Half-Price Sale in Polychrome Heroics
This week, the poetry of Polychrome Heroics is on sale for half price from Monday, September 18 through Sunday, September 24. This series is superhero fantasy. It features themes of heroism, coming of age, diversity, identity kink, family of choice, friendship, and cultural engineering. Sale prices range from $7.50 to $472.50, so hopefully there will be something for everyone. There are three open epics at present, all in Polychrome Heroics, so we're full for now. Prices on open epics are locked at the time of opening; however, if anyone wants to donate to open epics and buy poetry, spending $100 will get you the quarter-price rate on the new poems, regardless of the rate on the open epic(s) you support.
We are repeating the special discount for purchases of $100 or more, in which you get poetry at 25% of its original price instead of 50%. (Note that this increases the amount of poetry you get, rather than reducing the amount of money spent; the point is to get this stuff off of my desk. Yes, I can afford it.) That size of donation also makes you a k-fan which comes with some other perks, like a year-end collection of a poetic series. If several folks want to bundle their orders to make the $100 threshold and have one person send it all, that's okay; you'll get the discount and I'll list all your names as donors, but you'll have to decide amongst you who gets the k-fan credit.
Some of the poems are in sequence of related action, so in places there are prerequisites before a poem can be published. They can be sponsored at any time, just might have to wait for publication until something else gets posted first. Those are marked accordingly. I have also made lists of poems which unlock sequels, and poems which have prerequisites.
Linkback perk: The following poems have verses left to reveal. Boost the signal for this half-price sale and tell me which poem you want to extend.
"Dangerous Refuges"
"The Marble and the Sculptor"
"The Golden Peaches of Peace."
"Leaves Upon the Water"
"The Quick Brown Fox"
"Lead Us in Peace"
"We Will Fade into You"
"The Emulsification of Humankind"
About characters and storylines: The storylines feature multiple characters, so if you want poems about ONE specific character, look closely. The thumbnail descriptions here give some indication who features in each poem. The storyline pages are adding precise, complete information about which characters appear in each poem. If you need more than what's already visible, you can ask me.
About timing: If you want maximum choice, shop early. We usually send a batch of things to my parents near the end of a sale, and those poems will be posted as I have time.
About pools: Yes, you can combine your funds with other prompters to get the quarter-price rate. Yes, you can offer to match donations by other people. However, the wordsmith is not also a math whiz! After several attempts to find a way that I can work with pools and matches, I have concluded that this is over my head. (I did figure out how to avoid generating fractional pennies, though: all initial prices are now whole dollars, which means they cut evenly into halves and quarters.) So if you want to host a pool or a match, make a post for that in your blog or other venue, then comment here with what you're doing and include a link to wherever the discussion will be. You figure out the poems, you collect the funds, and when stuff is fully funded, you send me the money and the list of what it's for. Then I'll post the goodies.
Before placing your order, please check this sale page to see what is still unsold! I will try to update the page as things sell, and it's likely to be the case that some poems will be marked SOLD before appearing in posts. People often buy things in batches, which means that selling gets ahead of posting. Also sometimes people ask for the same thing at the same time, so that not all overlaps are preventable. If you have alternate instructions in case you request something that has just sold, please include that in your message; otherwise I'll email you back and ask what you want to do.
Currently available are the following poems. Some are in series chronological order, and others are just kind of stuck wherever, because sequencing Polychrome Heroics is like trying to sequence a dozen different comic book titles from the same publisher. I have fans working on touching up the organization; for now, see the rough draft of the Storyline Guide and the thread pages for Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Officer Pink, and Shiv.
Poems that unlock sequels: "Come Closer in Kinship," "Come Out of the Darkness," "Creating a Community Around Food," "
Also: "Two Foxes" is still in microfunding with $95 to go, and it's a prerequisite for all the subsequent Kenzie poems. "The Inner Transition" is still in microfunding with $243 left to go. It's a prerequisite for all the subsequent Stylet poems, which are not on sale this week, but finishing it will also unlock some stories that Siliconshaman has already written.
Poems that have prerequisites: "Come Closer in Kinship," "Come Out of the Darkness," "Sheltered and True," "Ten Minutes in the Life of a Pear," "
FOR SALE
31 poems, $7293 ÷ 2 = $3646.50
prices from $7.50 to $472.50
ANTIMATTER & STALWART STAN (3 poems,
"TERF Wars"
Summary: When T-Oregon adds an Other category to its paperwork, Stan and Lawrence wind up discussing the implications at school.
346 lines,
"The Most Precious Right of Every Citizen"
Third in the “Voting” triptych
Summary: Stan and Lawrence share the experience of their first voting day.
598 lines,
"Always Repay the Cost”
Summary: When a superhero takes critical damage, having a favor to call in becomes very handy.
650 lines,
DAMASK (4 poems,
"To Protect the Most Vulnerable"
Summary: Mallory joins Heron and others adding a garden to a local park.
316 lines,
"Pixy-Led"
Summary: Walden teaches Simon how to lead people astray, and he puts it to good use.
252 lines,
"Reasons Not to Hurl the Planet into the Sun"
Summary: Excellent delectables, well marketed, may yield unexpectedly positive results.
59 lines,
"Only If It Is Embraced"
Summary: Damask and Farce join a team to help capture the Scream.
1083 lines,
IRON HORSES (3 poems,
"Come Closer in Kinship"
Summary: Kenzie is physically recovered enough to travel. He meets Blair's parents, who invite him to their home on the Rocky Boy's Reservation in Montana.
411 lines,
Available for publishing after "Two Foxes" has been sponsored and published
"Come Out of the Darkness"
Summary: As Kenzie continues to recover from his ordeal, he settles in on the reservation and begins to open up. He shares his struggles with Ida, who has seen it before and offers sympathy.
266 lines,
Available for publishing after "Two Foxes" and "Come Closer in Kinship" have been sponsored and published
"Sheltered and True"
Summary: The fourth day after Kenzie's rescue finds him restless and looking for something to do.
532 lines,
Available for publishing after "Two Foxes," "Come Closer in Kinship," and "Come Out of the Darkness" have been sponsored and published
OFFICER PINK (4 poems,
"Wanton Kittens"
Summary: Supervised by Riposte, Ansel, and Boots, the telepathic kittens explore Ansel's office.
134 lines,
"The Things That Really Interest Me"
Summary: Ansel talks with Kyle, who is exhausted from all the extra work at Bouchet College.
197 lines,
"Sacrificed Part of Himself"
Summary: Ansel visits his grandparents' farm with Turq in tow. It is the farmiest farm ever to farm.
917 lines,
"Branded in His Memory"
Summary: A mass-casualty incident brings Ansel to the Christian Care Rescue Mission in Bluehill. It's an ugly mess, but he does a wonderful job of helping everyone recover -- not just from their fresh injuries, but whatever put them in a homeless shelter to begin with.
1555 lines,
$50 pledged by
kestrels_nest$5 paid by
thnidu$40 paid by Antisocialite_forum
$40 paid by Technoshaman
$10 paid by Alatefeline
$49.50 paid by Daisiesrockalot
SHIV (9 poems,
"What A Win Looks Like"
Summary: Dr. G demonstrates the difference between negotiation and coercion when asking Shiv to attend group therapy for the benefit of the regular attendees.
623 lines,
"Creating a Community Around Food"
Summary: Shiv explores the Farmer's Market in downtown Omaha, and brings home some of autumn's bounty.
516 lines,
"Ten Minutes in the Life of a Pear"
Summary: Shiv helps Cook create seasonal dishes with the bushel of fruit from the Farmer's Market.
249 lines,
Available for publishing after "Creating a Community Around Food" has been sponsored and posted.
"An Atmosphere of Shame"
Summary: Shiv agrees to a beach trip with the Finns, and then finds himself needing to acquire some new supplies for it.
467 lines,
"Everything That Is Real About Us"
Summary: The Finns seem weird to Shiv, but they're growing on him, and that helps make up for a lot of crappy things in his past. Despite some bumps along the way, he enjoys himself at the beach.
1889 lines,
Available after "An Atmosphere of Shame" has been sponsored and published.
"A Wanderer with a Purpose"
Summary: Shiv gets to see Tolliver's forge and explore pilgrim badges as a simple craft project.
572 lines,
"What You're Afraid to Ask For"
Summary: Shiv coaxes Pain's Gray into playing with him again.
790 lines,
"Beatdown"
Summary: When his old gang from Lincoln starts stirring up trouble, Shiv pushes back in an artistic fashion.
412 lines,
MISCELLANEOUS (9 poems,
"We Must Bear Witness"
Summary: During WWII, Dr. Infanta travels throughout Europe, contributing all she can to various Resistance movements.
303 lines,
"For Any Creative Assignment"
Summary: Joshua is bemused to find a supervillain on his doorstep asking for a job.
600 lines,
"Gliding In"
Summary: Kellin, an EMT and firefighter in rural Montana, leverages his skill at reading air currents to land in places most parachutists can't.
30 lines,
"Death Whispers at the Tip"
Summary: Several women find new meaning in the old legends of the Amazons.
250 lines,
"Climbing Through the Cracks"
Summary: A flickering teen soup, searching for a way out of an abusive home, finally finds a viable option.
375 lines,
"Chaos and Disruption"
Summary: Jerryrigger tells a wannabe anarchist what anarchy is really like.
80 lines,
"The Best Type of Intimacy"
Summary: Kennedy, Benchdog, and Pinion all have their reasons for bailing from the mixer party to hang out with each other instead.
200 lines,
"The Things That Money Can't Buy"
Summary: A tycoon with an excess of money and an absence of sense or compassion can cut a wide swath through life.
94 lines,
"The Windows of Your Home"
Summary: Fireheart helps a cousin-by-marriage deal with her superpowered son.
68 lines,