Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry December 24, 2012 - 11:48am
With You
3% (1 vote)
Gone in a Flash
7% (2 votes)
The Third Wave
0% (0 votes)
Servitude
0% (0 votes)
Sheer Sparkly Lip Gloss
7% (2 votes)
Mocha Joe
3% (1 vote)
Modern Beasts
7% (2 votes)
Petty Noir
3% (1 vote)
Lady-Girl
7% (2 votes)
Behind Every Great Man
0% (0 votes)
Good Tyrant
0% (0 votes)
Dinner's on the Table
3% (1 vote)
Question
0% (0 votes)
This City is not Noah's Ark
17% (5 votes)
Golden Handcuffs
3% (1 vote)
Dreaming Dreamless Dreams
0% (0 votes)
Me Time
3% (1 vote)
Think-Big Advertising
3% (1 vote)
Pussy
0% (0 votes)
The Mount of the Sun
0% (0 votes)
The Culling
7% (2 votes)
Wake Up Smell
0% (0 votes)
Pale Red Rose
3% (1 vote)
Maybe Nancy Astor Got It Wrong
7% (2 votes)
Fatty Faterson and the Saga of the Exploding Belt Buckle
3% (1 vote)
Health Food at the Strip Mall
0% (0 votes)
The Champ
0% (0 votes)
Le Petite Mort
0% (0 votes)
A Man Like Jim Tanner
13% (4 votes)
Saving Face
0% (0 votes)
Total votes: 30

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry December 24, 2012 - 11:49am

Sorry I've been remiss posting this poll.  Enjoy!

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore December 25, 2012 - 9:18am

I'm not in The Pit (yet), so I can talk about this. Some good stuff in here, especially given the limitations. I marked four stories as being exceptional: Good Tyrant, Jim Tanner, With You, and ultimately chose Modern Beasts as my favorite.

We continue to be a fickle bunch, as I only voted for the favorite about half the time. Sometimes I'll choose because of the prose, but I find myself leaning on concept and execution more these days, especially when it comes to flash.

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. December 25, 2012 - 11:22am

With every round so far there have been three or four that really caught my eye. The flashing was no different, some really good ones here.

Unlike Gordon though, I am a pit dog so I cannot talk more.

Well done, folks! I can say that. Rock on!

bryanhowie's picture
bryanhowie from FW, ID is reading East of Eden. Steinbeck is FUCKING AMAZING. December 25, 2012 - 12:02pm

I'm always surprised when the one I picked isn't the one that everyone picked.  

Matt Attack's picture
Matt Attack from Richmond, Va. is reading As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner December 25, 2012 - 5:16pm

I voted for "Me Time." I felt so bad for her. I wondered how often that happened. 

Meredith_103's picture
Meredith_103 December 25, 2012 - 5:22pm

That was my story, Matt. Thanks for the sympathy vote.

Matt Attack's picture
Matt Attack from Richmond, Va. is reading As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner December 25, 2012 - 5:24pm

Not a sympathy vote at all. I really really liked it. Very real, very moving. 

Meredith_103's picture
Meredith_103 December 25, 2012 - 5:28pm

Thanks. You just made my day. :-)

Matt's picture
Matt from New Zealand is reading This is how you lose her by Junot Diaz December 25, 2012 - 5:41pm

Noah's Ark got my vote. Nice work, Wickedvoodoo. Loved it.

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. December 25, 2012 - 5:49pm

Cheers to the people that voted for me here. You made my day :-)

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. December 25, 2012 - 5:51pm

I voted Jim Tanner. That one just had... something that clicked for me. I liked Fatty Faterson a lot too.

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. December 25, 2012 - 5:51pm

I voted Jim Tanner. That one just had... something that clicked for me. I liked Fatty Faterson a lot too.

Wonder Woman's picture
Wonder Woman from RI is reading 20th Century Ghosts December 25, 2012 - 5:58pm

Noah's Ark was a standout for me, too, as was With You. Mocha Joe and Saving Face made me laugh heartily, but I ended up voting for Gone In A Flash. Really struck me emotionally and I thought about it long after reading it. Loved the style, too! Nicely done, Michael!

WV, I liked Fatty, too! Reminded me off all the hell of high school and I loved the ending.

Carly Berg's picture
Carly Berg from USA is reading Story Prompts That Work by Carly Berg is now available at Amazon December 25, 2012 - 6:03pm

Please excuse my dumbness. Can people who did not participate vote? If so, when is the cut-off and where are the stories?

Dino Parenti's picture
Dino Parenti from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands On December 25, 2012 - 6:03pm

With You got my BAS vote. So wonderfully subtle for a flash piece. Found more gold with each read. Beautiful work, Emma. I'd better have all guns blazing against you in Round 4!

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. December 25, 2012 - 6:05pm

I think Dinner's on the Table needs a shout too. That one rounds out my top three. Jim Tanner, Fatty, and Dinner. Great stuff.

I was quite surprised to see such a strong support for my story, as to me it doesn't quite feel finished. Almost, but it has flaws and needs work. I was pleased with the amount of potential I was feeling though, and I will definitely finish this one up.

Renfield's picture
Renfield from Hell is reading 20th Century Ghosts December 25, 2012 - 7:03pm

I think my top three where the Noah's Ark one, TheCulling, and the Lip Gloss one. There were a lot of real good ones, a lot of ones that stuck with me for the good of them or for bad, but I think those are my top matchsups. It's hard for me to remember my exact rating of them but I think ultimately I liked the sharp sparkly Lip Gloss story the best. The Pussy/Mount Sims matchup I liked a lot and the With You/Game of Flash ones I also quite liked a lot. Oh, Servitude I also thought could have made my favorites and that Champ one and the Petite Mort one it was up against if they there had a little bit more to say. Overall a pretty standup fuckin job don't ya think.

Carly Berg's picture
Carly Berg from USA is reading Story Prompts That Work by Carly Berg is now available at Amazon December 25, 2012 - 8:08pm

Please excuse my dumbness. Can people who did not participate vote? If so, when is the cut-off and where are the stories? 

?

Jonathan Riley's picture
Jonathan Riley from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland December 25, 2012 - 8:16pm

Well Carly, You are too late for these stories. The polls closed today. If you would like to read and vote there are some matches currently going on. Look at the threads Labled (Un)Official Presents, WarII Round three

Matches 16-23. You can vote on the individial matches and after that your favorite for the week.

Also if you look up in the stick threads at the top of the  community page, there is a WAR thread and that is where they always list the dates and times that the stories will be posted if you want to follow with the rest of the WAR. as the tournament progresses there are fewer stories to read each round. Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas

drea's picture
drea from Rural Alberta, Canada is reading between the lines December 25, 2012 - 8:32pm

Hey, Meredith! I'm out with one sympathy vote for my story, too. Loved your piece this round. 

Whomever the secret admirer who voted for Maybe Nancy Astor Got it Wrong for the BAS poll is, thank you very much. 

Carly Berg's picture
Carly Berg from USA is reading Story Prompts That Work by Carly Berg is now available at Amazon December 25, 2012 - 8:33pm

Thanks, Jonathan. :)

OtisTheBulldog's picture
OtisTheBulldog from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz December 25, 2012 - 8:34pm

I thought this round was pretty strong given the circumstances. Some of you are really, really good at flash. My BAS vote went to The Culling and I blamed Emma for writing it. Congrats, Richard. I really loved that one. Very well crafted.

Emma C's picture
Class Facilitator
Emma C from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah Dawson December 25, 2012 - 9:10pm

No Memory Bank in BAS? That was my favourite this week. My BAS went to Jim Tanner, but there were a lot of great ones.

Gordon, Dino, WW: glad you enjoyed With You. And Dino, extra thanks for helping me make it even better!

Jonathan Riley's picture
Jonathan Riley from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland December 25, 2012 - 9:27pm

I loved Memory Bank too and it may have gotten my vote as well if it had been up there.

I have to look at the list of titles and jot down my other favorites. I'll post them sometime later.

Courtney's picture
Courtney from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooks December 25, 2012 - 10:30pm

Thanks, Renfield. I still don't know why people liked that story. I thought it was shit. I've had so much going on these past few weeks, I thought it would be nice to write something depressing that wasn't my life for a change.

Emma C's picture
Class Facilitator
Emma C from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah Dawson December 25, 2012 - 11:01pm

Otis, thanks for mistaking Richard's work for mine. I'm not remotely angry.

Dino Parenti's picture
Dino Parenti from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands On December 25, 2012 - 11:19pm

Thanks whoever you two are for your votes for Lady-girl.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry December 26, 2012 - 6:22am

And thank you, single voter for Petty Noir!  I want to hug you.  And I'm not wearing any pants.

Renfield's picture
Renfield from Hell is reading 20th Century Ghosts December 26, 2012 - 7:19am

Petty Noir is a good play on words. Unless you really did mean "Petit." No, I'm not gonna launch into another tirade on French spelling. Did you ever read that article in Rolling Stone a couple years ago when Tom Petty had a new record and he was talking about he's got a whole dvd library devoted to noir films or something? Anyway, digression.

I've had this title, Rebar Noir, laying around for a long time with no story to it. Or I think it once had a story, but it was stupid. Noir is hard to write.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry December 26, 2012 - 8:21am

I liked that title because, while it is a noirish story, it doesn't have the high stakes that real noir has.  It really is just kinda petty.  Sort of a lark.

bryanhowie's picture
bryanhowie from FW, ID is reading East of Eden. Steinbeck is FUCKING AMAZING. December 26, 2012 - 8:44am

I voted for Petty Noir.  Loved that story.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry December 26, 2012 - 8:45am

Thank you, Mr. Howie.  Your check's in the mail.

voodoo_em's picture
voodoo_em from England is reading All the books by Ira Levin December 27, 2012 - 3:10am

I voted for Golden Handcuffs ~ awesome story :)

Bill Tucker's picture
Bill Tucker from Austin, Texas is reading Grimm's Fairy Tales (1st Edition) December 27, 2012 - 7:07am

Thanks to those who enjoyed Fatty, especially the kind soul who gave it a vote.  I thought I was going to loose that battle with cove because a) she wrote a very cool story and b) I broke my number one rule of Flash and tried to tackle a large subject with a limited word space.  That story could be an easy 3 / 4,000 words and it feels thin when I read it.  Still, I'm glad people connected with it as it was a blast to write.

As for my fav, I picked This City is not Noah's Ark.  The writer created a vivid world and set a perfect tone with the limitations.  Jim Tanner was a very close second as it followed all of my rules of Flash and the result was spot on.  And I have five stories that are tied for third.

Awesome round!

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. December 27, 2012 - 8:39am

Cheers Bill :-)

I have a feeling, well I know it really from Flash Me, that you and I have a similar set of rules for writing flash. Means a lot to get the praise from you. I have plans to rework This City is not Noah's Ark slightly, probably take it out of flash territory, but it will remain short, less than 2k words for sure.

Bill Tucker's picture
Bill Tucker from Austin, Texas is reading Grimm's Fairy Tales (1st Edition) December 27, 2012 - 9:11am

@wicked This City works really well in short form, so I agree, keep it concise.  The short form raises a ton of questions that don't need to be answered while still giving you a nice arc to follow.  Really well done.  I love the character of Fatty, so I want to explore more about him.  How he found his confidence, the terror the rest of his school days held for him, etc. 

Thanks again for the props, wicked!

TomMartinArt's picture
TomMartinArt from Amherst, MA December 28, 2012 - 6:51am

I keep monitoring the votes and they're not changing. Did this close when I wasn't looking? It seems votes can still happen.

Jonathan Riley's picture
Jonathan Riley from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland December 28, 2012 - 7:11am

@Tom Technically the BAS closes when the stories close. They may have forgot to inactivate it but the winner was decided on Christmas as far as I understand. If any new votes come in just disregard them.

voodoo_em's picture
voodoo_em from England is reading All the books by Ira Levin December 28, 2012 - 9:18am

^ although to be fair it was posted xmas eve and closed xmas day ~ talk about a small window. And yeah I missed it so I voted when I next logged on. Just for the record I voted BEFORE I checked who had written what.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry December 28, 2012 - 10:42am

I set this poll for a week because we put it up late.  You can still vote until New Year's Eve.