YoinkTober 2023 - Tenth Anniversary Edition

[wavewright62]

Welcome to this year's edition of YoinkTober, where we on the Forum follow a series of prompts daily through October!  In general this is modelled on the InkTober challenge, where artists were challenged to produce one piece of inked art per day, even if just a small one.  We have expanded that to include written works (or other media like animatics or soundboards, go nuts) as well as drawings, to celebrate the crucial role words have in our fandom.

This year's prompts follow the theme of TEN, based on 1 November being the anniversary of Page 1 of Stand Still Stay Silent.  Most of the daily prompts are there to fulfill with a creative endeavour, focussed on SSSS - its worldbuilding, its characters, the artistry of its pages, its monsters.  Unlike previous years, some of the prompts are specifically just an excuse to make lists or commentary.  We want everyone to have a go on at least one prompt this year!

Without further ado:
1.   10 things I love about SSSS
2.   10 Little Fingers and 10...uh oh
3.   10-Step Programme
4.   These 10 Are All That's Left
5.   10 Visions of the Icelandic Mages
6.   10 Years of Progress
7.   Sigrun (that's it, that's the whole prompt - it's her birthday)
8.   10-Year-Old Child(ren)
9.   10 functionalities of the Cat-Tank
10.  Year 10
11.  Number 10 Downing St
12.  10 Years Together
13.  One little, 2 little, 10 little notoros
14.  My Favourite 10 Fanworks
15.  SSSS/Known World Decathlon
16.  10 Useful and 100% Safe Spells and/or Runes
17.  Powers of 10 (Orders of Magnitude)
18.  10 Jobs Held By Mikkel Madsen
19.  10 Haiku
20.  It's Been 10 Years Since I Lost You
21.  Top 10 SSSS Characters
22.  10 Cats
23.  10-Minute Fanart Challenge (art only, 10 minutes, go!)
24.  My favourite 10 SSSS pages
25.  10 Years Ago today (from character POV)
26.  A Perfect 10
27.  10 Soldiers
28.  The Top 10 (Clickbait Challenge)
29.  Troll Ten-tacles
30.  Thoughts on Chapter 10
31.  10 Puns  (oh, the horror!)

Have fun!

Edit: it was pointed out that I had a duplicate for 2 dates - that has now been rectified, with apologies for my error.

[thorny]

We want everyone to have a go on at least one prompt this year!

I think I've got one for year 10 --

[Jitter]

Wonderful! Thank you so much for this, Wave!

Let’s take ten deep breaths and show we aten’t ded yet!

[Mirasol]

I´ve refilled my markers, I´ve bought paper, I´ve printed out the prompts - I´m ready!

Thanks Wave!!!
Just to clarify, even though this year´s list builds up to SSSS´s 1. page anniversary, making things unrelated to SSSS for some prompts is still fair game right?

[wavewright62]

We-e-ellll most of these are deliberately SSSS-specific, with the intention that there should be a focus on that world and what it has meant to us all.

That said, you're the creator, and we love your content, so...

[Mirasol]

Sure, I won´t stray from the ones that are specified of course.
But since I mostly stick to drawing in this challenge I do like having a variety of inspirations and artstyles to draw from for the ones that are a little more open.

But I have to admit, you´ll have to start without me. I´ll be out of the country and without Wifi for the first 3 days of October... So I won´t be able to post and comment until I´m back. But from then on I´m here to stay.

[dmeck7755]

Sure, I won´t stray from the ones that are specified of course.
But since I mostly stick to drawing in this challenge I do like having a variety of inspirations and artstyles to draw from for the ones that are a little more open.

But I have to admit, you´ll have to start without me. I´ll be out of the country and without Wifi for the first 3 days of October... So I won´t be able to post and comment until I´m back. But from then on I´m here to stay.

I hope it is a fun trip!!

[wavewright62]

Day One, here we go!

Ten Things I Love(d) about SSSS!

1. Finnish mythology - I loved learning about Tapio, Mielikki, lehtos, Vellamo, Kuutar, kade, the tripartite concept of the Finnish soul, et al
2. Atmospheric scenery - gnarly trees, mist-covered fields, water lapping on abandoned docks, the star-filled dream realm - the art was outstanding
3. Trolls!  So many different ways a human could mutate through the bad-luck lottery of the Rash (yes, I'm ignoring the weirdness of cluster trolls)
4. The complete lack of a antagonist in Adv. I - the Rash was implacable, impartial, and impervious to conspiracy theorists
5. Protagonists that did not conform to the established gender and genre stereotypes: the tall gung-ho captain was the lithe daughter of two generals, the pretty boy was short small but perfectly formed and also soft-hearted, Tuuri was agreeably pear-shaped and stayed that way, the most powerful character had a most unfortunate mullet and reputation as a crybaby, the big-muscled farm boy was not stupid, and the gormless ingenue was the most non-binary character imaginable.
6. Onomatopoeia - from 'pat pat' to 'krunts' to 'scritch scritch' to 'ÄÄÄÄÄ!' to 'ssskkRAA' .... endlessly inventive noises
7.  The whole point of the exercise, the treasure at the heart of the quest, was not gold or jewels or tech, but BOOKS, just about any old books (I'm willing to bet there was a buyer for 'Better Golf in 30 Days')
8. Magic system integrated into the worldbuilding - gosh, we had such fun contrasting the Finnish system v the Icelandic system.
9. The Minnions, the commentariat, the Forumites - this fandom was exemplary because a) it was mostly civiland respectful and b) everybody had at least one piece of knowledge that they brought to the table.  Together we explored the different ways people caught in this situation could survive and even thrive.
10. The memorable cast of characters

Spoiler: a very old  and rather long fanwork celebrating onomatopoeia • show

[dmeck7755]

Ten Things I Love(d) about SSSS! (My turn)

1. The fandom (I'm sorry but you all are really awesome!!)(Wave's comment #9 ++)
2. The story.  This to me was different than most of the end-of -the-world stories
3. Different take on the zombie acopylaspe.
4. People you want to root for
5. Fan fiction.  Let's face it many people may have picked apart Minna's lack of consistency, but it allowed us to make/read the most amazing stories.  (I have my favorites.)
6. Despite the comments about the bears and how the ending of ADV II went.  It *did* end.  (Many comics just languish)
7. Art. Especially ADV 1.
8. The camaraderie between the team mates.  (And Emil-Lalli.  Whether Minna intended or not...)
9.  Especially on ADV I The build-up of action (queue jaws theme here )
10.  Human emotions.  (Example: Onni being so afraid to leave)



 

[Jitter]

And so it begins! Here’s my list:

1) The Community. This means each and every one of you guys. I didn’t get hooked by the community, but it certainly is the most precious aspect for me now, and has been for years.

2) the team, as in the main characters of both Adv I and II. Although mostly I, because the camaraderie and banter was nearly absent in Adv II. But I definitely want to include Onni!

3) the monsters. So many intriguing designs! I shudder to think what kind of dreams Minna has / had at the time. I don’t much like monster horror or any horror l but SSSS hist the sweet spot where the creatures are really horrible but not so horrible that I couldn’t take it.

4) the development of both the cooperation as a team and the friendships between the them during Adv I. Plus the fact that there is no canonical romance plot whatsoever, which is so rare. I mean I love the relationships that spice many other stories, but it’s refreshing to have one without.

5) fascinating post-apocalyptic setting. Just like dmeck already said, a cool take on a zombie apocalypse. I love post-apocalypse (which isn’t very well compatible with my aversion of horror.)

6) character designs - realistic body types, no one is designed to only be hot, gear actually covers most of skin (realistically they should have helmets at least in A I when weight isn’t an issue), as well as the non-stereotypical traits and occupations. In particular the fact that Mikkel is a great big super strong guy, and he’s the healer and cook.

7) minor characters - both visual and actions. In Adv II the minor characters were more gender-stereotypical (more precisely, most background characters with any active role are make) but even then there was a lot of variation between them.

8 ) landscapes - such atmospheric locations shown in big splash pages, but also loads of small details in the background especially in A I.

9) magic - intriguing! I wanted to know so much more!

10) Emil/Lalli (and Reynir/Onni too). Yes, I know I said I love it there’s no canonical romance and I do. But at the same time I love how the fandom has found so many ways for them to be together. I just love my boys!

Ten things is not enough btw!

[wavewright62]

Day 2 - 10 Little Fingers and 10...uh oh

"I assure you, madam, we honoured your request for Swedish donors."


"Well then what do you call this?! My baby is beautiful all right, but has TEN toes!"

for reference:

[JoB]

"Well then what do you call this?! My baby is beautiful all right, but has TEN toes!"

How Iceland - remember, the clients of the Dagrenning Program are all domestic - reinvented the no-fly list.
(How they found out that the unknown founder of Onnanon can fly, if only in luonto form, remains classified.)

[thorny]

Can I belatedly post a Day 1 item?

In no particular order:

1) the artwork. Which was fantastic.
2) that the people were shaped like people -- no Comic Book Exaggerated Male and Female. And a variety of body types.
3) the mix of people of at least two genders working and living together, with nobody making a special point of it; this was just shown as normal.
4) no apparent need for Everybody To Be Paired Off. Some people are paired to start with; and one couple appears to get paired off during the comic; but others aren't, and it's not shown as necessary.
5) the cats.
6) the presence of other non-human creatures.
7) the mythology; and, in adventure 1, the depiction of Christianity as one valid power among others.
8 ) the mixture of pity for, and dread of, the monsters.
9) the slow reveal of the monsters.
10) what we saw (which wasn't enough) about how the communities of survivors were structured and how they were living.

I'm going to put the fandom as a separate sort of item; because it isn't really a part of the comic itself. After all, we're still here.

[wavewright62]

Late fills are perfectly valid!

[Jitter]

Ten little fingers and… uh oh

“Hilja? What is wrong? Why do you look like that?”
”Um, nothing. All is well.”
”You look shaken! What is it?”
“Take it easy! Everything is fine.”
”I felt you tense! Tell me at once! Is there… there’s something wrong with the baby?!”
”No no no! The baby is all right! They… both are.”

“Both? What do you mean both?!”
“There are two babies.”
”Two? I… I’m going to kill that man!”
”But I thought you didn’t know where he is?”
”Never you mind that! I’m going to find him, and I’m going to make him regret his sweet words! ’What’s the worst that could happen’ in-fricking-deed!”