Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

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Curbludgeon
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Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by Curbludgeon »

Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest:
25 August - 15 September, 2022
Spoiler:
Eligibility
  • Entries should be sent via PM to the account attached to this post (link) no later than 00:00 GMT 16 September, 2022.
  • Entries may be up to 1000 words in length, and should in some way draw upon the fictional settings published by Palladium Books, Inc.
  • Additional materials of an artistic or gaming-related nature ancillary to a fiction entry may be submitted alongside that entry, but will only be appended to said entry upon close of voting. This is foremost a fiction contest.
  • No more than two (2) entries per person, please.

Scoring
  • The scoring period will run until 00:00 GMT 23 September, 2022.
  • Upon close of the acceptance period, each entrant will be posted in a thread dedicated solely to entries and votes, in a randomized order, with all identifying information removed and entry number assigned. Entries will be posted otherwise "as-is".
  • A ranked choice voting system will be used, implemented as follows: posters will have the opportunity to vote on entries via posting in the contest thread, ordering their preferences in descending order. The total number of submissions will determine the value in points assigned to each voter's first preference of entry, with each subsequent vote having a value of one less than the previous. For example, if there are 10 entries, and a voter votes on their top 5, the top entry will receive 10 points, the second 9, the third 8, the fourth 7, and the fifth 6. Voters may vote for any and all entries.
  • The collector/presenter of entries is ineligible to vote, so that the anonymity of entrants may be maintained during the voting process. Please do not divulge authorship on any entry until after the end of voting.
  • Any discussion of the merits of entries will be done in a thread separate from entries and votes, so as to limit the swaying of opinion.
  • The entrant with the highest score may claim a "No-Prize" consisting of adding a line to their forum signature noting the achievement, e.g. "4F Winner Q3 2022" or something similar. "No-Prizes" are non-redeemable, and have no cash value.

Legal
This contest is not held in any affiliation with Palladium Books, Inc ("Palladium"). Entrants will have in no way entered any agreement with Palladium via entry to this contest. No offer of publication will be made to entrants, nor does participation in this contest constitute a first submission with respect to publication elsewhere. All creative rights of entries are retained by the author, save insofar as they make use of product identity owned by Palladium under "fair use". Let's all play nice, OK?

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These guidelines may be subject to change. Questions or comments should be directed to this thread (skip to the last page).
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Captain_Nibbz
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by Captain_Nibbz »

Hell yeah, I can't wait to see what gets submitted for this. There are some very tallented peeps on these forums :D
A good friend will help you hide a body. A best friend will lend you the P.P.E. you need to resurrect the body as a loyal zombie servant.

"If I kept a list of all time worst Sound Off threads, this would be way up there." - Mack
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Captain_Nibbz
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by Captain_Nibbz »

How go the submissions?

Also, whats the plan with these? I would love to read them :D
A good friend will help you hide a body. A best friend will lend you the P.P.E. you need to resurrect the body as a loyal zombie servant.

"If I kept a list of all time worst Sound Off threads, this would be way up there." - Mack
Curbludgeon
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by Curbludgeon »

There were no entries.
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desrocfc
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by desrocfc »

Curbludgeon wrote:There were no entries.


Unfortunately I found myself slammed with 80-hour work weeks for the last month. Makes committing to writing a competition with family and sleep, LOL.

There might be scope to make this a standing request for works of fan fiction submissions. I know the piece I had started is only half-finished but could be finalized in the "near" future.
Francois DesRochers

http://www.scholarlyadventures.com/blog [A Rifts RPG Blog]
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Hotrod
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by Hotrod »

I tried submitting to the link provided; it didn't work. Here's the submission I wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The poor residents of Doomville struggle about their tasks under the yoke of their demonic overseers as dawn breaks on another hopeless day. A little boy drags a goat towards the Baal-Rog hulking over the sacrificial altar in the town square. With a fiendish cackle, the Baal-Rog seizes the boy. "Good job, goat! You have brought me this morning's blood sacrifi-"
-The Baal-Rog's head disappears in a bloody mist. Seconds later, a thunderous boom echoes through the filthy hovels of Doomville. The boy scurries away. Other demons emerge, only to fall and die as more and more booms thunder through the town.
The villagers huddle in silence as the echoes of the last boom fade, only to be replaced by... music?
It starts no louder than a whisper, far off in the distance: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord!"
The young boy pokes his head out the door of his family's hovel and catches his first glimpse of a gleaming figure approaching in the distance. This isn't just a song like his mother used to sing. These are voices, in harmony, with instruments. "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored!"
The figure waves an eagle-hilted, star-emblazoned sword, its blade gleaming through the thick demonic blood dripping down its length. The boy suppresses his gasp for fear it would stop this music that is so piercingly beautiful, so unlike awful, clanging demonic chants that he has known all his life. "He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible, swift sword!"
The figure raises an eagle-headed gun and fires it in the air. Star-clusters of red, white, and blue light up the sky, and the music swells as the verse concludes, "His truth is marching on!"
The gleaming figure strides through town, its stars-and-stripes cape streaming from its shoulders. "Glory, glory hallelujah!"
Smoke wafts from the eagle-headed muzzles of its guns. "Glory, glory hallelujah!"
Light from the rising sun plays on the eagle and stars emblazoned and anodized across the figure's chest chest, a glorious shining red, white, and blue. Its winged helm glitters and shines. "Glory, glory hallelujah! His truth is marching on!"
A few minor demons break from their hiding holes, and as the figure slashes them down, a rich, almost musical bass voice rings out over the music:
"GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME DEATH!" A wolf-headed demon disintegrates under the heel of the gleaming figure, impaled by a laser drill.
"REMEBER THE ALAMO!" The gleaming sword impales a Nasu.
"NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!" The particle beam cannon on its shoulder rotates and mows down two more demons trying to sneak around the gleaming figure.
"LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!" The figure's heels drive in as an enormous, eagle-mouthed cannon comes around.
As the figure sweeps the cannon along the roads leading out of the town center, the voice calls out, "CITIZENS! AMERICA'S SOLDIERS HAVE ARRIVED TO ERADICATE TERRORIST THREATS IN THIS AREA! TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY, AND REPORT ALL CRIMINAL AND TERRORIST ACTIVITIES TO YOUR LOCAL 911 EMERGENCY SERVICES!"
Suddenly, the music cuts out, and a higher, static-overlayed, reedy voice calls out "Sorry about that, folks, he gets a little carried away sometimes. But please do keep your heads down while I clear out the area, and plug your ears in case I need to use my big gun again."
******************
The boy never saw that suit again, but he spread his story to all who would hear it. His tale joined the lore of the most famous Glitter Boy in North America, another verse in the ever-growing ballad of...
THE PATRIOT
Hotrod
Author, Rifter Contributor, and Map Artist
Duty's Edge, a Rifts novel. Available as an ebook, PDF,or printed book.
Check out my maps here!
Also, check out my Instant NPC Generators!
Like what you see? There's more on my Patreon Page.
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Curbludgeon
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by Curbludgeon »

The link is working on my end, opening a private message window. I'd be interested if someone else could confirm an issue.
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Hotrod
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by Hotrod »

Huh. Well, it's working fine now, but it gave me an error message last week when I tried submitting it, so I posted it on a Facebook group for fun instead.
Hotrod
Author, Rifter Contributor, and Map Artist
Duty's Edge, a Rifts novel. Available as an ebook, PDF,or printed book.
Check out my maps here!
Also, check out my Instant NPC Generators!
Like what you see? There's more on my Patreon Page.
Image
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desrocfc
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Location: New Brunswick, Canada
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Re: Unofficial Friendly Forum Flash Fiction Contest

Unread post by desrocfc »

Hotrod wrote:Huh. Well, it's working fine now, but it gave me an error message last week when I tried submitting it, so I posted it on a Facebook group for fun instead.


Huh, must have missed that FB post. Which of the 7+ groups did you post on?
Francois DesRochers

http://www.scholarlyadventures.com/blog [A Rifts RPG Blog]
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