This is a travesty. The Cabal has been talking away here, and it’s become obvious that we will decidedly
not be having a NaNoWriMo this year. Why? Because
reasons.
Is this really how we want things to end up? I, for one, do not relish the idea of inertia killing off contests, one of my favourite THP institutions.
However, before I descend into ranting and get a couple of particular individuals on my case, I will admit that “timing” and “circumstances” can and do make things hard on people. Asking you guys to jump onto a full-fledged contest when things are in this state is only asking for disappointment, too. So, what do we do? Well, that’s why I’m dropping this notice a half-month in advance.
What are you on about?
Look, we haven’t had any contests this year, and it looks likely at this rate that we won’t if nobody steps up and organises one. Since it doesn’t look like anyone’s going to do that, I’ve had to jump off of my lazy ass to make it happen.
That’s why I, a shitass anon and failed writer, am bringing you…
A.T.O.M.
What.
It stands for:
ACTIVATE
THP
ONCE
MORE
That’s fucking terrible.
You come up with something better next time, then.
Okay, so is this just another annual contest, or…
Not quite. See, like I said, I’m fairly certain opening a regular contest would just be disappointing. We might end up with a couple of entries at best, based on the sentiments I’ve heard.
Instead, we’re going to be going with a much simpler premise:
If you’re a writer, UPDATE YOUR GODDAMN STORIES.
If you’re a reader, VOTE IN THE GODDAMN STORIES.
Regardless of which you are, DISCUSS GODDAMN STORIES AND 2HUS.
Wait, it’s that simple?
It’s that goddamn simple.
Calling this a “contest” is probably more than a bit disingenuous. It’s really more of a public statement, kind of like Martin Luther nailing up his list of reasons why the church sucks shit or whatever the fuck. If nobody else is going to do anything, then there’s no reason I shouldn’t do a shitty callout post.
And that’s really the whole point here: THP is only as active as you make it.
That’s why I’m calling on writers to update their stories as much as possible for the duration of the “contest”. That’s why I’m calling on anons of all stripes to read, vote, and discuss as much as possible for the same duration. That’s it.
What do we even get out of this stupid stunt?
Nothing but the pride of knowing that you’ve actually acted like a contributing member of a community for once in your sorry life.
How do we even know who wins?
That’s the thing. If everybody does their part and gets involved, we
all win. Even if only half of us get involved, we still win. It’s all about generating activity.
The only way we lose is if absolutely nobody gets involved. If that happens, Okuu will be very sad.
So, when is it?
It’s partially up to you! Officially, it starts and ends in the same general range as NaNoWriMo; i.e., from 01 November to 30 November. However, with time zones and all that mess, the exact times and such when you start are all going to be relative. That’s right, we’re not going by site time.
Just start and end on those dates in your local time.
Anything else we need to know before it starts?
There is a bonus objective for those of you who are willing to do things off-site.
Join the THP Discord (
https://discord.gg/UPHZMWy) and come in at least once a day to discuss 2hus. You can shitpost if you want — it happens a lot anyway — but it’s really more helpful to talk about things pertinent to THP.
Don’t make Okuu sad, guys.
