#3 - The easy standout winner for the comp. I had absolutely no complaints with this piece and it was a masterclass in how to write romance and characterization and chemistry.
#2 - The second best entry. Luna was written well, the otherness of the culture was well portrayed. Some minor quibbles prevented it from being a contender vs #3, but it was still very solidly written.
#4 - Another Luna entry. This had a bit less culture, but being written in the style that it was helped mitigate this somewhat. Quite the charming piece.

 

Vote vote vote!

 

All day through the 30th for most time zones.

If you are actively reviewing/reading at midnight just post here so I know not to call it till you finish.

 

@Niez & @Agayek

I mentioned my 'idea' earlier about the foreign magical region I was brainstorming and a few of you expressed interest in hearing what it was.

Well, I didn't write it. It never came together in terms of plot. But just for reference, here's more or less what I was working with.

== == == ==

Starting paragraph in italics - it's an excerpt from Hogwarts: A History that sets up the fact that this is an AU by explaining details around the Triwizard Tournament that don't match canon. Specifically that it is a competition between teams of three wizards from many schools.

Story starts with Bagman/someone explaining the current task as Harry waits to draw an item from a bag that someone is walking around the Champion area. This task will last up to a week in real time, with clues being optionally provided on Days 3 and 6 for a point penalty. Harry draws a Buddha and walks over to Ron and Hermione (his team).

The first part of the task is to locate the owner of the item. This requires that each team (1) identify the correct magical country their item is from, (2) get there via whatever transport they choose, (3) go to the Wizarding 'capital' area for that country, which for England would be London and either Diagon or the Ministry, and (4) ask people there who the items belongs to in order to proceed. Wizards will be waiting on the competitors to appear in any logical places and ready to provide them with further clues from there.

In terms of my version of Wizarding Tibet I browsed Wikipedia reading articles and running through rabbit holes and finally caught on Langdarma and the events surrounding the region at the time. Basically (from wiki) he was the last King of the Tibetan Empire, which then fell into decline after his assassination by a Buddhist Monk and lead to something called the "Era of Fragmentation."

I can't find all of my notes now, but I had written down that either one of this guy's two sons was a Wizard OR his assassin was a Wizard. And then I had it sorted out where one of the 'fragments' of this empire basically kept going as it was and led to Wizarding Tibet, which split off from all the muggle areas back around 900 AD (well before the Statute of Secrecy was in effect in other areas).

They maintain a monastic tradition (all genders) and interact with the Muggle region differently from other areas of the Globe, since they separated from the Muggles centuries before other regions. Muggleborn children are typically identified early and, while they may still visit their parents/families, mostly go to live at the Wizarding monasteries from a young age. The parents keep in touch regularly, even being allowed to visit them there, and having a child that is able to attend these secretive monasteries is a net positive for the family. Most people know that these places exist and are special, with associated mystical rumors that are widely believed, but details (magic is real) are not widespread.

And there was a lot more. I had scratched out notes on Tibetan Wizarding culture in a Word doc that didn't end up getting saved despite the nifty auto-save feature.

== == == ==

I never got around to coming up with an actual plot, just the premise (with Harry and the Tournament, outlined above) and the setting (which was fairly well fleshed out before I lost that information).

Will go review soon!

 

1st - #2
2nd - #3
3rd - #5

I was torn on these rankings. NOTHING was clear cut for me in terms of which story should be where, though I did feel that 2 & 3 were a cut above. I felt that 1, 4, and 5 all tied for second after those two tied for first.

Entries 2 & 3 I felt used the prompt about equally well and had a similar quality of writing. But I enjoyed 2 more both because I was biased in favor of hiking / outdoors / Luna and because I am a bit biased against Romance, however fun Andromeda / Ted was to read.

Of the other three... I think Entry 1 handled the prompt the best, Entry 4 felt the most magical, and Entry 5 had the best pacing. I picked pacing, as I never found myself struggling not to skim for #5 and to me that is vitally important.

Also interesting to note is how close some of these ran up on the 5k word limit. Didn't pass it, but damn if y'all didn't toe the line (yes, I checked).

 

3: A charming romance that I enjoyed getting invested in. Clear winner for me.

2: Both 2+5 had similar strengths and weaknesses in my opinion. Strong thematic elements but a lack of clear structure which left the storyline unfocused. Particularly at the end. Ultimately 3 had culture as more of a central theme so it won out for me.

5: A good premise and some decent writing I enjoyed reading it. It didn't really include the prompt in a central way but neither did the other two options.

 

Don’t think I didn’t read your review for #5, Niez.

 

Midnight my time is in half an hour - but it'll be a few hours before I tally. Will do it when I wake up in the morning, so take a bit more time if needed.

But yeah, technically? TIME BITCHES. If you're not done yet then get there.

Thanks all! Great run.

 

Congratulations to Entry #3 - Violent Delights!
Well done as well to Entry #2 - The Luna Lovegood Guide to Making Babies!
​

I'll edit the first post to reflect the winners, PM the authors to see if they want credit, and in a few hours try to have the next poll up (I have a lunch obligation first).

But for anyone curious - Q4 Part II will be a Flash competition through January, when we'll go back to our regularly scheduled competition format for Q1!

The story threads will stay open for a bit so people can get last minute commentary in, but expect them to close in a week or so.

 

Editing to add...
@FitzDizzyspells8
...was the winner!

The runner-up has chosen to remain anonymous, but may later post their story on AO3 if anyone cares to snoop.