Challenge: Writing As A Hostile Act

[Vanitas]

nobody's soldier

ETA: Thank you to everyone who critiqued this piece over and over and over again for me. I've gone through more drafts of this than I care to count, including two total re-writes. A particular shoutout to Carrot and Cia for their patience with me.

I love this line so much:

She gambled a dive beneath his sword, prying herself from it with a grunt and quick prayer. The dice rolled in her favour and she caught him unaware.

"Gambled a dive" is a phrase I haven't heard before, got a nice ring, and you follow through on the metaphor neatly with "the dice rolled in her favour".

Love the way you control time and slow it down through flashbacks, and speed it up with dynamic prose and shorter sentences. I love the title you used, too: that song is amazing for characters who take a non-violent stance in RBC. A vibe. The history of interpersonal (inter-character??) conflict and the internal conflict? Lit as hell.

Overall a really skillfully written piece. Thank you for the read!

[Vanitas]

Argentum

ty Cia for being the best :>

This one hits hard. I love the metaphor of a shattered piece of glass—a shattered identity, picking up the pieces of the past, the innate strength and willpower it takes to make something new out of something broken.

GOOD SHIT.

As a side note I've been loving seeing Vex grow and progress as a character, all without having lost his Vex-ness. And:

Only when you stare into the blackness of Tifereth’s urn do you understand she only ever wanted you to be yourself. The only thing she’d ever wanted, you’d failed time and again while she lived.

I'm not crying, you are. FU.

Thank you for the read!

[Vanitas]

HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted to this writing challenge! You guys make picking a winner hard and I gotta think thonk. I'll announce who the winner is and get in touch with em soon.

Keep writing, keep creating <3

[Sawyer]

Okie dokie; I'm doin' it! Submitting this bit as an official entry:

The Long Road To Anywhere But Home - Sawyer

This is such a raw read -- very vulnerable. The TWs say "drug use, depression, and passive suicidal tendencies," and I love how you really leaned into the tougher, less "socially acceptable" representation(s) of mental illness. I've noticed that in a lot of spaces, characters who exhibit the uglier, more hopeless symptoms of mental illness don't get as much love as, idk, women depicted at their "lowest point" but still sexy and still presentable and with shaved armpits or wtfever (lol, looking at you, The Queen's Gambit). I think this is also reflected in irl spaces.

Made me think of a quote from Stephanie Swensrude (x):

There is starting to be less stigma towards those who struggle with “pretty” and “noble” mental illnesses. PTSD, depression, eating disorders – they suffer quietly and tend to mostly harm themselves.

Lots of people are quick to say, “Reach out! If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here.”

Well, what about when someone with BPD has a rough day so they break up with their partner, drink 15 beers, have unsafe sex, and then mutilate their body?
Would you have sympathy for someone who did that?

Thank you for the read!

Thank you!

[Vanitas]

Hello everyone!

I've picked a winner. Have coordinated with Princess, writer of Everly and we're all set. Congrats Princess and thank you for the read!

The metrics I've been judging by (which is probably how I'm going to judge every writing challenge/contest I post is):

• Feels/vibes. How much a piece makes me feel.

• Pacing

• Technique & use of literary devices

• Relevance to the prompt

This is not by any means a comprehensive list and please note that I'm not a pro. I'm just one dude who likes to read and sometimes has extra money to pay for reads

Everyone did amazing and I'm so happy to see people writing and doing their thangs. If you didn't win this time, there's always next challenge!

Oh, and a note: It turns out I can't buy certain subscriptions if they're in geos that my payment method isn't registered in, which is a shit, so if you are planning to join any of the writing challenges I put up where the prize is a sub, please make sure you have PayPal just in case I need to transfer the $ amount to you so you can subscribe to the thing that you want.

Thank you again to everyone who participated!!

[Marlo]

Congratulations Princess!

[Sawyer]

Hell yeah!! Well done! Congrats!

[Vex]

Congratulations, Princess!! Well deserved!

[Malice]

Well done! Congratulations!

[ophelia]

Congratulations!