Reconsidering Giraffe Incentives and Time Crunching

As I struggle to finish January's Giraffe Call, I am coming to the conclusion that I have overextended myself on, at the very least, the higher reaches of the call incentive levels and need to rethink them.

So, my question to you, oh my readers:

* What incentives do you really like, that encourage you to participate/donate?
* Which don't motivate you at all/do you really not care about?
* Would you rather have less in a more timely fashion, or more stretched out over 2-3 months?

Making Harvest Wreathes, a story of the Unicorn/Factory for the Feb. Giraffe Call

For kelkyag's prompt.

Unicorn/Factory has a landing page here.

The village was tense as they prepared for the harvest festival, the mothers and the unwed daughters holding themselves as if afraid to hope, the fathers and sons and young children hating the helpless feeling, rattling around slamming into things like an animal gone mad, all of them trying to hard not to remember, not to think about it, not to worry, not to show what they were feeling.

It made fingers tremble, as they hung the garlands. It made hands shake, as they wove the wreaths, twisting grapevines and roses together. It made smiles tense and sharp, and greetings unpleasantly perfunctory.
( Read more... )

Planting Future, a continuation of Tir na Cali for the Feb. Giraffe Call.

For stryck's commissioned continuation of Second Pressing.

Tir Na Cali has a landing page here.

Keri wanted to complain.

Keri liked complaining in general; if Onyx had been feeling less generous, she would be irritated that the girl had been bought with them. But Keri had skill, as she and Taris did, and that was what their new master would need.

He, their new Lord, had, with some advice from Taris, picked the best of the field slaves from their old master's former staff, the best and those that, while not wonderful, were motivated enough to be trained. He had taken Keri and Onyx shopping with him for equipment, and set all three of them to buying furnishings.
( Read more... )

Next: Success (LJ)

Out of their minds, a story of Bug Invasion for the (January) Giraffe Call

For fflox's commissioned continuation of
All in Your Head (LJ), after
From the moment they breathed our air (Lj) after: Staying in the City (LJ) and Spooks vs. Bugs (DW)


"You're not real. You're in my imagination."

"I don't believe in you."

"I can live my life without you just fine."

"Aah-choooo!"

"I've never seen this many fair folk. I've never seen anything like this many so close to a city."
( Read more... )