Anniversary Jamboree Literary Contest

Hello writers and forumgoers, and welcome to the Flying Panda Anniversary Jubilee Literary Contest! Here you can let your creativity flow and perhaps earn a prize or two along the side!

This competition revolves around two parts: a final literary composition and daily themes. The big composition forms the core of this contest, and is the part that will possibly earn you a prize! It can be of any style you choose; a story, poem, song lyrics, anything you can think of. It must follow this theme:


What a surprise, right? Take from this as you will! Personify the forums and their inhabitants, or build alternate universes. Knock yourself out! As long as there is a clear connection to the theme, you can take this in any direction you want (as long as it's appropriate, of course!)

And secondly, the contest will be supported by a daily theme. As it sounds, I will provide a theme each day to which you can write. These will not count toward winning the contest, but rather will keep the creativity and excitement going!



[ R U L E S ]
Formatting
•  The final composition must be at least 5,000 words long for a story-like style, or at least two pages for a poem or similar style.
•  You may mix and match styles; ie a fiction story accompanied by a poem, but you may want to check with me about length!
•  If you come up with a style that I have not mentioned, and are not sure how long it should be, please send me a pm or leave a comment.

Submission
•  The final composition MUST be typed up in a google doc and linked here! Please make sure your doc is set to view only in order to protect your work. If your work is not link sharable or open to the public, your submission may not be counted.
•  For the daily theme, please post them in the comments below, or use a spoiler tag or a google doc link if it gets too long. Again, make sure that your google doc is view only and link sharable.
•  The final composition must be submitted by July 25th at 11:59 pm forum time. No late submissions will be accepted!
•  Daily themes should ideally be completed before 11:59 pm forum time each day, but this of course is not a hard deadline.

Other Rules
•  You must follow forum rules at all times.
•  Please keep your story PG-13, and please do not use curse words even in google docs. You may star them out if they are necessary.
•  Please be kind to everyone else! Be encouraging, as we are all at different stages in our writing. Please only give criticism if someone asks for it.

Judging
•  This contest will be judged by myself and the rest of the mod team.
•  Entries will be judged based on creativity and incorporation of the theme, not overall writing ability.


[ P R I Z E S ]
First Place
•  ONE fullbody painted character of your choice by laticat. Background optional
•  TWO Pixel characters of your choice (icon 50x50 or fullbody 200x300) by Laticat

Second Place
•  ONE halfbody painted character OR fullybody simple painting by Laticat
•  ONE Pixel character of your choice (icon 50x50 or fullbody 200x300) by Laticat

Third Place
•  TWO painted busts of any two characters by Laticat
•  ONE Pixel icon (50x50) by Laticat

Oh! This sounds like fun. I can't wait to come up with something to write about

(Poetry is like the only thing I can think of right now lmao)

A girl with question marks on her hands
Sat on a hill, in a town that demands
Too much, in too little, and commands
To be no time for thinking, or drinking, or wringing hands.

Her mind was cluttered with thoughts of baubles,
Of trinkets, gems, riddles and troubles.
And yet, in her hand she clenched a simple bubble
Meant to cure all of the girl's heartbroken dabbles
In a life she no longer wanted to trouble.

As she put the beast to her lips
And she tasted the sweet nectar that eclipsed
All of the days she would have missed,
She vaguely whispered, with a smile;
"The taste of blackberries, oh, how vile."

Alright here is my submission! I hope everyone likes it!https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SdPa7ACNCwgGG1m1YEJl4jKeMQY-Bmxf2f0J4GHmHUQ/edit?usp=sharing

Sorry guys, the new theme for today is up!! Can you believe I forgot about it already omg


@suzu wow that was really pretty!! I'm not sure if I understood it in it's entirety but it's very well-written c:

@beta aww that was really cute!! I like the relationship dynamic of these two <3

Ai sat quietly in her desk as she lightly moved her hair behind her ear so it would stop obstructing her view of her paper. The class was assigned to write a haiku, even though Ai was smart being creative was not her forte.... at all. Her gaze wandered through the class seeing heads bowed down and hands fervently writing. Everyone was so silent and so serious on this. What is there inspiration? How could they just just know what to write?

Ai only had basketball as her great talent. She was smart to a certain degree, but writing was her worst ability. She tried to find her own personal inspiration thinking of the time she had lived in fear for so long of other people's opinions on her. How her self-esteem was so fragile and how fear was a factor in every decision she has ever made in her life.

Her fingers twitched as she peered down once more at her paper. Her pencil began to scratch the surface of the paper lightly leaving traces behind of her ideas as she tried to open herself up and complete the assignment.

One by one the students were turning in their papers including her friend Minori.


Fear is a disease.
It's stark shadow so near.

" Oh! How bold!" Minori complimented and Ai blushed and immediately scribbled out the fifteen minute work of art she had just created. " I will just take a zero for this assignment" she whined.

I just can't do it.... she thought covering her reddened cheeks with her palms and she sighed.

Minori just giggled and shook her head " And I liked it too! You could be like a basketball poet!" she dreamed up the thought and Ai quickly flicked her forehead " Enough with your weird delusions! That just doesn't make sense" she chastised.

(Laughs another poem I'm so lazy lmao)

Sharp, crisp, cool air
Cuts through dark, midnight fair.
Warm, pale, yellow light
Drifting through wisps of the night.
Yet the stark cold drifts through my bones
And sucks out the frozen souls of crones.

Whose lives and stories are far too untold,
Tales of death and tales of the old,
Tales of wonder and tales of the occult.
And yet, mother nature gives them an insult
Cursing them with bodies frail, thin, and dulled.

Yet, the stark cold drifts through my bones
Yes, I can only tell the tales of these crones
In the sharp, crisp, cool air
Cutting through midnight fair.
In warm, pale, yellow light
Drifting through wisps in the night.

@Suzuka you write such awesome material!

You guys are both doing an awesome job! I like that you're both starting to tackle heavier subjects ww.

Do you guys have any preferences about future daily themes? I can't promise I will follow them or not but hey. B)

@ Lati : I do not have anything really that I want to cover. I like how you been doing it!

The theme has been updated!! I also added more prizes to reward you guys for the amount of work you've been putting in. c:

@beta: okay that's great to know!! thank you <3

Silvia was running, her breath forming clouds of white as she panted trying to reach the gym. Why didn’t he tell her? She needed to get to Rei! She needed to support him! Her heels pounded the concrete as she rushed past other students who were showing up for the volleyball tournament. She rushed in moving her way through the stands her eyes looking to Keito. “ He is sucking…. terribly. “ he commented to her rude as usual.

Silvia smoothed her hair looking to Rei on the court who just held a complex expression. He was in the spiking position he should be racking up the points but their team was loosing. “ He doesn’t need to do this” she muttered looking to see Vivi trying to rally people up on the sidelines. Silvia dashed off again for once not being so ditzy as she was trying to reach the court sidelines before it was too late.

Rei could feel his heart racing, he has never been so nervous…. but he has never been full of regret either. His eyes looked to the stands on the right his eyes on the scout who was recording his observations of him and the others on the team. Thanks to a family friend he was being scouted for boys volleyball...but  he did not want to be scouted if it meant leaving Silvia. He did not want to make her cry at the thought of him leaving. He also was scared of losing her.. the chances for couples doing long distance relationships generally ended in failure. Silvia was too important to him, even more than his passion for volleyball.

He closed his eyes watching at the serve began to play on their side. He watch them bump, set, and preparing to spike. God! He felt so empty!

“Fly high Rei!!!” he heard a shout and his attention immediately followed that childlike voice. His eyes widened as he met a smiling Silvia. She held an extra set of pom poms and was dancing around as she was cheering him on. “ Show them how high you can go!” she smiled giving such encouragement. Did she know what was going on?

Silvia made eye contact with Rei and she sighed and she smiled You are such a dummy…. she thought. Yet he gave her that toothy grin. He was in a better mind set now.

Silvia watched as it was their turn to serve and she danced with Vivi to keep the crowd riled up. As it came for Rei to spike the crowd in unison shouted “ Fly High!” as he nailed it and earned the points. Silvia giggled and waited patiently before she was politely and quietly escorted off the sidelines. Oh boy was she going to get in trouble later, but it didn’t matter she needed to make sure Rei did not hold back because of her.

The game ended and they beat the team by three points barely making it. Silvia waited for Rei as promised as the boy sheepishly walked over to her. “ You are such an idiot!” she chastised him but sighed “ But you are my idiot” she commented walking over and she hugged him “ You should have told me you were looking to be scouted! That is great news” she complimented him.

Rei still looked uneasy about it though “ But it means leaving you….” he finally admitted to her about his anxieties. Silvia looked up a bit wide eyed “ That was what was bothering you? I thought you were just nervous.” she mentioned but blushed slightly as she realized just how important she was to him. “ Rei….” she said carefully trying to sound more like an adult.

“ I don’t want to hold you back…..Volleyball is your passion. It was there before me and who says you can’t do that and still be with me?” she asked him

“ B-but the statistics” he countered to her

“ Are just numbers….. who is to say we aren’t a couple to defy the odds? Do you not trust me enough to give me a chance?” she asked him.

Rei shook his head “ That's not it…. I just dont want to be lonely.” he said to her and Silvia sighed.

“ I might not be there but your teammates will. Besides we will always write, call ,and visit each other. Right now though lets just enjoy the present. I only want to think of the now.” she offered her hand to him.

Rei looked down and smiled feeling a bit more comforted on the matter. She was supporting him, something he was not entirely expecting since she was a bit like a kid. However, she always seemed to surprise him in moments such as these. “ Alright…. I will just focus on the now.” he whispered as his hand encased hers and they began the walk to the bus station to get home.

@Beta tee-hee, you did a great Rei!

Lati, Rei's faceclaim is trashkawa so I was like "well why not make him a volleyball star too" and I did it and I'm not sorry. He is much nicer than Oikawa, and also not as hella gay (it's cool tho I got Kei for that)

The sky was a crystalline blue, pale, and reflective, while the shifting sands underneath it were calm and a bright, glittering gold. Iota wondered if it was because of the planet's quickly failing atmosphere, or perhaps the encroaching sun on the horizon, or it could simply be because of the damage the Earth had suffered through hundreds of years beforehand. The girl shook the feeling off, shaking her head and easing into the controls of her striker, she wasn't a scientist, it wasn't her job to speculate about those things, although she was sure Illia wouldn't mind lecturing her about it.

   Theta's purple and green body glimmered underneath the sunlight, and for once, music wasn't pumping out of the striker's speakers, a rarity for sure, considering Iota's bad habit of blasting long-dead music while she flew. No, she wanted silence on this flight, to hear the inner-workings of her striker and the soft, quiet thrum of the blasters, to hear as she moved the robot over the seemingly endless sands of the now wasteland of a planet.

   She had changed a lot since coming to Earth, a bit more than she would have liked, honestly, but changed nonetheless. All the sudden she was sociable with her sister's, or most of them, at least, and even... well, even exploring the idea of relationships with humans. Her hate for all of humankind had subsided, instead reshaping and taking the form of hatred for one particular group of humans, the ones who had made her, and the ones who could possibly destroy everything she had worked so hard to accomplish. Nirvana was an evil place, desolate, colorless, and as Iota drifted above the sands, making sure not to stray too far from the fleet, she wryly mused that the dry, sandy Earth was far more beautiful than Nirvana had ever been.

  "Theta, how are those sealants holding up?" She asked, finally breaking the silence as she talked to her beloved striker. The AI popped up beside her, a lollipop in his mouth as he ran a hand through his holographic hair. He shone with a purple sheen, glittering in the colors of his metallic body, numbers running up and down his form as he analysed his functions and programs.

  "We're doin' A-ok! Doesn't look like anything has stopped doin' what it's supposed to yet, and we put these in like, a couple months ago?" Iota turned to glance at the AI, his voice still sounding as childish and innocent as ever, but yet, the boy had grown up a lot too. He looked older, even if his sound programs wouldn't allow him to sound like it, hel l, now when he was in full hologram form, he was nearly three inches taller than Iota. She almost missed the once tiny hologram who zipped around on his skateboard and begged for a pet, who was shy around other people but still loved to talk. The little boy who loved to put on fireworks displays, even if they were made out of his own pixels, and liked to listen to Iota's music no matter how loud or full of rage and angst.  

   Now, he was different, quieter, stronger, with a respect for life and all of its parts, even the space pirates he was designed to kill. He had seen some things, that boy, and it made him grow up in a way, something none of the other AI have ever done. Iota wondered if it was her fault, if it was her various adjustments to his programs and outer shell perhaps unlocked a code that the AI's were never supposed to run. Another part of her wondered if it was a cruel joke set by the Nirvanian officials, another experiment to see how a particularly volatile hybrid could bond to an artificial child and then see them grow up.

  "Ira? What's wrong?" Theta's voice shocked Iota from her thought process, and she sniffled, giving the AI a sharp glare as he called her by her 'human' name. The girl reached up, wiping a couple of tears away and shaking her head as she hurtled them upwards, prompting Theta to shimmer in life in front of her instead, full-sized now, with an expression of worry crossing over his holographic features. "Did I do something?" There it was, that childish worry, and Iota smiled, reaching out to the boy as if she wanted to ruffle his hair.

  "No, kid, I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to handle you growin' up." the AI looked surprised, pixelating and reappearing on Iota's shoulder, studying her more closely as the girl just focused on flying up higher and higher, breaking the atmosphere, and coming closer to the stars. Of course, she wasn't going to do it, she didn't know how Theta would take space after being out of it for so long, but she desperately wanted to, just to see the stars up close a few more times.

  "You did good, ya know," he muttered, shocking Iota. The girl turned to him, a frown spreading across her features as she realized he shuffled through her neural implants again. He backed away quickly, holding his hands out in front of him and shaking them wildly, "I-I-I-I know! I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" He stopped, looking away and sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, "but you did good, even if I am an AI and you're a failed genetic mutation with a horrible temper and a heck of a mean streak, you did a good job of raising me." Theta looked at her again, surprised to find tears in her eyes, and he gave her his signature dorky grin, "half-alien mom is the best mom."

    "I can't handle you!" Iota exclaimed, sniffling and having to look away, she rubbed her eyes fiercely, looping the striker around to start to head back to the ship cluster Eden. She did glance upward, however, towards the pale white sky reflecting the golden sand shifting below it, an old phrase Illia liked to say hitting her mind as she wondered what the future holds, 'I'm going to run as fast as I can, fly as high as I can, I am going to soar, and one day I will reach the stars.'

  "We'll get back up there one day."

New theme for today is up! c:

@beta aww those two are so cute!! are these characters from an anime or a game or something? I feel like i recognize them but maybe not haha.

@suzu lmao he must be pretty great then! ;D you know my weakness is volleyball boys omg o(---(

also WOW your short story was gorgeous! The way you portray the characters and their personalities, especially Theta, makes me so envious haha. And you know I'm a sucker for good ol' imagery!

@lati No, actually Silvia and Rei are characters that Suzu and I created XD. I am glad you find them to be so cute!

@beta Ohh I see haha xD so it's a roleplay sort of thing? o v o

The theme has been updated! Also just a reminder, the contest will be ending on the 26th, so make sure to finish your submissions!! They should be turned in the night before on July 25th by 11:59 forum time. c: I will post another reminder that day!

@Lati Yeah! a one on one that Suzu and I are working on currently with multiple OC's

Also I forgot to write a submission yesterday I got so busy! I am sorry XD

Oh guys I'm so sorry, I forgot to update yesterday's theme. I've gone ahead and done so for today. Anyway, tonight is the deadline for the composition submissions! Make sure to use google docs to upload them, and I will announce the winners tomorrow in the morning!

Hek ye I don't think I'll be able to submit a final entry whOOPS.

I got caught up in school, cleaning, and stuff so, I never got around to finishing it. It's only like 500 words now so I doubt I'll be able to do 5,000 anytime soon.

Ok uh it looks like neither of you were able to finish, would you guys like an extension?