RPGC #3 -- THE COSMOS

[mdk]

Prompt:

Space – The Final Frontier. But not only a frontier; throughout the history of mankind, we have looked up at the stars. For guidance; for divine favor; for inspiration; for discovery. The heavens are full of gods and science, of light and darkness, of stories – and of nothing. This month’s theme is the Cosmos – the night sky, and all it is, and all it has meant to human beings.

• People's Choice - The main prize goes to the winner of the popular vote. Depending on participation, runners-up may get prizes as well.
• Staff Picks - RPGC staff each select winners from the bonus categories

These optional categories will be tied to special staff pick awards (of the same name) handed out for this month, so take on one (or more!) of the challenges if you want a chance to win another prize!

For this theme, we want each bonus category to be approachable in more ways than one. Each is based on a celestial body with ties to mythology or historical significance. We hope that either the body itself, the figure it represents, or the stories associated with it will inspire your piece -- whether that means journeying through space or simply looking up at the night sky.

What Are Bonus Categories?

Bonus Categories are optional endeavors that add another level of challenge to the contest. You may tackle as many (or as few) as you like in your entry. At the end of the contest, the judges will select winners in each category, separately from the popular vote. Bonus Challenges are not required to be eligible for the main prize.

Why Bonus Categories? Because they're fun, challenging, and who doesn't like more prizes?

• MARS -- The Red Planet, named after the God of War. Earth's closest neighbor.
• PLUTO -- A small and distant world at the edge of oblivion. Named after the Roman god of the underworld.
• NORTH STAR -- The unmoving point of the heavens, which guided sailors to the new world, and guided slaves to freedom.
• THE CONSTELLATIONS -- Select any constellation -- or any other celestial body with a story -- as your inspiration.

• Follow all general contest rules.
• Send your entry to @rpgc entry with the title of your entry in the subject line by July 5th
• Be sure to mention any bonus categories you're hoping to win -- we'll consider everyone for everything, but it can't hurt to remind us!
• All entries will be posted (anonymously?) on July 5th, after which everyone can read, discuss, and of course vote for a winner!

brought to you by

Joining the staff this month is @Kurai Assassin! @Darcs, @mdk, @RomanAria, @RoflsMazoy round out the volunteer staff. Would you like to get involved? Our Get Involved thread is malfunctioning, but you can volunteer by sending a pm to @mdk

Remember:

send entries to @rpgc entry by July 5th

[mdk]

eh, screw it, who needs proofreading anyway? Because I forgot to document them as I went along, all images are credited to Google with only minor tweaks (mostly just letters and borders and resizing). This theme is very open-ended -- I know some people are going to wonder, "Does this idea count?" The answer is always "Sure, why not?"

While you're thinking about what to write, make sure to stop by the Second Labor and leave some thoughts for the authors there. @Terminal put in a lot of personal effort on reviews and judging -- and all writers benefit from having lots of eyes on their work, so don't forget to give those pieces a look.

Thanks, and enjoy!

[Psyga315]

Okay, just a quick question because this immediately popped in my head.

Are fanfics allowed? Like, stories set in a universe based upon a work?

[mdk]

Okay, just a quick question because this immediately popped in my head.

Are fanfics allowed? Like, stories set in a universe based upon a work?

@Psyga315

absolutely.

[Psyga315]

<Snipped quote by Psyga315>

absolutely.

@mdk

...

Space {crouches down} here I {stands up, arms stretched out} COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!!!

[Blitz]

YUSSSSSSS

[Ellri]

Space. We're in space.

One minor note. Inconsistency in bonus categories:

MARS -- The Red Planet, named after the God of War. Earth's closest neighbor.
PLUTO -- A small and distant world at the edge of oblivion. Named after the Roman god of the underworld.

The latter attributes to the relevant pantheon, while the former claims to be the sole god of war. Rectify?

Our initial thought on bonus categories is that they don't really inspire. You've got the entire universe to play with, and two of the four bonus categories are planets in our own solar system? Where's the thoughts on hard/soft Sci-fi? Deep space? Dark matter? wormholes/spatial folding? FTL travel? Aliens? Etcetera etcetera...

[mdk]

Space. We're in space.

One minor note. Inconsistency in bonus categories:
<Snipped quote>
The latter attributes to the relevant pantheon, while the former claims to be the sole god of war. Rectify?

Our initial thought on bonus categories is that they don't really inspire. You've got the entire universe to play with, and two of the four bonus categories are planets in our own solar system? Where's the thoughts on hard/soft Sci-fi? Deep space? Dark matter? wormholes/spatial folding? FTL travel? Aliens? Etcetera etcetera...

@Ellri

The backstory is, we're merging a few different theme ideas. Space is one aspect -- wormholes, blackholes, airlocks and all that business. But also, mythology -- notably greek/roman mythology, but really lots of things, from Aztecs to Zoroastrianism, have ties to the sky and the stars. It so happens that the local solar system is most closely associated with those pantheons, and thus, that's where we ended up with bonuses. They're meant to represent both the planets and the gods/myths/stories -- and that's not to say "You have to write a story about the planet Mars, or the god Mars, and only those things." Pluto can be a lot of things -- exoplanets, disgraced bodies, the last stop before lightyears of nuthin'.... Options abound.

OF COURSE AS ALWAYS -- if the bonus categories aren't doing it for you, skip them entirely! I'll keep these points in mind on the next planning phase, and see if we can't get more variety in the mix.

[Loksfjoer]

If I can't think up something original, I might end up writing a star trek fanfic with this theme. I'm going for something original first though.
This will be fun.

Edit: an idea is starting to form!

[PlatinumSkink]

I just got the silliest and simplest idea ever. Now I just need to come up with a story for it.

[Loksfjoer]

A quick question about the bonus category the constellations: does that have to be about one of the known constellations or can it be a made up one as well?

[Rare]

Alright, this seems interesting.

I will have something up soon.

[Dedonus]

PLUTO -- A small and distant world at the edge of oblivion. Named after the Roman god of the underworld.

@mdk

This category is so flame bait (at least for me as a Classicist). I'm warning everyone now. Tread carefully on this one! :D

Our initial thought on bonus categories is that they don't really inspire. You've got the entire universe to play with, and two of the four bonus categories are planets in our own solar system? Where's the thoughts on hard/soft Sci-fi? Deep space? Dark matter? wormholes/spatial folding? FTL travel? Aliens? Etcetera etcetera...

@Ellri

I assume that you can play around with those categories. For instance (some ideas that I am not planning on using): the North/Pole Star is not the same for each planet (even in our own solar system). Plus, even Polaris was not always our pole star (I forget what it was. Just look at the North Star wikipedia page). Also, there are several tropes that are commonly associated with Mars and Pluo: aliens living on Mars (War of the Worlds), Mars as a 'dead planet' or a potential planet for terraforming, Planet X (for Pluto), Pluto's 'demotion' from the offical planets of the solar system. I doubt you would have to use the actual planets (or Gods) 'Mars' and 'Pluto' to get the bonus category. You just need to get some inspiration from them.

@RomanAria: Looks like you won't be getting any Latin poetry this round. I thought of an idea that would fit this challenge better. Maybe next time.

[Ellri]

True. It can be played around with. The North Star one in particular. The feeling we got was just that the options offered far fewer possibilities than bonus categories could have.

[mdk]

True. It can be played around with. The North Star one in particular. The feeling we got was just that the options offered far fewer possibilities than bonus categories could have.

@Ellri

I'll work on that next time around. For this instance though, be as imaginative as you like with the bonuses -- Pluto for instance, I was really meaning to include like all sorts of edge-of-the-universe, mysteries of life and death, etc. It's hard to put all that concisely.

We do consider everybody for every bonus. If there's one you're interested in -- maybe you stretched the concept a little, or used it as a jumping-off point for something -- you can leave us a note on how you interpreted things, and we'll take it into account and do our best. Also if you're reading an entry and you think, "Wow, that would be perfect for such-and-such bonus category!" feel free to share those thoughts too.

[Keyguyperson]

I could totally use this contest as an excuse to work on my first piece actually intended for publishing, and only use the contest as a deadline while I pretend to be in it to win it. Or I could pull out an old idea from my brain. Huh.

Or I could do both.

What could possibly go wrong?

[mdk]

Fair warning -- publishers don't like it when a certain amount of the material has been put online already (I think the magic number is 10%? It varies probably). It's probably fine if there's heavy editing in your future, but it's something to be aware of when you're putting up huge portions like @Keyguyperson does. Might wind up closing some doors if you're not careful.

That said..... I totally selfishly wanna read it! Do as you like. You're incapable of producing something bad.

[Ellri]

Do as you like. You're incapable of producing something bad.

@mdk

That sounds like a challenge.

[mdk]

<Snipped quote by mdk>

That sounds like a challenge.

@Ellri

[Keyguyperson]

Fair warning -- publishers don't like it when a certain amount of the material has been put online already (I think the magic number is 10%? It varies probably). It's probably fine if there's heavy editing in your future, but it's something to be aware of when you're putting up huge portions like @Keyguyperson does. Might wind up closing some doors if you're not careful.

@mdk

Pfft. You know what the solution to that problem is?

Just make it really, really long in the end! It's not like publishers won't throw out a 200,000 word epic from some random author!