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As all of you may (or may not) know Chuck Sonenburg and myself have agreed to enter a friendly little contest. We will both post a portion of an original story tomorrow at midnight on the ASVS Archive (neutral ground) People will be allowed to vote on these chapters soon thereafter, each week I believe, Chuck and I will post a new portion until we have posted three installments. Voting on the best story will be carried out throughout the process until the end, with the winner announced during the GSDA.

This thread has been opened by me in case anyone wants to make comments about each portion as they are posted. This includes Chuck's story as well so ALL comments (and criticisms) are welcomed.

So, tomorrow at midnight the first portion of each of our stories will be posted. Keep in mind that these stories will be original pieces of work, no ST, SW, B5, etc.

Let the comments begin:

You guys are weird.

Okay..... I think you could have gotten the same point across with one sentance.

Remember not to attribute your names to the stories: doing so may bias the contest.

Seriously, though, why are you guys doing this? You're both great writers, and I don't see a need to choose which one of you is better. It's like trying to decide between Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. I'd take either one of them on my team, any day. Trying to decide which one is a better player is just a waste of time.

Oh, well. It's your ego on the line.

Its a good natured contest, neither one of us is doing it to score points or claim bragging rights, MoO. We're doing this on a lark. I'm looking at it as a fun thing.

Stravo wrote:Its a good natured contest, neither one of us is doing it to score points or claim bragging rights, MoO. We're doing this on a lark. I'm looking at it as a fun thing.

Oh, okay, then. Carry on. Sorry, I kind of assumed it was for the bragging rights.

Master of Ossus wrote:

Stravo wrote:Its a good natured contest, neither one of us is doing it to score points or claim bragging rights, MoO. We're doing this on a lark. I'm looking at it as a fun thing.

Oh, okay, then. Carry on. Sorry, I kind of assumed it was for the bragging rights.

Think of it this way, the readers have everything to gain and nothing to lose from this and Chuck and I get to flex some writing muscle against a worthy opponent and do so without any rancor. In other words everyone's going to have fun.

This whole thing actually has its origin on SB. Some guy whose name I can't recall because he's unimportant thrashed Star Crossed simply because it was fanfic. He felt that original fiction like he writes is far superior to any fanfic out there. You see to me, writing fanfic or original fiction is like choosing between chalk and oil-based paint; both are simply a medium. Some things are useful to both, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages that must be considered when you decide the best way to create your art. Sometimes the tools you have in one form or superior to another. After all, how else would Tim Burton be able to get support for Batman: The Musical?

What's this?! My parent's are all dead!
What's this?! This mask goes on my head!
What's this?! I'm master of all sleuthing!
What's this?! The tights are oddly sooooo-thiiing!
Ohhhhhh, What - Is - This?!

So the basic idea of this was that Stravo and I already have a friendly competition going in the GSDA. The natural thought was "Well, why not have some fun and leave the medium and work in something else? And why not make it a friendly competition?" After all, it was in this same situation that I wrote Flesh & Metal, which I still am pretty happy I made. The fact that I lost the contest didn't take away from that in any way, and if that happens here it won't bother me either. In the end, the voting is for fun, just as if Stravo and I were playing one on one at the park. Keep score, but in the end, you're not doing it for the sake of the score.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my work on Lord of the Rings: The Musical.

Ahem. "How do you solve a problem like Mor-i-a?"

What's this?! My parent's are all dead!
What's this?! This mask goes on my head!
What's this?! I'm master of all sleuthing!
What's this?! The tights are oddly sooooo-thiiing!
Ohhhhhh, What - Is - This?!

That is the most fucking funny thing I have read in ages.

This whole thing actually has its origin on SB. Some guy whose name I can't recall because he's unimportant thrashed Star Crossed simply because it was fanfic.

I wasn't aware that they discussed Star Crossed over at SB. Hmmm...Interesting.

And Chuck is right this is more fun than anything else.

link to the works?

http://www.daltonator.net/fanfics/gsda/ ... st/jom.txt

http://www.daltonator.net/fanfics/gsda/ ... eavens.txt

Seeing as part 3 of both Fanfics are out, I thought maybe this thread could use a bump...

Comments on the Fanfics:
They are both great - and both completely different.

Concordance of the Heavens:
Fantasy & Sci-fi action mix.
A lot of action (in the 3rd chapter).
Politics & stuff - Slow pace in the first two chapters - starting to pick up.

Just One Man:
A detective story - but an unexpected twist - Humans are enslaved.
An unexpected revelation in the 3rd chapter.

Overall, this is quite a hard decision (which one is better).
But after some thinking, I've decided that my vote goes to Just One Man.
Why?
This is a Fanfic in a direction which I have never seen. Quite interesting to look at Humans through the eyes of an alien. And the solution to Kim's death was VERY surprising.

Who knows how it will be next time though (IIRC there are several votes, right?)? Seeing as how the pace of the Concordance of the Heavens seems to be increasing, it could still become the better of the two.
Better should be taken relatively though, because both Fanfics are truly excellent.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks D. Turtle, I appreciate the words. Unfortunately the stories end at the third installment but mine was kept open ended because it was an idea I've been toying with for some time as a larger story or book. So if people really like it I would probably conitnue the story and flesh it out a bit.

As to Chuck's tale, to be honest, I wrote mine in a vacuum, I did not read any of Chuck's installmenst so that I would not get influenced by them in anyway or I tried to craft my story to counter his. So now I get to actually sit down and read it in one sitting.

Anyway thanks again for your support as both Chuck and I worked hard to crank these out in a very short amount of time. I can tell you this, it's no fun writing under a deadline.

Only three parts?
Damn.

I hope they will be continued on in the future (sometime...)