a rat by any other name might portell Mercutio?

Very good addition to the formula by using the notes, nice prose.

I really liked the formatting, making the notes stand out from the page was a great touch. 

Concepts & Originally 5/5

From a creativity and originality perspective, 10/10, phenomenal! Wonderful use of poetry and interesting symbolism, a nice twist on a classic tale. I'm a big fan.

Flow & Clarity 2/5

The story seems to "tell" rather than "show" quite a bit, which I assume is partially due to trying to fit a relatively complex narrative in a 1000 word limit. Having the background details take the form of subtext rather than paragraphs of exposition probably would have helped a bit; with such a short format, you need to get into the story as quickly as possible. There are also a number of grammatical errors throughout, but those could be easily corrected with an additional editing pass. Apologies if this score seems a bit harsh, I'm still working out exactly how I'm scoring this category, so I may reevaluate this and bump it up to 3/5 later.

Adherence to Theme 5/5

I think the theme is handled very well, both within the story itself, and in the creative use of poetry and symbolism to write the story. Very well done.

If you want to discuss any of these comments/ratings, feel free to @ me in the OPR discord.

I enjoyed the idea of this one and thought the cleverness of the story was fun overall. Though I do feel like the initial “world-building” would have been better portrayed through dialogue or character interactions. Some grammar/punctuation spots that detracted from the flow for me as well.

I like how story ties death to every step of her journey the raven, the harlequin dressed like death, the crier all leading to the graveyard. Did they die? Entering the mausoleum and taking a ferry seem like them dying.

woah I really enjoyed this one! and the poems are weaved masterfully! Good job!

I found the allusions to romeo and juliet a fun nod to us drama nerds, yet you still kept it fresh and unique creating a completely different story. the more i reread the less it is like the play. idk tho