The New Serpentine Sorting System : Volume Collaboration Event

In the Library, there are too many stories to read in a thousand lifetimes. One may not be able even to find the stories one wants in that amount of time. The docents help, of course, but there's only so many of them, and their ways can be… alien to us. So, it's time to take matters into our own hands. It's time to begin to sort the Library.

There are hundreds of thousands of us here, each with our knowledge, our own specialties. Together we can create a catalogue, a way for future Wanderers to explore the stacks with confidence, a way to bring us together. Over time we will build. We will give form to chaos.

We will give shape to the serpent.


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What is the Serpentine Sorting System?

The SSS is a collaborative writing event consisting of three simple steps: the community suggests writing prompts, these prompts are voted on, and the winner becomes the basis of a whole new canon, to be built together.1

Stage One: Announcement

  • The event is announced on site and across social media.
  • A forum thread is created for everyone to submit prompts.


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Stage Two: Submission

  • Prompt submission begins! Any user may submit ideas for a prompt or setting that will serve as the base for the canon.
  • These suggestions go into the forum thread here.
  • Submissions will be open for 7 days, or until we hit 64 prompt suggestions.

Note: See the bottom of this page for a full list of previous SSS prompts!

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Stage Three: Voting

  • Once all the prompts have been collected, they will be placed into a Google form to be voted on.
  • The voting will be conducted as a knockout tournament with two entries being placed against each other at a time in randomly selected brackets.
  • Voting will last for 7 days.

Note: This stage is where it gets fun, you get to see your favourite prompts tragically eliminated or triumphantly moving to the next voting stage. Join the discord to convince people that, no, in fact, Crab World isn't better than 25th Century Ghost Warfare!

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Stage Four: Worldbuilding

  • All users are encouraged to discuss what they think the setting or canon should look like.
  • The Staff Team will read these discussions and regularly update a sandbox page with parts of the discussion that are popular with users and work with the overall project. This page will serve as a reference for users who weren't present for every single discussion, as well as the framework for what will become the Canon Hub.
  • Worldbuilding will take place on the Wanderers Library' Discord.


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Stage Five: Writing

  • Now is the time for writing. Bear a few things in mind:
            1. This is meant to be a coherent canon, with stories relating to one another in some form, whether it be directly, or through theme and setting.
            2. Don't be afraid to get weird—-unique ideas are how things stay interesting. Remember this is a *collaborative* canon, and your story should at the very least fit into the scope and general feel of the canon, even if you choose to go in a fun new direction.
            3. That being said, while our aim is to create a rich and varied setting, There IS No Canon. This means contradictions are inevitable, and don't worry about your story lining up perfectly with all of the others.
  • Posting opens 7 days after the hub is completed.



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Rewards

A limited-time discord role is available to those who post a positively-rated work within a month of Stage Five. Previously, Last Light writers won the title of Withstander, Vitalis writers are aptly namedVitalis LLC Employee of the Month, and TitanClash writers boast the epithet of Kaiju Pit Crew.

Besides that, all you've got to play for is honour, glory, and stories.




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Last Light

March 2021


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Vitalis LLC

November 2021


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TitanClash LIVE

July 2023

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