"Geek Out! Upside Down" — Challenge Results!

A couple of months ago, I ran an Unofficial Challenge that invited you to take an uncomfortable look at different works of media.

It asked you to find authentic beauty in something you despised and genuine flaws in something you adored. I believe that, as writers, we need to be able to look past our feelings... or through them, and see things from different angles and perspectives too.

And I'm excited to see that many fellow creators took up this challenge and delivered some amazing work!

Would you like to read all the entries before the results? Here they are:

And, since I wanted to make it a little easier on myself, this time I lazied out and dumped the hard task of judging all the entries on my beautiful Dutch partner, who is a much more proficient geek than me.

At the time, I didn't foresee that he'd be starting a new job position soon and how it would impact his available time (hence the delay of the results). Nonetheless, sharing this experience was tons of fun, and I might involve him more in the future.

And while we completely agreed on the absolute winner, compiling the rest of the list required more effort.

His job's going great, by the way!

Prizes:

A few numbers first, just to build up a little anticipation...

The challenge required 2 pieces per person to be posted within the same community, with a maximum of 4 communities, thus 8 pieces per person.

We had a total of 25 pieces; that is 13 entries written by 9 people.

Huh?

Sasha, your Math is not Mathing!

Oh, but it does: we had a rogue 2-for-1 entry and one workaholic contestant who submitted to every permitted category.

It was a mysterious writer who did not hold back on his opinion and delivered productivity beyond every expectation.

A completely unexpected creator who took us all so totally by surprise.

It was... nah, we all know who our resident master overachiever is.

It was Paul.

It had to be Paul!

And for the sheer effort of writing 8 distinct and distinctively engaging pieces, Paul Stewart is getting a "Dollar for Your Efforts" Unofficial Prize of 3 USD for "Most Submissions", "Submitting to Every Allowed Community," and "Only Submission in the Videogames Community".

I love video games, and was in fact a competitive WOW player many years ago, so this showcase of appreciating-despise hit close to home:

About that 2-for-1 I mentioned before...

While most writers adhered to the rules, we've had two who decided to do their own thing. And I have a soft spot for rule-breakers.

One "I Make My Own Rules" Unofficial Prize of 1USD goes to Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred for submitting a 2-for-1 entry in explicit violation of the first rule of this challenge.

And a second "I Make My Own Rules" Unofficial Prize of 1USD goes to Lana V Lynx for submitting two pieces about the same movie.

You took a risk, and I loved that!

Now, for the official prizes... I'm gonna add a little spice here.

Since we asked you to do double work for the challenge, each prize will be doubled too!

1USD (x2) Runner-up: For his deep understanding of the challenge's intent and the compelling argumentation (especially in the case against Massive Attack), Kendall Defoe!

2 USD (x 2) Third Place: For her beautiful writing style and the outstanding way she could relate both pieces to her personal life in a deeply engaging fashion, Diane Foster!

3USD (x2) Second Place: For delivering what the Dutchman dubbed "Probably the best piece of the challenge", the fresh perspective, engaging yet educative content, and overall great writing, Paul Stewart!

5USD (x2) First place: For her playful, dramatic, and amazing writing, defined by the Dutchman as "An absolute joy to read", and I couldn't agree more, Sara Wilson!

All winners are V+ members (as were all participants), so the tips will be have been paid out through the Vocal Tips system within the next 48 hours, while detailed comments will make their appearance sometime this week.

I'm currently reviewing the latest challenge (results should pop up anytime this week) and trying to catch up on all the reading and commenting I missed lately, so please be patient!

In the meantime, read the winners, read all entries, and...