For this week there will be a very short sign-up period (48 hours from the time I post this). After signups close, judges will assign you to brawl another person who also signed up. The judges WILL assign at least one flash rule to each group. It may be a shared flash rule or there may be flash rules applied to individuals, but everyone will be hit with a flash rule before Friday.

We will announce the winner of each individual brawl. Feel free to make avatar wagers etc. once your opponent is announced.

Each judge is only going to read and critique a third of the entries. We will obviously all have to read the candidates for the very top and very bottom, but otherwise you will only be judged and critiqued by one person instead of three. If a judge WOULD LIKE to critique outside of their one-third, they may do so.

Critiquing 30,000+ words in two days usually burns the judges out and results in rushed critiques; we hope this will give you more thorough and thoughtful critiques. If you write shit, it will also give us more opportunity to tear you apart in more detail.

For your submission, choose one: Past tense OR present tense.

Your submission must also contain: A beginning, a middle, AND an end.

The story must also take place during or in some way deal with first contact between two civilizations. Just like a mystery does not have to be a guy with a fedora investigating a murder, first contact does not have to be an alien invasion.

Potential losers:

Klocktopussy vs. Hillock - Judge: ESB

Klocktopussy's plot must involve cars, Hillock's must involve a lawyer.

Bad Seafood vs. chairchucker - Judge: systran

AVATAR CHALLENGE Everyone knows chairchucker is the diamond in the rough. What wondrous prose could he produce if he actually took the 'Dome seriously? The winner of this 1v1 gets to give themselves an avatar of their choice OR give a losertar of their choice to the loser (I will pay in case that isn't clear).

Noah vs. Fumblemouse - Judge: Martello
A prophecy must be part of the plot.

Sitting Here vs. Some Strange Flea - Judge: Martello
Sitting Here: Alternate History. Strange Flea: Lost Technology.

Auraboks vs. Nikaer Drekin - Judge: systran
Auraboks: You must write horror. Nikaer: You must write something whimsical and the inciting incident must occur within first 100 words.

JonasSalk vs. magnificent7 - Judge: systran
800 Words or less. Fucking deal with it and fucking make the words COUNT (pun intended).

Kleptobot vs. Cancercakes - Judge: Martello
Cancercakes: A misunderstanding must be a driving point in the plot. Klepto: A game must be in plot.

perpetulance vs. crabrock - Judge: systran
Perpetulance: Your theme is "gluttony," Crabrock: Yours is "blame." Your stories should clearly reflect those themes.

Errogenous Beef vs. Kaishai - Judge: ESB
Something revolting/disgusting must happen during the course of your stories and it must advance the plot.

HaitianDivorce vs. Jeza - Judge: ESB
Martial Arts of some form must be a part of the plot.

kazakirinyancat vs. zakucat - Judge: Martello
Plot must involve a cat.

monkeyboydc vs. Impermanent - Judge: ESB
Impermanent: Handicaps/disabilities must be important to the plot. Monkeyboy: Poison