The CHALLENGE continues!

[Glass Mouse]

I know there's been some issue to this point, so I double checked my work this round. I've verified both links can be accessed by anyone with that link, even without a Google account signed in, and I'll also use this for future submissions.

Hooray, I can see it! So many glorious words!

So, I have a question.

I'll be travelling for five weeks, from the end of July till the start of September, so I'll probably wont have an Internet connection. Is it okay if I send you the collected 30+ pieces when I come back, or do I have to drop out of the challenge?

Absolutely! Since it intersects with my own traveling, you can also chose to collect everything from next week and until your return, if you'd prefer that.

Just give me a date to expect your return, and there's no problem

Also, where are you going? Somewhere good?

[D.KnightSpider]

I know that it's late in the week, but I'd think that having the themes set up in advance would be the more advantageous option.

[redfeatherraven]

New job has eaten much of my time, and as such I will have the next 24 hours to complete this week's challenge. Wouldn't be the first time I had an all-day run though, I should be fine.

In more pertinent news my first paycheck allowed me to pick up RPG Maker VX Ace. I figure some short games could be good practice; I was wondering how they'd be treated for the purposes of the challenge. Would such an item be acceptable? Would there be any restrictions?

It won't affect this week's submission, but going forward, well, you never know.

[Grinner]

I guess I'll throw my hat into the ring.

This week, a bunch of avatar requests.

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In more pertinent news my first paycheck allowed me to pick up RPG Maker VX Ace. I figure some short games could be good practice; I was wondering how they'd be treated for the purposes of the challenge. Would such an item be acceptable? Would there be any restrictions?

It won't affect this week's submission, but going forward, well, you never know.

I too would like to know.

[Glass Mouse]

Okay guys, with only 3 passes down at this point, I'm gonna assume that it was a bad idea to have the status deadline today. I'm moving it 'til this morning, giving everyone another chance. This means that the status will be done around 7-8 hours from now, at around 8 a.m. GMT+1. That is only three hours before the actual deadline (the end of Sunday everywhere), and after Sunday for almost everyone, so it should be managable.

Shoutout to Lycunadari, D.Knightspider and Grinner for actually uploading and passing right now! You guys rock!

I know that it's late in the week, but I'd think that having the themes set up in advance would be the more advantageous option.

Absolutely. Next week is Lycunadari, so that'll be announced in the status post.

Then from the week starting on the 22nd, it is TheWombatofDoom.

The week starting on the 29th, it is C'nor.

The temporary rules are:
Themes should be announced as soon as possible and followed at the appropriate times. If someone takes it upon themselves to refresh memory of the themes when they start to count, that would be great but not strictly necessary.
If a theme is not announced by the appropriate date (see above), anyone can suggest a theme. First theme suggested wins. If no theme has been announced by Friday, it is a theme free week.

I'll probably check in on the Playground and this thread from time to time during my travels (so behave while I'm gone ). I just can't do the status posts or be online frequently. Just... to clear up any confusion if I suddenly pop up.

In more pertinent news my first paycheck allowed me to pick up RPG Maker VX Ace. I figure some short games could be good practice; I was wondering how they'd be treated for the purposes of the challenge. Would such an item be acceptable? Would there be any restrictions?

I don't see why it wouldn't count, though I don't know anything about it (and don't have the time to check it out, sorry). One game = one piece? Or, if you make levels, it might be one level = one piece. One monster design = one piece.

The closer we can approximate existing pieces, the better. So, shoot

I guess I'll throw my hat into the ring.

Awesome, welcome to the Challenge! You're just in time for a 3-week being-on-your-own-until-a-big-aggregated-status-post-on-August-5 Also, yay for some fresh artist blood!

[redfeatherraven]

The program is a game development engine modeled in the vein of old-school JRPGs. It includes numerous art and music assets for use, and can accept more. It's the premade assets that caused a question in my mind, both in how it'd be received and how it'd be divvied up.

I admit that most of the art assets would likely be the inclusions from the program, although I can try to spruce it up. I'll be crafting original levels and dialogue, however, and we can grade it on those merits if desired. Worst case, I can supplement it with writing or simply submit the dialogue as such and leave the rest be.

Needless to say I'll have full transparency about anything used.

In the meantime, submission still underway. May have to pad the theme with something else, but I know just the thing.

[MeanMrsMustard]

I got a set of watercolor paints and pencils! Yay!

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A bunny princess.

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A friend's OC.

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An umbrella in a field.

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And some vectors.

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The main character of a comic I'm planning.

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Main character's best friend.

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Moody teenage pony.

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And it's still Sunday night for me.

[redfeatherraven]

Sadly the hero project did not come to fruition; spent a lot of time with my family today instead.

But I'm not dead in the water this week yet. The previous week's project provided a little spill-over into this week, as I refined more mechanics and details, and so I've got two more documents lined up that total an unimpressive but passing 1534 words.

If I'm incredibly lucky, there may even actually be something funny in them.

Both links are tested fully functional; have at them.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

[Glass Mouse]

Hooray, the regular passers made it! Time for status!


Glass Mouse passes with ~6 pages of sci-fi setting and story.

Lycunadari passes with two medieval photos and four cacti photos.

TheWombatOfDoom didn't upload/send me anything.

C'nor didn't upload/send me anything.

Viera Champion didn't upload/send me anything.

MeanMrsMustard passes with three water colour paintings, two character portaits and one pony.

D.KnightSpider passes with 1,518 words of novel, and 310 words of essay on heroes.

redfeatherraven passes with 1,534 words of humorous game writings.

Icewalker didn't upload/send me anything.

Grinner passes with six avatar requests.


Thus, TheWombatOfDoom, C'nor, Viera Champion and Icewalker FAIL this round!

Glass Mouse, Lycundari, MeanMrsMustard, D.KnightSpider, redfeatherraven and Grinner PASS this round!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 142 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 28 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

TheWombatOfDoom
Current run: -
Longest run: 3 weeks
Themes: -

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

Viera Champion
Current run: -
Longest run: 2 weeks
Themes: -

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

D.KnightSpider
Current run: 7 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 6 weeks

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

Icewalker
Current run: -
Longest run: 3 weeks
Themes: -

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

This week's theme has not been chosen beforehand. The first theme suggested by anyone (even lurkers) wins.

Next week's theme is chosen by C'nor - please announce it in this thread before the 22nd, so it can be followed on that week. I won't adminstrate themes while I'm away.




Sorry about not including word count in my own status part. My primary computer has died, and I haven't figured out how to do a word count on a tablet. But 6 pages should be more than enough, so I decided not to fret.

That's it for this week, and I'm off! Have a good summer guys, and I'll be back for good (barring small visits) on August 5. Happy creating in the meantime

[Lycunadari]

Ooops, forgot about the theme. It's now Dreams and Nightmares.

Absolutely! Since it intersects with my own traveling, you can also chose to collect everything from next week and until your return, if you'd prefer that.

Just give me a date to expect your return, and there's no problem

Also, where are you going? Somewhere good?

I'll come back on 30th August, but I'm moving on the next day ( ) , so I'll probably don't manage to send it for that week. So, expect my return for the 8th September.

I'm visiting my brother in Australia.

[Icewalker]

Ah geez, I didn't, did I. So busy these days. Welp, I'll hopefully pick it up, although it seems now I'm leaving for Switzerland this weekend, so I don't even know.

[redfeatherraven]

Digging this theme.

Let's see how fast I can prototype.

[Drakeburn]

I think I'll join in on the creativity as well.

Do I still PM my work to Glass Mouse, even though she's going to be gone for a while?

Heck with it, I'll just post my work here.

Slumbering Realms

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As you fall asleep,
You'll fall into diverse worlds
Of pleasure and fear

In these worlds apart,
Friends and foes will always lurk
As your thoughts slumber

Always from day to night
You shall escape and return
To these unsure clouds

[Icewalker]

Ah geez, everything is still crazy. I dunno if I'll be able to keep up with it while I'm here in Europe, and working a summer camp later in summer. I really wish I was, but, so be it

I am still getting writing done, finishing my book. But I both kind of don't want to post or PM sections of it, and it's also hard to track word count cause it's half editing and copy work. More so, once I finally finish this next workthrough, hopefully tomorrow.

So I guess I'm out, again...

[MeanMrsMustard]

Too lazy to format right now.

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[redfeatherraven]

You know who forgot that, assuming the engine's solid, prototyping needs at least a barely-fleshed world and characters to populate it?

That would be this guy.

Technically I have enough word count to pass for this week just in worldbuilding, but I don't know how much I'd advise anyone to read it. It's stuffed so full of spoilers that the file might just explode on my desktop.

Regardless, money where my mouth is. 2002 words.

Not so spoilery 800-odd words:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

The rest, courtesy of Spoilery McSpoilerson:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

[Drakeburn]

Since it is beyond the 21st of July, I'll choose the theme if that is alright with everyone, and this week's theme is: Computer RPGs!

[redfeatherraven]

Well, dammit. Can't get out of prototyping this week, eh?

On the case.

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

Or not, but I did come up with some 3,000 words on the game, continued from last week.

Various spoilers throughout; we're still building background here. If you want to learn this for yourself through playing the finished product, take my word for it on these.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

[MeanMrsMustard]

Writing:

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Submission for July's Carnival of Aces. 868 words.

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My life before seems so strange now. Like I was living in a little bubble. A carefree little bubble.
A bubble free of doubt.
You see, I used to think I was straight. It was an easy mistake to make, in retrospect. I crushed on boys like a normal little girl, whatever that is.
I can't remember when I first knew what being gay was, but it was definitely long after I had learned what sex was. I thought to myself, "do I want to have sex with girls?"
The answer was no, and unfortunately I didn't continue to the logical conclusion of that train of thought, which was "do I want to have sex with boys?"
Spoiler alert: the answer was also no. Or it would have been, had I bothered to ask myself that.
Like many others, I learned what asexual reproduction was before I learned what the orientation was. And like many others, it took me a long time to learn what asexuality really was.
I thought to be asexual meant you couldn't feel love.
I thought to be asexual meant you were like a robot with no interests in people.
The list of misconceptions I unfortunately held goes on and on. It's quite embarrassing, really.
Where I grew up, people didn't really talk about sex or sexuality much. It was a comfortable environment for me, and I didn't think anything of it. Who questions a situation that works in their favour? I sure didn't.
When I discovered the Internet, I learned that people loved talking about sex. Sexual partners, sexual toys, sexual orientations, sex sex sex sex sex. It didn't make me completely uncomfortable. I was open minded. Besides, I thought I was straight. Surely when I had sex I would see the light.
Let's take a step backwards. Picture a tent. Picture the sleeping bags. Picture the battery-powered "lantern" suspended by some ridiculously complex system of ropes (we had learned some awesome knots that day, OK?). Picture the huddle of thirteen- to sixteen-year-old girls in pyjamas. Picture me just outside said huddle. I'm the blonde one holding her glasses case, waiting until it's quiet enough to sleep.
We've just finished describing our crushes to the rest of the girls. This was easy enough for me. He had freckles and curly hair that teetered between blond and brown. He had hazel eyes and was a tenor. I grin to myself, remembering the way his voice sounds.
Once the last lovestruck girl is done, another pipes up excitedly.
"Oh! Oh! I have an idea!"
The huddle gets tighter.
"All right, picture the guy you like…"
A chorus of "mm-hmm"s from the circle of kids with closed eyes.
"… and now imagine making out with him!"
Can you hear the squeals? I still can. Can you see the flustered faces? I can almost see them, but I hadn't been wearing my glasses. Now, can you see my expression of shock bordering on disgust? Can you hear the little "guh" sound I make?
That was the first time I ever doubted my sexual orientation.
Let's get back to the Internet. Narrating in present tense was getting tiresome anyway.
I scrolled through my tumblr dash, a wonderful balance of social justice and fandom blogs. On that night, it was rather fandom-intensive. That was probably why the post on asexuality caught my eye.
I followed the link to Asexual Archive and skimmed the site. Asexual people seemed… different than I had expected. They were warm and caring and dorky… and there was this weird obsession with cake. Below the surface, I probably already knew I'd fit in perfectly with the dorks. But at the conscious level, I was still firmly convinced I was heterosexual.
Weeks later, I remembered that night in the tent, and the memory reminded me for some reason of that nice Asexuality Archive site. This time, I read through all the articles. All of them.
Especially the Possible Signs of Asexuality series.
Nothing had seemed so spot-on before. I felt like I was riding a tsunami of self-discovery. Like a character in a cheesy movie who marvels as whatever was holding back the memories of their daring adventure suddenly fails to keep the memories at bay. Luckily, there were no tears, single or otherwise. Only the overwhelming feeling that asexuality was the orientation for me.
On the surface, "doubt" seems like a purely negative word. What could be scarier than being uncertain, especially about something so important?
Perhaps being certain… but being wrong. Holding an absolute conviction that you're straight, simply because you only know of straight/gay/bi.
Maybe doubt isn't all bad. Maybe we'll need more of it as we move on into the world, so we can question the things that need to be questioned.
I just hope that, in the future, there will be no need for doubt. People who identify as an orientation won't be shamed, and nobody will have to go through the confusion of not knowing their own sexuality. My experience wasn't horrible, but it wasn't ideal. I wouldn't wish the kinds of feelings I had on anyone.
Still, one of the greatest discoveries of my life happened because I doubted.

Haiku, yay!

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I stand at the edge.
Amphibious. That means gills.
Gills and a windpipe.

I still feel nervous.
I've never tried this before.
What if my gills fail?

Easy does it, right?
No. I need to do this all at
Once, or else I'll fail.

Perhaps I won't die,
But I know my courage would
Not last long enough.

I take a deep breath.
Suddenly, the air feels dry.
I exhale, and jump.

The initial chill
Forces the last of the air
Into the water.

The bubbles shoot up.
I watch as I feel the cool
Water on my gills.

It's so refreshing.
Surprising, even. I can't
Believe I was scared.

Exhaling through my
Neck — a novel sensation.
Finally, I smile.

Time for me to dive.
I go and explore the depths,
My fear left behind.

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Myself as an amphibious creature similar to the one in the haiku.

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Karkat Vantas!

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[MeanMrsMustard]

Silly askblog nonsense.

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It was a magic anon, OK?

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I get a lot of "OMG SO CUTE" messages.

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Homestuck.

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Eridan Ampora.

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Humanstuck.

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Fancystuck.

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Fantroll, take one.

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Avatar request.

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[TheWombatOfDoom]

Massive amount of stuff made but not posted here...gonna have to make sure its all up in time. I should have done it as I went, but I was a tad busy/lazy. I have got things though!

[Glass Mouse]

Hi guys, I'm back! Massively exhausted, but happy. Hope you've had good summers too!

We're doing status for the three weeks ranging from the 15th of July to the 4th of August. To pass, one must have uploaded 18 worth of creative pieces in that time. That's 18 drawings/photos, 4.500 words of writing, or equivalent in whatever medium one chooses.

We had two themes (Nightmares/dreams and Computer RPGs), but none for the third week. Good job on keeping the themes and posts mostly rolling while I was gone. You guys rock!


Glass Mouse passes with 3.106 words of sci-fi story and 2.627 photos (thumbnail screenshots supplied for approx 600 photos).

Lycunadari will be back on September 8.

TheWombatOfDoom (edit) passes two weeks with 1,251 words of story and one poem, and six pieces worth of video/acting/editing/propmaking.

C'nor didn't upload anything.

Viera Champion didn't upload anything.

MeanMrsMustard passes with 6 + 2 + 6 drawings (including chibis, portraits and silliness), 868 words of writing and 10 haikus.

D.KnightSpider passes with 1502 + 554 + 1058 words of novel writings (following the theme) and 4 + 2 stick figure drawings.

redfeatherraven uploaded 2800 + 3000 words of RPG worldbuilding, following both themes.

Icewalker is out again.

Grinner didn't upload anything.

Drakeburn uploaded a dream-themed poem.


Thus, C'nor, Viera Champion, redfeatherraven, Grinner and Drakeburn FAIL this round!

Glass Mouse, (TheWombatOfDoom), MeanMrsMustard, D.KnightSpider PASS this round!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 145 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 28 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

TheWombatOfDoom
Current run: 1 week
Longest run: 3 weeks
Themes: -

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

Viera Champion
Current run: -
Longest run: 2 weeks
Themes: -

MeanMrsMustard
Current run: 16 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

D.KnightSpider
Current run: 10 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 8 weeks

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

Grinner
Current run: -
Longest run: -
Themes: -

This week's theme has not been chosen beforehand. The first theme suggested by anyone (even lurkers) wins.

Next week's theme is chosen by MeanMrsMustard - let me know in PM or this thread, and I'll include it in the next status.



Icewalker: Sorry to see you go, but good luck on summer camp and doing editing work. Cheers!

Re. themes, I saw them at various points during the vacation, and they became good ground for new ideas for my stories. Kind of a pathetic theme-win considering I created nothing with them, but there you go

[Glass Mouse]

I also just realized that I never gave a specific time for the status post today, and that you may have interpreted it as a "Sunday" type day. So, if you created everything you need to pass, I'll still count it if it's online tomorrow. I just don't want to delay the status post right now, since this summer has seen enough changed plans.


As for everyone who didn't pass, beware: If you don't pass next week, I'm scrapping you from the list. It's bad PR to have so many non-passers.


Ahhh, it's great to be back!

[redfeatherraven]

This week was a legit non-pass for me. Had more worldbuilding but didn't hit the required limits. The reasons are personal but rest assured they were pleasant.

Don't fret though. I'll finish the document, perhaps write another, and have this week's entry in just fine.

If there'd be no objections to a theme, while I'm here? Past as future.

[Grinner]

Any advice on producing these things quickly? Between my job and my abominable need to sleep, I have to spend all of my free time working on these things. That was fine the first week, but now it's treacherously dull.

[D.KnightSpider]

Any advice on producing these things quickly? Between my job and my abominable need to sleep, I have to spend all of my free time working on these things. That was fine the first week, but now it's treacherously dull.

Tell me about it. Usually, I don't have time to edit anything I do write, and then I just end up slapping some stick art together to match the theme and get me over the final submission needed for Challenge fulfillment.

I like the Challenge, and I'm in it for the long haul. But... yeah... there are times when I wish I could just put the world on pause for a while I work on it.

[The Succubus]

Ahhh, it's great to be back!

Welcome back, Miss Mouse.

[redfeatherraven]

Any advice on producing these things quickly? Between my job and my abominable need to sleep, I have to spend all of my free time working on these things. That was fine the first week, but now it's treacherously dull.

The most practical advice I have is to take something you find fascinating, blend it with the week's theme, and force the two to mesh. If it just doesn't click with you, my advice is to find a way of generating random inputs that you can sort through until you find one that does click, and then replace the theme with that.

So far Seventh Sanctum (www.seventhsanctum.com) has been my secret weapon. If I need some kind of spark, I fire up one of the generators and try to extrapolate from the results. They have description generators too, if you're inclined to draw characters instead.

If you manage to touch on something that seems interesting, it should put you in the zone. Most of my submissions get knocked out on the weekends in 1-2 hour stints just because I find an idea so damn interesting that my fingers can't stop themselves. That could just be me though.

Beyond that, the more you practice, the faster it gets. It's cliché advice, but for a very good reason.

Finally, if you need an absolute backup plan, templates are always an option. However I'd recommend using them as a last resort, or layering immense detail atop them to compensate.

[Glass Mouse]

It got a little late, but the status post is now edited to include the previous week's submission from TheWombatofDoom

This week was a legit non-pass for me. Had more worldbuilding but didn't hit the required limits. The reasons are personal but rest assured they were pleasant.

Oooh, interesting. Sad about the broken streak though.

Any advice on producing these things quickly? Between my job and my abominable need to sleep, I have to spend all of my free time working on these things. That was fine the first week, but now it's treacherously dull.

Two things seem to work for me.

First, making a habit of using breaks and transport time to your advantage. I use this time mostly to write, since drawing takes a little more space and preparation for me.

Second, planning. Some weeks I have to actively plan for creative time and stick to it, including turning down a social offer or two. It's definitely not all weeks, and it depends a LOT on your specific schedule (some things just can't be turned down).
Sacrificing sleep is necessary some Sundays, too. But I really like avoiding it.

Letting go of the "everything must be perfect" mentality is really good too. A large amount of the things I create are made specifically for the Challenge, just to exercise my creative muscles and meant to be thrown away immediately after the week's over. Worrying more about quantity than quality makes it easier to finish things quickly on busy weeks.
Having a larger world or story to work on really helps here, because nothing you create for such a thing is really superfluous.

But I definitely feel you on the hard-to-make-time front, and not all creative habits or mediums are created equal. I'm launching a webcomic soon-ish, which is gonna consume a lot of time (four quality drawings a week). The last time I did a comic, my school schedule was way more lenient, so it'll be interesting to see how that works out.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I'm assuming then that my video submission for the first week didn't work? I wasn't sure how that would go down, so I tried to break it up in a way I thought might work. Does it all just count as one?