Alright, ladies and gentlemen.

Not sure how I've tricked the judges into thinking I had contest-winning writing eight times, but I'm thankful for it nonetheless. So it is finally time for me to return as the main host with a suspiciously similar beginning to sell the contest. And since it was for the theme of Evil nine months ago, it is only natural that I would spawn its eternal rival: >!Good!<.

That's right. For this new contest, I'll have you write a good story about...well, good. At least as good as someone could be in a world that is anything but. Was anyone ever truly good before the outbreak, or were most people just waiting for an excuse to stop being nice? What would that make of the select few who continue to do the right thing when there's seemingly little to gain from it? How about those who used to be criminals, but used the lawless world as an opportunity to raise to the occasion and choose a more virtuous path? Could everyone have the potential to do good? Am I annoying you by encouraging you to overthink this shit?

That is for y'all to decide with your typing. Whichever form your stories takes, I'm looking to read wholesome stories for Christmas containing at least ONE act of good. For the sake of letting everyone enjoy their holidays, it's probably best that you try and post your idea of good two days before, December 23th 4:30 PM CET. The other rules are well known, but tradition is tradion:

• You can ONLY submit one entry.
• The entry MUST be TWDG related.
• Its narrative MUST utilize this month’s theme.
• It MUST be a one-shot.
• It MUST be linked in the comments of this post.
• Prequels/sequels to existing stories are allowed as long as they are loosely connected.
• Last but not least, have fun (Mandatory)

Good luck!

Howdy!

The results are in for the November 2024 contest thingy:

2nd place: >!Rough, Not Ready by u/i_lackwater!<

Canisventus:

At first, I thought this story was about the time when Duck got bit and they were in the RV, but oof its actually about their struggles at the start of the whole thing.

I like the way you write the expressions and what not. I don’t know why exactly, but for example I really like the part “Your eyes felt like they were on fire, as if tears were about to come out.” I think you described the feeling very well and it vibed with me. A very relatable feeling.

The environment is described well. I like stories where the writers know how to paint the scene in your head and stuff, without going too much into it. I think you succeeded in it pretty well. “The sun had begun to set, casting pink and orange shades along the sky. It was quite the sight, creating a sense of calm in you.” I like it. You kind of relate of feeling calm if you read it in a sense. “Same thing with the It was still dark, must've not been out long, the sound of crickets give you a sense of peace.” or how you described the car crash and the aftermath. I like the atmosphere.

I have to say though, it was a very fast paced entry. You wrote the characters in a believable way, but I feel like you could have had more interaction between the three or something like that in a more “deep” level, if that makes sense. To have some breathing room at times. It felt like something was in amiss. It was a very action based and I do like action, but maybe you could have gone more in depth about the the situation they were in and maybe Kenny having some fears or doubts etc, but then overcoming them and getting the dominance over them.

Speaking of action it’s kind of funny how the initial pedal to the metal happened and Kenny ran over some mates like in GTA, I kind of felt the intensity of it and when it calmed down a bit, I kind of had to change my pace of reading too so when it came to that thing you wrote the urgency of it well, it kind of stick to me and realising it while reading was interesting lol. So I think you nailed the adrenaline filled action thing!

To be fair though, I wasn’t in any point in a suspenseful state, like I wasn’t worried what happened next. That feeling is very hard to describe. Again, I felt the intensity of it and the adrenaline, but I wasn’t worried what happens to the characters kind of. Ehh sorry I can’t really describe it, I hope you understand what I am meaning lol.

Also I felt like you could have phrased things a bit better. It felt a bit hard to read at times, but this could be because I’m not a native English speaker so I always feel like im not the best one to judge about that.

A thing that crossed my mind is that the story is very loosely based on the theme. I can kind of see it in a way how Kenny is maybe trying to reign dominance over his fear, trying to stay calm in the situations for the sake of his family like in: “Gotta keep focused, find a way out. This shouldn't be hard. You weren't gonna lie, Damn fear began building back up again. Must keep yourself level.”

Overall, it was an alright read. It reminded me a lot of The Dawn of The Dead movie, the beginning of it how the outbreak began. This is a personal thingy, but it would have been kind of fun to see more things like that related to the slow start of society breaking down. Small things like maybe they are putting the radio on and there’s an announcement of what is happening and similar stuff like that.

I could read more stuff like this. I really liked the way how you captured the action in it. Like how you can feel the anxiety kind of, like you feel very hmm restless when you read as they evade the walkers and what not. That was very cool not gonna lie, feeling the intensity, even though I’m not even there lol Add in more in depth dialogue and make them take a breather at times though!

6/10

NazbazOG:

So we are in Kenny POV! "You often see these things in movies," Ahhh, I've got a problem with this. in the universe of TWD, zombies weren't a thing even in fiction. That's why there was so much confusion, and people had different names for them. Think about it, if it happened in the real world, we can quickly depict these dead walking are zombies, and how the infect and what not.

" your eyes lock on the walker" Oh, nice! Kenny came up with the name rather quickly!

And... I'm done! I gotta say, first off, I really liked how well you written his POV thing. I like that you did a good enough job to make a consistent job of it being Kenny. that being said, the story itself... isn't great. I really liked the start, it was intriguing. However it just kept going. To me, this whole story is "beginning". Esepcially since this is tying before he ends in Herschel's farm, it seemed to me just focusing from apocalypse start to before he, well, what I thought would be ending at herschel's farm ending. What I'm saying is there really isn't anything going on here besides Kenny and co realising with a couple of events that there are dead people walking and... that's it. I didn't like the pacing and I think this story would have done better if it was faster pace, so shorter overall. Because it just kept going and nothing REALLY is happening. And where is the theme? The only thing I can interpret as dominance here is that the dead are taking over and even that might be stretch since it isn't really shown that. Except the ending I'd say.

4/10

Overall score: 10/20

1st place: >!New deal by u/Super-Shenron!<

Canisventus:

I’m gonna admit straight away that I am not very much into fanfics about S4, I don’t find them very interesting most of the time. Although in this one it was not the case. Marlon being a captive got my attention quite quickly. The writing captures your attention very well and you start to think what will happen next and where does this leads to etc. Obviously, if there is not particular spark, the rest would feel very bland, no matter how it is written.

The characters felt in character and the they way they talked “sounded” believable. I don’t know why “truly” doesn’t sound like something AJ would say, but that is such tiny nitpick it doesn’t matter and to be honest im not the best person to judge the use of English lol.

Speaking of English, this was a very easy read as in it was very easy in how it paced. You didn’t have to stop very much to gather yourself when you read it. You know, when the words go differently than you expect, and you read it wrong at first. It was clean writing if that makes sense.

I gotta say you really know how to write drama like that. The way Marlon and Louis went back and worth with each other as they argued. You constructed it quite nicely, while still not over do the dramatic stuff, you kept it in the middle, not being too basic and blunt, but not going all over the top.

As for the theme, I can see it alright in the writing. Dominance and the description of it from the post itself fits for Louis having dominance over Marlon with his values and beliefs. He sees how Marlon has done a bad thing, event thought he doesn’t mention in directly, yet he could see how Marlon was put in the bad position and how in the apocalypse the line between right or wrong is not very clear. I liked the way how little by little Louis persuaded Marlon to join the fight, making him see how he would redeem himself and its not all lost for him yet as he believed at first. Marlon would follow him; in this instance he would do it willingly. So yeah, I think the theme is in there.

I liked how you phrased the things they said. I felt like there were power behind some words as well:

“You helped us, guided us in making this place something more than a school we were all thrown into like garbage.”

The way you wrote “the fucking terrifying” twice at that one point really made you feel like how the situation played out. You felt the dialogue kind of, for the lack of better words.

At the end I recall having a slight goosebump actually, I can’t remember the exact moment though. It was probably the:

“And if we die?”

“We’ll do that together too. So, are we still friends?”

As for the bad thingies. Well, the Clementine part at the end felt a bit. Ehh I felt like it was a bit unnecessary. I probably would have preferred Louis watching Marlon have that renewed energy alone and wondering if they could make it with the fight, rather than Clementine coming at the end.

The fanfic felt a bit short, I would have liked to read more, but considering you managed to keep it short and sweet its alright. It didn’t feel rushed, and it managed to tell the story completely, without it coming to an abrupt ending too quickly.

Also, I would have liked you to maybe describe the environment where they talked more to give some more atmosphere and feeling into it. I couldn’t quite picture the place they were in very well. You described their feelings and expressions well, but the description of environment was lacking.

9/10

NazbazOG:

OKAY! Marlon as prisoner AU! This is indeed already interesting!

okay, finished. this was a good read. i really loved the interactions between louis and marlon. I do wish there was more, different emotions and more of Marlon having no hope and will. also, Clem's appearance in the end was realllyyy greatly done. nice touch. the theme I think could have worked with more, but it's good enough for me. I really like though, that you kept Marlon having no hope of beating the delta, and then a surge of confidence in the end. Man, this should have a continuation lol.

7/10

Overall Score: 16/20

Congratulations >!Shenron for your win!!<

Thanks for the both of you Shenron and i_lackwater for participating in the contest. The efforts of both of you are highly appreciated!

Also thanks for u/NazbazOG for being my co-host

Until next time!

The stories of both participants:

New Deal by u/Super-Shenron

Rough, Not Ready by u/i_lackwater

Howdy!

It appears that the deadline is here and the contest is at its end.

Thank you u/i_lackwater and u/Super-Shenron for entering. Your efforts are highly appreciated! 🥳

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jRZEe0Z8Hc2kJyhjgZW8IvrbQtvNJ-lt8BEPF86qotY/edit?tab=t.0

Everything was going to be okay, He would be alright. Your family is strong-willed and always ready for anything. As you glance in the rear-view mirror, anxiety lingers in as Duck sits in the back motionless. He stares blankly at his Robin figurine his aunt had gotten him. Seeing that  the road was clear, you quickly shift your gaze over to Kat who is watching Duck, worry plastered on her face. Your head shakes slowly, eyeing the road once more. 

Aside from that, thoughts kept coming within your mind. Images of what had grabbed your son, the person or whatever the hell that was. Their eyes were cloudy, barley had colour in their face. They drooled from the mouth, unable to keep it shut. They grabbed for Duck, you almost didn't know until he started screaming his little head off. Your body often acted faster than your mind, and had zero hesitation kicking that thing's ass. Your actions never really got to ya till after. 

You tighten your grip on the steering wheel, narrowing your eyes as your head pounds. That thing kind of reminded you of them brainiac monsters. They’re slow as hell, but those things can grab. You often see these things in movies, but they are not real, they can't be. Maybe your eyesight was poor? The guy could’ve just been some sick fucker. You sigh, fingers tapping themselves against the wheel. Part of you knew that wasn't the case, but whatever it was, it was gone. It's not like there are more of them. It's going to be fine, just gotta get home.

“Mommy, Daddy?” Once again, you look into the mirror. Duck’s expression had changed, his voice sounding somewhat somber.

“Yes Ducky what's wrong?” Kat asks, trying to sound calm. You know she's stressed out of her mind, she was never really great at hiding it. It's understandable, he almost… fuck. Just be glad you were there.

“I'm okay, just wondering… was that a monster back there?” he asks, turning to look out the window. 

“What do you mean by that?” You question, thinking he might be talking about the gas station.

“I'm not sure, but I saw a man back there walking very slowly. He had his arms out like he wanted to grab something, kinda like the guy we saw-”

“How far back?” you blurt out. Another one? That can't be true… maybe he saw some homeless guy, you thought. Slowing down you quickly scan the area surrounding the truck, nothing but the open road. You shake your head, continuing to drive.

“Oh Duck, are you sure it wasn't a homeless man, or a hitchhiker?” Kat inquires, sounding slightly concerned. 

“Hmm…” He thought for a moment, “He wasn't holding a sign or anything really. All I saw was blood all over his clothes. We went fast so I don't remember anything else.” 

“I'm sure it was just some guy roaming around. Probably a crazy fella. Don't worry, I'm sure it wasn't some monster…” you say, forcing a smile trying to reassure your son. 

“But dad, he kinda looked like the guy who got me earlier. Maybe there are more of them.” There is no way… 

“Ken do you think there is-” 

“We don't know for sure, could've just been that one guy-” 

“Are you really certain? I think something might be wrong, hon, I know you're thinking the same. I thought I saw someone too, and I tried to convince myself it was just….” Kat interrupts, fear invading her tone. 

You feel a hand on your shoulder. You sigh, rubbing the wheel with your left hand and gripping your leg with your right. 

“What should we do then?” you were still hours away from home, probably another day's worth of driving. 

“There are a couple hotels nearby,” out of the corner of your eye, you notice her pull out the map “we could stay at one for the night. It's gonna get dark soon, and you're exhausted. I'm sure this monster thing will pass, and we won't have to worry.” She suggests. 

You think about it, yes you are tired, but if anything you don't see yourself getting a wink of sleep. Maybe you can make it home, it's not too far now. Duck though… he probably wouldn't wanna be crammed into the backseat all night. 

You briefly eye your wife, her eyes had bags and were narrowed. You rub your temple with your right hand, then adjust your hat. Maybe it's time to find a place to stay. This headache is giving you hell.

“Okay, We'll find a place to stop for the night.” You finally say, your wife clearly satisfied with your answer.  She's been worried since the incident, guess she's thought you might take a spill at any moment. 

Sure, you felt you could handle a few more hours, but Kat was often upset when you tried to push yourself.  Her concern was greatly appreciated, however many times she worried herself sick. You didn't wanna make shit difficult, so settle it is.

—------------------------

After deciding where to stay, you exited the highway. The sun had begun to set, casting pink and orange shades along the sky. It was quite the sight, creating a sense of calm in you. Duck must have been feeling a lot better, as he’d been yapping off to his mother for some time about some superhero, most likely Batman. It definitely helped keep lingering thoughts at bay, like water off a Duck's back.

Hell, after today you all could use some rest. Wouldn't wanna be an irresponsible dumbass falling asleep at the wheel. The last thing you wanted to do was put your family in danger. Sure you didn't think you were gonna sleep, but you never know with these things. 

While checking surroundings, you look into the rearview, noticing your son slowly nod off. The silence of the drive made you feel a little sleepy yourself, so you turned on the radio, having it on low volume. Some johnny cash song was playing, don't think you know this one. As long as it wasn't some lullaby. 

You come towards an intersection lined up with vehicles.. They were piled up, and you couldn't see the traffic lights due to a semi truck up ahead. 

“Damn, not this shit.” you mutter under your breath, bringing a hand to your head. 

“This won't take long,  just the evening rush hour.” Kat says already knowing how annoyed you were. The road shouldn't be backed up this bad, are the lights not doing their job? You thought, is there something up there?

You all waited there for some time, realizing traffic wasn't moving at all. Something started stirring up inside, you wanted to blast your horn, scream out the window, but you just stared at the back of another vehicle. No point in wasting your breath, she wouldn't want that. Maybe there was some sort of collision. 

“Something's going on Kat, we should have at least moved an inch in the last five minutes.” You complain, facing your wife. She held a look of confusion, she was thinking the same. 

“I'm not sure Hon, do you think-”

“We can't turn around now! look at the load behind us.”

“I- I'm sure whatever's going on will resolve itself. I've seen worse before."

“Figured there was an accident, most likely the case.” you say, resting on the wheel. You think about checking it out, but you know she won't be thrilled about the idea.

“Uh… Kenny?.” She calls, You lift your head up to see a few people out of their vehicles. Some moved up ahead,  likely checking what was blocking the road.

“What, do you see something?” You ask. 

“I just don't think it's a good idea, you know.”

“Why? I was about to go find out for myself.” You say, preparing to open the door. 

“What if it's dangerous, you never know what's up there.” 

“I'll be fine, just watch out for Duck till I figure out what's going on.” You lean over and kiss her on the cheek. She looks at you, still uncertain of your choice. 

“Promise to come right back, I don't want you getting into trouble.” She says. 

You look out the window, noticing people were still conversing. Taking a shallow breath, you open the door. Damn, you wish she wouldn't… it's better to check, we can't just assume shit.

You walk out, carefully squeezing past vehicles close by.  Jesus it's crowded here, you are all confined within the damn intersection. It was odd though, these roads don't take long to clear. At least not where you live. 

The people up ahead are screeching at one another, fucking hell. There's gotta be someone here who knows what's going on.

A loud horn blares within your ears, coming from behind. Shit,  just pissed off some ass-hat trucker… you move up more, now noticing a crowd near the crosswalks. Huh… Why hasn't no one moved those… wait. 

“What the hell is their deal!” Someone yells closer up to the site.

“Sir no, you gotta stand back. They- Get back to your vehicles!” Shouts an officer, voice shaky by the end.

Confusion doesn't have much time to set in before people start running back, one crashing right into you.

“What the hell is going on!?” You yelp, the person on top of you breathless. They were moaning an- oh shit those eyes again. You push them off you. No, not again. 

You quickly get to your feet, keeping speed towards your truck. Your heart pumping for its life, head thumping along with it. This just wasn't your day. All you could think about at this moment was getting the hell out of there. Guess there were a bunch of those damn things again blocking up the road… 

People were screaming all around, yelling for help, some pushing each other. You couldn't say you didn't push some guy on the way to the truck. Can't imagine Kat already seen a couple of them fuckers from the sidewalk. It's like they all popped up from hell. You notice yourself panting as you finally reach the truck door. You swore you just heard Kat yelling.

“Ken!” She shouts, clear panic in her tone as I jump into the truck. 

“We gotta go- no time to-” 

“Aah! Mommy!” you hear your son yell from the back seat, awake from all the commotion. Your head whirls around, noticing there was a monster by the back window. Duck lowered his head, huddling himself as he backed up from the window.

Without thinking you step on the pedal, twisting the wheel to the right in an attempt to exit. Kat calmly calls for Duck, reassuring him, then you think she's trying to tell you something, but the sound bounces off you it seems. There is just too much going on. It's so loud. 

Other vehicles move about, think one just reared us. Fuck man- some drivers began driving forward, not caring what direction they take. Where the hell do we-

A clearing up ahead catches your eye, but there is some fucking dumbass standing there. At this point, it was almost dark. Stars began showing themselves. You turn your headlights on, revealing it was one of them fuckers. It approached slowly, but it didn't worry you. You glared at the human-like figure, a rush of adrenaline seizes you. Any fear that you had before had been replaced with a rage, the motivation to protect your family. 

Your hands tremble as they tightly grip the wheel.

“Hold on.” You say with a low grumble “It's gonna be a hell of a ride.” your eyes lock on the walker, ready to step on the gas.

“Ken what are you-” you speed ahead, intending to run the thing over. 

Upon impact, the truck gives a jolt and bounce. You don't have time to hesitate. You drive into the gaps of free space, swerving out of the intersection and into the next road over. Occasionally your truck collides into other vehicles, spinning around every so often. You hear your wife and kid crying out, pleading for this to be over… yet you couldn't slow down, if you didn't act fast they would be in serious trouble.

There were moments where you caught glimpses of Kat reaching out for Duck, you feel terrible for putting them through this. Oh sweetheart it's gonna be okay… you hope Duck will be able to recover from this. Despite Your feelings, you just kept pushing forward, as if on auto pilot.  

At this point, you weren't sure if you'd get out. For a second it brought back memories of you fucking around in go karts. Tonight felt like some sort of dream.

Gotta keep focused, find a way out. This shouldn't be hard. You weren't gonna lie, Damn fear began building back up again. Must keep yourself level.

There, you see nothing in the way. Just an empty road, everyone else must've cleared. You go for it, finally getting a break from the constant spiral.  

Your breathing was heavy, almost hyperventilating. You put your shaky right hand on your chest, Damn that was something.  

“Ho-hon are you- you alright?” You ask, sounding out of breath. 

“I- I'm…” She looks pale as a ghost, her arms shaking. 

“Duck.. what about you?” You ask. He said nothing, you look back a moment, seeing he was in a ball. It broke your heart a little seeing this sight. You needed to look at the road. 

You didn't know where you were at this point, but it didn't matter much. You noticed people still running about, trying to hide from those things. It's like they have multiplied since we last saw them. 

“Oh- God… why is this happening?” Kat quivers. 

“No clue.” was all you could say. Ringing in your damn ears now, God why… sure, you were free for now but what's next. Things kept jumping out of nowhere, screaming coming from everywhere.

You look over to your wife, who is staring out the window, it's like she didn't want you to see her tears. Her hand covers her mouth as we pass more people. There was no way we could help them, too many risks. Sure if we had a giant van then maybe.

You stare ahead now, catching sight of silhouettes beginning to fall onto the road. Nothing was gonna stop you, the truck bounced over more bumps. You hear your son shout from the backseat. Your eyes felt like they were on fire, as if tears were about to come out. You keep your eyes peeled as you approach a different road, some cars stopped ahead, but not enough to block it thankfully. 

You think it's safe enough to stop for a moment. you need to find a place to stay. Where though? 

“Think we should still find that hotel?” You ask quickly.

“I-I don't know. It might not be safe here, let's go-”

Headlights invade your vision, realizing they are shining through your wife's window. You quickly press the accelerator, trying to speed away, but you're not as fast as you thought. You sense a collision as the vehicle crashes into your wife's window. Glass shards fly everywhere,while time seems to slow around you. You wanted to grab for your family, but you are pushed backwards as the truck tits sideways. You shut your eyes, not wanting anything to get in them. 

Then there was complete silence, everything was still.

—-------------

Regaining consciousness, a ringing sound fills the silence. Your head throbs painfully feeling like you may explode. Barely able to open your eyes, you catch glimpses of light. Can't seem to move, must still be strapped in. you try to open your eyes again, your vision still fuzzy. Blinking rapidly, you try to sharpen your sight.

Things are coming into view, though the truck was flipped over, landing you sideways. The airbag is in the way, so you push it aside with your arms. You quickly begin trying to unbuckle your seat-belt, jammed against the door and the seat. You let out a groan of pain, while struggling to comprehend where you were. You are pretty much against the window, which shockingly wasn't completely shattered. 

You look around, noticing your wife slumped over close by. Eagerly, you scatter to look to the back to see if your son is there. However the belt pulls you back, making it tougher to look at. you use your hand to rummage around the buckle, hoping to free yourself. A click is heard, you've done it.

Crawling out of your seat, you firstly look over your wife, hoping she wasn't too injured. you notice a huge gash in her head, instinctively putting a hand to it. Is she alive, she better be alive... the rise of anxiety made you shake, you check for a pulse. its faint... oh lord please let her live. You put your head on hers, cupping her cheek with your hand. After a moment you set her downto check Duck. He was curled up again like before, still passed out. Bruises were forming all over his body, his head had a tiny piece of glass in it. you wanted to pull it out, but knew he would just bleed more.

You begin to hyperventilate, having no sweet clue what to do. You try to regulate your breathing by rubbing your leg, only for it to sting upon touch. you look down at it, it was bleeding a bit. The more you thought about it, the more the pain came settling in.

"Fucking... God," you silently cry out, voice cracking. You sit there a moment, trying to think. You have to get out of there, and quick. Those things might be around soon enough. Got to be brave for their sake, you think looking at your wife. Her breathing gets more shallow by the minute.

Examining the space around you, you notice Kats window. You could escape through there, but gotta check if it's safe.

You maneuver across the front seats, carefully getting past Kat. The window was cracked to shit, some pieces were missing, but maybe... wait. Realizing you may not be able to kick it. You look at your fist, several cuts scattered already. You sigh, knowing what you could do.

You kneel down a bit, taking off one of your workshoes. You hold the shoe as a weapon, and bash it against the window a few times till it finally breaks. Not caring to put it back on right away, you peeked your head out, trying to figure out where you crashed.

Sideways In a ditch, must of went far. Surprised no monster things were around yet.

Starting at your wife, and peaking back at your son you think to yourself, should you remove them? Or would putting them out in the open put them in more danger. You look to the window, nodding your head. slowly, you climb out of the truck, hopping out, and landing on your side. You didn't stick the landing.

You grumble to yourself while trying to stand. You fall down due to the unexpected pain in your leg. While down, a hand touches your check. Damn, you got a little glass.

It was still dark, must've not been out long, the sound of crickets give you a sense of peace. No dilly dally now, time to get to your feet.

You were finally able to stand, dispite the pain you felt. You needed to find help.

Walking proves to be a hard task, with each step you wince in pain. Not a soul nearby, except that fuckers car that drove into you. It landed nearby. Now you wonder if the person in there is okay. You grimace at the sight, surprised you were even still alive.

Question is, will your family survive? Growing desperate, you decide to yell out for help. You couldn't get too far with your leg, and everything else. Still, nobody seemed to have heard.

Bowing down your head, you swear you feel a tear escape. Not being able to handle the pain, you sit down. Looks like you couldn't keep your shit together any longer.

Something growls from the distance, it's one of those things... fuck man.

Hey!

There is still little over a week left for the contest as of this reminder. That's still enough time to get busy with writing.

Theme is "Dominance".

Here is the post of the contest

Countdown to the Deadline. Sunday 1st of December 23:00 (EET)

Howdy!

Now that the recent contest has come into its completion, its best to keep the wheel rolling and start the new one.

Me that is u/Canisventus and u/NazbazOG shall be your judges this time.

So without further ado the next theme is: >!Dominance.!<

This thingy means that someone would have a dominance, control or influence over something. Its about having a position of power whether its over others or over themselves. I know what you are thinking: its just some meh leader theme again! Hmm and mostly it is, but there are nuances! Okay, here me out:

Examples:

There is the classic: You can write about how someone comes into power or how they maintain and might eventually lose that power.

Someone might have such an influence in terms of values and beliefs, so people would follow them either willingly or begrudgingly. This might spark some interesting conflicts between what is right and wrong, when in apocalypse that line isn't as clear as we have in the real world.

People might have certain skills. Some might have strength, some might be good with strategy. some might have some skills which are paramount to have in the world they are in. This makes these people more important than others in a sense. It could lead to tensions between individuals and might actually form alliances or different power dynamics inside some group or community when others are deemed as more important. In the survival thingies, people might try to assert their place in that which is a pecking order when it comes to survival and overall importance of saving someone or not. Be it medicine or risking other people to safe one individual.

It can be about someone being a leader, but the struggles they face might fold them into a darker path in terms of survival, making them into a ruthless leader who keeps the dominance over others with an iron grip. This can go other way around as well. Perhaps someone was oppressive at first and embraced the darker side of leading people, but then changing for the better! I haven't seen bad people turn good very often so Its an interesting concept.

Perhaps someone is trying to keep their murderous nature in check and they are trying to keep that dominance over their urges.

Lastly, so people would have some more leeway about this thing, it can also be a about "personal dominancy" as well. You can write about people's internal journey to regain control over their lives and emotions. How they would overcome their fears or weaknesses. How they would claim dominance over their own doubts, guilts or bad habits!

End of examples.

I hope the theme is not too generic or too similar to other stuff and you find it at least somewhat interesting to write about.

I have yapped enough, so go forth mates and get to writing! I know you have your hands free this month.

You have till Sunday 1st of December 23:00 (EET)

Rules:

1. One entry only and it needs to be a one shot

2. It must be TWDG related.

3. The story must be about the theme.

4. Link the entry to the comments of this post.

5. Prequels are allowed only if they are very loosely connected.

6. Have fun.

3rd Place: >!NazbazOG - This is a 5.5/10.!<

My score and notes:

2.5/10

Well, Naz's was just some words put together. I did like the upside down zombies eating away Louis's skin, but that ain't enough to save it. Still better than your other horror.

Shen's score and notes:

Nazbaz: 3/10

Alright Naz. Iconic title that’s pretty amusing. And I can see you were likely going for a comedy horror, what with the characters explaining obvious shit multiple times or obliterating the 4th world. The issue is that you just didn’t know when to stop lol. The whole thing was so biased towards the “comedy” part in my opinion that you pretty much forgot you needed to make it at least a little bit scary until the part where the walkers ate Louis’ skin (yikes). That’s unfortunately not enough for me, man.

Total: This is a 5.5/20.

2nd Place: >!Kiesmaier - Counted days!<

My score and notes:

8/10

A good story about the people of Crawford after Anna's rampage, but focused way too much on the people where the zombies were just kind of there. DId like the blood bath/lake/river thing. Very Shining like.

Shen's score and notes:

Kiesmaier: 6/10

That’s a bit more like it. Though you played the pronoun game, it didn’t take too long before you announced you went for Anna. And the whole idea of her feeling betrayed by her senses as she’s assaulted by walkers was good stuff. So what’s the problem ? Well, the plot was hijacked by people. Granted, using Crawford’s loyalists as antagonists was a good idea that I’d welcome in any other story. Unfortunately, they ended up vastly overshadowing the walkers who were supposed to be the main source of the horror. I’m not even entirely sure why they even bothered keeping Anna alive, given they had no moral, emotional or pragmatic reasons to do so (quite the opposite actually, when you think about it), but Anna ending up being the monster at the end was kind of a neat twist. Still, good plot but wrong focus is what I’m going with.

Total: 14/20

1st Place: >!Canisventus - The Sound of Silence!<

My score and notes:

10/10

Canis knocked it out of the park for me. It was quick, but I nice slasher that got me into the story. Nice suspense and a cool monster man with cooler deaths. I liked how you sort of combined the two themes by having the characters suspect it was walkers killing people before we saw it. Hell, it still could have been a walker after the first kill, I wasn't sure yet. Easily my favorite. Great job, dude!

Shen's score and notes:

Canis: 8/10

And then we get the guy who did his homework. It’s gonna be a pretty short review given it is short in terms of plot, even though the intro give us good glimpses on the dynamics and characterization of the Cabin Group which was overall pretty faithful to the source material. But what we’re in this for is the scary stuff, and I’ll be honest with you: the bastard you came up with is cold. Whether it is in terms of whatever this is or its expressions, it betrayed absolutely nothing except how much it loved spreading pain and death. And spread pain and death, it most certainly did, taking its sweet time doing so. The atmosphere, pacing and sheer brutality of these kills were all pretty well-done. Kind bummed out that you wussed out on extending that brutality to them kids (at least explicitly), but that’s really A-minor issue. Hold this W.

Total: 18/20

Congrats on another win, Canis! And Happy Halloween, everybody!

ps, see Naz about the new car you just won

Thank you to our 3 participants. We will have them read and hopefully announce the winner sometime today. Thanks For Playing Writing.

My attempt for this month. More info in the summary

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60196546

The Sound of Silence

"Okay, we need a plan," Louis said looking at all the Ericsons who were all standing in the room.

"No, we need to survive," Violet responded.

"Yes, with a plan we will achieve that," Louis stood on business.

"Alright," Clem jumped in. "I have a plan."

"We're listening..." Ruby spoke.

"So I think we should all stick together," Louis suggested.

"That's..." Clem looked at him speechless. "The dumbest shit I've ever heard in my life. No, I think we should all go alone."

Everyone jumped cheering for such a brilliant idea. Except Louis.

"Are you guys serious?" Louis raised his voice in disbelief. "Have you guys ever watched a horror movie? This is how we die! We have to stick together. The scary monster or monsters or demons whatever we are FACING will pick us off one by one! But together we could jump their asses together! We are stronger together!"

"Shut up, let's go y'all," AJ said full of excitement.

Louis was reluctant to go ahead with this. But after everyone left, he sighed and went out too. He walked through the hallway and heard laughter. He decided to run up to the noise since they sounded familiar. As he arrived to the noise, he saw all the Ericsons together.

"Wait, wait what is this?!" Louis barked. "I thought we were all gonna be alone?"

"Oh nah we gonna stay together," Clem told him.

"Okay, good," Louis smiled and joined them.

"Nah, not you," Clem pushed him back lightly. "You have to go alone."

"Excuse me?" Louis said shellshocked by the words he heard.

"You heard her," Violet stepped up to him. "This is the plan. We go alone and we will meet outside away from here."

"But you guys aren't alone..." Louis pointed out.

"Oh don't worry, we will separate," Aasim assured him.

"Yeah, later," AJ said.

"Okay, whatever, I'll go with y'all until you guys decide to separate," Louis said.

"No, this is a stupid idea, it'll get us all killed," Clem said. "We have to stay alone to survive."

"No, I mean yes, no- yes UGH whatever! but you guys aren't alone, so by your words this won't work out!" Louis said.

"We told you, we will go alone later," Clem replied.

"Okay, and I said I'll do it later too," Louis frowned.

"No, this won't work we have to be alone," Violet facepalmed.

"Are you guys hearing yourselves!?!?!" Louis yelled.

"Look, you go alone, we all will, this is the plan it's how we survive," Ruby told him.

"Man, screw y'all!" Louis stormed off.

There barely being any light, he thought being with such idiocy actually gets you killed far more likely than being alone. He walked through the hallways as he started to hear the groans. The same groans from the things that led him and his 'friends' to the room in the first place.

With only a knife at hand, he prepared himself.

The monsters found him. Their teeth were disgusting, some have their eyes missing, their skin torn off the lot of em.

Louis was ready to piss himself, but, he remembered how his friends treated him. That anger and frustration he whipped out on the zombies. He decided to turn into Lee in Armed With Death. Because despite how many times they chewed on his body, he smoked all of them.

All blooded up, and weakened, he treaded on slowly and finally found the exit. He took a deep breath of the fresh air as he looked around and saw his friends from afar. They had blood on them, but the blood was only from the splashes of killing the monsters. They were all fine and well.

They came up to him and asked him what happened.

"So, you guys stayed together, huh?" Louis barely made out.

"Well of course, why would we go alone?" Clem chuckled.

"You guys made me go alone!" Louis said angrily.

"I mean, you were the one who walked away from us..." Violet said.

"We all know what happened!" Louis continued.

"Yes, we do," Clem nodded as she put her hands on her hips. "It was stupid of you to go alone, together we are stronger and that's why we all made it out alive."

Louis couldn't argue any longer. And that was because he lost consciousness.

Upon waking up, he saw himself in a gated community. Thinking this was a dream, dead people walking and all that nonsense, he escaped the community with a map he took out from his inventory trying to find his friends back at Ericsons.

He walked for days as the trees kept him company the whole time.

Suddenly, he came across a bunch of these... dead people monsters hanging upside down from the tree branches. There was a bunch of them like that.

He shrieked in fear as the sun blinked turning everything dark for 8 mins and 20 seconds.

Seeing absolutely nothing, he could only hear them. But because it went dark suddenly, he turned around rotating on himself and lost his axis. Meaning he doesn't know which way the monsters were.

He walked forward hoping it would do something good instead of waiting the 8mins and 20 seconds out, he felt something hit his head. It was a head.

He started to panic as he realised the monsters were alive- sorry dead... hold on.

would a zombie be considered alive if it is you know... active or whatever or are they called dead? Zombies are dead right so you can't really call them alive.. Meh, I shoulda done my research before writing this shit. Back on topic now.

The monsters started to swing themselves left and right, forward and backwards. Louis was passed around like a joint.

Finally, the 8 mins and 20 seconds are up. A monster had a mirror attached on it as Louis saw himself in the mirror skinless. They skinned him alive. It was only now he realised the pain as he screamed immensely. The scream was so loud, the sight was so horrifying, that the sun closed its eyes.

And the world was just left with Louis' screams as the monsters' break was over, back to munching.

This is for the 5.5. The quality of this entry is horror in itself. I expect that to up my score somehow. Sorry, Shen.

A gentle, yet firm, reminder that your stories are due in a little over 24 hours at the time of this posting.

When THIS TIMER hits zero, the contest is over and we'll start reading ASAP. Then we'll post the winner also ASAP.

Foreward.

In this revised edition, I have added more detail to help bring the scenes to life, as the original felt somewhat flat. This revision was inspired by feedback from a local beta reader who urged me to explore the emotional depth and complexities of the characters' stories more fully.

That is to say I am immensely grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read my work, and I thank you for your support. I hope this edition now resonates with everyone on a deeper level, and I would like you to share your thoughts on the revised story.

You Will Be Safe With Us

In the vast countryside, away from the busy city of Savannah, hills as tall as buildings and green as emeralds exist. There was also an aura of calmness, with a few birds twittering away in dispersed trees, followed by the gentle swaying of the wind.

 Then, out of nowhere, came a small, lonely girl, perhaps no more than nine years old, wearing a once-lily-white summer dress with a striped long-sleeved t-shirt underneath it. She was also wearing a dark blue and cream-white baseball hat with the letter ‘D’ on the front of it. She was moving wearily, with a pistol in one hand, and wiping her damp eyes with the other.  

 She knew what happened to make her weep. It was her fault that she got him killed; she was convinced by a towering man who said he knew her parents. But that was a brainless, childish lie that got Lee killed. She shouldn’t have run off. At least, Lee taught her how to use a gun and what to expect in the future before his tragic passing. But now she was all on her own.

 Eventually, she came to a log, which was next to the rusted shell of a car and proceeded to sit down on it. Throughout all of this, she was as quiet as a mouse, only looking at her feet and wiping her blood-red eyes. She noticed that on the floor next to the log was a mixture of bullets—some shell casings and some unfired ones. Out of curiosity, she picked it up and examined it before exhaling deeply, which is when she noticed something else. Something she could just about make out if she scrutinised her eyes—something on the nearest hill—looked like two figures. One followed the other, and they looked like they stopped to look at her, making her start to hyperventilate as her eyes extended to the size of oranges. Was it someone she knew? Was it a threat to her? She didn’t know.

 “Lee said I need to find Omid and Christa,” she said to herself, “before he got killed...because of me.” She did allow herself a moment of tiny moment of self-pity, before quite quickly snapping back into action, scanning the horizon for the strangers approaching. The way forward was unclear. Off in the distance, two figures were getting closer, advancing down a prominent hill. They didn’t look much like hikers. She clasped her gun tightly, prepared. She wiped her right eye with her fist and lined up the sight, allowing the crosshairs to trace the path of the potential threat. As they came into focus, she slowly eased her finger off the trigger. 

 It was no threat. Omid and Christa walked slowly up to her, and Clementine released the breath she had been holding; they were alive and well!

 Omid was a tall, slim Persian-American man with short dark-brown hair and a beard to match.

 Christa, on the other hand, was a slightly taller African-American woman. She also had jet-black hair tied up in a ponytail and was Omid’s girlfriend.       

 "Clementine, honey, where's Lee?" Christa asked, kneeling to the nine-year-old.

 "H-h-he's...dead," she stammered with her face buried in Christa’s shoulder.

 "Oh, Clementine, we’re sorry," Omid said, who started to kneel to her height as well.

 "W-where's Ben and Kenny?" Clementine asked, still with her face buried in Christa’s shoulder.

 “Well…” began Omid scratching the back of his head before getting ready to tell her the truth. “Before Lee came to rescue you at The Marsh House, we were trapped in that large house we were before and were surrounded by Walkers and forced into the attic. During that time, a heated argument broke out between Kenny and Lee, which led to Kenny throwing something against the wall. To our surprise, this revealed an escape route. The attic had a balcony that connected to the roof, and we decided to climb across in hopes of getting ahead of the Walkers. Christa and I were the first to reach the roof, followed closely by Lee, then Kenny, and finally Ben. Unfortunately, the railing didn't seem strong enough, and Ben fell from what must have been three stories. At that moment, Kenny rushed to a nearby ladder, determined to go after him and try to save him. That was the last we saw of them.”

 "So, it’s just us three," Clementine responded, now looking at Omid and Christa with her eyes dry again, a short while later.

 "I guess, Clem, I guess so," Christa replied. "Come on, let’s go somewhere safe."

 With this, the trio began to walk, with Clementine tagging behind while Omid and Christa were in front. They were busily talking away, apart from Clementine, who was still looking at her feet, along holding the gun in her hand. As a result of this, she wasn't engaged in the conversation that they were having. She was too melancholy about what happened today. With her being kidnapped, finding her walker parents, Lee dying, and now Kenny and Ben dying as well.

 It was a lot for her to take in.

* * * * *

Sometime later, the trio found an abandoned house that had the appearance of being deserted for decades, as thick ivy hugged the walls. Furthermore, it reminded Clementine of that house they stayed at in Savannah; it was hard to believe that was a month ago.

“Let's see if we can find anything useful inside,” Christa said aloud, eyeing the window.

 With a resolute nod, Omid and Christa moved closer to the entrance. At that moment, Clementine stepped forward, grappling with the ivy that intertwined with the frame. "Can you help me with this?" she called out, her voice tinged with urgency as she struggled to pry the window open.

 After a brief moment of collaboration, they succeeded in creating a small opening. "We did it!" Clementine exclaimed, her excitement spilling over like a burst of sunlight.

 “Clementine, honey," Christa said, kneeling to her once they were inside the hallway. "Omid, and I believe you can search parts of this house on your own. Just remember, if someone, walker or not, tries to hurt you, you got your gun. If you run out of bullets or are in a tight place, call us, and we will help you if you get into trouble. Do you understand?"

 “Yeah, I do, Christa; I will be careful."

 “Good, let me know if you find anything."

 With this, Clementine strayed a little by searching for anything useful on her own, though she stayed close to Omid and Christa.

 As usual in the kitchen, she found faded, rusted cans with nothing but spoiled food inside. So she decided to head upstairs, and it seemed like they creaked with every step; as Omid and Christa were searching the enormous living room. Once she was upstairs, she clasped her pistol tightly and opened the door with one of her hands and the other on the pistol. Nothing. The room was that of a bathroom, with its normal interior—a bath, sink, toothbrushes, and some cupboards—which was stripped of life.

 So she closed the door, walked to the next door, and proceeded to open it in the same manner she did for the bathroom. 

 This room was that of a child’s room, which made Clementine remember her room back in Georgia, with its toys and books. It felt like she was just coming home from school and wanted to play with her dolls until supper time; it was hard to believe that was a year ago. Yet, here she was searching for anything useful in terms of survival—and not searching for a certain toy she wanted to play with at present.

 “Just as well Lee found me when he did,” she said to herself as she glanced over at the room, trying to remember simpler times. When she went to school, she watched cartoons all day and rode her bike in the park with her parents. When she was thinking about this, she noticed that there was a medium-sized lump near the wall, cloaked in dust. It was a doll, and there was a string attached to its back, when Clementine pulled it, it produced the word "Mama”.

 Clementine remembered the doll that her mother gave her for her sixth birthday; it was probably still in the back of the wardrobe.

 Eventually, she found an old pocket-sized backpack with a few flowery stickers, along with a dark blue hoodie in her size.

 “Have you found anything, Clementine?” called out Christa.

 “Yeah, a backpack and a hoodie," answered Clementine, walking towards the edge of the stairs where Omid and Christa were.

 “Just remember to check the bag, Clem; they might have something useful!" replied Christa.  

 “Ok," Clementine called back, unzipping the bag and then putting her hand dubiously into it, but not looking into it. Lo and behold, she found a working lighter, and it looked like it had a decent amount of fuel for a while.    

Slowly, Clementine deliberately walked up to the door at the top of the stairs, the heavy air around her thick and oppressive. Reaching out for the handle, she realised that it wasn't so simple as turning the handle and opening the door; there had to be some effort applied to it.

 With a deep breath, she grasped the handle and then used her shoulder to nudge it open. The hinges creaked, the echo of sounded like some kind of warning bell. Of its own accord, her heart pounding in concert with the creaking, she paused. At that moment, a low, shuffling sound drifted up from below—a sinister rustle that hit her stomach. Somewhere, in the room, a Walker was drawn closer by the noise and came heading towards her. Inside her like a vice tightening around her chest, Clementine's hands chilled with sweat, slicking the grip of her gun. 

Even though she had rehearsed holding the gun a million times, on the other hand, its weight was oppressive and ominous. Clumsily, she stumbled backwards until her back was firmly against the door itself; her small, dainty fingers grappling with the tough, unyielding trigger. Self-doubt nibbled at the edges of her resolve- you're not ready, it whispered. But she just couldn't falter now.

 “Always aim for the head," Clementine said to herself as she exhaled deeply and fired the gun. 

 BANG!! 

 The walker fell with a deafening thud, and Clementine was astounded at herself for shooting the walker that was coming towards her.

 “I did it, I did it," she exclaimed in a loud whisper. Which was when the door burst open to reveal Omid and Christa with perturbed faces.

 "Is everything OK, Clem? Are you hurt?" asked Omid.

 “Yeah, I’m fine; I’m not hurt.” Replied Clementine, as the trio all stood in stupefied silence at the walker that Clementine gunned down. 

 "Did you find anything? Clementine asked after a minute of silence.

 "Yes. We have found two cans of beans and some water," Christa replied.    

 "Oh, not much then."

 “Well, let’s keep moving on, Clem. People might have heard the shot and might come here.” 

 “Ok," responded Clementine. "I said already, but I found a backpack and a hoodie."

 “Put it on, Clem; it’s starting to get colder, and we get going."

 “I’ll put it on now."

 Clementine then took off her hat, gave the gun to Omid, put on the dark blue hoodie, put her hat back on, and took the gun back from Omid. After that, Clementine followed Christa and Omid downstairs and out of the house and walked on.

* * * * *

Some short weeks later scavenging for any supplies that may prove useful towards them, the trio now situated in a substantial-sized forest under a thick canopy of leaves with Omid tending to a fire. Clementine and Christa, however, were sitting down on some nearby log around the fire as the faint scent of wood smoke curled around them. 

 Christa’s mind wandered to the small life growing inside her. The weight of the world still loomed heavily around them, but there was a spark of joy in Christa’s heart. 

 “I can’t believe I’m going to be a mother,” she confessed, the excitement mingling with her fears. “I do want to create a safe space for our child no matter what’s happening to the world.”

 “Christa, I can’t believe it either,” Omid replied, his voice softening as he reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers, taking his attention off the cooking rabbit for a moment. “You’re going to be an incredible mother. We've survived this long; we can figure this out together. We just need to be even more careful now; both with Walkers and other people.” 

 The stars overhead flickered and danced in the sky like a million tiny flames, casting a shimmering glow over the forest below. Furthermore, the sky itself was filled with low oranges, along with a mixture of light blues. Which were progressively getting into the realms of dark blues, purples and then full-on jet-black. Moreover, there seemed to be a chorus of crickets hiding somewhere in lush grasses, chirping away harshly. 

 “I would say that rabbit is cooked now, Omid,” Christa noticed.  

 “Oh, right, yeah,” replied Omid, as he began to take the cooked rabbit off the spit – and handed it out to Christa and Clementine, then to himself. 

 "Thank you very much," Clementine said as she reached for the rabbit meat before going back to look at the stars. She thought to herself as she ate: "How many are there? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? Hm, what – sorry Christa; what did you say?”     

 “Omid and I said that we are going to rest here tonight and get going in the morning."

 "Ok, as my legs still ache from all that walking we did today."

 "Well, get some rest, you're going to need it," Omid said, rising from poking the fire. 

 "Ok," responded Clementine, getting up from the weather-worn log, wishing Omid and Christa a good night before she got onto the floor near the fire and began to close her eyes. She then began to dream about what she would be doing tomorrow, what would happen, and what she would see.   

 The next morning was filled with, not only the bright colours featuring the first faint flush of dawn breaking through the trees but rather with the invigorating scent of pine needles. Clementine rubbed her eyes before getting up from the harsh, tough ground and walked to the log where she sat last night, where she saw Omid was cooking again. 

 "Morning, Clem," Omid said. "How did you sleep?"

 "Ok, I'd rather sleep in a bed than on the floor."

 "Yeah, I don't like it either, but it's necessary until we get to Wellington." 

 With this, the trio began to walk on, with Clementine now near Omid and Christa. Yet, like last time, Clementine's fingers were still wrapped around her pistol. But instead of looking at her feet, she pensively looked around the clearing.

 The clearing was serene, where only a few Walkers were roaming around, but they could be seen more evidently through a few hacked trees. The trio strolled down the lane through dappled light filtering itself through the trees; moreover, the sound of the leaves rustled in the weak, wry, wind. There was also an occasional bird twittering away on a pile of stacked logs near the broad track as Clementine, Omid, and Christa strolled. There was also an infrequent number of signs that littered the road.

 "TWO MILES UNTIL TRUCK STOP", Clementine read as she walked on with Omid and Christa. 

 "How about...Isabella?" Christa said aloud.

 "Nah," scoffed Omid, "James is far better." 

 "That's if it's a boy, Omid. Clementine, do you have any name ideas?" 

 "What about...Carley?"

 "Yeah, that's a good name," responded Omid, with an expression of puzzled thought evident in his voice. 

 "What do you think about my name?" asked Omid, as he poised at the truck stop over the abandoned road before crossing it with Christa and Clementine. 

 "Omid, you can't be serious," answered Christa.  

 "I am." 

 "We are NOT doing that."

 "Why not?"

 "Because one of you is enough!" 

 For the next couple of miles, they (primarily, Christa and Omid) talked about what seemed to be endless baby names for Christa's child to pass the time. Clementine wondered if her parents had this amount of difficulty when they chose her name.    

 Eventually, Clementine slowed down as Omid and Christa walked on regardless; as she noticed there was a blackbird perched on a nearby tree which cawed before flying into the lush forest. 

I just finished the game like a week ago. Totally devastated. And these fanfics are good. Great even. It's a Clouis fanfic. The first part (Title: Light) is a mostly 1:1 copy of final season in Louis perspective with some added scenes that I also really like. There's also a sequel (Title: In the dark) which is a direct continuation of where the season ends. Love it, cried in some scene, just want to share. Ok bye, I'll try to move on now.

https://www.wattpad.com/1480920748?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_reading&wp_page=reading_part_end&wp_uname=CHEEZ0nToast

|Howdy, y'all!| Your favorite writer, ChipperClegane ChippersGhost here, and I'm excited to announce, for the very first time (not counting when Shenron dropped the ball and leaked the theme 1077 days ago. . .), what this month's writing contest theme is. . . >!hootenanny HORROR!<

And since I'm known for having entirely uncontroversial >!horror!< contest results, this is sure to be a good time for all involved. My hosting abilities have been giving a 5.5 out of 10, which is a great score to be happy with.

I know what you're thinking. "ChippersGhost, why won't you just go away for good and stop haunting these subreddits with your stupid shenanigans? You're making inside jokes from years ago that weren't even funny to the people involved back then." And you'd be right, but I can't take you seriously if you use the word "shenanigans."

At the request of my current co-champion, (I think the count is tied not 100 on that) there is a twist.

I will accept my favorite types of horror stories where the main baddies are the zombies themselves, or slashers.

A zombie story is obvious. One where zombies, walkers, deadheads, muertos, or whatever you prefer to call them are the main threat. I've read hundreds of fanfics and only a handful have even treated the walkers like they are more than just a bee in your bonnet.

A slasher is a story with a high body count earned by a supernatural villain like Jason Voorhees(Friday The 13th), a totally possible insane person like Michael Myers(Halloween), a dreamy little sweater man like Freddy Kruger(A Nightmare on Elm Street) or one that is kept a secret til the end like Ghostface(Scream). The killler can be who or what ever, but the bodies need to be hitting the floor.

If more clarification is needed, just ask and I'll explain it or delete this whole thing and go have a Snickers instead.

Oh, and BREAKING NEWS!!! This will be cohosted with u/Super-Shenron.

#Rules:

• You can ONLY submit one entry.
• The entry MUST be TWDG related.
• It’s narrative MUST utilize this month’s theme. ZOMBIES or SLASHER
• It MUST be a one-shot.
• And, it MUST be linked in the comments of this post.

This contest starts the moment this post goes up and ends October 31st, 12:00 a.m. Tulsa Time. The winner will be announced on Halloween! Isn't that fun?

Good luck!

ps, I'm not a mod anymore. Someone flair this bad boy up with a spooky color. Thanks!

Okay guys another contest done and dusted! More of dust since that's what I see more of than entries right now, but anyway!! Let's get started!

Coming in at second place it's ..... >!Contentine!<

Overall Score: 4/20

Naz's notes: ive got nothing to say, except I'm not surprised, and nothing really changed about the Bridge Scene defenders. They really get mad at everyone for using their brains on a piece of fiction. I also don't understand the purpose of this entry... As in where is the theme?

2/10

My notes: Okay I'll start off by I actually did laugh at like the first pee-pee-poo-poo joke, yes that's my level of humour and the second time too when the bird shit on his head and the third time when Kenny went 'Kaav Kaav' but then the same jokes repeated 20 times and it didn't just do it for me which is kinda the criticism I have for most of these comedy entries they repeat the same joke throughout the story!

So if and that's a major if you're looking to improve (not implying you need to ofc), gimme a variety of jokes! But alas all i can give you this time is 2/10 (for making me laugh! Otherwise would've been a 1 and if you incorporated the theme would've been atleast 4)

Congrats on the silverware tho, second place!

2/10

And now for our gold medal it's >!Super-Shenron!< again... goddamit

Overall Score: 7/20

Naz's notes:That line of Lilly not following her father's example line was funnier and better than the whole of your competition in this contest. I like how you adapted it consistent to the canon of the game, without really having the canon be shown in the entry. That was well done. I liked how you chose to have several things referring to things that happened off screen and on-screen. For example the gift Lilly gave Clem, the killing of the brothers, of course Larry's death.

that being that I don't really know what the purpose of this story was... Lacking theme relevancy also we got nothing really going on top of it.

4/10

My Notes: Ohhkayyy what's this, a cute lil scene between Lilly and Clem talking about Lee and his morally dubious choices, naturally setting up a great conflict later on in the story and a nice relationship to build upon between Clem and Lilly! Well that was a great first scene... wait wut that's it?

That is the gist of how I felt reading it, also where was the purpose Shen? Did you forget we have a theme in these! Hm? 😤 I swear if contentine also didn't forget about the theme I'd have made him win.

Here take this fucking 3/10 and take the crown! Congratulations on the W, being the less worse outta the 2! Prolly the weakest winning entry I've had the pleasure of reading beating Chipper's betrayal... why y'all gotta do this in my contests huh?

3/10

So a job well done by... me and my buddy Naz in taking this humoungus task by the balls and seeing it through! On a serious note tho thanks for entering and making this a contest guys, don't mind me I'm just a bit cranky due to um.. some handling issues. Hope to see more of you all next time tho, until then, cya!

The contest has come to an end! Congratulations to Conte and Shen for making the podium!

“You really want to do this? Now?” Every word Lilly spoke had been filled with more venom than the previous. She wouldn't expect a killer to listen to anything anybody's got to say. But the way he continued to run his mouth to her hours after he splattered her father’s brains all over her was just about the last thing she expected. 

“If everything that crazy lady on the video said is true, we oughta do something. If they find out the St Johns are gone while we’re cooped in here like a buncha sittin’ ducks, it’s over!”

“Uh-huh?” Lilly crossed her arms. “And what happened to us and our guns can handle a couple of punks with bows and arrows?”

“Come on, Lilly, that was before–”

“Before what I said about leaving the dairy turned out to be a very good idea?” 

“Just listen!” Kenny said. “The only reason you wanted to stay here was because of the pharmacy for your dad. But now–”

“Leave.” Lilly growled that one word. 

“Lilly–”

“I said get out!” Kenny flinched at her outburst. 

“Just leave her be, Ken.” Katjaa held her husband. “Please.”

Kenny opened his mouth as though to protest, but closed his eyes for a second, thinking better of it. “We can talk about it in the morning, then.”

As soon as they closed the door, she had been half-tempted to wreck everything in her room. But rather than following her late father’s example, she settled on rubbing her face. Just as the food situation got sorted out, there were bandits out there about to come down on them like rabid dogs. One mess to deal with after another. No matter how anyone felt about her dad, he gave him the strength to do this every day. At least with him, it meant something. 

Now she didn’t even know how long she remained on that bed. Her body had left, but her mind remained stuck in one space and time. In between these four, cold metal walls, warmed only by his blood and brains. 

Meanwhile, he got away. From her. With his family. With what he did. He got away. 

“Fuck!” She exclaimed as sudden knocks ripped her out of her thoughts. Almost reluctantly, her legs allowed her to move towards the door, but not without her cursing her visitor’s name.

“I’m pretty sure I just told you to fuck off!” She said as she opened the door. But to her surprise and horror, Kenny didn’t come back to bother her again. 

It was Clementine, who stared at her with shining, wet eyes. “I didn’t mean to bother.”

Just as she turned around to leave, Lilly held her arm. “Wait. Don’t go.”

“Aw.” The girl’s small gasp prompted her to loosen her grip before removing her hand entirely. But this time, Clem wasn’t trying to leave.

“I’m sorry.” Lilly said. “I just…I thought you were someone else.”

Clementine looked to the door then back to her friend. “Who, Kenny?”

Lilly bit her tongue as her throat dried, struggling to choose her next words. 

“You’re not with Lee.” Clem looked to the ground, somehow even more upset than before. “It’s about what he did at the dairy, then.”

“Lee’s always kind. He even helped me find my hat.” The girl said, unaware of the blood shed to get it back. “But then…he’s so scary when he’s mad.”

Reflexively looking at her covered scars on her arm, she focused back on Clem. “These people were dangerous, Clem. They had to be stopped.”

“That’s what he said too.” Clem said. “But that man couldn’t even stand up. He didn’t have to kill him. Lilly, Lee isn’t a bad guy, right?”

Her dad told her about him. What he did to the senator. She didn’t think she had it in him, but after tonight…she wasn’t sure what to think. 

“Lilly?” Clem asked. Then, she mentally kicked herself for even hesitating. Her father treated him like shit, knew who he was, and still he tried to save his life. Again. 

“It’s not bad to fight for what you love.” Lilly answered her question. “Maybe he didn’t have to kill him. But at the time, he was only thinking of what would happen if he left him alive. He did it to protect us. To protect you.”

“You think so?”

“Of course.” Lilly said. “Lee just would’ve preferred you didn’t see that.”

“Is that why he let the other one go? Because of me? What if he comes back?”

Lilly shook her head. “We saw what he’s like. How he acts. How he thinks. If he comes back, we’ll be ready for him this time.”

Even if he got out of the dairy, the bandits would probably get him first. It’d be especially easy without his family to back him up. For some reason, this thought pulled at her heartstrings. He deserved it, but watching him all hollow, all broken didn’t fill her with any satisfaction.

Not that she would want or need to tell any of it to Clementine, whose expression lightened a little. It appeared that she managed to reassure her a little. 

“I’m sorry about your dad.” Clem said.

“...Don’t worry about it, okay?” Lilly said. “You should get some rest.” 

“You mean I can stay here?” 

“As long as you need to not be afraid anymore. Wait.”

She ran through her pockets and handed Clem her hair ties.

“You’ll ruin your hair if you keep sleeping like this. I found them in the car. You can keep them.”

“...Thank you.” Clementine flashed her friend a smile before putting them on. 

This day’s events would give anyone nightmares for a lifetime, let alone a little girl. Yet it didn’t take long for her to drift to sleep. Good for her. And she wasn’t just thinking of sleep.

“She’s lucky to have you.” 

She once told Lee. But as she stared at the quarter in her hand, she couldn’t help but wonder which of them struck gold in this crapsack called world. One thing for sure, neither of them fully realized it yet. 

Hopefully they never would.

"Fuck fuck fuck FUUUCK!" - a grumpy voice could be heared from the outside this calm sunny morning. Lee got up, opened the door and saw furious Kenny who's teeth were creaking from pure hatred.

"Kenny, what's going on?"

"Fuck off Lee!"

"Hey" - Lee frowned - "Why are you acting like someone shit in your cereal?!"

"Because someone DID SHIT in my cereal!"

Kenny grabbed the plate from the table and shoved it towards Lee's face. In this nice plate Lee could see a fresh cereal that Katja cooked this morning, and on top of it - a huge pile of bird shit.

"See!?" - yelled Kenny

Lee tried to resist as much as he could, but still giggled.

"What's so funny, you Shitbird!? You have a spare plate of cereal!?" - yelled Kenny, already getting out of control, but by the look of Lee's he still thought that whole situation was funny.

"Kenny! Stop it!" - said Katja, who was really unhappy with Kenny acting so loud and ruining this morning.

Kenny exhaled - "Yeah, sorr..." - before Kenny could finish a bunch of bird shit dropped right on his hat. Kenny froze for a second with open mouth, then swiftly raised his head. There, on the blue sky, he saw a bird flying away like nothin happened.

"K.. K... Kaa... Kaaaaw!" - yelled Kenny at the shrinking silhouette of the bird, he was so mad that he couldn't even think of any words to curse this bird. For a second Lee thought that the sound Kenny made reminded him of rooster's cock-a-doodledoo...

After this accident, Kenny didn't yell at anyone anymore, and whole situation surprisingly calmed down. Peace returned to the Motor Inn, Kenny washed and dried his hat under the hot sunrays, and about 5 hours later Kenny with Lee departed on a hunt. The day wasn't as sunny as the morning, dense clouds slowly started covering the sky, a light wind began. The storm was coming.

Kenny raised his hand and stopped, so did Lee. "See it?" - asked Kenny - "I wanna try" Kenny raised his rifle and aimed at the bird who was sitting on a branch. Kenny calmed his breath and was about to shoot, but... Pile of bird shit dropped on his head. Kenny pulled the trigger because of shock and missed, bird took off and started flying away. Kenny looked around and saw another bird flying, that apparently did this unpleasant attack.

"Damn, you are really unlucky today..." - commented Lee with a smile.

"What the fuck, this is bullshit, it just can't be! It can.. Caa... Ka! Kaaaaw!" Kenny closed his mouth with left hand. This time he noticed it himself, he really did sound like an angry rooster. Like a bird... Shitbird...

"Hey you with a bird shit on your head!" - came a voice from behind. Lee and Kenny turned back, both shocked that someone was able to sneak so close to them out of nowhere, and saw a strange middle aged man with a beard in a hood.

"You! They chose you, they will not leave you alone untill you turn into a shitbird, and then you will help them get rid of the humans" - said the man and pointed at Kenny

"What the hell are you talking about" - said Kenny and raised his gun even though the man was unarmed

"You will either become a shitbird, or they will shit you to death if they won't break your will. I saw that many times already, it never ends good. I still hope you will survive it, just remmeber: beware the skies"

Only for a moment Kenny and Lee lose their concentration, the man yelled "Tehy are coming", turned and started running away. He was pretty far from them in the first place, so eh easily disappeared behind the bushes. Kenny and Lee looked around, and saw a large dark flock of birds approaching.

They weren't scared, but considering the situation they weren't calm either.

"What the hell?" - asked Lee with a bit nervously

"No fucking clue.. c... Kaa... Kaaaaw!" - yelled Kenny, dropped his gun, and started moving his arms in a way similar to birds flapping their wings.

"Kenny what the hell!?" - asked Lee who was actually scared now.

But Kenny didn't reply, he continued imitating bird sounds and movements, and in the same time he bent, and charged on Lee with his head pulled formward like some kind of wild bird that can't fly. Lee fell, so did Kenny, but Kenny instantly junped back, yelled "Kaw! KAW! Lee is vanilla ice! Kaw! Fucking useless! You are all shitheads!", and ran away still bent and with his arms flapping like a wings.

Lee couldn't say a word and just froze, all he could see was running away Kenny and a flock of birds that were landing massive shit strikes on him.

Lee got up, he tried to yell for Kenny and to run the same direction he did, but he slipped and hit lis knee really hard so he couldn't run and chase him anymore. A lot of thougths were crossing his mind, but he decided to return to get help. He remembered the place and direction where Kenny disappeared.

When Lee was walking he was still trying to realize what just happened. First, Kenny started acting strange, this coincidence with birds, this man appeared, and in the end Kenny literally lost his mind... and turned into shitbird.

When Lee returned to Motor Inn, he told the story as it really was, except he didn't mention how strange Kenny was acting.

"But Lee, did he say anything? Why did he ran away!?" - asked Katja, no surprised she worried the most.

"Umm, he... he changed... He was acting strange... He insulted me and yelled..."

"But what changed?" - replied Katja with a strict face, she wasn't worried anymore - "He always acts like this, he always yells and insults everyone. Like a shitbird he is."

"Why did he left you alone and ran away?" - joined Carley - "Only shitbird would do something like that."

Lee couldn't believe what he just heared. They clearly didn't realize what really happened.

"Kaw kukaw! Y'all are assholes! Kaw!" - roared Kenny's voice just behind the fence. Everyone turned their heads and saw Kenny. He was covered in birds shit and looked very annoyed. He slipped past the fence and fell, waving his arms.

"What, didn't expect to see me like this? Assholes! Assholes!"

"Like what?" - asked Lilly, she was absolutely calm and not surpised at all - "Nothing changed."

Katja didn't show any sign of shock either and indiffirently said "Lee, please make sure he doesn't touch anything untill washes himself, i need to cook" and just walked to the kitchen.

Lee couldn't believe what just happened. Absolutely no one in whole Motor Inn showed any bit of concern about what happened to Kenny. At this moment Lee realized...

"Kaaw! Kaaaw! Y'all suck! Ben come here you son of bitch! Son of a bitch!" - Kenny's voice could be heared, but Lee didn't even listen, he was thinking - really, nothing changed at all. Kenny was always a shitbird, he always acted like this. No matter what happens - he will find someone guilty, someone who shit in his cereal, someone who is repsonsible for everything and just shit in his pants in danger and just run away... It's just he is now shitbird not only inside, but also outside. It is just his purpose in life - to be a shitbird...

I've just finished the game and I want to get into reading some fanfics. What are your guy's favourites and do you have any recommendations for me?

Hey, guys! How yall doing? I actually wanted to talk about zombie novels I don't think there are many 'good' zombie novels and that's why I'm writing a zombie novel series. It's about an ex militant named Emma who lost her baby brother to the apocalypse due to her anger issues, negligence and due to some drugs. And now she's wandering around mentally upset and lost Well anyways, I kinda needed help and was looking for a partner so... if anyone is interested, lemme know. Because I believe that this project of mine has some real potential and yea, I'd even write a few chapters if that's what any one of ya need to show what the story could be If did right and could even compete with twdg from a writing prospective

Welcome everyone to the um... 57th? I dunno how many of these have we done, I only know I keep winning these which is why we're today! So I'll be hosting this month along with my buddy u/NazbazOG!

So the theme right, that's what we're here for! So what exactly is the purpose of these contests hmmm? Have you ever thought? In my opinion it's to have fun!! That's right! That's your theme for this month >!Purpose!!< That was funny!

The deadline for this month's contest is 23:59 GMT 29th September 2024.

So anyways you know the drills:

Rules:

-You can only submit one entry

-The entry must be TWDG related

-Its narrative must utilize this months themes

-It must be a one shot

-It must be linked to the comments of this post

-Prequels/Sequels to existing stories are allowed as long as they are loosely connected

Hope to see y'all's good work this month! Goodluck and see you at the end of the month!

We have officially moved past the FOURTH anniversary! I am very honoured and feel very special to see that there are FOUR entries for me! Four for the fourth? ha.

Let's waste no time. I'm the only guy to get you the results on the day the contest entered. That's Nazbaz the GOAT for ya. 16th contest hosted!

Whilst there is a guy out there who couldn't even do it with two entries and someone else had to post it for them. I say them, because I'm referencing to two donkeys here.

Anyway, results!

4th: >!u/Kiesmaier for "five courses"!< Score: 7/10

My reactions before final words:

"Omar said nothing, like he barely ever did." this was def personal 😂

"Where's the one that says: 'Aasim can't draw?'" 😂

bunch of laughs from the start, but once after Aasim's presentation to where I am right now (just after the abel jokes), it's unfortunately fallen off a little.

Do you also want to hold a speech afterwards?" She said and crossed her arms" 😂

"Oh please do little guy. You're truely dinners last hope." 😂

yo Violet is the joker here dang. There is something funny that in a comedy story, Louis has no tongue and he the joker. And Violet is the joker.

"If Willy ever turned, he wouldn't turn into a walker anyways. He'd turn into a wanker." 😂

"Ruby missing dinner." Violet mocked. "Highly unusual indeed." Yo Violet is def my favourite 😂

no way bro killed off 90% of his comedy (violet) mid way bruh.

...cannibalism?

I have to admit, great job creating tension and intriguing me on this mystery killer.

Ok, Omar is revealed and this is supposedly supposed to be a joke. I don't believe this. Ima make a prediction with the foreshadowing... of cannibalism. I think he killed his fellow friends and will make food out of em for Clem. Sorta like my halloween monsters entry, witchentine!

YEAHH my prediction was ON POINT. And now Omar wants em to eat up. Omar is Witchentine, Keismer version.

Well, what an ending. I have to like this ending because it's similar to one I made!

I did predict it though, and unpredictable endings GENERALLY are better, unless it makes the story worse.

Overall, this was a good story. however for comedy it wasn't the strongest, but I really did enjoy the story. Unfortunately, Violet was easily the strongest part of your story. Without her and this entry would fall flat. But for this ending and direction, you had to kill her off. And I don't think it's coincidence that since her death it turned into a horror show than a comedy show.

3rd: >!u/Canisventus for "The Fool and the Fury"!< Score: 8.5/10

Reactions before final words:

yo... that start of carver manipulating Clem in the office... is this my identity entry?!

WE GOT JOHN WICK IN THE HOUSE YALL!

You got 3 laughs from me from the start till the mexican standoff. Interesting going to Clem there actually makes me really intrigued and excited for what's coming next with the Mexicans.

"I poked him with a pencil" ok this the funniest yet 😂

ok, in my opinion, the joke of stabbing him but phrasing it as poke is funny but going back right after to say it normally... isn't good imo. you shoulda moved on from there imo.

Nah jane is a menace letting everyone argue when she was the solution 😂 "nobody asked" DAMN GIRL

yo jane what u doing with the gun 💀

or the gigantic slap you performed on her the other day would be the second worst thing that might happen to her.” 💀

“Make no mistake, Luke. This plan of theirs was not mine.” Kenny felt necessary to add. 😂

nahhh carlos got exposed DIFFERENTLY

when AJ was born you shoulda said "and a devil was born" or something like that. woulda loved it

JANEEEEEEEE!!! 😂

“He said his goodbyes and threw himself out of the car.” Kenny answered.

I expected the final punchline to be wellington to be full and none of em can enter. So they did all that for nothing and shoulda went to the lodge. that woulda been better imo!

Overall, this was a great read. it was fun! for a long entry, staying comedic isn't easy. and it started to fall off near the last parts but a few good ones came through, such as one of my favourite of Nick throwing himself out of the car allegedly.

Part of me was a bit disappointed the Mexican standoff didn't have a more significance to it, it was just to cause distraction and whatnot. but you weren't going in a different that needed more significance I guess!

I'm proud!

2nd: >!u/Super-Shenron for "Left Behind"!< Score: 8.6/10

Okay, we got Gabe as your MC. for your massive size of balls, ill grant u a 10 point bonus headstart. But, also cause Gabe is the MC, you start with a negative 10. Hey, looks like we start where everyone did!

“Of course.” her smirk turned into a grin, “I didn't know anyone could point a gun at someone and still look like a huge dork.” damn 😂

“No, it was really scary. I thought you might shoot your own foot off.” 😂

whoa whoa whoa there, Shen, mentioning the theme in the contest? smhhhhh

“Definitely.” this is hilarious it's like he is a coward and he like ur def coming cuz realistically i aint gonna do shit vibe. 😂

As you challenged yourself, plenty of themes coming through. Fatherhood is naturally in there considering a father is relevant. Gabe is desperate to save him. From what I sense, the revenge part is predictable. Of course legacy was forced in there!!

Gabe probably sees himself as a burden, and wants to prove himself.

With revenge there can be a rebellion! Fighting against... evil! Rebellion can also be defiance and gabe proving himself not as a burden can tie as identity!

Gabe woke up and... the evil identity is revealed. Joan! hopefully Gabe has a thing to say about her cake.

"For a while, Gabe could barely breathe, let alone speak." Oh come on, now big boy. Don't start choking now!

“Think whatever you like.” Joan said. “But you can’t argue against the results: it all worked like a charm. Then you showed up and turned my people against me.” And there is the defiance and rebellion!

oh shit, is this deal of kill her or him, referencing my desperation entry at the end with Lilly?! but dang fr, this is sick!

So Clem gets info for AJ, or Gabe gets his dad... DECISIONS DECISIONS!!

Wow. What a crazy ending. There is a lot to say about it.

And perhaps you chose this direction to appeal to the reader (me). But the truth is, I'd actually have liked a lot more if Gabe suddenly fought back. to show that he CAN do what it takes to survive. to save HIS DAD as in the game he desperately tried to do. To add on against someone he liked too but, I guess that ain't him, huh?

That being said, there is still respect gained for Gabe with the direction you went. And I can't believe you made me respect Gabe, let alone like him. This is like Tillie making a good comic.

And this is one of the most shocking ending I've seen you do. it was wild. I still really like it! But as I went through earlier, I think it woulda been a lot more heavy and more action had Gabe fought back imo.

These kinda deals and stuff are awesome.

And having challenged yourself to such a challenge is not easy.

Reunited with the dad and the legacy of his trash game.

I had you neck and neck with Canis. I have given you the edge though! Perhaps for doing the impossible.

Champion: >!u/ChippersGhost for "Easy Win"!< Score: 9.5/10

My reactions before final words:

"Willy approached the table, placed his book down and looked everyone in the eyes before smiling. He rolled up their carefully laid plan and tossed it into the fire to help heat up the stew." surprised you did your boy Willy like that 😂

"Willy-" Ruby began with a dangerous tone of defiance that she better just go ahead and keep to her fucking self." 😂

"Your face is so ugly your hair is running away from it" 💀💀

"What was that Mitch?" Willy asked. "Nothing." "That's what I suspected." Willy" 😂

He put him in a headlock while placing his feet on his lap. 😂

ayyo neider caleb Dianite 😭

"wore it as a mask. "NeVeRmInD tHe DaRkNeSs!" the way I burst out laughing 🤣🤣

"Well, I guess the jig is up." 😂

yo that ending 😂

man murdered a million people then talks about life is precious and then Lilly dies to add to it. 😂

I don't think those references with Dianite and Caleb was necessary, but in comedy you can whatever, right? You remained consistent throughout the entry, out of the other comedies they lacked consistency but hey, not everyone is chipper, am i right? As the two time Comedy champion has declared you the winner in a comedy contest and a Legacy with everything else feature.

Chipper did not disappoint in the only thing he is good at, Comedy! You're probably lucky comedy was an option here, else I don't think it would have been an "easy win". Still, you come back and remind us who tf you are!!! Congrats!!!

Sorry for being late. We can exclude this from the contest for missing the deadline (Not that I expect to win.)
The theme is mostly comedy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60196546