Hoist the colours, proud fiction writers!

Well, my word, we had a brilliant round! Still @calluna here doing some freelance henchman work for our limitless leader @f3nix, you really let the wind fill your sails this week, and we had such an amazing selection of entries.

We saw Melinda team up with Kauffman and Wolfstone, take on the role of pure mother-murdering villain, show her fangs as a vampire, and her skills with the darks art - as an amautuer overestimating herself, as a loyal witch, and even leading her own band of dark wizards. In some stories she fell by the wayside, a side character in a larger epic, others she took centre stage, and in just one, she left as a very obedient wife! And what family secrets... Benjamin had quite the adventures, facing his wife in many situations, and coming off quite well in the end.. in the most part!

This was an ending that could’ve gone many ways, and the roller coaster you all took me on was truly thrilling. Thank you <3

You all gave me a real challenge in judging. I ended up having to go through a few times, and found it so hard to narrow them down. I had my top picks, but couldn’t decide what way round they were, and a huge tie right behind them. So, you ask, how did you ever decide Cal? To try and chose between the final selection, I went back to the intro, and I highlighted the key points to pick up, and I went back and counted how many points each entry hit. The same entries tied at the top, and I yet again had a tie for third, thankfully @dirge weighed in with his selection, and we have our winners.

Another three @curie votes this round, and yet again so well deserved! Congrats to @darthgexe, @vasigo and @sarez we all really hit a high bar this week, and it’s once again shown in the high number of curies! A quarter of the entries!!!

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 finest to @svemirac, @hidden84 and the Crowdmind Community for their sustain! Cheers to you!
  
  
• Don't forget to join the Realms, where you can promote your entries, get to known the gang, and find out about all the incentives we have going on!
  
  
• Curie factoid: we have been supported by the amazing Curie community with 55 upvotes in 46 editions. ** We are on the up and up, well over an average of one per edition now, reflecting the amazing work you guys do!**.
  When it comes to the curie count, @brisby and @cyemela are still tied out in front with @sarez hot on their heels!

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

• GRAND PRIZE - 5 STEEM: @gaby-crb
  Gaby was already such a talented writer when she joined our ranks, and she has really come into her own, she has gifted us plenty of wonderful endings, and even an opening of her own. A very well deserved first place, that addressed so many of the elements raised in the first half, side stepping expectations and tying the blackmail into the truth of the family history, there was so very much in here to love. Powerful dialogue punctuating a well paced plot, packed full of perfectly painted moments, for a prize stealing ending!
  
  
• SECOND PRIZE -3 STEEM: @seesladen
  Finding the threads in the first half is always a huge part of the challenge, not only did @seesladen do this (matching gaby on points tied up) he changed the first half, realising the space between the words that only implied Melinda was a wife. The way this ending mirrors the opening is so skilfully done, filed with so many touches that just really make it. @seesladen is a master of going out on a limb, and it really paid off here.
  
  
• THIRD PRIZE - 2 STEEM: @sayury
  There was a real struggle for third place, so many entrants that wrote fantastically, so many that really hit the points in the first half, in the end, the prize is going to @sayury, imagination and a well thought out plot, spattered with such beautiful imagery easily conquering any language barrier in this brilliant ending.
  
  
• POPULAR VOTE - 2 SBI: @agmoore
  This was a strong contender for the top three, and a very well deserved popular vote, giving this story of the dark arts and beautifully light.

• BEST COMMENT - 3 SBI: We have a tie! @theironfelix once again graced us with a sleuth of lengthy, considered comments, addressing entries on various levels, congrats felix! 2 SBI winging your way. But Felix was not alone, a resounding welcome to @darthgexe who not only gave us a brilliant ending, but also left so many wonderful comments, all my tops picks for best comment were from these two, and in the end, I couldn’t decide, so added an extra 1SBI to the pot, so congrats @darthgexe 2SBI for you!

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 delegate or join the trail

A special thanks to @gwilberiol, @dirge, @tristancarax, @theironfelix, @raj808, @brisby, @maverickinvictus, @cyemela, @marcoriccardi, @hidden84, @calluna, @oivas, @ntowl, @f3nix, @felt.buzz, @khasa and @vdux 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!