We're getting down to the real contenders here! The paths taken by each contestant are converging, some delicious drama has gone down, and we'll be seeing some dramatic clashes before going into the final rounds that will determine which jammer slams supreme!

Oh hey, we're not out of good Space Jam remixes yet.

This makes my bones tingle with overpowering joy.

Is it too early to start throwing down predictions?

Not that that'll stop me, mind you. I've got nothing better to do tonight!

Luster Lock vs. Lilligold
Aaand right off the bat it's a pretty tough call. On one side you've got Luster Lock who's scraped by two very formidable opponents—both Bristle and Heather Rose had strong authors behind them—and had nearly a clean sweep on the third round. And on the other side you've got Lilligold who's basically won each of her brackets in a landslide, but she also didn't go up against nearly as tough of opposition, in my opinion. Both authors have had moments where they've proven to be stellar, but they've both had their pitfalls too. Ultimately I think they're pretty evenly matched, but Luster seems to have had a harder ride than Lilligold. So I'll give her the edge for that, but it's really anyone's game here.
Winner: Luster Lock

Mango Leaf vs. Summer Heat
No offense meant to Mango's author, but I think they've been pretty lucky so far. Candy Cane had an all-around weaker story in Round 1, Rachis kinda shot himself in the foot in Round 2, and Haystacks also kinda shot himself in the foot in Round 3. That being said, I think Mango's author is still a reasonable contender and deserves to have gotten this far—his stories tend to be very, very fun to read, if not the most stylistically sound. I do, however, think Summer Heat's author is a bit more proficient. She hasn't been perfect in this contest by any means, but she's shown a little bit more ability in my eyes than Mango's author. She even toppled Iron Curtain, one of the contest favourites! I think both authors have a fighting chance, and Mango certainly has the tenacity to pull out a win here, but I'm rooting for Summer.
Winner: Summer Heat

Ace Artisan vs. Evergreen
Even though she won by default, I think Evergreen really cemented herself as a force to be reckoned with in Round 3. Not only is her character a fan favourite, but she has the writing skills to back it up—I would argue that her story in Round 3 was the best of the lot. That said, Ace is no sloucher either. His character has been a lot more understated in this contest, but he's proven to be an author that deserves his spot in Round 4, especially with that most recent story. Ultimately I think Evergreen will have a slight edge because her author has a more variable style. All of her stories have had a similar vibe, but they've been distinct enough to impress me. Ace's author seems to have a much more narrow scope for story style, but that scope has allowed him to refine that style to an artform. I don't know if another conversation-only story will take the win in Round 4, but stranger things have happened.
Winner: Evergreen

Firefly vs. Falcata
Now Firefly's author hasn't really left an impression on me as most of the others here have, but clearly he has enough ability to have made it this far, and that means he's a force to be reckoned with. I don't personally think he's presented the strongest stories, or that his character is really great in and of itself, but he's done quite well considering. Falcata, on the other hand, is in a rather unique position. Having won all three of her rounds by disqualification means she hasn't had to prove herself as much as the other authors in Round 4. Her Round 3 bracket was a bit of an anomaly, though, and I think she would've won even if Tidy Till's author hadn't outed himself. Yet despite the fact that Falcata hasn't had to step up to the plate, she's certainly no amateur either. I'd place her about on even keel with Firefly's author, actually. And because of that, this one is tough to call. So I'm just gonna go with my preference on this one.
Winner: Falcata

And since we're into the Final Eight now, I think this is apt. Here's my estimation for which character is most likely to win the whole shebang at this point:

1. Luster Lock
2. Evergreen
3. Summer Heat
4. Lilligold
5. Mango Leaf
6. Ace Artisan
7. Falcata
8. Firefly

That should about do it. Good luck, authors! Can't wait to see what the cream of the crop brings to Round 4!

P.S.: With the votes for Round 3, I've updated this thread that keeps track of how many votes each character has cumulatively and scores them accordingly. Not an especially relevant statistic, but a fun one nonetheless!

4537653
Hey, thanks for the ego boost, buddy! Might need it.

Luster Lock vs. Lilligold
This is the big one. This is the one to watch. I don't know who to root for here, because Liligold was a fan favorite even before she wowed everyone with her round 3, but Luster Lock has had to rip and tear through quite probably the toughest competition.

Mango Leaf vs. Summer Heat
I wrote my round 3 entry with the mindset that I had to win because I wanted the privilege of writing against the winner of Haystacks/Mango. That goes double for the honor of writing against the winner of Luster/Lili!

Ace Artisan vs. Evergreen
Argon said it--Evergreen's round 3 entry shows that she is top tier material. On the other hand, Ace Artisan's round 3 was pretty amazing too. So...

Firefly vs. Falcata
Falcata has gone up against two no-shows and one trainwreck. I definitely think Firefly has greater writing skill, so unless Falcata murders him offscreen again, he has this. Honestly, both of these two have yet to prove themselves. This round is going to be about showing us what they can do.

.

... honestly, can we all just sit back and reflect on how awkward these brackets have been?

Southeast was a disaster. Caps Lock knocked out the very strong Loosestrife, then Caps Lock no-showed for the much weaker Falcata. Tidy Till got handed the contest's only double no-show in round two, then Tidy Till did what we saw him do when put against Falcata. Meaning Falcata's opponents have been a no-show, a no-show, and a total meltdown. At least Firefly has had a smooth three rounds.

Meanwhile, Northwest was as brutal as it was heartbreaking. Proper Prim and Bristle are defeated and left in the dust, but they could have thrashed the less formidable southeast (Falcata) and southwest (me). And then Heather Rose went down. And now Luster Lock and Liligold are fighting for the right to move on. I mean, seriously!?

One thing's for sure--I've been loving this contest every step of the way, despite all the flaws and potholes, and I hope we can learn from this and make future competitions just as fun.

4537653
Thanks for the support. Hope I don't disappoint!

My money's on Falcata, as her opponents continue to "mysteriously" disappear.

4537755
4537942

I'm not scared of nopony, nohow, skkkkkrrrrttt...

Just foaling around!

(Sweats profusely and carries a baseball bat, just in case.)

4537711
Good luck, friend! May the best story win! ♥

4537755

Thanks for your support. BTW - Do you know where I might be able to purchase some body armor cheap?

4537653

Rachis kinda shot himself in the foot in Round 2

Man, two rounds after I've been eliminated, it almost feels like a chore to drag myself back into things. It's been a busy week for me. Anyway, I've got some things to say. Doesn't hurt that there are only a handful of names to talk about this time, either.

Luster Lock vs. Lilligold
Boy, talk about hit-and-misses. And I'm not just saying that because I didn't like Lilligold's Round 3. This contest has been going on for so long it's sometimes hard to keep looking at the big picture and not just recent rounds. Don't forget that Lilligold's Round 1, even though it won 24-2, was still a really close decision for a lot of voters. It was nowhere near the mindblowing quality most of us saw in Round 2 and most of you saw in Round 3. Normally I'd say that's just learning from mistakes, but something about Lilligold's author makes me think they're already an experienced enough writer that they wouldn't have that much improvement after one week and a handful of short reviews. I think the difference is less improvement and more just variance of product. And personal preference, of course. The first three rounds have shown us a wide spectrum of Lilligold fics, ranging from "Meh" all the way up to "Holy crap, did I really just read that."
Style-wise, Lilligold entries are pretty consistently SOL's focusing on Lilligold and her insecurities. The formula lends itself easily to Luster Lock, and makes for very easy scenarios to write stories around. In a pair like this, though, I think Luster's regular style will make for a more interesting story. A little more humor, a little more extreme variance in depth of emotion, and a lot more plotline creativity are definitely looking good in Luster's bag of tricks right now.
Winner: Luster Lock, close

Mango Leaf vs. Summer Heat
Hoo boy. This should be fun. Mostly because of Mango's character and what Summer's character can do new with him. We've seen Mango's author write Mango three times now, but I really want to see the author of Summer vs. Iron Curtain tackle Mango. Won't that just be fun? With a pair like this I don't think there's too much potential in writing a more serious story here, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Mango went for it, after three comparatively shallow entries. Summer kind of already did in this last round, so I bet her author will go all-out for fun this time, and that might be enough to win.
All the same, go Mango!
Winner: Summer Heat, close

Ace Artisan vs. Evergreen
This. This is what I'm most excited about. Lilligold can do what she wants, so long as both of these authors show up to Round 4. I don't think we've ever had such a pair of opposites so far in this contest. Evergreen has found her groove of comedy and action and it's working so splendidly I don't want it to stop, but Ace is like a European outlet to her American plug; they just aren't really compatible with each others' styles. Ace is a strong contender to be king of the artsy, introspective authors (Bristle, Haystacks, Foxglove), and the sheer contrast between the stories I'm envisioning from these two authors is engrossing. Assuming neither author goes too far off-formula, who do you think will win? Will Evergreen be able to make Ace funny, with his race, career and relationship troubles? Meh. Will Ace be able to dissect Evergreen with dialogue, and reveal a full, realistic, and sympathetic character? Who knows?
I wouldn't fault either author doing what they've done before as long as it works, since they both do their thing so well. I'm predicting a lot of broken hearts as voters have to pick one entry over the other. Whoever ends up winning, this will be a battle between executions of style rather than writing ability. As far as that goes, both authors are solid, polished, and professional. This is where deeper writing talent comes in.
Tie, Ace Artisan by Tiebreaker

Firefly vs. Falcata
Hmmm. This one I'm really not sure about. These are two authors that have definitely seen improvement over the course of this contest, but I think they've both finally gotten warmed up and are at the top of their game. I don't think one more round in this contest will have any more significant effect on their writing, so this is another one that comes down to who had the better idea and who did the better job of pulling it off. So with that in mind, who do I think is going to win? I still don't know. This is a new sort of matchup for both characters, because for the first time they both have actual reason to have interest in each other. Firefly did pretty well giving himself common ground with Mild Manners, but just imagine how fascinated he could be by a pony from the distant past? She's not exactly a war mage, but Falcata should still find a great guide to modern life in Firefly, better than any of her past opponents.
I'm going to go ahead and say this one is anyone's game. This will probably be the only instance in Round 4 with close voting, actually, as long as neither author does anything stupid.

4538163
Same to you. Honestly, I've been itching to be matched up with you for a while now. Got a weird take on your character I need to play with.

Also, you all do predictions in here, huh? I could toss out a couple.

Me vs. Lilligold
Actually gonna give this one to Lilligold, and that's not me being humble. Lilligold's stories don't seem to do much to get under folks' skin, but I know exactly what I'm doing for this round and how I'm gonna execute it, and it's not going to appeal to everybody. If I can even make it work in the word limit. I'll have fun, though; like I said up top, having Lilligold in my hands has been kind of a subgoal for me. If I do make it through, though…
Winner: Lilligold, hopefully close

Mango Leaf vs. Summer Heat
…then Summer Heat is another character I've been gunning for. Less because I really want to write her, more because I've had a plot in mind for it since, like, Round 2. Heck, I might write it no matter the outcome. But yeah, up against Mango, I'm thinking Summer has the edge. Mango's stories, even when they're laid out more clearly than his Round 3 one, always kind of have this disjointed, 'floaty' sort of structure, if you get what I mean. It makes it loads harder for me to get into them, but Summer's feel so much more natural. It's a weird thing to base a prediction on, I guess, but hey. Summer's just feel stronger.
Winner: Summer Heat

Ace Artisan vs. Evergreen
Crazy different pair of authors/characters. I think we're gonna wind up with two super good, super different stories: Ace Artisan's is going to be slow and talky and plotted simply, and Evergreen's will be fast and action-packed and given another TV show kind of plot. People will like both a lot, but Evergreen's going to take it because folks can't resist the action.
Winner: Evergreen, close

Firefly vs. Falcata
Meh. Nothing super complicated here. Falcata hasn't gone up against a decent opponent yet, and Firefly has. Only thing I'll say might give Falcata the edge is that Firefly is kind of all over the map when we're talking pleasing a crowd. That's kind of weak, though.
Winner: Firefly

Feels crazy that there are only four pairs.

4538278

Winner: Luster Lock, close

Winner: Summer Heat, close

Tie, Ace Artisan by Tiebreaker

this one is anyone's game. This will probably be the only instance in Round 4 with close voting, actually

You do weird predictions…

4538844 Heh. Yeah, I was thinking when I wrote that last, "Wait, didn't I have the rest as close? This might be a little confusing."

There's actually a reason for that, that I should probably explain. I've been going over the votes and reviews for previous rounds, and I was always surprised at how many rounds had landslide votes but reviews saying "This was so close!" So there's a difference between close votes and close decisions. I think Firefly vs. Falcata will be the only one not split on votes (or close to a tie, like 10-6), with voters overwhelmingly picking one over the other but everyone coming close to picking the other. Out of the four matchups, this is the one I think is most likely to have some big thing that decides the votes, like weird representation of the opponent's OC or not having a coherent plot (not that I expect either author to do that). All the other pairs will have mixed votes, but more staunch supporters of both sides.

Does that make sense?

4538925

Does that make sense?

Not… really? Or not to me. Dunno why you think that way about only that pair or why you went with such confusing terms.

As for my predictions... and has anyone else noticed that the total number of votes cast is decreasing? Maybe with only eight stories in the running fewer folks will be discouraged from voting by the sheer volume of words to read. Meh. Or maybe not.

Luster Lock vs. Lilligold

This will be a contest royal between the charm and sweetness of Lilligold and the sassy saltiness of Luster Lock. Usually I would say that two such characters can only hate each other on sight, BUT, given their obsessiveness and dedication to their hobbies, they may actually be able to find common ground. Too close to call.

Mango Leaf vs. Summer Heat

Can you say sexual tension. I knew you could. For either of these two authors to pull it off (What? Whadisay?) without drifting out of the bounds of this contest will be, to put it mildly, hard. I have no clue who will win, but in this matchup, Vive la différence!

Ace Artisan vs. Evergreen

Ace Artisan's author just blew me away in round three. If he produces another story like it he will win. But my canuck heart is all for Evergreen of the RCMP RER!

Firefly vs. Falcata

I WILL DOMINATE FALCATA!!! If I live long enough to actually submit a story.

4538964 Terms are my downfall. Basically, FvF will be something like 19-2 with a lot of people saying, "Boy, that was close, but in the end this thing clinched it for me." The other three will be something like 12-9 with more people saying, "No, you're all idiots. This story is clearly better for this reason." Two different kinds of close, see?

The reasoning for singling it out is that it's frankly the weakest pair by history out of the four. Everyone else has had really strong entries and gathered fanbases, but these two haven't. A big part of that is the writing ability we've seen so far. Basically, these are the only two contestants we can't count on getting outstanding entries from. I'm sure they will, but if they don't it would be less of a surprise than, say, Evergreen or Lilligold plunking out completely. No offense to either author! Just remember the sorts of writers you're up against.

Even more than that is the style of writing. The other three pairs have all had big differences in style that we've seen from previous rounds, and I highly doubt we'll see any more parallel entries from now on. Firefly and Falcata aren't exactly similar, but they have less distinctive styles than the others, so style will have less of an impact on the votes. That will come down more to writing quality and characterization, while the others will be competing almost completely in matters of style.

But if either author does something big that impacts the votes, like a big mistake or something really impressive, they're more likely to take all the votes than if another author in another matchup did the same thing.

I hope this makes a little more sense. I'm not sure why I'm going to so much trouble to explain myself, but hopefully this is enough.

4538844

Got a weird take on your character I need to play with.

I know exactly what I'm doing for this round and how I'm gonna execute it, and it's not going to appeal to everybody.

If this is true, and if I can pull off my story concept too, then our bracket is going to shake this round to its core.

4539442
You're getting me super pumped, here. Watch our matchup be a better show than the finals.

4539540 Finals: Lilligold vs. Evergreen. Calling it now. Maybe not as good of a show, but that pairing just has a sense of weight, don't you think? (also don't think too hard about how this works with my other predictions)

4539768 I'm really not buying the win for Lilligold, tbh. It's not like her entry this last round was crazy memorable or anything. I bet the first thing that comes to you about it is Audrey, but it's no better than anything others have written.

Anyway, here's my predictions for the next round.

Luster Lock vs. Lilligold

This will be a tough one. I like how solid Luster's writing is as a general rule, and honestly, as much as I've enjoyed Lilligold's stories, she seems more popular than proficient when it comes to this match up. Will it be easy? I don't think so. But if you take a step back and judge the short stories through quality of writing alone, I do think Luster has the edge.
Winner: Luster Lock

Mango Leaf vs. Summer Heat

Here I have to disagree with 4537653. Mango tends to be looked at as the underdog in every pairing, and who can blame readers? Rachis was awesome, and the poem was really strong. It wasn't enough to beat Mango, but damned if I didn't think Rachis would win. And Haystacks is a strong contender in every sense. What Haystacks' author wrote was very solid, deep and well executed, where Summer has so far had easier opponents to deal with: Quick Study quit. Iron Curtain was popular, but he wrote a story about zombies and little context, and finally Spring Blaze didn't even show. I'm not saying Summer stands no chance (I have loved her stories so far) but I wouldn't say it's as clear cut as people here are making it look like.
Winner: Anyone's Match

Ace Artisan vs. Evergreen
I guess I have the POV that there's a lot of expectations being built on popularity of characters rather than merits of stories. Thankfully, except for some really obvious people, that doesn't tend to be the case when the actual voting begins. In this case though, I have to say that I have enjoyed Evergreen's stories more than I have enjoyed Ace's comparatively. Having said that, Ace's stories have proven to be pretty well written, engaging and fun even. So, at least for me it's going to be a tough call, but I'm leaning more towards Evergreen.
Winner: Evergreen (close)

Firefly vs. Falcata
Firefly will suddenly disappear before this happens. We know it. What's the point.

Seriously though, my thoughts on this one go towards a Firefly win. Falcata has gotten very lucky so far, and Tidy Till's entry was... well, disparate. With that in mind, it'll be interesting to see what they can produce, but Falcata has to up her game for this one if she wants a chance to win.
Winner: Firefly

I was (for some reason) going to wait for Obs to officially kick off the next round before I put up any predictions, but forget about it. Been more than a day.

Luster vs. Lilligold: Just like others seem to feel, this is the pairing I'm looking forward to most for the upcoming round. Both of these characters have a variety of things to hone in on to form a story, and neither author seems afraid to use that—I feel like we see a different side of Luster every round in her author's entries, and the same is mostly true for Lilligold in her own author's (though round one and two were similar). I feel like there's a lot left to be explored for both, too, so I'll be sad no matter which of them goes. In terms of differences in ability, I feel like the biggest are that Luster's author seems to be stronger when in comes to using his or her opponent's characters well, while Lilligold's author seems to be better at emotional storytelling. Couple all that with what the pair of them are saying here, and I don't think I can predict the outcome, apart from that I'm going to enjoy it.

Mango vs. Summer: I'll say right off the bat that I'm not sure on this one, either. Last round, I liked that Mango's author showed that he or she can go for a plot structure different and more impactful from the sorts he or she had gone with for the two rounds previous. On the other hand, he or she still seems to struggle with word economy and/or writing with the word cap in mind. I liked that Summer's author showed us that he or she can inject some strong characterization into a story. On that other hand, I'm becoming more and more convinced that Summer is a very difficult character to plot creatively for, even for her own author—there's a melancholy side of her that's yet to really be explored, but I think it might wind up being very difficult to do so without focusing inordinately on her character for the duration of a story, so without that most all we've got is the world experience and the flirting. I like the path these authors are starting to head down, but both have obstacles, and it's just going to come down to which of the two is better at surmounting them.

Ace vs. Evergreen: Two authors with markedly different skill sets. Ace's author has an incredible grasp on characterization, and Evergreen's author is excellent when it comes to writing traditional action. This is in spite of their characters being—at least in my opinion—two of the simplest left in the contest. The thing of it is, I think the winner of this matchup is going to be the one to best integrate good action in with great characterization or vice versa, and because of that, I'm predicting the winner will be Ace's author; with the whole contest in mind, I'd say he or she has shown an ability to write some decent, interesting action (round two) more so than Evergreen's author has proven that he or she can characterize more deeply than his or her action plots have so far required. Though, I will say that I worry for Ace's author in that his or her entries have seemed to become increasingly dependent on the ones from previous rounds, and that may get very hard to maintain.

Firefly vs. Falcata: Once more, I come to the last pairing of the round and feel little investment in it. Firefly's author's third showing was better than the first, but (in my opinion) markedly worse than the second. Falcata's author's entry wasn't terrible, but it wasn't particularly strong, either. All it comes down to for me is that, of the two of them, Firefly's author has demonstrated more potential, but honestly—as cold as it is for me to say it—I'm just going to be happy if I get some amount of enjoyment this time. Firefly's author, ease up on the side characters and let your leads carry themselves. Falcata's author, find an editor.

4539846 Nooo! Don't say that! You're making me blush! And people predicting against me brings me luck! Just look at the previous rounds!

4539846

Rachis was awesome, and the poem was really strong. It wasn't enough to beat Mango, but damned if I didn't think Rachis would win.

4539846

Iron Curtain was popular, but he wrote a story about zombies and little context

That story was amazing and I still don't understand why it didn't win. ;_;

4541634 Fine. You don't stand a chance.

4541970 Nope.

4542513 Because Summer was drinking and jumping tables giving everyone a nice view of herself in the air.

4542753
Which is better than zombies why?

4543469 I'm not into zombies. I'd rather have a slutty mare.

Obs says:

You have until 11:59 PM CST next Sunday (July 18) to get your entry in.

So. I have 7 days to live.

What should I include on my bucket list? Suggestions welcome.

4537653 4540054 4539846 4538996 4538844 4538278 4537755

Falcata: *scowls in frustration. It i not my fault that nopony would face me fairly or they just run away. I show up for every competition ready to fight, and they just run!

*sighs

All I want is an honorable fight. To prove my place among Equestria.

Falcata's Author: But I am not so honorable *sharpens knives.

But for all seriousness's sake, I agree with Mango Leaf... the brackets are a mess. I have seriously considered forfeiting in fact due to holiday issues and the fact that if I do get anywhere in this contest, it'd feel like an empty victory due to how many wins that were handed to me on a plate. I'd rather have been knocked out in the very first round rather than making it here. I mean, props to Obs for organizing all of this and I did have fun, but *sighs... it feels rather empty at this point.

At least until Firefly's author challenged me.

*pulls up man pants.

If we're going to go down, we're going to go down fighting. You better show up Firefly!

4543644
I can definitely understand your frustration. But if someone had to get a virtually free ride into the quarterfinals, I'm glad it was someone who's actually demonstrated the skill to have gotten there on their own merits anyway. Judging by what I've seen from you, I think you have that skill.

4543644 Sucks that you didn't get this far by your own writing prowess, but I'm happy to see you've got spirit. That said, you're going to need an editor if you want to stand a good chance, and since I'm not voting on any more rounds, I'm free to offer my services to you.

4543674
Falcata's Author:Email plox.

4543670
Thanks. Everybody else seems to have... tons of confidence in me.

4543644

Falcata's Author: But I am not so honorable *sharpens knives.

4543582 Invent a device that allows you to harness Earth Pony magic. You unicorn supremist.

4543582

I have 7 days to live.

4543644

I'll be there, compadre. (Spits out of the side of his mouth. The Tic-Tac dings as it hits the spittoon.)

By the way, just for your info, I live in Zimbabwe. With my twenty-three brothers and sisters. And five lions. And elephants. Big ones. I really do.

4543968

Just remember...

Wisk around the collar beats Ring around the collar, every time!

4543814

Been there, done that! The Bevelmeiter device Mild Manners invented (that nearly killed Firefly) could just as easily have been used by an earth pony. In fact what Firefly is trying to do will end the unicorn monopoly on spell-based Magic. He is the ultimate pony egalitarian!

4544286

4543809 4543968 4544182

Falcata: *sobbing. PLEASE I DON'T MURDER MY OPPONENTS! I JUST WANT A FAIR FIGHT! YOU'LL LIVE! I'M SURE OF IT!

Falcata's Author: Firefly's Author... have you watched "Unfriended"?

Also, I'm Chinese. We're rather resourceful....

XD

Okay, me being serious again. Thank god I have an opponent who isn't going to just forfeit!

4544638

Falcata: *sobbing. PLEASE I DON'T MURDER MY OPPONENTS! I JUST WANT A FAIR FIGHT! YOU'LL LIVE! I'M SURE OF IT!

Phew! What a relief! So do I! I'm looking forward to our battle of horse words.

4544286 In that case, maybe become a superhero and join the Slamjam's super-team?

4544638

Story submitted! I look forward to to reading your entry!

4560758 I read your entry, will tell you my thoughts later when the round is concluded XD

4564038

Great! I'd love to share thoughts on what we did with each other's OCs!

PS - I hope the steam isn't going out on this event. It seems like there are fewer and fewer folks voting.

4564396

It seems like there are fewer and fewer folks voting.

It's only been a day. Give people some time, man

4564038

PPS - I saw you comment on your travels. It's amazing just getting a story out under such circumstances! BTW - you mentioned a trip to the far east did you go to Hong Kong? I lived there for two years.

4564404

***Sighs***

It's incredible how long these voting periods feel!

4564409 Can't really say where I went because I happen to be a decently famous author and did blog about his travels. Saying where would give the game up. :P

4565198

Wow - now I'm really intrigued!