In case you missed it, a few weeks ago we enlisted the help of the Starbound Universe’s many talented authors and poets to fix a very serious problem posed by a bookish Floran called Leyla Lotusbud – there just aren’t enough books to fill the countless libraries spanning the infinite void of space.

With nearly 300 entries, I think it’s safe to say we’ve completed Leyla Lotusbud’s quest! Nice work!

We had to pick just five entries in the end, and it was tough – they were all really fun to read! It largely came down to which entries would best fit in a library setting. Those five winners will get to pick out some super cool prizes from our friends at The Yetee. If you’ve won, keep an eye out for an email from us!

* 1st and 2nd place winners will receive a voucher good for the Starbundle or Adventurer’s Bundle (two shirts + bundle-exclusive sticker!)

* three runners-up will receive a voucher good for a Starbound shirt or poster of their choice

Without further ado, here are the winning entries! Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a story! <3

#1. Ironbeak’s Journal: Day 23 of my escape, by Ironbeak

(Molly’s Note: There’s a whole webserial about Ironbeak and his adventures! It’s a really fun read, so go check it out!)

I only wanted to use the microwave. For the past three days I’d been heating my food over the barrel fires smoldering in the cargo hold (though, truthfully, I have yet to encounter a part of this leviathan ship that I would not qualify as part of the cargo hold), but this made everything taste of gasoline. Or maybe the gasoline taste was psychological.

The only way to know was to find the microwave, to which the captain had given me very particular directions (through the galley’s ventilation shaft, past the third broken television, left at the skeleton). But all I saw when I arrived at that derelict crawl space was an arcade cabinet that appeared to have been dragged through a greasefire. Upon inspection, however, I noticed the word “popcorn” crudely etched over a button previously labeled “insert coin.”

You get what you pay for, I guess.

It’s not a raw deal, considering I had nothing with which to pay passage out of this star system except a promise to earn my keep. Better than the alternative (imprisonment, execution, or worse on Avos). It’s just that I hadn’t expected to need a handgun to protect myself from crocodiles on my way to the lavatory. I’d expected to be working among a crew of fellow travelers, given this ship is large enough to house a hydroelectric dam. But I soon discovered its only occupants were the captain and myself, and our journey through the Horsebutt Nebula would take weeks as we made hundreds of inexplicable pit-stops to excavate asteroids and expand the complex garbage ecosystem of the ship’s interior.

Maybe there had been a crew, once, I thought, before the crocodiles. I opened the cabinet’s coin door and placed my bowl of uncooked pearlpeas inside. When I pressed the button that once read “insert coin,” a fan whirred and a maze appeared on the ancient cathode ray screen.

I waited, but nothing seemed to happen. Experimenting with what remained of the joystick revealed it worked to navigate my invisible avatar through the labyrinth. At first, I was entertained by what seemed like a pleasant distraction, then the game took a sinister turn when I noticed a menacing shadow following me through its hallways. The maze provided no weapons, and when I attempted to flee, the shadow appeared on the opposite wall, growing ever larger.

Only when I felt the sound in my belly–a low, stuttering creak like a buckling girder–did I realize the shadow was not digital. The crocodile’s growl preceded its charge from the ventilation shaft and gave me just enough time to unload my pistol down its throat. Perhaps turning myself in to the Stargazer militia would have been easier, I reflected. Not as rewarding, though.

The arcade machine chimed. When I pried open the coin door, waves of popcorn erupted from it and cascaded across the sticky floor. All things considered, it didn’t taste half bad.

#2. Miniknog Issued Joke Book by Cedarfang

Why did the Hylotl cross the stream?

To get to the other tide!

Why do Avians manage the worst sports bars?

Because they never have any wings!

What do you call a comrade who is behaving in an unorthodox manner?

It doesn’t matter. Tell Miniknog.

A rebel, a traitor, and a worthless excuse for a comrade walk into a bar.

The man is quickly detained. Thank you for your patriotism, comrade.

What gets bigger the more you take from it?

A grave. Remember, comrade: unorthodox behavior often ends in terrible accidents!

What do you get when you mix “free-thinking” and rebellion?

The privilege of a brief vacation.

What do you call a room with fifty comrades in it?

A wonderfully designed and comfortable Miniknog issued detainment room.

#3. Freedom: An excerpt from Beefjeff’s Book of Poetry, by Peelz

Ship is prepped, I hear it humming,

Pulse is pounding, heart is thrumming.

Miniknog guards are close behind,

Fear and panic floods my mind.

Light glows green, I waste no time-

punch the throttle, do the crime.

Neon signs are rushing past:

“Obey Big Ape or be Outcast!”

I know I never can return,

But as the warp drive starts to burn

I vow to set my people free

From their life of slavery.

I cannot leave them behind bars

While I am free, bound for the stars.

#4. Michael “ KDraconis ” Kim The Slibbler by