[VOTE] Spring is here, sit by a tree, and write us a nice story!

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    • [VOTE] Spring is here, sit by a tree, and write us a nice story!

      Hey everyone,

      Spring is here, Easter is over, and it's now time to vote!

      I am pleased to announce you that we received a total of 12 entries.
      Here a few rules:
      • Each person can vote for up to 3 texts.
      • Once votes are placed, they cannot be changed
      • Duration to vote: 1 week. Last time to vote: May 011, 00:45, server time.


      Here are the entries, and I hope you will like them!

      Good luck everybody, and vote wisely!

      TEXT 1
      TEXT 2
      TEXT 3
      TEXT 4
      TEXT 5
      TEXT 6
      TEXT 7
      TEXT 8
      TEXT 9
      TEXT 10
      TEXT 11
      TEXT 12

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Events ().

    • TEXT 1:


      "Springtime Situated to Avail

      Just to remind Chocolate alliance that one of your member name Sunny is
      causing a ton of problems to other alliance such as Bunny, Flower, Bird,
      Child and others and I wont be surprise if out of the blue one of the
      following alliance will wage to all Chocolate. I would advice to get one
      of your member name Sunny situated before things get into serious
      matters. We have tried in our end to avail with him for almost 4 months
      but to no avail. Again I cant speak on the behalf of other alliance but
      to be honest his getting into that breaking point in which we will
      retaliate along with our other alliance treaties to deal with him and we
      hope none of the Chocolate would come to aid him on this matter since
      im already relying you what is going on with Sunny."

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Events ().

    • TEXT 2:

      …..And now Maxual Gutenberg! Who will give us a look into our local Ikariam town and all the progress it has made this Easter morning.


      Good morning folks! Its a sunny Easter morning and every one in the capital of your Ikariam’s town are cheerfully relaxing on inner tubes and continuously bouncing a beach ball. You can hardly even hear the barracks training your troops. Citizens are enjoying the refined wine that only your tavern can create, while chewing on a piece of chocolate. The children are scampering away with their pet bunnies or they are out gathering flowers for their parents. Now we are going over to your museum. You see your citizens oohing and awing over the latest cultural goods. The scientists are busily making new inventions, and your warehouse is bursting with goods! The trading port is excitingly carrying off goods to other towns and your palace is bursting with its own richness. If you listen quietly you can even hear the singing of your citizens as there out in the vineyards, sulfur pits, quarries, and glass mines, gathering the needed resources that makes this Easter morning special. Birds are flying high, and the barbarians are locked up in their own walls. All the towns are bringing out the best building materials and the construction in your towns are outstanding!


      And now we go to Bob Ushbur for our local weather report….

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Events ().

    • TEXT 3:

      In one comfortable home with nice dirt coloured flooring was Benny, a red eyed BUNNY with exceptionally large teeth and unusually regualar fur coating, who waited harsh winter’s end. He didn't like winter at all because of this white, wet stuff called „snow“, it even filled his door hole, so he never went out before his white door melted away. He spent all his winter days and nights sleeping and just laying around like princess in her nice room, like he has done every winter. But in one regular morning things went differently...

      Benny woke up because he heard some strange noise coming from above. He wasnt sure what it was but for him it sounded like someone is digging down towards his homebase, which he had built by digging with his claws and teeth/sweat and blood. When dirt started to crumble from walls he felt scared. He didnt want to give up his nice home and he felt that he should do something about it FAST! He grabbed some of his food reserve and backed out of his home by backdoor which served as emergency exit he didnt even care anymore about that nasty white stuff. When he reached surface he was far from his home base so he could’nt see what was causing all that trouble. He noticed a lovely BIRD, he decided to ask her if she could go and observe what was that thing ruining his home. Bird was glad to help so she told him she would be back in about five. When bird returned she was clearly shocked, she told him that there was a demon digging down with his evil claws Benny wasnt sure what to do but bird told him that he should go and see a flower called Jasmine. Everyone around there knew Jasmine, she was called a FLOWER of Might and Magic for a reason. Benny left bird there and moved almost with jogging speed because his home was in danger, it was really fast for him because he was very lazy rabbit. When he reached Jasmine she told him that she was expecting him and that no words are needed while handing him a CHOCOLATE bar. Benny the bunny was confused but left and decided to face the demon himself. When he reached his home he saw that it really was a demon... or at least something similiar.(it was a fat rat (with one meter long tail!)) demon was still digging underground but as soon as benny stepped forward while thoughts in his head said that this is bravest thing he has ever done but will probably face his end, rat raised his head and words came out of his mouth like from machine gun: „yo, got chocolate brah? Can i have it? I smelt it down there but probably my nose isnt working as it should.“ Benny was stunned, he nodded and gave chocolate away and demon left.
      BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE.

      Then benny wake up, in his nice cozy home, still white door blocking exit, he remembered that awesome vivid dream and how he faced his demons and he decided it was time for him to face his real demon, that white wet stuff called „snow“. He started digging himself out, when he reached out he saw that only his entrance was covered in snow, it was SUNNY spring day. He saw CHILDREN playing outside, he still felt that nasty wetness and thought to himself „Totally worth it.“

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Events ().

    • TEXT 4:

      "Aaah!", the bunny woke up yawning from the bed. He was waiting for this day for a long time. Today is the first day of spring. He has been sleeping for a long time in his house. He came out of his house to enjoy a sunny day. The flowers were blooming in his garden. Birds flew joyfully.He felt pleasant and plucked a flower to eat. Bunnies eat flowers. He rushed to the play ground to play with his friends. The moment he reached the play ground, he took no time to smell the odour of a chocolate. He bought the chocolate for 10 euros, the prize of this contest. He was about to eat. He saw a child crying. The child lost his chocolate to a bully. The bunny was ready to give his chocolate for the happiness of a child. IT is the true happiness of the spring. The birds tweaked accepting this truth.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Events ().

    • TEXT 5:


      The story begins on a bright and Sunny day near the coast line where the waves of the sea smash to the ever rocky edges of the shore, a young boy driven by madness and despair has just lost everything dear to him. It all happened on the day he was celebrating his day of birth. Everyone have gathered for he is a jolly and well loved boy. Some would even say he is the boy who is "Closest to God". With such a great upbringing, honest and loveable Tom was adored even by the Birds from the aviary within their estate. YES, he was part of one of the riches family in their province. Every Child who lived there have eyes, not full of envy, but joy for he liked to play with them and is always happy to be with them.

      On that day, almost everyone on the village was present and he knew almost everyone present at the event except this one strange man whose clothes and demeanor seem rather odd for someone living in the village. He was dressed rather poorly with eyes that seem to glare all over the place. When Tom's father, Don Eric, and the strange man's eyes met, the don's expression drastically changed from a man celebrating with happiness to a fearfull and panicked face. He immediately rushed out of the function room and frantically called for the estate security. Tom, curious little man followed his father away from the ball and suddenly, BOOM!, a loud explosion was heard and the room have caved in.

      A river of tears suddenly dropped from his eyes and into his cheeks like a dreadful gush of water whose only purpose is to sweep away all his sadness and frustrations. He has just lost not just his mother and elder sister but also the children whom we played with on the streets while growing up. His bestfriend Jack who always make witty remarks in every silly prank they make. His math tutor who always gives him chocolate everytime he solves a difficult question. His first love. All of the people except his father are now gone, taken away from him by this strange man who apparently according to the detectives left a package inside the hall which they believe was filled with explosives.

      "How could this be? What wrong have we done to him? Why did he have to do this?" These were the questions poor Tom have circling around his head. Sadly enough, Don Eric had it worse than Tom. He did not eat, drink, nor sleep. Without having a chance to do anything to rescue his beloved, he was driven with depression so much that after a month his poor old heart had stopped beating. Now Eric is alone. His estate is now empty. Their servants, gone. Even the people of the village wouldn't take this orphan boy. He has nothing.

      The poor boy drifted from place to place, with only his little piggy bank in his arms and a sack of clothes. He met with a group of rugged children whom did not take kindly to him. They ripped off every last possession Tom had and mosseyed laughing at the humiliation Tom suffered from their hands. Now he truly has nothing.

      He found a cave near the shore where he layed down his weary body. He bagan to dream of the days back when he was with his mother and sister. They were at the garden picking flowers and having fun as they watched bunnies hide jump to their holes and the autumn leaves fall softly to the ground. His father was there cleaning his musket and teaching me the ways of how to properly handle and use it. Slowly I can feel my strength fading away, I can see my mother and father waving at me from a distance with a bright light behind them. They were smiling and signaling me to come closer. I squinted my eyes and saw my friends as well, my sister, my math tutor and even my first love.

      With the last of his strength, he stood up and came to them. "I couldn't believe my eyes, they are alive!" But then he remembered what happened back then and looked back to where he laid down and what he saw was a frail and weak little man. "It's me, am I dead?" With fear of the unknown, he doubted himself and didn't take another step. But then his father in a loud and familiar voice said to him: " My son, there is no longer room for us in this world, let us join the our Lord and be filled with happiness with the eternal life he had given us." With those words Tom had resolved himself and ran to their arms. Reunited with his family Tom was filled with joy.

      His suffering has ended, the pain is gone, but his memory lingers... The child "Closest to God" is now by His side, forever.

    • TEXT 6:

      An air of Indifference

      AND so it came to pass.....

      This dark shadow that was foretold by the ancient sooths and written in the tablets on the portcullis of every museum in Ikariam. The
      prophecy of an Ikariam dominated by an air of indifference...a fate worse than death! This cloak of doom was spreading throughout the land, suffocating the citizens of happiness, dampening their sunny disposition and turning their taverns from green to blue.

      GameForge dispatched their birds carrying an order bidding all GOs, Moderators and Admin staff to an emergency meeting. Something must be done, action had to be taken and not a moment to lose. As they gathered in the Atrium of HQ, a spread of delicious sweets had been arranged for them. More of an enticement (if the truth be known)....as these meetings were not a bundle of fun and each volunteer needed some form of bribery to lure them to gather and stop them from falling asleep before the business was concluded.

      Upon their arrival their eyes widened with the sight of fountains of chocolate, surrounded by marshmallows and strawberries, eggs covered in bright, shiny paper, decorated with bunnies, and sweets too numerous to count. Like children, they excitedly tucked in with mouths so full that not a sound was made other than the slurping and guzzling of these delicious treats.

      A sharp knock at the head of the table called the meeting to attention. Without a pause in the feeding frenzy all eyes rested on the vision
      of beauty that was the spokesperson for GameForge. She was clothed in a robe of glittering gold, flowers in her hair and demanded your attention by her presence if you could keep your eyes off the chocolate dribbles on her chin.

      “Well” she said, “we all know why we are here – what shall be done about this air of indifference” she proclaimed as she sat back down. Each member hummed and hawed, eyes back to the feast...indeed – what should be done they murmured.

      AND so it came to pass.....

      END

    • TEXT 7:

      One day, there was a child. This child's name was Dorkus. Now, Dorkus wasn't the brightest child, and had many unfortunate events happen to him. Especially when Easter had come last year....

      With it being a nice day outside, Dorkus decided he'd take a stroll. It was very sunny that day, and Dorkus had forgotten his sunglasses. As he was walking, he noticed something peculiar. There were chocolates just sitting near a patch of flowers on the side of the road -- and nobody had taken them! Dorkus thought, "This must be my lucky day". He did a quick double take of the area around him. It was just Dorkus and the chocolates.

      And so, Dorkus began eating the chocolates. They had an awful aftertaste, however, and were very poor quality. It was then, that he realized, they were in fact left from a bunny.

      Dorkus had been fooled, but he was not about to leave empty handed. He found a nest, and took a blue egg from it, him being in the Easter spirit and all. Then, on the rest of the way home, he had to run to get away from the angry mommy bird.


      The end.

    • TEXT 8:

      A Child hopping like a Bunny on a Sunny day around a
      Chocolate fountain sees a Bird flying circles around the Child.

      But suddenly the Child realizes that its not just one Bird but
      hundreds of Birds flying as one and not around the Child but around
      the Chocolate fountain.

      The Child stops hopping like a Bunny and looks to the Sunny Sky,
      thinking why the Birds are flying in such a manner to the Child's
      great surprise the Child realizes that the Birds are not flying
      around the Child nor were the Birds flying around the Chocolate
      fountain but around a beautiful blue Flower that lies on a small
      land in the middle of the Chocolate fountain.

      "There is enough Chocolate for many hundreds of Birds in this
      Chocolate fountain so why are the Birds flying around a Flower" the
      Child thought and suddenly the top of the Flower turns white and the
      bottom of the Flowers turns blue, the Child hears a faint whisper
      saying "rise and shine sweet heart its time to get up for school..".

      The Child opens his eyes and sees the Child's mother sitting on the
      side of the bed scrubbing the Child's hair and the Child realizes
      that what the Child saw was a dream the blue and the white Flower
      represents the Child's school uniform, the Child smiles and goes to
      get ready for school.

      If you ever see a Bunny on a Sunny day hopping around a Flower
      on a Chocolate fountain and Birds flying around, then my good
      friend you are dreaming so wake up....

    • TEXT 9:

      Johny lived in the south side of Chicago during the 2014 gun confiscation. His dad was a campaign chairman for the Flower association and held several offices in government. Johnny always remembered his dad telling him how much their lives would better the people and Johnny always loved to sit and ponder on how great his dad was for protecting the people from such evil as the Bunny association. He would think about how his dad and the News always said that men who wanted guns were domestic terrorists and they should be dealt with accordingly. I could never understand why those evil men wanted those guns, Johnny would ponder as he sat on the park bench eating chocolate. Until this sunny Monday morning with a bird perched on the light post, Johnny had always just relied on what he had heard or what he had learned from where he was and who he was around.

      Suddenly Johnny looked up from his park bench to see an armored vehicle drive by and stop. Men started piling out of the vehicle. As the men surrounded Johnny's neighbors building he saw the flag of their country on them but they looked like the type of men the News and Johnny's dad had always warned him about. Johnny looked on in awe as these men pulled his neighbors from their home and forced them onto the street, he began to scream "The terrorist! The terrorists! They are attacking our neighbors dad!" Johnny's dad turned around to see the local swat team doing a required safety inspection of the apartment building across the street. Johnny's dad smiled knowing his family would be kept safe from such things with his position in government. As little Johnny continued to scream his dad walked over and put his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "They are only here to help son" he told Johnny. Johnny said "dad, our teacher taught us about this happening in the past in China. Once the guns were taken by men like this, the ruler killed 20 million citizens. I thought she was wrong until saw this".

      That night Johnny's dad sat and thought about what had happened the day before. He thought about how his class protected him from the men that scared Johnny the day before and how he must find a different way to protect the people. Certainly we cannot keep treating people like this.
      The next day as Johnny's dad told these things to his friends and coworkers and other Flower members, they began talking about him behind his back. All day he heard murmurs and didn't know what to think. By the time he returned home that afternoon he found Johnny outside crying and all of their belongings on the street. Johnny being such a small child touched his fathers heart when he said, "You see daddy! This doesn't help at all!"

    • TEXT 10:

      Bad Egg

      Come sing, blest Muse, unlike they sisters fair,

      The oft invoked, whose only spoken care,

      Are glowing deeds of gods and mighty men,

      Ignoring all the rest of lower bent.

      Come sing, Mundanaphila, tell a tale

      Of those who live in less exalted scale...



      Behold a wolf: a predatory beast,

      Deciding what would be his coming feast.

      He ruled out birds as undependable,

      For birds in flight were self-defendable.

      And likewise deer and buffalo turned down,

      Along with Moos und Sqvirrel, nothing found.

      He spied a rabbit on a sunny hill,

      And knew that he could quickly eat his fill.

      A rabbit is a true prolifigate;

      You find a bunny, then you find his mate,

      And lots and lots of tender bunnylets:

      A better deal a wolf could never get!

      He went to meet his neighbor and his brood;

      (To pay no greeting would be just too rude!)

      "Well met!" the rabbit said, "How's tricks, Old Dad?"

      The wolf agreed that life was not too bad.

      The rabbit nibbled on a final bite

      Of juicy flower: salad for the night.

      "It's supper time," the rabbit said, "And you

      "Are welcome in this place - there's plenty, too!"

      The wolf blinked twice, this he did not foresee:

      "I'm honored, sir! But what have you for me?"

      The rabbit grinned and reached through grassy clumps.

      And there he had a basket full of lumps.

      "They're eggs! he said, "I laid them every one.

      "I colored them and then I had the fun

      "Of hiding them where children like to play!"

      "You laid them?" asked the wolf, "But you're a male!

      "And you're a mammal, too! So, how's that work?"

      "I threw away the rules!" the rabbit smirked,

      "That's how I even asked a wolf to share

      "My extra eggs!" And that the wolf thought fair,

      And so had rabbit's eggs instead of meat.

      Oh! Untold, countless eggs did that wolf eat!

      (He really loved the dark, sweet, creamy ones!)

      And then he thanked his host for all the fun.

      "You're welcome any time!" the rabbit said,

      But as the wolf departed to his bed,

      The rabbit watched him stagger just a bit.

      "Don't plan on gettin' home, ya stupid git!"

      The rabbit thought, and smiled with malice cruel,

      "That theobromine is no joke, you fool!

      "A child can eat dark chocolate any day,

      "But for you dogs and wolves, there is no way!"



      And as the moral to our tale spun:

      No one messes with the Easter Bun!

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Events ().

    • TEXT 11:

      It was a day characterized and identified only by its date, indifferent from the day before, indifferent to the day after, and indifferent for all days to come. The child, going outside for one last look, noted that this particular day - Easter - was rather sunny. He looked around him in this vacated and empty forest, just two miles down from the hotel he stayed in. However at the same, the bright realization that he wasn't alone at all struck him. Birds chirping, bunnies hopping, an overwhelming sense of jealousy and disgust arouse. Who were them - carelessly flocking about with no care about the world? Who were them - with no sense of life or death? Who were them - who only had to face primal fears? But as he cursed the natural world and its beauties, he found the true source, the root cause of all problems. He stared out into the open and envisioned his future - a constant race against time. Nature is not bound by senseless, arbitrary increments of time, with schedules and deadlines and the constant reminder that one's time is ticking away. At this point, the child had came to a conclusion on the purpose and meaning of his life. He accepted that his life has no meaning, that even humanity and its ridiculous simulacra and constructions will eventually die out and fade into nothing worthwhile or meaningful. So, in one last attempt to hold on to his life, he thought back to his father's house - the abusive beatings but at the same time the meaning and love that his mother gave him, but his mother was not enough to bring him back. He reached into his bag and pulled out the last piece of chocolate. The pleasure filled him one last time and he told himself, "Just look at the flowers."
      Afterwards, time went on. Day passed day, season passed season, and years passed years. The universe went on just as it always had and always will, pitifully indifferent.

    • TEXT 12:

      A bright sunny day. Everything is peaceful. If it weren't for the scavenging birds circling above & the smell of the rotting dead flesh in the heat, you could ignore all evidence of the carnage that took place the evening before. Our campaign of War was marked to begin with the Equinox of Spring. The battles were fierce & long. But, in the end, the strongest prevailed. The delicate flowers in the field, stained with the blood of our enemies. It flowed like dark chocolate syrup from their freshly cleaved corpses. Well, you all don't know about chocolate yet. Some of our explorers discovered it from a tribal group of people, far beyond any of the charted seas. Anyways, probably not the best reference to use. But, strawberry jam doesn't describe the dark, thickness of the flowing blood being spilt from freshly bludgeoned skulls. The moral of the enemy has been crushed; their emperor has been flayed like a snared young bunny. His skin, hoisted on a pole & used as a flag of victory; striking terror in all those who served, fought, & watched as the others in their ruler's service meet their brutal end. Now, our journey will take us into the unprotected cities to claim the fatherless children & their weeping mothers as our slaves. We will take with us all the wordily possessions collected by this nation & make them our own. Long live the King! Long live our Kingdom!! Let us take our bounteous prize, & let it sustain us for the next Winter. Just as our previous spoils of War lasted thorough out the last season of cold & scarcity. Thank the gods for favoring our people. When the spring returns once more, we shall once again reap the world of it's life to feed upon. So continues the circle.

    • Text 1 had the required words in BOLD
      Text 3 had the required words CAPITALIZED
      Text 7 did not have the required words HIGHLIGHTED
      Text 8 had the required words in BOLD
      Text 9 had the required words in BOLD
      Text 12 did not have the required words HIGHLIGHTED



      In short, the texts 1,3,7,8,9, and 12 DID NOT HAVE THE REQUIRE WORDS HIGHLIGHTED and according to the RULES should be DISQUALIFIED

      Here come the rules, inherent to all contests:
      • Place and highlight ALL the words requested


      :lolbash:
      :lolbash:




      :angelfly: Thanks to OmgMyNameWontFi for the Sig :angelfly:
      --------------------------------------------------------
      Old IGN: LAW (DrUnK)


      Come find me on Chess.com! Let's play a game.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Tal Mihail ().

    • All entries posted here are accepted. I asked to highlight them, I never said how. In my announcement I only wrote it in red in order you do not forget. In addidion, sometimes they are quoted, sometimes they are just copied - pasted.

    • Ryoko wrote:

      All entries posted here are accepted. I asked to highlight them, I never said how. In my announcement I only wrote it in red in order you do not forget. In addidion, sometimes they are quoted, sometimes they are just copied - pasted.



      Then Texts 7 and 12 are out of the question since they were not highlighted in ANY WAY. :lolbash:

      The were not CAPITALIZED, HIGHLIGHTED/COLORED, QUOTED, in BOLD or DISTINGUISHED in any way possible. :borg:




      :angelfly: Thanks to OmgMyNameWontFi for the Sig :angelfly:
      --------------------------------------------------------
      Old IGN: LAW (DrUnK)


      Come find me on Chess.com! Let's play a game.

    • Hello,

      I have just looked through the entries. We apologize for not noticing the highlights earlier. Text 7 does have its entry highlighted appropriately, but somehow the formatting was gone when we pasted the entries here. Here's a screenshot of entry:



      Text 12 is the only one that did not have any noticeable highlights to indicate the keywords being used. We should have disqualified it but we did not. Since voting has already commenced and it has not gotten any votes to date, we will just leave it. We will be more careful with this in future.

      Ryelle