Introductions & Monsters!

[Guest Lily Padfoot]

Welcome to the first den challenge of the year! \o/

Part 1 - Oh Noes, More Intros!

As with every new year, you just can't avoid those introduction posts. There is a special thread in each den for introducing yourself to your den-mates. You'll be stuck interacting with them all year after all. Here's the form to use:

HOL ID:

Year Joined:

Year:

Positions Held:

Nicknames:

Personal Quote:

Short Bio (less than 300 words):

Picture (less than 150px wide by 200px high - can be real or from online, such as a doll):

There are some special notes about this form. It is more detailed and organized than your typical introduction post, but there's a reason for that. This is intended to be a part of a bigger, year-long project. I can't say too much just yet as the project isn't finalized, but there's a chance it could result in some HOL house points. So, fill it out!

It is being made a part of the den challenge since it does take a little extra work to complete and there will be proper rewards. :)

Rubies:

10 rubies for every person that completes the mini-bio

Part 2 - Monstrous Mascots!

Now it's time for a bit more creative thinking and den plotting!

As you can see with your new dens, you have a built-in mascot with your awesome den creatures. Now it's time to get to know and love your mascots!

-Decide on a name for your mascot. Perhaps some nicknames as well!

-Give a detailed description of your mascot - such as its favorite activities, what Gryffindor traits it portrays, and why it is absolutely the best mascot EVER!

-Include pictures of your mascot, created by den members.

-The above are the only required elements, but anything else you can think of to honor your new mascot will certainly add to the creativeness of your submission: stories about den adventures with your mascot, haikus about your mascot's awesomeness, a signature or avatar specifically for your mascot, anything you can think of!

As a bit of early warning, I strongly suggest not waiting until the very end of the month to start working on this as a den. There are some upcoming activities later in September that you'll definitely want to take part in. ;)

Rubies:

The winner of this part of the challenge will be decided by SPD based on the overall best entry.

1st Place Den - 25 rubies for members that participate

2nd Place Den - 15 rubies for members that participate

3rd Place Den - 10 rubies for members that participate

Rules:

-This should be a den effort. Meaning more than 1 person doing all the work.

-Only members of your own den may help with planning and completing the challenge. No outside help.

-The format for this should be very simple. No websites or blogs or anything like that. Just organize all the information and send it in an email.

-As part 1 has a specific thread for entries, only part 2 will need to be emailed.

-You den's challenge entry should be sent only by the den prefect or JP. Please be sure to include a list of den members that participated in part 2 of the challenge. The email should be sent to spd@gryff.net with the subject "September Den Challenge - Den Name". No attachments.

The deadline for this challenge is September 30th at 11:59 pm HOL time. Any questions you have about this challenge may be PMed to me.

[Guest Lily Padfoot]

A quick clarification for the mini-bios is in order it seems:

1. Yes, you must fill out the entire form. Incomplete forms will result in 0 rubies and 0 points when the time comes.

2. For the personal quote and short bios, answers like "I don't know" or "I am me" do not count.

3. To upload pictures from your computer you'll need to use a website such a http://photobucket.com/ (account required) or http://imageshack.us/ (no account needed). When you upload a picture to either of those you will get a resulting URL/link to the picture. You need to post that link to your picture. I have no way of seeing a picture you only have saved on your computer, even if you post the file path (as some of you have).

4. Some dolls and pictures have been too large so far (the maximum should be 150px wide by 200px high). This isn't a big deal, but if you have the ability, please crop these to the appropriate size. If you don't know how to do that, maybe a den-mate would be willing to help you do so or I will crop it after the challenge ends.

Here's an example bio (based on a HP character obviously):

Hermione Granger

HOL ID: he123 (obviously fake in this case only)

Year Joined: 1991

Year: 5th year

Positions Held: Prefect, S.P.E.W. Founder, House Know-It-All

Nicknames: Hermy, Little Miss Perfect

Personal Quote: "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled."

Short Bio: Hermione is a muggle-born witch, but one of the brightest and most talented witches the wizarding world has ever seen. Her closest friends are fellow Gryffindor students Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Her favorite classes are knowledge based ones like Arithmancy and Transfiguration. She can't stand such inexact subjects as Divination. She believes strongly in house elf rights and works tirelessly in her position as S.P.E.W. Founder to bring about better working conditions for the poor, mistreated creatures.

Picture: Link

If your bio is currently incomplete, has invalid answers, or is without a picture, you can edit that entry to make it correct. You will have until Sept. 30th at 11:59 pm HOL time to make sure everything is correct.

This last part is for those that wish to use a doll, but don't know how to create one.

1. I only know of a few doll maker sites, but your den-mates may have other suggestions.

Madam Malkins

Tektek

Arvee

The Doll Palace

2. On any of those sites, you can choose things like body type, stance, skin tone, hair style and color, facial features, clothes, and accessories.

3. Once you've completed your doll, you will either be given a link to it or you'll need to save it on your computer (depends on the site).

4. If a link is given by the site, post that as your picture. If you have to save it to your computer, be sure to upload it (as described above). Also crop to an appropriate size if you can.

[Guest Lily Padfoot]

Voting for part 2 of this first challenge is finally complete! First, let me say that we were very impressed with all of the mascots that the dens worked so hard to create! They were all creatively awesome.

The winner of this challenge is...

The Mighty Manticores!!!

MM went above and beyond anything we expected from this challenge. You put a lot of effort and time into this challenge and it definitely showed in your entry. All participating members have earned 25 rubies.

Second and third place were a bit more difficult to determine, but it had to be done. So...

In second place is... The Courageous Chimeras! All participating members have earned 15 rubies.

And in third place... The Gallant Griffins! All participating members have earned 10 rubies.

Since there is always much requesting to see all entries, here you go! We thought this section of the forum might be the perfect area for archiving den challenge entries, as well as having a few other den topics (watch out for topics to come ;)).

-----

In addition to the above results, there was also a chance to earn 10 rubies just for introducing yourself in the dens. With so many on this list, how is there not more den participation?! Go participate. *nods* Here are the den members that successfully completely part 1!

Courageous Chimeras:

Amanda Summers

Ardeliah Longbottom

Ginger Roenick

Barbara Phoenix

Silver Barcelona

Petunia Cauldwell

Kylie Joel Lonerins

Sarah Evans

Maki Kou

St.John Aloisius Sloots

Marta Venturi

Irma Lair

Andrew Stanford

Ilona Littrell

Gallant Griffins:

Serenity Thomas

Hellrot Beleuchten

Ann Ong

Madeline Bronte

Nick Ford

Eno Thomas

Torriosh Muller

Lauren Dalton

Alex Hockenberry

Alice Kent

Malandra Ackerley

Skyler Jackson

Chrissy Mahon

Naru Aizawa

Maria Vianney Gracia

Amelia Grace Ledbetter

Angela Franco

Nadine Sharpe

Donna Robinson

Mighty Manticores

Jinxy Jo

Chantal Forget

Gabbi Myers

Andrea Caroline

Maria Malakalamere

Risa Swan

Hailey Potter

Ash Tucker

Cassiopeia Baxter

Ann Black

Ley Line

James Greene

Nysca Luvelle

Mirabella Nevlómë

Others den members have introduced themselves in these threads since the deadline and didn't earn the rubies. However, new members are encouraged to continue to use these threads! (If they happen to disappear soon for a few days, don't panic, they'll be returning in one form or another. >>)