Seal of Beauty 2018

Post your Beauty Submissions here!!

Item: Tattoo  Type: Chest  Org: Madtats  Designer: Tortuga
Commodities: redtint 70 purpletint 15 coal 15 greentint 10 yellowtint 10
Mortal Reviews: Allowed
Tattoo Weight: 100
Appearance:
the monster inside
Examined:
Extreme use of scarification has given this tattoo the realistic
appearance of a jagged patch of skin having been ripped from the chest
to reveal the underlying flesh as opposed to being the result of inking.
Instead of the expected pectoral musculature, a maddening patch of
horrors is exposed; disembodied tongues, grasping tentacles, and other
less recognisable body parts weave together to form a writhing, visceral
landscape of Kethuru bits and pieces seeking to burst forth from inside
at any moment. Central to this heinous masterwork is an enormous lidless
eye, yellowed and bloodshot; it stares brazenly at any who dare cross
its gaze, furthering the appearance of living, yet soulless flesh.
Comments:

Comments

  • an eccentric violin of alien appendages engulfed within nebulous shades

    Dropped:
    A svelte violin partially engulfed within the cosmic hues of a nebula is leaning here with its bow.

    Examined:
    The svelte body of this eccentric violin possesses many atypical curves
    and is externally composed from striated, tentacular tubes of crude
    metal which slither chaotically through the ensemble. While most of the
    metal tubes of the instrument are a devouring, inky black, expressing
    the disturbing vastness of void, various parts of this violin have been
    melted within blends of metals which fluidly fuse into each other to
    depict oddities found within the void. The uneven, oily alloy coating of
    shifting colours made from different types of metal confer an alien
    appearance upon the ensemble, its chaotic hues of colours churning
    blazingly. Some areas are gleaming, others appear rugged and others
    consist of devouring blackness. Blends of shifting metals have been so
    altered that they appear as the darkest and deepest shades of a nebula.
    The writhing tentacles of crude metal surround the entire instrument and
    intertwine along the fingerboard until a scroll of widely spread
    tentacles in hues of swirling jade, iron and silver coils backwards to
    unveil an opened, gleaming black beak and throbbing rose gold veins
    faintly stained with ruby. The fingerboard is endowed with four oily
    filaments of shifting hues and a dangling string of miniature, misshapen
    skulls which appear to belong to unrecognisable species of creatures.
    The melting, shifting complexion of the instrument offers a
    realistically carved display of nightmarish, hallucinatory art. Floating
    orbs adorned with many pupils and other Soulless appendages have been
    carved from swirls of vermilion and coal. Locked into a terrifying
    embrace of varying coppers, nude half-formed sink sharp teeth into
    shredding flesh, devouring each other's limbs. Their ribs, barely
    covered by patches of limp flesh, descend very deeply into their twisted
    torsos, disappearing into nothingness. A crazed gleam defines their
    eyes, wrinkly and grim expressions warped with the utmost primal hunger.
    Strange orifices have damaged the violin, along which running veins
    faintly crack nearing carvings. Through the serpentine slits of the
    instrument, a few portions of crater-filled, sombre wood can be observed
    within, partially fusing with the black metal of the tentacular tubes
    writhing disorderly throughout the entire assemblage.
  • Lief said:
    1) Congratulations to the winners! I was super thrilled to get even an honourable mention.

    2) (I loved that there was a theme, and it was a challenge to figure out what kind of design fitting it I would like Lief's name attached to. I went with deriving inspiration from kintsugi.)
    1) There was only one winner. Everyone else lost.
    2) This, 100%. This is actually the point I logged in to make. Mad props to the Godmin for theming it. Please, please, please theme future Beauty challenges. I personally felt as if I was piddling into the wind while writing my submission, so I can only begin to imagine what it was like for people entering in previous years with a bunch of subjective arrows and an invisible target. I'm also willing to bet that having a theme made the judges' live a damned sight easier too.

    WHUT WHUT #Beauty2018 ya'll!
  • Versalean said:
    Lief said:
    1) Congratulations to the winners! I was super thrilled to get even an honourable mention.

    2) (I loved that there was a theme, and it was a challenge to figure out what kind of design fitting it I would like Lief's name attached to. I went with deriving inspiration from kintsugi.)
    1) There was only one winner. Everyone else lost.
    2) This, 100%. This is actually the point I logged in to make. Mad props to the Godmin for theming it. Please, please, please theme future Beauty challenges. I personally felt as if I was piddling into the wind while writing my submission, so I can only begin to imagine what it was like for people entering in previous years with a bunch of subjective arrows and an invisible target. I'm also willing to bet that having a theme made the judges' live a damned sight easier too.

    WHUT WHUT #Beauty2018 ya'll!
    #semantics but I think 2-5 won their places, too - I wouldn't say Versa "lost 5th place". Own your victory!
    Amazing beautiful stunning avatar by Gurashi!
    ~
    A gentle breeze ruffles your wings and whispers in your ears, as if for you alone, "Dragonfly's words shine... seeds, sown and tended, inspire... a forest harvest."
    ~
    Maylea reaches out, Her fingers poised in midair. "Now you are of Me, even more than you were before." Her golden and azure eyes glitter. "Walk well, Eldin. Shed glory in My name, and bring life to the lifeless."
  • Versalean said:
    Lief said:
    1) Congratulations to the winners! I was super thrilled to get even an honourable mention.

    2) (I loved that there was a theme, and it was a challenge to figure out what kind of design fitting it I would like Lief's name attached to. I went with deriving inspiration from kintsugi.)
    2) This, 100%. This is actually the point I logged in to make. Mad props to the Godmin for theming it. Please, please, please theme future Beauty challenges. I personally felt as if I was piddling into the wind while writing my submission, so I can only begin to imagine what it was like for people entering in previous years with a bunch of subjective arrows and an invisible target. I'm also willing to bet that having a theme made the judges' live a damned sight easier too.
    If there is going to be a theme, I think it would be better to let people know before hand. For the first time, a Beauty design I finished about a week before the Trials started might have done a lot better if it wasn't themed. I'm not sure how many other people finished their designs early, but I know a good number probably do their designs a few weeks in advance even before we found out there would be twists.
  • I think there was plenty of time to do a design from the announcement of the theme. Everyone is in the same boat that way. That's the whole point of twists too, you don't know they're coming!
  • SylandraSylandra Join Queue for Mafia Games The Last Mafia Game
    Ayisdra said:
    Versalean said:
    Lief said:
    1) Congratulations to the winners! I was super thrilled to get even an honourable mention.

    2) (I loved that there was a theme, and it was a challenge to figure out what kind of design fitting it I would like Lief's name attached to. I went with deriving inspiration from kintsugi.)
    2) This, 100%. This is actually the point I logged in to make. Mad props to the Godmin for theming it. Please, please, please theme future Beauty challenges. I personally felt as if I was piddling into the wind while writing my submission, so I can only begin to imagine what it was like for people entering in previous years with a bunch of subjective arrows and an invisible target. I'm also willing to bet that having a theme made the judges' live a damned sight easier too.
    If there is going to be a theme, I think it would be better to let people know before hand. For the first time, a Beauty design I finished about a week before the Trials started might have done a lot better if it wasn't themed. I'm not sure how many other people finished their designs early, but I know a good number probably do their designs a few weeks in advance even before we found out there would be twists.
    I will say I did write two Beauty designs when the Ascension trials first started up, and neither fit the theme that wound up occurring. So a little more advance notice would actually be appreciated by this particular designer!

    I understand the element of surprise was big this year with all the Trials, however, not just Beauty.

    Daraius said:
    "Oh yeah, you're a naughty mayor, aren't you? Misfile that Form MA631-D. Comptroller Shevat's got a nice gemstone disc for you, but yer gonna have to beg for it."
  • edited March 2018
    I'm genuinely confused here. People want the contest to be announced before... what? Before the contest is announced? Because when Beauty was announced they announced the theme. I don't mean when the date was published, I mean when Beauty was officially opened, it was opened AFTER the vision was published.

    My (limited) understanding of Beauty is that it's designed to find the 'best' designer in the Basin. On this occasion the Godmin decided that the best designer could design something relatively flat-footed (by which I mean literal RL weeks of notice). If that wasn't enough for you, then you weren't the best designer, just like I wasn't the best designer.
  • edited March 2018
    Versalean said:
    I'm genuinely confused here. People want the contest to be announced before... what? Before the contest is announced? Because when Beauty was announced they announced the theme. I don't mean when the date was published, I mean when Beauty was officially opened, it was opened AFTER the vision was published.

    My (limited) understanding of Beauty is that it's designed to find the 'best' designer in the Basin. On this occasion the Godmin decided that the best designer could design something relatively flat-footed (by which I mean literal RL weeks of notice). If that wasn't enough for you, then you weren't the best designer, just like I wasn't the best designer.
    There are people who make their Beauty designs weeks (I'm sure there might be a handful who did it months in advance even) before the Seals weaken. If I had completed 4-5 designs only to find out that none of them would work because this year was different and had a theme requirement, instead of being completely theme-free as the past 10-ish years, I would be annoyed.

    Edit: While I understand the point this year was to mix it up after players have said Trials got boring, having a better heads up on that there was going to be a theme would have been nice.
  • As one of the people who made a Beauty design months in advance and then scrapped it when I saw the theme and then went on to place... I have no problem with the current amount of forewarning given to designers about the theme.
  • I have two views on this:

    1) I understand the frustration of those who had designed something ahead of time only to have that effort go to waste. Designing is a skill we devote time to honing just like any other. In the past, I've done very well with designs inspired by in-game events (and it was an event/lore inspired design that won this year as well), and I often plan those out far in advance as the event develops.

    While not a perfect analogy because of skill balance, I imagine there'd be upset if a couple weeks before War the divine declared that only some class skills would be allowed. People would be frustrated that the techniques they'd been practicing and honing would no longer work, even if they came up with new techniques to adapt.

    2) As someone who was feeling burned out on Beauty and not inspired to create anything this year, I really appreciated the theme, as it inspired me to participate at all. I didn't place (though I got an honorable mention), but it was fun to design.
  • Post more descriptions!
    Amazing beautiful stunning avatar by Gurashi!
    ~
    A gentle breeze ruffles your wings and whispers in your ears, as if for you alone, "Dragonfly's words shine... seeds, sown and tended, inspire... a forest harvest."
    ~
    Maylea reaches out, Her fingers poised in midair. "Now you are of Me, even more than you were before." Her golden and azure eyes glitter. "Walk well, Eldin. Shed glory in My name, and bring life to the lifeless."
  • AeldraAeldra , using cake powered flight
    Appearance:
    an intricate tapestry portraying a floating ice shelf
    Dropped:
    An intricate tapestry portraying a floating ice shelf is here, affixed to the wall by polished driftwood.
    Examined:
    This intricate tapestry is wrought from threads of finest cotton,
    mounted upon the wall through several fixtures made from polished
    driftwood. Spreading inward from all sides, midnight hues of indigo
    dominate the outer reaches, broken only by a few rare, almost misshapen
    threads of sky-blue, breaking up the dark colour in erratic patterns.
    Closer to the centre, the dark indigo progressively gets lighter, pushed
    aside gradually by more threads of the lighter colour, forming an almost
    circular bubble. Trailing this blue shell, about a dozen winged
    monstrosities are displayed in detail, their black wings wrought of
    stuffed linen, peeking up a little from the tapestry's surface, crushed
    opals representing the pack's many eyes. Past the bubble's barrier, the
    dominant tone now becomes light blues, with hints of blushing rose and
    light green. Stitched within the very centre of the bubble, a floating
    shelf of massive ice carries a distinctly frosted landscape. Several
    small huts are depicted upon the shelf, lined by small creatures of
    snowy white and icy blue, some carrying black hats. Small shards of
    diamonds form the surface of the shelf, capturing available light. Tiny,
    pristine white snowflakes fall off the frozen edges, tumbling towards
    the bubble's rim.

    To be honest, I think I could've been closer to the given theme, but then I did not exactly give myself a lot of time doing this. <.<

    Avatar / Picture done by the lovely Gurashi.
  • Tortuga said:
    [I'm showing you mine, now show me yours]
    I've just read this, and it's delightfully fricking hideous. 10/10 would have voted for.
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