and Rockhoof finds himself only too willing to show Starlight the full measure of steadiness and intensity that earned the word "rock" in his name. (Naturally, after a cut that seems like things are about to get more "adult" in nature, the two of them just end up on a hill flying kites together sedately--followed by Sweetie Belle popping up at random and shouting, "Oh come on!")
Bingo Greetings, Bottle Of Wine: Night Light always feels so young when the different numbers come to visit his assisted living home. He feels like a sporting young colt again when 17 drops by to shoot the breeze. Sometimes when 23 drops by she's lavender and makes him think, while sometimes 23 is pink and so pretty that he can't help but blush a little. Every so often 42 drops by and raises questions that he can't answer. His favorite, though, has got to be a slinky grey-and-purple number that's one shy of 70; sometimes she's just warm and supportive, but every so often she does things that make him feel young in ways that none of the others do.
So, I was an idiot and spaced out on creating this round's folder over in the FIMFiction Writeoff group. I've fixed that now.
If you kept editing your story and it grew in size enough to migrate from here to FIMFiction, please add it to the group so that your fellow authors can check out your final draft!
In order to add stories to the group you need to be a "Contributor", which just means you have to have written a story for the Writeoffs at some point. (We locked it against random submissions a while back due to spam.) If you have any problems adding your story there, PM me on FIMFiction and I'll get you hooked up.
If you kept editing your story and it grew in size enough to migrate from here to FIMFiction, please add it to the group so that your fellow authors can check out your final draft!
In order to add stories to the group you need to be a "Contributor", which just means you have to have written a story for the Writeoffs at some point. (We locked it against random submissions a while back due to spam.) If you have any problems adding your story there, PM me on FIMFiction and I'll get you hooked up.