Blue Watch (or Blue Box) - [Slang] a severe thunderstorm watch.

Welcome to The Blue Watch TwiFic contest!

Thunderstorms. Blizzards. Hurricanes. Duststorms. Tornadoes.

Funnel clouds. Lightning strikes. Destruction, devastation, and irreparable damage.

Hailstones as big as golf balls, rising floodwaters, deadly gale-force winds.

Bring it. Bring all of it.

D E A D L I N E E X T E N D E D ! !

We want your storm-themed one shots. From snowed-in fluff to holding on in the eye of the hurricane, we want your words (up to 20k of them), in any pairing and any genre, that involve stormy weather. Let the dramatic, terrifying beauty of a tornado, gentle wonder of a quiet snowstorm, or the lonely violence of a sea squall inspire you to write your favorite characters weathering the storm in whatever way they can.

As if severe weather wasn't majestic and inspiring enough on its own, we'll keep a tumblr ( ) loaded with images, songs, quotes and meteorological terminology that will keep your wheels turning. You are NOT required to use these prompts in your work, but, why wouldn't you? They're fucking awesome.

Follow us on twitter for the latest updates from your weather boy, Mike Newton: @TheBlueWatch

The Judges:

jacndaniel

jandco

JMDarhower

LovelyBrutal

RhythmJunkie

swirlsofchaos

TKegl

yellowglue

Secret Keeper: TheLadyInGrey42

Awards:

1st, 2nd, and 3rd public vote

1st, 2nd, and 3rd judges' vote

Specialty categories TBA

1st, 2nd and 3rd places for both public and judges' votes will receive banners. Specialty categories will receive banners as well as reviews by individual judges.

The Rules:

We want your all new one-shots (not continuations of existing stories) with a word count of 20,000 words or less. If you want to continue your story after the contest, please do - but your entry must stand alone.

You must have a valid FFn account.

Only one entry, plus one collaboration, per person.

Entries must be written in English, meet a minimum standard for quality, and be beta'd.

Any pairing or genre is accepted. If your story includes elements you feel may warrant a warning, please note that in the summary section of your entry's header and we will apply a standard warning to your story.

This contest is ANONYMOUS. DO NOT REVEAL YOUR ENTRY TO ANYONE IN ANY WAY. Please, promote the contest page itself, not individual entries. This helps create a level playing field for everyone involved.

Do not thank your beta/prereaders by name until the contest results are announced.

Do not publicly mention your word count or when you've finished and sent in your story.

Entries will be accepted beginning October 25th until December 10th.

UPDATED* Public voting will now take place December 11th - 22nd. Results will be announced December 22nd. All dates are subject to change.

Email your entries beginning October 25th to thebluewatch@. Our secret-keeper will remove your name from your entry so that your identity will not be known to the judges or the readers until the contest results are announced.

Please include this header text at the top of your entry:

TITLE:

PAIRING:

GENRE (optional):

AUTHOR NAME:

LINK TO YOUR FFN PROFILE:

WORD COUNT:

SUMMARY:

Any questions? PM us at this account or find us on twitter @TheBlueWatch !

Best luck to all! We can't wait to cozy up with some entries!

*ANNOUNCING OUR BLUE WATCH AWARDS RESULTS*

Thanks to all of our entrants for their beautiful words and for the courage to share them!! We loved seeing the storms inside each of you!! We wish we could recognize all of you for your amazing talent and creativity!!

PUBLIC VOTE

3rd place: Timed Collision by MrzEdCullen

2nd place: Hell on High Water by thimbles

1st place: The Violet Hour by vampsandsparrow (a collaboration between VampsHaveLaws and SparrowNotes24)

JUDGES' VOTE

3rd place: Winter in my Heart by lellabeth and sulliedsoles

2nd place: Hell on High Water by thimbles

1st place: The Violet Hour by vampsandsparrow (a collaboration between VampsHaveLaws and SparrowNotes24)

OUR JUDGES' INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:

WEATHER THE STORM AWARD (for overcoming strife) chosen by jacndaniel goes to

All Fall Down by sulliedsoles

EYE OF THE STORM AWARD chosen by jandco

goes to

The Violet Hour by vampsandsparrow (a collaboration between VampsHaveLaws and SparrowNotes24)

FROZEN SOLID AWARD chosen by Kharizzmatik/JM Darhower

goes to

Finding Peace by jdifrans1

LAUGHING UP A STORM AWARD (for achievement in comedy) chosen by LovelyBrutal

goes to

Sahaira Storm by lil hummingbird and Day-Zeee

ICE STORM AWARD chosen by RhythmJunkie

goes to

Winter in my Heart by lellabeth and sulliedsoles

THE STORM INSIDE AWARD chosen by swirlsofchaos

goes to

Tempest by CayStar

STORM THAT CHILLED ME TO THE BONE AWARD chosen by TKegl

goes to

Dead of Winter by MarchHare5

RIDING ROGUE WAVES AWARD chosen by YellowGlue

goes to

Hell on High Water by thimbles

CLOUDBURSTS: OUR HONORABLE MENTIONS

Port in the Storm by sophiacorgi

Riptide by eddiebell69

Our sincerest thanks to our secret-keeper, theladyingrey42, for her efforts fielding questions and keeping our contest spotlessly anonymous!

Thank you for everyone who sent us inspiration (Packy Pie, abcoolie, we're looking at you!) and those who supported us so kindly by discussing, reblogging, reviewing and retweeting!! This contest was a success because of you, and we're so thankful!

We'd also like to thank all our illustrious judges for their hard work and dedication, pulling through despite extensions and scorecard issues and running right up against the holidays! We appreciate you and are so grateful to have worked on this with you!

Please don't forget to go check out and leave reviews for all our entries as they're posted on their individual authors' profiles!

We hope you liked the rain, girl.

So much love,

LovelyBrutal (Karin) & YellowGlue (Sarah)

p.s. see you next year.