# Anthrofiction Network's Writing Contest for Spring 2011 and Beyond



## ScottyDM (Jan 12, 2011)

*Anthrofiction Networkâ€™s Short Story Contest,
Overarching Theme for 2011*​
I thought it might be fun to have interlocking themes for the short story contest this year. If one plans ahead one may create a single story in four stand-alone parts.

What this means is I will announce the themes for all four quarters in spring, so you can plan ahead and even write rough drafts ahead. Because of the added planning necessary for interlocking stories, I will add time to the spring quarter, before judging starts. Then take a little time away from each of the following quarters (because you should have at least thought of what youâ€™ll be writing).

Present rules allow the entry of up to two stories each quarter, and Iâ€™ve got an idea on how to allow you to use that to link not four stories, but as many as eight, over the coming year. However, all stories must be stand alone stories, not a part 1 and part 2. Iâ€™ll create some guidelines on how to successfully accomplish that.

So at the end of the year an author could take his or her four (or eight) part story, edit the whole to add some transition scenes, and end up with a single story.

Iâ€™m still working on the wording for the theme and guidelines, and I may need a tweak to the rules for 2011 too. I hope to have these tasks done by this coming weekend.

S~


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## Shouden (Jan 13, 2011)

So, to be clear, for 2011 the stories have to be interconnected?


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## Reiter (Jan 13, 2011)

Sounds exciting! Looking forward to this; I missed the Fall deadline by a few weeks, and I was too busy during winter to write something down. Interlocking stories should pose a tough challenge.


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## ScottyDM (Jan 13, 2011)

They do not have to be, because that's impossible to judge if they were until we read the last installment. However I do encourage it, and the preplanning possible during this quarter will make writing later installments easier.

The themes create an interlocking story arc. It will be possible, and okay, to skip steps (quarters) if an author wants to work on a longish story in parts for the contest. And with two entries allowed per quarter it's also cool if an author wants one entry as part of the arc and a second as a stand-alone story.

I'll see if I can't get something posted by tomorrow morning. The structure of the themes is such it leaves a lot of wiggle room for creativity.

S~


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## Shouden (Jan 13, 2011)

Okay. Just checking.


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## Altamont (Jan 13, 2011)

Ooh  This sounds exciting  Maybe this quarter I can finally get off my lazy butt and get to entering  Interconnecting themes...that's right up my alley! I can't wait :3


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## Shouden (Jan 14, 2011)

Same here. Since all of my writing recently has been a series of stories, shouldn't be too hard to do another.


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## Fere (Jan 18, 2011)

Now this is definitely a wonderful idea  I'm loving the Spring theme as a starter for the year. Certainly something I can sink my teeth into. It's giving me the chance to expand on lesser characters in my larger projects, and giving them evolution in my own canid universe. No one will get left out, and I'm loving it.

Great stuff.


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## Altamont (Jan 18, 2011)

Hm...looking at these themes, it seems this story would be perfect for a reconfiguring of my still in the works Haven idea...let me ask, do you want the notion of war/conflict to be literal or can it be more abstract? For instance, the president being shot and the whole country being sent into turmoil vs a more local incident, perhaps, confined to a city?


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## ScottyDM (Jan 19, 2011)

I probably should officially announce what the themes for 2011 are.

The overarching theme is Foreign Affairs, which has four parts:

A Foreign Affair: the inciting incident that gets the story moving. (spring)
Diplomacy: the first attempt to patch things up. (summer)
Physical Conflict: when diplomacy fails countries often go to war. (fall)
Peace at Last: or the calm after the storm. (winter)
Here's a PDF of the whole writeup for the year. You can also find the link on the home page, and it'll be on the theme page for each quarter this year.

First, _you do not have to create a four-part story_ to enter the contest this year. At a minimum follow the theme for that quarter.

Second, since there's no way to know if a story is part of a story arc until winter 2011, there will be no extra points or anything if you do create an overarching story arc. However, I suppose I should have two first places come winter: one for the best story and one for the best story arc. I'm open to suggestions on how to do this, but my thought is a reevaluation of storytelling goodness, plus overall enjoyability.

Third, since two stories per quarter are allowed, it's possible to make both part of your story arc for that quarter. The _wrong way_ to do this is to write a single chapter over 3500 words, arbitrarily split it in two, and label it "part 1" and "part 2". The _right way_ to do this is to split your part into two chapters. Chapters have a beginning, middle, and end--and the end will contain both some sort of resolution to some events, and a hook to propel the reader forward into the next chapter.

Fourth, I've pushed back the entry deadline by three weeks for spring, and I've tightened up the entry deadlines by one week each for summer, fall, and winter (so winter judging takes place during the normal time).

Fifth, have fun writing!

S~


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## ScottyDM (Jan 19, 2011)

Altamont said:


> ...let me ask, do you want the notion of war/conflict to be literal or can it be more abstract? For instance, the president being shot and the whole country being sent into turmoil vs a more local incident, perhaps, confined to a city?


Wow. Partly that depends on what you do for spring. If your inciting incident is some small act of physical violence, such as the assassination of a single man (for example the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria), then you're going to pretty much have to escalate the physical conflict part (for example World War I). It's kinda relative.

On the other hand if you want to skip a quarter with your story arc (probably skipping summer or fall would work best) you may.

Maybe a single assassination isn't quite enough, but if I like it I'll allow it. However my experience has been that if some readers are confused by your interpretation of the theme, you'll get scores all over the place. And no one with scores all over the place, even if only in a single category, has ever won.

S~

PS: There's a sci-fi con in the Springs this weekend called COSine. The whole thing is focused on literary fantasy/sci-fi and there are writer's tracks. Only $45 for the weekend. I think I might go.


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## Altamont (Jan 19, 2011)

ScottyDM said:


> PS: There's a sci-fi con in the Springs this weekend called COSine. The whole thing is focused on literary fantasy/sci-fi and there are writer's tracks. Only $45 for the weekend. I think I might go.



Argh! That sounds so great! I'd go if I wasn't literally dead broke...stupid college textbooks costing stupid hundreds of dollars...I think the only con I'll be able to afford this year is NDK.


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## ShÃ nwÃ ng (Jan 19, 2011)

I should really participate in this considering I'd like to take a Charles Dickens like approach to a broader story (world) I'm attempting to create. But I'm fairly confident my laziness/video game playing/attempt at establishing a life will interfere with my ability to produce anything worthy of contributing to these contests.


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## ScottyDM (Jan 20, 2011)

Altamont said:


> Argh! That sounds so great! I'd go if I wasn't literally dead broke...stupid college textbooks costing stupid hundreds of dollars...I think the only con I'll be able to afford this year is NDK.


I hear ya. I've got to restart my own college career... this week.

I got a BSEE in '89, after working for years as a tech in Silicon Valley (got a AASET in '74). Had a terrific chip design job here in Colorado, then got laid off mid 2002, but because of the dot-com bust and post 911 jobs were scarce. In fact in 2003 a recruiter told me, "We want someone who's fresh." Fresh? What does that mean? Well, it's been almost 8 years and I've either been unemployed or underemployed. I'm sick of piddly jobs with 1/10th the pay and 1/100 the satisfaction of chip design. I love high-tech, no matter what it pays, and want back in. I need to refresh myself.

Thought about getting an MSEE degree, but EE jobs are not as plentiful in the Springs as CS jobs. However I'm missing too much of the right kind of undergrad work to jump straight into an MSCS. Talked to the local uni _today_ and we think a good plan is to transfer as many undergrad credits as possible and go for a BSCS with a plan to continue with the masters, but shoot for a real job as my BS graduation approaches (and let my employer pay for much of my MS work). But the uni also has a BICS, which is a Bachelors of Innovation degree. Give up some stuff like geology to concentrate more on stuff like business, but all the CS courses are the same. I don't want to retire, and I need to make up for the wasted years, so I figure I'll keep going until I'm 75.

Anyway, given the late date I'm probably not going to get enrolled this week at the uni. The admissions dude at the uni suggested some courses I could take this semester at the local jr. college (which is much closer and much cheaper). So I may pop out in half an hour or so and see admissions there.


Back to the con: I too am very poor, but I've got a little money I could cut loose this week. At the con I might try an experiment in selling little booklets of some of my shorts... if they have a commissions table in the dealer room. I'm thinking $0.10 per booklet. The writing track theme is how to make a name for yourself as an author.

S~


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## Altamont (Jan 21, 2011)

I think I've figured this out; this'll be a good way to revive my Haven idea, with a much more realistic time limit than NaNoWriMo. I'll just have to re-work a couple of stories to fit in with the quarterly prompts


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## Shouden (Jan 23, 2011)

This will let me work out an abridged version of my 2nd Guardian Angels novel. I might not enter until the second quarter 'cause I'd be pretty much starting in the middle of the conflict, but maybe I could enter this this one. We'll see.


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## Altamont (Feb 24, 2011)

Okay, so here's my question:

In the rules you used foreign in the literal sense, as in seperate cultures/nations, but I was wondering if the foreign nature of the story could be more abstract, like groups within the same area or something along those lines.

For example, one could observe a person of another gender, race, and see them to be foreign to their perspective. Would that count?


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## ScottyDM (Feb 24, 2011)

Interesting question.

I was thinking along the lines of some resource (such as the diplomatic corps of governments) being able to attempt to negotiate their way out of the "foreign affair". Then follow that with the ability to have some sort of physical conflict, such as a war. But war is kind of a fluid word in today's world. E.g. the "war on drugs" or the "war on terror".

That's why I suggest such things as city-states, tribes, and other non-traditional forms of government. If you want to attempt a story about the Jets and the Sharks, then go for it. However you may end up with some readers giving you both a good score for creativity and a poor score for theme.

S~


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## Altamont (Feb 24, 2011)

Hm...I think I might risk it  This'll be interesting....


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## ScottyDM (Feb 25, 2011)

The entry deadline for this first quarter is March 28th--pushed back 3 weeks to allow for planning a multipart story.

I'd been kicking around an idea for a sample story series. I've got several other current writing projects and I've started back to college full time, but still, I'm intrigued by this idea. Unfortunately, it wants to be done with humans.

Altamont, your idea of physically overlapping peoples is interesting. Perhaps if I did a sort of "Jacob" versus "Edward" thing, the idea might work--or are Jacob and Edward a touch too fruity for an anthrofiction contest. I mean shape-shifters can be a sort of human-plus, so they are sorta the same species, at least if both are in human form. My inciting incident requires the same species.

OMG! I just thought of something. Shape-shifters, but not Western, and indigenous to a pair of countries who have been less than allies for centuries. These shape-shifters are animal by nature and the same species in either country, and they have a whole society in their animal form, but can shift into human disguise to influence _us_. You see, part of my problem was how to end the war. I wanted to use one of the characters from the inciting incident--it was all just a big misunderstanding. But if I went that route then would a country really back down in the middle of a war and say, "Oops, my bad. Never mind." Of course not. But what if the shape-shifters got the humans to do their dirty work? Fight the war for them. The shape-shifters get the humans to stop, and the humans are confused, but it's not like we'd have much choice if they controlled _us_. You know, sort of like how the Death Eaters want to influence muddle politics.

Hmm. Okay, so it's nothing like your idea.

I think I'm going to jump right in to doing an outline tonight.

S~


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## dietrc70 (Feb 25, 2011)

Scotty,

This theme sounds intriguing, but I'm concerned about the PG-13 rating, and your rule against depicting violence in scene.  Could you give a more detailed description of the criteria for violence?  I understand avoiding gore and gratuitous imagery, but I don't see how I can write a credible story about volatile foreign relations and war without the main characters witnessing or experiencing violence.


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## ScottyDM (Feb 26, 2011)

Excellent question. The relevant contest rule says: 





> No more than the equivalent of a PG-13 rating, please. Your story may explore the themes of sex, violence, or drug use, but keep depictions of these activities out of scene. For example, you may write a story of a rape victim who is putting her life back together, but you may not depict a rape scene. And please watch your language.



In many ways writing a battle scene or a fight scene, is much like writing a love scene. It's an incredibly emotional experience for the participants, _and a good writer must lead the reader into experiencing many of those same emotions._ Also such a scene is filled with squicky bits. Depending on the genre, the publisher, or the contest, squicky bits may either be embraced or avoided. But in either case the focus _should_ be on getting the reader to experience the same emotions the POV character feels. (Maybe not for porn though. Porn is not about emotion, but a physiological reaction.)

For the reader (of most genres) it is _all_ about emotion. If the reader doesn't feel it, then they are wasting their time with that story.

There are several techniques you can use to avoid the squicky bits.

For a battle scene put us at the general's elbow and give us the distant view. The sight of smoke and of burning vehicles, the smell of gunpowder and of sweat, and the sound of gunfire and of the men. Have him reflect upon the loss, and the wives and girlfriends waiting at home.
Or for the battle scene put us inside the head of a raw recruit who is right in the middle of things. His terror and confusion as he experiences all the same aspects the general did, but up close. And perhaps after the scene he can look for, but not find his childhood buddy, who served in the same unit.
You could avoid the battle scene and give us contrasting scenes before and after: The mud, the uncertainty, the ill-fitting boots, maybe a complaint about foot fungus, and the endless waiting. And after, the missing men, the sleeplessness, perhaps a missing supply truck and their dwindling food supply, and the stupidity of worrying about foot fungus when so much more is at stake.
For an experienced warrior you could give us his coping by his emotional disconnect in battle. He cuts down his enemy, but they are distant and faceless. Then after he wonders who they were, did they have families and people who loved them?
The real key to writing fiction is the emotional connection.


For fall 2010 I wrote a sample story. I felt it was interesting for two reasons. First, it was a conversion from a non-anthro story (I've had to reject a few entries in the past because they weren't anthrofiction). Second, it was right up against the limits of the PG-13 rule.

In my middle scene the Big Bad rapes a young girl, waits for the full moon and his transformation into a wolf, and finally he tears open her abdomen and plucks out her still beating heart before he eats her.

Sample stories don't get many ballots or comments. Since they cannot win, and I do not publish any scores they might have earned, most readers don't bother. But one commenter said this: 





> The descriptions of the attack are spot-on. Theyâ€™re not gory. Theyâ€™re simply just enough to let you know something vicious is occurring and will end in a very gruesome way. This method of holding-back is very effective and makes sure the reader does not get bogged down in unnecessary details once they realize the inevitability of the situation.



And that's one possible technique: Show the reader the inevitability of the situation. Yes, tonight really is the night and the lovers will consummate their relationship (and the emotion associated with that anticipation), then cut away. Or that yes, the enemy really will die this time and there's no possible escape (and the emotion associated with the anticipation of victory), and then cut away.

I leave my sample stories up past the three month limit, so that rape/transformation/murder scene is still available. Here's the link if you wish to read it.

I know this micro publisher named David and he said to me, "Scott, I'm doing a horror anthology later this year. Do you have anything?" So I gave him that story.

He avoided me for a few weeks, and finally he spoke to a mutual friend (another author). He expressed concern to her about my story. She told him I could take whatever he had to say, so he shouldn't avoid me. He then showed up to one of our meetings and told me he couldn't use my story, but didn't say why. I figured it was the anthropomorphic aspect (he doesn't publish anthrofiction). Our mutual friend later told me he was disturbed by the seeming pedophilia and that my story was too horrible. 

Go figure.

Well, can't argue with an acquisitions editor if he doesn't want your story.


Anyway, IMO the sort of story treatment I used in the middle scene does (just barely) meet the PG-13 rule.

S~


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## Altamont (Mar 26, 2011)

Man O man, I hope I can get this story polished and ready come Monday; I'll be so disappointed if I miss yet _another_ contest deadline.

On the bright-side, it has been absolutely wonderful to have been writing again


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## Altamont (Mar 28, 2011)

HA! Success!


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## ScottyDM (Mar 30, 2011)

Yesterday the story entry deadline came, and then it went. Despite the interest, only three managed an entry before the deadline. And all came within the last day. Two of those entries are from the Fur Affinity community.

Does anyone else care?
Could you not think of a story?
Or was my deadline too long and you just plain forgot about it?


I've e-mailed the three authors, but I'll open it up for discussion:

I'm considering reopening the entry for another week (from the original deadline), or maybe as long as three weeks. I'll make my decision Thursday night my time, which works out to about 5:00 am UTC on Friday.

If you had an extra six days from now (or maybe longer) could you finish your story and enter it in time? Have you even started?


Manager of the writing contest,
Scott Miller (ScottyDM)


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## M. LeRenard (Mar 30, 2011)

Only three, huh?  Big step down from last time.  I wonder if it doesn't have to do with the fact that it's near the end of the school year, or something along those lines.  Or maybe the theme is too complicated?  I don't know.


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## Fere (Mar 30, 2011)

Bit disappointing nonetheless :-(

I hope it all still goes ahead. The interconnecting, year-spanning themes are an excellent idea.


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## ScottyDM (Mar 31, 2011)

Spring break ended for me this past weekend, so it's not really the end of the school year.

*The 64,000 dollar question is: Will anyone else bother to enter if I keep the entry period open?*

Since it's a multi-period theme, will others stay away from the contest because they failed to enter this quarter?

S~


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## Shouden (Mar 31, 2011)

I've been busy with a couple of series and looking for a job, so I won't be entering for a while. Maybe I'll do some later this year or next.


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## Reiter (Mar 31, 2011)

I've been trying to write a story for this but it never comes out the way I want it to. I'll keep working on it, but I don't have high hopes that it will be presentable by the time the new deadline rolls around.


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## Sadgeo (Apr 1, 2011)

I was interested in participating this season's contest, but I couldn't think anything.  I suppose I could always try harder.  One thing is for sure:  If I can come up with an idea, I will definitely try to enter.


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## M. LeRenard (Apr 1, 2011)

Well, I've kind of banned myself from this contest because I kept winning, and I wanted to step aside and let someone else take the spotlight.  I suppose if participation really drops off, though, I can start writing for it again.  Maybe.  I am starting grad school in August.
For this one, though, I don't think I'd be able to get anything in on time, unless it was crap.  But you don't want crap, and no one wants to read crap.


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## ScottyDM (Apr 2, 2011)

Awesome feedback. The sort of comments I was looking for. I take it that no one who originally wanted to enter got far enough with his or her story to be able to finish it within the next few days.

The contest is now open for judging.

S~


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## shmoo (Apr 5, 2011)

Aww, I just recently discovered this whole forum and stuff.  Perhaps I'll enter during the Summer slot or something?  I'm generally good at coming up with original ideas and such.  I just had an idea of a story I could write, about FA being taken off the net due to some issue or something xD Would be fun to write from different points of view.  Too late now...  And I have important tests soon -_-'


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## Altamont (Apr 8, 2011)

So if the entries for this quarter decide to carry on their stories throughout the rest of the year in a linked series, will there be a separate criteria in the last judging session for how well the stories work together as a whole?


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## ScottyDM (Apr 26, 2011)

*HUGE NEWS FLASH*

There's been a forced change in server configuration this weekend and I'm not sure if anyone outside my LAN can see the website or make changes to the database. Could someone kindly go to the contest site and see if it displays. If it does display then could you try to leave a ballot for a story, then reload the ballot and see if the system stored it. Or at least leave a ballot and tell me you did (I can look to see if anything was stored).

Thanks a million!

BTW, deadline is the 28th.

S~


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## M. LeRenard (Apr 26, 2011)

Augghh... crap, I forgot to read these.  Guess I'll go do that right now.
By the way: the contest site displays just fine.  I'll do one of the stories now and see if the ballot gets stored.

Edit: Okay.  Entered my score for the first story.  It seems to have saved everything, but you might take a look yourself just to make sure of it.


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## ScottyDM (Apr 26, 2011)

It worked! Thank goodness. And thanks for your help.

FYI, it's possible to reload and modify a ballot once it's been submitted. I keep a copy of the old in the database, but marked as "replaced". Also, once anyone starts to fill in a ballot it's important to use the buttons at the bottom of the page to check then submit the ballot. In the past one or two were lost because the reader forgot to click the submit button. There's a temp file left behind with the comments text, but no scores. I'm unable to reconstruct what the reader wanted from that temp file.


Altamont, that's what I was thinking.

S~


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## Altamont (Apr 27, 2011)

Just to clarify, authors who have entered the contest do not submit ballot for the other stories, yes?


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## M. LeRenard (Apr 27, 2011)

Not correct, if I remember correctly.  You should judge every story, including your own (if you think you can be objective about it).


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## Shouden (Apr 27, 2011)

I know when I enter I usually try to read and judge everyone's but mine, 'cause I would be too tempted to give it a perfect score. But, the past couple of times, I've forgotten to read the other stories.


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## Altamont (Apr 27, 2011)

Well alrighty then! I'll git to judging.


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## ScottyDM (Apr 30, 2011)

*DONE
DONE*

And congratulations to Fere's story *Felicific Calculus*, which won with a score of *3.83*.

Nadan Ryan's story *Sanctum* earned a score of *3.63*.

Altamont's story *One Word* earned a score of *3.27*.

An interesting bit of history: Nadan is the fellow who originally created the contest back in 2005.

And a special thanks to Le Renard and Nosnibor.

S~


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