Picturepalooza Contest

The Picturepalooza has ended, all the images have been rehomed (more or less), and the winners have emerged unscathed! Congratulations to:

WINNERS

FIRST PLACE

Yossipossi with +39 on Requiems of the Harbinger

SECOND PLACE

LAN 2D with +27 on Heavensbane
AND
meltedbee with +27 on Rust

THIRD PLACE

MontagueETC with +26 on
Four Misconceptions Regarding the Transcendental Clusterminds of the Uppermost Datasphere

See all the entries and the additional awards!

Everyone knows the Library for the vast array of texts in the shelves, but oft overlooked are the illustrations, tucked away on embossed hardcovers and in between pages. Pictures can be what brings a story to life — offering a visual to the mind's eye, letting patrons imagine ideas that they would otherwise never have seen. But in the Library, the pictures and pictographs that inhabit the books can have a mind of their own. They think, they speak, they have feelings and desires — and sometimes, they move. Every so often, pictures that are unhappy in their story of residence will elect to leave, hoping the legions of authors in the Library will be kind enough to craft them the new homes they desire. Of course, our generous Patrons are more than happy to oblige — aren't you?

Show Rules

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This contest, we're doing something a little odd: everyone who wants to join will have to submit two CC-compatible images to enter, and then they'll be shuffled around and everyone will get one image that they'll have to write an article around! Fun, right? Fun!

Rules

The Submission Period will begin on August 23th and end on 23:59EST August 30th. At that point, images will be finalized and sent out. When you receive your image on September 1st, the Writing Period begins, and will continue until the Posting Period begins on 00:01EST September 15th. The Posting period is a week long and ends on 23:59EST September 22nd, and then the Voting Period and the contest ends on 23:59EST September 30th, when results are announced and winners crowned.
To enter, you must submit two license-compatible images, so that means Creative Commons or Public Domain only. You will be asked to provide sources for them, just so we can confirm. You can submit an image you found, or even one you took or made! They just have to be CC or Public Domain.
1. Images should not be NSFW in content, or licensed as NC (noncommercial) or ND (nonderivative). Contest runners have the final say on whether an image can be submitted, and may reject images if deemed appropriate. AI-generated artwork is currently not allowed on the site due to licensing ambiguity, and thus should not be submitted for the contest.
2. Wikimedia Commons & Openverse are good sources to look for CC images. We're probably not going to be accepting images that are from shady sites with no confirmation of license, so try to keep it to those sites for the best chances.
To enter, make a comment in the discussion of this page linking your two images along with a statement confirming you plan to participate.
The image you get will be the only image you can use in that article.
Every author may only submit one entry; collaborations are not allowed for this contest. Entries will be tagged with picturepalooza2022.
In the event of extenuating circumstances, you may submit a request to the contest organizers to receive a different image. Please do not use this just because the image doesn’t inspire you.
The image you receive must be used in the article, but the how and why are up to you.
Shenanigans Rule: The contest organizers reserve the right to disqualify entries and entrants for behavior they deem unsportsmanlike, such as downvoting other contestants' entries solely to gain a vote advantage or excessively self-promoting their articles. If you're not sure whether or not your action will fall under the Shenanigans Rule, ask either Rounderhouse or rumetzen.
The winners will receive one feature pick each for the months of October and November.

A note from your contest organizer: This is a give and take situation. Please try and consider before submitting images that doing so means you'll also have to write something around another image.

Dates

Submission Period – for people to submit images and join the contest: 00:01EST 8/23 –23:59EST 8/30
Writing Period – to write a draft incorporating the image you’ve been given: 00:01EST 9/1 – 23:59EST 9/15
Posting Period – to post your entries: 00:01EST 9/16 – 23:59EST 9/22
Voting Period – for people to read the entries: 00:01EST 9/23 – 23:59EST 9/30

Final Rankings

ADJUSTED FINAL TALLY:

Place	Title	Author	Ranking	Received Their Image From
1	Requiems of the Harbinger	Yossipossi	39	Maxyfran 73
2	Heavensbane	LAN 2D	27	Tyumen
2	Rust	meltedbee	27	Entro_P
3	Four Misconceptions Regarding the Transcendental Clusterminds of the Uppermost Datasphere	MontagueETC	26	Entro_P
4	Inspiration Module	Snapdragon133	25	Crow-Cat
4	The Samsa Generator	Maxyfran73	25	LAN 2D
4	With Rigging of Gold and a Sky Like Wine	Stygian Blue	25	Ellie3
5	A Disease of the Flesh	Vishardsh	23	Nils Severin
5	Me, My Sword, and I	Crow-Cat	23	VoxSomniator
6	It's A Bridge	Entro_P	21	fairydoctor
6	The Field of Strange Ships	aismallard	21	lzhoudidion
7	Hazy Elegies From the West Ward Window, 1969	lzhoudidion	19	chamik
7	To Salt the Earth With Tears of Jesus	Din-Bidor	19	Nyelo
8	Slain in Ailech, without Blemish	Sobek109	18	Linkinbrick
8	The Roses of Labro	Linkinbrick	18	Sobek109
9	A Thankful Signal to the Maker	Utylike	17	Yossipossi
10	100.000 BC	Guaire	16	SunnySundays
11	City of Clocks	NotAnOligarch	13	HeWhoSpeaksInFeet
12	For You, The World	Voidless_7	11	Utylike
12	Wrong Way	VoxSomniator	11	Harowcal
13	Wreckage by the Sea	Nyelo	6	Maxyfran73
14	Black White Dust	Jackyfudge	5	Tyumen
15	Pathway and Corridor	Rigen	0	aismallard
15	Sentient AI	dr nepalwala	0	PinkHatPinkJeans
15	Two Rabbits	fairydoctor	0	Vishardsh
16	To see blue sky again	DoctorSeldon	-3	AvocadoMilk
17	Xylem Hill: Chapter 1	HeWhoSpeaksInFeet	-6	Snapdragon133
18	The Start and the End of the Tunnel	Phantom_Ace	-11	DoctorSeldon