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Show rules for this event
>>Trick_Question
You don’t have to submit art in order to write. If possible, your story should relate in some way to one or more of the images.
You don’t have to submit art in order to write. If possible, your story should relate in some way to one or more of the images.
>>GroaningGreyAgony
Okay. Yeah, I assumed you needed to tie it to one specific image.
I'm not sure how I feel about the round in general at this point, though. It's probably me being dumb, but I feel I've already been too much of a bitch at this point about things, and I'm discouraged. Regardless, it isn't anyone's problem but mine.
Okay. Yeah, I assumed you needed to tie it to one specific image.
I'm not sure how I feel about the round in general at this point, though. It's probably me being dumb, but I feel I've already been too much of a bitch at this point about things, and I'm discouraged. Regardless, it isn't anyone's problem but mine.
For the record, my first drawing was going to be Pinkie's legs clambering up a sooty fireplace after she's played Santa Stone. :pinkiehappy:
>>Trick_Question
Hey, Trick, don't give up! See if you can find a pic in the gallery that gives you a story idea, or maybe even fits with one of yours, and just go for it. We all love ya here.
Hey, Trick, don't give up! See if you can find a pic in the gallery that gives you a story idea, or maybe even fits with one of yours, and just go for it. We all love ya here.
Hmmmm:
I looked at the pictures this morning and didn't get a single tingle of inspiration. So now I've come back 8 hours later, and still nothing. I'll try once more this evening, but I'm thinking I'll likely spend the weekend working on the next Currycombs chapter instead...
Mike
I looked at the pictures this morning and didn't get a single tingle of inspiration. So now I've come back 8 hours later, and still nothing. I'll try once more this evening, but I'm thinking I'll likely spend the weekend working on the next Currycombs chapter instead...
Mike
>>Baal Bunny
You not participating in the writeoff would be a bummer, Mike, but I would snap up a new Currycombs chapter SO FAST...
You not participating in the writeoff would be a bummer, Mike, but I would snap up a new Currycombs chapter SO FAST...
Hey, folks. Just wanted to apologize for my silence so far this round. I've been working on some slightly overdue scripts for BABSCon (I'm staffing their theme department this year — if you're attending, check out opening and closing ceremonies for a chance to see my work in another medium!), and then today as I was going to try to refocus, I got my first Search & Rescue callout. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to catch my breath and start refocusing into Writeoff mode, though given my other project deadlines, I may be lucky just to cram some sort of entry in.
It's really cool seeing the response to the art round, and that the reviewing tradition has carried over from fic-land. Thank you all for continuing to be awesome in my absence. ^.^
It's really cool seeing the response to the art round, and that the reviewing tradition has carried over from fic-land. Thank you all for continuing to be awesome in my absence. ^.^
I made a challenge in chat, which I’ll repeat here so everyone sees it.
GGA’s Art Guessing Game
The challenge: identify what work or works I made for this art round, without errors or cheap hacks like “I guess GGA for all of them.” You must locate all the work I did, and guess me only for that work. (If Roger doesn’t implement guessing for the art round, you can PM me in chat.) This counts for the art round only; guessing what fics I may submit won’t count for this prize. Feel free to use Google or look at my FIM stories to get a sense for my art style.
The prize is a free sketch or short story with subject of your choice. (My right to reject gross/illegal stuff is reserved, but I am a fairly accommodating guy.)
In the event of multiple ties, I may combine prizes to preserve my sanity, but I don’t think I will need to do so. I may loosen the conditions for awarding the prize if people are having trouble. I can’t be specific about my criteria for doing so, at present.
I think that covers everything. Have fun!
ETA: Guesses may be submitted up until results are revealed (~3 days and 17 hours from this writing). You may revise a guess made to me in PM, but I will only count the most recent guess you make; spamming guesses is not allowed. I will disqualify a guess if it has been edited in Discord's interface; post a new guess if you must change something.)
GGA’s Art Guessing Game
The challenge: identify what work or works I made for this art round, without errors or cheap hacks like “I guess GGA for all of them.” You must locate all the work I did, and guess me only for that work. (If Roger doesn’t implement guessing for the art round, you can PM me in chat.) This counts for the art round only; guessing what fics I may submit won’t count for this prize. Feel free to use Google or look at my FIM stories to get a sense for my art style.
The prize is a free sketch or short story with subject of your choice. (My right to reject gross/illegal stuff is reserved, but I am a fairly accommodating guy.)
In the event of multiple ties, I may combine prizes to preserve my sanity, but I don’t think I will need to do so. I may loosen the conditions for awarding the prize if people are having trouble. I can’t be specific about my criteria for doing so, at present.
I think that covers everything. Have fun!
ETA: Guesses may be submitted up until results are revealed (~3 days and 17 hours from this writing). You may revise a guess made to me in PM, but I will only count the most recent guess you make; spamming guesses is not allowed. I will disqualify a guess if it has been edited in Discord's interface; post a new guess if you must change something.)
Sorry guise I need to bow out as well. One of the images matched a story I'd planned to do already, but I has The Sadz this weekend so I haven't been able to do literally anything. (New shrink tomorrow, though, so maybe that will help. Shots in the dark.)
*looking at some of the recent posts*
Oh good, I'm not the only one. I hate to say it, but I probably won't have my submission ready this time, either. (A combination of it taking too long for the art to speak to me and some anxiety about whether the idea would even fit the prompt.) I'll see what I can do, but I'd rather put out a more finished piece a little late than rush something for a deadline.
Sorry about that, but I will try to read and comment on others' submissions.
Oh good, I'm not the only one. I hate to say it, but I probably won't have my submission ready this time, either. (A combination of it taking too long for the art to speak to me and some anxiety about whether the idea would even fit the prompt.) I'll see what I can do, but I'd rather put out a more finished piece a little late than rush something for a deadline.
Sorry about that, but I will try to read and comment on others' submissions.
Looks like I'll be joining the chorus of apologies. Sorry, guys, but I'm pretty sure I'll be entering a story this round :v :v :v
Boy, I had a great idea based off one of the images, but I couldn't finish in time. Curse you, being a productive member of society!
Still, I wish the best to everyone. And hopefully, my artwork managed to inspire someone. If so, I'll take it as a small victory.
Still, I wish the best to everyone. And hopefully, my artwork managed to inspire someone. If so, I'll take it as a small victory.
Urgh. I have a great idea, but I've spent all weekend working on a midterm, and I still have homework to do. We'll see if I can get anything in.
>>horizon
*deep breath*
Okay so. After two SAR callouts in two days, and losing the rest of Friday and Saturday to BABSCon scripting, I finally managed to start putting some words down.
It's shit. It was a bad idea to begin with, and it's not going anywhere, and the act of writing it isn't improving it. This is when I'd normally scrap it and start over from scratch (I am not even slightly joking -- I have done this several times, including in rounds that I've medaled). However, with less than 12 hours left, I don't have time to cobble together a complete story other than the one I'm already halfway through.
I came here to write that, for the first time in years, I'm bailing out midway through, and I'll see you all next round. Then I stopped and thought about it.
You all deserve better than that.
You've all been in this same spot -- no time to do it right, and every reason to give up. And we've seen so many entries with potential come out of that -- stories that were flawed but fun, or stories that were instructive in their failings, or stories that just needed some editing suggestions from a second set of eyes to start going somewhere useful.
I don't think this story will be any of those -- but even if it's complete crap, that's still useful, because it's a reminder that we're all gonna swing and miss sometimes, and it's a valuable skill in writing to be willing to swing and miss.
So ... you've been here for my good rounds. This isn't one of them. But having had so many good rounds here, I owe it to the Writeoffs to also share with you the bad, and take my little participation ribbon, and appreciate the fact that there are stories better than mine, and smile and take my lumps when the critique hammers get swung.
Let's do this thing. :rainbowdetermined2:
*deep breath*
Okay so. After two SAR callouts in two days, and losing the rest of Friday and Saturday to BABSCon scripting, I finally managed to start putting some words down.
It's shit. It was a bad idea to begin with, and it's not going anywhere, and the act of writing it isn't improving it. This is when I'd normally scrap it and start over from scratch (I am not even slightly joking -- I have done this several times, including in rounds that I've medaled). However, with less than 12 hours left, I don't have time to cobble together a complete story other than the one I'm already halfway through.
I came here to write that, for the first time in years, I'm bailing out midway through, and I'll see you all next round. Then I stopped and thought about it.
You all deserve better than that.
You've all been in this same spot -- no time to do it right, and every reason to give up. And we've seen so many entries with potential come out of that -- stories that were flawed but fun, or stories that were instructive in their failings, or stories that just needed some editing suggestions from a second set of eyes to start going somewhere useful.
I don't think this story will be any of those -- but even if it's complete crap, that's still useful, because it's a reminder that we're all gonna swing and miss sometimes, and it's a valuable skill in writing to be willing to swing and miss.
So ... you've been here for my good rounds. This isn't one of them. But having had so many good rounds here, I owe it to the Writeoffs to also share with you the bad, and take my little participation ribbon, and appreciate the fact that there are stories better than mine, and smile and take my lumps when the critique hammers get swung.
Let's do this thing. :rainbowdetermined2:
YATTA!! I did it, I finished something.
Do you know that feel when you've been writing (or procrastianting on writing to be fair) for 11 hours because you're one slow mofo, you're about to hit the final scene and you're like "I don't want to go on, please make it stop, all I do is shit and this will be shit and all things in general and this thing in particular is shit".
No? Lucky bastard.
Anyway, I'll spend some more time editing, but no promises the quality or this feeling will improve. I'll be looking forward to you gentlecolts and -mares ripping this thing apart.
Do you know that feel when you've been writing (or procrastianting on writing to be fair) for 11 hours because you're one slow mofo, you're about to hit the final scene and you're like "I don't want to go on, please make it stop, all I do is shit and this will be shit and all things in general and this thing in particular is shit".
No? Lucky bastard.
Anyway, I'll spend some more time editing, but no promises the quality or this feeling will improve. I'll be looking forward to you gentlecolts and -mares ripping this thing apart.
Stuck between a rock and a long drive. I can either stay up late and finish my entry, or I can go to bed and be assured a safe drive from here back to my university in South Carolina tomorrow morning/afternoon. The catch: The other person with a driver's license switched vehicles at the last second on me. I really don't want to miss (again) but it's not looking good right now. At midnight, I'm either dropping or submitting. (And if I submit, it'll likely be garbage.)
*reaches for something caffeinated*
*realizes there is nothing caffeinated in the house*
*cries a little inside*
*reaches for something caffeinated*
*realizes there is nothing caffeinated in the house*
*cries a little inside*
I'm out, folks. As with FOME's Imposing Sovereigns thing a week or so back, I've got a semi-functional idea but my free time was eaten by the dual juggernauts of daily life and polishing the ever-loving heck out of my latest FimFic story that finished posting today. That story's a good one, if I dare say so (and it's an ooooold Writeoff one from back when the "other" rounds were General not Original). But yeah.
*>>horizon submitting la merde*
Why oh why did this have to be the round I failzoerd?!
>>The_Letter_J
OTOH this is likely true anyway...
>>007Ben
Choose LIFE man!!!
*>>horizon submitting la merde*
Why oh why did this have to be the round I failzoerd?!
>>The_Letter_J
OTOH this is likely true anyway...
>>007Ben
Choose LIFE man!!!
>>CoffeeMinion Dammit, CoffeeDad. At least tell me you'll read the entries. Your reviews are, like, half the reason to participate in these things.
The other half is all the power and prestige that comes from being a horsewords champion.Also, the prostitutes.
The other half is all the power and prestige that comes from being a horsewords champion.
>>horizon
This... Is oddly encouraging. I had an idea I've been working on for days that just didn't go anywhere, and then in the past ten hours I got a significantly less involved idea that I wrote about a thousand words of but then decided wasn't worth submitting. I know exactly where I wanted to take the story, and how it would end. After reading what you said, I think I'm gonna finish and submit it. Like you said, even if it's crap it could still help someone out there.
As the time ticks down, good luck to the other people out there working to finish up stories. Seems like this round's been rough on everyone, though it's sure been fun.
This... Is oddly encouraging. I had an idea I've been working on for days that just didn't go anywhere, and then in the past ten hours I got a significantly less involved idea that I wrote about a thousand words of but then decided wasn't worth submitting. I know exactly where I wanted to take the story, and how it would end. After reading what you said, I think I'm gonna finish and submit it. Like you said, even if it's crap it could still help someone out there.
As the time ticks down, good luck to the other people out there working to finish up stories. Seems like this round's been rough on everyone, though it's sure been fun.
So this is probably the worst thing I've ever submitted to a Writeoff. I might've done better if I'd started a day or two earlier, but noooo...
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself; the damn thing's drafted, but not ready for submission by a longshot yet.Two three hours before the cut-off; here we gooooooo...
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself; the damn thing's drafted, but not ready for submission by a longshot yet.
>>Posh
Guess what, you magnificent so-and-so? You talked me into writing one anyway.
I may have pulled an all nighter here.
YEAH! </bulkbiceps>
*dies*
Guess what, you magnificent so-and-so? You talked me into writing one anyway.
I may have pulled an all nighter here.
YEAH! </bulkbiceps>
*dies*
>>CoffeeMinion Wow. I didn't even have to do anything. I just whined.
This sets a very unfortunate precedent.
This sets a very unfortunate precedent.
Well, I got stuck on what I wanted to write (and was working on another story), and by the time I figured it out, I realized I didn't have enough time to finish it and do it justice. Still, I got some done, but there's no way I'm going to get it done in the next two hours.
But hey, at least I put something in to the art half.
Good luck to everyone who got their stories done on time!
But hey, at least I put something in to the art half.
Good luck to everyone who got their stories done on time!
Okay, I know I say this every time, but this time, it actually is the very worst thing I've ever written for a writeoff. Even worse than that fart-fetish Displaced story about Cranky Doodle Donkey fighting the Third Reich in Space Mongolia.
I'm literally trembling from caffeine consumption right now and I didn't have the time, focus, or energy to give it more than one editing pass. Consequnetly, I'm willing to bet it's riddled with errors, to say nothing of just how bad it is.
I am painfully aware of its many faults, and am looking forward to other people finding new ones that I somehow missed.
I'm literally trembling from caffeine consumption right now and I didn't have the time, focus, or energy to give it more than one editing pass. Consequnetly, I'm willing to bet it's riddled with errors, to say nothing of just how bad it is.
I am painfully aware of its many faults, and am looking forward to other people finding new ones that I somehow missed.
SUBMITTED SUBMITTED SUBMITTED
HAD TO CUT LOADS OF SHIT I PLANNED TO WRITE AND HALF THE STORY PROBABLY DOESN'T MAKE SENSE AND/OR IS RIDDLED WITH ERRORS BUT W/E
SUBMITTED SUBMITTED SUBMITTED
HAD TO CUT LOADS OF SHIT I PLANNED TO WRITE AND HALF THE STORY PROBABLY DOESN'T MAKE SENSE AND/OR IS RIDDLED WITH ERRORS BUT W/E
SUBMITTED SUBMITTED SUBMITTED
Alright, so I totally lied, I actually had a lot more done than I thought I did. Managed to get it in with 0 seconds to spare.
First writeoff in like, a million bajillion years.
First writeoff in like, a million bajillion years.
I had a terrible, terrible idea. And it was funny in a bad way, but I could never quite get to putting it into words. i blame Imposing Sovereigns for sapping all my energy last week and am counting that as my Writeoff for the month instead!
Alright, bleep it, even if I missed the deadline I'm still doing something for one of these and thus not breaking my 2+ year streak of writing stuff for this, even if it's too late fur the main cutoff.
This will be awfulcomedic.
This will be awfulcomedic.
A great many pixels have been spilled on art reviews and I'm late to that party, so instead I'm going to pause my story judging to offer brief @dog_rates style ratings on a severely underappreciated part of the art gallery:
The captions that come up when you hover your mouse on the pic.
The captions that come up when you hover your mouse on the pic.
Just a reminder, in case anyone is still reading the general discussion thread and not just checking for red bells: My little art challenge expires tomorrow morning when the art entrants are revealed, and I have only one guesser so far. If you'd like a chance to win a free sketch from me, now is the time!
>>FairyRave
Your guess is recorded and you will be notified when the contest is over. :)
Your guess is recorded and you will be notified when the contest is over. :)
Yay, finished my not-entry but still heavily inspired by a thing. It's going up on Fimfic tomorrow since I don't have to be anonymous.
It is basically a Syeekoh story, except not as good.
It is basically a Syeekoh story, except not as good.
>>Morning Sun
I've created the folder in the FIMFic Writeoff group, so you should be able to add your story there.
(General reminder: That goes for everyone! If you publish a story to FIMFiction that was inspired by, and written to, this round's prompt, you can add it to the folder, whether or not it was an entry in the Writeoff. Stories entered here are eligible too — just remember NOT to post them to FIMFic until the contest is over, or you will be disqualified for breaking anonymity.)
I've created the folder in the FIMFic Writeoff group, so you should be able to add your story there.
(General reminder: That goes for everyone! If you publish a story to FIMFiction that was inspired by, and written to, this round's prompt, you can add it to the folder, whether or not it was an entry in the Writeoff. Stories entered here are eligible too — just remember NOT to post them to FIMFic until the contest is over, or you will be disqualified for breaking anonymity.)
GGA’s Art Guessing Game: Update
While no one successfully met all the conditions I stated, several people guessed me correctly on some pics. I am therefore loosening up the winning conditions, as I stated earlier. The entrants and guesses were as follows:
Kritten
Fumes, Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, She Rises from the Ashes
Dubs Rewatcher
A Brick and a Vacuum
FairyRave
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, Fumes
bloons3
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever
The Letter J
Clangg, Tiptoe Through the Treetops.
I’ve decided to select a winner randomly from all who got at least one right. The roll of a fair die reveals The Letter J to be the contest winner. Let the simulated confetti commence!
While no one successfully met all the conditions I stated, several people guessed me correctly on some pics. I am therefore loosening up the winning conditions, as I stated earlier. The entrants and guesses were as follows:
Kritten
Fumes, Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, She Rises from the Ashes
Dubs Rewatcher
A Brick and a Vacuum
FairyRave
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, Fumes
bloons3
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever
The Letter J
Clangg, Tiptoe Through the Treetops.
I’ve decided to select a winner randomly from all who got at least one right. The roll of a fair die reveals The Letter J to be the contest winner. Let the simulated confetti commence!
I'm not sure when or where it happened, exactly, but I know for a fact that CoffeeMinion time-enough-for'd again in this discussion thread, and I would like to introduce an official ballot measure to legally bar him from ever referencing that title again for as long as the universe continues to expand.
On penalty of condemnation to science purgatory. Which is apparently where Wheel takes place.
...Which I will have to review some other time. 'm sleepy.
On penalty of condemnation to science purgatory. Which is apparently where Wheel takes place.
...Which I will have to review some other time. 'm sleepy.
>>Posh
Haven't you won enough for one day?! Must you also take my dank jokes from me? Your vociferous take-no-prisoners campaign to get me in was what pulled me into this Writeoff in the first place. YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE GETTING INTO!!1one
Haven't you won enough for one day?! Must you also take my dank jokes from me? Your vociferous take-no-prisoners campaign to get me in was what pulled me into this Writeoff in the first place. YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE GETTING INTO!!1one
Loud Noises!
Radio Writeoff
Will Broadcast
Barring Total Destruction of Society (or Dubs getting run over by a bus)
On this coming Saturday
At
8pm GMT
And
2pm Central
And
3pm wherever New York is.
That's about 26 hours from the time of this posting.
Join Us And Our Special Guest Speaker For
Dubs!
Dubs!
And
More Dubs!
Oh And Also Some Stories Maybe.
We May Even Discuss YOUR Story!
Please vote HERE on what stories we should discuss!
Use the Discord link at the top of the page to find us.
We're less than 24 hours away from the end of prelims, so you know what that means! Anxiously watching the timer count down spotlighting some under-reviewed fics!
There's one story right now sitting at 4 reviews (4 unique commentors):
Putri Jaran
There are also three stories sitting at 5 reviews:
The Path
Cello Damage
Meaning
Let's bring them all up to 6! :>
(Side note to author of The Path: I've read the whole story now and will type up my review when I have time, so then my comment will be a true review)
There's one story right now sitting at 4 reviews (4 unique commentors):
Putri Jaran
There are also three stories sitting at 5 reviews:
The Path
Cello Damage
Meaning
Let's bring them all up to 6! :>
(Side note to author of The Path: I've read the whole story now and will type up my review when I have time, so then my comment will be a true review)
So. I wanted to try something new.
We’ve done title mashups before. However, this time I wanted to try… passage mashups :o
Basically, I took passages from two different stories each and mashed them together. Maybe it’s funny, maybe it’s not, maybe it’s stupid, but I had fun, at least :>
Misquoted from the Writeoff
A picture is worth 2 to 8 thousand words edition
(from Sombra Visits the Hereafter)
(from Twilight, Up in Smoke)
(from Rise of the Path: The Musical)
We’ve done title mashups before. However, this time I wanted to try… passage mashups :o
Basically, I took passages from two different stories each and mashed them together. Maybe it’s funny, maybe it’s not, maybe it’s stupid, but I had fun, at least :>
Misquoted from the Writeoff
A picture is worth 2 to 8 thousand words edition
T H E R E I S
N O S U C H
T H I N G
A S H E
A V E
E E
N
"R... And an E. And—I?"
The roar in his ears returned, intelligible in the relative quiet of Crystal Clear's office.
Heaven, it crooned.
"Is that an S?" Sombra asked, reaching up to mop at his brow.
Did your grandmother never tell you that there is no such place?
(from Sombra Visits the Hereafter)
The meal was finished, and Spike had started to clean the kitchen, leaving Twilight Sparkle deep in their thoughts at the table.
Thoughts, ideas, wants, desires flew between the twinned minds. What-do, do-think, think-feel, idea-explore? How-make-query-desire-practical?
“Spike,” Twilight Sparkle called, thoughts collided, bouncing, flying back and forth. “Take a letter.”
"Leeeeeettter," Spike warbled. "D. D is for 'Dear Princess Celestia, signed, Twilight Sparkle’. That's, um, lots of letters though. 'Dear', that's four, 'Princess', plus eight—"
(from Twilight, Up in Smoke)
The Swiftstep Brew faded. Zelabra looked confused for a second, turned to face Zecora… and collapsed with a sigh.
“She has quite the temper, even for one so young. Now, stand aside, for I do what must be done.”
“She isn’t hurt, at least I trust,” Zerrin said, though Zecora could hear the anger in his words. “So I must ask… phoenix dust?”
Zecora nodded.
“That phoenix dust, it’s a helluva drug,” Zerrin said with a bow. “Perks pinions up, and puts a smile on yer mug.”
Zecora replied, “We may be stuck in this hole that we’ve dug, but phoenix dust is still a helluva drug.”
(from Rise of the Path: The Musical)
>>FrontSevens
Yeeeaaaah boooooyeeeee
Cello Suicide: To fix Octavia's cello, Vinyl must hunt and take the mantle of The Death Of Cellos. Meanwhile, Terry Pratchett's coffin achieves takeoff due to the turbine-like spinning of him in his grave.
Ashes of SUNSET AND DISCORD: Gal-pals extraordinare Sunset Shimmer and Disco Stu ruin a proud naval tradition before it's even started by kissing all the ponies on board all the ships, and the griffons, and Celestia, and the ships themselves. Then they ship the ships together. Meanwhile, the inexplicably located corpse of Xzibit spins in his (watery) grave.
Pulling The Trigger: The Musical:
Yeeeaaaah boooooyeeeee
It's mashup time; they're a helluva drug!
Cello Suicide: To fix Octavia's cello, Vinyl must hunt and take the mantle of The Death Of Cellos. Meanwhile, Terry Pratchett's coffin achieves takeoff due to the turbine-like spinning of him in his grave.
Ashes of SUNSET AND DISCORD: Gal-pals extraordinare Sunset Shimmer and Disco Stu ruin a proud naval tradition before it's even started by kissing all the ponies on board all the ships, and the griffons, and Celestia, and the ships themselves. Then they ship the ships together. Meanwhile, the inexplicably located corpse of Xzibit spins in his (watery) grave.
Pulling The Trigger: The Musical:
The human's in gear!
Gun cylinders are clickin'!
*beat*
He's spun in his grave,
And now he's kinda thinkin'
Pones taste like chicken!
Writeoff Mash-Ups: Preliminary Edition
Death, Suicide: The Element of Death suddenly splits into two distinct personalities, Death and Suicide. Thrill to his inner monologue as he debates his every response to Spike the Camouflaged Dragon-Pony's questions and accusations.
Rise of Donut Steel: The Musical - Turn Off The Dark: Broadway's very first take on a superhero musical! Lyra volunteers a reluctant, drug-addicted Bon Bon to do battle with a horde of ancient thestralcorns, whose jazzy beats and rhythmic snapping threaten to drive all of the Pie Family to madness. Featuring a musical score and soundtrack produced by Pinkie Pie while high on some sort of mystical, boulder-based narcotic.
Celestia's Cello Damage: Celestia smokes Philamena's ashes and accidentally breaks Octavia Melody's beloved cello in her stupor. Without thinking ahead, Vinyl volunteers to deflect the blame from Celestia, in exchange for a favor to be cashed in at a later date. When Luna learns of this arrangement while investigating Vinyl's brain, she blackmails them both.
A Spark of Hereafter: Applejack feeds a dying Granny Smith to the First Flame, making her a Nana of Cinder. Luna shows up to go on a highly insensitive monologue about how great Granny Smith's flash-cooked flesh smells, forcing Vinyl to provide rimshots after all of her jokes, per the terms of their arrangement.
Up in Morituri: Lyra suffers night terrors resulting from the battle against the thestralcorns, so Bon Bon drunk-dials Celestia and leaves a profane message blaming her on her voicemail. Celestia shows up the next morning with a box of phoenix blunts to help mellow out the both of them.
While high, they inadvertently win the World Ssh Championships, stealing Fluttershy's title and driving her to suicide in despair. Unfortunately, Death and Suicide still haven't finished their debate, so she's unable to die. Spike, realizing that his problem has solved itself, shrugs and lights up a phoenix blunt
Death, Suicide: The Element of Death suddenly splits into two distinct personalities, Death and Suicide. Thrill to his inner monologue as he debates his every response to Spike the Camouflaged Dragon-Pony's questions and accusations.
Rise of Donut Steel: The Musical - Turn Off The Dark: Broadway's very first take on a superhero musical! Lyra volunteers a reluctant, drug-addicted Bon Bon to do battle with a horde of ancient thestralcorns, whose jazzy beats and rhythmic snapping threaten to drive all of the Pie Family to madness. Featuring a musical score and soundtrack produced by Pinkie Pie while high on some sort of mystical, boulder-based narcotic.
Celestia's Cello Damage: Celestia smokes Philamena's ashes and accidentally breaks Octavia Melody's beloved cello in her stupor. Without thinking ahead, Vinyl volunteers to deflect the blame from Celestia, in exchange for a favor to be cashed in at a later date. When Luna learns of this arrangement while investigating Vinyl's brain, she blackmails them both.
A Spark of Hereafter: Applejack feeds a dying Granny Smith to the First Flame, making her a Nana of Cinder. Luna shows up to go on a highly insensitive monologue about how great Granny Smith's flash-cooked flesh smells, forcing Vinyl to provide rimshots after all of her jokes, per the terms of their arrangement.
Up in Morituri: Lyra suffers night terrors resulting from the battle against the thestralcorns, so Bon Bon drunk-dials Celestia and leaves a profane message blaming her on her voicemail. Celestia shows up the next morning with a box of phoenix blunts to help mellow out the both of them.
While high, they inadvertently win the World Ssh Championships, stealing Fluttershy's title and driving her to suicide in despair. Unfortunately, Death and Suicide still haven't finished their debate, so she's unable to die. Spike, realizing that his problem has solved itself, shrugs and lights up a phoenix blunt
>>Posh
I love that these all share the same continuity. Between that and >>FrontSevens's text-based mashups, we've had some creative variants this round.
I love that these all share the same continuity. Between that and >>FrontSevens's text-based mashups, we've had some creative variants this round.
Mash-Up Cinematic Universe: Finals Edition
Twilight's Memento Mori: When Rainbow Dash dies of a fatal heart attack after performing a rainboom with Twilight, the Purple Princess of Friendliness ventures into the depths of Hell itself to free her soul from the torments of Neightan.
All of which happens off screen. The story picks up with Rainbow Dash having her scrambled eggs chewed for her by Twilight. Twilight suddenly inhales her mouthful and chokes to death. Rainbow sighs. "Not again..."
Sunset Shimmer and Discord GO TO THE OPTOMETRIST: Discord pranks Sunset Shimmer by blowing a handful of crystal dust into her eyes, reawakening her latent demon side and filling her with a lust for CRISTULLLLLLZ. Discord takes her to an optometrist to get some eye drops.
Unfortunately, the optometrist is the still-spurned Twilight Velvet, who prescribes Sunset a bottle of taco sauce instead of eyedrops. Wat a tweest!
The Meaning of the Stars: Chrysalis is released from her imprisonment, and offers to make amends to a deeply depressed Twilight. Twilight wordlessly gives her a plate of scrambled eggs and leads her into Rainbow Dash's nursery, tripping and breaking her neck six times along the way.
Ashes of the Wheel: A bunch of Horse War 2 veterans perform a ritual to bless the hull of a new battleship. Then the world ends, and they do it again, except they're in high school, blessing the new paint job of someone's totally tubular 'Stang. He's planning to use it to impress the hottest girl in school into going to the end of the year Fearsome Fiesta with him, but the car won't start, there's a badger in the engine block who won't leave, and worst of all, he's got a zit on the end of his nose! And the fiesta's tomorrow!
Major bummage, dude.
The Putri Path: Zecora's hometown is raided one day by the self-proclaimed Malevolent and Fearsome but Also Pretty Hot God-Empress Twilight Twinkle, who wants all of the town's precious taco sauce for her high school's Fearsome Fiesta. Her aide-de-camp, Pinkie Pie, strikes up a conversation with Zecora, and they both agree that this world sucks a lot more than the last one. To undo it, they climb Mt. Zebramenjaro, and ask Nightmare Moon's lingering spirit if she'll maybe reset time.
Nightmare Moon can't really be bothered (she has a lot of trouble with "meaning"). The plan is almost undone when Twilight Twinkle arrives to personally put a stop to it, but she accidentally runs into a tree and snaps her neck, because the curse from the last world followed her to this one. Nightmare Moon laughs, and decides to reset the world out of gratitude for breaking through her clinical depression and helping to remind her what feelings are.
Zecora wakes up to Discord and Demon!Sunset at her door. "D'you have any eyedrops?" Discord asks while chugging a bottle of taco sauce. "The last optometrist we spoke to was unnecessarily hostile."
Zecora smiles. All is as it should be.
Twilight's Memento Mori: When Rainbow Dash dies of a fatal heart attack after performing a rainboom with Twilight, the Purple Princess of Friendliness ventures into the depths of Hell itself to free her soul from the torments of Neightan.
All of which happens off screen. The story picks up with Rainbow Dash having her scrambled eggs chewed for her by Twilight. Twilight suddenly inhales her mouthful and chokes to death. Rainbow sighs. "Not again..."
Sunset Shimmer and Discord GO TO THE OPTOMETRIST: Discord pranks Sunset Shimmer by blowing a handful of crystal dust into her eyes, reawakening her latent demon side and filling her with a lust for CRISTULLLLLLZ. Discord takes her to an optometrist to get some eye drops.
Unfortunately, the optometrist is the still-spurned Twilight Velvet, who prescribes Sunset a bottle of taco sauce instead of eyedrops. Wat a tweest!
The Meaning of the Stars: Chrysalis is released from her imprisonment, and offers to make amends to a deeply depressed Twilight. Twilight wordlessly gives her a plate of scrambled eggs and leads her into Rainbow Dash's nursery, tripping and breaking her neck six times along the way.
Ashes of the Wheel: A bunch of Horse War 2 veterans perform a ritual to bless the hull of a new battleship. Then the world ends, and they do it again, except they're in high school, blessing the new paint job of someone's totally tubular 'Stang. He's planning to use it to impress the hottest girl in school into going to the end of the year Fearsome Fiesta with him, but the car won't start, there's a badger in the engine block who won't leave, and worst of all, he's got a zit on the end of his nose! And the fiesta's tomorrow!
Major bummage, dude.
The Putri Path: Zecora's hometown is raided one day by the self-proclaimed Malevolent and Fearsome but Also Pretty Hot God-Empress Twilight Twinkle, who wants all of the town's precious taco sauce for her high school's Fearsome Fiesta. Her aide-de-camp, Pinkie Pie, strikes up a conversation with Zecora, and they both agree that this world sucks a lot more than the last one. To undo it, they climb Mt. Zebramenjaro, and ask Nightmare Moon's lingering spirit if she'll maybe reset time.
Nightmare Moon can't really be bothered (she has a lot of trouble with "meaning"). The plan is almost undone when Twilight Twinkle arrives to personally put a stop to it, but she accidentally runs into a tree and snaps her neck, because the curse from the last world followed her to this one. Nightmare Moon laughs, and decides to reset the world out of gratitude for breaking through her clinical depression and helping to remind her what feelings are.
Zecora wakes up to Discord and Demon!Sunset at her door. "D'you have any eyedrops?" Discord asks while chugging a bottle of taco sauce. "The last optometrist we spoke to was unnecessarily hostile."
Zecora smiles. All is as it should be.
You know, this literary discourse is great and all, but nobody besides myself and FrontSevens has mashed anything up, and I find that to be a very sad and lonely state of affairs.
:(
:(
>>Posh
I am usually good for mashups, but I haven't even had time to review any stories. :(
I am usually good for mashups, but I haven't even had time to review any stories. :(
>>Posh
Well, let's do something about that!
Excerpt-Based Mashups, "CSI: Equestria" edition
The Color Of Memento Mori
“Oh, that’s the map table!” Twilight’s face lit up like the sun with her smile. “Someone has a friendship problem. Let’s go see who’s solving it this time!”
Vinyl only hesitated for a half-second before she stood up. “Cool! I’m nearly—” she started as she stepped out of the shower, but couldn’t finish, the words dying in her throat as she tripped over the shower’s lip and slammed muzzle first into the floor at just the right angle to fatally snap her neck.
The Meaning of Putri Jaran
“Princess, where is Kelon?”
"Smarty Pants makes it go away. I have no idea why.”
Cadence gave back the doll. She let her gaze wander to the other ponies on the street. None of them seemed to even notice the crying Princess in their midst.
“Thank you. You see, when whatever it was went missing, ponies stopped going out, going to work. They stopped mating, and eventually stopped eating. When we asked them why, they always asked back --"
“When is he coming back?”
Miss Twilight blinks a few times. “I don’t know. It’s not up to me.”
Ashes of The Wheel
“Earth ponies want to return from whence they came, pegasi want to fly forever, and unicorns want to be remembered. May all three tribes get their wishes as part of this ship.”
And with those words, he turned the vial over, allowing the ash and debris to fall into the furnace below. Despite the updraft the heat should have created, the flakes fell straight down into the metal, as if weighed down by something heavier than simple carbon.
Iron stepped aside. And one by one a silent procession followed, each old sailor stepping up to the edge, saying a few quiet words, and dumping their container of ashes into the steel below.
Pinkie looked into her cup, and squeezed her eyes shut. She inhaled deeply, and her breath hitched just so.
"To new beginnings."
She downed it in a single gulp, shuddering at the mish-mash of bitter flavors.
Twilight tried to suppress a shudder, but her own distaste was plain on her face. "It's, um... it's really quite... tasty."
"Uh, seriously Twilight?" Spike looked skeptically at the unicorn. "This tastes, like... like, there's a word for how this stuff tastes, but I can't remember it."
Sunset Shimmer and Sombra Visit The Optometrist
“We don’t have to—” the woman began.
“Alright.” Sunset licked her lips.
“Wait, what—”
Sunset grabbed her cheek, ran a thumb across it, then leaned in to press their lips together.
The woman squeaked, and practically melted in Sunset’s arms.
Sombra turned to look, and found himself met with two piles of dust: one as pale and colorless as Quickshine's coat and the other as shimmery and radiant as the finest of—
look it's not my fault that half our finalists were about murder
Well, let's do something about that!
Excerpt-Based Mashups, "CSI: Equestria" edition
The Color Of Memento Mori
“Oh, that’s the map table!” Twilight’s face lit up like the sun with her smile. “Someone has a friendship problem. Let’s go see who’s solving it this time!”
Vinyl only hesitated for a half-second before she stood up. “Cool! I’m nearly—” she started as she stepped out of the shower, but couldn’t finish, the words dying in her throat as she tripped over the shower’s lip and slammed muzzle first into the floor at just the right angle to fatally snap her neck.
The Meaning of Putri Jaran
“Princess, where is Kelon?”
"Smarty Pants makes it go away. I have no idea why.”
Cadence gave back the doll. She let her gaze wander to the other ponies on the street. None of them seemed to even notice the crying Princess in their midst.
“Thank you. You see, when whatever it was went missing, ponies stopped going out, going to work. They stopped mating, and eventually stopped eating. When we asked them why, they always asked back --"
“When is he coming back?”
Miss Twilight blinks a few times. “I don’t know. It’s not up to me.”
Ashes of The Wheel
“Earth ponies want to return from whence they came, pegasi want to fly forever, and unicorns want to be remembered. May all three tribes get their wishes as part of this ship.”
And with those words, he turned the vial over, allowing the ash and debris to fall into the furnace below. Despite the updraft the heat should have created, the flakes fell straight down into the metal, as if weighed down by something heavier than simple carbon.
Iron stepped aside. And one by one a silent procession followed, each old sailor stepping up to the edge, saying a few quiet words, and dumping their container of ashes into the steel below.
Pinkie looked into her cup, and squeezed her eyes shut. She inhaled deeply, and her breath hitched just so.
"To new beginnings."
She downed it in a single gulp, shuddering at the mish-mash of bitter flavors.
Twilight tried to suppress a shudder, but her own distaste was plain on her face. "It's, um... it's really quite... tasty."
"Uh, seriously Twilight?" Spike looked skeptically at the unicorn. "This tastes, like... like, there's a word for how this stuff tastes, but I can't remember it."
Sunset Shimmer and Sombra Visit The Optometrist
“We don’t have to—” the woman began.
“Alright.” Sunset licked her lips.
“Wait, what—”
Sunset grabbed her cheek, ran a thumb across it, then leaned in to press their lips together.
The woman squeaked, and practically melted in Sunset’s arms.
Sombra turned to look, and found himself met with two piles of dust: one as pale and colorless as Quickshine's coat and the other as shimmery and radiant as the finest of—
look it's not my fault that half our finalists were about murder
>>Posh
A Mashed Up Picture is Worth Two Thousand Words
The Poor Will Envy the Automated
A Granite Grave of EMO
This is Delicious!!
A Mashed Up Picture is Worth Two Thousand Words
The Poor Will Envy the Automated
A Granite Grave of EMO
This is Delicious!!
Since the event's now over, I'd like to get people's thoughts on how the art round went. The main questions I have:
Should we do this again? If so, how often?
I currently have it scheduled to only have art rounds for the short story format, though there's no reason every round can't have one.
Is the drawing time appropriate?
I think 4 days was too much, seeing as most people made multiple entries in that time.
Is the voting system appropriate?
Ideally it should encourage people to draw pics that would be appropriate for the writeoff. By my reckoning it worked out well.
Do we need any new rules for art rounds?
I've clarified some things regarding the formatting here. The concern I had regarding comics or excessive dialogue didn't seem to come up. (The time limit, plus limiting pics to 1800x1800 should be sufficient in keeping away extremely large comics anyway.)
Should we do this again? If so, how often?
I currently have it scheduled to only have art rounds for the short story format, though there's no reason every round can't have one.
Is the drawing time appropriate?
I think 4 days was too much, seeing as most people made multiple entries in that time.
Is the voting system appropriate?
Ideally it should encourage people to draw pics that would be appropriate for the writeoff. By my reckoning it worked out well.
Do we need any new rules for art rounds?
I've clarified some things regarding the formatting here. The concern I had regarding comics or excessive dialogue didn't seem to come up. (The time limit, plus limiting pics to 1800x1800 should be sufficient in keeping away extremely large comics anyway.)
>>RogerDodger
I thought the drawing time was absolutely fine, but I thought that the voting phase was too long.
I thought the drawing time was absolutely fine, but I thought that the voting phase was too long.
>>RogerDodger
Definitely. It was really interesting to base stories on pictures than on a single sentence.
I suggest to alternate between art rounds and normal rounds. For example, the next Fim Short Story won't be an art round and then the next will be. Same thing with every other kind of rounds (Fim Mini, Original Short Story, Original Mini)
I can't really say. On one hand, having four days let the opportunity for artists to really work on a single entry and polish it. On the other hand, four days let the opportunity to enter several pieces.
Maybe only three days, maybe allowing to submit only X pieces. I don't really know.
The other possibility that I can see is to have a slate, just like what we have for fics. However, it seems that pretty much everyone has ranked all the pictures.
(Maybe add guessings for the arts?)
I can't really say once again. Aside from any rule you could set for the server to handle the round properly, I don't think that we should ask authors to draw with specific tools or anything.
Should we do this again? If so, how often?
Definitely. It was really interesting to base stories on pictures than on a single sentence.
I suggest to alternate between art rounds and normal rounds. For example, the next Fim Short Story won't be an art round and then the next will be. Same thing with every other kind of rounds (Fim Mini, Original Short Story, Original Mini)
Is the drawing time appropriate?
I can't really say. On one hand, having four days let the opportunity for artists to really work on a single entry and polish it. On the other hand, four days let the opportunity to enter several pieces.
Maybe only three days, maybe allowing to submit only X pieces. I don't really know.
Is the voting system appropriate?
The other possibility that I can see is to have a slate, just like what we have for fics. However, it seems that pretty much everyone has ranked all the pictures.
(Maybe add guessings for the arts?)
Do we need any new rules for art rounds?
I can't really say once again. Aside from any rule you could set for the server to handle the round properly, I don't think that we should ask authors to draw with specific tools or anything.
>>RogerDodger
Maybe half of the pony short story rounds. I'd say less than half, though.
It would be funny to do it for Minifics by adding a severe restriction, like 100x100 pixels or something. Even as I suggest this, I think it won't turn out nearly as well. Minifics work better with minimalism. Artwork complicates that.
I have a hunch this won't work as well for Original Short Story rounds. Authors can write about anything they choose (potentially for publishing), and using artwork will unnecessarily restrict that. On the other side, artists would have too little restriction, since they can't draw fanart of recognizable characters. The art might become more vague or even abstract. I suspect it would be less fun than it was here.
I did all of mine within one day - maybe an hour for each at most. I think most others spent similar time.
Some authors are busy for 2 of the writing days, but still produce a good entry within that 1 last day.
The drawing time is fine; it's to give artists at least one day to work on something, since it's not even over a weekend.
Assuming artists should spend several days to polish a masterpiece is a mistake. I was more worried about quantity and variety. During the writing period, many regulars said they couldn't find anything inspiring, and I thought we'd have fewer fics than usual. The turnout was still on par, but I suspect it would've dropped if we had fewer drawings. My feeling is we got lucky and had just the right number of art entries. I don't agree with limiting multiple submissions.
(this goes back to why I'm unsure minific art rounds would work. we'd need a lot of pictures to cover the huge variety of minifics we usually get)
idk
I'm not sure what the captions add to the creative process, it adds too much text to the prompts. Here it seems it was used either for jokes, or artist commentary explaining a picture. the jokes are harmless, but I'd rather not have the explanations.
the lightbulb award seems awkward when there's a 4-way tie. fics were spread more evenly than I expected, but they could also choose multiple drawings. we'll probably see more ties in the future.
Should we do this again? If so, how often?
Maybe half of the pony short story rounds. I'd say less than half, though.
It would be funny to do it for Minifics by adding a severe restriction, like 100x100 pixels or something. Even as I suggest this, I think it won't turn out nearly as well. Minifics work better with minimalism. Artwork complicates that.
I have a hunch this won't work as well for Original Short Story rounds. Authors can write about anything they choose (potentially for publishing), and using artwork will unnecessarily restrict that. On the other side, artists would have too little restriction, since they can't draw fanart of recognizable characters. The art might become more vague or even abstract. I suspect it would be less fun than it was here.
Is the drawing time appropriate?
I did all of mine within one day - maybe an hour for each at most. I think most others spent similar time.
Some authors are busy for 2 of the writing days, but still produce a good entry within that 1 last day.
The drawing time is fine; it's to give artists at least one day to work on something, since it's not even over a weekend.
Assuming artists should spend several days to polish a masterpiece is a mistake. I was more worried about quantity and variety. During the writing period, many regulars said they couldn't find anything inspiring, and I thought we'd have fewer fics than usual. The turnout was still on par, but I suspect it would've dropped if we had fewer drawings. My feeling is we got lucky and had just the right number of art entries. I don't agree with limiting multiple submissions.
(this goes back to why I'm unsure minific art rounds would work. we'd need a lot of pictures to cover the huge variety of minifics we usually get)
Is the voting system appropriate?
idk
Do we need any new rules for art rounds?
I'm not sure what the captions add to the creative process, it adds too much text to the prompts. Here it seems it was used either for jokes, or artist commentary explaining a picture. the jokes are harmless, but I'd rather not have the explanations.
the lightbulb award seems awkward when there's a 4-way tie. fics were spread more evenly than I expected, but they could also choose multiple drawings. we'll probably see more ties in the future.
>>RogerDodger
I'm just going to add my tidbit as a regular artist.
I've done several art contests before, but this is actually the first time I did this kind of thing where instead of gaining some type of prize, the writers would write a story about a piece of art. Essentially, the artist gets to see the their piece 'come to life', so to speak. Personally, I enjoyed reading the various stories on different pieces and how the writers interpreted a image.
I think I would do this again and about how often, well, I guess it depends if the writers feel up to having drawings or images as prompts.
It's really under the condition on the artist's quality of art and what they are drawing. If I wanted to get serious and use my painting style art, it would usually take me a day or two if I had free time, which isn't much lately. I believe the four days is appropriate.
The type of prompt and type of story the writer is writing also contributes to this, but I don't know. So a day or two depending on the type of story the writers would be writing.
I did think the length of voting time was a bit excessive. I get it if it's a story since some takes longer to read than others, but for art I think 3 or 4 days would be find which would give enough time for those in different time zones.
I don't have any other personal opinions on this topic besides voting on a art piece really depends on a person's perference on what the art style and the message are.
Probably limit the number of art entries. I think the max of about 2 would be fine.
I'm just going to add my tidbit as a regular artist.
Should we do this again? If so, how often?
I've done several art contests before, but this is actually the first time I did this kind of thing where instead of gaining some type of prize, the writers would write a story about a piece of art. Essentially, the artist gets to see the their piece 'come to life', so to speak. Personally, I enjoyed reading the various stories on different pieces and how the writers interpreted a image.
I think I would do this again and about how often, well, I guess it depends if the writers feel up to having drawings or images as prompts.
Is the drawing time appropriate?
It's really under the condition on the artist's quality of art and what they are drawing. If I wanted to get serious and use my painting style art, it would usually take me a day or two if I had free time, which isn't much lately. I believe the four days is appropriate.
The type of prompt and type of story the writer is writing also contributes to this, but I don't know. So a day or two depending on the type of story the writers would be writing.
Is the voting system appropriate?
I did think the length of voting time was a bit excessive. I get it if it's a story since some takes longer to read than others, but for art I think 3 or 4 days would be find which would give enough time for those in different time zones.
I don't have any other personal opinions on this topic besides voting on a art piece really depends on a person's perference on what the art style and the message are.
Do we need any new rules for art rounds?
Probably limit the number of art entries. I think the max of about 2 would be fine.
>>RogerDodger Since I didn't participate in the art phase, I'll only weigh in on the frequency of art writeoffs.
I liked it. But, speaking personally, I would rather not do an art writeoff for every round. Perhaps we could alternate?
I liked it. But, speaking personally, I would rather not do an art writeoff for every round. Perhaps we could alternate?
>>RogerDodger
Should we do this again? If so, how often?
Yes.
I dunno, but I'd like to try at least one original fiction round like this, and a minific round as well, because people tend to write more stories for those; it would be interesting to see what sort of trends might come out of the broader prompt selection. So I nominate next ofic minific round for an artoff.
Is the drawing time appropriate?
Yes. Maybe it could be shorter if it was over the weekend, but I think that, if you're holding it during the week, err on the side of more - so people don't feel artoff time is fighting against things they need to do.
Is the voting system appropriate?
Yes. Well, IIRC, part of why we have finals with writeoff rounds is to better pinpoint the 'top' fic, and the no-prelims approach hamstrings that. I'm not sure when/if this will be a concern with art; it's possible that, since art is much higher-bandwidth than writing, (it takes less time to appreciate a picture than to read even a minific - probably also why the voting time seemed a bit long) simply having big ballot sizes would work just as well.
I'd still like a thumbnail option on the ballot, though.
Do we need any new rules for art rounds?
The one issue that I feel is still unresolved is the 'can you write for your own art' question, which got a lot of discussion originally. Not writing for your own art is more in-line with how I feel the rules should work, (especially the 'no work based on previous works' thing) but it does introduce the unfortunate (if fairly unlikely) chance of catch-22 scenarios, where an author/artist's anonymity could be seriously compromised in finals. Still, if you don't DQ in that situation, I think the group could live with it; if it happens, it happens, and it could be pretty sucky, but it's not that likely.
The art finals could also be extended to be as long as the writing finals. that doesn't feel satisfying, though.
Since each story can have multiple prompts, maybe restrict an artist from writing a fic that's prompted by only their own art? This would maybe keep people from pre-writing, on the idea that they'd have to blindly select another piece. It might also be enough to keep it from being simply either/or for name guessing. On the downside, it's non-intuitive and annoying to explain why the rule is that way.
Another option would be moving the whole art contest back, and only taking the top few art pieces as prompts. Or, maybe even doing a separate checkbox ballot for prompt images, like the one for phrase prompts. This would (hopefully) make things uncertain enough that people wouldn't pre-write. It would also let you move the arting time back, so it could be on a weekend. On the downside, this would possibly increase participant fatigue, since we currently have a fair overlap between artists and writers. If we had a larger population with less overlap, I'd say this would be the way to go; split them into totally different contests, and then use the connection between them to keep aspects of each fresh. You could even do a full cycle - vote on fics to draw pictures for, vote on pics to write about... :P
Anyways, whatever you decide, it would be nice to have a concrete ruling.
Should we do this again? If so, how often?
Yes.
I dunno, but I'd like to try at least one original fiction round like this, and a minific round as well, because people tend to write more stories for those; it would be interesting to see what sort of trends might come out of the broader prompt selection. So I nominate next ofic minific round for an artoff.
Is the drawing time appropriate?
Yes. Maybe it could be shorter if it was over the weekend, but I think that, if you're holding it during the week, err on the side of more - so people don't feel artoff time is fighting against things they need to do.
Is the voting system appropriate?
Yes. Well, IIRC, part of why we have finals with writeoff rounds is to better pinpoint the 'top' fic, and the no-prelims approach hamstrings that. I'm not sure when/if this will be a concern with art; it's possible that, since art is much higher-bandwidth than writing, (it takes less time to appreciate a picture than to read even a minific - probably also why the voting time seemed a bit long) simply having big ballot sizes would work just as well.
I'd still like a thumbnail option on the ballot, though.
Do we need any new rules for art rounds?
The one issue that I feel is still unresolved is the 'can you write for your own art' question, which got a lot of discussion originally. Not writing for your own art is more in-line with how I feel the rules should work, (especially the 'no work based on previous works' thing) but it does introduce the unfortunate (if fairly unlikely) chance of catch-22 scenarios, where an author/artist's anonymity could be seriously compromised in finals. Still, if you don't DQ in that situation, I think the group could live with it; if it happens, it happens, and it could be pretty sucky, but it's not that likely.
The art finals could also be extended to be as long as the writing finals. that doesn't feel satisfying, though.
Since each story can have multiple prompts, maybe restrict an artist from writing a fic that's prompted by only their own art? This would maybe keep people from pre-writing, on the idea that they'd have to blindly select another piece. It might also be enough to keep it from being simply either/or for name guessing. On the downside, it's non-intuitive and annoying to explain why the rule is that way.
Another option would be moving the whole art contest back, and only taking the top few art pieces as prompts. Or, maybe even doing a separate checkbox ballot for prompt images, like the one for phrase prompts. This would (hopefully) make things uncertain enough that people wouldn't pre-write. It would also let you move the arting time back, so it could be on a weekend. On the downside, this would possibly increase participant fatigue, since we currently have a fair overlap between artists and writers. If we had a larger population with less overlap, I'd say this would be the way to go; split them into totally different contests, and then use the connection between them to keep aspects of each fresh. You could even do a full cycle - vote on fics to draw pictures for, vote on pics to write about... :P
Anyways, whatever you decide, it would be nice to have a concrete ruling.
>>Fenton
I like this idea. I think the art round has been pretty fun, and I'd like to see it continue for the other story types. I think everyone was working out what would and wouldn't work this round, and future rounds will probably have better content in regards to pieces that inspire a story. Though I thought we had some great pieces this round for that.
I suggest to alternate between art rounds and normal rounds. For example, the next Fim Short Story won't be an art round and then the next will be. Same thing with every other kind of rounds (Fim Mini, Original Short Story, Original Mini)
I like this idea. I think the art round has been pretty fun, and I'd like to see it continue for the other story types. I think everyone was working out what would and wouldn't work this round, and future rounds will probably have better content in regards to pieces that inspire a story. Though I thought we had some great pieces this round for that.
>>RogerDodger
General agreement with other responses, but would like to suggest separate scoring for art and writing.
(And if they're going to be combined into an overall score, which I have no strong opinion on, then the fact that >>Haze completed five pics in one day suggests that art pieces should be scored more like minifics than short stories.)
General agreement with other responses, but would like to suggest separate scoring for art and writing.
(And if they're going to be combined into an overall score, which I have no strong opinion on, then the fact that >>Haze completed five pics in one day suggests that art pieces should be scored more like minifics than short stories.)