City of IF

PopeAlessandrosXVIII · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 11:45 pm Post subject: June 2011 Spotlight Vote

The time has finally come for us to vote on who will be the next winner of IF's own Spotlight Competition! Winner gets a spot on the front page for a time, and their own forum! We have many good runners this time, so I wish you all best of luck!

City of IF Spotlight Competition
June, 2011

Line of Kavanagh – Andolyn

To Be A Knight – PopeAlssandrosXVIII

Escaping Eternia – misterbiz

Run. - Chinaren

Control – Tainted Biohazard

The following Blurbs have been submitted for your perusal. Please make sure you've at least read each one through before casting a vote.

Andolyn wrote:
“We have strict orders to bring you back alive,” he said in a gruff voice. The chuckle from the men following him made Andolyn nervous—all but one. A young man in the back of the group appeared reluctant to approach her. The leader continued softly—evilly, “but Prince Radan didn’t say anything else about the condition you were to be returned in…”

As the men advanced toward Andolyn, she pointed her bow uncertainly from one man to the next. Though she was an excellent marksman, Andolyn had never used her abilities to take a human life.
Suddenly, one of the men fell. What looked like a metal playing card stuck halfway out of the man’s upturned chest. Astonished, Andolyn turned at the same time that the Captain let out a cry of rage.

Gliding slowly into the clearing was a young man. Boots that came to his knees seemed to barely touch the ground, and his long, dark brown coat skimmed across the blades as he almost bounced through the tall grass. The morning sunlight danced around the crown of the young man’s golden hair, and a flicker of a mischievous smile graced his impish face. The bright blue-green of his eyes swam in a warm pool that Andolyn found very inviting. From one gloved hand to the other, he playfully tossed more of the deadly playing cards.

misterbiz wrote:
With frenzied hands I dug through the items in the box. Inside it there was a set of keys, a set of bloodied and tattered clothing, some makeup items, a bottle of pills and a picture. I grabbed the pills and the picture and removed them. I stared at the picture for a moment and a teared sprung to my eye almost instantly.

The picture was of a young girl who appeared to in her early teens. She had raven black hair that was braided into pigtails. She was wearing a white silk dress that came down to her knees and a pair of crimson high heels. Next to her was a young man who was about three years older. A young man with a head of slicked back black hair who was dressed in a pair of jeans and a leather vest. A younger me.

I looked from my emotionless smile to her bright and beaming one and let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry, Lizzie. I'm so sorry. At least you aren't here to see this," I said. Several more tears rolled from my eyes but I quickly wiped them away as I stood and slipped the picture into my back pocket.

Chinaren wrote:
“Don’t go.”

The voice came from the next stall, and had the twin effect of kick-starting Randy’s bowel evacuation and scaring him so much that he jerked to one side.

The double whammy meant that he missed the bowl and poo’d over half the floor.

“Shit!” he cried, both from the jump and from the resulting mess. It didn’t help that it took several more seconds to stop the flow, and thus he continued to spread things around even more. “Oh my god, fuck!” he wailed as he tried to make up his mind whether to run screaming from the toilet or try to stop the ongoing catastrophe.

Tainted Biohazard wrote:
I sit there for a moment wondering how to approach this girl, studying her in some sense of eerie curiosity. Something is wrong here… a lot more than just a startling experience crossing a road.

She does appear injured. Gouges in her flesh have slashed across her back, shoulders and arms. I must’ve touched a sensitive spot, I think, as I realize precious few inches of her bodice wouldn’t be. These injuries, however, they aren’t fresh. I must’ve just bumped her, tagged her a bit. Or she may have slapped the rear of my truck in passing. She didn’t appear struck by a vehicle. No.

This girl has been tortured!

The realization crawls up the nape of my neck. Who would do such a thing to such a young woman?

How old IS she? A teen? In her twenties? I was never good at making such determinations, as my therapist had chided me for on numerous occasions.

Glancing around into the fog, I wondered if someone might be chasing her. She couldn’t be in such a condition without someone being responsible. And that responsible party would certainly not be pleased to find her missing, I theorized. Feeling a growing sense of unease at the thought, I rose and returned to the truck, reaching into the cab to grab my weapon.

PopeAlessandrosXVIII wrote:
“Do not bring yourself down like that. Graceful or not, you still have your head.” His finger brushes softly against my cheek, “and that is all that matters to me.” I nod slowly, feeling a bit better. I turn a tear streaked face away, wiping it clean with my sleeve. The green fabric darkens with the moisture. He always knows what I need to hear. When I look back up at the Pahrah, the window in the sky, or in this case the ceiling, I find I can now smile back at my Master. “Care to visit today?” His high, childlike voice dances with amusement. He knows I never turn down a chance to be with him.

His smile widens as he watches me nod vigorously. Reaching once again through the Pahrah, his warm hand wraps softly but firmly around my middle. I hold the top of his thumb tight as I'm lifted off my feet. As I rise higher, I feel the tingle of the barrier. I squeeze him tighter as he brings me out of my world, and into his...

Feel free to vote at your earliest convenience, be please remember, this will not be open forever! So to each of you, sharp eyes, and god speed.

Thunderbird · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 8:28 am Post subject:

OMG, this vote is freaking impossible to decide! All so good!!!

Thunderbird · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:54 pm Post subject:

yep, as predicted, close as hell. I think I'll hold a kingmaker vote here just in case a tie break is necessary. All are so damned good!!!

Vikas Muralidharan · Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Posts: 600

A tie... expected, maybe?!

Tatkret Sos · Joined: 10 Nov 2009 Posts: 74 Location: UK

All really good! This is hard ;) OMG Chinaren LMAO

PopeAlessandrosXVIII · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:02 am Post subject: Voteing

Time to get in the last of those votes! Competition ends on the 15th! Vote Vote Vote!

PopeAlessandrosXVIII · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:27 am Post subject: Winner!

The final votes are in, and the winner of this Spotlight Competition is:

Spotlight Winner?
Line of Kavanagh - Andolyn
20% [ 3 ]
Escaping Eternia - misterbiz
26% [ 4 ]
Run - Chinaren
40% [ 6 ]
Control - Tainted Biohazard
13% [ 2 ]
To Be A Knight - PopeAlessandrosXVIII
0% [ 0 ]

Total Votes : 15
Who Voted: Andolyn, Chinaren, crazybookgal, Crunchyfrog, Emperor, misterbiz, PopeAlessandrosXVIII, Shillelagh, Smee, Tatkret Sos, Thunderbird, Tikanni Corazon, Vikas Muralidharan, Vishal Muralidharan, warriorofdoom

Run. by Chinaren! Let's hear it for Chinaren! *Applauds* Congratz!

Thunderbird · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:28 pm Post subject:

A respectable # of votes there! Well done Chinaren! You know what you need to send me now ;)

I'd like to take a moment to respect the rest of these fine tales. This has been one of the toughest Spotlight votes to decide on that I've seen in a very long time. Seriously, every one of the stories there deserves to win! We'll have another one soon though so don't give up hope!

Chinaren · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 2:52 pm Post subject:

Wow, thanks guys. I'd forgotten about this. Last time I looked Mr. B was winning.

It's all good though, I need more medals in my profile.

Thank you to all who voted for Run (which is going on for longer than I'd planned).

Congrats to all the others in this vote too, all excellent stories. I didn't expect to win this one.