Nightscrawlers

Hi Everyone,

...and welcome to the Nightscrawlers FV&TTT February Writing Challenge!!!!

The last few times we’ve had challenges with no page limits and few restrictions on topic. This month’s challenge will be different. It’s short!

February is a cold, dim and drizzly month, yet tucked away in the middle is a little spot of warmth called Valentine’s Day. It’s a day for short, sweet sentiments that make their point to touch the heart. For this reason, most of the day’s literary efforts take the form of poetry. If the desired sentiment is high-flying and spiritual, there are things like Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

And if the sentiment is more down to earth, there’s William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Now, the X-Men may not all be Browning and Shakespeare fans, but just about all of them have known the pangs and longings of love. For this writing challenge, it’ll be your mission (should you choose to accept it) to adopt the guise of a love-sick X-Man and write a poem or short story (under 1,000 words) expressing that love. You can use relationships straight out of canon, or come up with bizarre and unlikely parings. You can write something straightforward, where the identities of both characters are completely clear, or you can keep both characters anonymous and leave it to the reader to guess who they are! You can even write more than one poem or story (each entry will be listed separately, though, so if you do submit more than one entry you’ll be competing against yourself as well as the other entrants). It’s up to you. Just keep your poems/stories short and sharp like Cupid's arrow, and please try get all your entries posted by SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28. After that date, the poll will open and everyone will have a chance to vote for their favorite entry!

Good luck everyone, and I hope you like this February challenge!!!

... How can I pass up a chance to write sonnets?

I love structure. Especially in poems. I like the challenge of fitting the emotion I want to the rigid structure of a sonnet.

So, you'll probably see one of those up sometime.

Or two or three depending on how many X-Men's love lives I can fit into a sonnet.

Hmmm ... sounds great ... and short ... Feb 28th {checks calendar to see how long she'll be tied up helping the group write the play for church dinner theatre} ... we'll see ...

lol, i'm learning about sonnets and romance poems in english this semester! XD
i hope i'll find the time write something for this!

I hope you do, also, Blue!! We've *missed* you the last couple of Challenges! But school does take precedence.

Hey Elfdame! I finally got my entry in you won't have to miss me anymore, hehe!!

Hey, I know I am always whining about needing extensions, but I was asked to beta something and didn't realize it was almost the end of February. Could we push it back another 3-4 days, pleeeeease? I hate to mess up someone else's chance to post an entry due to my negligence.

And maybe I'll even whip up some extra silliness on my own.

Hi,

OK, because you asked so nicely...
The new deadline for this challenge will be SUNDAY, MARCH 7, one week from today. After that, the poll will go up and the voting can start! Thanks for your interest in this challenge, and for your entries so far!!!

Merci beaucoup, ma douce amie!

Hi Everyone!

Just a reminder: Today is the last day of the challenge, so if you want to submit an entry, you have until midnight tonight (in your local time zone) to get it in! Then, tomorrow, the poll will go up and you'll have a week to vote for your favorite entry before the next challenge starts!

Thanks again to everyone who entered so far, and best of luck in the poll!

Oy. I had a RoLo in my head, but got distracted with contest stuff and ... well ... at least there are a few entries out there.

Bonne chance, tous mes amis!

RoLo, Elfdame?! Really? *shakes her head and sighs*

Maybe some day I'll get it out of my head and onto the internet. But it was gonna be CUTE! My usual snarky love-stuff. heh heh