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Over seven million words. Over six hundred authors. In our sixth year of unfathomable reader anguish. Thunderdome 2012: FYI, I do take big dumps, holla. Thunderdome 2013: If this were any other thread we'd all be banned by now Thunderdome 2014teen: Stories from the Abonend Bunker Thunderdome 2015teen: Weekly Stories with Positive People Thunderdome 2016teen: Fast Writing, Bad Writing Thunderdome 2017teen: Prose and Cons  Click for the current prompt! What are these bloodstained sands I see before me? Welcome to Thunderdome, a vicious, bloody, no-holds-barred flash fiction contest with a new opportunity to eviscerate your opponents every week. The judges watch the spectacle from on high, and they condemn the weak while raising the worthy into glory. Barbed critiques will tear at your ego but leave you the stronger for it. This is an arena for people who want their words to suffer the cleansing fire. If you'd rather have your posterior patted, Fanfiction.net is thataway. Sounds great. How do I start murdering all of you with my writing?
Once you've posted the story, you're done. No edits. No take-backsies. Edited stories will disqualified. You have climbed aboard the fast train to Shametown, and only the strength of your skill and your effort can keep you from permanent residence there. The winner of the week ascends the Blood Throne and chooses the next prompt. He must find two souls willing to join him in his torment. This team of three will read the incoming entries and pass judgment upon them, and so ensure the cycle of futile suffering continues. The loser gets a free avatar!  Snazzy, don't you think? Oh, God, I've won. What now?? I recommend questioning your life decisions. Thunderdome's cardinal rule is ius iudicis: judge’s right, judge’s responsibility, judge’s law. The lead judge is lord for the week, but with great power comes great responsibility to not gently caress everything up more than is inevitable. Your first step should be to read this page. Your second should be to post a prompt before the masses flood the thread with impatient, crappy .gifs.A judge should be prepared to read around 15,000 to 30,000 words in the span between the deadline and Tuesday night. (Wednesday judgments happen, but they're an abomination. The week will have abominations enough without your help.) If you know you won't have time to do this, announce your abdication. Someone else is sure to leap at the chance to make goons' lives hell! A winner who hasn't shown her face by midweek is liable to forfeit the prompt. The other task of judging is to critique all the non-disqualified entries. Crits are the gears that keep Thunderdome turning and masochists coming back for more, so yes, you really ought to explain to that person with the new losertar just why his story sucks. The ideal crit will offer at least three points of feedback, but you do you. Finally: quote:Three shall be the number of judges, and the number of judges shall be three. The triangulation of opinions and viewpoints works well and delivers more crits to the entrants besides, assuming the judges aren't lazy assholes. Do not judge alone if you can help it. You plebians simply do not understand my literary greatness. Keep telling yourself that, sunshine. If you want to discuss the hitherto unrecognized merits of your latest fecal vignette, head over to the Fiction Farm or, for more general questions, to Fiction Advice. This thread is for three things:
Nowhere on that list is "whining about stories" for the excellent reason that no one wants to wade through that sewage. What else can I do to piss you guys off for reasons whereof Reason knows nothing? Oh, lots, but here are particular things to avoid:
Anything else I should know? The word count is a hard maximum. The deadlines are absolute. Mercy is at the judges' discretion. Complain to mods about Thunderdome judgment at the peril of being derided for as long as goons remember that dumb thing you did, which is to say forever. Our channel on SynIRC, #thunderdome, is a place for participants to hang out and talk about their work in real time. Pop in with questions if you have them, and once you've spilled blood in our combat arena you're welcome to stay a while. Kaishai fucked around with this message at 05:51 on Jan 3, 2019 |
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Jan 3, 2018 07:38
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On brawling, by Sebmojo: brawling what so someone said something mean and your bottom lip is doing that quivery thing and you feel like you can't go a single second more without punching a motherfucker? thunderdome has just the thing. you can't fight here it's the Thunderdome when two people hate each other very much, and one of them is you, you get to slap down a challenge. make it big, make it brassy; you're slapping your sex bits down on the bar, try and make 'em bounce a little. help someone's slapped me with something help accepting brawl challenges isn't required, but if you like to sling the poo poo around (and you should) then failing to back up your bad words with good ones will be remembered. how does it work? once you've thrown down a challenge, and had it accepted, a brawl judge will step up just like that weird bartender in The Shining. they'll give you a prompt, a word count and a deadline. they'll also, and this is real important, state the  this means if you fail to submit by the deadline then you get banned. the judge doesn't need to give you an extension.what do you mean banned brawl toxxes are obligatory. if you're actually a literal secret agent and you've just discovered you're parachuting into Syria in two hours time then get on irc, snivel at your judge and maybe they'll remove the from the prompt, but expect that to be a one-time mercy if you gently caress it up.anything else? don't challenge anyone until you've done a few rounds, good grudges take time to fester, don't step up to judge a brawl unless you've at least got an HM or the participants have asked you to, and declining a random drive-by brawl is more acceptable than one with a grudge behind it. this place runs on words, and hatred, and you gotta fuel the fire is that it yes, fight well you horrible monsters sebmojo fucked around with this message at 12:28 on Jan 16, 2018 |
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Jan 3, 2018 07:39
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Assembled for Your Convenience: The Thunderdome Archive! Once upon a time, two Thunderdome veterans who shared a love of statistics and a touch of OCD conceived of the greatest project ever imagined: the Thunderdome Archive, where everyone's literary shame could be displayed forever. crabrock bought a domain and coded his visions into reality. Kaishai assisted him by trawling the threads for prompts, stories, and relevant .gifs. To this day, they fight to preserve Thunderdome's coprophilic heritage. The Archive's purpose is to store the millions of words written for TD to date. If you want to make use of it to the fullest degree (which includes reading the stories), you'll need an account, and you can request one through the link at the top left of the index. Note that accounts are open to participants only! If you're desperate to read about Vorpal Drones and vambraces at sea without searching the threads, you must first shed blood. We have graphs!  We have lists and rankings!   We have mad libs!  (Please read "Rural Rentboys," Thunderdome's most beloved classic, to understand 2018teen and to reach true spiritual enlightenment.) And much, much more! Visit the Thunderdome Archive today! Kaishai fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Jan 6, 2018 |
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Jan 3, 2018 07:39
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Presenting, for your listening pleasure, the Thunderdome Recaps podcast!  The worst thing about authors is that they don’t do enough navel gazing. To that end, a group of courageous and perhaps slightly masochistic TDers pooled their gumption and embarked on a venture to enumerate in audio format the plentiful sins of the dome. The most current episode will always be available here. For additional features, please see the Audio Recaps page on the archive! There are several extra features, including the ability to sort through episodes by weeks covered, plus extensive time stamps so you can skip forward to the exact moment we namedrop you. Your recappers are: Sitting Here: The idiot they convinced to run this goofball brigade. Kaishai: The reason that anyone finds these episodes informative. Ironic Twist: *Audible groan* Also featuring: Djeser: Guy who knows a lot of names for penises Bad Seafood: Sometimes he brings a Ukulele! ...And many more of your favorite domers! Massive extra thank you to Kaishai for her continuing hard work on making the archive an amazing and comprehensive tool. Credit to Sebmojo for the theme music. Sitting Here fucked around with this message at 08:03 on Jan 3, 2018 |
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Jan 3, 2018 07:39
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Thunderbrawls of 2018pre:Thunderbrawl 239 by Antivehicular: Exmond vs. Jay W. Friks Round 1 Jay W. Friks Thunderbrawl 240 by sebmojo: Antivehicular vs. Guiness13 Round 1 Antivehicular Thunderbrawl 241 by Sham bam bamina!: Yoruichi vs. Sitting Here Round 1 Yoruichi Thunderbrawl 242 by flerp: CantDecideOnAName vs. sebmojo Round 1 sebmojo Thunderbrawl 243 by crabrock: flerp vs. derp Round 1 derp Thunderbrawl 244 by Chili: apophenium vs. Aesclepia Round 1 apophenium Thunderbrawl 245 by Sitting Here: sebmojo vs. flerp Round 1 flerp Thunderbrawl 246 by sebmojo: Sitting Here vs. BeefSupreme Round 1 Sitting Here Thunderbrawl 247 by Tyrannosaurus: apophenium vs. Exmond Round 1 apophenium Thunderbrawl 248 by Chili, Kaishai, and Ironic Twist: Sitting Here vs. sebmojo Round 1 sebmojo Thunderbrawl 249 by Chili, Kaishai, and Ironic Twist: Nethilia vs. newstestleper Round 1 newtestleper Thunderbrawl 250 by Chili, Kaishai, and Ironic Twist: SurreptitiousMuffin vs. Uranium Phoenix Round 1 SurreptitiousMuffin Thunderbrawl 251 by Chili, Kaishai, and Ironic Twist: Yoruichi vs. Dr. Kloctopussy Round 1 Dr. Kloctopussy Thunderbrawl 252 by Chili, Kaishai, and Ironic Twist: curlingiron vs. Fumblemouse Round 1 curlingiron Thunderbrawl 253 by Chili, Kaishai, and Ironic Twist: steeltoedsneakers vs. Jay W. Friks Round 1 steeltoedsneakers Thunderbrawl 254 by Chili, Kaishai, and Ironic Twist: Morning Bell vs. CantDecideOnAName Round 1 Morning Bell Thunderbrawl 255 by BeefSupreme: Exmond vs. sebmojo Round 1 sebmojo Thunderbrawl 256 by Jay W. Friks: sebmojo and Exmond vs. Sitting Here Round 1 sebmojo and Exmond Thunderbrawl 257 by Jay W. Friks: ThirdEmperor vs. Jon Joe Round 1 ThirdEmperor (by default) Thunderbrawl 258 by sebmojo: Jay W. Friks vs. Fuschia tude Round 1 Jay W. Friks Thunderbrawl 259 by Chili: ThirdEmperor vs. Jay W. Friks Round 1 Jay W. Friks Thunderbrawl 260 by Sitting Here and Yoruichi: sebmojo vs. SurreptitiousMuffin Round 1 SurreptitiousMuffin Thunderbrawl 261 by Antivehicular: Chili vs. Armack Round 1 Armack Thunderbrawl 262 by ThirdEmperor: Solitair vs. MockingQuantum Round 1 MockingQuantum Thunderbrawl 263 by Yoruichi: curlingiron vs. Invisible Clergy Round 1 curlingiron Thunderbrawl 264 by Pham Nuwen: ThirdEmperor vs. Sitting Here Round 1 ThirdEmperor Thunderbrawl 265 by ThirdEmperor: Yoruichi vs. sebmojo Round 1 sebmojo Thunderbrawl 266 by sebmojo: Djeser vs. Invisible Clergy Round 1 Djeser Thunderbrawl 267 by sebmojo: ThirdEmperor vs. Yoruichi Round 1 Yoruichi Thunderbrawl 268 by Invisible Clergy: Pham Nuwen vs. ThirdEmperor Round 1 Pham Nuwen Thunderbrawl 269 by ThirdEmperor: Sitting Here vs. Fumblemouse Round 1 Sitting Here Thunderbrawl 270 by Sitting Here: derp vs. Antivehicular vs. ThirdEmperor vs. Lead out in cuffs Round 1 derp Thunderbrawl 271 by Chili: BeefSupreme vs. Yoruichi Round 1 BeefSupreme Thunderbrawl 272 by Morning Bell: dreadmojo and cptn_dr vs. BeefSupreme and Fleta Mcgurn Round 1 dreadmojo and cptn_dr Thunderbrawl 273 by steeltoedsneakers: Yoruichi vs. Exmond Round 1 Yoruichi Thunderbrawl 274 by Beef Supreme: dreadmojo vs. Thranguy Round 1 Thranguy Thunderbrawl 275 by sebmojo and Kaishai: Sitting Here vs. Yoruichi Round 1 Yoruichi Kaishai fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Dec 30, 2018 |
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Jan 3, 2018 07:40
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prompt
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Jan 3, 2018 07:56
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“It was a dark and stormy night.” Known as one of the cliché opening lines of our time, it's also the first line of the classic novel A Wrinkle in Time. It shows that you can take a bad opening line and still do great things with it. Did any of you manage to even hint at great things with your humble offerings this week? Let's see. Here are your crits for last week, maggots. Line up. Aesclepia: Brad Henessey Initial impressions: Mini time travel via concentration. Someone wants him to knock it off. We never learn who or why. He can't sleep and doesn't know why? I'm not sure I'm fully getting what's going on, so my best guess is that someone implanted a timeskip thing in his head and doesn't want him to use it, and now something's wrong with him and he doesn't know what. He's also very nervous. After thinking it over: One of the other judges thought the crux of the story was whether or not Brad had cancer. I thought it was that he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. The other judge thought he was mentally ill and imagining everything. In short, your story was not clear on what it was doing. Ambiguity can be fine but I don't think it worked for you here. Exmond: Vampires Night Out Initial impressions: Vampires. Well, monsters. Overall you did okay with the first line because it's uttered by a melodramatic character but the story seems a little lacking. We don't know what kinds of monsters things are until the end. As someone who likes monsters to be unique, I felt it was a little lacking, but you didn't exactly have the words to expand on things so I'll let that slide. Daughter out of nowhere was meh. After thinking it over: It's a very shallow story. The supernatural elements add absolutely nothing, which I thought was a shame. Jay W. Friks: Letter from a concerned colleague Initial impressions: First paragraph and everything is already a mess. Interesting story, but I liked the conclusion the most. Not sure how I feel about the story as a whole. It's not bad, but it's not great either. After thinking it over: A day in the life of an MIB. The ending theory of something bringing fears into reality is the most memorable thing about the story. That core is good, but the execution was lackluster. You needed clarity for more oomph. Tyrannosaurus: In the Blood Initial impressions: This resonates with me, that you don't have to believe in religion to do good things and be a good person. That said, the first and last lines seem to be a little forced. I didn't understand what the blood had to do with anything. AIDS, okay, I guess? After thinking it over: The blood thing doesn't bug me so much, because the core of the story is good enough. It's very believable that someone could lose faith because of someone falling off a pedestal. apophenium: Gobolinks Initial impressions: The first line lends itself to a broken mind well. The story is good, the voice(s) interesting. Something about it isn't quite clicking for me, though I'm not sure what. After thinking it over: I just don't think you can keep blood that fresh red color. The self mutilation as control, okay. The outlet of art, okay. But I just don't know if “treated canvases” would be enough. Yoruichi: Hope Springs Eternal Initial impressions: I like it. Dreamy, good description, easily imagined. I relate to Ernest's frustration at being told to do something he doesn't understand. One of my top picks so far. After thinking it over: I like the use of mundane magic. The Olympics are a good use of form over function, which Ernest has a hard time wrapping his head around. I've got a soft spot for magic and illusions, and you touched it just right. The only thing I don't like is the last line, because that implies he's not just hopeful but outright delusional, and that kinda kills the story. flerp: Distance Initial impressions: Crisp, clean. Good visuals. Can't decide if it's dull or quiet. After thinking it over: Dull. The line “He wanted to feel something else-” is the best thing in it. This is a man who knows he is fearful and boring and wishes idly that he isn't. Unfortunately, the story isn't strong enough to keep that sentiment afloat. Benny Profane: From Below Initial impressions: Interesting. Feels kind of disconnected, like it's part of a larger piece. After thinking about it: You included the flash rule well. It's a bit odd, but didn't completely pull me out of the story. It's well written but the danger rings hollow. Is Asa hoping to get close to her father, hoping he still might love her in some form, or view her as innocent, close enough that she can shank him? I don't believe it. Thranguy: Beautiful and Terrible As the Dawn Initial impressions: Off to an interesting start already. It's a confusing piece, but I enjoyed it. The names were very disorienting, and you didn't even have the excuse of being forced to use one by your first line. Which, by the way, made me think that this would be a piece about a newspaper writer or something and then veered off into god-knows-where territory. After thinking about it: Your worldbuilding is a wreck, and it kills the story. I actually didn't mind the “we” perspective. I'm very forgiving with assuming an author will explain things, but the more I think about this story the less I like it because you take that goodwill and don't deliver. The Saddest Rhino: “Waste” Initial impressions: YOU THREW IN A LOSS REFERENCE. This entire piece was a bizarre homage to elisethegreat's placenta chili thread, which was like, okay, and then you threw in a loss reference. Bloody hell. Very meta. Not bad, but barely stands on its own two legs. I enjoyed it. After thinking about it: I don't hate it, but this is a very TD story. It literally won't work anywhere else. The voice is good, though. You took a weird opening and kept up the oddness. Sham bam bamina!: Floodplain Initial impressions: Second paragraph and you've already lost my interest by neglecting to proofread. I suppose you did as well as you could with one of the more convoluted sentences; you tried your best to keep the voice the same. The whole story was very quick, very self aware, and I'm not sure that was in its favor. After thinking about it: It's not that well written. “...who first heeded aloud the water upon the grasses at our feet...”? Really? It feels like you're going for an archaic pattern of speaking and missing pretty badly. You're aiming for a man who has horrible revelation after horrible revelation about himself, but it all lands flat because it sounds like stuff he's known for years. There's no horror in him being lazy, it's just a shrug and “what can you do?” This man doesn't know how to do anything but gently caress up, and he just keeps loving up and loving up like he can't help it and can't be bothered to really try and do anything else. sebmojo: In Veritas Initial impressions: This was a good story with a good voice and one of my top picks. I caught one spelling error but it wasn't enough to kill the mood, which was very dreamy and magical-realism-folklore. After thinking about it: The other judges brought to my attention the tonal inconsistencies. The child cries, then is suddenly very smart and philosophical, then throws a tantrum. Maybe I just like the dragon, who takes these demands and this hubris and literally reduces it all to ash. Overall, I think more of you succeeded than failed. Good job, Thunderdome. Give yourself a big pat on the back.
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Jan 3, 2018 08:13
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Reminder that the archivist hates it when you hide your prompt with spoiler tags.
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Jan 3, 2018 08:18
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Thank you for the crit CantDecideOnAName 
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Jan 3, 2018 09:09
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first prompt of the new year ho boy Time travel. “It's too important to use only for money, but too dangerous to use for anything else." 2018 words. sign ups close friday midnight est subs close sunday midnight est
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Jan 3, 2018 10:13
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Judges: Me Apophenium Djeser Writers: Sitting Here Antivehicular Thranguy Flerp Sparksbloom Jay W. Friks Dr. Kloctopussy Derp Sham Bam Bamina Yoruichi Sandnavyguy Tyrannosaurus fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 3, 2018 10:14
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in
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Jan 3, 2018 10:17
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Sure, let's do this. In.
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Jan 3, 2018 10:22
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in
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Jan 3, 2018 10:26
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in
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Jan 3, 2018 10:39
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I'm up for judging to ease me into the new year, Tyrannosaurus. If you'll have me. 
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Jan 3, 2018 11:17
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In.
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Jan 3, 2018 11:33
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In
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Jan 3, 2018 19:17
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Let's have already done this
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Jan 3, 2018 20:45
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i fcuking hate time travel stories. so i guess i'll be in
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Jan 3, 2018 20:47
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derp posted:i fcuking hate time travel stories. so i guess i'll be in That's weird, considering you already wrote at least one. Edit: poo poo, does that mean I need to stop saying I've been to all those places I watched documentaries about??? vvvvvv Dr. Kloctopussy fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Jan 3, 2018 |
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Jan 3, 2018 20:49
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:That's weird, considering you already wrote at least one. peering into the past is not going there!
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Jan 3, 2018 20:50
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Volunteering my judging services
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Jan 3, 2018 20:55
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Sitting Here posted:
Sitting Here posted:
<------------------------------------------------------------
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Jan 3, 2018 23:41
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Thank you for the crits, CantDecideOnAName!
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Jan 4, 2018 13:18
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I am in.
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Jan 4, 2018 18:26
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I'm definitely not entering Thunderdome this week I want to take a break before I have to go back to work on Monday ooooh "time travel" I've got an idea for that IN oh god what have I done
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Jan 5, 2018 03:22
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Thunderdome Recap!  We haven't yet recovered from the holidays here at Recap HQ, but Sitting Here dug an episode out from under a pile of champagne bottles and tinsel to tide you over. Recall the good old days of Week 276: Little Man History and Week 277: Rewrite Mashup with us, when men were real men and crabrock should have been scared; strange tides and stranger syntax await you, not to mention important AIDS facts! Suffer in ignorance no longer, because our reading of Jay W. Friks' "Witch Hunt 86'" is an education for one and all. "Punished. We're being punished.." the man calmly resigned. Episodes past can be found here!
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Jan 5, 2018 03:45
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In I'll kick off a new year by joining the Thunderdome! May my first entry help christen the sands with it's inevitable evisceration.
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Jan 5, 2018 10:21
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sandnavyguy posted:it's 
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Jan 5, 2018 11:04
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New year. New you. You said you'd write more in 2018. Do it. Ten hours left to sign up.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:38
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Whelp, I knew that I'd get something wrong on my first try, I just didn't know I'd screw up that quickly  . Oh well, it's one way to break the ice. Do we need to use the quote in our work as well?
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Jan 6, 2018 00:21
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sandnavyguy posted:Whelp, I knew that I'd get something wrong on my first try, I just didn't know I'd screw up that quickly It's just inspiration to get you thinking.
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Jan 6, 2018 00:45
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sandnavyguy posted:Whelp,  In all sincerity, welcome to Thunderdome!
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Jan 6, 2018 00:52
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righting is hard
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Jan 6, 2018 01:05
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dammit!
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Jan 6, 2018 01:06
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sandnavyguy posted:In UraniumPhoenix gave me some good advice after I did my first TD, he also did a line by line crit of my story, which may help you avoid the formatting and spelling errors I did my first time. Uranium Phoenix posted:Well, I'm gonna give you two main things to work on. Good luck and <kayfabe initiate> go gently caress yourself? </kayfabe> I think that's kayfabe
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Jan 6, 2018 01:22
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why not i'd love to hate you all i'm third judge
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Jan 6, 2018 02:43
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