The CHALLENGE chugs on!

[Glass Mouse]

I'm going to be gone next week. Monday-Tuesday, most likely.

Of note: I think we should make a line between tardiness ("oh sorry, i'm late") and vacations ("hey, I'm going to be out of town for two weeks").

One is avoidable and should be punished, the other usually isn't.

Hence the difference between advance notice and no advance notice. It is under the assumption that 1) most people don't travel (or get otherwise foreseeably prevented) more than once every two months, and 2) if you do travel more often, traveling is routine enough that you should be able to figure out a way to, e.g., use the hotel wi-fi for upload.

I'd be okay with turning the "advance notice" counter down from 8 to something like 4-6 weeks, though. And clarifying that any one announced lateness can be as long as you'd like, as long as there is a clear return date.

Spoiler: My reasoning

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I agree in principle that we should distinguish. I did consider leaving traveling out all together, but then what about power outages? Or medical emergencies? Those are unavoidable and unaanouncable. What about "my friend had a bad breakup, and I got distracted by cheering them up"? Or "I knew my 'net was shaky, but I hoped it'd hold, only it didn't"? Pet got sick? Huge surprise school assignment? What is avoidable enough that punishment should occur?
So either I have to make judgment calls on a case-by-case basis, or everything has to go in the same system. This way, it's up to people individually to decide whether something is important enough to pull through or to spend their precious lateness allowance.

[Artman77]

this weeks art is in my GitP thread here.

The picnic table with the word "REO", the background, and the nine eight planets should be enough, but I included a military gnome for the homework assignment.

[Glass Mouse]

Status for the week August 24 - 30!


Glass Mouse passes with a Genre Unsavvy strip and 1343 words of RPG character background.

Lycunadari will be back with this week’s pieces on Wednesday.

Allan Dotson passes with a Critters page, a pack-badger-riding gnome, a dimetrodon, a bone devil, a lemure, a boar, a unicorn, and a fiddly Grig.

Cuthalion didn’t upload/send me anything.

Artman77 passes with a Stoneskin halfling, a cosmic picnic table, a ninja turtle, two shirt prints, and a militant halfling.

LeSwordfish passes with six painted war-suited models.

TheWombatOfDoom passes with Majora’s Mask Point Race episode 11.

jseah passes with 2365 words of Hero’s War.


Thus, Cuthalion FAILS this round!

Glass Mouse, Allan Dotson, Artman77, LeSwordfish, TheWombatOfDoom, and jseah PASS this round!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 253 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 137 weeks (pending 1)
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Allan Dotson
Current run: 52 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Cuthalion
Current run: -
Longest run: 21 weeks
Themes: -

Artman77
Current run: 6 weeks
Longest run: 13 weeks
Themes: 6 weeks

LeSwordfish
Current run: 10 weeks
Longest run: 5 weeks
Themes: 1 week

TheWombatOfDoom
Current run: 10 weeks
Longest run: 71 weeks
Themes: -

jseah
Current run: 10 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

This week's theme (August 31 - September 6), chosen by LeSwordfish, is 24 Hours.

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






Geez this one cut close. Somehow, I managed to lose both my internet, one sketchbook and several pages of novel writings in one weekend. It’s been one of those weeks.

[jseah]

https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3238329/37/A-Hero-s-War

Final count is 3206 words.

[Lycunadari]

Oh hey, internet.

I don't like the new rules at all, tbh. They're all about outside circumstances and nothing about art, creativity or even discipline. The way I see it, they're mostly about having internet access on Sunday evening. I might be overreacting a bit, because had the rules been there two weeks ago, I would just have lost my 2.5 year streak to a failing internet connection, but I really don't think the rules are in the spirit of the challenge.

(I'll write a bit more (including suggestions) tomorrow, I just got home and I'm super tired and can't think. Also, sorry for only weighing in now, but y'know, no internet.)

Edit: I'm awake and can think again.
Maybe it's just my anxiety speaking, but the new rules sound really, really stressful to me - I can already see myself worrying every time I'm visiting my grandparents (or other places with unstable/no internet, or just anywhere that's not home - and even there...) if I'll have internet on Sunday evening, if I can risk taking the later train back where I might get stuck again so I'd be home to late, if I can afford to just not be home on Sunday... just a whole lot of stress and worrying for what should be just an exercise in creativity. And I'd hate to see someone lose a streak not because they didn't to art but just because they have unstable internet (or other external reasons).

So, my suggestions: I'd differentiate between "being late because I forgot" and "being late because external reasons" AND "uploading late" and "having 6 pieces late". I'd allow no excuses for the last part- you don't have enough art at the deadline, for whatever reason, you fail the week. Same for uploading late because you forgot (and I include things like "had to console a friend after a breakup" in that. You chose that consoling your friend is more important than uploading, you fail. Yes, I'm heartless like that ). But I'd be much more "forgiving" for things you really have no control over - being in a place without internet, medical emergency, power outages etc - as long as you still have your pieces in time (so "I'm travelling and not taking my paints" wouldn't be allowed. Even if it's not your fault (like being in hospital with broken hands after an accident). You don't have art on Sunday, you fail, no excuses).
So I'd allow upload-lateness with notice beforehand completely unrestricted and I'd just trust people to not cheat by saying they had their stuff and just couldn't upload.
I like the idea of allowing upload-lateness with no notice before every X weeks, or maybe X times per year instead (cause sometimes luck's just bad and you have a power outage, a medical emergency and stuff all shortly after another).


(BTW, I have an "emergency plan" so I could give notice beforehand if I really can't access any internet at all - I'd call/text my sister to message Glass Mouse on tumblr to tell her that I can't upload. Yes, the challenge is important enough for me to have an emergency plan. )

[LeSwordfish]

I'm rather more with Lycunadari, I think - I think it's silly to treat "my house burned down" and "woops lol" as equally serious circumstances. I understand if our Glassy, Mouse-like leader doesn't want to be left to make the call as to "how serious is too serious", though.

While I really do see the logic behind Artman and similar taking this as serious work - for me, this is fun. If it becomes more stressful to me to have to write another 500 words every Sunday night than it is fun to write those words - which could well happen, i'm about to go back to university- I'll let my streak hang and do something fun. While I whole-heartedly applaud treating this as gospel seriousness, i'm not sure that attitude should be mandatory.

On a happier note, here's my own contribution for the week: Six more space marines.

[Artman77]

Secondary statement in favor of the hammer. Redacted: Glass Mouse made her ruling.

I find that ruling especially generous, actually. So now you're not just keeping track of the consecutive weeks we've made it, but also whether or not we've been late and if so, for how long? Anyone that has to use their allowance should seriously give you a big hug.

Regarding the statements about deadlines "adding stress"; upload early. I've had some nail-biters early Sunday morning and I agree, IT IS stressful. But really, it's not hard to be done by Friday, and then you have a two-day cushion in case anything happens. I slept like a baby the weekends I got my stuff done early. (Which is less often than I would like, admittedly, but if you want to have more fun, then this is the way to go.)

[jseah]

Perhaps it's due to doing Nanowrimo for three times (all successfully), but I find 1.5k words per week really easy. Well, I managed 2k per day for a month so this is relaxing in comparison.
The last Nano had me pulling 5k per day in the last four days of the month, because I was trying to win a Word War and calculated I need 80k words total. -.- Now THAT was painful.

Of course, I now have a job so 2-3k per week seems to be my sustainable limit. In any case, I don't feel anxiety at the end of a week because while my chapter may not be complete, I usually have already done more than 1.5k by Saturday night; you may have noticed how the last two weeks when my chapter wasn't done, I just uploaded whatever I already had that was enough to pass then went on writing past Sunday midnight.

[UXLZ]

Are GFX pieces akin to forum signatures or larger pieces (desktop backgrounds and so forth), using stocks/renders/C4Ds/vectors/etc. eligible as entries? They're creative works but generally aren't technically 100% original. (As they use assets, such as the aforementioned renders.)

I'd post some of my back catalog as examples of what they tend to look like (well, what mine tend to look like) but I'm away from my main computer.

*I got home, so I guess I may as well give some examples. 10 or so things of varying quality. It's been a looong time since I made most of these, or even did any other, so I'd be using this as an excuse to get back into doing it. I enjoy it a lot, I just get apathetic really easily. :v*

Spoiler

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And here's a larger one I made for my phone's background, the render's sorta blurry (though that only matters if you view it in full size. On a phone it's fine.)

http://postimg.org/image/opyajzokz/

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Majora's Mask Point Race - Episode 12 - Sword Today, Gone Tomorrow

Edit: next week's theme - THIRTEEN.

Edit edit: Glass, you get my PM? Interested?

[Artman77]

I know six panels = six required pieces, but it still feels like cheating.

Here it is, for the week.

[Lycunadari]

Secondary statement in favor of the hammer. Redacted: Glass Mouse made her ruling.

I find that ruling especially generous, actually. So now you're not just keeping track of the consecutive weeks we've made it, but also whether or not we've been late and if so, for how long? Anyone that has to use their allowance should seriously give you a big hug.

Regarding the statements about deadlines "adding stress"; upload early. I've had some nail-biters early Sunday morning and I agree, IT IS stressful. But really, it's not hard to be done by Friday, and then you have a two-day cushion in case anything happens. I slept like a baby the weekends I got my stuff done early. (Which is less often than I would like, admittedly, but if you want to have more fun, then this is the way to go.)

Uploading early isn't really a solution – the same circumstances that might make it impossible to upload Sunday might make it equally impossible to upload on Saturday or Friday (taking my own example, the last two times I uploaded late, I was on vactation from Tuesday to Sunday, the second time my Internet already died on Saturday.) Also, while it might be easy for you to have everything finished by Friday, that definitely isn't the case for everyone (it isn't for me - I usually only have the time to get out to take pictures, or paint, on Saturday or Sunday).

Perhaps it's due to doing Nanowrimo for three times (all successfully), but I find 1.5k words per week really easy. Well, I managed 2k per day for a month so this is relaxing in comparison.
The last Nano had me pulling 5k per day in the last four days of the month, because I was trying to win a Word War and calculated I need 80k words total. -.- Now THAT was painful.

Of course, I now have a job so 2-3k per week seems to be my sustainable limit. In any case, I don't feel anxiety at the end of a week because while my chapter may not be complete, I usually have already done more than 1.5k by Saturday night; you may have noticed how the last two weeks when my chapter wasn't done, I just uploaded whatever I already had that was enough to pass then went on writing past Sunday midnight.

My problem isn't with the workload, it is with the rules that have nothing to do with how "hard" the challenge is (aka upload rules) (though your post reads kinda dismissive - just because you find writing 1500 words easy, and don't have anxiety (lucky you!) doesn't mean there aren't people for whom this is a problem, for whatever reason*. Otherwise, no one here would ever fail (which is obviously not the case).


*Usually, it's easy for me as well to get my 6 pieces! But sometimes, it really, really isn't - I go to uni, I have depression and anxiety (which makes getting motivated hard - sometimes, the need to have some pictures for the challenge is the only thing that gets me to go out and /do/ something at the end of a week. I also have a chronic condition that makes walking (or anything, really) painful (which is kinda impractical when my main creative thing is going out and photographing plants). So don't just go "well, it's easy for me!".

[Lissou]

I think that the challenge definitely isn't for everyone. That's why I withdraw for it. I too have anxiety, and a deadline actually makes it less likely for me to produce content. But... that's how this challenge works. It's for people who are motivated by deadlines. And yeah, I understand that if you tell them "well, if you break the rules, it's not so bad", then the "deadline" may lose their motivated effect.

It would be absolutely possible to create a different challenge, or a thread with no challenge at all but where people decided to work on a project and share in a smallish group every time there is some progress. This isn't the thread, though.

So I totally understand the decision to keep the deadlines fairly strict, but I also totally understand the decision to give up the challenge due to those rules. I would have if I hadn't done so already. But I think compromising more may just end up with rules that don't really help anyone at all, so all in all I think I support the decision. I enjoy seeing people post in the challenge. It's motivating to me the way being part of it wasn't. I wouldn't want it to fall apart or something.

[Lycunadari]

I am motivated by deadlines (like I wrote, sometimes this deadline is the only thing that gets me out of the house). It's not the Sunday Midnight deadline that causes me anxiety, and I'm definitely not advocating to remove it! Like you wrote, the challenge wouldn't be the challenge without this deadline. What I'm against is, again, the strict rules against uploading late due to external reasons. That's all. Because they are the thing that gives me anxiety - the fear that I'll fail because I'm stuck in traffic, my internet dies, or I have to go to the hospital. Because, again, the new rules aren't about productivity, creativity, or discipline. They're about nothing but stable internet access and luck.

[jseah]

Sorry if I came across as dismissive. I think I see where my language could have given that impression (and I call myself a writer, even if it's just a hobby >.<).

I also understand how people might have various commitments that make meeting the deadline hard but I still think this is a challenge for a reason.

If it helps, I would also support people picking their own deadline days. For example, if you would like to spend your weekends doing the art without the stress of a Sunday 12am deadline, I certainly would consider a Tuesday/Wednesday deadline challenge to be in the same spirit.

EDIT: Feasibility not included. Support function sold separately. May cause headaches in challenge organizers, use idea at own risk.

EDIT2: 3169 words on Hero's War

Spoiler

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Landar looked around the room quickly, scanning for any more magical sources. Even if it didn't require her to actually look, she still did it instinctively. Those two guards outside had activated magical weapons but there were no other magical sources from them. So not true battlemages, these were probably magically trained guards who weren't good enough to actually become a knight. Not many knights would accept being a guard for a low noble like these two mayors.
On the other hand, Landar was considered very slow at combat magic and she had come unarmed. Or very nearly unarmed.
"Don't you think making threats is rather unproductive?" she said, leaning forward and crossing her hands under her spacious sleeves.
"Oh, it can be useful sometimes," Mayor Corbin said, "Especially towards an alchemist and a scholar when negotiations break down. "
The two guards came in, wearing a heavy leather armour and carrying short spears with a long blade at the end. The magical enhancement on the metal blades pulsed no less menacingly for all that they were bog standard equipment.
Landar smiled, "I'm not just any alchemist. And I am an Iris you know?"
"Your name precedes you, everyone knows how slow you are," Corbin said, "plus, we know your estrangement from your family. If it means your cooperation, we can take the risk. It's not like you brought any magic with you. "
"You mean I almost didn't bring any magic with me," Landar took out the two tubes from under her sleeves. They were fashioned like miniature bowguns, far too small to fire full sized arrows, but this one was loaded with tiny darts. Tiny non-magical darts. The only magical thing was the tube for the darts themselves and it was so weak that even Cato next to her wouldn't feel it.
"Stand back madam," guard on the left said, she pulled the mayor back. The other guard kept his weapon ready while herding the other two nobles out of the room with one hand.
As Mayor Corbin moved towards the door, Cato took the chance granted by Landar drawing all the attention to take out the tiny crossbow from under his shirt. It was too weak to penetrate any armour or have good range, but it did fit under the puffy ridiculous aristocratic shirt, at least once enough of the inner fabric had been cut away. Cato had not felt any regret at ruining the expensive clothing.
Landar watched him take aim out of the corner of her eyes, hoping he wasn't aiming at the nobles. She poured her magic down into the two dart shooters. This enchantment was the same application she used on the robot, using her own power to propel the darts instead of using the magic from the enchantment. Cato had pointed out that such a setup did not require any complex spellcasting from Landar, just raw power for which her maximum limit was very high.
The guards reacted to her threat almost immediately, swinging their weapons down to face her. The nobles hurried out of the room right when the first shot was fired, from Cato. The small bolt scraped a deep scratch in the female guard's armour but pinged back and buried itself into a bowl of dessert chokos, knocking sweet syrup over the tablecloth.
The male guard stepped up to the table and thrust the spear, narrowly missing as Cato dived to the floor. The female guard began to go around the long dinner table and flinched as Landar fired one of the dart guns at her full power. The dart zipped past the guard's face then shattered on the wall, the force behind the dart crushing the unfortunate brick into a fine powder that exploded back out over the dinner spread.
Oops, that was a bit too much power. Landar took aim with the second dart gun then had to dodge the tip of the guard's spear. The disruption magic on the tip grazed her arm and her second dart knocked out the leg on the table near the female guard, the tipping table dumping plates of warm soup onto her legs.
Landar rubbed her stinging arm and concentrated, a bubble of magic surrounding her and Cato. The guards wouldn't be able to stick their bladed spears through it without the magic on the blade hitting the bubble first. Neither would Cato nor the guards be able to walk through the wall of disruptive magic without getting a powerful magical shock, possibly strong enough to kill them or at least put them unconscious.
Pure magic wouldn't stop the spears nor Landar's darts but that was something quick and simple was all she could manage.
Cato had grabbed a knife that had fell on the floor and was furiously trying to crank his crossbow back for another shot, Landar also hastily drew out more darts from under her sleeve. The male guard had gone around the undamaged end of the table to cut them off and the female guard was approaching quickly. She leveled her spear at Landar and the magical charge on the blade flew off to impact on the bubble.
The bubble absorbed the hit, growing thinner. Landar cursed and dropped one of the dart guns to focus on reloading the remainder. Stuffing another dart down the front, Landar looked up to find the spear coming straight at her. She fired the dart gun at it instinctively and it hit the iron blade. The iron merely dented but the wood shaft below it couldn't take the shock and shattered, sending the guard reeling backwards in a shower of splinters.
Behind her, the bubble shuddered then collapsed from the other guard's blade enchantment. There was a sound of a crossbow string thwacking and then a scream from the guard. Cato must have gotten in a clean hit.
Landar scrambled backwards to put some distance between her and the guard, forming her magic as fast as she could. The guard picked up her broken shaft of wood and charged at Landar only to stop wide-eyed when Landar pumped as much power into the hastily constructed ball of magic in front of her.
The glow in their magical sight filled the entire room, more than enough power to raise the roof off the foundations.
"Enough," Landar said, between her sharp breaths, "you're too late. You can't hope to stop bolt from killing you if I fire it. "
The chaos in the dinner room suddenly came to a halt. Landar glanced at Cato. He was standing over the wounded male guard with the bladed spear, watching the groaning guard who was clutching his leg. The dinner knife had penetrated the armour when fired at nearly point blank and stuck out of his thigh, oozing blood over the cloth carpeted floor.
The female guard dropped her spear shaft slowly and nodded, "all right, you win. "

"That was far too close," Cato rubbed a bruise on his arm painfully, "it's a good thing one of your specials finally worked as advertised. "
"I agree," Landar said, "but what else can we do? Even if I start carrying fireball wands using this technique, we'll still end up with a reputation for packing weapons that could destroy a building. That would impolite to bring to a friendly meeting. We might as well take a charged iron staff to future dinner invitations. "
"I wouldn't call that a friendly meeting. "
Landar looked around the street, filled with people browsing the market who didn't know what had just happened in their own mayor's home. "Yes, but if another noble wants to talk to you?" she asked.
"Even so, I doubt Mayors Corbin and Selabia will just let us go like this," Cato said, "not when they work out that your final spell was just a bluff. I still can't believe you tried to bluff with nothing. "
"It was the only way, Cato," Landar said, "another second or two, that guard would have stabbed either of us. And while they know I'm slow, they couldn't know that I can barely even make the shape of a magic bolt in that time, much less shoot it. "
"In any case, we need to move. I don't care to find out if Mayor Corbin will stoop to hiring assassins but clearly she would rather us dead if we aren't going to cooperate. It will make working with the merchants difficult, but those problems can be solved. "
Landar thought for a moment then nodded, "we should lodge a case for arbitration with the Order of Knights but they won't defend us if there really are assassins. I think we need to find a patron, preferably a noble and a powerful one. "
"What about the next one up from Corbin?" Cato asked.
"Chancellor Minmay?" Landar nodded, "a good possibility. He's busy but honest. That glass window I made was actually for his daughter so we do have a working relationship. "
Cato tried to think of another angle, "What about the other chancellors? How about the nobles where your family is? Surely your name will be worthwhile there. "
"True. And Corbin certainly won't be able to get at us there, while Minmay city is right next door. On the other hand, that would mean starting over. No one there knows your name and my family can... be a bit overbearing. "
"Let us think about it for a while," Cato said finally, "there are arrangements we need to make so we can't move immediately. The knights may be able to mediate a little but we need to think about home security. "


The tile shattered into tiny pieces on the cobblestones.
"Tsk," Danine hissed in irritation. So close. Danine glared down at the three bullies.
There was a satisfying set of yelps below in the alley though. She looked around but there were no more easily usable tiles. Prying some more off was an option but that would damage the roof.
"You again! " The big one roared.
"What are you waiting for?" The leader said, pointing up at her, "get her!"
With a yell the thin boy started to climb the wall, the fat one trying vainly to follow behind. Beside them, the leader took the short boost of a window sill and leapt upwards.
"What- what do we do?" Tam trembled, "they're going to kill us! "
Hyperbole surely. Danine sniffed, "look at them try, we could climb this faster than any of them. If you're still scared, you can feel free to run. "
She didn't look at Tim, there was no sound of feet over roof tiles. Clearly he felt that he couldn't run away leaving Danine to get beaten up.
She wasn't planning on letting them. With a familiar burst of concentration, a colorless ball of raw magic collected above her open palm, a few finger widths across. She tweaked it a little and it turned an angry red to mirror her mood. Tam gaped beside her. Danine had only ever showed him minor magical exercises, there was no point drawing on her maximum safe limit in exercises meant to train finesse.
Hrm, how did she move the ball around again? Oh right that. She pushed the magic inside the ball and a wave built up in the magic. Right when it hit the bottom of the spell, Danine let the ball go and it flew down at the leader.
"What is that-" "Magic?!" "Aaaah!"
The leader of the trio screamed as the ball splashed over him. His clothing didn't catch fire, to Danine's disappointment, but it made him flinch. That turned out to be a bad idea when he was clinging to the brick wall half way up. With another scream, he fell down to the alley and landed with a sharp crack.
The thin boy paused in shock and that was his undoing. By the time he started moving again, to the shouts of the fat one below him, Danine had summoned another ball of magic, this time raw disruptive magic.
The thin boy flailed as the ball hit his face, magical shock from lifeforce damage stunning him temporarily. Then he fell and together with the fat bully landed heavily in the alley again.
The three of them groaned in varying degrees as they lay there for a good few moments. Then Danine's laughter from above them brought the fat one up, shaking a fist at her.
"You'll remember this! His father is in the Redwater gang and you'll-"
"The Redwater gang who got shredded the last time I saw them?" Danine sniffed, "I'd say you are the one who should be prepared. How many of them are still around anyway?"
"Grr!" the thin boy gritted his teeth and stumbled to his feet at the provocation.
With various yelps and curses, the three of them ran off down the alley. Another magical bolt arced after them but missed and buried itself into the ground. Danine sighed as they disappeared into the street outside.
She sank to the rooftop with a sigh of relief. Her legs felt like jelly and the chilly wind bit through her thin clothing. Danine wrapped her tail around her waist and laughed, "I did it! That showed them!"
"Won't they come back? They will find you," Tam said, horror building in his voice, "the Redwater are ruthless and they'll-"
"That part was true, you know?" Danine said, shivering on the roof, "the Redwater gang tried to attack Cato's work and Landar fought them. Slaughtered them, actually. "
"Are you talking about the Red River incident?" Tam asked, "there's a rumour going around that some street gang tried to attack a powerful mage and he painted the street with their blood in a sacrificial ritual before the knights stopped him. You saw that?!"
"Is that what they're calling it?" Danine shook her head, "it's not so dramatic. Landar was defending the warehouse while inside a giant robot she built and blasted them once with her arm cannon. Those arrows shredded them, broke them into little pieces. I think that's where the Red River name comes from, the blood must have sprayed across the street. "
She stopped when Tam started to look a little pale. "I guess that's pretty dramatic too," she added.
Tam gulped and looked back down at the alley. "Landar won't fight the Redwater for us unless they attack you. She might even defend me if she sees it happen but there are more Fuka than just me or my mother. They might not attack you but I wouldn't dare to go out alone anymore. "
Danine blinked. She hadn't thought of that. That whatever was left of Redwater would attack other Fukas because they didn't dare to incur Landar's wrath. And there were undoubtedly more Fuka in Corbin than just Tam.
She looked up at the cloudy sky, feeling rather small and powerless not for the first time.
Despite using the magical attacks Danine didn't feel sleepy, but she failed to note it in her bleak mood. After all, a small but constant growth was hard to notice.


Cato tapped the notepad, one of the first of its kind in Inath. Landar's springs might not hold a lot of tension but they still had their uses, and pressed against a stiff board of light wood, they worked admirably as a portable document holder. Kalny had already ordered twenty notepads, paper not included. Other merchants were also expressing interest, with the Ironworkers sniffing around Landar trying to understand how to make the springs.
He picked up the crumbs of bread that had fallen on the paper and tossed them back into the pan. Razzi might give him a discount rate, but that didn't mean paper was cheap.
"I still don't see a way to introduce better farming tools or even fertilizer to the farmers without having to go through the nobles," Cato said, "you are sure the farmers aren't organized in any way?"
"The nobles wouldn't let them," Landar shook her head and took a bite out of her sandwich. She swallowed, "you could say the nobles are the people who organize them. "
Cato sniffed, "and the same nobles are the people who want to kill us. Or belong to those who do. Why does everything have to be so hierarchical around here?"
Landar waved the bit of bread at Cato, "because otherwise people like you will try to get around them. No, not even Kalny will be able to sell to the farmers he buys food from, the nobles own the land and the peasants won't have any money to buy it. They don't own much of the food anyway, why would they buy it?"
"The nobles will buy it?"
"Yes, of course they will, but those under Corbin are subject to her whims," Landar sighed, "I don't think she likes you very much now. Besides, don't we have bigger issues to worry about? Like how to defend ourselves from potential assassins?"
Cato was about to reply when the door opened.
A slightly disheveled Danine and Tam stood in the doorway. "What happened to you?" Cato asked, slightly shocked. Her clothing was even torn in a few places, she looked like she had got into a fight.
"I have a problem," Danine said, leading Tam into the house and closing the door behind her. "It was my fault," she admitted.
"Before that," Landar asked, "tell us what happened. "
"I fought the bullies Tam told us about before," Danine said, looking at Cato directly as if daring him to criticize her. Cato merely nodded for her to go on. "The leader guy had attacked Tam's friend and she was so frightened! I fought them off, with magic. "
"You don't need to justify yourself. Remember I said that your actions have consequences and they are your own," Cato said, "so what do you need help with?"
Tam and Landar looked at him strangely but Danine took a breath and seemed to stand straighter. "One of the bullies is the son of a Redwater gang member," she said, "Tam thinks that the Redwater gang will now attack Fukas in Corbin, which is my fault. "
Danine appeared to deflate again as she talked but Cato's words seemed to give her hope again. He noted how her tail bobbed up and down with her mood, amusing to him but probably not to her. "So how many Fukas are there in Corbin?" he asked Tam, "and how much time do they have?"
"Time?" Tam asked, "what do you mean? And I know of at least twenty families. "
"

[Lissou]

Different deadlines may seem more fair in principle, but in effect, it sounds like a lot of extra work to keep track of it all.

[Glass Mouse]

Sorry about my late reaction here - family stuff stole most of my mental bandwith this week. But it's so great to see so many people weigh in on this subject. That's so much better than me just flailing for whatever I think works.

Also, I obviously misunderstood what most people meant by "support the hammer" (except Artman77 whose stance is pretty clear). I want what works for as many people as possible, and this solution obviously didn't go over well. So the strict, number-based rules are redacted.

To clarify: Sunday will never stop being the deadline - that one is the CHALLENGE's backbone - and tolerance is only extended to upload issues, never to a lack of creative pieces. Those two are non-negotiable.


* EDIT: Scratched my vague ramblings here; see the next status post instead. *

Spoiler: Individual responses

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@Artman77, I love your enthusiasm, but CHALLENGE success should not hinge on being done so far before the deadline. This is not real life, and I'm not anyone's boss - the objective here is to enable optimal, fun, creative self-discipline for everyone. So while keeping yourself to the highest of standards is awesome, there's space here to accept that not everyone can feel the fun without safety valves.
But yeah, I'm totally with you in not accepting the minimum standards for oneself. Hence why I was so easily sold on the strict rule version

@Lissou, I love your idea of a more chill creative community thread. I'd definitely join if you made something like that

@Lycun, haha, that backup plan is excellent! And I can tell you that my phone immediately beeps, so such a message will definitely go through.
Also thank you for the input. You have some really good arguments re. the priorities of the CHALLENGE.

@jseah, I'm a-ok with that "individual deadline" for participants on their own. If you can handle a Wednesday deadline better, then just pack everything up Wednesday, send it in, and start over. It adds up to a weekly output uploaded before Sunday, either way.
But the official deadline will always be Sunday. So any excuse in the form of "but my actual deadline is three days from now, so I shouldn't fail" is never gonna go over well

[jseah]

Final count: 3552 words

https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3238329/38/A-Hero-s-War

[Glass Mouse]

Status for the week August 31 - September 6!


Glass Mouse passes with a Genre Unsavvy strip, a drawing commission, 493 words of story blurb, and a cat picture.

Lycunadari passes with a cacti drawing, a crocus, two pretty skies, two forrest pics, and two adorable squirrels.

Allan Dotson passes with a Critters page, a gnoll, a constrictor snake, a sea hag, a manticore, a drow fighter, and a gnoll pup (d’awww).

Cuthalion didn’t upload/send me anything (again).

Artman77 passes with a six-panel failed extortion comic.

LeSwordfish passes with six melee-weaponed space marines.

TheWombatOfDoom passes with Majora’s Mask Point Race episode 12.

jseah passes with 3552 words of Hero’s War


Thus, Cuthalion FAILS this round!

Glass Mouse, Lycunadari, Allan Dotson, Artman77, LeSwordfish, TheWombatOfDoom, and jseah PASS this round!


Current standing:

Spoiler

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 254 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 139 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Allan Dotson
Current run: 53 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Cuthalion
Current run: -
Longest run: 21 weeks
Themes: -

Artman77
Current run: 7 weeks
Longest run: 13 weeks
Themes: 7 weeks

LeSwordfish
Current run: 11 weeks
Longest run: 5 weeks
Themes: -

TheWombatOfDoom
Current run: 11 weeks
Longest run: 71 weeks
Themes: -

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

This week's theme (September 7 - 13), chosen by TheWombatOfDoom, is THIRTEEN.

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

Are GFX pieces akin to forum signatures or larger pieces (desktop backgrounds and so forth), using stocks/renders/C4Ds/vectors/etc. eligible as entries? They're creative works but generally aren't technically 100% original. (As they use assets, such as the aforementioned renders.)

I don’t see why not. Game level design counts, and I’m pretty sure we’ve had a few photo manipulations in the past. As long as they demand more effort than “slap a background on a transparent image” (which would be the GFX equivalent of a quick sketch). Go nuts!





Regarding lateness

Okay, peeps, I’ve got my head more together today. I propose the following:

• If you forget to upload, sucks to be you.
• If you don’t create your six pieces on time, sucks to be you.
• If you give advance notice, including a good reason (such as vacation in shaky-internet land) and a clear return date, it works exactly as it has done in the past.
• If you have an emergency (such as a power outage) that prevents upload without advance notice, okay, it happens. You get three such “freebies” a year, after which I expect you to have some kind of plan B set up.

Let’s see if this weeds out the problem. If people start abusing the advance-notice option (which I’m not expecting, but hey, you never know), I might return to a more restrictive system. But this should work to accommodate outside circumstances while preserving discipline.

Anyone in strong opposition to this?

[Cuthalion]

It sucks to be me.

I wasn't able to make six pieces last week, so it wasn't worth working around other things after I got back yesterday to upload.

[LeSwordfish]

That seems like a good system to me.

[jseah]

I can agree to that system.

[UXLZ]

Hmm, only just got around to seeing the reply now. (Broken internet.)

I'll be joining into the Challenge this Sunday then. Do you want me to try and get six pieces up in the two or so days I have (shouldn't be too hard) or do you want me to wait until after this Sunday?

[Glass Mouse]

Thanks, guys! I'm still holding out until Monday to give everyone a full week to object, but this late system is starting to look like it

Hmm, only just got around to seeing the reply now. (Broken internet.)

I'll be joining into the Challenge this Sunday then. Do you want me to try and get six pieces up in the two or so days I have (shouldn't be too hard) or do you want me to wait until after this Sunday?

Hooray, welcome to the CHALLENGE!

You can start whichever week you want, so feel free to upload your stuff this Sunday.

[Neoriceisgood]

I think that the challenge definitely isn't for everyone. That's why I withdraw for it. I too have anxiety, and a deadline actually makes it less likely for me to produce content. But... that's how this challenge works. It's for people who are motivated by deadlines. And yeah, I understand that if you tell them "well, if you break the rules, it's not so bad", then the "deadline" may lose their motivated effect.

It would be absolutely possible to create a different challenge, or a thread with no challenge at all but where people decided to work on a project and share in a smallish group every time there is some progress. This isn't the thread, though.

So I totally understand the decision to keep the deadlines fairly strict, but I also totally understand the decision to give up the challenge due to those rules. I would have if I hadn't done so already. But I think compromising more may just end up with rules that don't really help anyone at all, so all in all I think I support the decision. I enjoy seeing people post in the challenge. It's motivating to me the way being part of it wasn't. I wouldn't want it to fall apart or something.

Yeah the lack of extra motivation for me is also part of the reason I quit eventually.


Since leaving the challenge I've managed to produce more than 6 pieces of art essentially every week, the only exceptions are weeks where I needed to finish something really important for school and just couldn't afford spending time on art. With that in mind it's not like the challenge is necessary for me to keep up productivity.

Simultaneously gathering 6 pieces each week and uploading em was kinda a boring task, especially cause I already knew almost every week that I was gonna manage.

[celtois]

Let's see if I can jump on this moving wagon.

Spoiler: Arts

Show

http://dizzyartist.deviantart.com/art/Anika-559735272
http://dizzyartist.deviantart.com/art/Arccn-559735287
http://dizzyartist.deviantart.com/ar...stre-559735363
http://dizzyartist.deviantart.com/ar...dant-559735381
http://dizzyartist.deviantart.com/ar...tine-559735302
http://dizzyartist.deviantart.com/art/Geldwin-559735337
http://dizzyartist.deviantart.com/art/June-559735350

I promise I'll throw up some stylistically different material next week. I just had all these character sketches I've done for the players of my dungeon world game, and for my companions in the tavern tales game I play in.

[UXLZ]

Hmm, yep, I've decided not to do anything this week. (Though this week is basically a single day at this point.) I'll be officially joining for next week's Sunday, not the one that's coming up in 5 minutes. xD

[Artman77]

6 up on tumblr. 13's and all.

[Cuthalion]

I did a Challenge's-worth yesterday. It was fun.

[jseah]

Let's not forget to upload right after I agreed to more strict rules. =D


2421 words on A Hero's War

Spoiler

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Dear Arthur,
Thank you for your correspondence, it was the correct decision to inform me.
It is truly disturbing that Corbin has attempted to detain and abduct a famous alchemist on spurious grounds. I cannot believe that Landar is claimed to be aiding the monsters. Your contact with the knights has done well to obtain news of her request for arbitration so quickly. It shall be well received among the Minmay household, see to it that we pass on the message with all due urgency.
I strongly doubt Corbin's motives in this affair, and where she is making a move, Selabia is never far behind. I cannot know why she has taken such a costly and seemingly pointless action, there is more to this matter than greets the ear. You may expend a measure of the special funds to investigate, I trust your judgment in this as much as I always have in the past.
In the shorter term, I suspect Corbin will not let Landar's escape go for long. Unless her escape has nullified the same reason, we cannot assume that she is out of danger. Landar must be confused and scared, she will almost certainly appeal to her family for help. And while I would rest assured that Iris can protect its own, we cannot afford to let the Central Territory encroach into what is ultimately a local affair.
Extend an invitation to Landar, present it as a proposal for a new order and invite her to my estate to discuss the details.
Needless to say, I must urge caution and discretion in this matter. Chancellor Duport may be looking for another excuse to start a border dispute again and will certainly be on the look out for such an opportunity to obtain the services of her name if he hears of her need. Furthermore, I have received dispatches from the Ektal court that attention is being drawn our way after hearing news of the three inventions we last spoke of. It would not do to have the Minmay name sullied by internal disputes that escalate to royal attention.
I have concluded my business with the Greenspring towns and will return with all haste. Send further updates along the standard route and I will meet your couriers on the road.
I have always trusted your intelligence and independence. I believe I can trust you to act in my stead in this matter until such time as I arrive to take over. There can be no stronger emphasis on the importance of this task.
Signed and Sealed,
Chancellor Minmay


"I am ready, Head Yan. "
"You came quickly," the man said, not looking up from his meditation. The classic ball of light hovered motionless above the man's head, although the rumours said that he could sustain multiple balls for hours.
"May our stones weather together. "
"You understand then," he said, still not opening his eyes.
"Yes, Head Yan, my family have agreed to lend my aid. I will confirm her safety and return her to your side. "
"Even if you must anger the nobles of this land?"
"If I must. "
Head Yan finally opened his eyes and looked at the man kneeling in front of him. He said in a less formal tone, "she is not as strong as she imagines, so you may be able to drag her in but a caged bird does not fly. Her safety comes first, I do not want the nobles to touch a single hair on her head. "
Not any more than they already did of course. Yan continued, "My daughter may not wish to return, encourage but do not force her. If she insists on going her own way, once she appears to be safe again, you may consider my request discharged. "
The man bowed his head in acknowledgement and waited.
"The sword of the stone is in your hands and the debt of names grows one longer. "


Danine balanced on the top of the belltower, her tail bobbing up and down to adjust against the wind. Below her was Corbin, spread out like a drawing on those maps that Cato so loved.
The town was laid out in three sections. The main street, which turned into the trade road leading east, was where the central market and warehouses were. Further along the road was the tiered rows of wealthy stone houses of the original construction. The town also grew down towards the south as it overflowed its walls and the houses were of progressively worse construction the further south she looked.
Built right up against the defensive wall, the not-quite slums were packed to a high density that allowed the roof walking to take her all the way up to the town wall itself. Roofs of varying tiles, heights and construction butted up against one another as neighbours cared not for architectural niceties and simply built their houses however they liked. Little dead spaces, tiny alleys and secret passages would be a godsend, Danine thought, tracking someone through the town was going to be downright impossible.
The wall right where that smithy was located was also more ragged than usual, which gave her enough handholds to climb up and over the wall into the town proper. The more aristocratic areas inside the town itself did not adjoin one another though, standing a respectful distance from each other, and also inconveniently preventing her from scrabbling over their roofs. Well, it wasn't as if she needed to run away from any gangs in there, ruffians were... discouraged from entering the area.
And so were Fukas, but the meager town militia didn't keep Danine out. They didn't even notice Danine had climbed up here to the belltower at the center of town.
Danine caught sight of a small group of Fukas popping up onto the roofs above her favourite perch above the baker's shop. So Tam had managed to get some interest. She squinted. Hmm. Tam she thought she recognized, but the others were around the same size as him. No adults in that group of six.
Danine stood up and waved at them. One of them saw her and pointed at her to Tam. They waved back.
All right, it was time to fight back.

Danine frowned at the small circle of Fukas sitting on the roof in front of her. They were all children, like Tam. In fact, out of the seven of them, Danine was the oldest.
"Is this everyone?" she asked him.
"Everyone who could come," Tam confirmed, "the adults won't listen to me and those older are too busy with errands. "
So only the relatively useless children had any sort of free time to roam around. How was she supposed to turn this lot into a gang to rival the Redwater? They might be able to fight off the bullies if they stuck together and didn't run away at first sight, but to think that these kids could match the Redwater was a sick joke. Her idea wasn't looking so bright now.
Danine sighed and exchanged introductions with them. The smallest was Ashild, a tiny girl who was too small even for a six year old, one of her ears was tragically broken and perpetually lay flat against her head. The eldest and largest was Ikine, another girl only a year younger than Danine. Her eyes bore into Danine with a mix of skepticism and disbelief.
She hauled herself up mentally and thought, what would Cato do? The answer came to her quickly enough.
"All right," Danine said, "I'll be honest, there's no way we can go up against the Redwater. But that doesn't mean we won't ever be able to do it. " She looked at all them again. "I know some magic and I have someone who I can learn from. I'll teach you how to use magic and then we'll strong enough. "
The wonder in Ashild's eyes was almost worth every single moment of magical practice, Danine nodded at her unspoken question. Yes, this was real.
"What good can magic do?" Ikine said, "we're still children. "
"I fought off the three bullies who like to go after Tam with it," Danine pointed out.
"From what Tam told me, their clumsiness when climbing was the reason," she retorted.
Danine looked at Tam for help but there was nothing forthcoming. Ikine spoke up again, "how much can we learn anyway? The knights take years to get that good and we don't have years before we all grow up or get beaten up by them. "
"But I've grown enough," Danine said, "it's only been a month since I started and I can already-"
"So show us," Ikine snapped.
Danine looked at the girl in dismay, she didn't understand why this girl seemed to keep attacking her like this. How could Danine even try to show off when she was still this weak? They would all just laugh at her.
Oh what the heck, she didn't have a choice. Better they laugh at her now than be disgusted at her lies later. Danine stuck out a hand and collected the magic in front of it, pouring out as much as she could.
"That's as much as I can manage," she said finally, keeping her concentration on the ball of magic, "as for what you can do with it..." she pushed out all the other colours and left a red ball of heat in its place. Then with another push, Danine launched the ball forward.
The tiny bolt of fire magic landed on Ikine's tail by sheer coincidence but that didn't stop the girl from leaping into the air like a startled grass racer.
A few moments of frantic scrambling over the roof later, they finally managed to calm down. Danine heaved a sigh of relief, her power wasn't enough to actually set their fur on fire, Ikine might have been seriously injured.
No one questioned Danine's magic after that.


Cato pointed out the house to the cart driver and helped the man unload the carts. Despite the cost, Cato had bought out the other tenants' leases so he had the entire building to himself.
Wrapping up his affairs with the various merchants here, ensuring that they could continue to operate with only occasional visits and advisory letters, was going to take some time. A week or two at least. And it would still reduce Cato's share in their enterprises.
At least when they were out visiting, Landar did visibly carry a pair of small bowguns and Cato was armed with a full sized set and twenty arrows. The enchanted weapons they had were more than enough to make most people leave them alone and put pause to any assassin who wanted to survive an attack. Landar enchanted their clothing as a last line of defence, although they were rather poor as cloth could sustain only a little magic. But hopefully it would let Cato survive a sniper if any tried to take a shot.
Furthermore, it was more likely any potential assassin would lie in wait at or near they stayed, after all assassins didn't magically know where Cato was right at this moment. That lead to Landar moving into the upper storey rooms. She had offered to add various magical defenses to the house and the offer was too good to resist, Cato was rather attached to his life after all and despite his success against the two guards at Corbin's manor, Cato knew that he couldn't really fight. Not in a world where any knight was also a mage capable of demolishing his house.
He maneuvered the last heavy box onto the ground and thanked the cart driver. Man, what did Landar have in here that could be so heavy? It was like carrying gold around, except that most of these boxes radiated strong magic.
Cato gave the final pile of Landar's boxes a stern look and walked up to the street facing door to fetch Landar. He had got as far as one step and a sudden chill ran down his back. There was magic on it.
What the heck had that alchemist done while Cato was away getting her stuff from the Academy storage?
"Landar?" he raised his voice, "is it safe to touch this door?!"
"Coming!" came a distant shout. There was a sound of running feet and then a ping of magic from beside the door. "All right, you can come in now. "
Cato gingerly raised the handle to lift the bolt that held the door in place. The door failed to explode. Cato shook his head and pulled the door open. "I've got your crates, Landar," he said, eyeing her disheveled appearance as she ran past him with a large grin.
When he left this morning, Landar had come in heavy work clothing but it was clean and her hair was still straight. Now her black hair stuck out at odd angles and there was dust and scuff marks all over her body. Also, now that he was through the door, Cato was feeling a lot of magic around the house. It was practically smeared all over the walls.
"What... what happened here?" Cato looked around, taking a step into the two storey building.
Landar crowed behind him, "Yes! It's here! I knew I made something like it before!"
Cato turned around to see her standing in the middle of a bunch of opened crates, lifting out a wooden plank. The plank glowed with magic.
Landar grinned evilly and ran back past him into the house again. Cato watched her place the plank carefully on the floor some ways inside the house while keeping an eye on her boxes outside.
Landar hummed to herself as she worked her magic across the floor and then looked up and rubbed her hands gleefully before running to the back wall to fiddle with what appeared to be a pair of strange contraptions.
No, not contraptions, those were crossbows. And Landar had managed to put them on a pedestal to aim directly at the door.
"Um I have to ask, is that a trap?" Cato asked when she came back out to root among the crates.
"Of course!" Landar said happily, still digging around a box full of small non-magical metal parts.