First of all, I would like to tell everyone that the results I posted are NOT the official results; Viola? and I need to finish discussing before the final results are posting.

Second of all, whichever team wins will need to come up with a theme for the next round and then judge that. If you didn't get a chance to do this round, never fear, there will be more! 

All right, here we are. Be warned; I'm including criticism.

First off, Lucy and Brown Bear. I liked this entry too, particularly the composition of Lucy's drawing and the intriguing subject, as well as her choices for the shading colors, and Brown Bear's sweet, fairy-tale like story had such an enchanting tone. However, in the artwork, the shading of the hair and lack of cohesiveness in the color palette felt a bit messy. And although the story was well written, it felt incomplete, like it was only the first chapter, and I didn't get a sense of anything growing in it. I also noticed a certain disconnect between the two pieces; each had elements I would've liked to see in the other. In the end, though, both were interesting and delicately beautiful, with a pleasant dreamlike quality about them.

Second, September and Bluebird. I think this is my favorite one so far. September's poem fit the theme with a compelling story and lyrical verse, and I love the way Bluebird conveyed the passage of time through the girl walking in a film reel frame with a gradual shift in body language and the obvious fashion changes in each panel. One line early in the poem had a different rhythm from the rest, though, and the adventure of the last... stanza? Section? It didn't quite match the more arts-and-crafts feel of the first two. I also can't see the drawing very well; it's kind of small, and opening it in a new tab doesn't work for me. But I did notice a few slight anatomy mistakes, mostly in the last panel, although these could be due to stylistic choices. And in both, it felt as though they played it safe, going with one of the more obvious interpretations of growing and executing it in a manner aimed at getting the point across, resulting in said point being almost too clear. I loved the callbacks at the ends of both, however, and many of the details throughout. Both September and Bluebird have incredible technical skills, and as I said/implied, I love this entry.

And I'm unfortunately out of time, but I'll try to do more tomorrow.

Great, so I think we're agreed on the places. This is the official announcement! 

For more comments, see my and Viola?'s posts.

In first place, Lucy B. and Brown Bear.

In second, September and Bluebird.

In third, Kate-the-great and SopranoTwo. 

You have officially won the first round and need to come up with a theme and ending date for the next one. Congratulations!

We've decided that next theme is "War". Feel free to go in any direction with that. (It's the same rules again, right, Kitten? 2 1/2 weeks to start, 200 words?)

War, hmm... There's the glory and the sorrow, the tragedy, the thrill, the fear, the boredom, the safe spots, the atrocities, the small joys, the beginning and the end, the loss and the gain, the many shades of gray. What do you think, Kitten?