AshenArc never meant to partake in the events of The SHAME Pit, but, being a newbie to the kingdom, his curiosity got the better of him. Once he entered, there was no turning back. Even if he had only gone into the larger than life coliseum just to see what it looked like, planning to leave after a quick look, the gods had locked him in as one of the next and many contestants who would fight for glory within the prison like walls of the dreaded arena.

Now, several months later, he finds himself on the third and final floor within The SHAME Pit with a new session of the gods' game about to commence. Armed only with a simple Warden's bow staff, can you bring him safely back to the light of day and to glory? Be careful, for one wrong move could send Ashen falling into the Abyss, never to be seen from again...

(This game is a fun, but gory and bloody, story about the well-known SHAME Pit and my interpretation of what it would be like if, one, it existed irl, and, two, if it involved actual fighting instead of just writing stories.

Some characters are based off of members here on CYS, more so the gods/goddesses of the story, who are all based off of the moderators. Try guessing what god or goddess is the story version of their moderator counterpart! ;) Any other character who seems similar to other members is most likely a coincidence.)

Seems to be working now, though I wouldn't be surprised if it comes back later...

Very strange...

When you try to edit Link Restrictions you get:

 

Server Error

500 - Internal server error.

There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.


(and then it doesn't let you access anything)

(also items and variables can't be accessed either, but that gives the usual "uh oh you broke it!" error instead)

Idk if the tech mods are aware of this but in case they aren't, I'm pushing this. The sooner this is fixed the better!

The less you know the better.

Its where autism and gender bending coalign to create a unified singularity.

Its certainly a time and place to be alive, but I have to question if this place is even real to begin with or if its just a fragment of our imaginations?! :O

(Also love how your pfp's eyes seem to be widening when viewed on this thread! lol :P)

(Also I recognize where your profile pic is from. I have a lot to say about that game. And I can tell it must have influenced you a lot cause I've been reading part of your newest story and was reminded of The Messenger a couple times while reading it BEFORE I saw what your profile pic even was! Needless to say I've been liking it a lot! And I'll definetely leave an in depth review of it once I get around to finishing it! :O)

Ok now I realize I probably should have elaborated on that point more (or found a different reason entirely) cause as it stands...yeah...I can see now why it would come off as very inconsiderate!

I think in the pursuit of being fair I basically tried to view both stories as being fictional (which they are, but I can see why historical fiction kinda blurs that line).

And I said that was the breaking point for me to skew my vote in the other direction, it wasn't a direct knock on the story itself. (Even then I basically just came up with that so that I'd have an easy to understand reason...when I say I didn't care about it on a personal level I was obviously talking about it within the context of the story...not the actual real world event!) Though again...I didn't elaborate on what I meant by that, as its an extremely vague statement.

Look I'll admit, I'm not an expert on the war, even if I have heard a lot of things about it over the course of my life.

But believe it or not that story did actually get me a bit emotional, especially at the end of it, probably not to the same degree it did for you but those emotions were there nevertheless.

I'm glad your emotional investment was heightened due to you being more familiar with the war and not being anal enough to fixate on certain details which may or may not matter since personal gain from stories is subjective. Good for you...really!

And finally I did not make the claim that the story does not stand on its own on the basis that it didn't make me care if the war happened or not...I didn't even say that last part at all!

Ok so I reread your entire comment and disregarded any emotion on both sides and I can say that yes...you are technically right in the main point you are making...insofar as I am ignorant to world events....like I said I don't know a whole lot about the war.

But please don't turn this into me being deliberately inconsiderate of what happened!

If I really wanted to I could counter argue that the war "actually happened" with "its just a story" (which I already know the cournter argument to, but I bring this up as an example to show that this isn't all black and white!)

But I wont...because I can sympathize with where your coming from even if I feel you misunderstood what I meant to say (which could be because I miscommunicated it...but whatever you get my point by now...).

(Oh and if you somehow thought that I DIDN'T know that the war "actually happened"...I really don't know what to tell you. There was enough detail and refrences to real world events that I recognized...which allowed me to figure that it was based on real world events very quickly!)

I'm not sure I can give an unbiased vote this time, as both of these were not only written with a differing style but the basis of they're theme is very different as well!

One is a high sci fi story with a comedic twist whereas the other is a more reality grounded serious story.

I read both of them twice, and it only made it harder to vote, because I think both stories succeed at doing what they set out to do fairly well, but I also feel they both stumble a bit in execution.

Story A suffers from being too plot focused for a short story game, not allowing things to be properly explained/fleshed out. Though personally I'd say it works in the story's favor, but I can definitely see an argument that it would be better if it were more fleshed out.

Story B on the other hand, while more detailed in its moment to moment narrative, sort of feels like it goes through the motions a lot during its run. Don't get me wrong, there are a handful of scenes that stand out and most of the story comes together by the end. But it all ties back to the same conflict, whether or not the MC is willing to go through with enacting the war. This is a fine theme to focus on, and I appreciate the multiple attempts to humanize the conflict, but when you shift through the details a lot of it feels disjointed. It all makes logical sense, but thematically it feels a bit repetitive even if it succeeds in what it set out to do.

Meanwhile I have to give Story A some props for actually sticking the landing on such a high sci fit concept near flawlessly (well...in the context of a 2000 word story written in a day or two anyways...). I can see so many ways in which the story could have fell apart but it didn't and I really appreciate that. The details are more sparse but I feel like I have a decent idea of what the world building is like and how the characters operate based on what was given alone. A stark contrast to Story B as Story A has a MC who takes their mission so seriously that things like "emotion" aren't really being considered while the mission is in progress. Also it utilized a distinctive prose, which while gimmicky, I think works well given what it was trying to do.

Its not an easy choice but I'm going with Story A for this one! If Story B had more of an "oomph" to it instead of solely relying on the fear of war to carry its thematic message then I might have voted for that one instead in the interest of fairness. (To clarify this isn't a bad theme to focus on, even for the majority of your story, its just that there didn't seem to be much to get ME THE READER to care on a personal level about the war outside of it being...well a war. Sure you could say the same for Story A...but I think the difference is that its more thematically diverse (whether its more thematically dense is debatable though! lol :P) without losing sight of being a competent story...so its a close call but that's the difference maker for me personally I guess...)

Ah who am I kidding! I probably would have voted for Story A anyways solely on the basis of me liking it more! :P (So maybe it wasn't that close after all! :O)

Also the line "Not only are millions going to die but their fate was sealed with this cringe." did NOT need to go that fricken hard! Like DAMN! :O (Needless to say, I think this line works really well both with and without context! lol :P)

My vote is for Story A! 

What's color again?

I feel like Rainbows are not meant to be categorized under such strict jurisdiction. Rainbows are meant to be free, free from judgment and free from the limiting confines of reality itself...

R  A  I  N  B  O  W  S    A  R  E    M  E  A  N  T    T  O    E  X  I  S  T  .  .  .

The only thing this thread needs more of is L wing ponies who are girls and are VERY GAY to infiltrate the outer borders of this thread so that the RAINBOWS can spread not just throughout Cystia but throughout the world as a whole! Thus allowing world peace to finally be...the only reality! :O :O :O :O

A man can dream though right?! :D :D :D :D

I'd be surprised if this worked considering there's only a little over a week left.

Also didn't expect you to succumb to this level smh my head head...

Its all crap anyways!

I'm sure it'll be fine! ;)

It would be 1 but I'm very homophobic so probably 0. Unless I find some way to cheat/bypass the system and eat like 16% of it so I get %800 instead and only risk being 16% gay which I could probably live with well enough...

Also you just gave every gay person here $150,000 and I'm not sure how to feel about that...

Noone will suspect a thing cause there's a 4 dot elipses instead of 3! :P