PROMPT: ROUND TWO

[hso_mods]

ROUND TWO: MONSTERS

where the wild things are

Hey shippers!
Welcome to the second main round. We're working on getting your R1 posts up and running ASAP, and will be making an announcement as soon as we've processed all of them! It--might be a little while, sorry.

This round, your challenge is to incorporate supernatural creatures somehow. Zombies, ghosts, werewolves, and of course vampires/rainbow drinkers are all welcome!

Make sure the supernatural aspects of your entry are dealt with in a substantial way—ideally it shouldn't just be a throwaway line.
And as always, if you are unsure whether something counts or not, just ask! You can reach us at homestuck.shipping AT gmail.

All submissions must be created/assembled new for this round by members of your team.

This challenge will run until 11:59PM EDT July 7. If your Palhoncho sends it in after that time according to the gmail timestamp, your team’s submission will get posted--but we cannot guarantee that it will be posted in a timely manner.

Requirements (as stated in the Info Post)
Fic/meta must be between 800-3000 words.
Combination fic/art entries cannot have more than 4 images.
All other image-based media (including comics) cannot exceed 10 images/panels.
Cosplay must be at least 75% created or assembled new for the challenge.
Gifs and other animations must be 8 seconds or less total. (e.g. you could have one 5-second gif and one 3-second gif)
Games are still subject to the 10-image limit.
Live-action movies are limited to one minute total.
Original music is also limited to one minute total.

The penalties for going over 3k words will be as follows:
3000-3050: no penalty (to allow for disparities in wordcount software)
3051-3150: -30 points
3151-3250: -60 points
etc.
PLEASE NOTE that gdocs is notoriously bad at generating an accurate wordcount, so you should probably check your submission at http://www.wordcounter.net/ just to make sure.
Also, this year we are requiring transcriptions of all text on images. These transcriptions count towards the wordcount.

Please remember not to post your HSO creations publicly until voting ends, whether or not they are chosen as part of the team submission. We would like to keep things as anonymous as possible!

Submission Format
Submissions should be formatted as outlined here.

Questions about this challenge should be emailed to us at homestuck.shipping AT gmail! We will try to answer any questions posted as comments here, but we may not see them in a timely manner.

Comments

[runespoor]

So the theme might be closer to "supernatural"? "Monster" can also refer, in a hyperbolic way, to people - doing terrible, inhumane things. Would that be an acceptable take on the prompt, or are we limited to the strict supernatural meaning of the word?

(Secondary question - if our work focused on the idea of "monsters" not through objective criteria, but through the way it's perceived, would it be okay? Here I'm thinking about something like first contact between the species, if the general tone of the story focused on the grotesque/threatening aspects of the other.)

[hso_mods]

(c+p'ing from the email response, because it occurred to me it might be helpful for other people)
Sorry, I should've been clearer--while 'Monster' is the shorthand for the prompt, the ACTUAL prompt is "to incorporate supernatural creatures somehow"! If you want to count first contact as 'aliens' or similar, personally I would find that to fit within the bounds of the prompt--but remember that we'll be asking people to vote based on how well the entries fit the prompt, and based on feedback from last year, it sounds like a lot of people do take that pretty seriously.
So, the long and short of it is: no to the first, technical yes to the second but be aware that it might be a bit risky popularity-wise.
-mimicre

[saingirl101]

But then if this was the case shouldn't prompt be based around the word supernatural?

Because the person above is right in the fact that with the word monster my mind went straight to the dark, psychological acts many of the characters commit but if the prompt is ultimately supposed to be around supernatural/alien/monster creatures it becomes very misleading and also very restrictive.

[thatreevesgirl]

I also agree with saingirl101. My mind didn't go to anything supernatural either. The prompt shorthand should really be Supernatural, because Monsters for me immediately went to "inner demons" and not something quite so literal.

[jack_of_none]

Honestly I think that "monsters" is a very DIFFERENT prompt from"supernatural creatures". Monster implies an emotional characteristic -- monsters are horrific, terrifying, repulsive, or disturbing. Supernatural creatures are just that -- something magical or fantastic.

For instance, say someone wrote a story about a unicorn. That's a story about a supernatural creature, and fits the prompt "supernatural creatures" without a doubt! But if wouldn't fit the prompt "monsters" unless they'd written the unicorn in a very specific way.

[veira]

Awesome! Do horrorterrors count?

[hso_mods]

It depends whether you (and the voters) consider them 'supernatural' or not! I think it should be fine, though.
-mimicre

[itsajustaway]

Can we include creatures from folklore? Many of them have the ability to change form.

[dragon_bagon]

I have a bit of a question on the whole "supernatural" limitation to this prompt- there are a whole lot of monsters I wouldn't deem supernatural- stuff like dragons, kaiju and a whole realm of creatures from greek myth. Basically, a whole lot of the more beast-like stuff. My current idea for this prompt deals with one of these more beastly monsters, would this be allowed?

[saingirl101]

My team also has this question. Such as creatures which can be deemed fantasy but have monster or trickster qualities such as regular supernatural qualities. Also as the person said before, Dragons, would you consider dragons to be supernatural?

[hso_mods]

I would say that yes, dragons do count as supernatural creatures. If a fantastical creature has supernatural powers, then I would also slot them as appropriate. The question you should be asking yourself is 'will voters think this fulfills the prompt'.

-miltennious

[runespoor]

The thing is, I'm a voter and all the ideas thrown out here fit my definition of monster. Not only would I readily vote for them, but I'd probably be a lot more likely to vote for a creative take on the prompt than for something that's more literal. Zombies are good; inner demons casting shadows on the walls of Vriska's hive or Eridan twisting himself to fit the heritage of Dualscar are "wow, what a good take!"

[lemugrub]

So does this include beast monsters or only humanoid-related monsters?

[zabrainah]

so if Aradia is in our team's ship, can she count as a ghost too?

[doctorv]

Is she dead during at least part of when the fill takes place? If yes, she counts. If no, it's very iffy leaning towards not really and voters will probably vote as such. :)

(I'm not a mod so this is just my best guess.)

[zabrainah]

hahaha okay thanks! :D