August Contest ~ The Empire

August is here once again and that means the INVASION has begun!

The world was once at peace and prosperity was embraced by all... and then came the darkness, the disease,,, The Empire! But, it was always just an illusion, something we tell ourselves to create rebellion when we all know that the truth is there was a corruption upon our world and the darkness was always upon us. Promising everything we wanted while denying us the very strength that made us what we wished to be. They bred weakness in the name of civility, a new world order where life became too easy and our demands too great. No, our world was not one of peace and prosperity. The bodies of the many who had fallen while we were too proud of ourselves to see. We were dying and the Empire came. It sensed our corruption, our vanity and our weakness. We had embraced leaders who cared only for themselves and gave unto us only the barest of things to keep us complacent, to give us the illusion of happiness and they bought us making of us slaves too proud to see. The Empire didn't need to fire a shot as they only needed to make promises greater than what our leaders could make for our leaders to surrender. They gained control over the media, and they used it to take advantage of the sheep offering more water and green grass to keep us happy while they grew wealthy fleecing us of all that we could produce... and then they led us to slaughter if we were of no worth to them, or if we rebelled.

And even as we died, we still hailed the Empire, we worshiped it and fell prostrate before it as long as they made us happy... but then, happiness had a price and we paid that price with our flesh, with our blood. And even as our populations became diminished and our peoples became part of the Empire fighting and dying for it, the wealthy of our world, the shepherds who protected us and in which we placed our trust, they were immune to our suffering as their wealth made them immune. When even they learned what the Empire was prepared to do even to them, they would speak only these words as they too were led to slaughter because they knew not what else to say... LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!

This month's contest is a month late because "Monsters From the ID" attacked the site and Avros is just now getting us back in operation. The theme for this month's contest is INVASION... The Empire! We were originally going to focus on Forbidden Planets but the delay provided an opportunity to rethink it and as INVASION is a broader, more general sci-fi contest, it can remain a part of it. The change came about as the world enters a more turbulent period where governments everywhere are shifting and becoming more unstable. What better theme than a classic element of sci-fi than the theme of good and evil where empires and alliances make war with what we think were the good guys often prove to be the greater of two evils rather than the lesser. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordan, and countless others play into this theme where the greater evil is a bit more clear cut and better defined... but, is that always the case?

Forbidden Planet is a classic movie from 1956 where a ship carrying a search party arrives on a planet searching for survivors from a ship that disappeared years earlier. It was produced by MGM breaking many barriers in science fiction and becoming one of the most expensive films of the era with one of the most expensive props of all time, that being Robbie the Robot which cost over a million dollars to create. Science fiction had been an emerging art form that seemed to explode in the 1950s giving rise to a classic period often referred to as the golden age by enthusiasts. It would continue into the 60s but then began to lose a lot of its luster becoming more mainstream. Often enough, the stories were good but the ability to render them as movies and for tv seemed diminished requiring larger budgets that production studios often weren't willing to provide. Box office returns simply weren't high enough for sequels and everyone wanted sequels but not so many as who bought tickets and tuned in the first time around.

A lot of trial and error went into creating the modern era where now, even a group of high school kids can make a decent science fiction movie with the technology available to us today. Today it's more about marketing and advertising budgets have exploded with toy sales often being essential to a movie's success at a time when such sales simply aren't as high as they once were because toy costs ballooned and then exploded late into the first decade of the new millennium. Now, a cheap toy figure that still costs maybe a dollar at most to make and ship from China costs over twenty dollars and children simply have far too many interests diluting the money that once went mostly into the toy market. Things became more political and audiences more jaded as they just want a thrill, not a lecture... they want to feel good with a bit of excitement but often get poorly written scripts with little imagination behind them so it all feels like they've seen it a thousand times before already.

But, the one thing Hollywood can't destroy is our imagination and that is the one thing science fiction provides an endless supply of. Where a big blockbuster movie costing hundreds of millions of dollars has to see significant returns, all you need is an idea and the means to flesh it out as an image uniquely all your own. For them it's about money and control, so much so they've forgotten their audience and changed everything we enjoyed about "franchise entertainment" until we can't even recognize it for what it was originally meant to be. And where's the originality to create new dreams as while they speak of diversity, would not more diversity be to invest in properties and ideas created to be original which features that diversity built in from the start? New voices, new faces, new ideas... that's the basis for diversity as originality isn't changing the race of a character, it's to create a character that was that race from the very beginning but then, if it's just about money and control, then this is where it was bound to eventually arrive.

So, this contest isn't about Hollywood, about writers, actors, directors and studios... this contest is about you and what you want to create whether it be new and original or whatever you wish to make of it as long as it retains the theme of science fiction. You are the creator and we are your audience. You can take your lead from movies, tv series, video games, books or your own vivid imagination. Maybe you do the Forbidden Planet theme or your art is based on something more original like the movie "65" with aliens arriving on our world in the age of the dinosaurs. Maybe you're a Men In Black fan trying to catch those pesky aliens everyone's saying are trying to get into the US illegally... from outer space

We do hope you will participate in this year's event and I'm sure people will enjoy what you have to offer.



Contests will now be judged within the first seven days.

1) Winners will provide a list including each sponsor in order that they would like to have the prizes. We will then choose what prizes you win on a first-come, first-serve basis. You have an entire month from the time that the contest is posted to get us this list and if you do not include the actual prizes you want, you will have one week from the time you are contacted to get these to us. If we do not receive your list one week after you've been alerted of what you have won telling us what you want (in case that was not provided on the list), this is fine. What matters is we have your list telling us the sponsors from first to last.
By the end of the given month "during the contest" if we have not received said list, items will be chosen for you.

2) Unless otherwise specified, make sure to add an alternate prize selection should you want a bundle or partnered item. Some of our sponsors allow this, some do not and some may on certain items of which we have no way of knowing. You may provide a list to us at any time during the month. Providing the list does not guarantee a prize. Items given to runners-up, if any, will come from these lists or be donated by prize winners.

3) Our Responsibility is to contact you and the sponsors. If you have not received your prize, remember that sponsors respond when they can and we will do follow-ups if you keep in touch with us. If we do not hear from you within a month after you are alerted, we will consider you have received your prize but we will extend this from the moment of your previous communication. Like participants and management, sponsors can be slow to respond and we beg your patience on these matters as we will do the follow-ups as promised.

4) Our First Place winner will receive the first item on their list which will be removed from all other winner's lists. Our Second Place winner will be given the first item remaining on their list and so forth. When each winner has been awarded a prize, we will begin again with the First Place winner until all prizes are awarded.

5) Please remember that some prizes are gift card items while others may be coupons.
Also, remember to include the following information ~

A) Username (for DSA and sponsors site)
B. Email Address
C) Real Name & Physical Mailing Address (for software and physical prizes)

6) No AI-generated art. This must be your art and not Artificial Intelligence generated art using images data mined from the internet. You are welcome to share this art in the forums and we might one day add a gallery for this. But we will not allow it in the contests. As long as AI-generated images are created from other artist's work data mined from the internet, we cannot allow it in our contests and any such art will be removed. While AI may not be subject to copyrights, it may be determined later that the end user is so make sure the art is your own work.

7) Your images must follow the theme to the best of your ability but how you do this is up to your individual creativity and imagination. Ask if you have questions about the theme.

This month's theme is... INVASION (and science fiction more generally)

8 ) There is a post limit of one image a day... no reworks as all images must be original for this contest. Try adding more diversity such as races and different cultures. Explore the variety that makes up who and what we are.

9) Images cannot be posted anywhere else for five days and must include links to this contest or statements that it is for this contest.

10) Images posted late will be excluded from the judging unless the closing date is extended by the site.

11) Artistic nudity is allowed. No child nudity is allowed. This is defined as genitals and nip's so cover them up or risk violating our rules. A good alternative would be anime or faeries but do not use child morphs.

12) The contest is open to any medium that you wish to use (except AI as mentioned above). This is primarily a 3d art site but hand-drawn, painted, or any other type of medium is fine as long as you created it. Make note of the prizes being offered as only rarely might they not be 3d oriented.

13) We consider it trolling if criticism about content is made when images are within the rules. Constructive criticism and praise are encouraged and welcomed.

14) Our normal monthly contests will have 5 winners. Our larger contests will have up to 31 winners. We will alert members should this change at any time or if the sponsors have alerted us to award items to runners-up.

15) Remember, if you have any questions, please ask them in the contest topic so that staff or fellow members can explain and help you to understand the rules or themes in our competition.

Our one and only entry for August's contest was Myquad. Thank you m'lady for participating while everyone else was on vacation