This was a reply I typed up as a reply for[URL="http://www.menewsha.com/forum/main/announcements/170691-ipod-touch-ipod-classic-contest-update.html"] this thread[/URL], but to avoid drama I never posted it. I didn't want to erase it though, so here it sits.

[line]red[/line]

I was almost convinced not to post this. Everyone said it would make waves. Well, what's a few waves in a wave pool? I really didn't want to create any drama over this whole contest, but I just have to say it. My sense of fair play is offended. No, worse, my faith in Menewsha has fallen dramatically over this debacle.

Yes, nowhere in the rules did it state that paying people was not allowed. But that's mainly because there were hardly any rules to begin with. Inso thought up this contest off the cuff and put it up within the span of [URL="http://www.menewsha.com/forum/1768129337-post161414.html"]an hour[/URL]. It didn't have many rules going in. Almost all of them were made up as we went along. This was meant to be a friendly contest. In that, I think Inso and the rest of us were very naive. We were naive to think that we could have a friendly contest. Once gold started changing hands in exchange for votes, it was no longer friendly. It can never be friendly competition as long as people with gold are going around buying up votes.

I understand that people have worked hard for their gold and various other items, but that's not what the contest is about. The contest is not about working hard for your items, everybody does that. Just because you worked hard for your items, you are not entitled to win because you can now give your items away as incentive for votes. This contest is supposed to be about creating an interesting thread. It is about promoting activity on Menewsha. It's about the community, not the prize and yet the community doesn't feel very comfortable or happy right now.

Prizes are nice, but I fail to see how buying a prize feels good. I fail to see how shutting out all the competition with your monetary power is about a happy community! It makes me feel miserable. It makes me lose faith in Menewsha. This is not in the spirit of the Menewsha I love! This is a face of Menewsha I do not like. It's an ugly face. It makes me sad. It makes me look at people in a new light.

I know it seems like I'm the unpopular minority in this, but I think for many of the same reasons I've stayed rather quite about it, other people are as well. This is Menewsha. People don't normaly going around attacking each other. People like it nice and quiet, so they're nice and quietly voicing their opinions in the dark corners of the site rather than stirring up drama. Nobody likes drama. I don't even think Gary likes drama, he's just very passionate.

I think the reason he's so passionate is because this is less of a "Who is right and who is wrong" issue as it is a moral issue. Technically, those who are giving money for likes are within the rules to do so, but since Inso doesn't have a team of lawyers at his back ironing out loopholes, his rules are based completely on his faith in the people of Menewsha. There are probably enough loopholes to make a rollercoaster. But it all boils down to morals. Is this within the rules? Technically, yes. Is it really the moral thing to do? Is it within the spirit of Menewsha? Not the Menewsha that I know and love. I'm very disappointed.

I haven't read all of the posts in this thread, I just felt I should get that off my chest. I'm not going to argue these things. I don't want to fight. This is just how I feel. I don't want any more drama. I'm just going to go back to my Corner and pretend we're all rainbows and unicorn farts.

I wrote this up hours before Gary's last reply, but it seems I hit the nail on the head with his attitude. Thank you for fighting Gary. I understand that your sense of justice is injured, mine is too. But all we can do is speak up and we've done so. So no more fighting ok?

Ugh. I am reminded why I never go there. :talk2hand:

Long, long ago (last night), Insomniac [url=http://www.menewsha.com/forum/main/announcements/165670-user-tagging-pinging-poking.html]announced a new tagging system[/url] for Menewsha. In doing to, he tagged everybody on line. Being tagged by the great leader of Menewsha had many quaking in their shoes. But one Cookie remained fearless, indignant even!

[QUOTE=For-Chan Cookie;1767845024]I'm kind of wrongly amused by everyone thinking they were in trouble. Personally, I was thinking "What is that evil overlord [URL=http://www.menewsha.com/forum/member.php?u=52071][I]Insomniac[/I][/URL]: saying about me?! *storms over*" Ok, maybe it wasn't quite like that, but similar :rofl:[/QUOTE]

In retaliation for this brash poking, Insomniac summoned the Cookie to a far corner of the kingdom.

[QUOTE=Insomniac;1767845057]*pokes [URL=http://www.menewsha.com/forum/member.php?u=29197][I]For-Chan Cookie[/I][/URL]: into a thread of no relevance* :P[/QUOTE]

Amused, but set on revenge, the Cookie retreated into the oft forgotten [url=http://www.menewsha.com/forum/art/literature-spot/poetry/]Poetry Forum[/url]. And there the battle of wits truly began. [url=http://www.menewsha.com/forum/art/literature-spot/poetry/129372-chans-limericks-other-silly-things.html#post1767845180]Dare you follow their awesome adventure of wits and words?[/url]

The Feast of Fools is nearly at an end. I've successfully entered two contests in five different categories!

I have two entries in the Writing Contest. First, a poem.

UPDATE: I won FIRST PLACE in both the Poetic Pranks and the Dribble Drabble contests! :boogie: Yay! [URL="http://www.menewsha.com/forum/community/community-discussion/166037-feast-fools-writing-contest-results.html"]The Results.[/URL]

[SIZE="5"][B][COLOR="#18E818"]Poetic Pranks[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]
[B]Word count:[/B] 191 (195 with the title)
[B]Entry:[/B]
[SIZE="4"][b]More Hawtsome than [COLOR="Red"]R[/COLOR][COLOR="DarkOrange"]a[/COLOR][COLOR="Yellow"]i[/COLOR][COLOR="#18E818"]n[/COLOR][COLOR="Blue"]b[/COLOR][COLOR="Indigo"]o[/COLOR][COLOR="Violet"]w[/COLOR][COLOR="Red"]s[/COLOR][/b][/SIZE]

Come one and all, allow me to regale
You with a grand and wondrous tale.
The tale of a creature so stunningly rare
with a majestic coif and sparkling derrière!

It swims like a porpoise and walks up in spaze
With a big smexeh grin and glasses on his face.
Lovingly referred to as Afrodonkey.
You only wish you could be half as funky!

More hawtsome than rainbows and unicorns!
People thank the goddesses for him being born.
They worship his sparkles and his fifth leg.
He's too bootiful for you, even if you beg.

A champion borker of Menewshan events
Ever the cause of some Meneshan's lament.
Impervious to laserz and fishing hooks
He gets by with his charm and dazzling looks.

He can't spell for beans and he's addicted to caps,
but people still love this obnoxious chap.
You may not like him, but he harts u,
just not as much as he harts his shampoo.

And that, my friends, is the end of our story
But feel free to spread word of his glory!
We must help his legend to grow,
That mysterious donkey with an Afro!

[line]red[/line]
And here is a Dribble Drabble!

[SIZE="5"][B][COLOR="Red"]Dribble and Drabble[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]
[B]Word count:[/B] 100
[B]Entry:[/B]

Yumeh wandered into a brightly colored tent and sniffed the air. He smelled food. Sweet food. Usually, he preferred fish, but lately he'd had too many sardines. Yumeh hopped up on a table and let out a purr. Cupcakes. He saw a cupcake with a bunny fish on top and eagerly pounced.

The bunnyfish's head popped off the squashed cake and rolled off the table. Yumeh happily jumped down and followed it, leaving behind a squashed cupcake full of paw prints.

As Yumeh collected his prize, he heard a loud wail.

“What happened to my cupcake?!”

Yumeh innocently slipped away.

[line]#18E818[/line]
The dribble is referring to my food contest entries. Here are my cupcakes!

[B][SIZE="5"][COLOR="#6F0EE8"](Cup)Cake[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B]
[B]Inspiration:[/B]The Feast of Fools and Menewsha was my inspiration. So we have Yumeh as a jester with a clown nose and A bunnyfish with a fortune cookie, thus making him a Fortune Fish! :D
[B]Entry Name:[/B] Fun with Fondant
[B]Entry:[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/fof_cupcakes.jpg[/img]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/fof_cupcakes2.jpg[/IMG]

[line]#6F0EE8[/line]
[B][SIZE="5"][COLOR="orange"]Cookie[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B]
[B]Inspiration:[/B] My inspiration for this cookie was fortune telling. As I am a For-Chan Cookie, so I used a fortune cookie on my cookie!
[B]Entry Name:[/B] Good Fortunes!
[B]Entry:[/B]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/fof_cookie.jpg[/IMG]

[line]orange[/line]
[B][SIZE="5"][COLOR="#1560DB"]Freestyle[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B]
[B]Inspiration[/B] - I wanted to make something out of the ordinary, so I made some desserts that look like a main course! All of this food is made with crepes with sweet fillings.
[B]Entry Name[/B] - Dinner for Dessert? A Feast Fit for Fools!
[B]Entry[/B] - (Click on the thumbnails to see bigger pictures)
[thumb]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/pizzacrepe.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/chocotortellini.jpg[/thumb]
Pizza - Made from a folded crepe with strawberry jam for the "sauce" and cream cheese as cheese. Fresh raspberry bits are trying to act like pepperoni.
Tortellini - This crepe tortellini is filled with nutella and chopped walnuts. The inside shot was too fuzzy to bother posting.

[thumb]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/pastacrepe.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/pastacrepe2.jpg[/thumb]
Pasta with Marinara and Meatballs - The pasta is made from long linguine-like strips of crepes with strawberry jam for sauce and dark red cherries as meatballs. There's a pinch of powdered sugar to look like parmesan.

[thumb]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/crabrangooncrepe.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/misc/crabrangooncrepe2.jpg[/thumb]
Crab Rangoon with Duck Sauce - This Crepe Rangoon is filled with cream cheese and fresh raspberries with a side of apricot jam.

[line]#1560DB[/line]
[url=http://www.menewsha.com/forum/community/community-discussion/contests-giveaways/166221-winners-feast-fools-art-food-contests.html]I took first place in all categories![/url] Woo hoo! I hope there's more competition next time. It's nice to win prizes, but it's also nice to battle it out!

[COLOR="Deeppink"][IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/button.gif[/IMG] [SIZE="4"]Completed Orders[/SIZE] [IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/button.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/button.gif[/IMG] Since I just link to the orders in [URL="http://tinyurl.com/papfor"]my shop[/URL] to save space, I thought I should have some place that you could see them all in one place. So here you go, all of my finished orders in display ^_^

[CENTER][B]Hadsvich[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/heliosblue2.png[/img]

[B]White2Fire[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/white2fire.gif[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/wifeyshop.png[/img]

[B]HamletSpamlet[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/hamquest.png[/img]

[B]`Kitami [/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/kitami.gif[/img]

[B]Lunanuova[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/luna.png[/img]

[B]cuppycake_geek[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/cuppycakesoc.png[/img]

[B]`Alones[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/Lotusban.png[/img]

[B]Kanaria[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/ilu_narek.gif[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/ilu_runey_bear.gif[/img]

[B]Nolori[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/noloriban.png[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/noloribar2.png[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/noloribar3.png[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/noloribar4.png[/img]

[B]Dyohna[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/dyohna.png[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/serious.png[/img]

[B]JellyBeanInc[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/jellybeaninc.gif[/img]

[B]Roachi[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/auroraborealis.gif[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/cosplayaanon.gif[/img]

[B]Kiari[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/chuscharity2.png[/img]

[B]RainbowMuffinage [/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/imaquestin.png[/img]

[B]Scribbled Lore[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/firststop.png[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/newbiecloset1.png[/img]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/haunting.gif[/img]

[b]crazymuch[/b]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/crazy2.gif[/img]

[b]xX_undead cookie_Xx[/b]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/undeadcookie.gif[/img]

[b]Yuu-Cute[/b]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/bunnyshop.gif[/img]

[B]Angelwings0071[/B]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/slytherin1.png[/img]

[b]Scribbled Lore[/b]
[img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/jacfan.png[/img]

[b]Lilith W[/b]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/feast.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_lilith.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_silver.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_knife.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_silverwing.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_blue.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_syraan-1.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_silenia.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_luna.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_kandii.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_ivvy.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_goblin.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/fof_keyori.png[/IMG]

[b]avi[/b]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/avibing2.gif[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/willgobang.png[/IMG]

[B]Sensible Cricket[/B]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/twrblinkie.gif[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/twr.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/twrbig.png[/IMG]

[B]Little Monster[/B]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/monsterblog.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i16/tosaygaia/meneshop/pickup/monsterquest.png[/IMG]

[/CENTER]
[/color]