With that, the contest is over. In the end it was tough, as I had a few factors to take into account. The first was who followed the actual prompt, taking a virtue of Bushido, and applying it in a radical way. The second was the story and the development therein. Characters were given, and many were talked of. Hell I even know I didn't develop some characters properly, but it all adds up. Length doesn't equate an auto win, but it helps reaching a happy medium, as it gives you time to grow the characters selected while keeping the readers attention.
So with that here is the winner and runner up. After a bit of discussion with Christoph I have the following points to a lot, 4 points for first place, and 2 for second place.
In first place, and receiving 4 Fate Points, is Twin Death.
It took me awhile to wrap my head around which one his embodied, which made me truly confused. Duty seemed to be the prevalent theme, but I feel that if you look deeper you find the true Virtue embodied. I don't even think the author realized it, but in this case it was Yu, or courage. It was rather outside the box, it is one thing to have your duty thrust upon you, quite another to choose it.
Now for second place, we had quite a few entries into this, even a few from non ToL contestants. In the end I gave this one to Mikeavelli. He will receive my final two fate points.
Mikeavelli's piece is rather odd at the start. A lot happens and you're left to make a few assumptions. This is part of the beauty of the thread. He was given much to think about and in the end, we come to grips with the fact that these guys are truly and totally hosed. In the end, you come to appreciate what was done, as you realize that even Hopper wasn't omniscient.
In the end compassion for your enemy, was the punchline. It was totally on story merit for this one.
Ramiekin, while you did completely embody the virtue of Courage, I can't help but feel it was put forth in a very straightforward light. The sacrifice of a god to his duty while intriguing, wasn't truly what the thread called for. Had I have ended with just Bushido and picking on, it would have quite possibly earned one of the top two spots. Its okay though, as I feel it was a very good story.
Shadowed, yours was a very interesting read. The Norse also embody the concepts of Honor and Loyalty, and in doing so make both very easy targets. What you did however, was take it with a very interesting bend. You remind us as people that when we ask someone to do something, we too are inherently sullied or praised in its completion. What I felt was lacking was the end, it felt raw, like a sudden drop off which left me with a very alien feeling. I wasn't allowed time to fully grasp what had happened. This is what kept you out of the top two.
So, in the end, Twin Death nets 4 fate points. Mikeavalli nets his team 2 fate points!
I thank everyone for participating.
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