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Young Writers Society


The Olympic Village



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Fri Feb 09, 2018 7:29 pm
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Elinor says...



The official tagbook of the Writing Olympics, brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Storybook Crew. Check out Storybooks for more.

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It was a cold and snow day. The wind bit through at @Elinor's face as she waded through the snow, nearly up to her knees, and towards the warmth of the lodge. She'd left the sunshine of California for this? For a moment before she entered, she looked out at the view from the mountaintop. It was really a sight to behold. And she could feel the energy in the air. Everyone was beginning to arrive and she saw some old friends and some she was still getting to know. She'd seen @Lumi as she was putting her stuff down in her room and they'd chatted a bit, it had been a long time since they'd really caught up.

She walked inside the lodge and instantly felt the warmth of the fire. @TheSilverFox was ordering a hot chocolate from counter, and she said hello.

"I hear you started your own team," he told her.

"That's true," she replied. "May the best one win."

"Indeed." @TheSilverFox took his hot chocolate and joined @fortis, @Carina and @Willard at their table. They were all dressed in green, black and yellow, and while they were few in number there was an intensity about them. Still, @Elinor knew that as intense as things may get in the next two weeks, they would be all still be friends by the end of it.

Elinor ordered a chai tea and joined her own team, who were beginning to corral at a table of their own. @PrincessInk, @Mea and @Querencia were already there, and the rest would be joining soon. They were all wearing Disney jackets and they felt like a team.

Missing was @BlueAfrica, who was already in the arena beginning the review event. Some people were probably already there too, but they wanted to develop a strategy.

"Alright, team," Elinor said. "Let's do this."

She knew, win or lose, they were going to have a fun time. And she promised them that later that night they could rendezvous in her room with hot chocolate and a Disney movie marathon.

All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.

-- Walt Disney





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Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:06 pm
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Lumi says...



LUMI WAS THRILLED to be in the brisk air of the Olympic Village. By his side walked @izanami, @Saruka, and @Feltrix, all wrapped up in winter clothes--while Lumi had on board shorts and flip flops, a festive Hawaiian shirt to top it off. The only thing that looked remotely warm was his hat, which was stolen from the Toboggan Sled Team for Team Disney.

The four-o strolled by @saentiel and @sheytato having a snowball fight, and then @Snoink, who'd set up an open-air cafe because, I mean, what is a Snoink's role in a tagbook if not a cafe owner? They all stopped by the counter to place one big order on Lumi's dime.

"What would you four like today? Some hot chocolate? A piping hot slice of molten chocolate cake? Or perhaps some still-piping-hot butterscotch pie?"

"We want a pizza!" called Izanami, slamming her hand on the counter, making it wobble.

"We want pepperoni!" shouted Feltrix.

"We want anchovies!" demanded Saruka.

"And we want pineapple!" finished Lumi.

The others gasped! It was universally agreed among YWSers that, in the realm of all that is pizza, pineapple was, quite literally, the forbidden fruit.

"I would rather have durian on my pizza than pineapple," said Izanami.

Passing by, wiping tables with hot water to remove the frost, @LadyLizz scoffed. "I'd rather have Rocky Mountain Oysters than pineapple on pizza..."

Lumi sighed, defeated. "Fine, make my topping...WASABI!"

Snoink raised an eyebrow deviously. "I'll do you one better and make the entire sauce wasabi. You'll be crying for days!" And, cackling, she ran to the kitchen to begin rolling the pizza in a smokescreen of flour.

Saruka looked at her gang and shrugged. "I guess now we wait for someone with antics to come along."

And all eyes shifted to @LadyLizz.
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.





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Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:14 pm
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Brigadier says...



@LadyLizz questioned the joke she had just made about pizza toppings, because she legitimately liked Hawaiian pizza but the peer pressure going around was too much.

Someone was waiting for antics and hijinks and maybe some funny business, so it was time to get to work.

None of her murder ideas had ever worked out, not even killing @TheSilverFox had been enough for the Murder Train to make a profit. @wolfical didn't execute the plan or him very well.
Sinking the YWS flagship only ended in @Rydia having to file a nasty insurance claim and the pirate life ended up not being for Lady Lizz, too used to a castle where the bread was, well actual bread. Hardtack with salt pork and maggots was never going to be the equivalent of a ham sandwich on white bread.

Snoink's Cafe offered such sandwiches, even though Big Brother had previously done a sweep of health food that destroyed the chances of using white bread or mayonnaise. It was such a tragedy. Nowhere near the point though.

This restaurant crowd wanted anothe tragedy and some excitement without too much violence. The PG rating was really starting to suck and the BB pupper loomed by her side for most hours of the day.

The daydreaming and plan hatching distracted her from the bucket of hot water, and upon dropping it on the floor, she shouted "son of a weapon with bullets".
Instead of doing something responsible like clean up the water flooding out of the magical and therefore endless bucket, she scooped up the pupper and scooted out of the cafe.

"@kyllorac start the car and get rid of the snakes!"
The Lady always liked to exit explosions and dangerous situations by shouting slightly obscure references.

As they drove away, she turned back to see @Lumi sighing as he took out his blaster and shot a hole in the window to drain out the water.

Would this be enough to please the people who wanted more action that drinking hot cocoa and eating toast?

the brigadier rides again!
LMS VI: Lunch Appointment with Death






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Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:39 am
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TheSilverFox says...



Silver disagreed. Mainly because, from where he stood on the couch in the now-partly-flooded room, he could see the hillside's snow quickly melting in the onslaught of scalding water. Everyone else, firmly attached to their tables, chairs, or edges of their pizza ovens (poor @Snoink, at least she was wearing oven mitts), could see the mudslide that was already beginning to grow.

"Does this mean we can't go sledding?" said the resident @Sheytato tuber, lover of sweet potatoes (in-jokes are great).

The crowd could see a red car, presumably holding @LadyLizz and @Kyllorac, speed its way down the mountainside, trying to outdrive the avalanche. "We maaaaaay have to postpone the Olympics-" began @Lumi, sneaking a pineapple from his shirt and setting it on the table. Snoink scooped the pizza out of the oven and threw it across the floor to Lumi's table; it landed perfectly, without a piece of pepperoni falling off. Lumi blasted the pineapple into little chunks that embedded into the pizza in a spiral.

People cried out in alarm (in Lumi's case, it was the wasabi). "This can't stand!" said someone in the background; it was hard to determine who they were, since they were trying desperately to keep the chair they were standing on from falling over. "No, literally!"

Seeing an opportunity, Silver pulled out pitchforks, skis, and a raft from hammerspace. "Anyone else want to compete?" he said, throwing the raft onto the waves and tossing the skis and pitchforks around. "First person to catch up to them gets a thousand points!"

The proud Jamaican Bobsled team exited first - @Willard, @fortis, and @BiscuitsLeGuin in the raft, and the rest of the team following behind in skis (somehow). Team Disney skated down on the frozen trail they magically created. It didn't matter that the targeted car had already been swept away by the waves and was presumably flying down the mountainside. The race was on, and, from the sound of it, everyone was having fun. Well, except for possibly Lumi's group, since they were still crying over the wasabi and breathing fire.

In the meantime, Silver pulled a mop and an empty bucket from hammerspace. He sighed; he was going to have to make sure nothing had spilled into the hole @BrumalHunter had hid himself in to fight the rigors of university/hide from the Olympics. Now, where was it again?
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.





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Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:53 am
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zaminami says...



@izanami actually didn't like pizza. She wasn't sure why she asked for pizza. Hmm, should she give pizza a try again? Maybe not. She hasn't liked it for many millennia. Besides, she didn't care about those fake one thousand points that they were throwing around. She wasn't stupid; you needed to win them fair and square through the Olympics, not through catching something.

These children.

Her team walked in -- @Lake, @emolemon, and @Flumadiddle -- and @izanami stomped over to them.

"I have been doing most of the work for the Alter Egos Team!" @izanami shouted. "This isn't directed at Lake, by the by. She's done some work. But sERIOUSLY?!"

"Sorry! I was busy!" E.E. tried.

"You were over at my house for literally a half of a day," @izanami stated flatly. "You weren't busy. Also, I did remind you ten times."

Emo was just looking down at their feet, obviously disappointed in themselves.

"Argh, fine. Just make sure that you do some WORK next time," @izanami grumbled, stomping off. "Take the hint, Jes-"

Language, izanami, Crystal said in Zami's head. Zami shook her head. Ah, flip you.

LANGUAGE! One dollar in the swear jar.

I'll put you in the swear jar, Zami shot back.

Fine, fine.

The voices argued back and forth until Zami shouted, "ENOUGH!" out loud at Crystal. This caused the entirety of the tavern to look at her.

"Huh?" @Saruka squeaked.

"Kara, are you talking to the voices in your head again?" @KaiRyu asked tiredly.

"NO!" Zami protested. Once she realized what she just said, she laughed nervously. "Voices? What voices?! Yeah, I don't have voices. What are those anyway? I don't know what those are."

"Alright, drop the act," @Snoink sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Voices? You've got voices?"

Zami grew increasingly nervous and then eventually ran out of the door. But once she got pelted by snowballs by @saentiel and @Sheytato, she ran back into embarrassment.

Now the tavern was staring at her even harder. All of them had one thought running through their head: What is Kara hiding?
tartaglia, they/he lesbian.
i also go by skylar and reginald!
First member of the bio trio™.
victim of the writer’s block disease





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Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:42 am
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Elinor says...



By the time Elinor made it back to her room, it was late and it was snowing outside. More snow? she thought? Still, it was beautiful. Outside, she caught the faintest outlines of the mountain that surrounded them. It was nice to be away from the city. But she was exhausted.

Judging had been difficult, as it always was. She had been impressed by how good the entries in her no Es event truly had been. She had been worried that the difficulty of the event would drive people to not participate, but of course, YWSers were always up for the challenge. Earlier that day, she'd been sitting in the lodge with a big mug of hot chocolate when @Iggy had brought her the entries, tightly sealed in an envelope. A couple of people shot glances in their direction, but no one said anything. In the middle of reading she'd been witnessing a snowball fight between @izanami, @saentiel and @Sheytato. They were brave to be out in the cold.

She was happy with how team Disney was progressing along, but the Jamacian Bobsleds were proving to be formidable opponents. The night before the team had splurged on sugary treats and watched Pocahontas in Elinor's room to celebrate @Querencia's win. She had tried to tell herself not to go too crazy with the snacks -- it was all on @Nate's tab after all -- but it was hard not to when it was all so good.

Elinor changed into fleece pajamas and collapsed into bed. She was looking forward to being a contestant for the next week and a half.

All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.

-- Walt Disney








I just write poetry to throw my mean callous heartless exterior into sharp relief. I’m going to throw you off the ship anyway.
— Vogon Captain (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)