Please see welcome journal for a bit about this account and links etc: [link]

EDIT 2: IMPORTANT! Because *Trounced got a Daily Deviation on her Kaydence entry ( [link] ) we got a great amount of attention in the contest. I got 200 pageviews just that day, and it became very clear to both me and Swift that we needed more help with this. A few days before the DD I also came across a site that listed the ranks on a ship, and I realized I was short two for the higher ranks. I could have just made two new characters, but I didn't really want to, I wanted to wait on the contest. Then it was the DD and I got worried. Now don't get me wrong both Swift and I were so excited and happy for Trounced that she got a DD! But we had some discussing to do. If the volume of people interested holds out, we will not be able to handle and judge the amount of entries resulting from that. So we came up with an idea and now I am here to announce it.

*Trounced and =keysan are going to help us judge the contest! By doing so they have agreed to drop out of the contest and not collect on the prizes. Both Kaydence and Amelie have been accepted into the crew ranked on par with Halfie. There is more reasons than the fact I was short two officers that they were accepted. For one both Trounced and Key did their homework and created awesome characters (Key has not uploaded anything about Amelie but she has shown me her and we have discussed her at length, so I know all about her). The biggest reason, though, is something I'm working on behind-the-scenes in secret that will become apparant to all of you when the contest ends in september (ooh something to look forward to?). So we had our reasons, and they have agreed that it's fair for them to drop out of the contest and not collect on prizes.

So in short, *Trounced and =keysan are helping us judge and review the entries submitted. Still be prudent to send a note to swift or me instead, and we'll pass everything by them first. We're rediculously happy to have their help in this!

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Edit 1: Okay, reading the comments on swift's journal (which I replied to as well) and talking with Key while she was researching, I have realized a few questions and "problems" are coming up. Firstly regarding how the kitties should be drawn: She must be anthropomorphic in some sort but beyond that it is up to you! NOT a human female with cat ears please. But as far as if it should be Puss 'n' Boots-like or furry or something in-between that's your choice. This isn't as much about how you draw as it is about how well you create the character and make her believable.

Secondly I am not taking anyone's character. She will remain copywrited to you and I will say so when I write the stories. Lallang is still Swift's even though she is on McSnowpaws's crew. You come up with the character, I'll just be writing her in my story. Unless you want to give her to me, she will remain yours. If you don't place in the contest, she will not be a part of McSnowpaws's crew but you can create her own story if you want.

Thirdly I reiterate that the cat MUST BE A DOMESTIC CAT. No wild cats at all, not even European wild cats or any of the small ones. Cannot be half a wild cat either, it must be full domestic cat. As far as being on the streets that is fine, the "breeding program" for the British Shorthair (then called Cheshire cats) was to turn them loose in the streets and let them multiply on their own, so it was quite common for that.

Fourthly, again even if the breed you are interested in was not around in the 1700s, if its ancestors were you can make your cat one of those. The persian cat WAS an established breed in the 1600s, though a fancy was not built around it till the 1800s. McSnowpaws is one of these early Persian cats, which were then known as French Cats. Dusty, the navigator, is from the devonshire by the mines where the devon rex mutation appeared in 1960. Halfie, the bosun, is from the Isle of Mann, so she posesses the gene which causes complete or partial tailessness and is from the population that would make the breed the Manx. (Though, being how she is she tells everyone her tail was bit off by a sea monster. ) Penny, the first mate, is a Cheshire cat, the early british shorthairs, and Swift's Lallang is one of the early singapuras. So go ahead and make your can an ancestor or a possible ancestor to your favourite breed as long as they were around back then!

And finally, if you're having difficulty finding some information, I will be glad to help you out. For instance if you are having trouble finding images of 18th century clothing for your cat's country, I suggest searching (through lii.org of course) for reenacting sites. Also, if you are having issues with your cat breed, I am more than happy to give you some info about it from my book that will help you research further. And if you want me to check your research partway through or show me some sketches and want a critique, I am more than happy to help you out. Shoot me a note and let me know!

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*swiftwhippet and I are hosting a contest! Your job will be to make a female pirate cat to join McSnowpaws's crew! I will be using your character in stories that I will write about McSnowpaws's pirate "adventures". Read on for details, the details are the big picture.

For this project you will need to research the 1700s. You will need to create a character that lived during those times and wore that clothing. To research use libraries and lii.org -- DO NOT use wikipedia or random searches on google or another search engine. Treat this as you would be graded on this and respect the fact that your information needs to be accurate. Lii.org is a website that searches other websites which have been checked for accuracy and authenticity by a team of librarians. The websites you get on there are not Jo Shmo's opinion on the Revolutionary War as you would get with Google, but what really actually happened during the Revolutionary War.

Your character does not need to come from America or England, she can come from any place in the world, though it's probably better if she lived in an area with acess to the ocean otherwise it would be hard for McSnowpaws to run into her sailing the world. The story of your character must be believable and real for the times, not dramatic or made up. Characters with stories like that are not going to be considered very highly for the contest. Likewise, characters based off characters from the movie pirates will not be accepted into the running at all. Do your research and pick a real life for these gals.

Your character MUST be female and it MUST be a cat. No exeptions, and if I see any entered that are not female and are not a cat then you'll be barred from entering with those characters. Be realistic too, there were not transexuals back then because surgury was baisically done with a rusted knife and the social climate was not one that would tolerate that in any form. You'd be locked up in an "institution" for saying or thinking that you wanted to be the opposite gender. Gay people probably did exist, however again they would never say anything about being gay for the same reasons. Transvestites/crossdressers probably did exist more than we realize in this time in the sense that females dressed as young boys and entered the army that way as drummer boys etc. To me it's not a big deal if your character is wearing male period clothes at that time, just be realistic about it. McSnowpaws is wearing her husband's war shortcoat. However in regards to the clothes realize that your characters will be no more than deckhands, the ranked positions such as first mate, navigator, and quartermaster already being taken by my other pirate gals and Swift's pirate gal. Therefor your characters clothes should reflect low status.

You will need to research cat breeds as well. I do not reccomend using only the CFA website (cfainc.org) to research because they do not provide a thorough enough background. I will be using the book The Complete Cat Book (Richard H. Gebhardt) to check your research out with, as it's not biased towards the UK CFA nor the US CFA; it follows TICA standards moreso than CFA ones even though it was written by a former CFA president. If you can get a copy of that book from the library, you and I will be on the same page. You cannot make your cat a breed that did not exist in the 1700s. Alhough you may nod to the fact that a breed later came from the area your character inhabited -- for instance Dusty comes from the Devonshire near the mines where the Devon Rex mutation first appeared in 1960.

To enter: research and then draw your character coloured and submit a deviation with a breif account of her story and regards to her breed like I did with McSnowpaws here: [link] Send a note to either me or *swiftwhippet with a link to your submission. If you do not hear back from us, leave a comment in this journal because DA has been having a "note-eating" problem. If you don't want to submit it to da, then upload it to an image hosting service and send a note with a link to the image and your gal's history and information regarding her breed.

I will be making ones of the rest of my characters and submitting them to help give you a picture of what I'm looking for.

Deadline is currently Sept. 1 2008. Though it may change, it will not be earlier than september.


Rules

-- Research history for your character. Online research should be done through lii.org, otherwise use your textbooks or a library.

-- Please state sources for your research in your description. Something like "I used the material on this website (url) which I found on lii.org by searching for 'Revolutionary War'." Your sources will be checked, so I suggest you be thorough.

-- ONE entry per person, please.

-- WIPs are welcome but must be completed before deadline to be considered.

-- Character MUST be female and MUST be a domestic cat. Not bobcat or cougar etc, a regular domestic cat.

-- The image should be like a reference sheet and show your character in her 1700s clothing. See [link] for an idea of what I mean.

-- REMEMBER your gal will be no more than a deckhand, and a pirate at that, make sure her clothes reflect her low status.

-- The character does not need to come from America or England, just from a country in the 1700s that would be a stop for a merchant ship.

-- Characters' stories do not need to be insanely detailed. Explain the major events in her life and what led up to her deciding to engage in piracy, you do not need to detail every day or year of it.

-- Remember that piracy was considered a crime against the Crown. It was something that would get you hanged. Make sure this is reflected in your gal's story.

-- Please realize we have the right to deny you entry for not following the rules or for sloppy/invalid research or for copying your character off of pirates from movies such as the Pirates of the Carribean trillogy. Take your time and research, the deadline is a ways away.

Prizes

Please note that we are still deciding exactly what we want to give away for this. We want it to be worth your time, but we need to know how much time you're putting into it so we need a few entries to see the work that's going into these gals. <3

FIRST PLACE - character to feature in stories about McSnowpaws and her crew, one big art from *FireflyStudios, one big art from *swiftwhippet, one big collab + something else

SECOND PLACE - character to feature in stories about McSnowpaws and her crew, one medium art from *FireflyStudios, one medium art from *swiftwhippet, one medium collab + something else

THIRD PLACE - character to feature in stories about McSnowpaws and her crew, one small art from *FireflyStudios, one small art from *swiftwhippet, one small collab + something else

THREE RUNNERS UP - character mentioned as part of the crew, POSSIBLY featured in a story about McSnowpaws, one little art from *FireflyStudios, one little art from *swiftwhippet, one little collab, + something else

EVERYONE who enters will get something little, we will need to decide on what exactly once we get some entries.



Thank you everyone, if you have any questions post a comment or shoot a note!



The dancing Kernel Cat avatar was made by =GearOtter.

=keysan bought me my subscription.

Thank you so much, you guys.

Journal header/footer and divider were found on flickr under a creative commons lisence and were manipulated by me.


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