Hey guys,

Just wanted to touch base with the Clan real quick. My report is late as a result of the GJW concluding, and I am holding off until I have more information regarding the full results before putting out the February Clan report. I appreciate your patience on this, and many other matters.

The things I’d like to cover are as follows.

Round 1 Results

For anyone who has not looked at the main page, results for Round 1 of GJWXI have been posted. Arcona had a very strong showing, in both participation numbers and placements. In Placements, I’d like to congratulate everyone who managed to place in one of the four events. I am so proud of you guys, and I will talk more about placements and novae later on.

Participation Numbers

I can’t begin to tell every one of you that came out and did at least one event how much it means to me to see theses numbers. These numbers, to me, mean more than anything.

What this shows, Arconans, is how each and every one of you helped contribute to our showing so far. And this is only Round 1. I look forward to having the full numbers with the rest of the results. I cannot stress enough how awesome this is. You guys are amazing.

Placements

Some things familiar, and some things different. There is no way around it, however, that Arcona really showed up in Round 1 Placement. We currently have the most points of any unit, but there are still a lot of events left to be graded.

What I wanted to talk about here, for a moment, was the nature and scale of this War. A lot of you, veteran or new, have not seen competiton on this scale before. You may think you have, but you haven't. The entirety of the Dark Crusade, while long and ardorous, was small scale skirmishes. In between that, we’ve had Arcona-wide events. The Fading Light was unconventional, and while the last phase was pretty typical, it still wasn’t a War.

I think some of you understand it. You understand why I’ve been talking about this War for the last three years I’ve been leading. It’s been in hints or whispers, or asides I’ve made in almost every report, or address.

This shit is big.

So, I want you all to remember that, and keep it in mind. I want you to remember that 86 submissions were sent in for Round 1 Fiction alone. And there was only 10 placements available.

Keep in mind, this is the first time in any competition held over the past 5 years (I can’t really speak before that time, since it was BCW [before the coming of Wally] that there was points awarded to the top 10 placements. We’ve had top 5 placements, with 1-3 getting points, but never this. So, also consider that fact.

By those numbers alone, I understand how some people can feel frustrated that their fiction/graphic/puzzle-time didn’t place as high as they thought. If anything, that’s just a result of being competitive. That’s Tigerblood working in you. You should be mad at not placing or not placing higher. You use that as fire, though, and let it motivate you to move forward. Not backwards. And you most certainly should not beat yourself up over it or feel bad.

As I said before, I could care less about placements in this War. Winning is fun. I like to compete, and I like to win, but ultimately, you guys came together, put the work in, and gave it your all. That matters more than any placement.

So, please, be happy and proud that you are part of something bigger than yourself. I’ve said it time and time again, if we win this War, it’s not because of any one single member. It’s because of Arcona, as a team, working together, feeding off one another. That’s what we do.

A quick example of this? I watched one member spend almost the entire 2 weeks working on her fiction. I had the privilege to get a chance to read it, and it was really enjoyable. Because of how hard I saw her working, I decided to try just a little bit harder on my fiction. I did not even think I would place with it, but I put my heart into it, and against my most optimistic thoughts the judges liked it. Meanwhile, the member did not place. A lot of great and talented writers did not place, to be fair. Does that mean she’s not a worthy writer?

No.

Her story was awesome. However, the judges just didn’t think it surpassed 10 out of 85 other stories. With fiction, especially, things can be hit or miss. Fiction, like it or not, is art, and all art is subjective to the eye of the beholder...which in events like this, are the judges.

That’s the fascinating thing about competitions, guys. Hindsight is always 20/20. It’s easy, when you don’t win, to look back and say, “Well, why did I put all that effort in?”. Ever notice how you never say that if you do win?

It’s not about winning or losing. We’re all here for the experience. I know it seems like your hard work goes to waste, but in the famous words of the Knights Radiant:

Journey before Destination.

That’s all I’m going to say on the topic. If you are curious for feedback on a given event’s grading, the judges have been very forthcoming with answering questions. If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here as well.

Sportsmanship

Stop for a moment and think back to the past few weeks. Think about how hard you worked with your teams, with your friends, and your own events. Now, remember that, and also keep in mind that every other unit in the DB did the exact same thing. Everyone put their hearts into their entries. Respect them for their efforts--and when in doubt follow the Golden Rule and treat them the way you feel you’d want to be treated if you didn’t do as well in something as you thought.

Recognition

In the next few weeks, the Arcona Summit will be hard at work going through every member, looking at their accomplishments in not just the war, but the time leading up to it, and work on getting the appropriate awards, promotions, and medals in place.

If you have doubts to my ability to back up this statement, go take a look at my report following the Dark Crusade (one of my first few Consular reports) and see how good my word is when I say that no hard work goes unnoticed, and no member who put the work in will go unnoticed.

Trust me, and trust the team I’ve built, to take care of you guys.

Operation: Resurgence

I had planned to have more time on my hands when I got back from my 10 day trip in Israel. Life sometimes has a way of throwing curve balls, though. I wasn’t able to get wifi on the 13 hour plane, was sick/exhausted, and didn't get to read through the RO then like I had planned. When I got home, I had some real life matters pop up, and some other things that needed to be handled in preparation for the War. So I just wanted to apologize for the delay on the grading. I hope you all understand, and I will do my best to have that event wrapped up (with a fictional wrap-up as well) within the next week.*

*Subject to Wally’s RL-work not killing him in the intermediate

ABC Pilot

Celevon has done some awesome work filling in for me while I’ve been unable to give my own baby the proper attention it deserves. I want to thank everyone who participated, and rest assured that this is not forgotten. As mentioned above, it’s just been a very busy three months for me in real life.

Again, I appreciate your patience in these matters. I should have more information on these in the coming days, or my next report.

Conclusion

Somehow these always end up being more words than I intended. Sorry.

The War is over, though. I want everyone to relax. Take a breath. Enjoy your friends, take some time to work on your own characters. Find inspiration in one another. And most importantly, have fun.

Thank you all for being a part of Arcona, and my family here in the DB.

Arcona Invicta.

P.S

Nothing is true, everything is puurrmitted.”

(Thank you Turel for bringing this to my attention)

One more thing

My new Avatar is awesome. Thank you, Orv <3

-W