Beaumont Collie Contest Hall

[Griffin Torrens]

Current round is being extended a little!
It will close roughly midday tomorrow, entries welcome up until I post results!

[Julius525]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 8!
Username: Julius525
Kennel Page: Here
Collie Entering: Arariel and Arakiel
Entry:

[hypersomnia.]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 8!
Username: hypersomnia.
Kennel Page: Firefly Creek Kennels
Collie Entering: Heather and Cricket
Entry:
Cricket and Heather had a rather tumultuous relationship off the bat - once they passed the point of pleasantries, Cricket quickly found himself annoyed at Heather's seemingly never-ending supply of energy. Heather, on the other hand, found her own temper shortening as she realized how quick Cricket was to unleash his. Cricket did his best to catch moments alone as Heather convinced herself eventually he would give in and maybe tell a joke or two in return. Patience was wearing thin on both sides of the stick.

It didn't help that they were both involved in the same level of herding training and competitions at the same time. The internal rivalry between the two lead to a large amount of competitiveness. Who would get the higher score overall?

Almost instantly, Cricket had the upper hand, with a score of 96 in the first test. An incredible score for a collie who had no experience. His feet were placed perfectly, never tripping or faltering, and he paced himself well. While herding is what collies are bred for, it appeared that he specifically was genetically engineered to be the best of the best. Heather, who had previously been satisfied with her score of 82, and proud to have passed the test bon the first try, watched in awe as he ran a near-perfect trial. As much as it had been 'on' before, now it REALLY was on.

The energy she had saved from Cricket's constant reluctance to ever play with her now had a new use. She had grown lazy, she reflected, something she hadn't noticed before. Maybe his coldness was getting to her after all. She shook her head as if to clear water from her ears. There was work to do.

Though there were no cattle at the kennel, there were chickens! Using both instinct and what she had learned from how their first trials had been graded, she lowered herself on her haunches, and crept forward. She was met with side eyes, alarmed clucks, and the intense rustling of feathers - and a pretty brutal looking rooster, who was sauntering his way over to meet her. She threw out a challenging bark to assert dominance, and watched as the rooster seemed to grow twice it's size, right in front of her. His chest expanded, he threw back his head, and sounded a loud alarm that hurt her ears.

"Heather!"

Her ears flicked as she heard the call of her name.

"Leave the chickens alone before our owner catches onto you bullying them."

"Maybe you should stop bullying me.." she spat out under her breath. With a loud sigh, she slunk off to find a new target. There were plenty of grasshoppers in the kennel yard, and if she were to be honest about it, she enjoyed the bitter irony of it. Maybe they weren't EXACTLY crickets, but they looked close enough for her to feel like she could get the last laugh in this instance. She focused her eyes on the ground, quick to remind herself to keep her chin high in the case that Cricket looked over. She didn't want to be caught sulking. She started as something leapt right next to her paw. She'd been so distracted, she almost missed her target completely! Now, there was nothing it could do to escape her personal trial.

She dropped down as before, closing in on the striped brown and green bug. Creeping forward with bated breath, she inched closer, and closer, and closer.. and the grasshopper didn't move a single bit. Frustrated, she struck a front paw out in it's direction, smacking the grass and watched it spring away, letting out a howl of anger. Just then, she heard the pitter-patter of a set of paws closing in behind her. It seemed as if her and the grasshopper had traded places.

"Don't," she snapped, without so much as a glance behind her.

"I've never seen you this upset before." Cricket's voice sounded off with a worried tone.

"You've never seen it because you've never looked. I'm sure you like this version of me a lot better than my typical self."

"Actually no, Heather, I don't." He replied quickly, with a bit of his usual coldness creeping back through. He seemed offended by her assumption about him. "I don't hate you, Heather. Sometimes, I admittedly can't keep up with your - well, your everything. But all of those things I say to you - I'm just teasing. I guess you could say it's my way of doing whatever it is you do to me."

Stunned, she kept her mouth cemented shut. It was hard to assign words to what she was feeling right now. Relieved, but at the same time, incredibly embarrassed. She wanted to apologize for the misunderstanding, but then she would be admitting to him that she had got it wrong. His eyes burned the back of her head.

"Can I.. have some time please?" she choked out. She assumed he had given her a quaint nod, as there was no audible response aside from the reverse of the paw steps she had heard approaching her moments ago. She was slightly queasy, but it was more of a butterflies-in-the-tummy than a sickness.

Things got easier. They weren't immediately perfect. Heather couldn't let go of her stubborn pride for a while, and Cricket, in an effort to help her feel like her old self again, was starting to annoy HER now. But with all said and done, things felt a lot better than before. Even the competition was friendlier - and when Cricket beat Heather's JHD score by just a single point, he settled to call it "basically a tie."

[wc: 946]

[ChristainAnimalLover]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 8!
Username: ChristainAnimalLover
Kennel Page: 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 ( CS* | TH )
Collie Entering: Squirrel (TH), Moose (TH) & Lev (TH)
Entry:

[ click for full-size ]

* CS thread is sorely out-of-date

[Wifflebee]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 8!
Username: Wifflebee
Kennel Page: Quail Hollow Ranch
Collie Entering: Muse & Graffiti
Entry: here! c:

[Griffin Torrens]

Contest 8 Results

A Rough Coat Voucher has been awarded to all users with a completed entry. Congratulations, I'm such a sucker for collie interactions and these all touched my heart!
When using this prize, just state which round it was won from.


Lierre
parsnip
lex
hypersomnia.
ChristainAnimalLover
Wifflebee
Julius525

The next contest is now open!

[werepickle]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 9!
Username: werepickle
Kennel Page: Maple Springs Kennels
Collie Entering: see kennel page above
Entry:

Bluebell farms seems like your everyday, run-of-the-mill farm. Paddocks sporadically fenced off creating smaller paddocks, the cacophony of noises from animals and humans alike. However, unbeknownst to the handler's who call this place home, a secret is hiding underneath their noses. The collies who call this place sanctuary are not even dogs, but an alien species called Boxaivese. They were known as an ethereal race, characterized by their blue shimmering wisp like forms and harmonious voices that echoed like music. However a catastrophic war erupted, forcing them to flee and handful of them soon roamed throughout space. Their path soon lead to Earth, and in search of refuge to happened to land on the outskirts of Bluebell Farms. It was here that they caught their first glimpse of a Beaumont collie and to blend in with the unfamiliar world, they transformed taking on the forms of collies. A first it was awkward to say the least, since it was their first time ever having to rely on limbs. The handful that called the forest home, learned and watched trying their best to mimic the movement of these so called dogs. Yet their freedom didn't last; they were soon discovered and caught being brought to the barn. Here the huddled together, scared of the creatures in front of them. It took a few months for them to eventually warm up to the humans, soon discovering how nice 'scratches' were and often them out. Food was also a new journey for the Boxaivese as the hadn't needed to rely on such sustenance. A whole new world opened up as they sampled every morsel whether it was presented or not, each soon succumbing to their own unique taste. On nights where the moon shone they brightest, they would always skulk off under the secret under the stars and sing melodies that echoed their lost home. These tunes carried across the winds reaching all covers of earth, and even wandered into space and soon others heard the melodies and before long others soon landed on the outskirts of Bluebell Farms. They soon took the form of collies each coat unique to themselves and much to the surprise of the handlers they were welcomed in. Over the years the handlers soon nicknamed this bizarre event 'The collie-ing' as they stopped questioning where such an influx of collies came from. Those that have been here the longest teach the newer Boxaivese the 'proper' etiquette on how to act and behavior, despite it not always going in their favour some enjoy the sensation of having limbs and more often the not acting out. A hierarchy has been established within the ranks of the collies, with the first seven being regarded as elders. As more arrive they chirp, happy to known more of their kind survived yet worried for those that have yet to be seen. For now their future is unknown only time will tell, but the Boxaivese call the farm their home, their sanctuary a safe place away from prying eyes and the danger that lurks past the Earth's atmosphere. (514 words)

[shortstop]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 9!
Username: shortstop
Kennel Page: Slate Mine Estate
Collie Entering: SM's Cliffhanger//Meir (CS Page)
Entry:
Opposite Career!AU, in which Meir became a bitework competitor instead of going into therapy work cx

[Julius525]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 9!
Username: Julius525
Kennel Page: Here
Collie Entering: Jadis
Entry: Fox AU!

[Shadow17]

Entry Form

Entry for Contest 9!
Username: Shadow17
Kennel Page: Summer Living Kennels
Collie Entering: Celosia
Entry: Graduate Student AU - Celosia is trying to write her master's thesis while failing to avoid love and vet bills from a clumsy cat! [920/500 words]
Celosia’s alarm goes off. What a weird dream, she thought, stretching as she sat up. She’d been having these dreams lately, that she was a dog. It started when she saw a collie playing in the park the other day. Her owner had said that this was a stretch break on their way home, that she’d just won a Best of Breed in a breed specialty show. When she asked for the collie’s name, she found that it was a bit odd that she shared her aunt’s name - Denali. Celosia remarked on the similarity, and shared her mother’s name, when the owner was surprised to hear her own collie’s littermate’s name - Vienna! Celosia shared her phone number with the collie’s owner, who said she’d be breeding a litter soon with a nice long-coated collie. Maybe she’d like to keep in touch. Celosia looked at her phone, the alarm still beeping at her. She turned it off and picked it up, choosing to scroll for a bit longer. She’d almost certainly be late for her 9 am class if she lost track of time, but she figured the lack of mandatory attendance was enough for the teacher to prove the class wasn’t actually all that important.
Eventually, she figured she should have breakfast and got up. She gravitated to the bag of cereal in the corner of the pantry, pouring a bit in a bowl before realizing that it was indeed, not cereal, but dog kibble. Why do I have dog kibble in here… she pondered as she placed the bag back in the closet. I have a cat. Whose dog food is that? She thought about it while looking for the actual cereal, before remembering her cat’s vet appointment today, where she was going to donate the food for their shelter’s donation drive. Oh. Mine. Well, she wasn’t too sure if they’d take it now, but she’d do her best to seal up the bag and keep it otherwise intact. Her cat Datura rubbed up against her legs, almost certainly to get a ploy to get some breakfast before her automatic feeder went off. “No, not today baby. The vet’ll tell me you’re too fat and that you need a diet, and nobody likes those.” Celosia bent down and scratched Datura’s head, who was still mrrp-ing away at the prospect of an early breakfast.
Celosia scooped Datura into her backpack carrier, who was too sleepy to care at the moment in her post-breakfast nap time. With her cat and messenger bag in tow, she headed off to the vet’s office, having completely forgotten (and missed) her 9 am class at this point. The biology major in her knew that she’d have to figure out some way to make up that bioinformatics class, because there’s no way she could skip that class without missing a week’s worth of content. She resigned herself to studying at work today. At least working at the library had its benefits. Her thesis wouldn’t write itself.
Many hours later, she found herself writing behind the help desk on the third floor of the library. She was next to the only printers in the building, meaning it wasn’t the quietest environment, and the fact that she had no idea where to start on this chapter - as much as she enjoyed the subject, she tended to be horrible at writing about it - wasn’t helping either. Her coworker Valerian sat down next to her, startling her as he patted her shoulder.
“How was the vet visit?” he asked.
“Fine. As dramatic as her fall was, this black cat is way too lucky. The vet says Datura’s got the cat equivalent of a bruise, no matter how much she limps.”
“Man, how much did that cost you?”
“$400 for a bruise.”
Valerian laughed as he rolled his chair away back to his laptop. She loved the way he laughed - no, wait - she enjoyed how he laughed. She had no time for love in this fast-paced world she lived in. But he caught her lingering gaze, and asked her what was up. Celosia shook her head and went back to working on the draft for her thesis. His bachelor’s in English Literature surely couldn’t understand the mental gymnastics a thesis took.
That night, she ended her day how she started it - scrolling in bed. She received a text from that collie’s owner, and for a moment her heart lurched hearing that they were heading off to meet the stud dog in the morning. She considered replying immediately, before remembering that in this day and age, it’s considered cringe to reply immediately. She pondered what she was even meant to say - congrats? Good luck? She thought about it for a moment, and forgot until an hour and a half later, when the collie and her owner would definitely be asleep. She decided to “love” the message, before turning off her lamp and going back to sleep.
Her dream started as usual - she was a black and red collie, running through a field with the collie version of her brother, Lupine. The sheep were ahead of her, and she knew she was meant to go and bring them back to the barn they were standing in front of. But, as usual, Lupine was dragging his feet on the way down, and so she trotted ahead, just to find a golden-coated Valerian at the bottom of the valley, waiting for her, slowly wagging his tail. Maybe in this dream, she could talk to him.