The CHALLENGE continues!

[Icewalker]

...or not.



I'm still trying to figure out which projects I need to focus on, and most of my current projects don't align well as challenge submissions. But, I don't know, we'll see where I end up next week.

[Lady Serpentine]

Six different symbols:

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[Glass Mouse]

Thus came the time of status!


Glass Mouse passes with ~1,700 words of sci-fi story.

C'nor passes with six symbols and ~1,000 words of RPGing.

HeadlessMermaid passes with 578 words of essay and eleven tavern and portrait photos.

The Grimmace passes with ten poems of the usual variety.

Neoriceisgood passes with eight sprites and three comic pages.

Icewalker didn't upload/send me anything.

Mercenary Pen is out due to disappearance.

nersxe is out due to disappearance.

KerfuffleMach2 didn't upload/send me anything.

Lycunadari passes with 2,143 words of writing, and three drawings including a sad Elf in the snow.


Thus, Icewalker and KerfuffleMach2 FAIL this round!

Glass Mouse, C'nor, HeadlessMermaid, the Grimmace, Neoriceisgood, and Lycunadari PASS this round!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 116 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

C'nor
Current run: 10 weeks
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: -

HeadlessMermaid
Current run: 7 weeks
Longest run: 11 weeks
Themes: -

The Grimmace
Current run: 5 weeks
Longest run: 18 weeks
Themes: -

Neoriceisgood
Current run: 20 weeks
Longest run: 8 weeks
Themes: -

Icewalker
Current run: -
Longest run: 13 weeks
Themes: -

KerfuffleMach2
Current run: -
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 2 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 1 week

It's HeadlessMermaid's turn to choose a theme



@Icewalker: Ooh, between projects. That's always frustrating and fun. Hope you find something soon

My own sci-fi story is staring to take the shape of... something, at least. Here's to hoping I can bring it somewhere!

[Lady Serpentine]

If it counts, I just did an adaptation of Darkness for a character of mine...

A Darker Darkness; Spec's Lament:

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"There's a darkness out between the stars that any eye can see.
But there's a deeper dark within me, where no light will ever be.
There's an empty place beside me, where my lover ought to stand.
And there's a burning sun before me, and the throttle's in my hand.

Two days ago I lost her, on a world with many names.
Just another victim of my owner's deadly games.
And I left her but a moment, and I did not see her fall.
I only know that I failed her, never heard her final call.

I dug her grave in alien ground, in the shade of our lunar wood.
And I touched her there one final time, and I said what words I could.
'Let this cold moon hold her gently, for she lived so long to die.'
Then I took the ship that she'd called home, and blasted for the sky.

But deep space holds no comfort, for one broken and alone.
And her ship held only memories, of the joys that we once had known.
And I could not live without her, in a life no longer whole.
So I chose to die by starlight, and let fire cleanse my soul.

And now the screens glow blinding bright, the fires burn ahead.
The hull around me whispers, as it glows an angry red.
There's a high, cold, wail behind me, as though starships too could cry.
But my hand is cold and steady, for the time has come to die.

My love will not come back to me, past gulfs I soon will know.
Yet I hear her voice within me, and I hear her crying low...
And I push the throttle from me, and the rearward thrusters burn.
And the ship cries out in agony, as she brings the death I yearn.

My vision starts to fail me, as the forces mount and grow.
And I wonder when the ship will fail, and I wonder if I'll know.
Then the screen before me darkens, and a coolness strikes my face.
As plates meant to save the pilot's eyes lock into place.

There's a darkness out between the stars, that any eye can see.
But I'm no longer in that darkness, and my spirit's flying free.
Soon I'll know if my love forgives me, and if she loves me still.
Once we swore to love forever, now I'll find out if we will."

[Lycunadari]

(Still) no theme for this week?

[HeadlessMermaid]

Oh, I'm SO sorry, I completely forgot about the theme!

Umm, it's past the half-week mark, so I'm gonna pick something generic: Change.

If you reckon I was so late that it doesn't count, I'll be perfectly fine with that decision. (To be honest, I don't give too much attention to themes for my own work, and I mostly participate for the, err... participatory feeling/procedure.)

Again, I'm terribly sorry for the delay.

[Glass Mouse]

It's so late that I won't hold it against anyone who misses it (aka, everyone keeps their theme streak no matter what), but if someone follows the theme anyway, they will get a counter. So, nothing to lose, everything to win

[Icewalker]

I have accidentally succeeded at the challenge this week! Good enough for me!

Wrote a game for summer. The doc in full is almost 4000 words, though it includes things of varying submittability. Here are the teaser and world background though, which cover it on their own.

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Teaser

The sky was a flat solid grey. Not much different from the ground, Daniil Borisov thought to himself with a smirk. It wasn’t a smile. People didn’t smile much these days. Grey. The sky, the ground, even the local soldiers’ uniforms, pretty much everything was grey here in Moscow. Had been for 33 years, since Nero Madrigal’s armies swept across Russia. Was earlier than Daniil had memories. To be perfectly honest, it was further back than Daniil had been alive. A dull red was plastered over the walls to his left. The only color out here. Propaganda posters for Dictator Nero and his so-called ‘prosperous’ regime.
The voices were muffled by combat masks. “There’ve been reports of revolutionary activity in this area. Keep your eyes sharp.” Nero’s soldiers on patrol.
“What’re they going to do? Shoot us? With our kinetic shields every revolutionary out there is nothing more than a joke.” Their laughter was brittle and metallic behind their masks.
Daniil slipped down into an alleyway. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but any encounter with Nero’s soldiers was another possibility to be arrested, interrogated, or executed without any trial or justification. Just like his older brother had been. He heard their footsteps tromp away in the cold afternoon air.
...color? Yellow. A little streak of yellow, splashed onto an old wooden post set into the wall across from him. There was writing on it.
“Chains were made to be broken.”
Daniil just stared. Five words were scratched into the wood below the yellow mark.
Join the fight.
Hope Unbreakable.
Daniil smiled.

-------------------

Roland Turner’s ribs hurt. Understatement. Everything hurt. “I said, what are you doing out after curfew?” The hand around his neck pressed him back into the wall. The soldier’s other fist connected with Roland’s ribcage again. Roland tried to cough out words.
“I still have ten minutes...”
The soldier, Nero’s soldier, grinned with his teeth, only malice in his eyes. “The sun’s down, ain’t it? That counts as breaking curfew to me.”
The man reeled back his fist for another blow. Something grey and black shifted in the dark behind the soldier. Roland couldn’t really see what it was, between his wavering vision and the low light of the evening.
Thunk.
The pipe connected with the side of the soldier’s head, and he stumbled aside, collapsing. Roland, no longer held against the wall, slid down to the ground, sitting there in a daze. The new person, the woman with the pipe, stepped over to the fallen soldier. The soldier tried to stand up, but she hit him again.
“And do stay down this time, would you?” She gave the unconscious soldier a kick for good measure. “Dictator’s dogs. Ugh.” She turned back to Roland where he sat. “Hey kid. You alright?”
Roland nodded, getting his head together. “I...yeah. Thanks for that.”
“No problem. We all need the help sometimes.”
“Who are you?”
“Me? I’m nobody. I’m invisible. Nobody here at all.”
Roland looked over at the soldier on the ground, “Not sure he’d agree.”
She laughed. “And you? Who’re you?”
“My name’s R-”
She cut him off. “You sure you don’t want to be nobody too?” She tossed him the pipe. He caught it. It had a dent in it. “There are quite a few of us out there, if you want to. Fight for a new dawn.” She offered him a hand.
Roland grinned. There was hope in his eyes. He took the offered hand, and she pulled him to his feet.
“Welcome to The Invisible Blade, kid.”

-------------------

“Three!”
Sergeant Katsuo Yamamoto slammed into the door of the dilapidated house with his shoulder, and the old wood caved easily, smashing inward. In two seconds he was down on one knee, sweeping the room with his assault rifle raised, as the rest of his team deployed into the room, their movements coordinated. The room was empty.
“You three check upstairs. You two the door on the left. Prviate Hachirou with me, on the right. Quick sweeps then report back.”
The soldiers fanned out through the old building. Reports had indicated that it was being occupied by a family in hiding who had been evading required conscription to work in the Rare-Earth Minerals mining operations off the coast southeast of Tokyo. Nero’s Brigadier General in charge of the area wanted them made an example of, as a show to others who might think of evading their conscription.
The soldiers regrouped at the front of the house, empty handed. Sergeant Yamamoto grimaced. “Looks like our intel was bad. Get back to the vehicles and start them up. I’m going to do one last check of the place.”
The soldiers filed out. Yamamoto’s gaze returned to the building. He made his way along the floorboards in the front room slowly. In the far corner of the room, a board lifted under his examining fingers. Yamamoto slung up a square hatch of boards, about 3 feet across, and climbed down into the low space beneath the front room. A man, a woman, and three children were huddled in the space, hiding. The father took a crouched step forward, one hand braced on the low ceiling. In his other hand, shaking in terror, he had a small blade. The knife was old, and partially rusted over. Yamamoto could see from the way he gripped it that the man didn’t know how to fight with a blade anyway. Sergeant Yamamoto looked at his assault rifle, then back at the man.
The edge of a small folded white envelope was sticking out of the man’s pocket.
Sergeant Yamamoto smiled. “Good. You got my letter. Stay here for one hour, just in case. They’ll sweep the house again in one week, and I won’t be on that deployment team. You’ll need to find another hideout by then.” The man was stunned, eyes wide. “Here.” Yamamoto tossed another unmarked white envelope to the man. “Addresses and maps. The locations of a few safehouses where refugees have been hiding out. Aim for one of them if you can. I can’t stay, the rest of my squad will start asking questions. One week. Good luck.”
Yamamoto turned to leave. The father spoke, his voice shaking as much as his hands. “Y-you’re w-working against Dictator Nero? F-from inside his military?”
Yamamoto grinned at them. “In plain sight.”
“I don’t…Th-thank you!”
“Just remember. There may be dangerous things out there in the dark, but there are White Shadows too. One week. Good luck.”
Sergeant Katsuo Yamamoto holstered his assault rifle and closed the floor hatch behind him, sweeping dust over the top of it to make the patch of floor seem undisturbed. He walked out the front door of the building, calling out to the rest of his squad. “Nothing here! Let’s move!”




Overview/Background

A lot has happened over the course of the last century. Things really began to change in 2043, when the United States finally began to splinter, with several states seceding from the union. By the 2060s, what was previously the dominant power in the west had collapsed into a collection of small countries vying for resources and authority. A series of ecological disasters heralded by global warming also progressed to ruinous levels by this point in time, and many countries around the world, ravaged by storms, flooding, and famine, descended into poverty and conflict. Civilization still stood, but we had fallen far. Then, in 2085, a British admiral by the name of Nero Madrigal staged a coup, overthrowing the royal family and conquering the entirety of Great Britain in a matter of weeks. Solidifying his empire, the now-Dictator Nero Madrigal invaded Europe, already ravaged by famines and civil wars. By 2090, he held dominion over Europe and Asia, and had begun moving through Africa. By 2096, Dictator Nero Madrigal became the first man in history to conquer and hold sway over the entirety of the planet.
The year is 2121 and in the past 25 years since his self-proclaimed “prosperous” rule over the globe began, Dictator Nero’s abuses of power have been continuous. Scientific progress has focused almost exclusively on weapons technology, and developments to ensure Nero's continual control of his seat of power. Poverty and oppression reign. People are conscripted into high-danger manual labor in detestable conditions, given only enough to survive, if that. Nero has soldiers everywhere, and his people are always watching. Nero's Behemoths, his special forces with advanced armor and extremely high tech weaponry, are a terror to behold.
But some people have the courage to resist. Words scratched into walls, graffiti sprawled over concrete, papers and flyers can be found, displaying the words "Chains were made to be broken." They are the words of Hope Unbreakable, the voice of a network of rebels around the world, bound only by their common philosophy.
Within Britain itself, the stronghold of Nero's power, people in the dictator's forces have begun to vanish. Bodies are sometimes found. Sometimes they never turn up. Facilities are destroyed by fire or explosives, set from outside. They're no accidents. "Fight for a new dawn" they say, and people listen. The Invisible Blade grows its numbers, fighting back directly at Nero's government from the shadows, taking down high-profile targets and major government facilities.
Across every country, there are those who wish for freedom who have worked their ways into Nero's government, or have been watching it closely from outside. They work against the dictator's aims from within, protecting refugees, modifying files, revealing secrets, and even carrying out sabotage. This information network operates, as they say, "In plain sight." They call themselves The White Shadows, and they know Nero's facilities inside and out.
Fighting against Nero's government isn't easy, though. With the Kinetic Shielding technology that he has developed, all of his soldiers are completely protected from firearms. And between the closely guarded secret of their design, and personally tailored kinetic fields, nobody outside of Nero's employ has gotten their hands on these shields: they can't even be stolen from his soldiers. Rebels are forced to fight with blades against soldiers with automatic weapons, ensuring that in the 25 years of his reign, nobody has been able to come close to challenging his rule.
But as the sun rises on Britain today, that changes.
And tomorrow, maybe we'll see a new dawn rising.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Woot! Actually got to do some drawings this week!

[Lady Serpentine]

1,517 words of stuff for the Undying Fleet:

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As Naiya enters the Arena, she may notice an androgyne lounging near the entrance, apparently waiting for the dueling to start, especially as said androgyne smiles at her, giving the royal a brief wave of greeting, once she's in sight.

Like all of the representatives of the Undying Fleet, they're rather heavily augmented, with hair made from thin strands of jointed crystal, strung on thin magnetic wires, the interactions causing the 'hair' to gently wave in complex patterns, and inky black eyes, with strange shadow-forms chasing through them, as well as tubes - mostly attaching to a set of glassy tanks on her back, with glowing white liquid running through them - and wires twisting over and through their skin, along with what seem to be the tips of a set of slender hypodermic needles poking from their fingers.

Where their skin is revealed, it's a pale, wintery, green, with faint ripples of ice-blue, though given the clearly artificial nature of the coloration, it's impossible to tell if that's the same beneath the close-fitting ash-grey clothing - an odd garment, to say the least, as it's apparently entirely one piece, and save for where there are ports for their augmentations, and covers them from the top of their neck down, but with no visible means of fastening or unfastening it - and heavy black boots they wear.

"Reasonably, yes," the androgyne replied politely, straightening, and stepping forward enough to be able to shake Naiya's hand, the needles on those fingers slipping smoothly back into her flesh as they did, though a moment later, they also bend to briefly kiss the back of her hand. "I'm Nightmare Lacking-in-Parents, of the Undying Fleet," they went on, lips quirking into a bright, slightly teasing, smile as they gave their name. "It's a pleasure to meet you, milady D'Aquisto...

And I'm afraid that neither I nor the few I know -" just a touch of bitterness seeped through into Nightmare's voice, making it plain that their isolation was not by choice, or accidental "- are familiar with the Dominion, so please, forgive me if there are formalities that I've neglected; I assure you that any such mistakes were strictly unintentional."

A three-kilometer ship, energy outputs indicating that, despite all logic saying it couldn't have made the jump if it doesn't have crew aboard, it is nearly dead, with no crew at all, appears on the edge of the system, accompanied by two others half as long, all three drifting silently for perhaps ten minutes before they begins to show signs of life, life-support powering up first, followed soon after by shields, and, in all likelihood, weapons.

Perhaps five minutes after that, a plethora of heavily customized fighters begin to pour from the main ship, several hundred registering on the computers before the constantly shifting craft, piloted with inhuman skill, become too chaotic to track properly, plainly an intentional measure to prevent anyone from getting an accurate count of their forces.

Soon afterward, Winters may notice that her ship is being hailed.

[Interplanetary Messaging]

"This is Vanguard-Captain Iron Maid, of the Iron Rose, linked with Vanguard-Captains Banshee and Valkyrie, respectively of the Geist andAsgard," replies a quiet, somewhat feminine, though it's hard to say if that quality only seems to be present because of the name, voice, apparently belonging to someone rather annoyed. "Had you bothered to check the vectors of our fighters, you would have been aware that they were swarming around our ships, not approaching the colony.

We do not intend any combat with your ships or the colony at this time, though we will, of course, reply to any hostilities they initiate. Also, we will be bringing in reinforcements purely as a defensive measure, due to the potential for a large scale battle should the negotiations apparently taking place fail. Please remember to verify their positions this time."

With that, transmission from the Iron Rose rather abruptly ceases, and they hail the Götterdämmerung, though it's merely a ping to indicate that they wish to speak for now, rather than an actual message.

[New Arrivals]

A flurry of heavily encrypted FTL communications fly out from the Iron Rose, darting between relays in a complex webwork, an attempt to prevent their destinations from being tracked by any of the others present, though despite the delay necessitated by that, they arrive at their intended recipients within ten minutes.

And, perhaps twenty minutes after that, the next ship - a twelve-kilometer behemoth, like the rest, seeming dead, and following the same resurrection process - appears, slipping out of whatever strange method of propulsion the Undying Fleet uses.

[Bridge, the Iron Rose]

A visual channel, if possible, opens between the two ships, revealing a human, or at least something very close indeed to one, though androgynous, with hair dyed a metallic violet, dark enough to be almost black, and red eyes, seemingly not wearing an actual uniform, despite, presumably, being at the very least an officer on the ship.

"Greetings. This is Vanguard-Captain Iron Maid, of the Iron Rose, linked to Vanguard-Captains Banshee and Valkyrie, respectively of theGeist and Asgard. While I'm sure you're aware that our fleet no longer only includes those three, Vanguard-Captain Lorelei, of the Tempest, the newest arrival, is still coming out of coldsleep.

Based on recent events, both inferred from the lingering traces of a fairly large battle, and the fact that people are still bringing in reinforcements - hence our own being called for -, we're assuming that some sort of hostilities are currently being negotiated, presumably aboard your ship, as that's where everyone is going, and you have time to answer the phone so they're clearly not all trying to kill you, but that they could still flare up again at any time.

However, other than that, we're pretty much flying blind; would it be possible for you to fill us in on recent events, who has what relations with which other groups, and clear up any -"

The androgyne abruptly cut off, and gestured sharply to one of their subordinates, clearly angered by something, though just what was unclear, before turning back to the mid-air projection, and giving a rather forced smile. "My apologies. A situation has come up that I need to handle... You are, however, more than welcome to observe, if you wish," they said softly, careful to keep their tone polite, though some of the anger at whatever event had called them away bled through.

Another visual channel is quickly opened, if Curiosity is equipped for one and chooses to allow it, in which case, they'll be able to tell quite easily that she's not at all pleased; otherwise, they'll have to wait until she speaks.

"The lack of lifesigns, and, for that matter, lifesupport, did not, I take it, inform you that there is, at present, no-one aboard the Tempestcapable of responding to your communications? Or do you simply enjoy hailing empty ships?", they ask sarcastically, glaring at whoever is on the other side of the link. "In any case, our business here is, other than being none of yours, that the Undying Fleet became aware of a new colony, and wished to investigate it."

A flash of fury flared across the androgyne's face, the last thing visible to the destroyer before the channel cut off; moments later, a series of quick commands were relayed through their augmentations, even as they turned to face the projection for the other ship they were communicating with, clearly not treating the threat as a joke, presumably due to the charging of the Curiosity's weapons.

"As you no doubt heard, the destroyer we were speaking with just threatened to destroy the Tempest. Given that they're currently charging weapons, they do not appear to have been simply replying in kind to my annoyance, so we will be firing on them first, and felt it best to ensure you were aware, and capable of informing everyone else, that this is not an unjustified attack."

That said, they slid into a nearby chair, various projections appearing before them, the projection following their movements, though they clearly weren't really in any position to talk.

Moments later, a quarter of the swarm of fighters surrounding them - perhaps three hundred, in all - break off from their formation, flying towards the Oogian destroyer in complex, utterly random, evasive maneuvers, to maximize their chances of reaching it without being hit, and two dozen lasers lance forth at Curiosity from the three ships, accompanied by what seems to be three bolts of lightning from the Iron Rose, as various debris between them ionizes, the unusual, but generally highly effective, weapons seeking to fry the destroyer's shields,

Should that punch through, two batteries of railguns, also on the Rose send their own deadly surprises at the ship, more specifically, rounds designed to punch only partway through, then explode in a burst of plasma equivalent to a shot fired from a small Oogian plasma cannon once inside.

Of course, presumably, all of this could, theoretically, be interrupted at any time, depending on how Curiosity reacts.

[Glass Mouse]

We rock! Or draw or write or whatever. But go us!


Glass Mouse passes with 1,742 words of sci-fi story and six OC-growing-up-and-changing sketches.

C'nor passes with 1,517 words of Undying Fleet RPGing.

HeadlessMermaid passes with nine photos from dog ears to a beautiful trail to snow.

The Grimmace passes with nine regular poems and three mini-poems.

Neoriceisgood passes with 100 food sprites, 100 flower sprites, 100 fungi sprites, and one comic page.

Icewalker passes with 1,723 words or teaser and background.

KerfuffleMach2 passes with six drawings from bathtub monsters to a sister fight to a rope snake.

Lycunadari passes with 1,734 words of writing, one dragon picture, and two OC-grown-up-and-having-changed drawings.


Thus, no one FAILS this round!

Everyone PASSES this round! Woo! That's a long time since that happened - go us!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 117 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 1 week

C'nor
Current run: 11 weeks
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: -

HeadlessMermaid
Current run: 8 weeks
Longest run: 11 weeks
Themes: -

The Grimmace
Current run: 6 weeks
Longest run: 18 weeks
Themes: -

Neoriceisgood
Current run: 21 weeks
Longest run: 8 weeks
Themes: -

Icewalker
Current run: 1 week
Longest run: 13 weeks
Themes: -

KerfuffleMach2
Current run: 1 week
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 3 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 2 week

It's The Grimmace's turn to choose a theme

[Zjoot]

Random phrase generator says our theme is certain nobody this week.

[Howler Dagger]

I have a question: Can I use musical compositions for the Challenge, and if so, what would be the guidelines?

[Icewalker]

I have a question: Can I use musical compositions for the Challenge, and if so, what would be the guidelines?

I was discussing the same earlier. I was creating songs for guitar, and put it at one entry for the melody/chords/strumming pattern (the instrumentals in full) and one entry for the full writeup of lyrics (as it's pretty equivalent to a poem). Depends on what you're composing for though, probably?

[Glass Mouse]

What Icewalker said

[Icewalker]

This week, I should be able to finish Paradise Marches to War, and Beholden. There are like, 2-3 others too, but I have a Biochemistry midterm and a neuroscience midterm next week, so...

...oh right, and a multi-part lab writeup. Crap.

I'll find a way. And if I do finish either game, world background + teaser should be enough for a Challenge entry.

[Howler Dagger]

I was discussing the same earlier. I was creating songs for guitar, and put it at one entry for the melody/chords/strumming pattern (the instrumentals in full) and one entry for the full writeup of lyrics (as it's pretty equivalent to a poem). Depends on what you're composing for though, probably?

Either for an orchestra or a string ensemble, so I can't divide it into instrument and lyrics what you did. Perhaps I could enter the composition (along with a synthesized recording)as one and a performance as another?

If you would ask me, 2 minutes should be the minimum length of a song, though I am nowhere close to an authority.

[Icewalker]

Personally (though it's Glass Mouse's call, and your conscience) 2 minutes seems reasonable, and I figure you could count probably one entry per instrument section or two that you're composing for, if they're each significantly different? I mean, composing four minutes of first violin, and four minutes of second violin, and four minutes of cello, if they're all pretty different, sounds like three creations to me? I'm not sure, I've honestly never done orchestral anything, from either a playing or a composition standpoint.

[Lady Serpentine]

So. Speaking of what counts and what doesn't, the thread I put up at least half of my stuff last week in was rebooted, meaning that, IC-wise, all that never happened. Since I still wrote it, that shouldn't matter for this, right?

(Also, I wrote two stanzas of an unfinished poem, which, given the form, I believe we decided counts as two works?)

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You sang me a song of the end of your life,
Shot through with sorrow, and pity, and strife.
And when it was over, the last note was done,
We merged souls together, and started to run.

Why dream of a place that you can never reach?
How do you learn something no-one can teach?
How can you bear all the nightmares you draw?
Dare to take in a stranger, after all that you saw?

[Glass Mouse]

Personally (though it's Glass Mouse's call, and your conscience) 2 minutes seems reasonable, and I figure you could count probably one entry per instrument section or two that you're composing for, if they're each significantly different? I mean, composing four minutes of first violin, and four minutes of second violin, and four minutes of cello, if they're all pretty different, sounds like three creations to me? I'm not sure, I've honestly never done orchestral anything, from either a playing or a composition standpoint.

I can't even sing well, so I'm even less of an authority But "one piece = 2 minutes of each instrument" sounds reasonable to me.

So. Speaking of what counts and what doesn't, the thread I put up at least half of my stuff last week in was rebooted, meaning that, IC-wise, all that never happened. Since I still wrote it, that shouldn't matter for this, right?

Unless the decision came with free time machines, I see no reason why it should

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Well this is interesting...what constitutes a creative work? In other words, how many words does it have to be, since I've been seeing word counts on things.

[Lycunadari]

250 words count as one piece, so you need 1500 words to pass just with writing.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

250 words count as one piece, so you need 1500 words to pass just with writing.

What about art work? I saw symbols each counting as one. What if I spent 6 hours on one piece, does that count as more?

[Lycunadari]

From the FAQ:

Drawings
The rule of thumb is that one drawing equals one piece. But any work with multiple pieces fit to stand on their own can be counted as multiple submissions. A couple of examples:
Two non-descript generic people playing chess, no background = 1.
Two distinct characters playing chess, no background = 1 each.
-//- playing in a cafeteria = as above +1 for the scene
-//- with a detailed mall/cityscape/other elaborate setting = characters +1 for immediate surroundings +1 for the larger backdrop. Possibly another +1 if there's a notable event or scene in the background.

So your 6-hour piece would probably count as more than one, I'd guess.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

From the FAQ:

Drawings
The rule of thumb is that one drawing equals one piece. But any work with multiple pieces fit to stand on their own can be counted as multiple submissions. A couple of examples:
Two non-descript generic people playing chess, no background = 1.
Two distinct characters playing chess, no background = 1 each.
-//- playing in a cafeteria = as above +1 for the scene
-//- with a detailed mall/cityscape/other elaborate setting = characters +1 for immediate surroundings +1 for the larger backdrop. Possibly another +1 if there's a notable event or scene in the background.

So your 6-hour piece would probably count as more than one, I'd guess.

Ah, whoop! I'll read that section more thoroughly.

[KerfuffleMach2]

So, yeah, I didn't get a chance to do anything this week. And I'm not sure about next week, either.

[Icewalker]

Okay, this is fairly reasonable. It's no creative PRODUCT, but it's a lot of legit note-work, it mostly just warrants reformatting, and as it's for the creation of a game, not a written work, things are a bit different anyway. That said, I wouldn't feel comfortable submitting both this, AND the polished rewritten form of it I will turn it into, so I won't be submitting anything related to Beholden for my Challenge entries next week (unless I end up writing a teaser, which wouldn't be based on any of this really). Presumably I'll have finished writing and polishing Paradise Marches to War, and will end up using that.

Oh right. Spoilers for people at the camp this could be run at. I'll PM it to ya.

[Glass Mouse]

Somewhat early status!


Glass Mouse passes with 800 words of sci-fi story included a nobody-themed character, six photographs and a post scriptum for a short story.

C'nor uploaded two verses worth of writing.

HeadlessMermaid didn't upload/send me anything.

Zjoot (formerly known as The Grimmace) passes with six regular poems and two short ones.

Neoriceisgood passes with five new comic pages and 21 sprite bushes.

Icewalker passes with 2,000 words of setting and plot notes.

KerfuffleMach2 didn't get anything down this week.

Lycunadari passes with 1,063 words of writing, a nobody-themed poem, four avatars, and two drawings (elf and bird).


Thus, C'nor, HeadlessMermaid and KerfuffleMach2 FAIL this round!

Glass Mouse, Zjoot, Neoriceisgood, Icewalker and Lycundari PASS this round!


Current standing:

Spoiler

Show

Glass Mouse
Current run: 118 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 2 weeks

C'nor
Current run: -
Longest run: 11 weeks
Themes: -

HeadlessMermaid
Current run: -
Longest run: 11 weeks
Themes: -

Zjoot
Current run: 7 weeks
Longest run: 18 weeks
Themes: -

Neoriceisgood
Current run: 22 weeks
Longest run: 8 weeks
Themes: -

Icewalker
Current run: 2 weeks
Longest run: 13 weeks
Themes: -

KerfuffleMach2
Current run: -
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 4 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 3 weeks

It's Neoriceisgood's turn to choose a theme


It's nice to really incorporate themes into my work again. I got pretty good mileage out of using this week's theme as a starting point for a character who had been a stumbling block until now. Woo!

Not sure if I've said it, but the post scriptum is for a short story I'm getting published. Like, really published by a real publisher. It's nothing big, and I'm not even getting paid, but whoa it rocks

Also, hi Wombat! Hope you decide to join us!

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Not sure if I've said it, but the post scriptum is for a short story I'm getting published. Like, really published by a real publisher. It's nothing big, and I'm not even getting paid, but whoa it rocks

Also, hi Wombat! Hope you decide to join us!

Thanks! I likely will once I move. Until then, I want to make sure I focus on finding a place to move TO. Then I'll be good.

Congradulations on the publication! How does one manage such a thing?

[Lady Serpentine]

Whoops... I got sick Saturday and ended up running on two hours sleep yesterday as a result, which messed up my timesense considerably. I thought I still had a day to put stuff up.