Thirdly

I can imagine Cal running off to Uncle Zuma yelling "Some hot lady with Nos's face just kidnapped my Dhampir!!" 😂

This is one of my tamer ones, too, if I'm not mistaken. And oh-so-fun!

When a Hispanic person starts mentioning sandals or their chancletas/chanclas, you know things are serious!🤣

A drama worthy of the juiciest, edge-of-your-seat, favorite telenovela episode! ¡Puro fuego!

You nailed it!! Well, well done!! He stood near the edge of the sprawling dance floor, a tall, impossibly thin figure swallowed by the shadows of a towering floral arrangement. - Not me envying that height already. The scent of white roses and heavy lilies was cloying, thick enough to coat the back of his throat, mixing with the metallic, acidic tang of the cheap champagne he had been throwing back for the last two hours. - As someone who's attended a LOT of weddings, I know exactly what he's talking about! What a vivid, almost visceral detail. Bravo! The tattoos didn’t stop there; jagged, beautiful linework traced the line of his throat, a dark vine of thorns and bruised petals that marked his skin like a permanent collar. - Wait, why am I drooling? I bat for the other team. The older aunts in the family had whispered about them all evening, casting disapproving glances at the ink that scarred his otherwise handsome, boyish face. - The older aunts should learn to appreciate modern beauty. Don-Marco held court near the ice sculpture - of what? A swan? Venus de Milo? A heart? His silver hair was perfectly swept back, his bespoke charcoal suit hugging a broad, powerful frame that belied his age. - Dagnabbit, I already said I bat for the other team! He was also the man who had systematically dismantled Luca’s sanity, chewed up his heart, and spat it out on the pavement. - Words can't express how much I love how this line was delivered. cold, obsidian eyes. - Yesssss, I love it when writers describe colors. He raised his glass, just an inch, a silent, mocking toast directed entirely at the boy whose life he had stolen. - Oof. This is starting to feel like the opposite of Cassie and Ben's A Second Dance. "Papá," - Words can't express how much I love the grammatically correct accent over the second A here. You need to live a little, mijo. - ¡Eso! You need a nice girl. - ¡Eso no! Send all the nice girls my way, not his way. It was a gesture so obscenely intimate, so dripping with malicious intent, that Luca physically stumbled. - Asshole. "Tequila," Luca told the bartender, his voice shaking. "Neat. Double." - For real. Can't blame him. I know how you beg. I know how easily you break. - Lemme at him! Just Lemme at him, I have a sandal right here in my hand!! "Stop," Isabella commanded, holding up a single, shaking hand to silence him. Her gaze snapped back to Marco, and the sorrow vanished, replaced once more by a terrifying wrath. "You don't speak to him. You don't even look at him." - Good sister! You put him in his place! I have friends in the federales who will gladly look the other way for me. - HA! Nice. He didn't have to talk to Marco ever again. He didn't have to dance to his tune. He was free. - Hear hear! --- Well, this was an excellent read; when is it not when it comes from you? Haha! I loved it. I hope Luca finds his real person someday.

You did great! Everyone really stepped up a notch this year on their entries. I was impressed.

Oh, man! It was well-deserved. For this being your first time participating, you really hit a homerun when it came to theme and topnotch entertainment! As the Germans say, I had "nothing to complain about!"

Because you not only did great in misdirection, you wrote one of my top favorite stories this year. You didn't participate last year, but there is a long running joke with @Gary L doling out punishments for the liars (but if you participate, you are supposed to misdirect and keep others guessing).

This was such a guilty pleasure to read! Well worth taking a look!!

Yes, agreed. Success! 🥰 Right? On both counts! Yaaaaay! Glad you enjoyed it, Adi! 🥰

Teamwork makes the dream work. 🤣 Success! 🥰 Yaaay! Glad you thought so, Cassie, my queen. 🥰 HAHAHA! Right?

All of my male friends take forever to poop due to just how much they eat. 🤣 What goes in must come out, after all. So they bring their phones and play games or scroll in the meantime. Right? Ambrosia was quick to think the worst case. Right?

Right? I saw a joke or skit somewhere online about men singing in public bathroom stalls while taking a shit and thought, "what if..." 🤣 Success! 🥰 Right? Most moms know best. Thanks, Lee! 🥰

Ok, first of all, my guesses do not count because I was a participant, but I'm pretty sure, I got 4-5 guesses correct at SOME point in time. Second of all, congratulations to mi hermano @Gary L for not only destroying me emotionally with his story, but for crafting the most Forbidden'd Knowledge story this year. THIRD OF ALL: The Ledger of the Howling Void by @chris191070 - SO GOOD! The Ledger by @drsawzall - SO GOOD! Wrong Window by @Topher Lydon - SO GOOD! Coffee with Supervision by @Mikiesboy - SO GOOD! Sweet Sour Paradox Logic by @Kileoli - SO GOOD I'M HIRING YOUR HUSBAND TO SPANK YOU! Just the Facts, Man by @Lee Wilson - SO GOOD! Murder At 9th and Tom by @astone2292 - SO GOOD! No Official Reason by @Myr - SO GOOD IT COULD HAVE BEEN A MOVIE! Undeliverable by @Ieshwar - SO GOOD! Gemma by @CassieQ - SO GOOD! Peeping Tom by @kbois - SO GOOD, I KNEW IT WAS YOU! The Ivory Fig Ceremony by @BendtedWreath - SO GOOD! Emptying the Library by @Gary L - SO GOOD! WAY TO GO! Unexpected Discovery by @Bill W - SO GOOD!

I tell ya, I've been trying to figure out by deduction which ones @Mikiesboy and @drsawzall wrote, and I still haven't gotten close. I think only one person pinned me to the correct story (not that I'm telling who). But others were pretty darn close. I'm just going to wait to see who really wrote what.