Judging for Camp'23 and Quilt Progression

Prompt: A Species with an Unusual Form of Communication

Heyo! I've been wanting to get more involved in the WA community, so I'm super excited about sponsoring a Summer Camp prompt this year! I'm even more excited that I got this specific prompt. Like... I think this would have been one of my favorite prompts even if I wasn't judging, so I feel like I got really lucky. I was stoked to see everyone's responses, all 168 of them (well, 167, when I take mine out).

I decided to judge using a bracket system. Mostly, this gave me a structure for narrowing down articles. I know this means that if the numbers had played out a little differently, the final bracket may have looked a little different (there were a shipload of amazing articles, y'all!), but I'm confident the winner would have won regardless.

Some notes on how I judged:

• I weighted content much more heavily than formatting. Formatting is hard during the Summer Camp crunch and not all of us are adept at it. Furthermore, considering there's a prompt involved, I'm more concerned with the most unique and creative response than the best overall article.
• That being said, I like a pretty article as much as the next person, so formatting wasn't totally out. In some cases, it was a tie-breaker.
• I more or less didn't factor grammar in at all. There are just two many dialects of English used on WA. Furthermore, I am a silly monolingual American who had to use an electronic translator to read non-English articles, and translators are notoriously imperfect. I may have noted a typo or confusing sentence if it was particularly noticeable, but I'm judging articles here, not grading papers.

This was the rough schedule I followed:
July 23-August 1

• As articles rolled in, I used a random number generator to put them into preliminary brackets.
• I also began to familiarize myself with them. Every judge had a lot of articles to sift through, and each handled it in a different way--skimming, getting help, etc. Mine was to start getting a sense of them as soon as they started going up so that during the actual judging, reading would be faster for those that changed very little (and for those that did change, it was interesting to see edits in "real time.")
• This also gave me the chance to leave comments for people who had confusing sentences or formatting errors that they might want to fix before submissions were locked in.

August 1-August 17

• I finalized the preliminary brackets (double-checking I had included everyone) and read through them. I tried to finish 1-2 brackets a day, in order to read every article (which was easier for me than some, since I had a diamond wave prompt, and a smaller number of submissions.)
• Then I put the winners of the prelim brackets into a finalists bracket, and narrowed them down to a single winner.

August 26

• Post winner after announcement stream

August 27-August 31

• Contact winner to talk logistics
• Rest

September 1-November 30

• Make a quilt! I love quilting, and I've been dabbling with quilting parts of my world (mostly maps), so I'm super excited to challenge myself with this one. I am giving myself a lot of time because I don't know how long it will take. I think the Mad Hatter quilt took a month or two. But I want to have it in the mail before the end of the year. I also intend to post weekly updates below, so you guys can see pieces of how it is unfolding.

December

• Make sure all winner goodies have been mailed
• Rest World Ember

And the Winner is...

There a million great responses to this prompt (well, 167) and I want to thank you all for making judging difficult. In the end, I picked Paperdrake because... it stuck with me. When my irl friends asked about judging, this was the usually the first article I told them about. After some thought, I decided it stuck this way for two reasons:

The idea was so simple, it was almost obvious

yet, it was completely unexpected.

I learned a lot about myself reading this article. Most of us wrote about flesh and blood creatures (with a smaller contingent writing about vegetation), so a species essentially made out of paper really stood out. The simplicity of it made me realize how I often box myself in, even when trying to think laterally. In short, this was an idea I wish I had come up with myself. But I don't think I ever would have. Not in a million years.

Finalists

(the other 15 prelim bracket winners)

While I don't know if I would want to communicate via snot bubbles, Valcin's species indeed has an unusual form of communication, which is appropriate for the unique elephant-turtle hybrid they wrote (and drew!) about.

I loved pulling this article up because I had a picture in my head just from the title. TheOwlGod did a great job creating an unusual form of communication by starting with an idea and running with it.

This is one of only a handful of articles that utilized smell as the primary form of communication. Furthermore, the Udaseli seem to have a full language which they "speak" using the varieties of flora and fauna which they grow on their bodies. (original article in German)

Ibb also started with an idea which they took to its natural conclusion--bee people that communicate, in part, using dance. What really made this one stand out was the details of how this created miscommunication with other species. I also liked the original artwork detailing the sexual dimorphism.

Unlike the Chrub, the Dancing Spiders don't literally dance to communicate, they just look like they do, as they communicate using the tension of their webs. From what I know of spiders, this is pretty realistic, and one of the few tactile forms of communication I ran into. But what really carried me over was the sheer horror of spiders that hunt in packs and take down wolves. (original article in French)

An example of both great formatting and great storytelling, this in-world article is interspersed with delightful pictures, jokes, and literal interruptions. Be sure to click the spoiler tag for the speech "transcription."

There were a lot of responses that incorporated telepathy, but I picked this one for the sheer beauty of its storytelling. Hanhula really fleshes this species out with their detailed history. It's also a good example of using the full width footer to eliminate empty sidebar space.

As the article states, the Wendigo's method of communication is disgusting. But it also definitely classifies as "unusual." Furthermore, Kriltch does a great job of putting a spin on an old story to create a more nuanced species.

A species that communicates through the preparation of food--from the ingredients to plating. The fact that they are also bears is just the "cherry on top." (pun intended)

Another example of taking an idea to its natural conclusion--Maranthor created a bird species with a form of communication that would only work for a bird. I also particularly liked the mention of dialects. (original article in German)

Yet one more outstanding example of starting with a premise and running with it. These bat people (naturally) echolocate. I also have to give Tecknaragnes props for the artwork. I love seeing people do their own art, and the pictures fill our this article beautifully.

I believe I've heard Mochi referred to as "the queen of species," so it's not really a surprise they're on this list. The glamorous peafowl actually has three forms of communication--manipulation of its train, moving its antenna feathers, and screeching. Because that's what peafowl do. Mochi's article is also a beauty to look at and really feels like reading a sign at a zoo.

A lot of articles included color-changing, but this stood out because of how Deleyna fluffed out their species with details of their lives in compost bins and even what they taste like. This is also a great example of how eliminating the sidebar can make for quick and clean formatting.

FireThornDragon also started with a basic idea and took it to its natural conclusions. I love the inclusion of some basic music theory (what keys they play) when describing this melodic species, as well as the fact that, at heart, they are just crickets. (original article in Swedish)

Finally, another heavy-hitter who is not a surprise to see on this list. As usual, Stormbril's formatting is amazing. I particularly like the fish you can move across the screen (also, great artwork! They're super cute!) But I also enjoyed how these trout manipulated light by reflecting off their scales rather than using mere bioluminescence.

Quilt Updates

Step One

Make a paper dragon.

by Molly Marjorie

Step Two

Now I have to figure out how to make a quilt out of this guy. And that begged the question... can I do origami out of fabric? Fabrigami? Quiltogami? As it turns out, I am not the first person to have this idea.

by Molly Marjorie

I decided it might be cool to quilt the steps of the paperdrake, from paper square to full dragon, so I re-did my dragon several times, stopping at each sort of "step" along the way.

by Molly Marjorie

Step Three

I ended up with twelve in all (some steps were condensed for the picture above), and from there, I sketched out out possible sets.

by Molly Marjorie

I also felt like having nothing but each subsequent piece of the dragon appliqued onto a background would be kind of boring, so I used the Fabled Flowers book to flesh out some more detailed blocks.

by Molly Marjorie

Step Four

Next, I had to figure out how to transfer my paper creations to fabric. I have a friend who taught me how to make these really cool butterfly quilts with old handkerchiefs.

Butterfly Quilt by Molly Marjorie

So I thought handkerchiefs might make a good material for the origami dragons. I got out a couple and tried some simpler origami just to see if it could be done.

Fabrigami Star by Molly Marjorie

Looks like I'm going to need to learn how to use spray starch.

Step Five

by Molly Marjorie

The best part was when I realized I could fold a starched hanky just like a piece of paper--without an iron.

Step Six

After some commuication with Mezzopatricia, I settled on the 3x4 layout, and sketched out the Plan.

Paperdrake Quilt Plan by Molly Marjorie

There should be an outer border there, but I forgot to include it.

Step Seven

Time to pick our colors!

Step Eight

Let the quilting begin!

by Molly Marjorie