Writing Contest Number Three (+ Giveaways!)

Long time no see, SteamGifts people! It's Squire Zed again, crawling out of the basement and wandering away from the unhealthily addicting glow of Final Fantasy XIV to host another writing contest! Yay! Now for the details!

I will be the judge (so expect my biases), and the contest will close Friday, September 27. While in the past I have offered prizes, I cannot guarantee that I can do so this time. While I would like to give prizes, that entirely depends on my financial state in two or three weeks when I judge the contest and announce the winners. If there are prizes, expect them to be similar to those for previous contests. What I can guarantee is that first, second, and runners up will be announced, and I can offer feedback on your work if you request it.

The rules for the contest are:

At least 500 words per entry to qualify. No length limit, but the distinction between short and long for this contest is 3000 words.

There is no particular genre requirement.

One entry per person. You may submit one shorter work and one longer work if you want twice the chances to win, but unless it's good, don't expect anything.

I will be looking for good grammar and spelling, and also that you don't just copy paste someone else's work. In addition, try not to just summarize or copy someone else's story. While your work can be referential, parody, etc., I value some degree of original work and thought.

The restrictions:
English language. I don't have high enough reading comprehension in any other language to weigh those entries properly, and Google Translate would not be your friend in the grammar category.

No erotica; adult elements are fine, but if your work is just smut, I'm not interested.

Preferably no fan-fiction, though if it's done well, I guess I'll consider it.

You may use works that you've written before, but remember to format them properly. For the sake of keeping the thread clean, I will not judge submissions that are simply posted in as text to the thread. The only exception is that I will not allow submissions that were in prior writing contests that I hosted.

If you submit a work, you may ask me for a game that has been in a bundle that has steam keys; if I have a key, I will give it to you once you have completed the work. Your work must meet all of the above criteria, but there is no quality requirement. A list of my spare Humble Bundle games can be found here, but feel free to inquire about other sites/bundles, as I have purchased many bundles and have many spare games stashed around: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3. If for some reason the key does not work, I will provide you with another choice; however, I am not responsible if Humble Bundle is wrong.

How to submit:

Make a clickable link to a Google Document, which is accessible with the link, or share the document with me using the address "squirezed@gmail.com". You can do this whenever you want, but remember that I will be judging the works based on how they are over the weekend following September 27th or shortly later.

LEGAL
This is not to get rights to your works so I can republish them. There are no contracts, you keep your work, I'm just interested in seeing it. I don't want to publish it (though I will contact the winners about links here if they do not post public links) or make money from it, and all rights will remain with the author. Thanks to schalart, for pointing this out. That said, your submissions should still be your original works which you own distribution rights for. Legalese is hard, so unless you are the original author of an otherwise unpublished work, please do not submit the work. Remember that posting your work publicly online can make some publishers refuse to publish your work. In case I actually muster up some prizes: If your place of residence doesn't let you win contests, tough. Not my responsibility to guarantee that you won't get in trouble. I live in the US, and I will not circumvent region locks to get you your prizes should you win.

Feel free to contact me at the email address above or via Steam message or any other arcane way you devise to contact me for clarification. I will try to respond to questions posted in this thread.

Link to previous contests: Writing Contest Number One; Writing Contest Number Two

WINNERS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED! SEE COMMENTS! GET KEYS IF YOU WON OR JUST IF YOU ENTERED OR WHATEVER! CALL NOW!!!!!!!