Scribbles: Regrets and Surprises, Hopes and Expectations

[SirRob]

Hi, I made The Devoted. I actually started the piece before the contest was announced, because I wanted to make a nice little poster for my room. I had to put it on hold in December, though. I heard about the contest in January and scrambled to finish it. Cleaned up the lines, colored, and shaded everything in half a month, working on it every day. It was really hectic; I believe one day I worked on it for around 10 hours. I'm a pretty slow artist; even with all that time, I only finished about an hour before the submission period ended.

Once I am able to, I plan to go back and work on it some more. One thing I definitely want to add is a fully fleshed out background. The current background uses a texture I made for a series of drawings I've been working on, and the sky and mountains were last minute additions.

The composition was a rough process; this is probably one of the most extensive single illustrations I've worked on, and with every character I added to the composition, I felt more and more like it would be very unlikely for me to finish! There ended up being a lot of negative space, but I'm hoping the background addition will help with that. For what I submitted, I think I could have quickly sketched up a forest in the space between Ike and Sephiran, but I didn't think to do that at the time.

I use livestream, so I had some friends watching me work on this, and they pointed out some stuff and supported me. Streaming my art does a lot to motivate me.

Uh, well I rambled a lot. I really appreciate all the support the community has shown for a stranger's work. The whole contest has been very encouraging for me, and seeing so many people show enthusiasm for one of my favorite video game series is really great. Thank you.

Also, to the people who commented on my work, thank you for the feedback as well. Since I do plan to go back and work on it more, the constructive feedback really helps me out.

[Replica Model]

My entry was The Dragon's Gate Beckons and that was set up to be a support conversation between Erk and Serra but instead of them just bonding like a normal support conversation I had them go through the Dragon's Gate on an adventure. Then they found themselves through that eye-ball portal thinga-ma-jig from chapter 2 in Awakening and just sort of went from there. The two of them did bond a little but it was probably too subtle to see or just nonexistent. It seems you huys enjoyed it for what it is but the "support" concept probably threw you guys off so I'll have to fix that for next time.

I never done anything like this so I wasn't expecting to win, as I'm also not a writer, so it just tells me what I need to improve on for next year's competition. I should probably ditch support conversations and write it in an actual story format so it's not confusing next time. I've got a year before the next one, so we'll see how much I can improve until then! I'm happy with that single vote I got, honestly, it makes me feel like did something right. And regardless, I entered into this contest and that within itself is something to be proud of!

[eclipse]

(also most people who know me well enough can see my art style from a mile away, apparently--I still can't quite figure out what makes my style distinct haha)

Three things:

1. Your proportions make sense

2. You lean towards a painted style, as opposed to a hard outline

3. Your faces look more realistc and less anime-styled

That, and you signed your work.

I planned and wrote this in an approximately 24 hour period, and then submitted it with barely any proofreading after finishing up on my master's thesis and then going to student teaching and school and my original entry idea fell through, throughout the 2-month period. Despite being rushed, on the second page, and having minor earlygame Fates spoilers, people told me they liked it and I got votes from Snike, Tangerine, and Balcerzak as well. I'd say that's an accomplishment. Now I'm going to go post this under my FFN account bye.

I told you my thoughts via PM, but I couldn't vote for you in good conscience. Once Fates comes out, I'll give you a proper review.

I did receive some criticism for it, but...I don't really agree with it. I'm not naming names or saying what it was for fear of receiving warnings or whatever, but I feel like it was kinda unfair, nit-picky, and not really true of the story. I honestly feel kinda cheated because of it...but, oh well.

I did receive some other constructive criticisms that were very helpful, though! I was told that some of the language was a little too clunky in some spots, and a couple things were too simplistic, and a sentence here and there seemed too "throw-away" and could have been removed with no consequence, and I was given advice on how to spot that in my writing and help avoid it. But overall, I was told by a few people that it was a good story...so it's even more upsetting that I didn't make it to the final round.

IMO your problem is that you argued with me about the points I made via PM. Until you take EVERYTHING into consideration, even stuff that you think you did well, you're not going to make meaningful improvements.

Oh, and Chew Toy. . .I have no idea how to poetry, which is why I wasn't able to give you any pointers. I thought you did well enough, which is why you got my vote. Ether, you still owe me a stew.

---

As for my piece. . .mine's right below Jotari's piece, and I was a bit amused to see someone with a similar writing style right next to mine! I'm pretty angry, because I think that the writers on page 2 got shafted hard. Take a look at the view counts and compare the two pages. I don't mind if people didn't like my writing, but I think it's extremely unfair to the people on the second page that they put out effort, and didn't get views, simply because they were in the wrong spot. IMO the sorting order should've been random, and the threads should've been locked until voting was over. That way, it'll give everyone some exposure.

The other reason why I'm angry is because Rebirth VI was my favorite piece, and I felt that it belonged in the finals. Also, if you didn't vote for me, at least tell me what didn't click with you.

Lastly, special thanks to Bal for reviewing everyone. He's awesome.

[Thor Odinson]

Three things:

1. Your proportions make sense

2. You lean towards a painted style, as opposed to a hard outline

3. Your faces look more realistc and less anime-styled

That, and you signed your work.

Haha yeah, though people tell me even if I didn't sign it, they'd recognise it so, that's why I was wondering.

And thanks for letting me know! I'm veering myself towards a more realistic style, so that's definitely good. I'm on the right track, then.

[Sunwoo]

Were pages 2+ really shafted that hard?

[jankmaster98]

Ring a Ding Ding, jankmaster98 is the idiot responsible for The Question of Peace. http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=60355

Anyway, I'm glad that my little slap together job got even half a dozen votes. I really wasn't expecting so many others to write stories, but i'm glad others did. My work needed an editor and a proofreading more than anything I think, but I'd like to think it was a nice piece with some nice ideas.

The only thing was I wish others could've given a bit more feedback, I really thank Sir Rob, Crazy Foxie, and Balcerzk for leaving their thoughts. I always love to hear feedback and hope others can comment on my works in the future posted here.

Edited February 12, 2016 by jankmaster98

[Lenh]

Just out of politeness for those still in the running and 'competing' (so-to-speak), could you guys hold off on reflection and analysis just a little while longer? The discussion has been fine so far, but I'm worried a bit with the 'regret' part things could sour (plus I think all the authors were going to be revealed at the end of the event).

If you need to you need to, just please respect that the event's still running and keep it on a positive note. We'll come back to the 'how can we run things / how you felt things could've gone better' after the event!

For it being the first-time, things have run very smoothly and the community's gone above and beyond what we thought it would (creators, voters, and viewers), so everyone be proud!

[jankmaster98]

Meh, we're not stewing away planning eternal vengeance on anybody... I think.... I mean... Well...

In all seriousness, I think whatever discussion people want to bring up is fine. I'm no moderator and no great wise man, but people should feel free to express their ideas and opinions on how they did and the annominity thing was most a firm suggestion but not a hard rule. In any case I think people with continue to discuss as they have.

[Nym]

Just out of politeness for those still in the running and 'competing' (so-to-speak), could you guys hold off on reflection and analysis just a little while longer? The discussion has been fine so far, but I'm worried a bit with the 'regret' part things could sour (plus I think all the authors were going to be revealed at the end of the event).

If you need to you need to, just please respect that the event's still running and keep it on a positive note. We'll come back to the 'how can we run things / how you felt things could've gone better' after the event!

For it being the first-time, things have run very smoothly and the community's gone above and beyond what we thought it would (creators, voters, and viewers), so everyone be proud!

I don't know why you are saying this, first of all, this is a different thread, we are not doing this in the pool's comments section so I think we don't ruined the event.

Second of all, I didn't read a single one here who is ''competing'', I think we all know this event was for fun (Tangerine said that many times already). We are only here to share our thoughts. Nobody was like: '' My story was cool, why did nobody voted for ME!?''

Plus, the only thing we could really complain about is either the shared pool or the second page of the writing section (glad you brought that up, eclipse, I wasn't sure that was a good idea to talk about it) but I think most (or everyone) understand that the event is new so issues like these happened.

Thirdly, it the thread was a nuisance for the event itself, I think eclipse (or any mods for that matter) or even Tangerine would have lock this thread.

I understand what you are saying (since you helped Tangerine) but for now (unless something happens), there is no need to be worried.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Nym

[False Prophet]

My work is "For the Living", and like everyone else here, I have a lot to gripe about.

1. It's too cryptic: It's a problem with all of my shorts. I always want to convey a bit of symbolism and mystic into my work, but the result ends up as too incomprehensible every time. I'd say that I have a problem with distribution: I give too much description but too little explanation; and even so, I couldn't evoke much of the imagination of the readers to "fill the void".

Also, like I has said before, because this work is extracted and modified from a bigger story of mine (basically chronicallized and merged all three routes into a coherence story), its context is left much in the shadow,

To sum it up, I wanted an equivocal work, and instead got an abstruse one.

2. It's too prolix: I write this story, like many other of mine, in a "snapshot" style - that is, individual scenes that would only be linked together in the last part of the story. However, as said earlier, the story is very much connected to my unfinished epic, so many parts of this structure are quite redundant from the standpoint of a standalone story. For example, Meldorn's comment points out that the conversation between Soleil, Caeldori and Ophelia is a major distraction and doesn't make much sense; a point which I agree wholeheartedly - I have to rewritten the talk two time, each of them would had led to extremely different courses of the story. My desire to include everything is largely to be blamed.

On the writing itself (and I'm surprised that no one has pointed it out yet), it's too monotonous and too rosy. For some paragraphs, like the fight between Ryoma and Xander, the purple prose works just fine; however, others require to be very clear and colloquial, something that I failed.

3. It was written without the audience in mind: I admit it, I has high hope for the story and intend to participate into the competition for the prize; however, because I was very much writing for myself, it failed.

(You may recognize this is the real culprit to the above two flaws.)

No, it doesn't mean that I'm criticizing the voters, but this failure gives a lot of food for thought. The fact that not many of us are familiar with the story of Fates and avoiding the spoilers by all mean possible should had been taken into account; as well as how a lengthy (6000 words) story might discourage the members who had little time to check out dozens of entries.

I believe in the merits of "Art for the People", and if I want my future projects to make an impact on the readers, I should really get to know them first.

On the other hand, I'm extremely happy with how the event as a whole has been going on. Everyone is so polite, honest and helpful - If you have wandered between so many game forums, you would extremely appreciate those qualities. It means that we are a mature fandom.

Maybe I should try my luck for the next year. How much does everyone want to know what happened to Azel and Tailto after the Battle of Belhalla?

[Rethel34]

Just out of politeness for those still in the running and 'competing' (so-to-speak), could you guys hold off on reflection and analysis just a little while longer? The discussion has been fine so far, but I'm worried a bit with the 'regret' part things could sour (plus I think all the authors were going to be revealed at the end of the event).

If you need to you need to, just please respect that the event's still running and keep it on a positive note. We'll come back to the 'how can we run things / how you felt things could've gone better' after the event!

For it being the first-time, things have run very smoothly and the community's gone above and beyond what we thought it would (creators, voters, and viewers), so everyone be proud!

I revealed mine prematurely anyway, as have many others still in the running, as remaining anonymous was not entirely required. (Besides, I'm the new guy on the block and I figured revealing mine wouldn't hurt.) And there are those who are in the remaining 51 who do believe they could have done much better, me included. It's not that I--or anyone else for that matter--are trying to be sorrowful or garner pity. We are very proud of what we've done, albeit amazed we made it this far in a competition filled with such talent. But as always, hindsight is 20/20, and we realize, even in being in the competition, there are those things we could have improved upon. (For some, we procrastinated, others, just didn't do this or that entirely to their liking, or any number of things.)

Personally, I almost know beyond a shadow of a doubt I'm not going to win anyway, let alone get into the top 10 (I'm 95% sure the Grima statue is going to trump everything at this point, though the picture "Awakening" is close on its heels so perhaps there could be a change of fate). Again, not trying to be sour, simply looking at things from a logical perspective.

Not to mention there is one piece (Aqua Song's New Arrangement) that I actually want to beat mine. I suppose using the word "regret" for how I feel about my piece would not necessarily reflect how I feel. Yes, I feel I can do better, but I also feel like this was one of the greatest musical accomplishments of my life, and I thank God I pulled it off, as when I first sat down to do it, it was a daunting task.

So do I see things I could have improved upon? Yes. Does that mean I am "sour" about it? Not at all.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Rethel34

[Fire Emblem Fan]

IMO your problem is that you argued with me about the points I made via PM. Until you take EVERYTHING into consideration, even stuff that you think you did well, you're not going to make meaningful improvements.

1: Don't automatically assume I was talking about you. You weren't the only one to PM criticism and advice.

2: I never argue with any "points" unless it's something untrue of the story (such as when I was wrongly accused of prejudice), I only ever say "thank you, noted!" and move on, if even that.

3: I have and do taken everything into consideration, your assumption that I don't is kinda offensive.

4: Please don't bring up any of specifics of my PMs in open forum, there's a reason they're PMs and a reason I didn't name any names and such.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Fire Emblem Fan

[Tangerine]

I don't know why you are saying this, first of all, this is a different thread, we are not doing this in the pool's comments section so I think we don't ruined the event.

Second of all, I didn't read a single one here who is ''competing'', I think we all know this event was for fun (Tangerine said that many times already). We are only here to share our thoughts. Nobody was like: '' My story was cool, why did nobody voted for ME!?''

Plus, the only thing we could really complain about is either the shared pool or the second page of the writing section (glad you brought that up, eclipse, I wasn't sure that was a good idea to talk about it) but I think most (or everyone) understand that the event is new so issues like these happened.

Thirdly, it the thread was a nuisance for the event itself, I think eclipse (or any mods for that matter) or even Tangerine would have lock this thread.

I understand what you are saying (since you helped Tangerine) but for now (unless something happens), there is no need to be worried.

She's talking about people attempting to imply that the thread views are having any impact on the results. We have a 100 view written submission with more votes than a 1500 view illustration, and the current front runner has half the views of its nearest competitors. I could bring up so many examples with how the polls are turning out that it isn't funny, and it's very disrespectful to imply that x submission is doing well because it had a lot of views or that you need to game the system to get attention when the polls are flat out proving that it isn't the case. People will share a submission for a variety of reasons, and while the first page tends to have more views, saying that it's an advantage in the event is pointless and comes across as sour and negative for the people whose submissions are still being voted on. The people whose intention is to actually take a close look and appreciate the submissions are doing so, there's no reason to be upset because others weren't interested enough to view everything, to what purpose do their views serve you if they weren't interested to begin with?

The voters have been amazing, there has been no drama or attempt to troll the polls and it's clear that the ones voting have viewed a variety of submissions and the rest have chosen to watch how it unfolds.

For the record, the submissions on page 2 of writing are in the same view range as many of the ones on page 1, and 3 of them are in final round - roughly the same ratio of submissions that made it to the final round as the first page.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Tangerine

[Mew]

I'm fairly happy with my entry because I got to try out an image composition/palette that I've been meaning to attempt, as well as getting to mess with my style a bit all while paying homage to my favorite FE, and getting an animated badge just for entering whaat. As people mentioned, it is inspired by the Gaiden cover, as well as FE4's cover, because I thought those were amazing and FE7's cover always felt a little lacking to me.

I'd actually like to get more constructive criticism on it if anyone is willing to dole it out! I'm thinking about doing some more work on this cus I'm noticing a few things I wanna fix anyway >u<

[Lenh]

I don't know why you are saying this, first of all, this is a different thread, we are not doing this in the pool's comments section so I think we don't ruined the event.

Second of all, I didn't read a single one here who is ''competing'', I think we all know this event was for fun (Tangerine said that many times already). We are only here to share our thoughts. Nobody was like: '' My story was cool, why did nobody voted for ME!?''

Plus, the only thing we could really complain about is either the shared pool or the second page of the writing section (glad you brought that up, eclipse, I wasn't sure that was a good idea to talk about it) but I think most (or everyone) understand that the event is new so issues like these happened.

Thirdly, it the thread was a nuisance for the event itself, I think eclipse (or any mods for that matter) or even Tangerine would have lock this thread.

I understand what you are saying (since you helped Tangerine) but for now (unless something happens), there is no need to be worried.

I said it because I was worried about the way the first post was titled, specifically the regrets and expectations (and the things Tang mentioned), but yeah, I hope there isn't any reason to be worried. ^^; I agree with your points, and apologies for coming off too strong on the defensive.

[Jotari]

I said it because I was worried about the way the first post was titled, specifically the regrets and expectations (and the things Tang mentioned), but yeah, I hope there isn't any reason to be worried. ^^; I agree with your points, and apologies for coming off too strong on the defensive.

Sorry if it wasn't clear but the the intention was to make a thread about selfreflection of one's own work instead of complaining about the competition as a whole.

[Sunwoo]

I REGRET NOTHING! Except perhaps giving my entry a name that put it on the second page

But in all seriousness, I don't have any regrets. Sure, I could've done better, but everyone can always do better on everything. I'm pretty happy with what I got in, considering that I planned and wrote it in a 24-hour period and had a lot more important stuff to do throughout the first month and a half the competition was up.

EDIT: tl;dr I'm happy I got something IN to begin with.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Sunwoo

[Jotari]

I REGRET NOTHING! Except perhaps giving my entry a name that put it on the second page

But in all seriousness, I don't have any regrets. Sure, I could've done better, but everyone can always do better on everything. I'm pretty happy with what I got in, considering that I planned and wrote it in a 24-hour period and had a lot more important stuff to do throughout the first month and a half the competition was up.

EDIT: tl;dr I'm happy I got something IN to begin with.

I'd find it hilarious if next year all the entries began with A.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Mine is kind of obvious as Lissa Emblem. (one of the characters...its obvious its mine)

I really kinda slapped this together at the last minute as a funzie entry because i dont really give a snot about winning. I just wanted to participate in this pretty cool event. However, it warmed my black little heart to see Bal comment on how he enjoyed it, and it nabbing a couple of votes.

[Squidorsky]

[topic=http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=60314]Battleof Barhara[/topic] was mine. Im really happy with the concept and some of the execution of mine but i think what really did me in was starting it so late (Didnt start till Jan. 24th!) and then midway through the week i then got stomach flu and had to either work through it on some days, or just not at all on other days...

It was a grueling week to be sure, so to even turn in what i did was a miracle; but i totally understand why i only got as far as i did. I am hoping to start be more involved here cause the event was fun to be a part of...so i suppose its not a complete loss for me at least?

Edited February 13, 2016 by Eriad

[eclipse]

Oh, I have a LOT more to say about a lot of things, but it'll wait. For now.

The only regret I have is procrastinating too long, then getting bogged down with Fates subforum drama, which seriously cut into my writing time.