discoveredinalj | Discovered in the Bleak Midwinter

byslantedlight.livejournal.com posting in

It's November... *g*

...and this year's Pros December/winter/solstice/Christmas/let-there-be-light challenge festival is Discovered in the Bleak Midwinter! Our challenge artist this year is

loxleyprince, who made the beautiful banner and our icon - thank you so much (and do give her a round of lj-applause, everyone)! If you go over to the comm itself you'll see the full-size version as the banner - its definitely worth it, and very inspirational! It might be cold and it might be bleak, but somewhere else, somewhere warm, the lads are there together... *g*

If you'd like to participate in our Pros December-Christmas-Winter-Solstice-festival-of-light-of-all-kinds challenge (please do!), then you simply need to choose a free date from the calendar and let us know in the comments. That day is then yours to post something Pros-y and somehow seasonal to the comm. It doesn't have to be Christmas-y, it could just be winter-ish, or it could be related to another celebration or festival - perhaps you prefer Hanukkah, or Bodhi Day, or to celebrate the long summer (cos you're in the southern half of the world...) Your post might be inspired by the prompt on the calendar day you choose - or not. It might even be completely anti-Christmas (although a passing reference to fit into the challenge would be nice), and just be a present offered to any Pros fans passing through the com. You can also post as often as you like on that day - just once, half a dozen times, every hour on the hour - it's entirely yours to be as Pros-y as you'd like to be.

The hope is that people will receive something Pros in their flist (or by visiting the comm) every day leading up to Christmas, and even through and to the New Year. We're sadly getting fewer and fewer on the ground these days, and whether we'll be able to fill the calendar is more and more uncertain. There are a few ways around this:
a) shorten the calendar (if it's very sparse, I could squeeze everyone together and we'll just post what we have;
b) offer people more than one day (I'll prioritise people's first choices of a single date, and when things slow down I'll post to offer second (third, fourth, fifth... *g*) days);
c) ask people to send in extra content that we could post for days that aren't claimed (yes please!)
d) add extra content myself as mod, where required (I will certainly do the best I can...).

I'd like to avoid Option A again if we can, so I'm really hoping that lots of people sign up again this year, no matter where you usually post.

It doesn't have to be fic that's posted either, of course - though that's always brill, obviously - it could be art, or icons or other graphics, or it could be something completely different. Your own Pros trivia quiz? Doyle's letter to Santa? Betty's Christmas card list? Start a discussion about why Cowley adores winter and the lads hate it? Make up a Pros wordsearch puzzle, or colouring-in page! Post that scan you have of a pic no one else would see otherwise! Anything connected to our lads and CI5 is welcome. *g*

This year's prompts are lines from poetry, starting of course with Christina Rosetti's In the Bleak Midwinter (and see other credits below the calendar), but you don't have to use them or think about them at all - they're just extra inspiration for anyone who'd like it.

As ever, I'm happy to post for you, if you'd rather not do it yourself for any reason (such as Christmas being a hugely busy time for many people!) If you'd like to offer "extra content" that can be slotted into days nobody has claimed, or if someone has a disaster and can't fill their day after all, that would be greatly appreciated as well! Drop me an email at my address on the User Info page.

Please sign up as soon as possible (so that I can organise for whatever days appear to be empty etc.) but feel free to sign up any time the comm is running – if you're suddenly inspired on 16th December to post on the 17th, and it's still an empty day, then comment below and go for it!

To sign up, please comment below with the date/s you would like to post or have your work/creation posted. I will then snag the icon you've used (please make it a Pros one, and not an animated one, otherwise the calendar makes me dizzy... *g*) to block off those day/s for you on the calendar. Then all you need to do is post on that day! The icons on the calendar will then also become links to your post.

We do ask that you use GMT (lads' time) when you post, and post between midnight and midnight lads' time on your day - this is just because, with people all over the world posting, times and posts can get tangled otherwise. This time converter is helpful if you're not sure.

If you'd like to see how it's worked in previous years, you can find links to all the comm challenges on the user info page - simply click on the banner and you will be taken to all the entries with the challenge tag. If you find the challenge calendar, you'll be able to click on any day to see what was posted. *g* And there are eleven other Christmas/Solstice/Winter challenges to explore and be inspired by!

If I've missed out anything vital, or you have any questions, the do let me know in the comments - and otherwise, sign-ups are open, for the twelfth Pros Christmas/Solstice/Winter

discoveredinalj challenge!

1st In the bleak midwinter	2nd Frosty wind made moan	3rd Earth stood hard as iron	4th Water like a stone	5th Snow had fallen
6th Snow on snow	7th Snow on snow	8th In the bleak midwinter	9th Long ago	10th Winter solitude
11th In a world of one colour	12th The sound of wind	13th Clouded with snow	14th The cold winds blow	15th And shrill on leafless bough
16th The robin with its burning breast	17th Alone sings now	18th The rayless sun	19th Day's journey done	20th Sheds its last ebbing light
21st On fields in leagues of beauty spread	22nd Unearthly white	23rd Thick draws the dark	24th And spark by spark	25th Happy Christmas Day!
26th The frost-fires kindle, and soon	27th Over that sea of frozen foam	28th Floats the white moon	29th My windowpane is starred with frost	30th The world is bitter cold tonight
31st The moon is cruel, and the wind				1st Happy New Year!
2nd Is like a two-edged sword to smite	3rd God pity all the homeless ones	4th The beggars pacing to and fro	5th God pity all the poor tonight	6th Who walk the lamp-lit streets of snow

Winter poetry credits:
In the Bleak Midwinter - Christina Rosetti
Winter Solitude - Matsuo Basho
Winter - Walter de la Mare
A Winter Night - Sara Teasdale