HazMat Contest #1 Results · 1:09pm Sep 26th, 2015
Hello. I know this is getting posted on the Hazardous Writing Materials and Challenges group as well, but since I'd like for as many people to give both the stories and the group a look, I'm posting the contest results on my personal blog as well. It was a fun contest, and the participants deserve to get looked at by strangers. Creepily.
Have a good one!
The results are in! All three judges have finished banging their heads together to try and figure out which story we thought deserved the top three spots in this contest. We’re all very happy with how many stories got submitted (seven on the first try is a solid achievement, we think, considering there were only 100 of you when we launched the contest), and we’re especially happy with how the idea and theme of the contest was implemented. I’m not good at stalling for time, so onwards!
(Also, for the sake of convenience, Edgy McEdgerson's comments are in red, and Verbose Mode's are in green. I'm stuck in black, because I wrote the most and nobody wants to look a that much purple.)
You were always bad at stalling, Haph. We all know that. If I may be so bold… THESE STORIES LACKED SO MUCH EDGINESS THEY GAVE ME GOOD FEELINGS ! ‘Part from that, I was sincerely surprised at some of the stories we got. Impressive, really.
Quite. You would not believe the levels of “sidetracked” we can reach. Somehow we got onto the topic of main battle tanks by the end. Starting with judging the stories, mind you. And we made that transition on the day two of us were sober.
Guess which one of us wasn’t.
In third place:
The Forgotten Who Still Remember - by Elusith
This one made the top three for a few reasons. The first was that it managed the idea of telling a story out of order. It raised enough questions in each segment to prompt the reader to explore what might come next.
I’m gonna be completely honest here: I like the story, but it didn’t do really move me, either in a good or bad way. I will admit, however, that it does do everything right, has a nicely crafted plot and character interactions. It definitely deserves this third place.
This is a story about how the character’s interact, and getting a feel for what their relationships are. These are what makes the story interesting, even though it does feel like more of a series of snapshots of a character’s life than an actual story. I quite wanted to see more explored and fleshed out, but alas, time constraints.
In second place:
Non-Linear Ball - by DaeCat
There was a great deal of debate surrounding where we should place this one, but we were all in agreement that it definitely should have placed. One of us wanted it in first place, but we were also strongly considering third. It was an ambitious story, probably the most ambitious one in this contest. It tries so hard to present epic stakes, convoluted and thoughtful plot, and fleshing out the idea of time-travel with a goodly amount of detail and, dare I say, intelligence.
Which brings us to the concept of, well, concept and execution. Which are very much not mutually inclusive. DaeCat is definitely a skilled writer, but that ambitious concept made for a big bite. The execution is there, but it’s teetering just on the safe side of “Really Damn Confusing I Better Re-Read This.” (I did, in fact, re-read it. It made more sense.
For clarification, the heated debate originated from me. In my honest and entirely personal opinion, I felt this story deserved first place by far. And when I say far, I mean as far as the nine circles of Hell are from Paradise. I didn’t have problems understanding it, following it, or enjoying it. However, I have to be honest, it could have been delivered better, even if I think it didn’t need to be. This is the kind of tale that will reward the people that give time and effort investing themselves into the flow of the plot. From a strictly technical point of view, yes, it can be improved, and by no small amount. But I think its ambitions, its ideas, and the sheer good will and imagination that transpire through the words are more than enough to be highly rewarded. This is a second place, but it will always be first in my heart. Amazing work, DaeCat.
Unfortunately for DaeCat, Edgy was alone in that opinion. It's definitely something worth rewarding, though.
First place:
Distorted Vision - by Jigsaw
Distorted Vision was the opposite of Non-Linear Ball in that it was so very fluid to read, prompting questions in each chapter that get answered (at least partly) in the next. It had a simpler, less convoluted idea, but presents it in a great way.
I gotta give this story credits for its characters. But to me, it would really, really have benefited from a vision, from ambitions and resurgent writing. Alas, it did not. But I recognize without a second thought that its quality is undeniable, and this first place is deserved on many aspects… however, my choice of heart was thwarted here, and it shall never be forgiven.
While not a stunningly original plot (Changelings among us oh my!), it was well and firmly within the spirit of the contest, and quite honestly it made me happy. It’s not a crapsack world like so many like to write, and it feels well in-line with the show (barring the fact that nearly as much alcohol was consumed in the story as the three of us did reading).
(Those two drank all the rum. I didn’t touch a single drop of it. Filthy liar !)
Yes, the fact that it featured my most favourite thing after Rainbow Dash, booze, didn’t hurt either. We felt that, given everything,the story made the best use of telling a story, complete with conflict, out of order. Other stories had their own qualities, but this one managed to be, in our opinion, most in keeping with the spirit of the contest, and pulled its ideas through nicely. For that, this one makes first place.
Of course, there are a good few other stories in the list we enjoyed for different reasons, and (as promised) I will be doing individual reviews of each on my blog, so everyone should get a good idea why a story didn't place or why it did better then the author might have thought. Also as promised, there will be a Shameless Self Promotion Bureau, written by me, featuring the top three, to get the word out a bit. It's not exactly shameless if you get us to do it for you, after all!
Congratulations to everyone who pulled through and provided a story to review. This was a fun contest to organize, and I hope that the next contest (which should be up in around a week, give or take) will be just as, if not more entertaining and challenging.
Thanks for participating, and see you next time. Have a good one!
