#competitions

FROM : the-charming-sexy

Shoe + Wagahai (Ace Attorney) vs Jiji (Kiki's Delivery Service)

"Edelleen sä yhteenkuulut minuun vaikket tahtoiskaan"

[You'll still be a part of me even if you don't want to be] 2026

Cold North Open 2026 commended, Diorama category

Taas sun täytyy mennä Taas pihan portit kolahtaa Jossain on maailma tulessa Ilman sua ne on pulassa ... Ei sun tarvii mulle mitään paljastaa Edelleen mä yhteenkuulun sinuun vaikken tahtoiskaan Ei sun tarvii kertoo mikset tullutkaan Edelleen sä yhteenkuulut minuun vaikket tahtoiskaan

The model depicts the opening lines of the song Arlandan portailla but the inscription is from the chorus. Taken slightly out of context it has some personal significance to me about a fandom thing that's hard to articulate but regular readers here might have an inkling of what it might be.

I only started painting and building this in earnest on Friday the week before Ropecon (i.e. I made it in less than a week; there are so many mould lines and bad priming, -10000 points), though I've had the idea for over a year and was collecting materials and trying to solve the problem of attaching the diorama to the book without damaging it. It's not my personalized copy signed by everybody, but it's still signed by Tero so I treat it as a relic and I like to think that, in a way, my piece is therefore blessed with his energy.

This is more model railroad style construction (that is, very very self-aware that things are scratch built or off-the-shelf plastic tree) and obviously not on a technical level to get within 10 miles of a trophy; this place resembles a fine art competition and I stay firmly in folk art territory.

I'm pretty sure the commendation was for the concept more than anything. It's not a heroic or fantastical scene but a rather domestic and sentimental one and doesn't fit the mold of what you expect to see at Ropecon, and I don't expect most folks there to know the song or be really into this kind of music either.

(Both of these around mine got trophies. The card is printed on better paper than previous years, I guess there's that)

Commendations can be for anything (consider my not-even-an-entry last year) but trophies are for mastering the medium and form. Which isn't my goal so I don't feel bad about not getting one but I feel bad about still not having found the right arena to show my work in. Art is how I deal with big feelings so I'd rather somewhere I can hear about what feelings the works evoke in others and I can share background and context notes like this.

In the non-competition showcase I had also my so-called "self portrait with book" miniature with a tiny printout of the book cover as backdrop (and my name and a blurb on the display card, as ideally should always be with my work), and I kinda wonder how many people connected the dots between the two exhibits featuring the same book...

I also brought the Apostle of Fire, the elementalist/dancer, and asked my friend to let me show the red pandas I gifted him.

Extra notes and project details below.

Hope Cass brightens your day! I stole it from this post [has since been deleted] and made it pro-Cass. She is an underrated character who people bash far too much, sadly. I've written a bunch of fics with her, first a mature fic:

Reagan’s Fury, the Black Rocks, and The Watcher Under Threat

summary:

The Watcher thinks he is in control, but universes combine and come together in ways he never predicts, and his life is in danger thanks to three women who want to stick it to him once and for all, regardless of the consequences for the universe.

Then a four chapter fic...

The Corona Chronicles

summary:

A long time has passed since Cass stopped being a lady-in-waiting for Princess Rapunzel and struck out on her own. She left the Kingdom of Corona behind as an independent woman after she was manipulated by Zhan Tiri into hurting Raps and her friends. She wanted to figure out her own life and left Raps live the way she wanted. She couldn't bear to see Raps anymore after everything she did, thinking about the awful things she had done every time she saw her. Shortly thereafter, she joined crew of space pirates. In the process, she fell in love with a 19-year-old charismatic, striking captain, Marika. One day, Cass hears an unexpected voice on one of the ship's machines, pleading for help. Although she is unsure if she wants to burden others with her troubled past, Marika convinces her to go on an unexpected mission to Corona. An eventful reunion with a princess she once loved awaits Cass while the invisible virus, which has caused a crisis in Corona, has put Raps in jeopardy.

Part of my ongoing series with Doctor Aphra...

Aphra and the Lesbian Space Pirates: Cass, Raps, Marika, and the Bentenmaru Debacle

summary:

Sometime after they left Earth, and met Steven Universe, they come across a group of space pirates led by the willful Marika Kato, captain of the Bentenmaru. Will Aphra be able to hold herself back, or will her bad decisions get her, her girlfriend, and newfound friends (of sorts), on the Darla Angel, into trouble which will doom them all? Only time can tell, and it will often rest on what Aphra does and the reactions of others, like Marika's partner, Cass.

A fic where Catra and Cass meet...

Cassandra and the Catgirl from the Sky

summary:

A young woman, trying to make amends for the errors of the past, and the harm she caused, comes across a catgirl who fell from the sky in an escape pod. She isn’t sure what to expect. Both become closer than either one had intended. As a result, this young woman, a former lady-in-waiting, begins to have some romantic feelings for this mysterious catgirl, while the catgirl hopes to get in contact with her blond-haired girlfriend after her radio gets busted.

Cass meets Carmen Sandiego:

A Red Moonstone Shines Brightly

summary:

Cass thought about her past as she walked across the rolling hills on the edge of the last kingdom in the Ever Realm she hadn’t visited yet, Enchancia. Suddenly, a wormhole opened in front of her. She walked through without realizing it... In a new world, Cass finds an unlikely companion, a former (and well-known) international thief. Both bond with one another even though they come from vastly different circumstances.

And Cass as part of a dance competition...

Entering the Dancepalooza

summary:

The universe is in crisis and only a dance competition can save it! At least, that's what the writer told me to say. Why did they spend over a month on this silly fic and why did he divide it into two (possible) chapters? You can ask them that. I'm only here as an observer of the shenanigans. Anyway, enjoy yourselves, folks and this lovely romp on the planet of…uh…who knows where…it's a competition and it's in some auditorium…it could be anywhere…but it's a fun ride for all involved…including me, the disembodied narrator!

And lastly with Cass and Raps in Japan...

Rapunzel's Golden Blonde Hair and Shino's Unmitigated Obsession

summary:

the most character of all time competition

no limits. no categories. simply characters fighting to the fucking death in one single glorious showdown, the ULTIMATE battle, as they should have been all along. if your characters are truely strong they will prevail. they will fight as long as they need to. or do you doubt them?

SUBMISSION RULES:

must be a character

must be from something

must be willing to fight for as long as it takes

send them