Half-Price Sale in Shiv

[ysabetwordsmith]

This week, the poetry in the Shiv thread of Polychrome Heroics is on sale for half price from Monday, March 18 through Sunday, March 24. This series is superhero fantasy, and the thread is urban grunge. It features themes of heroism, villainy, coming of age, diversity, identity kink, family of choice, friendship, and cultural engineering. Sale prices range from $58 to $388.50. There are two open epics at present, both in Polychrome Heroics and one in Shiv -- "So Many Notes and Colors and Flavors" only needs $21 to be complete.  Until that one closes, I'd rather not open another in Shiv, but it's an option if you're really attached.  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.
"The Open Gyre"
"Growing Green, Growing Gold"
"Mysterious and Impermanent"
"Greater Than the Sum"
"Nascent Wisdom"
"Where Symbols Had the Power"
"A Lively Feast"
"Between the Normal and the Abnormal"
"Always Carry Your Goodness"
"Crossroads on the Hero's Journey"
"Gökotta"



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 combine your funds with other prompters to buy a bigger poem.  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.  See the thread page for Shiv.

Poems that unlock sequels: "The Scars on the Mind," "The Worst Word in the Dictionary," "The Child Who Survived"

Poems that have prerequisites: "The Worst Word in the Dictionary," "The So-Called Truths," "The Heart of Creativity"

FOR SALE
15 poems, $5169  ÷ 2 = $2584.50
prices from $58 to $388.50

"Survive the Recovery"
Shiv meets with Dr. G to talk about what happened with Chyou.
828 lines, was $414, sale price $207

"All the Beautiful Lights"
Shiv and Luci enjoy a holiday cruise on Lake Manawa.
824 lines, was $412, sale price $206

"Strange and Twisted Creatures"
Molly takes care of Gray after the incident with Chyou.
558 lines, was $279, sale price $139.50

"The Quickest Way to Know a Woman"
Shiv and Luci go shopping in the Old Market.
1553 lines, was $777, sale price $388.50 SOLD

"Sky Blue and Grass Green"
Shiv takes a class in underpainting, then freezes up when he tries to do it in complementary colors. He gets through it with a little help, though.
303 lines, was $152, sale price $76 POOL

"Chewing Anyway"
Elisabeth doesn't want Shiv smoking in the house, so she offers him a choice of more suitable mouth toys. Although Shiv is dubious at first, he warms up to the idea.
360 lines, was $180, sale price $90

"Calming and Rewarding"
When Shiv feels restless, Elisabeth Finn invites him to bake bread and teaches him some of the more complex slashing patterns.
1039 lines, was $520, sale price $260

"Made Anew in a Heartbeat"
Shiv is embarrassed by dolls as a coping technique.
592 lines, was $296, sale price $148

"Provisions for Parent Education"
Since nobody is thrilled with the schools in Lincoln, they move on to Omaha, which offers much better options including a college prep school and a Montessori school. They also scout job and housing opportunities in case of a move.
594 lines, was $297, sale price $148.50

"The Scars on the Mind"
Shiv gets an unexpected opportunity to address past damage.
610 lines, was $305, sale price $152.50 POOL

"The Worst Word in the Dictionary"
This inspired the free-verse poem "The Worst Word in the Dictionary." Shiv picks up his half of a trade.
364 lines, was $182, sale price $91 POOL
Available for publication after "The Scars on the Mind" has been sponsored and posted.

"The So-Called Truths"
This inspired the free-verse poem "The So-Called Truths." Shiv deals with the unsettling aftermath of personal repairs.
1172 lines, was $586, sale price $293 POOL
Available for publication after "The Scars on the Mind" and "The Worst Word in the Dictionary" have been sponsored and posted.

"When Circumstances Are at Their Worst"
When Mrs. Dr. G is upset, Shiv responds with comfort food.
231 lines, was $116, sale price $58 POOL

"The Child Who Survived"
Shiv goes to the Finn family tie-dye party.
848 lines, was $424, sale price $212

"The Heart of Creativity"
The tie-dyed shirts are opened and revealed.
458 lines, was $229, sale price $114.50
Available for posting after "The Child Who Survived" has been sponsored and published. This will also unlock a story by  dialecticdreamer.