# Heresy-Online's Expeditious Stories 13-04: Competition Voting Thread



## Boc (Mar 19, 2010)

​

This concludes Heresy-Online's Expeditious Stories Challenge 13-04! 

Congratulations to all of you who participated in this month's competition and making it a success! Thank you all as well, for helping to add colour to the already exceptional fanfic forum here on Heresy. Hopefully in the following months, we can continue to build up interest and maybe bring some more fresh blood to HO's fanfic forums.

Voting works as such:
Each reader (not just writers) can cast three votes, ranking them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Feel free to share your thoughts, comments, or brief reviews on the stories as well, since each of the writers worked hard to get their entries up.

Scoring works like this:
1st place: 3 pts
2nd place: 2 pts
3rd place: 1 pt

*When you vote, ensure that you vote in the following format:*
1st Place: Author, Name of Story, 3 pts
and so on.

Unfortunately, to prevent any possible dramas, you cannot vote for your own story. If you cast any votes, you have to cast all three, no picking a single story and nothing more.

Additionally, if you wrote a story, you must vote! As the competition grows, I think it is necessary to point this out. If you enter but do not vote, any votes for your story(ies) will not be counted.

By the end of the voting period, all votes will be tallied and a winner declared.

Once this winner is declared, the winning story will be placed into the Winning HOES thread which has been stickied in this forum. The winning writer will be awarded the Lexicanum's Crest (seen above!) forum award for fiction excellence during the quarterly Awards.

Just to emphasize again, _you do not need to have written a story to cast your votes!_ The more people that cast their votes, the better!

The deadline for voting will be midnight US Eastern Standard Time *Thursday, 02 May 2013*. At that time this thread will be completed, the winner declared, and the new HOES topic for Competition 13-05 will be posted.

Due to the change in the reputation system, the rewards for entering/winning have also changed:
Participation - 1 reputation point
3rd Place - 2 reputation points
2nd Place - 3 reputation points
1st Place - 4 reputation points

Here are the entries from HOES 13-04:

*Table of Contents*

Firemahlazer - Inter-Connected

Calistrasza - Survival of the Fittest

Sangus Bane - Catacombs

Farseer Ulthris - A Peculiar Debate

jonileth - To Please...

Romero's Own - From the Darkness

NoPoet - Flight of the Fireblade

Bloody Mary - In the Line of Duty

Liliedhe - Fuses

Andygorn - Closest Thoughts​


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## Liliedhe (Apr 29, 2012)

1) jonileth - To please... 3 pts
2) Bloody Mary - In the Line of Duty 2pts
3) andygorn - Closest Thoughts 1 pt


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## Bloody Mary (Nov 6, 2009)

1. Liliedhe - Fuses, 3pts
2. jonileth - To Please, 2pts
3. Romero's Own - From the Darkness, 1pt


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## Myen'Tal (Sep 4, 2009)

1) NoPoet - Flight of The Fireblade 3pts 
2) Calistrasza - Survival of The Fittest 2pts
3) Bloody Mary - In The Line of Duty 1pt 

There were other stories I wanted to vote for, but I managed to narrow it down after a while. This is some tough competition:grin:!


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## jonileth (Feb 1, 2012)

1. Liliedhe - Fuses- 3pts
2. Bloody Mary - In the Line of Duty- 2pts
3. Calistrasza - Survival of the Fittest- 1pt


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## Richter_DL (Aug 30, 2012)

Liliedhe - Fuses - 3 pt
Bloody Mary - In the Line of Duty - 2 pt
Jonileth - To Please - 1 pt


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## Sangus Bane (Jun 17, 2009)

Liliedhe said:


> 1) jonileth - To please... 3 pts
> 2) Bloody Mary - In the Line of Duty 2pts
> 3) andygorn - Closest Thoughts 1 pt


Couldn't agree more.

Jonileth, loved the story, even gave you some rep I believe...


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

*1st Place:* Liliedhe, Fuses, 3 pts
*2nd Place:* Calistrasza, Survival of the Fittest, 2 pts
*3rd Place:* NoPoet, Flight of the Fireblade, 1 pt


andygorn, *Closest Thoughts*: I found the repeated single line sentences a little broken. Also the effort he puts into keeping blade out of muck did not seem to match-up with him not cleaning the pommel at the first opportunity.

Bloody Mary, *In the Line of Duty*: A good concept; however it felt a little too narrative in places.

Calistrasza, *Survival of the Fittest*: A good mix of slower contemplation and fast action

Farseer Ulthris, *A Peculiar Debate*: Good banter. However Tzeentch felt too mundane.

Firemahlazer, *Inter-Connected*: It felt a little verbose in places: "...a trail that looked very similar to a rune known mainly as “Free Wind”...."

jonileth, *To Please...*: A good concept. The language seems a touch flabby in places; for example, "...with the razor sharp talons it possessed."

Liliedhe, *Fuses*: Good evocation of the small differences between SM chapters

NoPoet, *Flight of the Fireblade*: An engaging tale. However, the mix of classic 40K images and a different age needed a more explanation.

Romero's Own, *From the Darkness*: It felt more narrative than emotive, which seperated me from the battle

Sangus Bane, *Catacombs*: Some good personal detail. however it felt a little over-explained in places; for example, "‘’Marnix, Tessa.’’ His master addressed the servants."


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## Myen'Tal (Sep 4, 2009)

> Firemahlazer, Inter-Connected: It felt a little verbose in places: "...a trail that looked very similar to a rune known mainly as “Free Wind”...."


Thanks for the tip, will keep that in mind.


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## andygorn (Apr 1, 2011)

If any of my transcriptions seem unclear, I'm happy to try to help, but I might not have "the full picture" myself.

@ Dave T Hobbit: Will bear the sentences in mind. The thing with the blade was from the rules that Crowe cannot use the blade in combat...it just counts as a normal close combat weapon.
So the concept which came to me was that he would fall prey to the sword if he gets blood on the actual blade (a kind of "quenched in the blood of innocents/sacrifices/etc"), but it's okay to bash people's heads in with the blunt end, so it doesn't matter if that part is unclean as long as the cutting edges stayed dry.
Will have a go at re-writing this if any more images come to mind.

All of these were well written but, for me, the theme of "competition" didn't come through very strongly in all of the stories this month.

1st = Liliedhe ("Fuses") 3 points
2nd = Farseer Ulthris ("A Peculiar Debate") 2 points
3rd = NoPoet ("Flight of the Fireblade") 1 point


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## Boc (Mar 19, 2010)

Still missing some votes... leaving it open until Sunday, 5 May.


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## Liliedhe (Apr 29, 2012)

Hm, maybe it would help if you put a notice about voting into the story thread? Most authors will have that on watch and be notified if a new post is in there. They might not watch the Forum though and miss the voting thread.


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## Calistrasza (Mar 11, 2013)

Sorry guys, getting ready to wrap up my undergrad work and move all at once, good showing this month!

Liliedhe - Fuses(3 Points)
jonileth - To Please...(2 Points)
Bloody Mary - In The Line Of Duty(1 Point)


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## NoPoet (Apr 18, 2011)

Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback regarding my story, it was a major risk to foist a 20K story into a competition as 20K is not well-known at Heresy Online.

I would like to abstain from voting as my personal beliefs are that readers should vote, not the competitors, due to a proper shitstorm during another contest a few years ago. I like the quality of most of the stories. My personal favourite, aside from my own obviously lol, is the argument/debate between the Inquisitors. It is well-written, witty and manages to avoid turning the Inquisition into "a bunch of wallies", as Marneus Calgar once said.


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## Bloody Mary (Nov 6, 2009)

NoPoet said:


> Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback regarding my story, it was a major risk to foist a 20K story into a competition as 20K is not well-known at Heresy Online.
> 
> I would like to abstain from voting as my personal beliefs are that readers should vote, not the competitors, due to a proper shitstorm during another contest a few years ago. I like the quality of most of the stories. My personal favourite, aside from my own obviously lol, is the argument/debate between the Inquisitors. It is well-written, witty and manages to avoid turning the Inquisition into "a bunch of wallies", as Marneus Calgar once said.


I feel torn. On the one hand, I'm glad you liked my story best, but on the other... well, you just said you don't want to vote, so I won't be getting a vote.  Thanks anyway.

Besides, you'd be voting as a reader--since you have to read the stories--and not as an author. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Also, what's a "wally"?


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## Liliedhe (Apr 29, 2012)

Boc said:


> Unfortunately, to prevent any possible dramas, *you cannot vote for your own story*. If you cast any votes, you have to cast all three, no picking a single story and nothing more.
> 
> Additionally, *if you wrote a story, you must vote*! As the competition grows, I think it is necessary to point this out. If you enter but do not vote, any votes for your story(ies) will not be counted.


Just to quote the rules (emphasis mine). You aren't only allowed to vote, you are encouraged to do so, or your points won't count.


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## Boc (Mar 19, 2010)

Liliedhe said:


> Hm, maybe it would help if you put a notice about voting into the story thread? Most authors will have that on watch and be notified if a new post is in there. They might not watch the Forum though and miss the voting thread


Good call, done.



NoPoet said:


> I would like to abstain from voting as my personal beliefs are that readers should vote, not the competitors, due to a proper shitstorm during another contest a few years ago


There hasn't been any drama regarding the HOES competition, and it's currently in its 3rd year, so no shitstorms yet!



Bloody Mary said:


> Besides, you'd be voting as a reader--since you have to read the stories--and not as an author. The two aren't mutually exclusive.





Liliedhe said:


> Just to quote the rules (emphasis mine). You aren't only allowed to vote, you are encouraged to do so, or your points won't count.


Precisely, as you are not permitted to vote for your story, you are a reader  And Liliedhe's point is also quite valid haha


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Bloody Mary said:


> what's a "wally"?


East End London slang for either a foolish person or a pickled cucumber.

I suspect NoPoet meant cucumber as no one could accuse the Inquisition of being foolish.


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## Boc (Mar 19, 2010)

Okay then, votes are in, still missing 3 but it's been put off long enough:

*Third Place* - Bloody Mary's "In the Line of Duty" - 10 points

*Second Place* - Jonileth's "To Please..." - 11 points

And the winner, and still reigning heavyweight champion of... HOES... yeah...

*First Place* - Liliedhe's "Fuses" - 18 points

Thanks all for participating and expect the next competition thread posted shortly


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## Liliedhe (Apr 29, 2012)

Thanks to everyone for the votes.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Well done all.


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## NoPoet (Apr 18, 2011)

Whoops, I apparently failed to read the rules about authors having to vote. My apologies to the three authors who lost points because of me... so this is the *second* competition I've been involved in where author votes were an issue. 

As for the Inkies, Marneus Calgar did indeed call them a "bunch of wallies" ("wally" is old-fashioned and vaguely offensive Brit slang for fool) in the first ever Barmy Army story. 

Unfortunately there was an Inquisitor standing right next to him disguised as an Ultramarine, prompting Calgar's startled response "That's not a man, it's a woman, baby!" The Inquisitor passed immediate judgement by making Calgar her bitch, so he exploded her with a single punch.


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## andygorn (Apr 1, 2011)

Well done to the winners and thanks to everyone else too...very good stories!


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