Le Bello's Challenging Create-A-Soul Challenge Contest!

WindupSkeleton

[14] Master
Le Bello posts a theme, you do your best to create something that fits.

General Rules:
- One submission only. If you enter another design, it will count as your entry.
- If you enter a second design, please delete the post with our first design in.
- Please don't post any non-submission CaS designs.
- Everyone gets ONE vote per challenge, including entrants.
- Entrants may NOT vote for themselves.
- Votes cast BEFORE the voting period are NOT COUNTED.

[notice]Current challenge: N/A[/notice]

CHALLENGE I:
Create a SCV iteration of Talim.
PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER:
Fliptop.
With his "Wanderer Talim" look, Fliptop met the brief, punched it in the face, and then rebuilt it prettier then before. Capturing the essence of Talim, while giving her and aged and mature look. The idea of a wanderer fit perfectly with Talim's wind theme, and though it was inspired by some abandoned concept art, Fliptop truly made it his own. Top notch work from an amazing artist.
LE BELLO'S CHOICE:
It's been tough for Le Bello. Every design entered was certainly unique, from Vilarcane's creepily clever 'Puppet Talim', to Pocky-Yoshi's Farmer. However some of them required a little too much story to be believable, they strayed too far from Talim's general personality to the point where they needed a bit of lore. And so whilst they were cool, Sprtn_363's Dark Talim, for example, they didn't really fit in.
And so it fell to a choice of two. For a long time Le Bello had Fliptop in mind as the winner, but all that changed when Yoshariolll came in with his attempt.
The way he incorporated classic elements of Talim's design, and made them more grown up, but still keeping her essence really clinched the win. Good job Yoshariolll and Fliptop, well deserved!

Congratulations to the winners, and special mention to Leona, who would win a Runner's Up prize if there were prizes, or indeed a runner up!

CHALLENGE II:
Recreate a SCV 1P outfit.
PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER:
With 3 votes more than the next highest entrant, d_b's Kilik takes the first prize in this second round of CaS Challenge Madness! A design that managed to replicate both the simplicities and complexities of Kilik's 1P outfit, d_b did some EXCELLENT work with the extra equipment, as well as some superb sticker work to create an amazingly accurate recreation. It's so good, that even with the design specs I couldn't copy it completely. Well-deserved d_b!
LE BELLO'S CHOICE:
I expect this designer never thought he'd win the LBC Award a second time, but Yoshariolll's Leixia is absolutely spotless. With but a few clipping issues aside, Yoshariolll showed us how to really use simple effects to create great aesthetics. The colour scheme was perfect, the clothing was flawless. Another tremendous effort, congratulations Yosharioll!


CHALLENGE III:
Eurovision CaS Contest.​
PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER:
Taking his second win in the overall contest, Fliptop's Scottish submission, Alastair, really impressed people with his gritty, realistic look, that managed to incorporate Scottish elements, without becoming a mish-mash of racially obvious tidbits. A design that truly stands up against the roster of real SC characters, and doesn't look out of place in the slightest. A well-deserved victory for Fliptop.
LE BELLO'S CHOICE:
With so many outstanding designs this time round, how was I supposed to pick? Such a high level of entry was something I hadn't anticipated, with some real top-level CaS artists vying for the title as well. However, despite all of this, I had to choose just one. And whilst some designs may've had one or two neat little tricks to them, or were highly personal to the entrant, I had to go with my guts. So, when I saw Leona's late entry, Jolana, I knew it would get my vote. A perfect display of simplicity being used to create character, Jolana stands right next to Alastair in my opinion. They could both easily belong in the game without anyone batting an eyelid. So many congratulations to Leona, for her stunningly simple design. And many apologies to anyone who didn't win, but please don't feel bad, as every design was far, FAR above par.
CHALLENGE IV:
Superheroes​
PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER:
Fliptop once again shows everybody what he's made of with a design that oozes power, grace and ferocity. The Rook is a definitely someone you don't want to mess with, and whilst at first glance she make look like a random mish-mash of things, upon closer inspection you see how streamlined the design is. Is she a ninja, or some sort of medieval warrior, or even an executioner? I'm guessing all three. So there we go, another win for Fliptop, who to the delight of many opponents has decided he's taking a well-deserved break from contests. So, congratulations and good luck to you Fliptop!
LE BELLO'S CHOICE:
Oh boy, here we go again hmm? Often times I hate that I did this to myself. How can I pick just ONE design to win the LBC Award? Why do I do this to myself again and again? Then I remember that all of you have to do it too, so it isn't so bad.
However this is without a doubt the hardest judgement yet. I eventually whittled it down to Shade, Re-Volt and Red Moon. But even now I'm still struggling.​
However, after much deliberation, I find the mysterious, almost liquid sex appeal of Shade to be irresistible. I find that she just fits the bill that tiny bit better then the others, but really it isn't by much at all. Perhaps I'm a sucker for a bit of enigmatic beauty? Well done Matty82, you really know your audience.​
Super Special Note!
I'd like to take some space on behalf of myself and (I'm sure) the voters in the Superhero theme to thank 100Percent for collating images of all entries into a single post. Without being asked he went that extra mile to help other people in making their choice, and I feel he deserves a personal thank you for it.
Much obliged sir.
CHALLENGE V:
Joke Character
PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER:
I don't think anyone is surprised to find that Gatsu won this one. Entering early, his Pac-Bot almost put everyone else off from entering, with only a few brave souls facing off against him. Ultimately though, his comedic styling and superb craftsmanship sealed Gatsu's victory before the contest even got going. An excellent job, for sure. Great work Gatsu!
LE BELLO'S CHOICE:
For me there was but one choice. A clear winner that shone above the rest of the well-deserved entries. One that took "Joke character" and ran with it. Honestly, I think MistaKoo really got this whole theme in the bag.
That's right, Mr. Bag, the sentient mimic super-bag gets the LBC award this time round. Such a unique and engaging entry that readily deserved all the recognition it deserved and more. For being ridiculously original, MistaKoo, I thank you.​

Guest Themes:
1 Scyle's Warrior/Mage/Rogue Challenge
People's Choice Winner:
Matty82
Judge's Choice Winner:
NeclordX

Will you pick up the proverbial gauntlet Le Bello has projected toward the ground?
 
It seems that I will be the first to pick up the proverbial gauntlet that has been thrown at our collective feet. I don't have a clear mental image of what an older Talim should look like, so I haven't been too satisfied with any of my attempts to recreate her.

There were several key aspects to her previous incarnations that I tried to replicate here. The first and most obvious one is that her outfits have to be cute. The second is that her outfits are completely covered with small details, yet none of them are overbearing. If you quickly glance at the outfit it should look simple, yet on closer inspection there are details everywhere. The last feature is that the outfit should show a lot of skin without looking slutty. This was the case with all of her previous outfits (well the SC4 one only fits this category if you look at it relative to the other female characters).

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Well there you have it. I feel that the bar has been set fairly low, so hopefully this will encourage the rest of you gentlemen to take part in this competition. I look forward to seeing the rest of you upstage me.
 
Here is my latest version of Talim, Her skin tone more closely matches of real Philippine girls with tan skin tone. I took various members advice and played around with the stickers and such. I tried to keep her to her styles used in previous games. This is a short fic on my version of Talim's time since SC4, lol


Please mind the quality of the pictures, she is less orange than in the pictures. :)

Talim may be 32, but as she is a priestess and was gifted with the power of the Winds along with interacting with the swords, she has maintained her youth and appears in her mid twenties. As she has traveled the world, she lost her favorite pendant, but met a tattoo artist during her travels and had it inked on her upper back so that the pendent's design is always with her. She still is the same humble girl that many have known her for, always helping those in need instead of her own selfish goals like many others.

She has learned many new combat techniques during her travels and is very proficient in unarmed hand to hand combat as a few months ago, she was assaulted by a band of thieves and nearly died in the encounter as they disarmed her thus, losing her treasured tonfas. What saved her life was a freak lighting bolt that struck a nearby tree knocking it over giving her time to dive into the nearby river. "Thank the Winds" was all she said to herself as she drifted downstream for a few miles. Weakened and unarmed, she drifted into a small village where the friendly folks quickly rescued her and helped her heal her wounds.

There she meet a man like the likes of none she has or anyone seen before. He was simply known as UNSC Spartan number 363. There, Spartan noticed the young women and her unique talents for combat. She mourned the lost of her tonfas, but as time went on, the Spartan showed her many future combat techniques including hand to hand. She even learned to fire a device in the future called an Assault Riffle. Even though it was of no use as the Spartan has only one in his possession, it was a unique and thrilling experience. At first, she was frightened like everyone else to see such foreign weapons and armors, eventually that fear led to curiosity. The Spartan tried his best to explain the concepts of Splipspace technology and the freak accident when a bubble caused his ship to go back in the past much like Spartan 451 and the Orbital platform she was tending too. It was futile as such things are only understood as magic. The Spartan was only waiting for the bubble to collapse and he would go back to his time period. Every night, the village would gather around a fire and hear all the crazy stories of the future and enjoyed the Spartan's company and protection he offered in exchange of the village's hospitality. After a few months, both Talim and the Spartan decided to bid farewell to the village and hit the road.

One night as both were traveling, the same band of thieves ambushed the couple, it was futile for the thieves as Talim single handily took out 5 members with her bare hands. As for the Spartan, he killed 12 members with his bare hands as arrows and blades were no match for his superior armor that's engineered for repelling explosives and such. The rest ran away in fear seeing the Spartan alone. Talim was thrilled that her new techniques worked flawlessly. For a few moments, she was frightened to see Spartan kill effortlessly, Spartan explained that he fought a terrible enemy in the future that had one simple goal, exterminating humanity.

Eventually, both came upon an empty field and Talim was shocked when a huge metal house appeared out of nowhere. "it's my ship and it's a UNSC Stealth Prowler, it can turn invisible" explanied the Spartan. Talim was such a child when she toured the ship marveling at the computer consoles and the future products the people of the future enjoy such as warm showers. "Too bad there are no tv or radio stations to enjoy" sighed the Spartan. After a few nights sleeping inside the comfort of the ship, the Spartan noticed Talim tossing and turning screaming, he woke her up to see if she was alright. "The cursed swords are back!" said a frightened Talim.. At first, Spartan was confused about these swords but accepted Talim's offer to travel together to destroy them once more. Spartan gathered a few medical packs, a trophy Brute hammer and extra ammunition for the new journey. "at least it's better than fighting the Covenant". Both then set out to travel towards this new calamity.




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More pictures of her.



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Blessed by the spirits of wind, Talim fought hard for years to keep the balance of nature. Lot things were lost, and lot was taken from her, even her own life. And what did remain then? Nothing. Her soul couldn't even rest in peace, and wandered for the world, full of sadness for the things she lost. Sorrow became anger, anger became power. Power that gave her the strenght to come back... but changed, with sorrow and anger carved on her face.

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OVERVIEW: Talim is a maiden, so there is no way a 35 years old woman Talim would work in SCV as herself (not daughters,cousins whatever I mean) unless she becomes either, an spirit of nature or something like that, or a boss/evil being. Because only young Talim could work as Talim.

PD: I'm not english so that's why I never try to write profiles to my chars, my english level is not high enough to try to do literature. In this case I made and exception and gave my best, but forgive me if my text is more confusing than poethic.
 
Why wouldn't an older Talim work? She's a human being. She ages.
She's also a Priestess, last I checked. I'm sure as they get older, Priestesses become more respected and wise.

Also, you should pay attention to the contest requirements.
Specifically:
"What you'll need to do, is create a Talim that would fit within the current roster - Bearing in mind the 17 year time skip (making her 32 years old)."

Oh, and one more thing;
"
Everyone can enter, and may only enter ONE design. (If they wish to enter another design, then they must withdraw their original design)"
 
Let it be known that I have every intention of winning this challenge.

UPDATED 4/25/12
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Here, you can see how her tonfa moves in battle. Well, maybe not. The video quality is terrible because I recorded it with my phone camera, but something's better than nothing, right?

- A Talim in her 30s would be a more mature Talim than the young one we've seen in SC2-4, so I've opted for a more elegant style with my iteration.

- Besides elegance, I pulled my design cues from Muslim and Tribal Filipino fashion, the fact that she is a wind priestess, and the Sarimanok, an ancient Filipino mythical figure.

- Viola's style works quite well for Talim's character, with a little bit of imagination. Since Talim is a wind priestess, she controls the wind, so let's say that instead of a floating crystal ball, she throws around air currents in battle. Instead of Viola's claw, I built her a bladed tonfa. The tiger stripe pattern was used to approximate wood grain. Its design has changed to be wide along with the width of the forearm, as opposed to it previously being wide as it goes away from the arm. Also, there are now blades on either side of the tonfa, so it is more reminiscent of her weapons, Syi Salika and Loka Luha. Despite not jumping around everywhere, Viola arguably moves a bit like Talim.

- Talim isn't Talim without her characteristic talisman.

- Because I was aiming for a more mature Talim, I decided against the braids and went with simple long hair.
 
Why wouldn't an older Talim work? She's a human being. She ages.
She's also a Priestess, last I checked. I'm sure as they get older, Priestesses become more respected and wise.

Also, you should pay attention to the contest requirements.
Specifically:
"What you'll need to do, is create a Talim that would fit within the current roster - Bearing in mind the 17 year time skip (making her 32 years old)."

And she is 32, like Maxi is 45 or Ivy 49.

"Everyone can enter, and may only enter ONE design. (If they wish to enter another design, then they must withdraw their original design)"

NP Then you can asume second design automatically withdraws the previous one.
 
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So Le Bello is to count the 'Evil' Talim as opposed to the 'Light' one? Would you mind terribly removing the images of the first design then? Thank you.

Important updates in the first post, written in glorious gold!

People may discuss the entered designs as much as they wish, but please DO NOT BEGIN VOTING until the official voting time officially begins. As is official.

Saying "That one is my favourite" is considered voting, and votes entered prior to the (official) voting time will not be counted.

Unofficially, fish fish for fish using fishing rods called fish sticks. Fish fingers are not, officially, made from fish's fingers.
 
There are so many good designs to choose from here. Making a choice would be quite hard, to say the least. Hm....

I guess I'll vote sometime later when more interesting designs show up....^^
 
The stylin' hat Talim has been relocated to my thread where it doesn't break rules.


 
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  • #12
Challenge accepted.

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I know you said in your rules that we can't use old costumes but the inspiration for this one came from one of her artworks, seen here -> HAT.​
I gave her Xiba's style since it's the most Talim-like one I think. It's lively and agile with speedy movements- something Talim had in abundance in her own moveset. Her hat and cloak are to indicate that she is well traveled and has experienced the world (her hat is pretty beat up). She's got more of wanderer vibe.​
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Don't hate on the hat. If it conflicts with rules I'll take another swing.​
Cheers!​

Le Bello LOVES this take to many tiny love-shaped pieces! The well-travelled look is an interesting idea!

However, as you said yourself, it is heavily inspired by that outfit, to the point that I feel it's a little too close.
As much as I want to allow it, if I do, then it sets precedent for all the other entries - I hope you understand.

Apologies then, but Le Bello eagerly awaits your next attempt. I also eagerly urge that you do not merely discard this design.
 
Aww. Well it wasn't totally unexpected, to be honest. Don't worry I totally understand what you're saying.

I just...I was so happy to find a use for that hat...which is a shame since that's probably the thing that's going to go due to it being a big part of the artwork.

And the design won't go to waste, don't worry!
 
A shame that design isn't allowed ;-;
Very well made and fitting for Talim as well.
Oh well, I'm sure you can come up with something equally as fitting. c:

I recommend choosing your favorite design of hers and take minor inspiration from it while maintaining your own original vision. Like the color scheme, for example. I did that with a design that I made, and I am very proud of it. Unfortunately, I have no way to take a picture, otherwise, I'd submit my design.

Good luck! c:
 
Here's my attempt. I've never found a use for this headpiece before but I think it suits her ^_^ I gave her Viola's style as I thought the magical orb was fitting of her character.

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I know it might be considered bad form to enter this contest without formally submitting my own original CAS thread, but I feel compelled. It's been 17 yaers and I wanted to portray Talim as a confident, powerful, fully proffessed priestess of the wind Gods

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I'm sure the absolution mask might seem like a cop out, but I just wanted her to look grand. I think I gave a great deal of visual interest through sitckers and patterns. My normal philosophy with CAS is that Too little is better than too much.
 
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