February marks the sixth month we've chosen our Challenge Theme by community vote (see here for the latest results). So, I thought I'd take this opportunity to ask how everyone thinks the new challenge format is going? Are there any concerns or thoughts on improvements? And also, we have March's challenge Theme to think on. We already have quite a list but there's always room for more suggestions. Please post your ideas here for next month's Themes. And feel free to discuss, ask questions and suggest ideas for entries for any of the submitted themes. If we can get a conversation started about the challenge it'll help to get those creative juices flowing. The least popular Themes from the last few polls have enter THE NEUTRAL ZONE and are in danger of being eliminated from the vote in the coming months. The Current List of Themes: Transporter Malfunctions Duplicates, amalgamations and transmogrifications. Oh my! The Menagerie We hear about Berengarian dragons, and Andorian bulls, and Orion wing-slugs, and Terrelian seapods and the like, but didn't get to see them. What do they look like? How big are they? What kind of environment do they live in? Will they eat you?!? The More Things Change Time may move at warp speed, but not everything does. Show us how something Trek has changed over the years - landscapes, buildings, ships, people, beliefs. Blueprints Arguably the most important manifestation of fan art going back to Franz Joseph and how the popularity of his works proved the ongoing popularity of the canceled series. Taking that as inspiration create your own set of blueprints for anything in Star Trek be it a starship, starbase, technology, bridge layout, etc. Body by Brand Name Since certain iconic brands are bound to survive or be revived in the future, what would a starship/uniform/base, pretty much anything, look like if it was built or designed by a particular company? Not limited to products or types of products the company makes. So what about a starship designed by Tiffany/Swarovski? A tricorder from Blackberry? The New Next Generation Show what would follow your favorite incarnation of Star Trek. This is Me/Us Insert yourself in some kind of art...whether a photoshop, hand drawing, or costume photo...something where you show yourself (or a friend/relative). Beginnings A New Year is here so taking inspiration from that show us some Trek Art related to new Beginnings. It could be inspired by something from the start of your favourite series or show us the beginning of a new mission, the introduction of a new character, ship or family member. Where My Heart Is, Beyond Antares (nice! using a lyric) How do characters/species show their love for each other? Friends, parents and kids, true loves...anything you want. 80s Animated Mash! A mash-up of a classic (or obscure) 1980s animation with the 80s Star Trek crew/show/movie of your choice - 2280s TOS Movies or 2380s Lower Decks and Prodigy. (And there's always the Short Trek "Children of Mars", snippets from DS9: "The Visitor" and PIC, amongst other bits & bobs.) [THE NEUTRAL ZONE] Not Good Enough Art inspired by unpopular episodes. Specific show theme Maybe this can carry for much of 2023... do this in cooperation with one of the boards (like TNG, or DS9) , where they pin the contest there as well, and allow for cross/duplicate posting on that board (to allow for bigger interest in the contest). (Post below and tell us your preferred show) [THE NEUTRAL ZONE] Voting for March's Theme will commence ~15 February. Please post your ideas by then for inclusion in the poll. Have Fun!
I haven't got a theme suggesstion (yet), but I was wondering if the winner could pick a theme from the three (say) with the most votes? So, for example, whoever wins January's challenge gets to choose between I Like the Old Stuff Better than the New Stuff, The More Things Change, Blueprints and Where My Heart Is, Beyond Antares (as the last two received the same amount of votes). I just think it might be nice if the winner has a little choice in the challenge theme they'll be hosting (as well as "wearing" the swanky gold banner) Obviously, it'll depend on what people think, so I'm not proposing that we should change things, or that if we do that it's changed this month. Oh, and shouldn't it be Body By Brand Name (0 votes) and This Is Me/Us (0 votes) rather than Not Good Enough (2 votes) in THE NEUTRAL ZONE? (Or do they get a stay of execution because they're relatively new themes?) Thanks again for sorting all this out, @Starscape
For the sake of simplicity, I like that the theme is chosen by the end of the vote. Letting the winner pick the theme out of the top scorers is a nice idea, but could be confusing. Is there any other opinions on this? As is my wont to overcomplicate things, I put themes in THE NEUTRAL ZONE after they've done consistently poorly over at least two polls. Body By Brand Name and This Is Me/Us did reasonably well last month so get to stick around a little longer.
Thinking again on the idea of winners having more input to the challenge theme. Winners could, if they want, add an optional extra sub-theme. For example, in February's "Old Stuff" challenge the sub-theme could be, say, "Relationships". So, if entrants want an extra challenge they could try to fulfill both condtions - an entry about Relationships within Old Trek.
I like the optional sub-theme idea. I was going to try and narrow down the "Old Stuff" theme somewhat as I found it far too broad, but then realised that because we were well into the month, some people* may have already started a project that then wouldn't fit. * With a better grasp of time management than me, as I almost always leave it until the last week/few days before working on a final piece
Mary Sue, doo-doo, doo-doo, Jump the Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo Depict a real or imaginary moment when a character either displayed Mary Sue qualities, or a plot strained credulity.
I like "Beginnings" myself, lot of potential. Though I may be biased because I already have a lot of ideas of what I could do for it haha!
I appreciate your theme suggestion, but just to nip this in the bud early: The whole concept of a “Mary Sue” in online discussions about media has been appropriated by bad-faith actors to such an extent, that I rather we not go down that route. It's basically become a sexist buzzword that's just used to bash every kind of female character that's not stereotypically and traditionally “female”. I have no interest in seeing this kind of crap here. So if we're going to include something in this vain, let's just go with stuff like plot holes or whatever, I'm sorry.
Thanks for ruling on that @Michael, I wasn't sure how to respond to that theme idea. I'll wait a day or two more to post the poll to give @Laura Cynthia Chambers a chance to readdress their idea or come up with something new.
Before I get the poll up and running I'll try my own spin on Laura's idea. Tall Tales Or, a funny thing happened on the way to Delta Vega. Dedicated to those adventures that are the most bizarre and unbelievable, the ones where if you described them to someone they'd reckon you'd done a little too much LDS - Abraham Lincoln floating in space, holograms taking over the Enterprise, being shrunk to the size of a toy, evolving into a lizard?! Or perhaps you can think of something even weirder than those we've seen on the show. ETA: The poll in now live: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/march-art-challenge-vote-for-your-theme.313321/