The 2005 Soc.Sexuality.Spanking
Summer Short Story Contest
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The Final Curtain
The 2005 Soc.Sexuality.Spanking
The Final Curtain |
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February 19, 2006
Hi Everyone,
I'm sure you, as well as I, will be heaving a sigh of relief that at last the SSC2005 contest has come to a close. Every year the contest starts off in an optimistic atmosphere and almost every year some trauma or other occurs to blight that frame of mind, and this year has been no exception.
The great thing about the SSC is that it survives all that, it's a wonderful contest to be a part of and, although one feels a little battered and bruised by the tides of ill fortune which constantly beset us, the appetite to come back for more is always there.
I have been given the responsibility of writing these closing notes as the contest, which started in the hands of Mary, has finished in the hands of Y Lee Coyote and me for reasons I will come to shortly. Although not elected as coordinators, we did at the start offer our help to Mary in the administration of the contest, not realising then how much of a commitment that would turn out to be.
Before I come on to the meat of the contest, the results, I would first like to make a few acknowledgments.
I want to thank my colleague Y Lee Coyote for all his hard technical work in archiving the stories and, beyond that, providing me with terrific technical and moral support, not to mention his sardonic cracks at my singular inability to reformat attachments into e-mails. <g> I would also like to thank Mija for her work on producing the special awards, which she has done with her unique sense of whimsy!! Also, a quick tip of the hat to Zpry, the website's artist, for enlarging the collection of award plaques displayed on the prize winning stories.
Next on my grateful thanks list are the SSC Readers who have done a fantastic job in difficult circumstances. They have worked tremendously hard to produce a set of fair auditable results and I thank them all for their dedication and hard work.
In trying to be as fair as we could, given the circumstances that neither of us was elected to make any decisions, Y Lee and I put many decisions out to a Readers' vote. The first of those votes was who should judge the contest and that resulted in a change to previous SSCs, the voting determining that the Readers should judge the contest. The second vote was whether the contest was to be decided by the initial Readers' rankings or by a shortlist. The Readers overwhelmingly plumped for a shortlist, which meant extra work for them because each shortlisted story would be read again by each Reader.
We selected the best entries using a two step process. Each entry was scored by at least three Readers and the scores averaged. The top scorers in each category were then ranked by the Readers and those ranks averaged. In a few categories the top was very clear while in four we end up with a tie. This second round of voting partly explains the long delay in declaring the results, but the aim was to produce as transparently fair a set of results as possible and I hope we have done that.
Now I just want to say a few words about Mary, our SSC 2005 Organizer. She offered to take this contest on when there was a lack of other volunteers, and despite the fact that her health was not good. A combination of problems with her computer, a nightmarish experience with a burglar and personal issues led to stress and worry which eventually resulted in her health breaking down and thus having to abandon her stewardship of the contest. I'm sure everyone joins me in thanks for her initial efforts and in wishing her a speedy return to health as soon as possible.
Most of all, of course, I want to thank all the writers without whose wonderful efforts there would be not have been a contest. Everyone has their own ideas of which was the best story and who should have won et cetera but one thing we can all agree on is gratitude for the efforts all these people put in to entertain us every year. OK, writers don't walk home with a trophy or a big money prize but I hope they all feel that the fun of entering for the sheer hell of it was worth while. There have been some terrific stories as usual and the SSC remains, for me, something unique and delightful.
So on to the results! I will announce these in alphabetical order of category and the first of those also happens to be the most popular one. It is obvious what 
, 
and 
indicate. 
indicates honorable mention.
Adult
It's always a champagne occasion when a writer new to the contest produces a story considered worthy of first place and this year is just such. Congratulations to Crimson Shakti, aka Claire, on her triumph with this tale of a nervous first timer whose fantasy is about to come true. A sufficient number of Readers so loved this one that it romped home!Rhosy Medre stories are always a delight and this is no exception. A warm and witty story this about the village mailman with his own methods of dealing with those ladies who understamp their mail. Great story from a great writer!Another writer who makes my day when I read his stories. A delightful tale of a compulsive spanker in New York who approaches strangers with his proposition. Well worthy of honours!I am delighted that the Readers liked my Maria Sharapova fantasy enough to rate it worthy of an HM which, at best, is all I feel it deserved.
Age play
The first category with a tie for first place.
An emotional story about a father/son relationship which results in an interesting switch of roles. Y Lee writes with a lot of heart and feeling.A worthy winner with an age play twist. Valerie's style is witty and distinctive and this tale of a girl who spoke too much Chinglish is a delight.It's that darn Coyote again! This cute, delightful story is told with a certain deliberate ambiguity and works on more than one level of perception.
Child
Now this section is where Y Lee and I are glad we kept the Readers' marks…
Well what can I say about the most fantastic, talented, gifted wri...Hey!! You could take the tomatoes OUT of the crate before throwing them!!! It seems the readers enjoyed my tale of a middle aged man frustrated by his lover's jealous daughter until he was presented with the opportunity to take the girl down a peg! Thank you folks!Y Lee's delicious tale of a fifteen year old newsboy agent who realises just what a married woman left on her own without male discipline REALLY needs obviously pushed a lot of buttons and deservedly scored with the readers.We will be laying Coyote traps before next year's contest but this story of a naughty boy who lies to his father is a real delight. For those of you who haven't read this one yet I won't reveal the ending, but it's cute!This was an unusual spanking story in that it took the form of a rant which slightly confused some Readers but was well written and provoked a lot of thought. Nice effort!
…all I can say is we didn't pay anyone, folks and we have the scores to prove it! <g>
Edge
Well this section produced a Chinese hat trick.
A beautifully written story of some intensity about a punishment caning and its mental and emotional impact which deservedly scored with the readers. A well merited first place.A superbly crafted story with considerable ambiguity about what actually happened. Valerie's ability to get inside the mind emerges clearly in this delightful tale.This story of a mutant girl really did qualify for edge and the story both confused and delighted our Readers in almost equal measure. A tribute to the writer's versatile style.Y Lee's fun but edgy story of an undercover agent scored well with the Readers and deservedly earns an HM.
Historic
Another tie for first place here!
This wonderful tale of the birching of two young girls in front of a regiment of British soldiers during the War of Independence certainly pushed my buttons and those of the Readers too. A well deserved first place.Yep it's that Birch again. This story of an ancient Irish prince and his experience with a very spirited young lady seems to have found favour with the Readers, which I deeply appreciate.This delightful romantic story is by another, I believe, newcomer to the contest and congratulations Andrew on a fine piece of work.This period piece 'bodice ripper' from the talented Wu Qi stirred the collective bosoms of our Readers sufficiently to gain an HM. Yet another accolade for this talented writer.
Mini Saga
Yet another tie for first place!
This is a cute, witty analysis of the ups and downs of taking an agents commission. Well done CK!I believe Felinna is new to the contest too and congratulations on a witty piece of work which is part of a fourteenth anniversary present from Felinna to her guy. Well done, Felinna!A little gem about the consequences of voyeurism!! A nice piece of work, Sem!This delightful mini spanking exchange pleased the Readers enough to guarantee Sem an HM. Well done!
Missing Scene
No tie in this section and this delightful piece from Mary Catherine was a clear winner with our Readers and rightfully so! Congratulations MC!A gem of a story from a writer so comfortable with the medium, this Harry Potter missing scene attracted a lot of admiration.A missing scene from Sin City this story was much applauded for its tense, racy style and excellent descriptions. I believe Doogster, too, is new to the contest so particular congratulations!A beautiful take on Arthurian legend which just failed to make the medal positions but a great effort, King Pelles.
Not My Kink
Here we had a clear winner and the only tie for second place.
This beautifully constructed tale within a tale earned some rave reviews from the Readers and a justly earned first place for Wu Qi.This was a brave story about gay men which was justly praised by the Readers for its understanding of a gay relationship which the writer admits is completely alien to her. Nice work.A very well written and mischievously perverse story which had all sorts of devious undertones…and was all the better for that. I'm not certain if Tyr is new to the contest but in any event a fine contribution.This sweet tale of two little female party wreckers who got their comeuppance deserves its HM!
School
I believe Mr. Math is a newcomer to the contest and to win a very popular category first time out is a wonderful achievement. This story of a girl asked to choose between humiliation and additional pain pushed a lot of very delicious buttons with our readers and very deservedly took first place.Another newcomer, I believe, and another first class story! Our Readers loved the way Stella built up the circumstances around which a girl in a foreign land inadvertently broke school rules and then how the story deliberately allowed us to guess the rest. Well done!A delightful tale of a school bully getting his deserts when the script of a school play mysteriously gets amended. Nice story Y!A naughty schoolgirl story with a caning twist earned Valerie high marks from the Readers
Science Fiction
Our Readers loved this dreamily romantic tale of a space heroine undressed, whipped and seduced by an alien life form which looked remarkably like trees. Once again this writer's versatility is clearly demonstrated. Very nice indeed!Readers loved this Star Trek parody where education is taught via holodecks and what happens when a naughty boy tries to access a sex deck and finds he has been re-routed somewhere a little less appetising! First rate stuff again from Y Lee!This was a great example of the writer showing her humour and whimsy in a tale of an incompetent space cadet and a very arrogant extraterrestrial. Extremely well written and very amusing!This amusing yarn about an alien with a secret spanking obsession rightly earned good marks from the Readers.
Strange Places
I am a little embarrassed at winning with this one, especially as I hadn't realised that Wal-Mart was a non-union company!! Despite that the Readers appear to have liked my tale of unorthodox staff discipline and thank you once more.The Readers loved the sweet, gentle mystical oriental qualities of this story, proving once more that Valerie is a writer of considerable and versatile talents. Wonderful story!A gripping and painful story of how a lad discovered the meaning of the story's title while on a visit to the USS Constitution. A first class story from a compelling writer.This eerie story of a near death experience and its aftermath was highly rated and well worthy of an HM.
Special Awards
Well that wraps up the formal awards for each category but of course every year we allocate Special Awards to stories which have caught the eye in some way or another, usually for some completely quirky and bizarre reason. The special awards this year have been compiled by the lovely Mija so any comments, brickbats or rotten tomatoes should be aimed in her direction.
So that's about it for another year (and a half) and now we have a full …er possibly 12 weeks before the 2006 contest begins. There will be calls for volunteers shortly but you DO get a rest first!!
Thanks once again, from Mary, Y Lee and me, to everyone who took part.
Alex
Click to go to the index to the entries -- the stories and poems -- by sequence, by author and by category
© Copyright Alex and A.I.L., 2005-2006
Last updated: February 19, 2006