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Q1 2019 - Story Competition

Discussion in 'Q1 2019' started by Ched, Jan 3, 2019.

?

Pick your Poison! Prompt, I meant prompt.

Poll closed Jan 7, 2019.

  1. Death

    17 vote(s)
    47.2%

  2. Time Travel (non-Harry POV)

    10 vote(s)
    27.8%

  3. "Art thou mine master?"

    5 vote(s)
    13.9%

  4. Harry was raised as Dudley was. He's fat, lazy, entitled and surrounded by freaks at his new school.

    4 vote(s)
    11.1%
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  1. Xiph0

    Xiph0 Yoda Admin

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    Mar 16, 2019 #61
    Stories are up. :)
     
    Ched
  2. BTT

    BTT Viol̀e͜n̛t͝ D̶e͡li͡g҉h̛t҉s̀ ~ Prestige ~

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    Mar 16, 2019 #62
    I left out the ratings in the reviews themselves. Mostly because it's a bitch to grade things, I suck at it, and also I forgot. My rankings:
    1. Entry #4
    2. Entry #2
    3. Entry #3
     
    Ched
  3. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Mar 16, 2019 #63
    That's fine - IIRC the current rule set just requires you to review in each story thread then rank top 3 in this thread. No requirement to actually rank/grade/score within your review.
     
    BTT
  4. Halt

    Halt 1/3 of the Note Bros. Moderator

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    Mar 17, 2019 #64
    Ched
  5. ChaosGuy

    ChaosGuy Unspeakable

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    Mar 17, 2019 #65
  6. ScottPress

    ScottPress The Horny Sovereign –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    Mar 18, 2019 #66
    @Ched voting is one week or two weeks?
     
  7. Blorcyn

    Blorcyn Chief Warlock DLP Supporter ⭐

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    Mar 18, 2019 #67
     
    Ched, ScottPress
  8. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Mar 18, 2019 #68
    Typically I try to make sure that voting will have at least two weekends included, which may or may not be two full weeks.
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2019
    ScottPress
  9. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Mar 19, 2019 #69
    Going to do a bit of commentary before my rankings.

    I was very lenient in what I personally accepted as meeting the 'Death' prompt. To me, a good use of the prompt would be demonstrated by a two sentence summary of the story (in my own words) including the word death, or dying/killed/whatever. The prompt is technically met if any of that is mentioned at all. The prompt is used excellently if concepts related to Death in the magical world were explored.

    But for rankings? There were three stories that I genuinely enjoyed reading exactly as they were, and those were #2, #3, & #4.

    Regardless of the prompt usage, #4 was the best written story. I had more fun reading #2 than #3 - seriously, some fantastic fucking lines in that thing - but #3 made significantly better use of the prompt. The ending of #2 was a bit sudden and #3 did better there. It's like half a dozen of one and six of the other for these stories. For me those two are a tie, and yet I must needs rank them.

    Honorable mention from Ched to stories #1 and #5 for being short. I really wish we got more stories the length of those two - even if they weren't my favorites they were quick and snappy to read without a lot of clutter/fluff/padding. I think entry #6 had a great concept that worked well with the prompt but it did have a lot of extra padding that could be trimmed.

    First Place - #4
    Second Place - #2
    Third Place - #3

    I'm going to take a shower and think on it for my second and third place - do I give second place to the story with the best prompt use or the one I enjoyed the most? Edit: Decided!
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2019
  10. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Mar 19, 2019 #70
    @ChaosGuy - You are awesome and totally the bestest for reviewing and providing good feedback in this competition and I want to genuinely thank you for that regardless of your response to this post.

    But your reviews are clocking in at closer to 100 words than 200 words, which is the requirement for your rankings to count as votes. Please to go fix?
     
  11. Zombie

    Zombie Black Philip Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐

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    Mar 20, 2019 #71
    Ched
  12. Raigan123

    Raigan123 Banned

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    Mar 20, 2019 #72
  13. H_A_Greene

    H_A_Greene Unspeakable –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    Mar 21, 2019 #73
  14. Newcomb

    Newcomb Minister of Magic

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    Mar 21, 2019 #74
    Sorting my thoughts:

    1 - Voldemort dies, meets Snape. Not enough meat on the bones.

    2 - Fat!Harry. Meh intro, bad end, really enjoyed the middle.

    3 - Grindelwald dies, meets Dumbledore. Competently written, some good lines, didn't excite me too much.

    4 - Old Auror!Harry / Hogwarts rot. Best actual story, nicely flowing writing, had a professional sense of hooking the reader and drawing them in. Extremely DLP.

    5 - Albus/Aberforth try to rez Ariana - Dumbledore felt wrong and the writing was kind of bland. Some good moments.

    6 - Bloody Baron nails on a chalkboard dialogue - Really uneven, confusing. Some good canon feels.

    Let's see. I think 4 is the clear winner in terms of like... "objective" quality. Think it's gotta be on the podium for sure. Tbh, though, I actually had the most fun reading 2. I thought Fat!Harry was inspired, and I had some gleeful moments at the ways Vernon's worldview shaped his perspective on Hogwarts. Like yeah the ending was dumb, but whatever, right? I was still left wanting more. I think that's the biggest thing, at the end of the day.

    Third place is kind of tricky. Not 1, not 6. So 3 or 5. I suppose, on balance, that it's 3. It just felt a bit more polished, a bit more interesting.

    1. Entry 2

    2. Entry 4

    3. Entry 3

    Thanks for submitting stuff, everyone. Glad to see this gaining steam.
     
    Halt, Ched
  15. Shinysavage

    Shinysavage Madman With A Box ~ Prestige ~ ⭐

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    Mar 21, 2019 #75
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  16. Jeram

    Jeram Elder of Zion ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Mar 22, 2019 #76
    Here is my order:

    #4, #2, #6
     
    Ched
  17. Stealthy

    Stealthy Groundskeeper

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    Mar 25, 2019 #77
    First Place: Entry #4
    Second Place: Entry #2
    Third Place: Entry #3

    4 left me the most satisfied and was all around the best, so easy first place. 2 was the most entertaining, but its dry beginning and abrupt end knocked it down, though its biggest problem is the weak prompt use. Pretty sure whoever wrote it voted for the last prompt in the poll, saw that it lost, then said "fuck it, I'm writing it anyway". Still, loved it and want more, and that counts for a lot. Of the remainder, I knew it wasn't 1. It and 3 had similar concepts but 3 was all around superior. Not 6. If this wasn't a competition I'd have dropped it halfway through, which is an immediate DQ. Between 5 and 3, well, 3 left me saying "not enough", which is better than 5 which had deeper flaws. Ultimately, I'd probably click 'next chapter' on 3 but less likely for 5, and that seals it.
     
  18. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Mar 26, 2019 #78
    Vote vote vote! :D I might be a hair late tallying because the time zone I'm in screws with me, but got til approx midnight central time on the 27th to finish up. I'll accept if they're a hair late.
     
  19. Selethe

    Selethe normalphobe ⭐

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    Mar 26, 2019 #79
    #2
    #4
    #5
     
  20. Sorrows

    Sorrows Queen of the Flamingos Moderator

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    Mar 26, 2019 #80
    #2
    #4
    #3

    Four was by far the most technically proficient, but I enjoyed the premise of 2 so much I'm making it my winner, flawed though it was.
     
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