The Reading Challenge: SummerCamp 2022
Busy month, this one.
I managed to get to Diamond on SummerCamp amidst marrying my dear TJ Trewin, with all the preparation and arranging of stuff that that implied.
As an end result, around half of my SC articles are unfinished, and I am waiting patiently to the closing ceremony to be able to finish them.
But in the meantime, I can maybe get a slight bit of progress on getting down my over 1000 notifications, and the reading challenge seems a good enough excuse for starting:
I managed to get to Diamond on SummerCamp amidst marrying my dear TJ Trewin, with all the preparation and arranging of stuff that that implied.
As an end result, around half of my SC articles are unfinished, and I am waiting patiently to the closing ceremony to be able to finish them.
But in the meantime, I can maybe get a slight bit of progress on getting down my over 1000 notifications, and the reading challenge seems a good enough excuse for starting:
Prompt 1: A vehicle used for long journeys
Most people panic and riot when there is a vehicle prompt. I am no exception. So I decided to read a bit of what people have created for this prompt to gain some inspiration for future vehicle-related challenges.1: Glacier Crawlers by Stormbril
Never a bad excuse to read a Cathedris article.
It may sound weird, but what inspired me the most was the fact that the vehicle is bad. A big portion of the article focuses on how it's uncomfortable, inefficient, barely tested, and only used because it has a slightly better survivability rate than walking on its terrain.
It was a refreshing thing to read for me since I usually struggle with adding stuff to my world that I don't consider efficient.
Fun note: A song from the Frostpunk's OST came up in my playlist when I stated reading this. Extremely fitting.
2: The HTMLW Sub by Wanderpus
So, this one bought me into it. Intriguing name, attractive page, weird header image and... Ok, it uses the word "oopsiedoopsie" in the first sentence, I need to read this.
And... wait, what? Oh! The vehicle article itself is the recounting of a Quiet year game? Wait, hold a moment, walker... it's kind of the main article on this world??? This was a trip from start to end, and a well-enjoyed one. It reminded me that WA articles can be something entirely different than just an encyclopedic description of their namesake. Great surprise to find while surfing the prompts' responses.
And... wait, what? Oh! The vehicle article itself is the recounting of a Quiet year game? Wait, hold a moment, walker... it's kind of the main article on this world??? This was a trip from start to end, and a well-enjoyed one. It reminded me that WA articles can be something entirely different than just an encyclopedic description of their namesake. Great surprise to find while surfing the prompts' responses.
3: Fundamentally UNsafe Prototype Artificial Wing by drunkenpanda951
Short, nice and entertaining.
This article is written as a research log from a dwarf working on developing an artificial wing for dwarves. It is hilarious and well written and leaves you wondering for more.
It made me think of doing one of these, a first-person log detailing what I want to show in the article. I have Rediscovering birds from this summercamp unfinished, though the idea for this one will take a less practical turn.
Prompt 2: A condition considered monstrous or "unlucky" by some
1: Coneshamed by Camilla S
Milladamen's Mew world is a delight to read. The Coneshamed article is entertaining and amusing, but also the "to-the-point" way it's written fits the tone of the world and article perfectly.
It is a good reminder to remember to see stuff not from the eyes of the writer but from those of the world's inhabitants, and of how simple wording can sometimes be way better than purple prose at fitting the tone of an article.
2: Makaridism by Simo
There are not many worlds where you will find "Being related to dragons" as a bad thing.
Makardism is a short but concise article on the human children that express traits that make them resemble the discriminated-against makairds. I found it interesting how the Makarids don't take the opportunity to find someone to step on top on, and instead decided to see the oppression of these humans as a factor to see them as ones of their own. I would like to find a story of union through the shared fights in SoP as well.
Makardism is a short but concise article on the human children that express traits that make them resemble the discriminated-against makairds. I found it interesting how the Makarids don't take the opportunity to find someone to step on top on, and instead decided to see the oppression of these humans as a factor to see them as ones of their own. I would like to find a story of union through the shared fights in SoP as well.
3: White Plumage by Deleyna Marr
The history of this condition describes how a planned population bottleneck led to leucism in a society that praises colourfulness.
I liked and was intrigued by the end of this article, that talks in past tense about the new population's fear of being rejected or worse upon rescue. The article also talks about a working towards a cure. The intrigue led me to check the article about the settlement affected by this and... well, I'm not going to spoil it, but I was left with questions.
I should consider leaving some writers of SoP with questions as well, I think. It could be interesting.
Prompt 3: Α material only harvestable from nature
1: Amphrodisiacs by Dani
Aaaah, Luridity. What a world. Do not read while consuming beverages, lest you eject them from your nose.
There is a lot of interesting delving into the applications and laws surrounding this powerful libido enhancer, which includes how it can be used to alter the other meaning of "libido". Soma, anyone?
The profound detailing of the regulations around its aerosol version shows how much consent is being taken into account in Luridity, a fact that speaks a lot about its author and makes me appreciate both immensely. "Amphrodisiacs" made me think of maybe expanding into the less obvious uses, applications and aspects of the sexy paraphernalia of SoP, such as the Purple Jelly, and considering the inverse for ritual stuff such as freeze branding.
The profound detailing of the regulations around its aerosol version shows how much consent is being taken into account in Luridity, a fact that speaks a lot about its author and makes me appreciate both immensely. "Amphrodisiacs" made me think of maybe expanding into the less obvious uses, applications and aspects of the sexy paraphernalia of SoP, such as the Purple Jelly, and considering the inverse for ritual stuff such as freeze branding.
2: Sentient Cells by Amélie I. S. Debruyne
After hearing many stories and frustrations about cells just f*ing dying on her, reading Amélie's article was refreshing and hilarious.
The details are explained in a mix between matter-of-fact description and informal tips-and-tricks provisioning accompanied by excellent illustrations both by Amélie herself and from Annie Stein. Besides the fun read, what called to my attention was a call to action at the end inviting me to read another article by explaining plainly how they are connected.
Now... dropping related article blocks is not a new concept to me, as you may see in the very sidebar of this one, but I generally just drop the links there, as a mere way to fill some space, sometimes as a way to remark the importance of something discussed in the article, but never with any sort of call to action. Perhaps I should try it!
The details are explained in a mix between matter-of-fact description and informal tips-and-tricks provisioning accompanied by excellent illustrations both by Amélie herself and from Annie Stein. Besides the fun read, what called to my attention was a call to action at the end inviting me to read another article by explaining plainly how they are connected.
Now... dropping related article blocks is not a new concept to me, as you may see in the very sidebar of this one, but I generally just drop the links there, as a mere way to fill some space, sometimes as a way to remark the importance of something discussed in the article, but never with any sort of call to action. Perhaps I should try it!
3: Barac by TJ Trewin
Goddamit TJ. Well, he certainly knows how to weave a kinky reference or two on an article, doesn't he?
On an unrelated note, I loved the quote. It caught me off guard with its brilliance, and it certainly captures Melior's "haha remember this was supposed to be dark fantasy?" vibe. I need to add more quotes to SoP that show instead of telling.
The apprentice historian by Naelin
The Challenge
This article is based on a challenge posed in the blog post "Summer Camp 2022 Reading Challenge: Improve your Writing!" in the WorldAnvil blog. The challenge's prompts (summarized) consisted in:- Choose 3 SC2022 prompts, and read 3 entries from each.
- Leave a comment on each of the 9 articles.
- Write in an article a paragraph about what you learned/what inspired you from each.
- Include at the end of the article your goals and projects for the future.
Some additional articles I've enjoyed this SC
Some great suggestions here, including a few I haven't seen. I'm off to check out "Coneshamed" now!
Thank you! The Mew world is certainly a delight to read