I love the approach you took here. I wouldn't say it's gimmicky at all. Just very original. I especially like that, by seeing the application, we get both insight into the contest from Chouko's perspective but also the contest itself. Good work and good luck!

As short as this is, I'm surprised that I didn't go through it a lot sooner (although with the stuff you've uploaded since), and I apologize for that. This is a very, very GOOD tackle at doing an application form in the first-person view of the one filling it out, and that you managed to get into the SECT and get as far as you have so far speaks well of your talent.

I've got some time to catch up with all the submission notices in my inbox, so don't be surprised if I started faving two to four things of yours in the next three hours. :D

That's cool! Take your time, seriously. (I, er, need to go to your gallery and catch up on your stuff, too.)

You'd better set aside some serious time for that. One of my biggest flaws is that my stuff takes a minimum of a half-hour to go through--think I've even got a couple that might take you forty-five minutes to an hour. I don't mean to make 'em so long....they just kinda turn out that way.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with long-form writing. Honestly, I wish I could write longer stuff myself; I can never seem to get beyond a few thousand words without an act of God, and usually it's not even that many.