Announcing The Winner Of Our Punked Competition

The quality of writing and imagination on display in this competition was off the charts. So much so that it was actually a top fifteen sent to the judges, who then had the thankless task of whittling the stories down to a top ten.

Warmest congratulations go to AmuseBouche, who takes the top spot and $150 with her magnificent tale, Je m'en fous! Lupus takes 2nd place and $100 with his sexy cyberpunk tale, and TheShyThespian rounds out the podium places with a $50 prize for his wildly entertaining steampunk story, containing some of my new favourite character names.

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a story to the competition and kept the judges entertained with your writing. My thanks also to the judges for all your assistance.

I'll be in touch shortly with the winners, regarding your prizes.

A new competition will be announced soon.

1. Je m’en fous! - AmuseBouche

2. The Dollhouse - Lupus

3. The Intimate And Top Secret Files Of Lady Agnes Jackhammer - TheShyThespian

4. There Is A Lovely Country - Sprite

5. Play Like Heaven’s Watching - LuceDevlin

6. Punk’s Undead - starbelliedboy

7. The Hyde Contagion - Satinsmiles

8. The Man O’Whore - Utterchaos 

9. Hard Light - Piquet

10. Hot Blood - Krystalg

Wow, I guess I came on just as Jen posted this I think. Congratulations Amusebouche, Lupus and ShyThespian. And well done to all the top 10.

Great comp, all.

Congratulations to AmuseBouche for the top spot, and also Lupus and ShyThespian for their podium positions I'm stunned I made the top 10 with how great the entries were. Thank you judges for your time ❤️

Well done to all the winners! There were some wonderful stories in there, and lots of talent on show. 😘X

Quote by utterchaos

Congratulations to AmuseBouche for the top spot, and also Lupus and ShyThespian for their podium positions I'm stunned I made the top 10 with how great the entries were. Thank you judges for your time ❤️

Well done, utterchaos! 😘X

Excellent competition. Congratulations to the top authors, podium takers, and everyone else that competed. There was some high-quality, creative excellence all across the board on this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed this comp! Congratulations to AmuseBouche, Luus, and TheShyThespian, and thanks to all the others for some great reads!

Super excited for AmuseBouche, Lupus, and TheShyThespian! :worship: I told you, Jason, this theme was perfect for you!

Congratulations to rest of Top Ten! :worship: :worship:

And all who entered be proud of yourselves! :worship: :worship:

I've enjoyed the comradry I've felt entering these comps over the past five years. It's been a privilege to get published alongside y'all. :)

Congrats to the podium as well as the remaining top ten. I have a ton of reading to do!

Wow! That was totally unexpected. Thrilled and chuffed to be on the podium, especially with so many talented writers around me. Huge congrats to AmuseBouche, Lupus and everyone who made the top ten. Who were the other five shortlisted? Be nice to offer them some recognition as well 😊. As others have said in the past, just successfully entering a competition like this indicates a worthy entry, even if you don't make the top ten - so well done to everyone who entered, and a big thank you to those who made this happen - moderators, shortlisters (is that a word?), judges and everyone else I've missed (Jen?).

And apologies that I haven't read many entries - when I enter a competition I do usually try to read as many as possible, but time has been a difficult commodity to manage recently. I will try and make amends 🙄

Now - big smile on face - can I go and polish my bronze medal...?

Quote by TheShyThespian

Wow! That was totally unexpected. Thrilled and chuffed to be on the podium, especially with so many talented writers around me. Huge congrats to AmuseBouche, Lupus and everyone who made the top ten. Who were the other five shortlisted? Be nice to offer them some recognition as well 😊. As others have said in the past, just successfully entering a competition like this indicates a worthy entry, even if you don't make the top ten - so well done to everyone who entered, and a big thank you to those who made this happen - moderators, shortlisters (is that a word?), judges and everyone else I've missed (Jen?).

And apologies that I haven't read many entries - when I enter a competition I do usually try to read as many as possible, but time has been a difficult commodity to manage recently. I will try and make amends 🙄

Now - big smile on face - can I go and polish my bronze medal...?

Well done, ShyThespian. I look forward to reading it! 😘X

Very worthy winner! Great talent all round, congratulations to all that got a mention. Looking forward to the next contest!

Congratulations to the three winners and well done to the rest of the top ten! This was the first competition in ages that I succeeded in reading nearly all the entries before the deadline, let alone the announcement, so I can confirm the standard of writing was very high all round.

Can the next one have a shorter word count though? I've got a lot of real-world sex planned for the next couple of months, so I won't have so much time.

Special congrats to AmuseBouche, Lupus, and TheShyThespian for standing on the podium and awesome cheers to those that followed in making the top ten! As many have said, much great writing in all submissions. The varying storylines and their creativity was amazing. The relatively loose requirement of "punk" led to out-of-the-box thinking and writing. Kudos to all that submitted!

Congratulations to all the Top 10'ers, but especially AmuseBouche, Lupus, and TheShyThespian!

It was an intriguing comp, with clusters of entries in a few categories, and a great deal of creativity!

Long live PUNK!

After reading the top ten and beyond, I'm soooo glad I didn't enter. My feeble attempt at a story would have been eclipsed by all the ingenuity on display in this competition. The wide open genre seems to have sparked some serious creativity. Glad I wasn't shortlisting; there's no way I could have even whittled it down to a top 20, let alone 15 or even 10.

Congratulations to all who entered and placed. Extra credit of course to the top three for their achievement. You deserve every ounce of praise for rising to the top of what is already the crème de la crème of writing talent we have on this site. Enjoy your well deserved basking in the limelight.

Hats off also to the judges and all the people behind the scenes who make the competitions what they are.

Onto the next!

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Hats off also to the judges and all the people behind the scenes who make the competitions what they are.

Onto the next!

Well said, and I look forward to the next comp. God knows why. 🤣X

Quote by NishasWorld
I look forward to the next comp. God knows why

To write a kick-ass story like you did in this one?

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

To write a kick-ass story like you did in this one?

Lol. Evidently not, but thank you. 🤣X

Quote by NishasWorld
Lol. Evidently not, but thank you. 🤣X

Your story rocked.

😳 I have been staring at the screen for a while. First, everyone who entered, wow! There were some wonderful, wonderful stories that showed such imagination and flair.

To be recognised like this by you all, it is a very special honour, and I am very humbled.

A very special thanks to AvidlyCurious, who helped to get this submitted. To the moderators, who are always very helpful, I wish I had your patience. To all the competition entrants who I look up to and inspire me to try my best, for the readers who always encourage me. My husband is my editor and dialogue guru. Thank you! ... oof, such a shock!

To Kimmi: you asked how do you know if you wrote a great story? I still don't! This... this is very special to me.

So, I shall leave it to Plastic Bertrand - there are references to his lyrics in my story.

Merci encore, mes amis. Merci encore!

There were so many outstanding stories in this competition. Alas, there are only so much ranks for the top 10. Huge congratulations to y'all!

And here's a shout to a few stories that pleased me a lot:

The Atomic Slut by dronette56 -- Ever thought of using sex for warfare and 'hysteria' as a weapon of mass domestication? Here you go!

Never Mind The Bollocks: What's Love Got To Do With It by CuriousAnnie -- A feminist and cynic take on Bladerunner with lots of middle fingers against our society. Put a huge grin on my face with every line.

Pretty Vacant by deviantsusie -- The true essence of '77 Punk with a wee lyrical gem well embedded in it. Don't ever let money take over!

Porb By Northwest by joe71 -- I can't see it get more punk than that. 'nuff sed.

ok, true confession. i haven't had time to read all of them (yet - i plan to!). that said. congratulations to anyone who entered, to all the top 10, and especially to the top 3...

not a surprise, honestly, at least to me. I modded one of AmuseBoshe's stories early on - the girl has magic in her words, seriously. when i saw her name in here i had a feeling she'd be up on top. i don't think it'll be the last time, either.

Lupus... is brilliant. i give him a hard time for not writing often enough. it's heartfelt. one of our best writers.

ShyThespian. one of my favorite things to see in a comp is when the usual heavy hitters get beaten out by new talent not that ST is new, but this is their first time in the top 3 after i think about 6 or 7 entries. i am seriously more excited about that than if i'd won a top spot, so YES! awesome job and well deserved, all 3 of you.

Quote by AmuseBouche

😳 I have been staring at the screen for a while. First, everyone who entered, wow! There were some wonderful, wonderful stories that showed such imagination and flair.

To be recognised like this by you all, it is a very special honour, and I am very humbled.

A very special thanks to AvidlyCurious, who helped to get this submitted. To the moderators, who are always very helpful, I wish I had your patience. To all the competition entrants who I look up to and inspire me to try my best, for the readers who always encourage me. My husband is my editor and dialogue guru. Thank you! ... oof, such a shock!

To Kimmi: you asked how do you know if you wrote a great story? I still don't! This... this is very special to me.

So, I shall leave it to Plastic Bertrand - there are references to his lyrics in my story.

Merci encore, mes amis. Merci encore!

extra points, btw, for Plastic Bertand

Congratulations to Amusebouche, Lupus, ans ShyThespian for taking the podium with excellent stories. And the rest of the Top Ten were outstanding stories. This had to be a close competition.

Congratulations AmuseBouche... This was so well deserved. I loved the essence of this... the essence of Punk. When Dog turned up with his hair dyed and the non punk clothes, it was so sad and captured so beautifully.

I'm also delighted to see the Shy Thespian break into the top 3.. your story made me laugh with some of the euphemisms for lady parts and a proper steampunk yarn.

Congratulations to everyone who entered 🍾

Quote by deviantsusie
I'm also delighted to see the Shy Thespian break into the top 3.. your story made me laugh with some of the euphemisms for lady parts and a proper steampunk yarn.

Thank you, Susie - it's taken a while, though I've not entered for a couple of years - maybe a break and a refresh was needed 😊

Quote by sprite

ShyThespian. one of my favorite things to see in a comp is when the usual heavy hitters get beaten out by new talent not that ST is new, but this is their first time in the top 3 after i think about 6 or 7 entries. i am seriously more excited about that than if i'd won a top spot, so YES! awesome job and well deserved, all 3 of you.

Thank you, Rachel - yes, 7 previous entries (managing the top ten on one occasion). It's my first comp entry for a couple of years, so maybe the break has done me good 😊

Quote by sprite

extra points, btw, for Plastic Bertand

❤️ He is the King of the Divan. Thank you for the lovely words and all your understanding (especially that one story that I sent in for approval about ten times), most of all, for your punk attitude. Love you! 😘

Congratulations to Amusebouche, Lupus, and ShyThespian (see you shouldn’t have stayed away from comps, you write so well) for their podium excellence. So many great stories inside and outside the top ten. Wonderful competition-thanks to all those who read commented organised and judged.

Pride theme next, Jen?