Howdy friends! Another round of is in the books and our wonderful participants have submitted their second batch of stories all of which were exceptionally written and all of which are well worth your time to read! Without further ado...

TKO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

As you may (or may not) know, TKO Challenge is a bracket-style competition that runs throughout the year using different prompts for each round to seek one, true, CHAMPION. This year we had a non-standard bracket featuring nineteen entrants, fourteen of whom submitted entries. The opening round whittled down this number to eight, all of whom submitted entries for the quarterfinals. Below, you'll find out a little about every awesome story (with links) as well as learn, pairing by pairing, who is moving on to the 2019-20 semifinals. The prompt for this round was 'luck'.

toomanycurls v. pookha

@toomanycurls wrote a Lucky Feather, a fluffy little story about Harry's efforts to help James (II) learn fly. The story showcases not just the father-son dynamic, but some of Harry's feels about daddying and Ginny's understanding and support.

@pookha gave us a complex original fiction piece with origin stories for a number of superheroes driven by one in particular whose skills become immediately apparent, but whose means of accomplishing a personal goal remain unclear until the bitter end in Luck is no substitute for a good plan.

ADVANCING: pookha

MuggleMaybe v. Pixileanin

@MuggleMaybe treated us to an interesting little piece where George and Angelina grapple with George's still strong emotions about the loss of his brother and the life he's now living in A Truly Lucky Man.

@Pixileanin granted us insight into what it means to be a curse breaker via Luck of the Draw, which explores not only the concept of luck, but its source and two brand new fields of magic for readers to wrap their head around.

ADVANCING: Pixileanin

@sinnersandsapphics gave us the Oliver/Percy fic we've all been waiting for in What Landon and Peters Missed. The story takes us on the rollercoaster of a relationship between the two boys and their varying feelings about books, (quidditch) balls, and boners - and of course the complex feelings between them as each comes to understand the importance and deeper meaning of wishing someone good luck.

@Lost_Robin wrote Just Her Luck, a story that looks at each of three characters' conceptions of luck in their lives and how it plays out for them - though beware that Katie winds up with someone not Harry -shiver-  

ADVANCING: Lost_Robin

NoelleZingarella v. facingthenorthwind

@Noelle Zingarella granted us insight into a character who has and is struggling with a history of miscarriages as well as cultural and religious change in all i was doing was breathing. A powerful ending centered around the main character's confrontation with and further realization of God in her life is a particular hallmark.

@facingthenorthwind submitted gravity losing its hold which gave us the story of a post-War Ron Weasley drifting between dreams and looking for where he's supposed to be between auror, quidditch pro, and more with his friends and family as the only constants.

ADVANCING: NoelleZingarella

Thanks to everyone who continued faithfully through the quarterfinal of the challenge! As a reward all quarterfinalists will receive three writers journal questions and a fic rec and all those advancing will receive five questions and three recs. I am working through the last half of reviews owed after getting derailed by NaNo and awards season.

For those who want to follow the bracket, check out the semifinal pairings below:

pookha v. Pixileanin; and
Lost_Robin v. NoelleZingarella