Win my art
Ultimate Arachnia
Win Some Free Skotti Art!
I had opened up this contest to the members of Ultimate Central, but there wasn't too high of a response. That, and a member pissed Skotti off enough that she left the site for a while. But the overall principle is still sound, and so I'm going to try this again.
Your Job
I need a third villainess for a chapter of mine. And so rather than dream up a corny one-shot villain or Ultimatize a mainstream Marvel character for what should (but might not be) a single appearance, I figured I'd open it up to the public. So reach deep back into that brain, and pull out someone to be villainous for me. You can turn yourself into a villain, or maybe that girl from school who always pisses you off. Be aware that I'm not shipping Skotti to you, so if you want it to look like yourself, your friend, or your archnemesis, you'll need to provide pics. Also be aware, as made evident by the usage of the term 'villainess', that it HAS TO BE A FEMALE!
Multiples Note: You can submit twins or triplets as villains, but if so, make sure you include information for all of them. Both the obvious (make sure we know the names of the twins/triplets and if they use separate codenames), and the less obvious. Does one have a birth mark or something that makes her stand out? Are they even identical twins, or are they fraternal? Do their wear their hair differently, have it dyed different colors, or have different taste in clothing? Or are they all Cuckoo-like with the identical-ness?
Your Prize
You'll get a signed 8" by 10" print of the piece that uses your character. At this point, there's a team of four major superheroes operating in the story, so you can get your character solo or with Arachnia, Siren, Black Cat, or Spider-Man. Also, you can pick your favorite piece of Skotti art and get a signed print of that too. And yes, even though there's a physical prize here, it's open to anyone in the world. Yes, that means I'm willing to ship it to Siberia if that's where the winner lives.
Multiples Note: If you submit a multiples entry, you can pick between one of the siblings and a hero, or the siblings (both or all three of them) with no hero. I get charged by the character, and I'm financing this, hence the limitation.
Your Ticket
I bet you want to enter by now. No worries. Just cut and paste the little form below into your favorite text editor, fill it out, and email it to me. All entries are to be sent to alienyouthct@mac.com and if you click that link, it'll even give you a handy title to make sure it gets past my spam filters.
Character Name: Obvious. First and last, just first, or maybe even unknown. It depends on whether you'd like her to be referred to by her codename the entire time, or by her first name when it's from her persepctive.
Codename: Also obvious. You have to have either this OR a real name to be considered, but not both. I have one character already who's just "Joey" because she never thought that far ahead before embarking on the lucrative career of having Arachnia smack her upside the head.
Height: Duhh...
Weight: Also duhh...
Hair Color: More duhh...
Eye Color: Wait... wait... DUHH!
Height and weight aren't especially important, but we use it to judge sizing relative to other characters. Also, my artist is a female. If you can give measurements (bust-waist-hips), there's an even greater chance of your character turning out right. And no girls, it doesn't have to be your own measurements, especially if you're pulling a character out of thin air. Hair and eye color don't need an explanation.
Appearance: This works in conjunction with the above. How long is her hair? How does she style it? What does her costume look like? If you want to see her out of costume (by see, I mean she appears in the story in her civilian guise as well as in her costume), then tell me what kind of clothing she likes to wear. You can make her costume as practical or impractical, cheesy or beautiful as you want. Just be aware of the fact that one of my heroines is a fashion designer, and two have more money than sense when it comes to buying clothes. If you want to look silly, expect to be called on it in the story. Unless you pick Spider-Man as your butt-kicker, in which case he wouldn't say anything unless it's REALLY bad. Or really sexy.
Personality: What's she like? Both on her own, and when she crosses a hero? Is she shy and quiet, but trash-talk with the best of them when she throws on the costume and dukes it out? Is she no-nonsense, and prefer to just smack someone down and be on her way? This is a big important piece, second only to "Why Are They Getting Smacked Down?".
Powers/Tech: Mutant, lab freak, or tech nerd, they have to have something. I have no desire to try and stretch a normal Homo sapiens sapiens smackdown over an entire chapter. You don't need to explain how they got their powers or technological toys (or both) if you don't want to. After all, unlike Buffy fanfiction, very few villains will give their life stories when you show up to kick their ass. However, on the flip side, it'd allow me more material to write with when I dip into that character's perspective.
Who's Going To Smack You Down? Spider-Man, Arachnia, Siren, or Black Cat? If you'd like a more intrigue-based character who wouldn't last long in a super-slugging match, pick Siren. She's only got her natural abilities and a taser whip, after all. If you're somewhere in the middle, pick Arachnia or Spider-Man, Arachnia being the faster of the two but Spider-Man being the stronger one. And if you want a real melee, pick Black Cat. Her titanium claws slice AND dice, and when that doesn't work, she can always shift into diamond form or use her mutant powers on you. She's also the only flier of the four.
Why Are They Getting Smacked Down? The chapter is called "Thieves", and features both Black Widow (electronic eavesdropping) and Rogue (memory theft and assassination) as the other two villainesses. So what is your character doing that would cause them to cross paths with a hero? Don't feel the need to be a literal thief (my first two sure aren't), but then again, I'm not going to downgrade a great app just because she's a smash 'n grab girl. Just because there's a box to think outside of doesn't mean there's anything wrong with staying inside the box.
Extra: Anything else you want us to know or consider? If it's based on a person or an idea you've sketched before, throw some pictures in. The more explicit you are about your character, the more likely you are to enjoy the final art and their portrayal in my story.
The Entries
NONE. Submit one!
My Fine Print
1. All entries will be judged by myself and Skotti. I will do a preliminary skim with the aide of my betas to eliminate any entries that would outright not go with my story or plans. The remaining entries (hopefully most of them) will then be forwarded to Skotti for any input on appearance and costuming. If I think your entry is the best but Skotti winces at your costume choice, you will be contacted regarding the character to be given the choice of working with Skotti to redesign the costume or allowing us to pass you up in favor of the second place winner.
2. I get to keep all entries. They may show up at a later date, in the story and/or in art. You will of course be credited for your creation with any usage, be it in the chapter related to this contest or in the future. You will also be contacted with art if your character is chosen at a later date for usage and drawn, but will not be entitled to a free copy. We are quite cheap though (it'd cost you the same amount it costs us to print it at Walmart, plus shipping), so you could acquire a hard copy if you wished.
3. I'm not going to require you to get permission for exact usage if you use another person, but please let them know the gist of what is going to happen to their likeness if you choose to submit an entry based on a person. Neither Skotti nor I want to deal with an irate person down the road who stumbles onto the art and gets pissed because she happens to be the namesake of a slutty blonde bimbette character in my story.
4. Keep it mildly serious, folks. If you wanna have a sexy/naughty character, go for it. Lord knows Marvel has had plenty of mutants with powers that have pornographic usages, like their regular stream of pheromone-emitting females. I even have an entire mutant brothel in the cards. But if you really want to submit a slutty little sexpot of a character with pheromones or some other sexually-themed power, bear two things in mind. One, such powers mean they probably won't last long in a fight once they get caught. And two, they'll probably take an especially brutal beating because the superhero will probably be pissed at being manipulated.