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Forbidden Knowledge · FiM Short Story ·
Organised by RogerDodger
Word limit 2000–8000
Show rules for this event
#1 · 8
· · >>horizon >>destinedjagold
Please refrain from saying anything that might compromise your anonymity. Doing so is grounds for disqualification. It's recommended you do dummy reviews of your own stories should it otherwise be easy to deduce which you wrote.
#2 ·
·
Alright. Can't wait to get into this writeoff. Look forward to getting into writing again!
#3 · 3
·
Name & write sequel/parody of any medal-winning Writeoff story.


cute prompt idea, but it might make judging and reviewing a hassle. not everyone's gonna be familiar with every past writeoff winner.

otherwise I'd go for it.
#4 · 3
· · >>Broman
>>RogerDodger
Roger, I don't think any email notifications went out for this one. (As supporting evidence, the thread seems a lot deader than usual.) Can you check?
#5 ·
·
>>horizon
There is also the possibility that the notification on the Wrtieoff Association page on Fim has not been made known. I happen to know this by chance just by checking the date.
#6 · 3
·
No email for me. I only saw this today because I knew the schedule and looked to be sure.
#7 · 3
·
Yeah, I also didn't get an email. Only my freaky knowledge of the Writeoff schedule saved me. :-p
#8 · 1
· · >>CoffeeMinion
Is there a reason that this one never got a thread on FimFic? Sure, we're not discussing there, but the notification is nice.

I mean, it's even a pony round...
#9 · 1
· · >>Not_A_Hat
>>Not_A_Hat
Thread created! :coolphoto:
#10 ·
·
Darn it, I think I missed prompt submission by a matter of minutes. Oh well.

Not sure if I'll participate in this one; I have a fair amount on my plate this weekend. We'll have to see.
#11 ·
· · >>CoffeeMinion
Oh, have the timings changed this round? We seem to be starting six hours later than usual for these ones.
#12 · 1
·
Can confirm, did not receive an email. Missed the prompt suggestion :(
#13 · 2
·
Thanks to Cold in Gardez for reminding his followers about this thing, regardless of the readership's courage. Were it not for that, I probably would have completely forgotten about this event (group thread notwithstanding, though it beat the blog by only about an hour).

At least it would appear that prompts there are aplenty. That I might or might not have submitted had I been aware of this event before, completely stolen researched from Albee: I Said To Her, I Said: 'You Like Me'
#14 ·
· · >>RogerDodger
>>billymorph
I think it's 6 hours earlier? Which works out great for me and my time zone, though results may vary...
#15 ·
·
Same here. Missed prompt suggestion, due to no e-mail and no thread on FimFic, which is very annoying.
#16 ·
·
Yeah, CiG's blog is how I was reminded that this was happening. No e-mail.

Doesn't matter, I'm gone this weekend. Great timing--I'm away from home for the second time this year and it's writeoff time. I guess I'll see y'all in June. Going three months between opportunities to participate sucks.
#17 ·
·
I also received no email.
#18 · 2
·
>>CoffeeMinion I... probably should have just done that. :P

Also, although I'm a little leery of another prompt-less round, having

Not_A_Prompt


submitted has started my day with a smile. :)
#19 ·
· · >>billymorph >>horizon >>CoffeeMinion >>Winston >>Caliaponia
I'm changing the email notifications system around a bit, which is why one wasn't sent. You should get one when the event starts.

>>CoffeeMinion
Before, Minific rounds were starting at 18:00 UTC and Short Story rounds at 06:00 UTC. When I made the new schedule I changed them both to 12:00 UTC to make things simpler.
#20 ·
·
>>RogerDodger Hmm, I can't decide if that makes things more conveniant for my schedule or less. I guess it doesn't change the number of writing hours, just how they fit around work.
#21 ·
· · >>CoffeeMinion
Oh, dammit. The schedule *has* changed. :( I was expecting it to start tonight at 11 pm local time (giving me writing time before sleep), but now it doesn't start until 5 am, and when I wake up tomorrow I'll be on convention scheduling. There goes any chance of me entering this round.
#22 · 1
· · >>Caliaponia
>>RogerDodger
An email at the start of writing time is nice, but it seems like a lot of people value prompt submission and prompt voting as well. Maybe two emails in the future?
#23 · 1
·
Voting for Ashes and Cinders if only because of the Gauntlet of Fire and Dark Souls III. I look forward to all the grim, depressing stories from the gamers, and the inevitable stories about Ember from the fans of the new episode. :P
#24 ·
·
>>RogerDodger
Aha, that makes sense, thanks for explaining.

>>horizon
At last, I have a chance in one of these! :pinkiecrazy:
#25 ·
·
Alright I did my vote. Can't see what comes out of this prompt.
#26 · 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.
#27 ·
· · >>billymorph >>The_Letter_J
Aww, not many ponies liked my sequel/parody prompt. That would have been so interesting. <3
#28 ·
·
Wew, I just got the email for this writeoff.
I'll churn something up, but who knows if I'll be capable of writing the entirety of it.
#29 ·
·
Drat! Missed it by that much. >| |<
#30 ·
·
>>Trick_Question Well I voted for it. Mostly to do a sequel to Jet Powered Pegasus, but it could have produced some fun stories.
#31 · 1
·
>>Trick_Question
That was yours? I was half expecting you to give the "this prompt sucks and everyone who voted for it made a terrible mistake" rant if it got chosen. And if you hadn't, I would have.
I would rather have "Ot" as a prompt.
#32 ·
·
>>horizon >>RogerDodger >>Winston

Maybe have two emails, but have separate settings for each in the preferences, so we can choose which ones we want to receive.
#33 ·
·
Hmmm.... Not one of the prompts I was hoping for, but interesting all the same. I wonder if I can get myself to enter this writeoff... Well, it's worth a try, anyways!
#34 · 1
· · >>CoffeeMinion
RIP the Ot prompt.

It sat out this round.
#35 · 3
·
Might try to enter this round.
#36 · 2
·
>>Soaring
I believe you mean it sat ot this round. :trollestia:

I'm hoping to enter. I've got an old idea that might fit this, though I'd like to come up with something fresher...
#37 ·
·
Curses! I've got an idea that fits this prompt pretty well... And now my computer is toast. And trying to write anything of significance on a kindle is no fun at all. Ugh!

I'll have to try to work something out.
#38 ·
· · >>Dubs_Rewatcher >>CoffeeMinion
I am new and I am confused. What's the prompt? Where would I go to see it? I didn't get an email saying the prompt had been chosen.
#39 ·
· · >>Bootlight
>>Bootlight
The prompt is Forbidden Knowledge! You can find it at the top of the page.
#40 ·
· · >>Dubs_Rewatcher
>>Dubs_Rewatcher
So I just write about the topic of forbidden knowledge? Nothing more specific than that?
#41 · 2
·
>>Bootlight
Think of the prompt as a starting point for your ideas. Write whatever ponyfic Forbidden Knowledge inspires you to write.
#42 · 1
·
>>Bootlight
First timer? Feel free to let us know if you have any other questions. You may also find this thing here useful.
#43 · 3
·
Ah, each prompt I swear it'll be the one I finally submit something. Then I'll get words down and bail last minute for some arbitrary reason. But not this time darnit. For once something popped out to me driving to work and I feel good about it. So I got a good feeling about this one.

Yup...

Not gonna chicken out...

*cries*
#44 · 1
·
Alright I got an idea brewing, not sure what will come of it but it will be something. See you all in a few days.
#45 · 3
·
This is the first time I've had immediate inspiration and gotten to work on Day 1. Hopefully it'll come out well.
#46 · 1
·
Surprisingly:

I finally finished chapter 4 of A Great Wall this morning and have the first part of an entry humming along. So maybe I'll have something this time around!

Mike
#47 · 1
·
I was that close to calling it a night (and giving up on getting any writing done) when I was hit over the head by an idea that I think I really like. Just pounded out a couple of paragraphs, and I know it's a bit early, but I'm really liking how it's shaping up so far.

Good to be writing again. :derpytongue2:
#48 ·
·
Well, I may as well give this a go.
#49 ·
·
I've got a good feeling about this one.
#50 ·
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I think I'll sit this one out. Let's see if I can at least write some reviews during the week.
#51 ·
·
>>RogerDodger
The site's link that was in the email led to "http://localhost:4201/event/50"

Just wanted to let you know in case it hasn't been reported yet. :3
#52 ·
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Sorry, guys. Too much on my plate in the coming week. Have fun!
#53 ·
·
Ugh, I might have too many other projects in-flight right now... my brain's refusing to come up with anything useful. :raritydespair:

Best of fortune, pony folk!
#54 ·
·
Hmmm.. I've got a pretty good idea that synchs nicely with the prompt, and I've got a few thousand pony words written... But those words are spread across a bunch of disconnected scenes which have yet to gel together... and tomorrow is likely to be rather busy... :/

I [i]really[i] need to get this into a readable, submittal state soon... I just hope I can make the deadline this time...
#55 ·
· · >>The_Letter_J
Hmmmm.. Discussion threat is awfully quiet. And the deadline is drawing near. Anybody else having as much trouble as me getting everything put together? O.o
#56 ·
· · >>TheCyanRecluse
>>TheCyanRecluse
Things are more active over on the Discord chat. There have been plenty of "why is my story not working?" and "I'm finally done!" comments over there. And plenty of random chatter too. Once submissions are over and the prelims start, most of the relevant discussion will move over here.
#57 ·
· · >>Syeekoh
>>The_Letter_J
Ah, that makes sense! Just one question...

Where the heck is the Discord chat? O.o
#58 ·
·
Here
#59 ·
· · >>TheCyanRecluse
>>TheCyanRecluse
see previous post
#60 · 1
·
>>Syeekoh
Thank you kindly! I'll have to check it out later!

For the moment, I'm just going to sit here and cry. I should have been in bed 15 minutes ago... And I'm totally not done writing this mess. O.o

Even if I manage to staple these disconnected pieces together before I collapse into bed, it's going to look like something out of Frankenstein. Ugh.
#61 · 2
· · >>Zaid
Ugh. It's a mess, but it's submitted. Maybe, if I have some time before work in the morning, I'll even have a chance to PROOF READ it.

*sob*

Once again, I am SO sorry to whomever has to read through this mess!
#62 ·
·
Awe man I think I might sit this one out. School is keeping me busy and finals are happening tomorrow. I had something but with my time constraint and with school projects building up I will have no choice but to comply.

Anyway good luck with everyone, hope this works out for you all.
#63 · 1
·
>>TheCyanRecluse
I feel you. I've just now managed to finish, and I've been writing nonstop since Friday. It doesn't help that I'm a tediously slow writer.

Oh, well. It's the first writeoff I've entered in quite some time. I'm excited.
#64 · 2
· · >>Lucky_Dreams
Augh. I'm bowing out. I like this story, but I'm 5k in and the end is on the distant horizon. With work in the morning, I can't justify the all-nighter it would take to bang this out and condense it down to 8k.

I'm looking forward to what everyone else gets up to, though. Best of luck!
#65 · 3
·
Task completed. Actually wrote in a new style for a bit. It was weird.
#66 ·
·
I had a lot less time than I originally planed to write today. Managed to get something in, but I think I could have done a much better job.

Oh well. I'm looking forward to seeing all the entries this month. :P
#67 · 4
·
Well here we go. Hope this goes better than last time. Wish me luck. As I wish you all a horrible demis- I mean. I wish you all the best!

Reviews will be starting soon in a couple of hours. I'll base mine on a dice roll system. This time! I wanna review them all!
#68 · 4
· · >>horizon
Sorry folks. I'm not quite done with my submission and I'm too much of a perfectionist to submit something this half-assed (and too tired to finish it in the space of an hour).

On the bright side, I have a new story almost written. I'll add it to the folder when I (eventually) publish.

Back to sleep I go.
#69 · 3
·
I can't believe I managed to get something done on time, but I'm dreading the reviews on it. Though it seems like this was a bad weekend for a lot of folks, so at least I'm not alone here.

Still, I'm looking forward to everyone's work. Good luck guys!
#70 ·
· · >>Icenrose
>>Icenrose

Sorry that you got so far into it only to have to give up. That sucks, man :-(
#71 · 1
· · >>horizon
So of course I totally came up with an idea that I like and I think would work... and I never managed to get time away from humans yesterday to sit down in front of a computer.

Currently assessing if I can iron-man 2K words in like 50 minutes.

...no, I'm not that stupid. But dangit, now I wanna write this thing! D:
#72 ·
·
And done. Man does this new schedule mess with my timings. Still, nice to submit something while not sleep deprived for once. We'll see whether it actually helps :P
#73 · 4
· · >>Monokeras
HOLY SH*T

ACTUALLY FINISHED A THING

Now for a literal last-second typo/formatting pass <.<
#74 ·
·
Done and posted.
>>horizon
Wonderful!
#75 · 4
· · >>horizon
When you have to abandon your entry due to time-constraints:

I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter...
#76 ·
· · >>Monokeras
Wow... there's 32 entries this round.

That's pretty low nowadays.
#77 ·
· · >>Syeekoh
>>Syeekoh

We’re back to the old days. It’s still a pretty high number of words to read, though.
#78 · 1
·
>>Monokeras
It always feels like a high number of words for me :(
#79 ·
· · >>horizon
>>Lucky_Dreams
Nah, it's cool. I'm sad I missed the submission deadline, but hey, I have a great start on a story I'm pretty excited about! Still a weekend well-spent.
#80 · 3
·
>>Icenrose >>Everyday >>CoffeeMinion >>Trick_Question
Now that I've gotten a three-hour nap between the 5 am writing deadline and work, I've updated the FIMFiction group with a folder for the new competition. I hope you all push forward and finish those stories and get them posted!


Anyway, I didn't have time for regrets last night, but I have a feeling that spending all day in a sleep-deprived haze is going to provoke a bunch of them. Especially now that I've finally had a chance to re-read what I wrote. Augh, that really could have used a second pass. -__-
#81 ·
· · >>Everyday >>The_Letter_J
> short story round
> 32 stories
> 29 authors


Three of you wrote multiple stories this round‽

(¬_¬)
#82 · 3
· · >>georg
>>horizon

Alternatively, one author wrote four stories.
#83 · 2
· · >>Syeekoh >>RogerDodger
>>horizon
I think there's at least a 30% chance that you're one of those people, horizon. :P

I notice that "Anonymous" is listed twice. I thought that "Anonymous" was only listed in the guessing once before, so did some wiseguy create an alias named "Anonymous"? Or did something change or is my memory wrong and it just means that two people submitted anonymously?
#84 ·
· · >>The_Letter_J
>>The_Letter_J
Someone filled in Anonymous as their name because they were uncertain on how the writeoff worked.
#85 ·
·
>>Syeekoh
Ahh. That still means that there might have been a few people who submitted anonymous stories and fewer who submitted two (or more).
#86 · 1
· · >>horizon >>horizon
>>The_Letter_J
Someone created an alias called "Anonymous". (Alias names aren't unique.) I have to do some changes to disambiguiate the special Anonymous alias from any user-created ones.
#87 ·
· · >>ZaidValRoa
As of this post, we're only three stories shy of giving every participant at least one piece of feedback. (Not bad for 15 hours in!) Any reviewers want to take up that challenge?
#88 ·
·
>>horizon
I'm making my way, or at least trying to, go through all the stories and leave some feedback.
There are quite a few great stories in this batch.
#89 · 3
· · >>horizon >>horizon
>>RogerDodger So, if I wanted to impersonate, say...

Oh. Hey. Would you look at that.
#90 ·
· · >>horizon
Wait, we can't spoiler text?
That can't be right...

--Discord
#91 · 3
· · >>horizon
>>horizon
Hmm, yes, pip pip, I am not a changeling, cheerio, how quaint, pishposh
#92 ·
· · >>Everyday >>horizon
>>Everyday
Roger hasn't installed a button for it, but you can manually add the codes [spoiler] [/spoiler] around text in order to black out text inside the tag.

Totally not impersonating myself right now
#93 ·
·
>>horizon

Oh... Thank you. I was almost positive I'd seen spoilers used before.
#94 · 1
· · >>horizon
>>RogerDodger >>horizon >>horizon >>horizon

[img]http://tomorrowlands.org/images/pony/horizon-horizon-horizon.png[/img]
[image]

SCIENCE HAS GONE TOO FAR
#95 ·
·
>>horizon We were so preoccupied with whether we could... we never stopped to think if we should.
#96 · 1
·
>>Everyday
or they're multiplying in the queue...
#97 ·
·
I'm sensing an odd pattern of a lot of stories feeling like prologues to bigger stories rather than self-contained ones.
Post by Foehn , deleted
#99 ·
· · >>Nicktendonick
>>billymorph
I'm with you on that one. I quite enjoyed Trade. I honestly came out of that one thinking that Pinkie might not have made a deal and found her own way to move on. Like you said, the ending says something happened, but not exactly what.

Thumbs up.

>>Bremen
That's running on the assumption that the episode ends with the three of them not friends. My gut tells me that whatever problems do happen, Equestria's sugarbowl nature will win out and they're gonna patch it up and be friends or on good terms by episode's end. I assume that's the author's guess too. That or he's running on the Trixie/Starlight hype train like a... well, rabid shipper.

Also, I didn't see the romance angle you guys saw. I kinda thought more friendshipping then anything else, but *shrugs* As I said below, not everything is written is interpreted as the person who wrote it intended. *shrugs*




Also, I've been reading the entries and has been lazy / preoccupied to getting around to writing actual critiques of them.While I know I don't need to, I feel as I should.

Miracle and Trade were really good, TrixGlam was fun and did what it needed to do (be funny), and Only, Only, Only you is, definitely unique among writeoff entries. Seriously, As Obscure said, 2000 words of 7-8 syllable couplets. Impressive.

When the contest is over I really want to know what made you want to try that.

Speaking of unique... If, Admist the Flames, a pony. I will admit, it kinda confused me. Not everyone will be able to see the Meta you intend when you go full meta-story like that. I remember my editor (Who I showed it to) called it pretentious, but I disagree. I enjoyed the segments and the meta-nature of the story, even if I didn't completely get the meta part that tied the whole thing together. Good work.
Post by Remedyfortheheart , deleted