Submission (#11034) Approved
User
Prompt
Submitted
29 December 2025, 16:18:34 EST (1 week ago)
Processed
29 December 2025, 19:02:18 EST (1 week ago) by Joyful
Comments
Summary:
The first day of winter comes with a cold breeze. Maru, roused by the scent of coming snow, jumps into action. He has a lot to do to prepare to Chumbus, as he refuses to spend even a day without festive decorations.
Review:
My workflow always begins with brainstorming and then sticking with the idea that draws me in and developing it into a story. This one included more staring at the wall than I would have hoped, as this isn’t the type of writing I typically do. Doing something without dialogue was challenging enough, but focusing on one character proved a bit difficult, too. There was nothing to play off of, so it took more effort than usual to avoid repeating sentence beginnings and structures. I still wanted to keep the story fun to read, even if it’s short and light-hearted. Balancing how much to include was interesting, too. Maru is a character with a pre-determined appearance which I can link to, which left me wondering if I should bother to describe his appearance. I settled on only doing so if it was pertinent to what he was doing, such as being small meaning he has limited energy. I tried to fill the gaps with little tidbits about him, too, but not so much that it as one large exposition dump. My hope is to try and draw people in so they want to learn more about him! I did wish at first that I was able to include more characters, as I tend to work more comfortably with a small cast, but I’m still pretty new to the community so I don’t have any other pets yet that I’m sure would have a fun relationship with Maru. That, and I didn’t really think any of the mascots applied at first—and that was the biggest thing I changed. After revisiting the mascot information, I realized what better Mascot to include in a little draphibi colony than Melon! I thought that added more to the story. So, definitely a learning curve, but it made me excited to keep working at it.
15EC - 1500 words
2EC - Melon Significant Interaction
3EC - Story Summary
3EC - 300 word review
TOTAL - 23EC
Melon Badge
The first day of winter comes with a cold breeze. Maru, roused by the scent of coming snow, jumps into action. He has a lot to do to prepare to Chumbus, as he refuses to spend even a day without festive decorations.
Review:
My workflow always begins with brainstorming and then sticking with the idea that draws me in and developing it into a story. This one included more staring at the wall than I would have hoped, as this isn’t the type of writing I typically do. Doing something without dialogue was challenging enough, but focusing on one character proved a bit difficult, too. There was nothing to play off of, so it took more effort than usual to avoid repeating sentence beginnings and structures. I still wanted to keep the story fun to read, even if it’s short and light-hearted. Balancing how much to include was interesting, too. Maru is a character with a pre-determined appearance which I can link to, which left me wondering if I should bother to describe his appearance. I settled on only doing so if it was pertinent to what he was doing, such as being small meaning he has limited energy. I tried to fill the gaps with little tidbits about him, too, but not so much that it as one large exposition dump. My hope is to try and draw people in so they want to learn more about him! I did wish at first that I was able to include more characters, as I tend to work more comfortably with a small cast, but I’m still pretty new to the community so I don’t have any other pets yet that I’m sure would have a fun relationship with Maru. That, and I didn’t really think any of the mascots applied at first—and that was the biggest thing I changed. After revisiting the mascot information, I realized what better Mascot to include in a little draphibi colony than Melon! I thought that added more to the story. So, definitely a learning curve, but it made me excited to keep working at it.
15EC - 1500 words
2EC - Melon Significant Interaction
3EC - Story Summary
3EC - 300 word review
TOTAL - 23EC
Melon Badge
Rewards
| Reward | Amount |
|---|---|
| Festive Lights | 1 |
| Melon Badge | 1 |
| Event Currency | 28 |
Characters
Focus Character
Drp-897: Maru
| Reward |
|---|
| 0 EXP
0 Stat Point |
Add-Ons
These items have been removed from the submitter's inventory and will be refunded if the request is rejected or consumed if it is approved.
| Item | Source | Notes | Quantity |
|---|
goldensharkbones's Bank
| Currency | Quantity |
|---|