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thorns

Minotaurs & Threesomes
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How long have you been on DeviantArt?

                14 years. I’m old.

What does your username mean?

                Came from this at the suggestion of a friend when I had no idea who to choose:  youtu.be/oVXt2i2Aois

Describe yourself in three words.

                thorny coconut. Why would I ever need a third?

Are you left or right handed?

                Right handed.

What was your first deviation?

                Probably some really bad photo manipulation that has ceased to exist. It was over a decade ago. How should I know? Haha.

What is your favourite type of art to create?

                Smutty romance—I mean literature.

If you could instantly master a different art style, what would it be?

                Painting on large canvases with acrylics. That’s a style, right?

What was your first favourite?

                I’ve cleared out favorites many times over the last 14 years. I haven’t the faintest idea.

What type of art do you tend to favourite the most?

                Probably predator fan art. :eyes:

Who is your all-time favourite deviant artist?

                inknalcohol because he has learned to enjoy being spammed. Well, and no one else was as willing to get into messy shenanigans quite the same way he was. :innocent:

If you could meet anyone on DeviantArt in person, who would it be?

                Lots of people! Off the top of my head:  TheTerrorOfTheDeep and inknalcohol

How has a fellow deviant impacted your life?

                Grim Face the Jerk Face reminds me that there are other things in the world than the problems in my face all day. TheTerrorOfTheDeep makes me feel old all the time. Does that count?

What are your preferred tools to create art?

                My computer. Sometimes I use my phone to write. I used to write a lot on paper, but have eased off that now that I have that ability on my phone.

What is the most inspirational place for you to create art?

                In my head! :dummy:

What is your favourite DeviantArt memory?

                So many! :iconlawooplz: A few:  Throwing poop. Starting rumors about Grim Face. Spamming Grim Face x 9000+. Paying other people to spam the Grim Face. Featuring a DD the first time. The NYC devmeet. Deviousness award (I actually forgot about this haha). Squashy chats and live readings.  



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Out of town

5 min read
I'm out of town for several weeks! Still alive though I swear. :dummy:

Turning off comments on this to avoid accumulating very wonderful comments that will woefully sit in my message center for months. :ashamed:

I love and miss you all and hope you're having a wonderful time! :heart:



thorny coconut

PS Also, I did leave a few groups tonight. Either the group was inactive or I was inactive in the group. Sorry if I didn't say anything. ^^;







We had just under 20 participants, including a few returning faces we haven't seen in some time! We had a lobely time with typing errors, eager capital R's in :eageR:, a fish shaking spam attack on Grim party, and may the links lonks be with all participants! One day, we may all learn to emote. :lmoa:

Somehow during all the laughter we still managed to write a collective total of 20,117 words! (Don't ask me how. I think it was all the lonks.)

Speedy Writers!
:bulletblue: Missing-ninSasuke took First Place with 5,350 total words! :trophy:

:bulletblue: Skadoske took Second Place with 3,160 total words!

:bulletblue: SkysongMA who took Third Place with 3,141 total words!


Prizes!

:bulletgreen: LionesseRampant won a three month premium membership from the Chat Tour!

:bulletgreen: TheBrokenBride won a three month premium membership from Prompt-Bunnies!

:bulletgreen: SkysongMA won 100 points from mirz333!

:bulletgreen: mysterywolfgurl won 100 points from thorns!

:bulletgreen: BrokenTales won 100 points from Prompt-Bunnies!

:bulletgreen: Burlew won 100 points from Prompt-Bunnies!

:bulletgreen: megan24601 won 100 points from Prompt-Bunnies!

:bulletgreen: MagicalJoey won 100 points from Prompt-Bunnies!


Interview with EmmyIsAZebra!


We learned a little about the group with our short interview.
:bulletblue::bulletblue: Can you tell visitors, who aren't familiar with the group, a little about Prompt-Bunnies?
<EmmyIsAZebra> We created this group as source of inspiration, believing you can never get enough of it. Currently, we develop prompts taken from candy wrappers, fortune cookies, and messages in bottle caps. We hope to create a fun environment for others to get their creative juices flowing.


:bulletblue::bulletblue: Is the group doing anything of interest at the moment or in the near future?
<EmmyIsAZebra> We’re currently pulling together a prompt hub of sorts. We’d like to provide a list of other prompts that our members, and the lit community, can use so that they’re never short of inspiration. So if you have any prompts or favorite prompt groups, we would love to hear about them. Send us a note!


:bulletblue: If you have any questions about Prompt-Bunnies, now is the time to ask Emmyisazebra or DoodlerTM!
<MagicalJoey> EmmyIsAZebra: This is a good group to have around for NaPo. Did you think of that when starting it?

<EmmyIsAZebra> MagicalJoey: Oh! No, but that would be nice to help boost out some prompts for members participating.


<Skadoske> Why do you give only one prompt?

<EmmyIsAZebra> Skadoske: Currently, we just dish out one a week. but I was considering starting new themes outside of candy prompts.






And that wraps up our latest chat stop at WordWars, courtesy of Prompt-Bunnies! Thank you to the staff, donors, and participants. We appreciate all the loyal participants and hilarious chatting we had. The staff and I had a great time with you all, and hope you'll continue to participate.


Hope to see you in July! :heart: :shakefish:

thorns, inknalcohol, HugQueen, & HaveTales-WillTell

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We had over 20 participants, including a few first-timers; a few kibitzers, and loads of fun! Members (and admins) also discussed the distinction between brevity and verbosity; ShadowedAcolyte in particular had a number of interesting questions about minimalit’s purpose and focus.

And somehow during all the shenanigans we still managed to write a collective total of 23,851 words!

Speedy Writers!
:bulletblue: Cecilia-vas-ilion took First Place with 5,256 total words! :trophy:

:bulletblue: Exnihilo-nihil took Second Place with 3,665 total words!

:bulletblue: Missing-ninSasuke took Third Place with 2,992 total words!


Prizes!
:bulletgreen: ShadowedAcolyte won the Super Secret Prize by writing the smallest average word count over at least 3 rounds! The Super Secret Prize from minimalit was 175 points.

:bulletgreen: mirz333 won a three month premium membership from the Chat Tour!

:bulletgreen: LionesseRampant won 100 points from HaveTales-WillTell!

:bulletgreen: megan24601 won 100 points from HaveTales-WillTell!

:bulletgreen: LeSuricat won 100 points from thorns!

:bulletgreen: neurotype-on-discord won 50 points from thorns!

:bulletgreen: ChristalKitto won 50 points from thorns!


Interview with HaveTales-WillTell!


We learned a little about the group with our short interview.
:bulletblue: Can you tell visitors, who aren't familiar with the group, a little about minimalit?
Sure! We're a relatively new group, experimenting with the theme of super-short literature: micropoetry of just two words, and three-word haiku and senryu. We held our first poem-a-day contest in April, as part of NaPoWriMo.


:bulletblue: Is the group doing anything of interest at the moment or in the near future?
We are! At the end of this Word Wars, we'll be opening a new folder at minimalit: Four-Word Microprose! Flash fiction and six-word stories have become tremendously popular on dA; we're eager to see how well everyone handles an even shorter prose challenge.


:bulletblue: If you have any questions about minimalit, now is the time to ask HaveTales-WillTell!
<drippingwords> HaveTales-WillTell: Do you get discouraged when people call #minimalit out because they don't think that poetry can consist of two or three words?

<havetales-willtell> DrippingWords: It's not to everyone's taste. I don't have a problem with disagree-ers, so long as they're not haters or trolls.

<grimface242> DrippingWords: i don't. they're just people that don't understand something new and don't want to give it a chance

<shadowedacolyte>HaveTales-WillTell: why glorify minimalism?

<havetales-willtell>ShadowedAcolyte: It's not so much that, as trying to pare poetry down to its bare essence. I love sonnets and epic poems as much as haiku.

<lombregrise> HaveTales-WillTell : will you open new folders like "4 words poetry" or "one syllab sonnet"?

<havetales-willtell> lombregrise: We'll see what the future brings. ^nicswaner made an interesting suggestion, which we'll be looking into.

<thorns> HaveTales-WillTell: Cassildra: do you have any tips or tutorial on how to create EFFECTIVE micro prose or poetry?

<cassildra>thorns: I think the point of micro prose/poetry is to craft something, not just slap words on a page. I will point again to Hemingway's famous six-word story. It's easy to write something fast in a few words, but it takes time to craft something that is effective.

<havetales-willtell>thorns: The biggest tip I can think of is to think about your words: what makes one stand out more than another.

<shadowedacolyte>HaveTales-WillTell: I don't mean to sound...err, overly negative. "glorify" was perhaps a provocative word. Why celebrate the 'bare essence?

<havetales-willtell>ShadowedAcolyte: I believe tight writing makes for better writing. Even without a restrictive word count.

<shadowedacolyte>HaveTales-WillTell: but is there a point where "tightness" morphs into "curtailing"?

<havetales-willtell>ShadowedAcolyte: There could be. But nobody's required to attempt a micropoem; it's one of several ways to challenge oneself.

<shadowedacolyte>HaveTales-WillTell: what makes a three-word poem a haiku vs. a senryu vs. neither?

<havetales-willtell>ShadowedAcolyte: Haiku vs. senryu comes down to theme: nature vs. philosophical. But is any three-word collection a poem? No; there has to be a juxtaposition, a balancing-point, in the same way that a plank isn't necessarily a see-saw.

<shadowedacolyte>HaveTales-WillTell: that sounds...neat, I suppose. And I promise I am not trying to provoke or troll or anything, just understand. Looking through the #minimalit galleries I am not seeing that fulcrum in many of the pieces gathered there.

<havetales-willtell>ShadowedAcolyte: That's a fair assessment. As an experimental style, a lot of what's being written can be considered a work in progress.

<shadowedacolyte>HaveTales-WillTell: I know a point of contention among the distressingly popular "six word story" movement is the role of a title, and whether it says too much, or even belongs on a piece of minimalist literature. How does #minimalit feel about titles?

<havetales-willtell>ShadowedAcolyte: Having learned from SWS's title issues, we've adopted their policy: there's no restriction on a title's length, but the piece must be able to stand on its own without it.

<shadowedacolyte>HaveTales-WillTell: again, that doesn't seem to be entirely true of the galleries

<havetales-willtell>ShadowedAcolyte: And it doesn't always work out in practice for groups like SWS either. But it's a goal to work toward; and it's better to encourage steps in the right direction than to slap someone down for not being perfect from the get-go</havetales-willtell></shadowedacolyte></havetales-willtell></shadowedacolyte></havetales-willtell></shadowedacolyte></havetales-willtell></shadowedacolyte></havetales-willtell></shadowedacolyte></havetales-willtell></shadowedacolyte></havetales-willtell></cassildra></thorns></havetales-willtell></lombregrise></havetales-willtell></shadowedacolyte></grimface242></havetales-willtell></drippingwords>






And that wraps up our latest chat stop at WordWars, courtesy of minimalit! Thank you to the staff, donors, and participants. We appreciate all the loyal participants and new faces who jumped in this month. The staff and I had a great time with you all, and hope you'll continue to participate.


Hope to see you (later) in June! :heart:

thorns, inknalcohol, HugQueen, & HaveTales-WillTell

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We're stopping parking at WordWars!



:iconwordwars:


We had bunches of fun during our Grand Opening last month and can't wait to see you all again! We promise there will be no doom, gloom, nor *torturing of the staff this time. :innocent: There will be some writing, chatting, and random ways to fill in the half time break.

For this month's event, we're trying a new time slot to hopefully reach some people who can't make some of our more regular time selections. We hope everyone understands if this is an awkward time for you that dA is a global site (but staff are primarily EST USA) and we'd like to spread the fun around when schedules allow.

Next month should have two events and increase everyone's attendance options.

Reminder Notes


We're also rebuilding our reminder note list! For anyone new or unfamiliar, Word Wars Chat Tour sent notes a couple days before each event reminding everyone with the event details.

If you'd like to be added to our reminder list, you can reply to this journal, send a group note, or leave a message on our group page with the request. Before each event you'll receive a note from a staff member to help you remember that Word Wars is happening soon.

As a rule we add and remove people upon request. No need for explanations or hassle. If you need to be removed for a while, you can always request to be added again later. :heart:


*That's just a lie. We'll torture them every time.

Details



:bulletblue: Date: Friday, April 19th

:bulletblue: Time: *9:00 PM EST (USA)

[What time is that for me?]

:bulletblue: WordWars's Chatroom: chat.deviantart.com/chat/wordw…

*Staff would like to note that they all really do have Friday night social lives. We're not sad, social outcasts if we have no plans on one Friday night! :shakefist:


Prize List



:bulletblue: 3 month premium membership

:bulletblue: 200+ :points:

Note: Points are usually broken into smaller portions to be distributed to multiple winners.





We can't wait to see you all there! :eager:

thorns and WordWars staff

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