I held off for late submissions, and other reasons. Here is the lone submission.

[edit] I just thought of a third option - adding it to the General Fiction Contest and posting those stories as there are almost enough for a nice contest.

Acceptance In The Shadows
by Wounded Ronin

The magician wore an olive green trenchcoat and a tall top hat. He walked with an elegance which could only be produced by a charged mixture of forbidden knowledge and power over that knowledge. He blended, smooth and mysterious, with the shadows of the greasy alley through which he strode and even the fluttering screamsheet papers seemed to defer to him as they blew out of his way.

A voice crackled in his earset. "Okay, rookie, the door's to your left. I'm covering you with my Ranger Arms; go for it."

The magician flattened against the damp alley wall gathering himself up like a puma preparing to strike. Almost too fast to see he pivoted, and rushed into the door.

The problem was that he never actually opened the steel door first even though it was unlocked and bore an ordinary doorknob. He slammed into the door at full force, generated a tremendous clanging noise, and left a small blood smear from his forehead on the door as he fell backwards, his coat billowing, and crashed dazed on the alley floor. All the fluttering scream sheets immediately landed on him and sprinkled alley dust in his eyes.

"Nice one, rookie," crackled the earpiece.

Before either the magician or his sardonic earpiece could react the door exploded open so forcefully that it slammed against the alley wall. Twelve orc gang members equipped with dual AK carbines who looked exactly identical to one another immediately formed a circle around the magician.

"I can't take the shot! There's too many of them, they'll return fire! I'm out of here!" yelled the earpiece.

"GEEK THE MAGE! GEEK THE MAGE!"

The mage began to cast manabolt, but the dust in his eyes made it too difficult for him to acquire a target. The cool melancholy blue of night vibrated with the sound of 24 Eastern Bloc magazines being emptied in unison.

***

The shapeshifter was a fox stealing through the rainy streets of Seattle. His fur was damp and trash stuck to it. Nevertheless his eyes held the hunger of the awakened and he made his way towards the Yakuza safehouse.

While he crossed the street an urban animal control van collided with him, breaking every bone in his body. He flew ten feet in the direction of the impact. As his body began to repair itself two animal control men with stun batons fell upon him and delievered merciless shock after merciless shock to his groin. The rain drenching his furry animal form made the electricity conduct even better and try as he might he couldn't stave off the effects of the repeated blows in the slightest.

He spent the rest of his life in a kennel with no possibility of escape.

***

"Look. We just really, really don't want you," said the asian boy with the round face and round glasses. His hair was coarse and short and looked like black straw upon his head. His small 7th grader's body was well-concealed by the threefold piece of cardboard leaning in front of him.

"Guuuys....there's no other Shadowrun group in the middle school. Don't kick me out," cried the tiny caucasian boy with tightly controlled dirty blond curls in his particular tone of voice. His hands rubbed back and forth on the grey sweatshirt designed for a kid nearly twice his size.

The other two boys present, one Jewish and one asian, both wearing baggy pants, tee shirts, and flannels, didn't say anything. They only looked at each other knowingly and wondered what asinine but undeniably entertaining torments their GM would inflict on the unwanted newcomer next.

something tells me there should a swordfish musterdball option in the pull... seeing s how atm the entry will come in second...


Then again, i don't really 'get' the story really... if it can be called that... though the individual pieces are somewhat entertaining they're not quite what i'd expect for an 'initiation linked story'...

It is a type of initiation, although it is one that tisoz didn't have in mind I reckon.

Give him the win for having the guts to send in the piece, but put his name to the piece so that we can hung the guts out to dry .

How can there be a second place in a one horse race? A single horse wins by default.

I once finished tops in 4H with a second place ribbon. I guess the judges did not think it deserved to win and go on to the next higher level of competition.

i voted for a win. the story is freaking hilarious.

although tossing this and the others into the general contest appeals to me. otherwise, the general contestants will never get read.

Agreed about the general contest. Perhaps it's time to just slap those up on DS since the last submission came like two months ago.

How many submissions do you have so far for the data-steal ... I might write up something but it would take me about 1-2 weeks... is that too far off?

I didn't start working on it before because my work is hit and miss and requires inspiration.

You should try the Drop Bear or Human vs Horror threads someday.

You cannot read either thread in 10 hours let alone 10 minutes.

I might consider doing one for Riggers POV. But deadlines and I dont see eye to eye (I miss deadlines like I miss ex girlfriends)

Well, I can see your frustration WR. I can also see tisoz's. He goes to the effort of picking topics, getting the contest going, accepting and collecting entries, and running the voting threads. You go to the effort of writing stories for the contests, and take the chance of putting them out there for the public critique that they're bound to get.

Both of you have valid reasons for your frustrations. I hope they get resolved. (Perhaps a preflame "PMs are your friend" is in order?)

As far as writing for the contests goes, tisoz, I think I could probably do some. However, my own knowledge of myself keeps me from doing things with deadlines most of the time. For cripes sake, I sent a mini out a month and a half ago, for the Reaper FALL '05 mini exchange! I try my damndest, but for some reason it always happens to me.

I've been extremely close to signing up for a couple of topics, but my desire not to dissappoint all involved usually keeps me out. Right now, I'm coming up on a move across an ocean. Maybe after I'm settled I'll start contributing.

WR, about the story. I have to admit, at first I wasn't a fan. At first read, it seemed choppy, far too short, and lacking in overall development. Then I got to the end, and felt left wanting. Where was the character development? Wait! Where were the characters?

Then I read the topic of the contest again. I was further confused! WTF?? Where was the quest? The oath? Where was the initiation??

Then...a dim bulb brightened. I reread the ending, and then reread the full story. Now, while I'm not able to say that it blew me out of the water, I do think it has a fun sense of style. I like that we see a couple of iterations of his character getting shat on by the "big bad mean GM". Ass for its length, it has the feel of a short snippet type story that you'd see in a magazine (which, if there were more stories in this contest, means it would have fit the bill perfectly).

Overall, once I read it without preconceptions, I enjoyed it. Definitely out of the range of what I expected in a story about "initiation", but it's neat.

Wounded Ronin, I am sorry for previously trying to comfort your feelings in the Night of Rage submission. I liked the winning story better and felt it was more to the point of the topic. This submission also has me wondering where the initiation is.

I guess my use of the word contest can be disputed from here to hell and back, as Synner has already done regarding the official SR sites fiction submission. In my mind, they are about the same, both looking for similar outcomes and both willing to reward the deserving. Where they have not shown all the efforts and have paid for only 1 story, I have displayed all the entries and paid out multiple [book] payments, even for work that was not up to my hopes or expectations.

I am truly sorry for growing tired of the dismal entries and Dumpshock in general. I said elsewhere, I felt like wrapping up these contests and fading away, and I was promptly told not to let the door hit me in the ass on the way out. Check my posts to see how much I've stayed around since.

PM's PM's PM's PM's PM's!

Seriously, doing this in open forums never comes to any good outcome.

Where's the option for, "I'm dumber for having read this story?"

That's my vote.

That matters because you have good things to say about everything, and a random, unhelpful criticism is completely out of character for you, as opposed to being part of the background noise.

You have convinced me, you win the contest. I'll PM you a list of books by tomorrow.

The forces of good triumph yet again. *pose*

Wow, if that ain't the pot calling the kettle black.

Dude, I thought it was the general consensus that I was criticized a LOT more than I myself criticized others. The only real criticizing I remember doing is biting back at the people who flame me and troll my campaign and character threads.

So it's more like the slightly-stained white coffee mug calling the kettle black, or the piece of coal you got for Christmas, or what have you.

Yes I can see why that would put you off. I sympathize but that's no reason to haul him over the coals.

Actually I'd recommend doing more than just skimming those other stories. They really are quite excellent. True, there is a small bit in the first story that again breaks the fourth wall (in a witty but ultimately ill-advised manner) but aside from that and some minor issues that would be cleaned up in any editorial process, I think they're amongst the best SR fiction I've read so far.

Think of it this way, tisoz: do you want to join with the warriors of light, or the grim hordes of darkness? Choose wisely.

Alright -- people probably aren't going to like this..

But this was a Shadowrun Fiction event.. Wounded Ronin's story, while interesting and daring, I'm not entirely sure counts.

It's a story about someone being punished by the GM for joing a Shadowrun group. It's a real person's initiation, where Shadowrun is actually more incidental. Not a piece of Shadowrun fiction.

To my mind, it's an interesting story, but it doesn't meet the implicit requirement being Shadowrun fiction. It's not even set entirely in the Shadowrun world -- that should have been a big hint. Wounded Ronin's other stories are entirely set in the Shadowrun world, and read as Shadowrun fiction -- if they had been in this position, there would have been no doubt that they should have "won". If they were in a competition with others, they very well may have won that. I won't say they will have, but they are well written, cohesive.

Yes, and I understand that. WR was, in a sense, exploiting a loophole in the rules, or rather breaking an unspoken rule. But given all the other entries of his, it's clear he wasn't trying to take the piss.

With hindsight I suppose it's evident that the better way to handle this would have been for tisoz to PM WR as soon as he submitted this story (but before any final vote on the contest) to explain politely that it wasn't appropriate for this contest and wouldn't be accepted as an entrant.

Still- hindsight is always 20-20 I guess.

It has already been decided, Wounded Ronin won. Last night I sent him a short list of books from which to choose.

Ultimately, it is my taste that will choose a winner, or in this case a loser. However, I do listen to feedback and let it influence me to a degree. I thought this submissin subpar and following on the heels of his last submisssion, which also looked like an exploitation of a loophole, looked to be setting a poor trend. If a player in a GMs game pulled similar stunts, I doubt the GM would be too tolerant.

But there are eveidently a few people other than WR and a couple close friends that enjoyed the story. Their votes and the civil discussion about the contest did influence me enough to award the story the win.

I just hope there is a bit more competition and a higher standard in the future.