Time to put the thunderdome back into this Thunderdome. We are talking about one on one, no holds barred grudge matches where the enemy is not the judge (although we are not on your side) but your fellow Thunderdomers.

Sign up starts now, and lasts 24 HOURS ONLY. Once you have signed up, you will be matched up with another competitor and given a prompt. Each pairing will have a different prompt. Pairings may be random or may be seeded. Who knows?

YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY BETWEEN 24 AND 48 HOURS AFTER THE PROMPT IS GIVEN.

After the first round, the winners will proceed to the Battle Royale where they will have another 48 HOURS to compete for the:

WINNER OF ALL WINNERS

The losers of the first round will proceed to the Battle Royale with Chickencheese where they will attempt to avoid the ignominy of being declared the:

LOSER OF ALL LOSERS

Some general guidelines (not so much guidelines as goddamn Commandments Written In Stone):

Action. I want these stories, no matter the prompt, to have some movement, some weight, some kinetic bloody energy. Write a story with two people standing in a room talking to each other and I will knock you down to losertown for seven generations.

There is a ZERO TOLERANCE policy to cliché, idioms, stock characters/ expressions etc. If you can't be bothered writing a few hundred words of original prose, why the fuck should I be bothered reading it?

Thunderdome begins NOW.


Round 1:
THE DRAW

SurreptitiousMuffin v Erik Shawn-Bohner

Sitting Here v Etherwind

Jonked v Jeza

Capntastic v Zack_Gochuck (AKA the battle of the Losertars)

Bad Seafood v Tender Child Loins

The Saddest Rhino v sebmojo

AutoSnakes v Ronnie_Long (Congratulations, one of you will win in your very first Thunderdome! And then go on to be smashed)

Benagain v Noah

Velyoukai v sentientcarbon

Found Sound v Seldom Posts

Canadian Surf Club v Rose Wreck

Peel v Greatbacon

Bear Sleuth v Fanky Malloons

LordVonEarlDuke v Martello

Confirmed winners in the first round

SurreptitiousMuffin
Sitting Here
Jonked
Zack_Gochuck
Tender Child Loins
Ronnie_Long
Noah
Seldom Posts
Canadian Surf Club
Greatbacon
Fanky Malloons
LordVonEarlDuke


ROUND TWO

One of the best flash fiction authors was, of course, Donald Barthelme. I first read about his stuff a while ago in George Saunder's book - the Braindead Megaphone where Saunders dissects Barthelme's story - The School. Saunders of course is a great writer himself, who has written a bunch of funny short stories, like Comm Comm

Given this week's stories have, for the most part, been pretty grim (honourable exception being LordVonEarlDuke ), for the Battle Royale with Chicken and the Battle Royale with Cheese here is your assignment:

Write a humourous satirical story. 500 words. The losers have to incorporate 'cheese' into their story. The winners have to incorporate 'chicken'. It can be central or tangential to the story.No other rules. (Etherwind, if you make a post asking what 'no other rules means' so help me God...).