BLOCK-CHAINS | A Conspiracy Writing Contest Winners Announced [150+ STEEM]
BLOCK-CHAINS
Let’s just say I had a busy weekend…
I'd like to begin by thanking each and every one of you who submitted original content to the competition.
Your creativity and talent are truly the lifeblood of this contest and the platform.
There are so many fascinating possibilities littered throughout the various writings that it’s difficult to say which of the myriad of dystopias is truly the MOST frightening of them all.
Once again, I have to tip my hat to the good people of the Writer's Block @thewritersblock for their contributions to the contest. I often find myself blown away by the quality of writing found in this community. Moreover, I don't think there's a community anywhere out there that compares in terms of mutual support and feedback by the collective found at the WB. There's really something special going on over there.
You guys really make it tough for the rest of us. Bravo!
A Quick Word About BLOCK-CHAINS
In selecting the theme for the contest, my intention was never to shit on Blockchains in anyway, on the contrary, I simply wish to ignite some critical thinking on the subject. If cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are to change the course of history we must be prepared for all possibilities.
Personally, I remain optimistic about blockchain technology. I believe it's already revolutionary. There are so many passionate, intelligent and driven people involved in its development who truly hope to change the world for the better.
And yet... there also exists a dark side and we must be aware of it.
Only time will tell whether blockchains will be used to enslave or liberate humanity.
The Winners
Overall Winner [50 STEEM]
Nothing is Free
@negativer
Nothing is Free is a brilliant and beautiful piece of short fiction. Of all the submissions I read, this one had me savoring just about every line and every word. I had the sensation of both wanting to slow down and enjoy the prose and at the same time I wanted to race to the end to know how it all ends.
Not only did @negativer’s writing have me concerned for the characters, the central tenet of the piece also resonated with me deeply. A tale of a completely Tokenized world, a world where everything’s permanently engraved into the blockchain and where every human action must be paid for and from which there’s no escape.
Some may not have liked the dark and horrifying finale, but I felt as though it drove home @negativer's message.
Congratulations, such a pleasure to read!
Overall 1st Runner-Up [25 STEEM]
The Chain that Binds Them
@surfknasen
This wonderful submission by @surfknasen about an AI sent from deep space to cull humanity by introducing blockchain technology was one of my favorites. Told from the perspective of the AI, there to monitor humanity as it descends into total chaos, war and despair was an engrossing and thought provoking contribution. The Chain that Binds Them was even picked up by @curie and was certainly one of the most popular entries in the contest. Great to see @surfknasen receiving high praise from his fellow writers in the comments.
Excellent work @surfknasen, you should be proud!
Overall 2nd Runner-Up [20 STEEM]
Coded
@zoeyartanddesign
I was was super impressed by this imaginative and multi-layered story of a world divided into East and West. Int he East, crypto is empowerment and freedom and in the West it's a tool of subjugation. Quartz is physically mined to generate energy for the blockchain Matrix, or is there another source of energy? Agents of the free world are attempting to infiltrate the West and bring an end to the Matrix operating secretly alongside the lower castes. There's so much to like about this story, but don't take it from me (my summary isn't doing it justice), I encourage you judge for yourselves.
Awesome entry @zoeyartanddesign, really well done!
Biggest Mind Fuck [20]
Welcome to the Brave New Blockchain Gang
@perceptualflaws
This author has been mind fucking Steemians for months now with his special brand of deep psychological probings and mind-bending subject matter. With Welcome to the Brave New Blockchain Gang, our guide takes us through the process of creating a truly horrific dystopia of human beings divided into an AI controlled caste system. Even in death, we're still prisoners to the blockchain, just ask Gamma Ray 1138.
Funny As Hell [20]
The Man with the Iron Task
@pulpworx
The triumphant return of the winner of the very first V4vapid Conspiracy Writing Contest, @pulpworx delivers a vision of the future full of…human pets.
There is no Zukerburg, general Sophia made sure of that. Elon will be spending eons rotating the red planet and God emperor Oz has established himself as earth’s ruler in our blissful future, with man as his lowly sidekick. It took me a second read of this piece to finally get in the proper mindset to enjoy it. The first go around I was 12 stories deep into bleakness. So glad I took to time to reread this gem of a story, had me laughing out loud at the café much to the chagrin of robots in proximity.
I absolutely loved when Satoshi ends up in Mad Max Aus. identified as the Messiah and receiving cold hugs from AI/robot overseers. A ridiculously funny contribution, Dystopia's have never been so fun!
Best Tone / Style Winner [20]
The Allergy
@geke
What can I say? This lady oozes literary style. @geke is such a gifted writer and makes creating lifelike worlds seem effortless. You can almost feel yourself sitting in the same cafeteria as the characters, next to grandma as she finishes her dried up little pork chop at the retirement home. Am I jealous? Ahem, of course I'm jealous. Who isn't?
Honorable Mentions
There are a lot of deserving entries in these contests, it's always an extremely difficult and time consuming process selecting the winners. These honorary mentions are stories that I enjoyed personally and wanted to recognize their efforts.
Steem Transfers
Images:
This was such a pleasure to write for, and all your winners were high quality and unique in their own right. So many different takes on your prompt generated so many interesting story angles on your prompt.
Thank you so much for the contest, the opportunity to write, and your comments!
THANK YOU! You deserved to win the contest, just a fantastic story!
Yeah, I really enjoyed all the different approaches that people took with this prompt. I couldn't have asked for more. Tons of fun .
Congrats again, to you and to everyone who got involved!
Your story was tops man, I second @v4vapid comments on the prose and I myself also had to pause and go back to read again certain parts. Talk tokens, travel tokens... and bloody stumps. Damn...
The way you managed to fit this all into 200 words, respect homie! Well deserved for the win
Bravo @negativer ! Very well written piece! Lots of work went in to that, well earned victory!!
@v4vapid, you've done it again! You have a way of bringing out the very best writing talent on Steemit. Your contests rank up there with the best creative fiction contests I've ever seen online. I think that's why you get so many entries...you just do a hell of a job running this, and that is noticed and appreciated. :-) Thank you for the kind words about TWB. We do have something special going on over there, and it has changed my life. I've never seen anything like it.
Thank you for the time and effort that you've so clearly spent hosting this contest and reading all the excellent submissions .. no easy task I'm sure.
A huge congratulations to @negativer & @surfknasen and all the other winners and runners-ups .. you should all be very proud of yourselves.
I really appreciate the mindfuck prize! After a long day at work it was the most welcome of surprises and If you were giving out trophies it would take pride of place on the mentalpiece :D Thank you for hosting this brilliant competition @v4vapid
Another awesome contest V.
I still need to read some of the entries but fully agree with the biggest mind fuck winner.
My man @perceptualflaws nailed it with an disturbingly realistic dystopic message from the future, I love his work but I hope he’s wrong.
Congratulations to all the winners and well done to all those who entered.
Hi, @v4vapid,
I'm stopping by to once more express my great appreciation to you for the fine contests you run (speaking generally) and for this specific contest. You've once again drawn an effort out of me that otherwise never would have happened.
So, yeah, it did derail me from some otherwise critically important work... :D... But, hey! I think I needed the break. And I did get the entry in "under the wire" so to speak.
Oh, and thank you for the very kind honorable mention. ;)
And though I have not yet made the rounds to all stories, I applaud your choice of @negativer's fine story. I've already apologized to him for my strong reaction to the ending... just a personal thing with me, I'm a "happy ending" kind of guy.
Anyway, THANK YOU once again, and Steem On. You are much appreciated.
😄😇😄
@negativer is sure a deserved winner, what a story.
The way he painted the new 'tokenized' is nothing short of amazing.
I need to keep eyes on him as I love his writing style.
"the dark and horrifying finale... drove home @negativer's message" - That's about as surprising as "brilliant and beautiful" short fiction! :) And how surprising is this:
This lady oozes literary style. @geke is such a gifted writer and makes creating lifelike worlds seem effortless. She does! Congratulations to the talented writers and to a great contest host, @v4vapid!
Please consider extending the deadline to allow two weeks next time. It would make it a lot easier for @thewritersblock to support more of your entrants, thereby improving the quality of the entries and making your life even more difficult. Congratulations to all who placed or got mentioned. And to those of you who didn't, who still wrote solid stories and proved to yourselves that you could do this.
I think I'm half blind and cross-eyed right now... eyeballs dry and red AF.
The thought of extending the deadline is a personal dystopian hellscape... lol.
Thanks, and I second what you said about those who weren't mentioned! Everyone did a wonderful job, it was a really fun contest to host.
Cheers everyone ;)
Thank you so much! This was the first writing contest I've entered, and it was really something different. I'm so used to writing whatever I want and never really had any "limitations" like this. So happy with how my story turned out, and even more that you liked!
And you really brought a fantastic concept to life, I was really impressed. And I'm sorry I called you a she, I've just been politely briefed by some of your friends in the Writer's Block. Sorry about that, I have no idea how i came to this conclusion in my mind. Maybe it was the cute penguin avatar? Anyways, so glad you found my contest engaging and hope to see you again in future editions.
I've also resteemed and I'm following you now!
Haha, no worries at all! No way you could've known. This is the internet. :) I really enjoyed this contest, so will definitely join more in the future if I have time.
Thanks for the resteem and follow!
Upcoming Contest - Tin Foil Raps II *Starts to pace around the house mumbling incoherently
Congratulations to all the winnazzz! So looking forward to reading them.