Hoist the colours, proud fiction writers!

Dear planes-walkers, eccentric and curious travelers between the thousand dimensions of the Bananafish realms, you know that week after week my love for you just grows vigorous (potassium-platonic love, naturally).
I, @f3nix the Phoenician, abandoned like an obsidian monolith in this mind-breaking judging labor, hear a voice over there. Why I'm performing this sudden captatio benevolentiae? But, of course, because this was the most difficult edition to judge since the beginning of this contest!

Let's say that @gaby-crb contribution was brilliant. In such little space, she presented us three characters with well-defined and different traits. I could dare to say: each of them in a different moment and state of their existence. Moreover, the openness of the plot and her typical discreet style represented an essential premise for letting every participant's creativity fly high. In other words, this story was an opportunity and a challenge at the same time.

I progressively applied every judgment parameter and I came to the result that we have a similar quality between 5 of the 12 participants: @dirge, @calluna, @raj808, @gwilberiol, @felt.buzz. Probably, @calluna slightly distinguished herself from the others for the delicate yet powerful disclosure of emotions and narration. I applied a criterion of "popular vote excludes the podium" in this case to ease my judgment. I also had to admit that the subtle nuances of the other participants can't justify a neat decision, which otherwise would be forced. Hence, I focused on the quality of dialogues and, you know what, on the character of Thomas (probably the story could have been named "Thomas" instead of "Kayla"). In essence, judging is not an exact science but - when done with a humble attitude and, most of all, hours of rereading - could provide valuable insights to the participants. This is part of what I like to think as an added value for the whole yellow-fin family.

What's boiling in the bananafish kitchen (the news!)

• The Bananafish acolytes are blessed by upvotes. Those of the generous @co-in and also those of our amazing witness @crowdmind. Thank you to the wondrous @crowdmind community for the support they've given to the Bananfish Tribe! Their mission to empower crowdsourcing initiatives is of tremendous benefit to the Steemit community. Check out their blog and consider as well a vote for their witness, @Crowdwitness. Let's raise a pint of our best grog to @svemirac, @hidden84 and the Crowdmind Community for their sustain! Cheers to you!

• Another pint of the finest grog to our new Bananafish Knight @felt.buzz and his selfless delegation to the deity!

• Have any of you braved the - Banana Grog!

• Don't forget to join the Realms, where you can promote yourself and meet all of us strange creatures!

• Curie factoid: we have been supported by the amazing Curie community with 46 upvotes in 42 editions.The rate is increasing lately..we have now more than an average of 1 curie upvote per edition!.
  @brisby and @cyemela are tied out in front, closely followed by @marcoriccardi, @calluna, and @tristancarax.

• Last but not least: the prophet and knights started working on a unique project. A treasure hunt where you will be able to choose your destiny through a labyrinth of stories and death-life choices... in the end, a rich reward of 30+ STEEM will wait for one lucky participant like a pot of gold under a double rainbow! Don't miss our next updates!

..And the winners of this potassium laced edition are:

• GRAND PRIZE - 6 STEEM: ex aequo between @raj808 and @gwilberiol, who win 3 STEEM each. Allow me to abandon a haughty, emphatic style and go straight to the point. Rowan, I asked you if there was a specific style choice in your thirteenth entry but you didn't reply to me (you will be never forgiven). The style was evocative but dried in a positive way. You've been like an authoritative orchestra director in front of all the nuances offered by Gaby's beginning. Master Gwilberiol, the standard you deliver is always high. I loved how you adopted the perspective of Thomas when describing the scene inside the office. Manny's dialogue was intense and every detail vivid.

• SECOND PRIZE - 4 STEEM: ex aequo between @dirge and @felt.buzz, who win 2 STEEM each. Dirge has awesome dialogues, depth in the characters and such a smooth sentence structure that you could read him for hours. @felt.buzz welcome! (did we say that already?) I loved how he portrayed Thomas. His story talks about a rite of passage, an initiation to the adult age and acceptance between the family's adults. It does it with a great balance between descriptive parts, dialogues, and plot.

• BEST COMMENT AND POPULAR VOTE: 4 SBI straight to @calluna! The best comment was that to @seesladen. Not easy, considering the experimental, brave interpretation of our Nigerian friend. About her story, I could say so many things. I even remained stuck in front of that final "don't". How much life, love, deprivation, and life again behind that firm request. Calluna's story had almost everything. I made a comparison between her story and the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi in the comments' section.. mhm, the potassium deity didn't receive a lot of replies this time (no problem, I will send my lovely friends, the four horsemen, down in the Realms).

Sustain the @bananafish project through your delegations! We're a selfless inclusive and decentralized community, we put our heart in what we do and a lot of passion and everyone will be abundantly rewarded for their generosity as the @bananafish will keep growing. Here you may find a guide by @marcoriccardi on how to sustain this project.

A special thank to @felt.buzz, @gwilberiol, @dirge, @theironfelix, @raj808, @brisby, @maverickinvictus, @cyemela, @marcoriccardi, @calluna, @oivas, @anixio, @ntowl for their precious delegations, making this project a reality!
If you like this contest..SPREAD THE GOSPEL! We're grateful for your resteeming and word of mouth. Everything helps to grow together!

SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR EDITION #43, BRAVE WRITERS OF THE REALM!