Nightmare Night Finalists and Voting · 12:50am Oct 22nd, 2013
Hey dawgs.
So for those of you not in the know, Equestria Daily's finally got around to announcing the finalists for the Nightmare Night 2013: Spooky Harder contest.
One of them is me and my most recent fic: More Than You Know! :D
While it would be unsportsmanlike of me to say that you should go and vote for me, the true sportsman knows that winning at things is awesome, so I'm sort of in a jam here. Go vote for me if you think I deserve it, and give everyone else a good shake too. There are some really popular, handsome, and talented competitors vying for supremacy in there, like Cold in Gardez and shortskirtsandexplosions and *cough* maybe-Obselescence, so this contest is certainly a coup for the readers if nothing else. Good stories all around, y'all!
(Also I have a new story in the works that may drop in a week or two, depending on how my exam schedule works out. It's got changelings, so eyes to the skies, people).
And finally, for your troubles, a Skype log:
[10/21/13 6:09:27 PM] Cold in Gardez: Yes, Obs and I are both finalists... (shifty glance)
[10/21/13 6:09:42 PM] Obselescence: Y'know, if Cold were to end up spontaneously dead
[10/21/13 6:09:43 PM] Cold in Gardez: We should go... converse outside
[10/21/13 6:09:45 PM] Obselescence: it might disqualify him
[10/21/13 6:09:53 PM] Fedora Mask: Guys
[10/21/13 6:09:58 PM] Fedora Mask: it's a scary story contest
[10/21/13 6:10:02 PM] Fedora Mask: the murder victim has a leg UP
[10/21/13 6:10:10 PM] Obselescence: So what are you saying his skeleton is scarier than my pallid form
[10/21/13 6:10:17 PM] Obselescence: C'mon we've all been in biology
[10/21/13 6:10:31 PM] Obselescence: It's a skeleton, yo. It doesn't even have any muscular supports for movement
[10/21/13 6:10:54 PM] Fedora Mask: Doesn't matter
[10/21/13 6:10:55 PM] Cold in Gardez: Yes, but does your pallid form go "booga booga"?
[10/21/13 6:11:07 PM] Cold in Gardez: I didn't think so
[10/21/13 6:11:09 PM] Fedora Mask: giving the prize to a ghost would be edgy
[10/21/13 6:11:29 PM] Obselescence: Giving a prize to the only live contestant would be scarier
[10/21/13 6:11:48 PM] Obselescence: It's like "Wait… how did HE win?"
[10/21/13 6:12:06 PM] Obselescence: And then my cold, living claw descends upon your shoulder.
[10/21/13 6:12:16 PM] Obselescence: "For a good time, call..."
Voted.
For SS&E. No, I kid. I did you.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Voted. Commented. Asked a question.
And for my next trick I shall go to—
Zzzzzzz
-M
1453319
The tense choice was mostly a slurry of "Hey, this'll be fun," aesthetic set-ups, and a nod to the overall structure and plot. It was a third-person limited with a very close Twilight perspective, so I felt like the ending made it a better idea to present the events as they happened instead of being told retrospectively. Also present tense is generally interesting to me, so this made for a good opportunity to get better at it.
Oh, and thanks for the support! Sorry it wasn't quite your bag.
1453357 Self described moral philosopher: you were never gonna slip this one by me.
But yeah, that does make sense now that you mention it, although this might be the only time I ever say that I think first-person would have suited it better. The descriptions of her state of mind felt really unengaging done this way, but are generally less obtrusive in first person. That said, I am aware I have become a horrendous grouch about show versus tell stuff, so maybe I'm just a fuddy-duddy.
P.S. I wouldn't even dare trying to write like that. It would do my swede right in.