RUMPLATIONS: Awesome Honky Tonk and Cyber Bar

Quote by LYFBUZ

I've read all the Comp entries and there are some great stories including a whole bunch by Rumps regulars. Gonna be a tough one to judge I think.

How are comps judged? Purely subjective, based on a small group of mods? Are likes/favorites/comments taken into account? Just curious.

And yes, there are some amazing entries. Regardless of how the winners are picked, I am excited to see who wins!

Happy Christmas Eve, everyone. LYF, I took a shot at the comp, but my entry fell apart. Overly complicated sci-fi about the same Christmas occurring over and over again. It was forced and not nearly sexy enough.

I hope everyone who celebrates is having a relaxed and joyful Christmas Eve. And for those of you who feel like Christmas is a slow walk through a haunted house (and Lord knows I've been there), be kind to yourself, and get through the day.

Have a wonderful new year, Rumpies. See you in the funny pages.

Quote by paddlingincognito
How are comps judged? Purely subjective, based on a small group of mods? Are likes/favorites/comments taken into account? Just curious.

It used to be something like Jen pulled together a long list based on score (and probably other criteria) and then a team of judges (not the mods) reads that list and the top ten are picked based on their scoring. And the top three of that short list get the prizes. Not sure how Jen gets the judges or if I have that exactly current or correct.

That's here. On StoriesSpace we are lucky to get get more than 10 stories, usually 12-16, so the entry list is the long list. No need for a first level of filtering.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand my final story of 2025 has gone up. It's steamy couple days in the life of a gay teen as he explores his sexuality and his lust for his best friend.

Finding Myself

Quote by Seeker4

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand my final story of 2025 has gone up. It's steamy couple days in the life of a gay teen as he explores his sexuality and his lust for his best friend.

Finding Myself

Merry Christmas!

This is a really good story. I hope all y'all will give it a read over the holidays!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Santa has been and gone, he was generous to a certain four year old. The weather is fortunately a little cooler today, just perfect for eating by the pool. Got to run, I have some salads to assemble ...

Quote by CuriousAnnie
Santa has been and gone

Poor old Santa and ever poorer old reindeer, always chasing that terminator around the globe. Glad he was good to the wee one. Merry Christmas to you all!!

Damn Ensorceled, no Comp story? Now I feel like Santa skipped my house. I can dig it tho, I had a bastard time getting mine down to 1500 words.

Comp Scoring

I have no insider knowledge as to how this is done but Seeker's post catches most of it I think. The judges do pay attention to things like story flow and story construction. A lot of folks, my self included, have blown their chances by writing stories that don't reflect the Comp theme. You can write the greatest story but if you miss the theme you won't place in a Comp although the theme is usually interpreted very liberally. I've been surprised at how well or badly i might place many times but i have to say this: in every Comp I have seen, the judges do an OUTSTANDING job. Their selections would be difficult to argue although the margins between a first place or 10th place can be extremely thin. I'm sure there is a subjective element, writing is part art after all and as humans we all react differently to words.

Back to discussing Bear's "lumpy arse"

Most ain't aware that Bear dresses up as Santa down at Ma's Orphanage on Christmas eve. I'm not sure if its part "work release" or part of his probation but hey it's for da kids right??

Our in house security camera caught Bear celebrating after his gig in Store room #6

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We don't have a Elf on the Shelf

BUT

we have a Bear on the Floor

bless his Jameson soaked heart

Merry Christmas to All

First to Open up Rumps

Big Beautiful Bertha filled with Folgers

I'll let Bear to brew his foo foo fancy coffee when he stumbles in

Christmas cookies and Red Velvet Festive Wreath cake placed with care.

Don't fret y'all there 3 more behind the bar enough for everyone

Leaves just a few musical selection

this morning

1st up

Dance Little Wren

Little Drummer Boy

Christmas Day

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I'll be poking around today

Enjoy the blessings of the season

Merry Merry to All

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Ah on Christmas the vibe and music surround us all

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Where Are You Christmas

Christmas Eve Sarjevo

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Let's not forget Christmas cuppycakes

History of Christmas Candy Canes

1670 (Germany): According to popular legend, a choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral bent white sugar sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff for children during a Nativity ceremony.

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17th Century Europe: Before the hook, straight sugar sticks were common holiday decorations.

1847 (USA): German-Swedish immigrant August Imgard in Wooster, Ohio, is credited with first using candy canes to decorate a Christmas tree.

Early 1900s: Red-and-white stripes and peppermint flavors became the standard, appearing on Christmas cards after 1900.

1950s: Gregory Keller, a Catholic priest, invented a machine to automate candy cane production, as previously they were bent by hand. 

Symbolism and Folklore

While the original purpose was practical (to keep children quiet), later interpretations attached Christian symbolism to the candy: 

Shape: Represents the "J" for Jesus or the shepherd's crook.

Colors: White signifies the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus, while red represents his blood and suffering.

Hardness: Symbolizes the "Solid Rock" foundation of the Church. 

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Popularization

Initially, candy canes were all white. The addition of peppermint likely originated from their use in apothecary shops, where the flavor masked unpleasant medicinal tastes, before transitioning into a Christmas treat. By the 1950s, thanks to automation, they became a mass-produced, staple decoration and confection for the holiday season. 

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Now y'all know the history of the sweet treat, the candy cane.

My Christmas present to everyone

☘️🎄🎄☘️

Not a Christmas song but a hell of a present. Floor Jansen covering "Old and Wise" by Alan Parsons Project, i.e. my current favourite singer covering a band I have loved since at least my teens. And boy did she ever stick the landing. What a performance. Venue is the 2025 Top 2000, an annual event broadcast on Dutch television on Christmas Eve.

Good morning and Merry Christmas!!🌲🎅

Merry Christmas, you Rumply rummies!

May the season of blessings bless you and those whom you love!

Merry Christmas 🎄🎁❤️

Here are two interesting historical stories from Christmas past

First the history of Festivus

And the little known and spoken

The eggnog riot of 1826, West Point New York

The eggnog riot, sometimes known as the grog mutiny or the Christmas 1826 cadet mutiny, was a riot that took place at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, on 24–25 December 1826. It was caused by a drunken Christmas party in the north barracks of the academy. Two days prior to the incident, a large quantity of whiskey was smuggled into the academy to make eggnog for the party, giving the riot its name. As described by Albert E. Church, who was absent on Christmas leave and missed the happenings but later became a math professor at the academy, "A large number of the cadets got on a spree, and became excessively riotous, setting all officers at defiance and even, with a drawn sword, chasing one to his room-throwing missiles through the halls, breaking windows and the railings of the stairs, &c. The scene, as described to me two days afterwards, was fit for Bedlam."

The riot eventually involved more than one-third of the cadets by the time it ceased on Christmas morning. A subsequent investigation by academy officials resulted in the implication of 70 cadets and the court-martialing of 20 of them along with one enlisted soldier. Among the participants in the riot—though he was not court-martialed—was future Confederate States president Jefferson Davis.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all of you Rump Fan and Followers 🎅🏻🎄🎁🎉🎈🥂🎉

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Boxing Day y'all

1st In

Lights On

Hope everyone had a Happy Christmas

I'm feeling a chocolate long John and boston cremes kinda morning

But first Bertha filled with Koffee Kult dark Roast

Copper Kettle is singin

In a few the jukebox will be warmed up

Of course cuppycakes to continue my chocolate theme

1st set

Black Keys

Next Girl

Modest Mouse

Lampshade On Fire

Monster Magnet

Space Lord

I'm sure BEAR will be along shortly

Thank you, Lion! And yes, coffee and cream (fat) are both helpful in a hangover.

Not that yours truly HAS a hangover, mind you…

So let me just add a couple of things to the Boxing Day festivities…

A guy I saw wandering around, shaking his head over the news, muttering in Aramaic.

And a woman who seems to have misunderstood what to do with the clothes she got for Christmas…

And some Irish coffee, to round out the pair.

Take care out there, y'all!

2nd set

Alabama Shakes

Hold On

Arctic Monkeys

Do I Wanna Know

Clutch

Electric Worry

Our third set

Toad Bone

Caught A Whirlwind

Mexicola

Queen Of The Stoneage

Sugarloaf

Green Eyed Lady

Yeah all the way back to 1970

This lion loves this song and it's one of Jane's favourite might be her beautiful sexy eyes .

Enjoy your day and weekend y'all

Lion & Jane Out to the barn kitties and horses

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Good morning, y’all! And Happy Boxing Day! I will take a cup of the Koffee Kult dark Roast, with a little extra cream. And not because I am hung over. I just dig a little cream in my java.

And great 2nd set, my fuzzy friend! Perfect music as my wife and get ready to start pulling down our Christmas decorations.

So a Christmas story for you, not suitable for publication:

It's a story about a man who wakes up in a cold sweat in bed:

"OH MY GOD!" he shouts, sitting bolt upright.

His wife, woken from a sound sleep, says, "It must have been a nightmare – what happened!"

The man rubs his face, and says, "I dreamt I was a beautiful angel. It was AWFUL!"

The wife, puzzled, says, "What's so awful about that?"

"Well, people gathered all around me, admiring me!"

Wife shakes her head, "So?"

"Then someone came along and shoved a Christmas tree up my ass!"

A Cup of Bertha’s Best please. Around our home Boxing Day means gathering up the Gift Wrap scattered around the Christmas Tree and collapsing the gift boxes and cardboard to take out to the trash container, if it will all fit. Hope one and all had a Wonderful Christmas. Now back to reading those Advent Comp Stories.

Happy day after, Rumpies!

I’m going to take down all my sister’s decorations while she’s in NOLA. 😊 It will be a nice surprise for her. Her hubby fell and his Dr is sneaking in a shoulder replacement on 31st as soon as they return since they’ve met their medical deductible, and she was fretting finding time to get her house back in order.

I’m making plans for 2026… how I want it to look and feel.

Hope y’all are still enjoying the holidays.

Let’s all have a healthy, happy, productive 2026!!!

Sipping some tea and enjoying a quiet morning. Santa brought us a new garage for Christmas! We don't have a garage door yet, but the property manager said it's okay to start building shelves this weekend. We will build shelves in two of our neighbors' garages as well.

The garage door won't arrive until the third week of January, but once it is installed, we want to be able to move the stuff out of the storage pods that have been sitting in our parking lot since October 2024. To say that I'm excited is an understatement. Having the chain link fencing removed from our property before Christmas was a lovely gift! The only fencing left is around our pier.

2025 was a year of many highs and lows. I'm looking forward to 2026!

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year, too!

WHoooooooooooo Happy New Year! (I decided to get an early start.) Cristal please. Had a snowstorm today and its a bit cold at -20 but I went out and cleared the driveway. It was kinda fun. Hope Santa was good to everyone. I always figured Xmas Day was a freebie as far as being naughty because the old fat red bastard would be asleep and the elves are all exhausted. When the cats away...

I hope you all had a good Christmas and are enjoying the holiday season. 😊

This would have been our first one with none of our 3 adult children at home (they are all in their late 20s), so it was looking to be a quiet one. However, my wife organised it, and we have been travelling to see extended family, playing quizzes, and, according to her, stopping me from turning into a hermit, as I spend too long on the computer. 🙄😀

Anyway, I'm off to a music quiz this afternoon/evening, held in a brewery, so just a cup of Yorkshire Tea when you open up Bear, Fuzzy. 😊