1. Entry 11
2. Entry 4
3. Entry 7

Slow and steady but at least I finally finished reviewing. I felt #11 was fantastic especially for the entrancing plot and #4 was a charming romance, and #7 had some good worldbuilding.

I really liked that all of these concepts were unique and all of them had some good sides to them basically. It's nice to see such a big turnout this time and I hope we can keep it up with the next.

Thanks to everyone who wrote for this.

 

#1 Entry #4
#2 Entry #7
#3 Entry #3


Entry 7 is what I want to see continued the most, though #5 is a runner up to that particular desire. I could see both running for quite a while.

Entry 4 was my favorite on rereading for several reasons, but one of the primary ones is that it connected with me and made me think about things in my past that haven't always made me smile. But right now I'm smiling. Was it overboard and might I have changed some things? Sure. Was it charming and whimsical and as sweet as the topic? Also yes.

Runner up is Entry #9 for the plot bunny that it spawned and made me giggle about.

Actual runner up for the story is Entry #11.

This is the first time I've reviewed like this. I'm not nearly as in-depth as many, and I mainly go by the feel of things rather than the technical side.

 

1. Entry #4

2. Entry #11

3. Entry #5

So 4 and 11 were clearly the top dogs for me. I think when ranking them, it came down to the head space I'm in. I preferred the fluffy, humorous slice of life romance to the story that took an introspective look on a natural Occlumens. Both stories were excellent, though, and those are the only two I can say that I didn't have the urge to start skimming. Very readable, and in the case of 4 very funny, and in the case of 11 very interesting exploration of a branch of magic and the main character's though processes.

Now for the third spot, it was kind of tricky. 4 and 11 had endings that, while I might not think were perfect, I feel that they at least provided some payoff and emotional release. For the rest of the stories (at least the ones that I think weren't rolls) I never found a satisfying conclusion. So when deciding upon the third spot it's almost like I'm judging which prologue of a larger story is best--which story sets up a world I'd like to see continue.

Under that criteria it came down to 7 and 5. 7 did an excellent job establishing the AU in a quick and efficient manner, but as the story moved on it just seemed to lose steam. With 5, it was the opposite. I didn't find the opening very strong, but as the fic comes into its own and gets into some of the magical research I really started digging it. That's why five gets the bump, I think, because it may have started on shakier ground but towards the end I really wanted it to continue.

 

So the top two stories are very easy to identify, but much harder to rank among themselves. Third place is well-removed from those two in my estimation, but I think it probably has the best bones of all the remaining stories.

1. Entry 11 - Kudos, well done.
2. Entry 4 - If I'm honest, I enjoyed this the most. I do think 11 was probably executed a shade more skillfully though.
3. Entry 3 - As I said, concept, reasonable length, and decent fundamentals saw this through. Plenty of room to improve, though!

Doing this in 8 hours was a mistake, and it is now 5 AM. I'm going to bed. Thanks for writing, folks.

 

You make me sad.

 

Congratulations to the (well-deserved) winner and runner-up.

And thank you to everyone who wrote, read, and reviewed.