Glittery glitter. . .
One day, the torn up tarmac roads of CYStia that pave the way across the small island turn to colorful cobblestone. The chipped paint facades of the library and citizen's houses turn to something more magical. Tall, spiralling towers appear where dated chimneys and fire escapes once stood. Roofs turn to purple and blue clay tiles that shimmer in the sunlight. And sunlight lights up those cobblestone roads and suddenly stained glass windows, out of which peer disgruntled townsfolk. It is a sight the dark and foreboding CYStia does not often see.
It is something out of a storybook!
And in the town center stands a familiar, colorful hatted figure. In her hand, a medieval trumpet of which she plays poorly, but loudly, and captures the citizen's attentions nevertheless.
That's right! A positively magical contest! And I'm not changing the place back until I get some stories fitting enough for a storybook character just like myself!
The theme is. . . Fairytales and storybooks!
You may interpret fairytales and storybooks in any way or rating but ultimately must include fantastical elements and a moral or theme.
You can use the classic fairytales like Rumpelstiltskin or Cinderella or storybooks like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland! or create your own.
The winner will receive a free art commission from me.
The Deadline is September 9th 11th at 11:30pm EST.
Good luck!
Moved to the appropriate area and so it'll be on the front page.
I'm in!
Locked
I'm in.
Locked in
Locked and killed.
I think I know what to write now, so sign me up! And I'm going to kill you for writing awful fanfic about me like ahum another teenager.
The dark pit outside of CYStia remains largely unchanged by the magic transformation happening around it. The grass surrounding it is still blackened and wilted. The many danger signs and final warnings creak in the slight wind. The mouth of the pit remains as pitch-black as ever, concealing all that lies inside but the stench that constantly wafts from it.
The inside of the pit is not much better than the outside. The stench is much stronger the farther you go, a warning and a promise to those that dare venture any deeper. The first flat ledge of the pit is covered in bodies of disgusting noobs and fallen heroes. All were either too foolish to read the many warning signs, or thrown into the pit for failure to meet even the most minimum standards of their contests. Some of the bodies simply seem to be sleeping, though others are definitely dead. Maggots and flies buzz and wiggle through the surplus of food.
Yummyfood looks forlornly upwards at the unseen sky. It seems as though the pit is eternally dark, never showing a glimpse of the outside world to the undeserving. His feet swing at the edge of the first ledge, having crawled his way there after being thrown in. He pulls out an old letter he had found near a decrepit dumbwaiter, the rope upward cut or severed long ago. It is far too difficult to read in the darkness, so he balls it up and throws it into the dark void below.
Suddenly he is blinded by bright light. His eyes adjust slowly and he sees a sight so beautiful, he sheds a few tears.A glittering rope seems to be hanging tauntingly in front of him over the edge of the ledge he sits on. If he grabs the rope, it could possibly bring him salvation. If he fails to grab it, He could fall deeper into the pit.
Yummyfood doesn't hesitate for another second, swinging himself off the edge so that he could grab the rope. He grips the ledge with one hand and the rope with the other. Only time will tell if he made a good decision or a dumb one.
TL;DR
Locked.
I am in!
Locked. Good luck.
I'm afraid
I'm in. As long as I don't have to write about glitter.
I want to enter :D nothing motivates me like a deadline
I'm in. Time to climb out of the pit of shame.
With a theme like that I guess I have to join. I'm in.
Lock.
Locked, good luck.
What a turn out so far! We'll see if it lasts ;~)
A retarded dog with fairy wings that are far too small comes flapping over, drooling.
"Writing please?" It says as it joins the contestants
You do realize you're triple SHAMED right?
Though I imagine given that this is a MHD contest, she'll allow you in, to redeem yourself.
And thank you ma'am
Thank you, good sir
Am I allowed to join this haha. Pretty sure I'm double (triple?) shamed
You're triple SHAMED, but since I'm not running this contest, it's up to MHD (Or Mizal since she's chosen to speak on her behalf and let Corgi in)
Non submitters should have to draw something
I accept these terms
Personally I think it summoned me on accident haha
Automatic SHAME for all of you if Ace wins this contest.
How about auto shaming everyone who ranks lower than Ace?
The cosmos had to correct things before we entered a potential nightmare timeline.
I can see as usual nobody has collected all the participants into one post yet.
I'll do it for 60 points
Edit: or one point lower than the lowest bid.
Thanks, I'll take it from here now that I don't have to scroll through the thread looking for the names.
Your helpfulness has been noted.
CONTESTANT LIST: Anthraxus DONE
areyouready SHAME bilbo DONE CavusRex (Songbird Interloper) SHAME corgi213 DONE
CrypticCalipso SHAME Cyclonis SHAME Darius_Conwright DONE Fluttershypegasus DONE Ford DONE goodnight_a DONE MrAce321 DONE
Mizal DONE ninjapitka DONE Petros DONE
StoryTurtle DONE Suranna DONE tmanaking DONE TypewriterCat DONE Yummyfood SHAME
Rex is now "Songbird Interloper" since he's disowned KAE (Can't say as I blame him) and I know he can't be wanting to represent IFC since that would be even worse.
Only a month left? But I'm loving CYS like this ;~)
The OG fairytales are pretty dark, so go ham with it.
LOCKED!
Finished; the story has been published.
Here's the link
Worse than bound by light?
I'm still miffed about my lackluster endings, but it'll do for now. One thing is certain and that is that it's short enough that I'm able to copy paste everything within an hour.
Perhaps try to think more what your characters want to do. It sometimes works to build on character motivations rather than plot beats or your outline needs some tinkering first.
That's exactly how I felt about my entry for the Cyberpunk contest. I had this idea rattling around in my head for that story but never got around to it until the contest. Then, when I started writing, I realised why I never got around to it: because it was a terrible idea and I hated it. So I just decided to quickly wrap it up, get it over with and publish it even though it was only a couple of thousand words. The reception to it was pretty lackluster, but not as bad as I thought it would be, considering a few people actually seemed to like it and it's somehow still up. So what you are writing might not be seem quite as bad to others as it does to you.
If he is, he better report his uncle.
I have a fairly decent amount and will likely be able to finish without compromising my sleep schedule, but it's strayed so far from the original fairytale that I may end up in the pit of shame anyhow.
I hope that someone is writing Bluebeard. That story is pretty metal, even for old fairytale standards (they are pretty brutal too). Also one of the easiest to modernize or twist around and still be recognizeable.
Or "The Juniper Tree"...beheading, cannibalism, what's not to love?
MAYBE I CAN FINISH THIS IN 12 DAYS IF I TRY REALLY HARD
That's what I'm shooting for ST. You can do it too.
I suppose it's time I scrap my original idea for a less ambitious one.
Or finally finish my CYS fanfiction and hope to not get shamed..?
Don't tell me you're writing another one
This one is focused solely on yours and Petro's mermaid romance.
Interesting interpretation of the Little Mermaid
You disgust me
Finished planning, starting to write
5525 words
Only the endings left to go, but school is crazy so I will probably speedrun all of it in the last 24 hours
One week? I thought it ended on 9/3?
Yeah might as well. You're already in Detroit.
Delray which is basically the industrial waste zone of Detroit.
Who did the convincing?
F
Thankful for the extension, otherwise I would have run out of time.
My entry: The Little Princess of the Forest
The Song Binder
Here
Entry woohoo
whatever, just focus on being married ya loser
Contest Entry: The Hand with the Knife
Someone asked about The Juniper Tree and this fairytale has a very similar vibe. It was good to write something again! It's been a minute.
(about) 24 hours left. . .
You ended up predicting my future by drawing the burger like that lol. I'm going to have to take the double SHAME.
My entry: Brother Wild
I ran out of time. I'll probably pull this down as soon as the results are announced (To rewrite all the terrible parts).
Thanks for the contest, anyway.
https://chooseyourstory.com/story/saint-joris
My etntryu was so outsstanding that it caysed a minro explsion and now my treinas are buned and I',m tu[ing this b;ind;ly. To prevvent oths from yhe same fate, I;ve chosen to keep the entry t mysedlf. I wish everyone good lucka dn happylast-minute ty[png.!
I sincerely apologize for how badly I fucked up. My only request is that it be judged alongside the other entries even though I ended up in shame.
You're not SHAMED, you just don't get the opportunity to win.
Oh right, everyone who didn't submit something is SHAMED.
Well you weren't before, but if you insist.
Just to make it easier for me to see what everyone did, I've consolidated the entry links.
Anthraxus The Little Princess of the Forest
areyouready SHAME bilbo The Hand with the Knife CavusRex (Songbird Interloper) SHAME corgi213 The Song binder
CrypticCalipso SHAME Cyclonis SHAME Darius_Conwright Saint Joris Fluttershypegasus Moonlit Lands from Long Ago Ford Chuck and Pippin goodnight_a Brother Wild MrAce321 To Slay Death
Mizal Jack the Bean Counter ninjapitka Safe Petros The Nutcracker
StoryTurtle Momojiro Suranna DONE - link not found tmanaking DONE - link not found TypewriterCat Bloodstone Yummyfood SHAME
Feel free to edit my post to correct that then, I was basing it off of End's list and while I couldn't find a story under either of their profiles, I didn't want to make assumptions.
I don't even know anymore whether this is a compliment or an insult or both.
@petros
Thanks for featuring me in your story. As a form of gratitude I also gave you a brief cameo.
The Hatter returns to the center of town, honking her royal trumpet. The air feels less magical and sparkly, and significantly more humid. The colorful cobblestones turn back to concrete riddled with cracks. The smell of faint rotting corpses and TV dinners returns. There's a sigh of relief from some as the WiFi connection significantly improves, others, a sigh of disappointment from not finishing their stories in time. Others, drunk on a Thursday evening.
CYStia turns back into itself, and everyone scurries back to their normal homes, probably not to talk to one-another for quite some time.
The judges votes are in and the ranking is as follows:
1. Safe - 7
2. Jack the Bean Counter - 5.34
3. The Hand with the Knife - 5
4. Saint Joris - 4.67
5. The Song Binder - 4.34
6. Momojiro - 4.34
7. Moonlit Lands from Long Ago - 4.34
8. Brother Wild - 4
9. The Nutcracker - 3.67
10. The Little Princess of the Forest - 3
11. To Slay Death - 2
12. Chuck and Pippin - 1.67
Disqualified - Bloodstone - 5.67
Of course, the champion was clear from September 3rd, Ninja sniped the win and commission. Congratulations!
Thank you to all who participated! And Sherbet and Tim for helping judge! And good job! I left a little comment on all of your stories.
And they all lived. . . Ever after.
Thanks for this competition and your review of my story. I really liked the theme and it was great to see everyone's contributions.
Honestly I thought Ford's story was rather fun, what led it to being last place?
Congrats Ninjapitka!
The good ending
TCat would've been second had she published about 10 minutes earlier
You play a dragon game, so what's the issue with dinosaurs?
Thanks for hosting this! Congrats Ninja...again
If only I had published seven minutes earlier. Congratulations for the win, Ninja.
Thanks for the contest. Well done ninja.
The lesson: never procrastinate. Or just write more.
I consider it a win to be clear of SHAME again. Thanks for the contest MHD. Good job everyone else.
Congratulations on yet another win, Ninja! Well done to Mizal and Bilbo for placing top 3 (and TCat, who would have been the runner-up had she submitted slightly earlier), as well as everyone who submitted something decent. And of course, hats off to MHD for the most fantastical contest I've seen on CYS! I'd like to see CYS transformed into this magical version of itself again in the future. Props to the judges for reading and ranking all these stories too!
This excited about it haha. I was planning to expand it quite a bit and to make the endings not look as if I had speed written it under an hour.
