Dear Newgrounds,

Hi! It’s serene again! Merry Christmas to all that celebrate, and Happy Holidays to everyone who celebrates another holiday! I wanted to make a quick news post to serve as both my 2024 recap and as a Secret Santa Update. 

PART ONE: Secret Santa

If Secret Santa is all you’re here for, thats alright. Feel free to just read part one!

Everyone’s gifts got revealed today! To anyone that did not receive a gift, don’t fret. Our helper team (and possibly a few backup artists, though it’s looking like we may not need a whole lot) will be going through and getting you guys some gifts. If your Santa submitted a gift but it wasn’t something for you (ex. Not your oc, was inappropriate, etc.) please DM me with that information! REMEMBER this does not apply to a drawing you just don’t like, this is only if there was rules broken! 

We’re going to be keeping the discord server open a little longer in the mean time. 

I’m going to be hosting one last community day for this event in the discord, and will be sharing more details there!

I’ll probably make one last post when all of this is wrapped up (pun not intended), but very briefly I wanted to say thank you all so much for making this such a wonderful Christmas and/or Holiday for each other, and thank you for granting me the opportunity to host this event for y’all. It has been such a wonderful experience thus far and I have every one of you to thank for it. 

Also thank you to our fantastic helpers. PLEASE go give them some love, this event would not be possible without any of them! 

@Psychogoldfish

@LegolaSS

@Oddlem

@Wizardofrank

@Loopykins

@Skoops

@Raviolibox

@D3writo

@Queen-evvvvve

PART TWO: 2024

(Theres some sappy shit in here and also starts out kinda sad n shit so uhhhh sorry in advanced!!!)

I want to let you guys know where I’ve been. 2023 and 2024 have been the worst years of my life so far. I have experienced a lot of not so fun things that I’m not going to be sharing in detail because they are all far too personal, but I’ll be sharing a little just to give everyone some context for why I up and disappeared for a little.

2023 marked the start of a downhill spiral for me that I didn’t fully understand until very recently, and that spiral (along with other factors) landed me in some not very fun situations that followed me into this year.

I pushed people I care about away while trying to cling to them at the same time and I’ll tell ya, that doesn’t work very well. I lashed out at the people I care about most, and I was lashing out because I didn’t really understand what it was that I had been experiencing until I was away from it all. Some of those people I lost because of that. If I could have the opportunity to explain myself and apologize I would take it in an instant, because how I acted was uncalled for no matter what I dealt with.

I lost opportunities because I struggled to cope with the things I had experienced. I struggled to draw for a very long period of time, and only recently I’ve started to get better on that front. I would freeze up whenever I would be put in front of a pencil and paper. That’s why I didn’t put out a whole lot of art this year.

Basically, this year fucking SUCKED for a while.

In September I was at a very low point, and decided to take a step back and take a break. I’ll be honest, I really didn’t think I was coming back. I was ready to quit everything. And then, literally the day before I planned on announcing a break, @BottleTopBillFanclub (Aalasteir) reached out to me with the opportunity to do an interview. I took it, again because I didn’t know if I was coming back and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I think that interview is the reason I came back though. It reminded me of all the things that I had gained from all of this, all the things I still had, all the things and people that still inspire me even if they weren’t in my metaphorical reach anymore. Thank you Aalasteir for reaching out, you did a lot more for me than you realize. 

I have so many wonderful friends and people that I wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for all this crazy shit, I have gained so many skills that I didn’t have before, I have learned so many things about myself and how I understand the world. On top of all that I have the people that have been behind me all along. (This list could go on forever, so we’ll save that for another time 😅)

I got to go to Pico Day, and meet such awesome people. That was truly the one day I could completely forget all my troubles. 

I got the opportunity to host Secret Santa, and I’m so glad I took that. This has been such a wonderful experience, and I’m so glad I could be apart of it all. 

There was one final big twist and turn to this year, and that was what happened in November (and while hosting Secret Santa to boot, JEEZ). I had to abruptly and suddenly move out of my house because of a situation that had been building up for a very long time, but really was also what caused that downward spiral I talked about from all the way back in the beginning of 2023. My living situation is in a good spot now, and I’m ok, but it was a very abrupt change and only recently has the tension been starting to wind down. I’ve been making jarring realizations about my previous experiences, but somehow I was hopeful. I still had my lows and I continue to have lows, but I have all these lessons I’ve learned through everything to help guide me to making better decisions. This all happened during Secret Santa, and I have intentionally waited to say anything because I wanted the focus to be on lifting everyone in the community up. Ironically enough this event is what was helping me keep my sanity, and I can’t thank y’all enough for that. 

I’m still here. I’m still learning, and I’m still growing. I’m a stronger person than I was before because of all this, and I don’t have any plans on going anywhere. 

Though I DO have some plans for next year!

PART THREE: The Future

I have a lot of plans for next year, some of which I’m gonna leave to surprises. 

Personally, I want to travel more. That’s something I plan on doing in the new year. I want to go back to school, and I plan on going for Software Development of some kind. I want to continue to gain a ton of repair experience through my current job, and build a new pc so I can finally learn Street Fighter 6 and kick everyone’s ASSES. Speaking of the FGC I also want to play more Guilty Gear Strive, get to celestial with Ramlethal, learn Elphelt and Jack-o, win a small tournament bracket, and play some more XRD and Accent Core as well and kick everyones ASSES in the Guilty Gear franchise too!!!

I’m going to be working on more game projects and FINALLY finishing the SRA pilot. I’ll be streaming more (I’m going to be doing a 100 follower live song cover when I come back!), I’ll be prepping commissions to be opened next year, all that fun stuff.

We’re gonna finish the fuckin Beat Saber Collab, y’all know why its not done yet now! (I’m so sorry BTW ;-;)

Here’s to a kick ass New Year everyone. 

PART FOUR: Thank yous

I’m going to try and keep this brief but there are a quite a few people I want to thank so uhhhh… may not be very brief

@OpSystemFilms

@Loopykins

@GrayNG

@EllieDoodles343

@Rappinawful

@Kingcrowned

@Warvester

@Raviolibox

@Psychogoldfish

@Mindchamber

@CarterSterling

@BrandyBuizel

@TomFulp

@Dungeonation

@Tamag0

Milkbarlads (the entire team)

@Aalasteir (stop changing your damn username it makes this hard >:( )

@Wizardofrank

@Oddlem

@Skoops

@Queen-evvvvve

@LegolaSS

@D3writo

And so many more people that I feel horrible about pinging and giving them a silly notification for a very brief mention. Y’all are super awesome!!! THANK YOU!!!!

(If i fucked up a username I’ll get to it later, sorry in advanced!!)

I’m gonna do my best to make next year better than this one for myself. Lets do this!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone! The future is looking bright <3

sereneFalconer

YOU HAVE 15 HOURS TO SUBMIT YOUR GIFTS!

Get on it! Please make sure to message a Secret Santa team member if you anticipate that you’ll be a little late or if you need to drop out.

If you need help submitting your gift, please reach out to a team member as soon as possible!

Merry Christmas everyone, I can’t wait for the big reveal tomorrow!!

sereneFalconer

Hi guys! I hope y’all are having a good time drawing your gifts! This news post is going to be pretty brief, but I have some reminders for y’all.

First of all…

YOU HAVE APPROXIMATELY 9 DAYS TO FINISH YOUR GIFTS!!!

There’s 10 days until Christmas Day, so we need those gifts in soon! Make sure you have them submitted before December 24th at 11:59pm EASTERN STANDARD TIME.

Please remember it is very important to NOT PUBLISH YOUR GIFT BEFORE CHRISTMAS DAY!!!! There is an auto publish feature on art portal submissions you can set up so your submission will be published automatically on Christmas Day. (DON’T HIT THE PUBLISH BUTTON AFTER YOU DO THAT!!)

Another reminder, DO NOT ADD YOUR SECRET SANTA ASSIGNMENT TO THE PROJECT UNTIL AFTER THEY’RE REVEALED! If you send them a project invite it will spoil the surprise!! Don’t forget to tag your submission with “Secret-Santa-2024” too!

Once you have that set up, you can take the project link, and drop it in the box labeled “Project URL” on the submission page in the Secret Santa Hub and then click the “Link Project” button.

If you want to read a step by step guide (With screenshots!), this is available in the Secret Santa Discord FAQ Channel. I’ll also be providing another copy of this guide in the Secret Santa Discussion thread. Both the discord and this thread are good places to ask for help if you need.

(A quick side note, the Secret Santa Discord server is around for this Secret Santa Event. Please do not ask questions about Tankmas or the site itself in there, we can’t help you with that stuff! Sorry!)

If you anticipate that you won’t be able to finish or that you’re going to be a little late, please reach out to someone on the Secret Santa team as soon as possible! If you think you’re going to finish a little late (about a day or so), we may be able to provide you with an extension.

One final (slightly off topic) announcement, I’m having some technical difficulties getting things ready for the second community day, so worst case scenario we can have a Post-Christmas “Celebration day” with Jackbox games, and drawpiles! I need to finalize this date still, but it will probably be on Sunday the 29th of December. I’ll make sure to keep you all posted!

That’s all I have for y’all now, make sure to finish those gifts!!

Happy Holidays

sereneFalconer

Howdy Everyone! 

Thank you guys for the all the hype and excitement so far! We have nearly 600 Participants this year (I believe it’s somewhere in the 570 range) and I couldn’t be more excited to see everyone receive their gifts later on this month.

Registration for Secret Santa is now closed, and I’m here to update y’all on the next steps in the process. All of our participants have been assigned groups, BUT as of right now Secret Santas haven’t been assigned. We’re just finalizing a few details, and it will either be later today or sometime tomorrow from what I’ve been told. I believe you should receive an automated DM from I-bot when that happens, so keep an eye on your inbox!

If there are any changes in that plan, We’ll be sure to let y’all know. If you’re participating and aren’t already in the discord server, be sure to join! Discord is the easiest place to give updates and announcements as they happen, so if anything pops up then Discord is most likely where you’ll hear it first. 

After Santas are assigned, you are SWORN TO SECRECY! Don’t be yapping about who you were assigned, it may spoil the surprise! Don’t stream work on your assignment in this server, or a server your person may be in! I also suggest you don’t follow your assignment person (if you aren’t already) as soon as you get it. Get sneaky with this! If you really need to ask a question about your assigned character, then reach out to someone on our mod team and we can help you get that information. 

IF YOU FINISH BEFORE THE 24th, DO NOT PUBLISH YOUR GIFT IMMEDIATELY! There is a way to set an automatic publishing date on an Art submission, set that for December 25th if you want to have a post ready! Don’t add your assigned artist to the post yet! It will spoil the surprise! From there, you can take the project url and paste it into the box of the same name on the Secret Santa submission page. There is a guide for this process (with pictures!) in the FAQ channel in the Discord server, so if you need a little more help be sure to join and check that out. 

If you have any additional questions about the process, you can still reach out in the discussion thread, the discord server, and this news post.

A couple extra updates- I’m going to reach out to the two winners of the Rules quiz game I’ll be gifting a month of supporter about those details today, just some info I need to confirm. 

About halfway through the drawing time, there may be another community day just to give everyone a bit of a break (and to remind you that about half of your time is up!), and it will be very similar to the previous one we had in the Discord before Registration closed! The date has not been set for this yet, I need to work out a couple details first so keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested. 

I’ll also be posting the magma/drawpile from our last community day within the week, and I’ll be making sure to get as many people who participated added to the art submission as possible!

A bit more of a small personal update, I’m planning on making a Thanksgiving/Christmas news post AFTER Secret Santa concludes. It’s a general update on what’s been going on with me, my plans moving forward with commissions, streaming, my other projects, and where I was before I came back for Secret Santa, but I don’t want it to impede or intrude on the event currently going on. If you’re interested in such updates, I’ll be giving those probably after Christmas. Thanks so much guys! 

I look forward to seeing y’alls submissions, and the entire team appreciates your patience.

Happy Holidays :)

sereneFalconer

Friends, fellow Newgrounders,

TODAY IS YOUR LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR SECRET SANTA!

If you would like to participate, please read the rules, click the register button at the bottom of the rules page, AND complete your profiles!

Registrants that don’t have a completed profile by the end of today (before 11:59pm EASTERN STANDARD TIME) will be PURGED!!!!

If you need some guidance in making a profile, there is a thread in the Discord server to help you out! You can also ask your questions there, or in the Discussion thread.

Thank you guys so much for your enthusiasm and support so far! I hope y’all are looking forward to some DRAWING!

Happy Holidays!!

sereneFalconer

Hi everyone! It’s Serene here with a Secret Santa reminder for y’all!

Registration ends in FOUR DAYS!

One more time for the people in the back-

REGISTRATION ENDS IN FOUR DAYS!!!!!

If you would like to participate in this year’s Secret Santa event, be sure to read the rules, click ‘register now’ at the bottom of this page, AND complete your character profile BEFORE DECEMBER 1st! (By November 30th at 11:59pm EASTERN STANDARD TIME!)

Any and all profiles with nothing on them will be PURGED after registration closes, so FINISH THOSE PROFILES!

A few more reminders-

@LegolaSS is hosting a Secret Santa for our unscouted users!

You can ask questions in this forum thread!

You can also ask questions in our Discord server!

Finally, you can DM me with any questions too!

Make sure you complete those profiles if you’re planning on joining, everyone!

Thanks for your continued support y’all :)

Happy Holidays, and Happy drawing!

sereneFalconer

Banner artwork by the fantastic @Oddlem :)

Good morning from the east coast everyone! Today is November 21st 2024 which means registration for Newgrounds Secret Santa is officially OPEN!

From now until November 30th at 11:59pm (EST) you will have time to make your character profiles for your secret santa. Here’s where you can get registered and work on your profiles!

EDIT-The link issue should be resolved! Be sure to double check your profile, and make sure everything is there! Thanks again for your patience, everyone!

A few reminders for everyone

• PLEASE READ THE RULES IN FULL BEFORE YOU REGISTER!!! The rules are available on the registration page!!
• Do NOT Link M or A rated submissions in your Secret Santa profile!!!
• We have a discord server! If you want to get announcements and updates fast, this is the best place for it! It’s also great for asking questions and reading the FAQ all in one place. Be sure to join if you haven’t already!
• Here is the official Discussion thread! This thread has all the links currently available, and will be updated with more links or resources as they become needed/available. If you aren’t scouted, you can also post some of your recent artwork in the replies to heighten your chance of getting scouted before registration closes.
• Speaking of scouting- if you can’t get scouted before registration closes, @legolaSS is hosting an E group where unscouted artists are eligible to join. Please keep in mind that you won’t be able to join both events even if you ARE scouted!
• We are still compiling a list of potential back up artists! If you are interested feel free to shoot me a dm, and I’ll put you on the list.

I’ll be keeping everyone updated on things and deadlines as they come out in news posts when necessary, so feel free to follow if you want to stay in the loop a little easier.

I’m also going to be linking any other Secret Santa events as they pop up, so if theres one that starts up, let me know and I’ll share it here.

One last thing, please give all our fantastic helpers some love too! This event would not be possible without their support <3

@Psychogoldfish

@Oddlem

@LegolaSS

@Wizardofrank

@Raviolibox

@queen-evvvvve

@loopykins

@skoops

Y’all are so awesome, thank you so much :,D

That’s all I have for you right now guys!

Thank y’all so much for all the support and excitement we’ve seen already, let’s have an awesome holiday season!

-sereneFalconer

Hi everyone!

I'm going to keep this brief, but Secret Santa Registration begins TOMORROW!! I'm so excited, and I hope you all are too!

All the necessary links are in this forum post, and I'll make another news post tomorrow.

I'm finishing up some artwork for Secret Santa live on Twitch, feel free to drop by with any questions you may have :)

Thanks y'all!

Hello Everyone! It’s sereneFalconer here with an announcement for all of you! 

SURPRISE! I’m back from my break, and I’ll be hosting Secret Santa this year alongside @Psychogoldfish (who will be helping us make sure everything is running smoothly). 

Today I’m going to give you all some details so everyone can be ready for registration, including when registration starts, when Secret Santas will be assigned, a brief overview of important rules, where you can ask questions, and who you can approach with any concerns. This is basically your 8 day warning, registration is coming up! Get excited! 

Registration for Secret Santa will be open from November 21st to November 30th. During registration you will submit a character reference along with any details you would like your Secret Santa to know about. 

I will make a new post with a link to the registration page. Feel free to give me a follow to get notified when it happens!

You will find out who you are drawing for on December 1st. This is when you can start working on your gifts.

All submissions for Secret Santa need to be submitted by December 24th at 11:59 pm (Eastern Standard Time) so everyone can receive their artwork on Christmas day.

Anyone who fails to submit on time will most likely be added to the naughty list, and excluded from future events.

We will have backup artists on standby to make sure everyone eventually gets a gift.

Now that there’s a general timeline, let’s talk about some things to keep in mind while you prepare for registration. 

You MUST be scouted in the Art Portal in order to participate in this Secret Santa event. This requirement was introduced last year, and this year is no exception! 

@LegolaSS will be hosting a separate Secret Santa event for un-scouted users. Give them a follow to be notified when that starts! (We’ll also be linking it on the registration page.)

You will need to submit an ORIGINAL character for your Secret Santa to draw. While your character can be derivative of other popular characters, it should have a lot of originality to it. You can not submit things like “Sonic the hedgehog, but he’s green”, or “A pokemon, but I added big teeth”.

Your character has to be in the art portal. You can add as much information, reference sheets, etc, as you like, you will need to link to an example of your character that’s been submitted to the Art Portal, to prove they are your character. If you have a character that’s never been posted to the portal, now’s a good time to do so.

Characters MUST be family friendly. It’s important to remember that another person is going to be drawing your character, and you don’t know who that person will be. NSFW Artwork or characters are not allowed in this event. We are also drawing a hard line at anything that even borders on being fetish art. This includes, but is not limited to, overly sexualized characters, and anything that is clearly associated with a kink.

Characters should mainly be human in appearance. We don’t want to see complex mechs, weird creatures with 100 appendages, or anything that might be difficult for character artists to render. We also don’t want any animals, basic objects, or anything else that’s not truly a character. People signing up for this event want to draw fun characters.

Anthro characters are allowed, but not full-on furries. Again, we have to consider what people will be comfortable with drawing. If you have a cute cartoon bunny girl that you could easily see in a children’s cartoon, we would allow that. If you have a yiffing fox boy with weird wet spots and drool, we are not accepting it.

Your character profile should relay the level of effort you plan on putting into your gift. We’ll be using these profiles to group artists into groups of similar skill levels. If you are an A-class artist, but only plan on spending a day making your gift, make sure the character sheet you put up isn’t your absolute top quality work, so we can get you into the appropriate group.

The full list of rules for the event will be available when registration begins on November 21st, please make sure to read them IN FULL when they become available so you don’t miss anything. 

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reply to this post!

You can also join the Secret Santa Discord server and get help there.

EDIT- Secret Santa Discussion Thread is now LIVE! Go there to post some of your recent artwork if you need some help getting scouted!

Here’s the official listing of all the rules!!

We have an awesome team of helpers to make sure this goes smoothly-

There’s me, @sereneFalconer - You can call me the “head elf” this year. I’ll be organizing the event, recruiting helpers, and providing all the news and information you need.

@Psychogoldfish - Josh is running things on the back end and making sure everything functions with the system as well as providing general guidance to the team!

@LegolaSS - Legola is one of our wonderful helpers, who will also be running a separate Secret Santa event for anyone who isn’t scouted. Follow him for more details if this interests you!

@Oddlem - She’ll be helping with all the sorting and answering questions, as well as making this year’s promotional banner!

@Wizardofrank, @Raviolibox, @queen-evvvvve, @loopykins, @skoops - The rest of our helper team! They will be helping us sort artists, answer questions, and manage the event when the time comes.  

I couldn’t ask for a better batch of helper elves! They’re all freaking awesome so please give them some love when you’re able!

Finally, we have a few backup artists on standby in the event someone doesn’t get a gift. If you are interested in being a backup artist, let me know. We’ll be recruiting backup artists when we have a clearer picture of how many gifts need to be completed. Be aware that you may not be selected if we don’t need extra help.

So with that said, y’all better start thinking about what characters you want to submit, and we’ll see you next week for registration!

“Magnum Opus” by sereneFalconer

Prompt used was “Glass”

Word Count- 2140

Light trigger warning for blood

I have some authors notes at the very end, but here at the beginning I just wanted to say thanks for reading :)

Clack

Clack

Clack

I hear a pair of footsteps approaching from the long hall. A masculine figure stops in my peripheral vision, his presence giving me an uneasy feeling in my gut that I cannot explain.

“Such a beautiful window, don’t you think?” His deep voice bounces off the walls of the long corridor. 

My eyes don’t leave the window, The sunlight of every color projecting part of the larger image on my face. 

“I’m glad you appreciate it. It took a very long time to put together.” I respond, trying not to express too much pride. 

“You made this? I’m quite impressed. Surely it must have taken a while, given its large size.” 

“Yes, actually. Nearly a decade. For a while there, I never thought I would finish. A dear friend of mine inspired aspects of the final design that I feel really pulls it all together.” My gaze flutters across the stained glass. It floats from a starry night sky, to a telescope planted firmly on a grassy hill, to the pair of shoes and piles of books, and finally to the woman they sat beside. She holds a flower in one of the hands she is leaning back on. 

“Your friend has quite the eye for beauty it seems,” My head slowly gives signs of agreement, “give my compliments to them as well then.”

“If I could, I most certainly would.” Sadness washes over me, and my chin seems to drop in response.

I can feel the man’s sharp gaze hit me like a truck,

“Ah, I see…” A moment of silence sits between us, “Well, I suppose I have an eye for beauty as well. This wonderful window caught my eye, after all.” 

I perk up a bit. It was a… strange way of paying a compliment but it was a compliment nonetheless… right?

The silence continues to build a pressure in the air the longer it goes on. It becomes almost unbearable after a minute or so, a layer of sweat begins to build on my skin.

“You know, the story of this piece is something I’m quite proud of,” my words escape, trying to alleviate this stress, “She finally feels free, able to see what she’s longed to see. She’s able to sit in darkness, only to be guided by starlight if she so chooses. She’s ready to chart her own path, and take the time to enjoy the little things along the way. She’s on a journey that she thought she could never make. It feels quite idealistic, but somehow it makes me hopeful I can do the same someday.”

The man seems to make a quiet sound of agreement, an expressed interest.

My words stutter back to life after the pause and response, “The colors were hand picked. I opted for cooler tones, the blues and greens especially. Of course, to draw the eye, brighter colors were used sparingly across the piece. Every pane of glass was selected to intentionally have a slight difference in color to the pane next to it. That is partially why it took so long. I searched high and low for just the right piece in every place.”

I waited patiently for another indication that my words were heard. I fidget with my fingers for a moment or so, tracing circles on one hand with the thumb of the other.

Perhaps he is being polite? Or perhaps he is invested in the origins of my Magnum Opus?

“…In fact, sometimes it even came down to the sand that the glass once was. How the glass was cut, the perfect shape for every little piece. Sometimes the perfect shape was found by accident, but once I found whatever that shape was, whatever color, or whatever technique I used, every piece was deliberate.”

“But does that matter as much as the final result?” I feel something like a shock in my heart. The kind when you touch a doorknob with your hand, not expecting that split second of electric intensity. 

“I-I’m sorry, I don’t believe I understand what you mean…” 

“Well, its purpose is to be beautiful, and I believe that has been achieved. Really, does anything else about the piece matter?”

“Well, I would think so. Yes, it is beautiful, but there are so many little complexities to it. The journey to its completion, the story it tells, every little piece builds up that beauty.” 

“But does any of that even matter if I don’t think it is beautiful? Would anyone consider any of that if it was ugly?” The audacity of his words, the sheer confidence in every syllable… is he playing devil's advocate? Surely he does not believe this absurdity… Surely…

The sun began to sink over the horizon, the colorful light shining through the window beginning to build in intensity before it died down for the evening. 

“There is so much more than the piece’s visual beauty. What about all of the things that give it character? All the little imperfections? The asymmetrical shapes? The overall message? Those all contribute to the beauty of it.”

“The purpose of the window is to be beautiful. It is to be looked at in all its glory. I am quite surprised you do not understand this, considering you are the one who made this piece.” Do people actually think like this? He must be trying to provoke some kind of serious thought out of me, right?

“But-“

“You are quite lucky that I am capable of seeing and recognizing such beautiful work. I could have turned a blind eye, then where would you be but here, observing your work all by yourself? How would you know that it truly is beautiful?”

“But I-“

“A window like this is meant to be viewed and used in the realm of the physical. The window does not have a message to speak, nor the capacity to. Even if it did, who wants to listen to the deafening sounds of scratching glass? Why give it much more thought outside of that itch in your brain that gets scratched when you see something so aesthetically pleasing?”

“I mean-“

“Perhaps it was by sheer luck that you managed to make this seem so visually appealing. You clearly do not understand what windows like this are made for. You have made it much too complex in your mind. I don’t think the next one you make will be beautiful. Maybe I was even wrong about this one.”

I exhale sharply, but he doesn’t notice. 

Oh no…

I know where this is going, but I don’t think I can stop it… I breathe heavily trying to block out his words. Perhaps I have given this stranger much more credit than he deserves.

He’s been talking for a minute or so, the anger filled exhalation of air from my nose drowning out his voice for a moment. Hopefully he will go away when he’s finished. 

“Maybe if you take my advice, you can guarantee that all your works will be sought after. As of right now, I don’t think it is very likely.” Just my luck that I have to hear those words in between breaths.

“Leave, NOW!” My eyes met him with a snap of my head, my eyebrows furrowed in rage and pain. I point to the other end of the corridor. For the first time I saw his face in full. He seems shocked, his eyes wide. I don’t think, however, that this was a shocked look caused by an epiphany. 

The explosion of emotions was an inevitability, this was what I was afraid of happening.

“How rude of you! How indecent and impolite! I was here simply giving you advice! I helped you! I recognized the beauty! And you feel the need to be so hurtful? I am quite offended.” 

“Get out. I don’t want your recognition.” 

His face softens for a single moment, and then the subtlest of smirks stretches across his mouth. I was so puzzled by that smile, but I understood it not long after. 

“You want me to leave? Fine. But first,” movement down by his hands catches my attention, “let's hear what the glass has to say.”

Wait…

I take a glimpse at what he has in his hands as he winds back his arm.

Wait, has he had that this whole time?

I only see the rock in his right hand for a split second.

“Wait, stop!”

The deafening sound of shattering glass seems to knock me to my knees. Tears are painted across my cheeks as the bottom half of my Magnum Opus crumbles.

“No! NO!”

His left arm winds back. There’s a rock in that hand too. How did I not see them?

I beg and I plead, I scream and cry. 

“If only you had listened to me,” He says.

The top half of my Magnum Opus crumbles, my heart shattering with the impact.

My hands meet my head, a near incomprehensible flurry of pain stricken words flowing out of my mouth. I crawl over the pieces of glass left strewn all over the floor of the corridor. There I sit, directly in front of it, glass puncturing the flesh of my palms. I look straight up to where it once was, the full moon the only thing left in its place. I scream out. I cry. I weep. 

I jerk my head down to the floor.

I can fix it, I can fix it! I have to fix it!

I grasp at the shattered glass, the once white floor painted with strips of crimson. The moments pass much too fast, the seconds blur and blend together. 

I need all the pieces, where are they?!

My bleeding hands pull me up and over the wall my stained glass was once attached to. I once again grasp for shattered glass, feeling through the soft grass and coarse dirt. I am completely illuminated by the moonlight. 

“I wonder what your dear friend would think of this? How ashamed he would be.”

Clack

Clack

Clack

I scream out. I cry. I weep. No one is around to hear it, or perhaps everyone is. I don’t know anymore.

How could I let this happen?

How will anyone bear the shame I have brought? 

Is this my fault?

It’s my fault. It’s my fault. 

I did this. 

My body collapses into the glass and dirt. My sobbing is deafening to my sensitive ears. I grasp at my hair with my crimson palms. The glorious moon is the only witness to my pain. 

It feels like so many evenings have passed, even without a sunrise. Small creatures crawl over my skin, going about their normal business even with me in the way. Eternity seems to pass. I have every thought cross my mind at the same time, but I feel so silent on the inside. 

I shift, turning to my other side while trying to find some sense of comfort. Something is stuck on my arm. 

My curiosity cannot be contained. I hesitantly get back on my knees, slowly but surely. My eyes met whatever was stuck on my arm. Some of the glass is glued to my forearm by sweat. 

How peculiar…

My finger gently traces over the pieces of glass. 

It almost looks like a mosaic…

It almost looks… beautiful…

The crying seems to stop, I blink them out of my tear filled eyes one flutter of an eyelid at a time. 

It’s like a match was struck inside me, the perfect image in my head.

I can fix it- no…

I can make it better!

I have been living through the very moments that make such pieces truly beautiful. The very moments I had talked about previously. All those little complexities, those little imperfections, the pain and terror that graced my very spirit. All those ups and downs, those are the true beauty. 

I can see the new image forming in my head. Every piece of my shattered window forming a brand new picture, and telling a brand new story. A beautiful mosaic.

My lips curl up as the sky seems to lighten. Sunrise is approaching. Plans form in my head, lists of supplies, proper precautions, and useful techniques coming to mind soon after.

My Magnum Opus wasn’t finished quite yet.

I go to get up, and a sharpness digs into one of my knees as I shift. A painful reminder of the possibilities that come with this new work of art.

Fear. There is so much fear. 

What if…

What if…

What if…

Then you do it again. Every picture will be more beautiful than the last.

I shake myself out of it, I am making this happen. 

Back on my feet, I embrace the warmth of the rising sun. 

Time to pick up the pieces.

Authors Notes:

Hi! I hope yall enjoyed!! Glass was the prompt I immediately gravitated towards, mainly because I felt it was the perfect symbolism. My two original ideas were exploring a stained glass window, or a prince ruperts drop. I decided to go with the stained glass. While there is very specific and deep symbolism linked to the window, I also want other people to be able to put whatever symbols they feel may fit in place for them in this story. It’s up to reader interpretation in that sense, so feel free to take my interpretation with a grain of salt.

Recently I have been learning what it means to be feminine, and unfortunately not just in the positive ways. I felt like a stained glass window was the perfect way to convey the complex concepts of femininity. The events of the story I feel convey what it feels like to put together a person, to build up that feminine image, and unfortunately, what it feels like when that image is underestimated, objectified, rejected, and shattered. I sprinkled little symbolic pieces of actual experiences into it as well.

I am still coming to terms with how the world views me, and I am still putting those broken pieces of glass into place to form a new and more beautiful image than the last. In all honesty, it was incredibly therapeutic writing this story. I hope you all can appreciate it as much as I do. Even if another story completely blows mine out of the water, I’m satisfied with mine. Thank you so much to Jamriot for hosting this event, I didn’t expect to get such healing from it. Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope to participate in more wonderful writing events like this one in the future. <3