🍂November’s theme: autumn 🍂

a special treat : big MS Paint Guy Collection to end the year !

plus bonus uncompressed ms-paint colored sonic sticker

lol big ass (mostly non saw?!) art dump! been way too busy to draw as much as i usually do recently.. so sad. [talented mr ripley, dorian gray, a cowboy painting, and mark hoffman doing his best bateman cosplay. hellaaaa]

from: thirteen by @anna-scribbles

art by me :)

start from the beginning // read the november chapter // read the most recent chapter (january)

hey listen. look me in my eyes. have you read thirteen by anna scribbles. i think you need to read thirteen by anna scribbles. i think if you want your life to be forever changed you need to read thirteen by anna scribbles. i think if you are a person who is breathing and alive you need to read thirteen by anna scribbles. thank you

🌱 Lil’ Leaf’s current vibe

Alice In Chains - Heaven Beside You

Blue Christmas!!

Worked from home-home today (and had to quickly run back to my apartment two hours in to grab my work laptop's charger i forgot 🙃) ☕

read the tags !! // officially quit

this week's 02tobers are my favorite digimon of each stage in 02 (i took a break for one day this week because there's only 6 linear stages...) predictably, i mostly ended up drawing wormmon's evolutionary line...

Nostalgic Trope November - Jily Challenge

Like there wouldn't have been a Harry Potter without James and Lily getting together (and getting some fun action ;-) there wouldn't be fandom in 2023 if it didn't all start way back when the HP books were still being written... Back then, James asked Lily out incessantly, but truly ALL THE BLOODY TIME, how they could ever play spin the bottle is a mystery. They frequently swapped bodies due to potion mishaps, we expect because of all those nerves about who to ask to the Yule Ball coming up, so very soon.... This month we're celebrating the fun that old tropes can be, but we appreciate fandom has evolved to next level story telling as well. Therefore any *Classic Trope* we give you, you are free to Put it Down, Flip it and Reverse it as much as it pleases you... (we will only serve out M-preg in case of a special request ;-)

how to sign up & more information under the cut

Each pair of creators will receive a prompt from us to spark your ideas. You are always free to use and interpret your prompt as loosely as you want.

how to enter:

please reblog this post by the 31st of October tagging with what you'd like to make (for example #one-shot, #writing, #art, #drawing, #mood board, #playlist etc. You can be as vague as or specific as you like)

At the beginning of the month, we will assign you a partner and you will receive your prompt (here or on JilyChallenge Discord). Keep an eye on this blog or Discord and please check your messages on Tumblr.

Each creator makes their own creation, collabs are encouraged but not the aim of this challenge. 

(optional) please follow the jilychallenge Tumblrblog and @jilychallenge2023 for updates.

(optional) join the Jily Challenge on Discord (send an ask for an invite) for beta help, chatting and mental support.

when posting: 

creators should try to post their entries by the end of the month (What to do when you miss the deadline?)

please tag your partner and the jilychallenge in your post (including the theme and your prompt, if possible)

we will reblog all entries tagged #jilychallenge

if you post your art or story on ao3, please add it to the collection of Jily Challenges 2023

If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to send us a message or ask! If you have an idea for a theme for an upcoming month we'd love to hear it!

November: Loss & Life

From the cooling weather to the turning colors of the leaves, Autumn is a time of transformation and reflection. Of mourning and celebration. It's a bittersweet season; the falling leaves remind us that in the sorrow loss, there is also great beauty in letting go.

Accordingly, the All Valley Skills Challenge theme for November is:

Below, you will find this month's prompts. Our mods have created a series of moodboards, each inspired by a Festival of the Dead from a culture represented in the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai universe. We've also included a short description of the unique traditions of each:

(Moodboards by @idontknowkaratebutiknowcrazy, @desolateice and @wicked-jade.)

Dia de los Difuntos - Ecuador Celebrated on November the 2nd, and coinciding with All Souls Day, Ecuador's Dia de los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased) is a holiday that combines Catholic tradition with the death rituals of the indigenous Quechua people. On this day, families gather to honor and celebrate the lives of loved ones who have passed away. Traditionally, they visit cemeteries to clean graves and to bring gifts of flowers and food to share with those they've lost. The belief is that the food will help give souls strength for their journey to the afterlife. Stalls selling guaguas de pan (bread babies - a sweet bread piped with colorful icing, shaped to resemble a doll or baby) and colada morada (a thick, dark purple corn drink, served hot) line the streets, along with vendors selling other treats and grave decorations. In rural areas, it is common for families to dress in their finest clothes and share a picnic together in the cemetery. The festivities also often include carnivals and parades.

Kyu-Bon (Obon) - Okinawa/Japan The Obon Festival, also called Kyu-Bon in Okinawa, is celebrated throughout both Okinawa and Japan. While the holiday is based on the solar calendar in mainland Japan, in Okinawa, it follows the lunar calendar. This means it can fall anywhere from mid-July to early September. Always starting on a Monday, the celebration lasts for three days. It is customary for Okinawans from all over to Japan to return to their hometowns, in order to observe the holiday with their families. On the first day (Unke), families hang glowing lanterns outside and leave their doors and windows open, to guide and welcome the spirits of their ancestors home. They also leave offerings such as sugarcane sticks and uchikabi paper (money for the afterlife) on the family altar. On the second day (Nakanuhi), families prepare food, visit other relatives homes, and exchange gifts. The final day (Ukui), is a time for feasting, celebrating, and sharing stories. Prayers and goodbyes are said before sending the spirits back to the afterlife. Food, handwritten notes, and uchikabi paper are placed in a large bowl as a gift for the ancestors. The contents are then burned, so the spirits can take the offerings with them when they go. Over the course of the festival, colorfully clad Eisa dancers march through the streets, entertaining both the crowds and the spirits by dancing, chanting, drumming, and playing folk songs on the sanshin.

Chuseok - South Korea Celebrated on the full moon of the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar for about a 3 day holiday. People return home bearing gifts, visit and clean grave sites, and share a feast. Parts of these feasts include songpyeon (a type of colorful rice cake), types of Hangwa like the honey cookie yakgwa, fruit, baekju (a type of alcohol), jeon (savory pancakes), japchae, bulgogi and more. Food will also be set out at a in-home memorial for the ancestors and those who've passed. Games are played like Yut Nori, as well as sports like Ssireum (a type of wrestling), and Taekkyon (a type of martial arts). There is also a dance, Ganggangsullae.

All Souls Day (Il Giorno Dei Morti) - Italy Also coinciding with All Souls Day, Il Giorno Dei Morti is the Italian Day of the Dead. While November 1st (All Saints Day) is the day to honor the Catholic saints, November 2nd is reserved for honoring dearly departed loved ones. On this day, families flock to cemeteries in order to pay their respects to the dead by lighting candles and laying flowers - customarily, bouquets of chrysanthemums - on their graves. In Sicily and other parts of southern Italy, parents will hide small gifts, such as toys, sweets and Pupi ri Zuccaru (sugar puppets) around the house for their children to find. The children are then told that the gifts were left for them by their deceased relatives, who came to visit them in the night. Traditional foods vary from region to region. Pan dei morti (bread of the dead) is consumed in almost every part of the country. Other treats include Frutta di Martorana (marzipan sweets from Sicily), and Ossa dei morti (bones of the dead - crunchy, almond-flavored cookies that are shaped to resemble bones.)

You will have one month from today to create and submit fanworks inspired by this theme. This is your chance to show off your creative skills, whatever they may be. From writing, to art, to everything in between. Our goal is to encourage all forms of creative expression within the TKK/CK community. All pairings and ratings are welcome.

This round will officially close on Monday, November 30th at noon, CST, so if you would like for us to share your works, make sure to submit them before the deadline. Tag us @allvalleyskillschallenge and #allvalleyskillschallenge, to make it easier for our mods to find and reblog your works!

We’ve also created an AVSC Collection on ao3, if you would like to add your works there. We highly recommend that artists who wish to share uncensored, NSFW content do so on ao3, to avoid violating tumblr’s guidelines.

Please check out our FAQ for more details. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us at @allvalleyskillschallenge, our asks are open.