As some of you might have already known, @tcstu‘s competition has come to a close after whole 47 months of running! And what a load of fun it’s been while it was active <3
Gotta admit to something here - ever since I’ve started joining this contest back in January 2019, I’ve kept track of all my entries. And if you know me, you would guess that quickly escalated to keeping track of every morsel of publicly-available data regarding this contest So, when I heard the competition was going to end, i thought to myself: would I really let all that data I’ve kept go to waste? The answer was no.
After a number of conversations with TCSTU and other artists and writers who have participated in this event over the years, I have created the infographic you can see above. Let me assure you, it is much prettier than the spreadsheet with raw data xD
What an incredible month! I want to thank all of you who made this final month of the contest such a success. It was wonderful reading the stories created by such incredibly talented writers that I’ve met throughout the duration of this contest. I was also deeply moved by those of you who mentioned how this contest has inspired you over the past couple of years. I am glad to know that my little project was able to have a positive impact in some small way.
I think this has been the most difficult month yet to judge. Each entry was just amazing and presented a completely different take on this image. However, not choosing a winner would make a rather anti-climatic end to the contest. So here goes…
The winner for this month’s contest is… @circees! Congratulations! I was captured by the simple exchange of affection that was presented in this piece. Something about it just spoke to me. I believe this writer may have more than one Tumblr page, but I’m sticking with the tag that this post was submitted from. @circees, if you want to direct readers to any other page to see more of your work, please feel free to link in the comments below.
I hope anyone reading this will also look for my Honorable Mentions post later today to see the other stories that were contenders for the win.
As a reminder, the piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
There had once been a mighty castle that loomed where the creature now sat, but it was long gone now, down to the dust and the remains. The land was barren and flat, guarded by unforgiving mountains on three sides, and the god that perched in its center tilted its monstrous head.
“Traveler,” it murmured, voice resounding through the mountains. The sound fell flat just short of reaching the traveler’s ears - it came back small and unassuming, as if a child were speaking. To that end, it was far from impressive, despite the god’s hulking mass, but the traveler knew better than to rely on mortal senses. “You return again.”
“I always do,” the traveler said - their own voice came out equally small and flat, but the god did not struggle to hear. “I always will.”
The pair - monstrous god, fearless traveler - shared the silence for a few moments later, eyes fixed carefully on each other.
At long last, the traveler spoke. “Old God,” they said. “I’ve come to ask permission to rebuild your shrine and city.”
The god chuckled, a sound that stayed heavy. “You always say this,” it murmured. “You always ask this. You have not proven yourself capable - you should be better suited to asking if I can move the moon or stars.”
The traveler remained stubborn, and pulled a half-stick of incense and a packet of dried apples from their bag. “For your shrine, majesty,” they said.
The god eyed the gifts. The traveler eyed the god. It is a game they have played before, but one neither of them have won.
What an incredible month! I want to thank all of you who made this final month of the contest such a success. It was wonderful reading the stories created by such incredibly talented writers that I’ve met throughout the duration of this contest. I was also deeply moved by those of you who mentioned how this contest has inspired you over the past couple of years. I am glad to know that my little project was able to have a positive impact in some small way.
I think this has been the most difficult month yet to judge. Each entry was just amazing and presented a completely different take on this image. However, not choosing a winner would make a rather anti-climatic end to the contest. So here goes…
The winner for this month’s contest is… @circees! Congratulations! I was captured by the simple exchange of affection that was presented in this piece. Something about it just spoke to me. I believe this writer may have more than one Tumblr page, but I’m sticking with the tag that this post was submitted from. @circees, if you want to direct readers to any other page to see more of your work, please feel free to link in the comments below.
I hope anyone reading this will also look for my Honorable Mentions post later today to see the other stories that were contenders for the win.
As a reminder, the piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
There had once been a mighty castle that loomed where the creature now sat, but it was long gone now, down to the dust and the remains. The land was barren and flat, guarded by unforgiving mountains on three sides, and the god that perched in its center tilted its monstrous head.
“Traveler,” it murmured, voice resounding through the mountains. The sound fell flat just short of reaching the traveler’s ears - it came back small and unassuming, as if a child were speaking. To that end, it was far from impressive, despite the god’s hulking mass, but the traveler knew better than to rely on mortal senses. “You return again.”
“I always do,” the traveler said - their own voice came out equally small and flat, but the god did not struggle to hear. “I always will.”
The pair - monstrous god, fearless traveler - shared the silence for a few moments later, eyes fixed carefully on each other.
At long last, the traveler spoke. “Old God,” they said. “I’ve come to ask permission to rebuild your shrine and city.”
The god chuckled, a sound that stayed heavy. “You always say this,” it murmured. “You always ask this. You have not proven yourself capable - you should be better suited to asking if I can move the moon or stars.”
The traveler remained stubborn, and pulled a half-stick of incense and a packet of dried apples from their bag. “For your shrine, majesty,” they said.
The god eyed the gifts. The traveler eyed the god. It is a game they have played before, but one neither of them have won.
They do not speak for a very long time.
Congratulation@circees for winning this contest! I ABSOLUTELY love what you came up with! Thank you so much for participating!
