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Title : Oh, you mean you DON'T have an Elephabulous? Shame. Posts : 13368 Join date : 2011-09-15 Age : 36 Location : NE Texas
 |  Subject: GC's 5th Anniversary ~ Masquerade Writing Contest!  4th July 2016, 9:32 am | |
| It's time for a Masquerade-inspired Writing Contest! This friendly competition is open to everyone to join and also counts as a Writing and Roleplaying Guild Sanctioned Contest in that participants can claim a Participant sticker from the guild to display in their signature! BUT LET'S GET TO THE MEAT OF IT! - Rules and Information:
Rules
- There is a word count limit of 1000 words or less!
- Max PG-13 rating (this is a must for any and all Galaxy Cauldron Writing activities)
- Entries must adhere to the Theme of this contest! You may interpret the theme however you like, but random writing bits submitted that have nothing to do with the prompt will not be included in the voting round!
- Entries must be newly created for the Contest! No recycling please~ (no matter how nicely something you've already written fits!)
- Entries must be kept secret until the results of the contest is announced -Sanctioned Writing Contests are blind - the authors identities are kept secret until the voting period is over and a winner is decided. We believe this helps to even the playing field and avoids favoritism as no one would know the identity of the author.
- There are two categories available in this contest! Beginners (those who consider themselves apprentices or newer to writing) and Advanced (those who have been around this block before XD) Please submit an entry for one category only!
Procedures
- The contest starts TODAY!
- Once you have finished crafting your story, Send it to me in a PM! Please title your PM like so:
Masquerade Writing Contest - Beginner
or
Masquerade Writing Contest - Advanced
- I will be accepting entries until July 24th!
- On July 25, the Voting Rounds begin!
The Theme of this GC 5th Anniversary Masquerade Writing Theme is....The Unknown - Entry One wrote:
She looked for him in all of Juuban first, in all the obvious places.
His apartment, now empty, looking as if it had never been lived in. The Arcade, no longer frequented by a strange guy who seemed completely uninterested in games yet was inexplicably hanging out around junior high school girls. His friends, or should she say friend, who had no idea where he’d gone. His university, who seemed to have never heard of him.
Then she began widening her search to the entire Tokyo city. Maybe he’d simply moved his residence. Maybe to another ward. Maybe he’d gone to another school.
But as time passed, as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, her search still turned up nothing. She’d occasionally think she’d found him; a glimpse of jet black hair here, a pair of blue eyes there, but they all turned out to belong to strangers.
It was hard to keep her spirit up after nearly a year.
“Are you sure you can’t locate him with your computer, Ami-chan?” she asked for the umpteenth time one afternoon, ten months into the search.
Her friend just smiled apologetically and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Usagi-chan. You know I try every day.”
She knew. She didn’t have to look at Rei to know that the priestess was pressing her lips in disapproval as well over her own failure to see anything in the sacred flames.
They were all doing everything they could.
“There is still one way to save the world, but it will cost you a great sacrifice.”
The voice of the Guardian of the Cauldron did not seem to come from her small figure, but rather echoing all around in that endless void.
“What is it?” she asked desperately, very aware of the destruction that continued to rage on throughout the galaxy. “What do I have to do? I will give everything. All of me, to save the world.”
“Not you,” the Guardian answered with a sad smile, her expression sympathetic. “Him.”
“What?” she turned to look at the direction the Guardian indicated, where her other half stood, holding her hand firmly. The one who had been with her every step of the way, up to this eleventh hour of the end of the world. She trembled with this new possibility, trying to deny what the Guardian might mean. She could give up anything. She had given up almost everything. What else did the universe expect from her?
“Do not worry, I did not mean his life,” the Guardian clarified, giving her temporary relief. “I mean his memory. Specifically, the most precious to you; the memory of your love.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came. The shock was too much to warrant a response.
“He will not remember you and everything you’ve been through together. That is my price.”
She looked at him, still unable to find the right words to say. Her lips trembled in an attempt not to break down and cry. He went to her, wrapped her in his strong arms and comforting embrace.
“It’s going to be okay. I’m willing to do this, if that’s what it takes to save the world.”
“But…”
“I don’t ever get to do too much for you and for the world. If you’ll allow it, I would like this chance to be useful to everyone.”
She opened her mouth but could not deny his request.
“Find me again. I have faith in you. And if I don’t remember you, then I’ll just have to fall in love with you again, as I have always done.”
Tears were falling from her eyes, but she bravely nodded, even as everything in her seemed to have crumpled in anguish.
“I believe in you, Sailor Moon,” he tilted her chin gently so that she would look up at him. “Do you believe in me? Do you believe that we’ll find each other again?”
She forced herself to not look away from him. “Yes,” she answered with all her heart.
The deal was struck, and the world was bathed in white.
It was not until two years later that she found herself in a hospital room with Rei and her grandfather—who’d been having trouble breathing earlier—while they waited for the doctor.
“Just how long has this been going on exactly?” Rei was demanding.
“It’s nothing to worry about! That’s why I didn’t tell you, because I know you’d overreact!”
“Overreact?! You might be dying!”
“And you just proved my point!”
The door swung open, and a tall doctor in a white coat stepped inside, breaking the argument between grandfather and granddaughter. Usagi was fussing with the bed and trying to get Grandpa to stay on it that she didn’t even notice the doctor until he spoke.
“Good afternoon, what seems to be the problem?”
She froze.
Quite literally, she could not make herself turn, for every muscle in her body had betrayed her. The room had gone instantly quiet, and she could feel Rei’s body stilling beside her, equally tense.
She didn’t have to look at him to recognize his voice.
Finally, ever so slowly, she turned, torn between wanting to keep this dream and fearing to have it shattered yet again by another illusion.
But as her eyes landed on him, it was not a dream or an illusion this time.
It was him.
Her hands trembled, and she clasped them together as he looked in concern at her, his eyes devoid of any familiarity.
“Are you alright, Miss? I thought the gentleman was the one who’s sick, but…”
And then as if a switch was flipped, she regained her brain function. “Yes! He is! Please examine him immediately,” she quickly stepped aside to allow him access.
Rei glanced at her, then launched into an explanation of what happened, while he conducted the examination.
Usagi waited at the corner of the room, staring at him, unable to look away for fear that he might vanish.
Half an hour later, it was concluded that Grandpa needed a lot of rest and some medications, and they’d see if his condition improved from there. If not, further tests might be required.
“Don’t worry, you can call me anytime if you want to ask questions or if something else happens. Here’s my name card,” the doctor offered a plain white card to Rei, and Usagi couldn’t help but peek just to make sure.
Dr. Mamoru Chiba.
She felt her knees weakening and had to grab the bed to steady herself.
“Miss? You really look like you’re not okay. Do you want me to examine you, too?” his blue-eyed gaze landed on her.
“No, I just…” Her stomach chose that very important moment to growl, and she winced. “I… haven’t had lunch, I guess.”
Which was true. The commotion with grandpa had happened right before lunch.
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Well, how about I walk you to the cafeteria on my way out? Doctor’s orders.”
She glanced at Rei and her grandfather, who all but glared at her to go.
“R-right. Thank you,” she nodded, and he opened the door for them.
“By the way,” he asked as he stepped out. “What are those buns on your head?”
“They’re not buns,” she said automatically, “That’s a hairstyle.”
The familiar exchange sent a tingle throughout her body.
“Right,” he chuckled, and looked at her again. “I don’t believe I’ve got your name.”
“It’s… Usagi,” she said softly. “Usagi Tsukino.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Mamoru Chiba,” he offered his hand to her.
She looked down on it, and hesitantly reached forward to put hers in his.
And in that moment, after two long and painful years of waiting, it finally felt like the stars were finally aligning correctly again. - Entry Two wrote:
Ami hated the unknown. Any factor that she couldn’t predict was terrifying to her. Yes, she knew that life wasn’t an algorithm that could be predetermined, but she liked having as much information as possible. Especially when it pertained to her personal life.
She was holed up in her room, sitting at her desk with her reading glasses perched on the bridge of her nose as she tapped away at her handheld computer. Off to the side was a plate of perfectly cut and assembled sandwiches, wrapped in plastic so neatly that it somehow failed to crush the food in any way. It was so professional looking that no one would guess that it wasn’t from a convenience store.
Ami was still emotionally recovering from when Makoto had dropped it off at her door. She knew that Mako had told her it hadn’t taken that long to make, but there was so much effort clearly put into the platter. People didn’t waste part of their day to make their friend’s food that could have been picked up at a store just because, right? But then again, Makoto would be that one exception to a norm. She was just that nice. And it was really starting to confuse Ami in all sorts of new ways.
They’d know each other for years now, but her brain had decided that Ami’s college years were the perfect time to stumble over a crush on someone she was close to. Not some guy in her university class, not even a celebrity, but Mako. And so every time they were near each other over the recent months, Ami felt even more awkward and out of place. Every interaction was picked apart in her head and analyzed in a new light. What used to be platonic between them was scrutinized to the nth degree, and Ami could barely look her in the eyes when Mako had shown up at her door this morning to drop off the food.
“You always forget to eat something when you’re studying,” she had said, a knowing smile on her face. “And I’m not about to let you survive on soup cans again.” Ami had mumbled a thank you and tried not to sink into the floor of her own apartment as she stared at their shoes.
She was a little jealous of Mako, actually. She seemed oblivious of Ami’s dilemma, judging by her unchanging behavior. She probably didn’t even think of her as a possible romance option, but…. Ami didn’t know that for sure. And that unknown factor was what drove her into trying to code the impossible.
She was going to invent the first crush-identifying radar. If anyone found out about this, especially Minako, she’d never hear the end of it, but Ami refused to keep second guessing everything if there was another option.
After a solid five hours of researching what factors she needed to account for to sense a “crush”, such as raised body temperature, hormonal fluctuations, increased brain activity, and subtle behavior shifts, Ami combined the multiple scanning functions into a single incorporated program.
She sat back in her chair with a sigh and took her glasses off, rubbing her eyes. It had been mentally exhausting, but the prototype was complete. Now she just needed to test it out. And what better person to use as a guinea pig than herself?
Heart pounding, Ami turned the supercomputer so the sensor faced her, and then ran the program. If it all went off without a hitch, it should run a full body scan on her, and then compare the readings to her in a prerecorded “neutral” state to determine whether she was experiencing a change in an emotional state. The screen blinked a few times, and then nothing. For once, Ami’s supercomputer showed only a blank screen, and that was probably the scariest result of all.
Maybe… maybe it was silly of her to try in the first place. Ami shut the computer and sank a bit lower in her seat, deep in thought. She should know better than to try and quantify emotions as numbers. People were too complex to be read so easily. If she wanted objective truth, Ami would have to do what all scientists did when testing a hypothesis: actually collect data herself. Makoto would probably appreciate her being straightforward anyway.
The thought of confessing anything anytime soon made her want to lock herself in her room for another week, so maybe it could wait until after these exams were over… Ami carefully removed a sandwich from the platter and smiled slightly. She was sure Makoto could be patient with her for a little longer. - Entry Three wrote:
Author's Note: This entry is based off of 90s anime canon.
He couldn’t go on like this.
Not knowing, not understanding, not feeling. Every day, he found himself in a situation that he couldn’t even remember getting himself into, and it was the most frustrating feeling he had ever experienced. All he wanted was to take off the mask. All he wanted was the truth.
But instead, he was stuck here, in this endless existence of the unknown.
He had just risked his life to save a girl he didn’t know, just like he did every other day. In fact, he had dangled from an elevator chute for several minutes with her on his arm. He couldn’t be human, he had decided. No human could run the way he did, jump as high as he did, or hold an entire other human being while dangling from a wall with one hand like he did.
And no other human being could pull roses from their pocket, he guessed.
So what was he? Who was he? For some reason, it was like he blacked out after he had finished saving her, and woke up again on his way to save her on a different day. Everything in between was just…unknown.
He had never felt more desperate to have knowledge. He was a fully grown man running around the streets of Tokyo wearing a tuxedo and a mask, saving a short-skirted soldier who had a knack for almost dying every night, and he had no idea who he really was. The suspense, the desire to pull his mask of was agonizing. So many times, he had tried to take it off, but for some reason, his hands wouldn’t move. It was like his body worked against him, purposely antagonizing him.
There had been several occasions where he had considered asking that sailor senshi to take it off for him, but his tongue seemed to twist itself before he could.
So he was stuck like this. Not knowing anything but his duty.
But what was his duty, anyway? All he knew was he needed to protect that girl. There was something about her that he knew was worth saving, so saving her wasn’t against his will, even though he didn’t have much choice anyway. There was a connection he felt with her that he couldn’t just ignore. It was why he had kissed her, and why he would often let his arms linger around her a little longer than they should have. Her exuberance, her enthusiasm, and her willingness to risk her life to save the people of this world amazed him. And he would never be able to get over how beautiful she was.
Why he felt this way over a complete stranger was a mystery to him. It was creepy for him to feel this way about that Sailor Moon, he knew, but he couldn’t change anything. He would go on saving her, and she would go on not knowing a thing.
Sometimes he wondered if she knew more about him than he did.
It was impossible for a human to live this way - constantly in a loop, never waking up, never falling asleep, always doing the same thing and feeling the same way. It was unhealthy, he knew, but he had no clue how to stop it.
When would relief come? When would he be able to remove the mask and see the color of his eyes? When could he take off the suit and exist like a normal person, with a name and a personality and a job and a home? When would he be able to make friends, to get married, to start a life for himself outside of saving people?
When would he escape this realm of the the constant, empty unknown? - Entry Four wrote:
- It has been three years since Chaos' defeat at the Galaxy Cauldron. Peace has returned to the Earth and everybody was living a happy life. Because her training was complete, Chibiusa returned to the 30th Century and nobody has seen her since. But today was a special day, as Chibiusa was allowed to return to the Past to see all her friends and plans on visiting the Outer Senshi’s household.
Everybody was really excited to see Chibiusa once more, but Hotaru was the most excited of them all. Even though she hasn’t seen her in years, her first real friend was and will always be the most important to her. From the day Chibiusa told them that she’d come visit onwards, she could neither talk nor think of something else. And now the day that they will meet again has finally been reached.
It was 12 PM, 3 hours before Chibiusa wants to drop by. Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna were sitting in the living room and enjoying a cup of hot tea together. “Boy, Hotaru has been talking of nothing else, since Chibiusa said that she wants to visit us, and now she oversleeps?”, Haruka sighed. “I bet she couldn’t sleep because she was just too excited.”, answered a giggling Michiru. “Well I guess I should wake our little girl up, before she misses Chibiusa”, stated Haruka, before she put down her cup and stood up.
She left the living room and went through the corridor to Hotaru’s room. As she opened the door, she saw a still sleeping Hotaru and smiled. Seeing her wrapped up in her purple sheets and sleeping peacefully made Haruka really happy. “It is almost a shame to wake her up.”, she thought to herself before shouting. “Hotaru wake up quickly!” Hotaru slowly opened her eyes and responded with a sleepy “Huuuh?” “Chibiusa is waiting in the living room. Get up already!”
After hearing that, Hotaru wasn’t sleepy anymore and jumped out of her bed immediately. “Oh my gosh, why didn’t you wake me earlier?” After that she sprinted to the living room, where she only found the confused Michiru and Setsuna. “Where is Chibiusa?”, Hotaru asked full of anticipation. Haruka catched up to her and winked at Michiru and Setsuna. Hotaru was visibly confused now and finally managed to look at the clock. She turned around to Haruka and looked at her angrily. “Haruka-Papa how could you tease me like that?”, she complained as the others began laughing. “I’m sorry my dear, I just couldn’t resist.”, Haruka apologized before hugging the sulked Hotaru and giving her a kiss on the forehead. “But I think you should dress up now.” Hotaru looked down at herself. She was still wearing her light green sleeping dress. “You are right.”, she replied and went to her room. “But never tease me like that again!”, she shouted through the closed living room door.
Haruka sat down again. “How can you tease our poor Hotaru like that?”, said Setsuna while shaking her head. “But you laughed as well!”, pardoned Haruka. Setsuna blushed. “Well I have to admit that it was funny, but regardless!” “Well at least she is fully awake now.”, Michiru commented.
Michiru put down her now empty cup and stood up. “We still have some things to do until Chibiusa arrives. Can you do the shopping, Haruka? I have prepared a list and put it on the counter in the kitchen.”, she asked Haruka while taking her hands and gazing her deep in the eyes. “How could I ever say no if you ask me like that?” She drank the rest of her now mildly warm tea before going into the kitchen and picking up the list. After that she said goodbye to Michiru and Setsuna before leaving.
Michiru picked up the empty cups. “There are still some things to do in here as well”, Setsuna stated while looking around. “You should calm down, Setsuna”, Michiru tried to sooth her, “You are just as excited as Hotaru.” Setsuna looked at Michiru for a few seconds before answering: “I just can’t hide such things from you. But I really want that everything is perfect before Small Lady visits. It is really something special that she comes to visit us” “It is, Setsuna, but I think you are exaggerating a little bit. Everything is fine! Come have another cup of tea with me and Hotaru when she is finished. It will help you relax.” Setsuna takes a deep breath. “I guess you are right. Thank you, Michiru.”
The rest of the time passed by rather quickly and the Outer Senshi were sitting together in the living room while waiting for Chibiusa. As the doorbell rang, the four were looking at each other. “It is her!”, Hotaru screamed before storming to the front door. She opened the door and jumped at a surprised Chibiusa before hugging her. Her eyes were filled with tears of joy. “I have missed you so much Chibiusa!” The young Moon Princess was now crying as well. “I have missed you too Hotaru, and I’m just so happy to be here.” “Looks like you grew quite a lot.”, stated a smiling Haruka, who was standing together with Setsuna and Michiru in the doorframe. Setsuna could not hold back her tears either, as she saw the two joyful girls. “Small Lady..: you have become a beautiful young girl. Soon I won’t be able to call you Small Lady anymore.” “Puu..”, the crying Chibiusa now ran to her old friend, “I am so happy to see you!” Haruka coughed. “I hope you don’t forget Michiru and me.” Michiru pushed her elbow into Haruka’s hips. “Geez Haruka.” Everybody started laughing. Then Chibiusa smiled at Haruka and Michiru before hugging them. “I have missed you both too, of course.”
“Shall we go inside, now?”, Haruka stated after the happy see again. Chibiusa nodded, before the five of them went inside to celebrate Chibiusa’s return.
Last edited by Sailor Uranus on 28th July 2016, 5:13 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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