Ratmas Day 6: Tutor Writing Challenge!

[Stare]

For the sixth day of Ratmas, the tutoring team is excited to announce that we will be bringing back the monthly tutor writing challenges and contests! We absolutely love the way that these contests have encouraged and highlighted member writing on the site and are so excited to have them return as a recurring event.

For those who aren’t aware, tutor writing challenges and contests generally focus on encouraging the lovely writers on this site to push themselves, be it to write with new characters, write in a different style, or even just finish a thread. They tend to be a beautiful showcase of just how wonderful of writers the members of site can be - and they have fun prizes, of course!

We’ll be kicking off the new year with our first contest: a picture-based writing challenge! Below is a picture of a winter scene to match the season of Ratmas. Your challenge is to describe it in a single paragraph.



The catch? You can’t use the following words: white, green, trees, snow, forest, light, or woods. You can write your paragraph from the perspective of one of your characters, or you can just write a short description - whatever you’re most comfortable with!

The tutors will read through the submissions (to be posted below) and will choose our favorite as the winner. Our decision will be based on a number of things, from prose to creativity to a writer pushing themselves to write in ways they never have before. We encourage you to embrace the challenge fully and have fun with it! You can use the very short form found below to post your submission:

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Description/Writing Submission:[/b]

The winner of the contest will receive one concise bio. Entries are due by the end of the day on Sunday, January 5th.

Good luck!

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

Username: earthling

Description/Writing Submission: Radiant rays filtered through slats, ghosting over ivory down. No impressions disturbed the powder. It glistened, flashing brightly as the sun broke through the winter clouds. Glittery flecks danced in the grove, kissing lichen and branches and fallen logs. They spun delicately round and round. Until the sun stuttered, clouds roiling, coating the copse in muted grey. All stilled, frozen. But beneath the hushed colors and soft down, new growth awaited spring.

[Tom]

Username: Hetaliachina [Tom]

Description/Writing Submission:

The chill runs down your spine with the crunching of boots, echoing in the silence of this lonesome place of pines and frozen earth. The smell of nature in your nostrils, giving a fresh breath of air that rises like a fog into the sky, never to be seen again. A sun glowing down onto you with the radiance of rays that give warmth in a place where warmth is harder to find among the sleet around you. Fingertips gently touching the barkskin of the pines, where your fingers grow softly sticky from sap that lingers from a spot where a bug broke through. The blooms of pine needles lingering with snowflakes laying gently in their trap, never reaching the frosted land below. Your cheeks grow pink with the icy wind that brushes them with a soft grace as if mother nature were kissing them herself. You push forward with the sounds of the crunching sleet, leading into the bright sun glittering at you in the distance, the rays guiding your path out of the pines and the frozen earth into a place where the icy confines of this world you've stepped in will melt away and the sight of life and blooming will break away, the frost melting into nothing more than water among the earth, where it'll nourish the surrounding plants and pines. Flowers will blossom from the frozen earth and your footsteps in the solid powder will vanish into nothing more than a memory of what once was. With the deadly chill, life is always around the other end, waiting and watching for the right moment. It's all so beautiful, but you first need to make it home, the footsteps of your past echoing with every step; you leave your mark and the earth will never know.

[mat]

Username: Mattio
Description/Writing Submission: He has always been opposed going out at this time of year when the lake out back freezes over and specks of dust blow around for hours at a time, and today is no different. He would choose the hot and humid rainfall over this chill and its bitter precipitation in a heartbeat (if his heart didn't glaciate before he got the chance.) Yet Mother threw him out to collect kindling to put the fire back in good keeping. Instantaneously, he paces himself as if he's walking on eggshells, hoping not to hear a crackle from below and sink. His feet, his arms, legs, his head, none equipped to brave the aftermath of even the slightest of storms. In an attempt to dodge the landmines that might submerge him knee-deep. He picks up sticks that fell victim to the winds after outlasting what felt like a cyclonic storm, without fuss about their quality. All he cares about now is getting home to thaw.

[*]

Username: Krylik "Marr"
Description/Writing Submission:
Dark frosted beams stretch as far as she could see. Wisps of red curls fall over her silky porcelain face and flushed cheeks. With chattering teeth and shaking hands, her eyes pour tears as the brutal wind cuts through her like painful needles jabbing at her skin. The feeble girl props herself against the solid pole, hoping for releif. “Lustor… help.” She whispers upon Dhruva's wind hoping that it’ll reach him soon. Until then, she witnesses nature’s playground for what it truly was as a harsh, unrelenting land of frozen terror. This was no astral projection project she wanted to subject herself to and Dhruva kept her mind from escaping. The chilling morning comes all too slowly before she urges her muscles to move against the shimmering rays of sun that danced upon the carcasses of frozen flakes. Only then, did she succumb to the elements as an icy breath drew out a fog of heat, disapparating into the cold, morning’s brilliance.

[✨ zozo.]

Username: zoë
Description/Writing Submission:

It's been an hour, perhaps two, since sunrise. The morning has always been your favourite time of day, especially in winter when the sun only stays in the sky for a while. You like to savour the crispness of the air, the quiet of the arbor around you, branches thin and trunks silent as they sleep through the winter. The air is chilled as you stomp through sheets of ice, squinting up at the sun, no sound but your steps and your breathing. That's when you see him, fluttering about in the low-hanging arms, and you stop in your place. Frozen, breath warm and foggy in the air in front of you, you exhale slowly. Quietly. A little robin far from home, dancing just for you. He is also a creature of the morning, a kindred spirit here exploring his surroundings and singing the morning awake. He stops, right in front of you, hops two or three paces leaving little imprints as he moves. Cocks his tiny little head to the side to peer into your eyes and you swear he winks at you before spinning off into the air. You smile, touched by his presence, and set off once more.

[Knuckles]

Username: ems
Description/Writing Submission: A normal day of enjoying the frigid cool air has turned into a beautiful sunrise. The sun glistening through the branches reflecting from the soft cold ground below catches the eye of the young man standing in the distance in awe of what he’s seeing. Lucious logs covered with pine needles stand tall, limbs extending far offering a shield from the bright bulb rising high into the sky. The ground crunches beneath the weight of his body. This didn’t happen over night, no, it’s been growing for a while. Words echo through the air bouncing from limb to limb without a care in the world. Tiny strands of grass rise through the residue left behind by the blizzard that recently passed through leaving the grove looking even better than before. If it wasn’t for the icy chill and the fear of frostbite, he would rest against the bark and take a nap because what he’s looking at is the definition of a peaceful day.

[revel latimer, 11b 🔍 jay]

Username: celestials

Description/Writing Submission: The seasons were supposed to be graceful—but winter was a bleak, hopeless time with icy winds that bite at the skin and arctic gales that causes you to become frost-bitten. Winter fucks up everything you find beautiful about nature by freezing anything that dares come in contact with it. The Evergreens hiding behind your house were the worst of this example; sun shining through frozen leaf blades but no warmth comes from its gaze. Flowers do not blossom, the hide within the frozen earth, craving for sunlight. Specks of powdered ivory are carried through the air and laid upon the ground in layers, killing the greenery underneath. Winter is a plight upon this earth and seeks to destroy the wildlife you hold so dear to your heart.

[D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza]]

Username: Azalea

Description/Writing Submission: This is a ballad of new beginnings where the gold seeps through the darkness to wash worry away. There is a bridal warmth that creates life whilst dark figures stand shoulder to shoulder, like proud fathers, their cracking faces cry fierce with ice as the shine brings newfound peace. The ground wears a gown that is laced with frozen fractals, Mother Nature's own delicate lace. This season becomes bound to a husband named spring, his heart pierced by the chill of his winter wife. He will bring her flowers in the months to come, after she forges angels from her flurries for him. In the honeymoon glow, they build a world around them that becomes home to more than just their love.

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

Username: Ryanp

Description/Writing Submission: 

(written in the perspective of Marley Rose looking back on her childhood home.)

This place reminds me too much of Bella’s games. A thick glossy water laid over fallen branches and exquisite foliage that in another life, I would have loved. There is nothing for me here though, and maybe that’s because I gave up looking for a way out a long time ago. I sit on a log free of puddles and open my locket. The way the sun refracted off its golden tone made me smile. I opened it and flip to the pictures of us, when we were children, and I can admit that was a time I wish I could go back too. Before the weather got harsh, before death tried to intervene. I don’t know how I got here, hell, why I am even here to begin with, but one thing that still replays in my mind is my conversation with the fake Bella. The hologram version of her. She didn’t want me to throw myself down the road she was ushered into, but little did know, you didn’t have a choice to slip on ice now did you? If I were to be reaped, the capitol would rejoice, because they would get to watch another girl from ten with big bushy hair try her hand at coming home. I laugh at the thought as lay a flower on the log before me and turn back to the remains of the house that I left behind so long ago. “I love you all.” I speak as I pull the puffy coat tighter around my neck. I know I need to leave this place behind, it had nothing to offer me but death, but maybe in the spring it will come back to life. But for now the crunch below my feet gets louder as I leave it all behind.

[Noah Vau - D2 (Cato)]

Username: careersarehuman777 "Cato"
Description/Writing Submission:

The sun shines through the limbs creating a canvas offering shade to the frozen ground below letting the male stand with ease. Wide eyes land on the tiny branches that bent with the weight of the frost and packed flurries. Twigs snap beneath the his boot echoing through the morning sky while bouncing from limb to limb. A hillside is covered waiting for an innocent child to sled down creating a path for others to follow, and he wants to be the first to try. Jack frost gives frost bite to everything he touches including the souls of those people passing by. Each step leaves a trail behind him allowing anyone to follow. It’s the perfect winter jungle for anyone who knows how to play like he does.

[tick 12a / calla]

Username: calla
Description/Writing Submission: inspired by the incredible may sarton <3

i fell in love with your youth
and how the chill of morning
dusted dawn's colours across your face.

you were mine for only months,
a handful of days each year,
but i always held those days close
like they were something precious,
like they were the diamonds and danburite
i had scattered across the ground
like breadcrumbs.

(so you could always find your way back.)

you plagued my mind while i slept,
while the foxholes emptied and the world shifted.
and when i woke, you returned,
singing songs that i did not know,
speaking of memories that i did not have.

you spoke of bathing in gold
and the feeling of fireflies in your hair,
of skin that tasted like honey
and days that seemed to last so much longer than these ones.

you spoke of how you saw the ice melt
and how you learnt that the air has to crack
before it thaws.

i remember asking you,
how air could crack,

because i had only ever known
the kind of air that made a throat burn,
a kind of frost that stuck to eyelashes,
fogged breaths and
the muffled sound of mukluks
striking like thunder
when the ground matched the flank of a fawn.

i was full of absent birdsong and numb fingers
and the chill of december.

i didn't understand anything else.

but you just laughed.
you spoke of summer and i knew
she still had your heart.

i knew that she was warm
and glowing and beautiful
and everything that i was not.

i knew that you had grown up,
that you were too old for frostbite,
and building battlements and men out of memory.

i knew that you had no more use for glass foliage
or sugared flowers or a world blanketed with magic.

"all things end"
you said, and you are wise.
so much wiser every year.

(sometimes i can't even see that child
that hides in the lines of your face.)

but even the wisest man
cannot hasten the flow of time.

even the wisest man cannot force the changing of seasons.

but against it all, i still loved you,

enough to crack myself open,
enough to thaw,

if that's what you would ask of me.

and so we stood together with a wild sort of silence
in a graveyard of frost and pine,
a home where spring goes to die,

and we waited.

[aya]

Username: aya

Description/Writing Submission: Damp socks are not quite so terrible with numb feet, when you can't really feel how they're twisting and clinging and rubbing in all of the worst ways. It's got her thinking that maybe they just get bad press the rest of the time. Whose socks aren't usually at least a little damp? Really. Is there anyone whose feet aren't at least a bit sweaty? And sure, too long of a walk wading through winter's worst — slogging through slush and stepping in banks up past her hips — and she's bound to get frostbite, but the afternoon is a bit above freezing, and with golden hour filtering in through the firs, it's hard to be upset about much of anything. Not about the blown-out boot sole, not about the stubbed toe, not about the pathetic attempt at ice fishing that's got her other pant leg soaked through and headed home empty-handed, aside from the auger and the fishing pole slung over her shoulder. She's probably supposed to find a clearing like this peaceful, and if she were anyone else, she might, but she knows this trail too well to get sidetracked just because the pines are trimmed as if for Ratmas and glinting in the sun. This might just be the nicest day until March or April, but it's also just a Thursday, and it's not as if she knows for certain that she ought to savor it. Better just to head right home.

[Stare]

Thank you all so much for participating! The other tutors and I had such a wonderful time reading all of your entries. Y'all did not make this decision easy for us - everyone submitted fantastic works of writing and we did our fair share of gushing over them before we landed on our winner. We are incredibly impressed with all of you, your talent, your creativity, and your growth <3

And now, without further ado, this month's winner of the tutor writing challenge is...

-drumroll-

tick 12a / calla !

We loved the creativity of using a poem in this challenge and were also super impressed by your gorgeous prose and lovely flow. Excellent work, and congratulations on your win! We can't wait to see what you do with your concise bio <3