Christmas Challenge 2010/2011

by **chrisbishop** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:22 am

Hi again, people, and a Happy New Year to all of you!

As you probably know by now - as it was announced in the member only thread - our unofficial Captain Scarlet calendar for 2011 has been posted on December 31st, for all of our Forum members and anyone else who would like to want it! If you're not a member, just contact us at spectrum_hq@hotmail.com and we'll send you the link to the page where you can acquire our FREE calendar. Yes, Free! All you need to do it download one of the calendar's offered format and it's yours to do as you please, even print and display it if you want!

http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/mysteron_plc.htm

As a bonus this year, all the pics from the previous calendars (from 2005 to 2010) have been made available on our Gallery. And you don't have to be a member to access the gallery and check them out!

http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/ga ... php?cat=46

Enjoy!

by **chrisbishop** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:28 am

New update for this week, with another story for you to enjoy!

THE DANGER ZONE, by Marion Woods. Scarlet and Blue's Christmas goes with a bang...

As you already know, Marion is our most prolific writer, whose stories are always exciting! A part of all challenge, she's been a precious collaborator of this forum for years, and has never disappointed any of her readers!

http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/fa ... r_zone.htm

Come soon for more!

by **lee evens** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:01 pm

I love those pictures!! We should see the whole team in dinner gear!! Love too see Adam in a suit :wink:

by **hazel** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:20 pm

Lee - the 2009 (Spectrum is Glamorous) calendar might please you: http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/ga ... ?album=241

by **Skybase Girl** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:55 pm

As Chris says, Marion has never disappointed us and she has kept up that amazing record with "The Danger Zone".

Adam ( now a distinguished Colonel Blue ) is not only as gorgeous as ever, but has matured like a very fine wine, in keeping with the sophistication of the prose. I stand humbled and in awe, Marion, as always!

I love Valdis, by the way. She's an original character who is definitely too good to lose - I hope to see her re-appearance in future stories.

This is proving to be an excellent Christmas for fan-fic. All we need now is the star on the tree, an offering from the Colonel herself! :wink:

by **Carrie** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:54 pm

I couldn't agree with your comments more, Skybase Girl, with regard to Marion's excellent Christmas story.

I have heard Marion rather despondently comment in the past that she has said everything she can about Captain Blue, :grin:

, however, The Danger Zone shows how far off base she is with those sentiments.
Once again, Marion demonstrates her uncanny aptitude for nailing human emotions as our battle-scarred Viking copes with life in a future Spectrum.
Marion shows great sophistication and insight when writing about politics, and there is sparkling wit and human understanding in the dialogue between Blue and Valdis. She is indeed a well rounded original character. The secondary characters are sketched with a deft pen, and Marion's descriptions of her settings are crisp and instantly imaginable.
Another perfectly-formed story!!!! :boohoo(

by **lee evens** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:09 pm

Thank you for that!! He looks great! :grin:

Now put that on the NCS Adam!! :grin:

by **LadyP** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 10:34 pm

Once again we are treated to a magnificent display of talent and digital magic. My thanks to everyone involved.

by **chrisbishop** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 2:50 am

Hello again for another week of Christmas Challenge. You can say this one nearly didn't make it (or might have been delayed a bit). The hard drive of my PC died last week-end, as I was preparing this update! Fortunately, I have the good habit of keeping my every work on external drives (I was just unsure I had time to save this!).

So... Enough the sad stuff. Down with serious business.

This week's story comes from me, and I don't think I need to present myself. I'm Chris Bishop, I'm the owner, administrator, webpaster of the Spectrum Headquarters website that I've been maintaining for the past 10 years (and a 10th anniversary means stuff coming to celebrate!). And here's my story for this year's challenge:

A CHRISTMAS TOY STORY, by Chris Bishop. A young boy, named Paul Metcalfe, receives the ultimate Christmas gift: a doll of his favourite hero, Captain Scarlet.

http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/fa ... _story.htm

This is a little something different, so I hope you'll like it.

In the coming weeks, new stuff will be posted: stories and pictures that have been submitted to me, so the challenge is not yet finished.

Be there for the rest of the ride - and stay with us after that. We have other stuff in store!

by **Carrie** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 12:20 am

Chris, this is a lovely story, full of magic, charm and tension too!

As you said, it is a little different from your usual, but is nonetheless full of the hallmarks of quality that we have come to expect of you.
The story was a super homage to Hazel's 'Back To Basics, and all of your original characters were rendered with a caring pen. (or keyboard...

)
Like Marion Woods, you never fail to give us a tale for Christmas, something which takes creativity, perseverance and dedication.
Well done!

by **Skybase Girl** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:29 pm

I fully endorse Carrie's post!

This is a lovely tale, Chris and beautifully written. I have a very clear picture in my head of the house, the tree, the toys, Paul Metcalfe's family, Destiny the cat and of course, the "baddie". That's all down to your excellent narrative.

You got inside the head of an imaginative little boy in a most impressive way. I doubt many of us could so successfully cast our minds back to when we were eight years old and depict those feelings with such authenticity.

Okay, it wasn't the traditional Spectrum story, but what the heck - Captain Scarlet saved the day once more!

Well done!

by **chrisbishop** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 12:25 pm

Nearly at the end of this year's Challenge, people! And yet again, we have another story this week for you:

CHOCOMAIL, by Cat 2. New Captain Scarlet story. An odd game on Skybase seems to be exactly what is needed to lift everyone's spirit during the war against the Mysterons.

http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/fa ... comail.htm

Cat 2 is a relative newcomer to our staff of writers, and one of those handful who write 'New Captain Scarlet' stories instead of Classic captain Scarlet stories. This is her sixth story on this website.

Come back again next week for a new posting!

Chris

by **Skybase Girl** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:32 pm

Chocomail - what a delightful bit of confectionary to read in the last week or two of the Christmas Challenge. I must confess to munching through the last of my choccies while I read it. Now the sweet stuff will be on the banned list for the next few weeks!

Cat2, you gave a light and sure touch to an amusing and very inventive story. I really enjoyed it!

by **chrisbishop** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:10 am

Hi gang! The end of our annual Christmas Challenge is growing near, and we still have one story for you to enjoy!

This time, the author of this new fic goes by the name of Marizel. The name might be new, but the style might be familiar:

HAVE YOU GOT A LIGHT? by Marizel. The spirit of Christmas touches everyone on Cloudbase and it is the thought that counts...

http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/fa ... _light.htm

As this is very near to the end of our Challenge, it is very unlikely that a new story will be posted at this point. However, we have a few pictures left to put online, so return in a few days for the last posting of our 2010/2011 Christmas Challenge!

by **Skybase Girl** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:11 am

"Have you got a light?" is a worthy and fitting end to the Christmas Challenge this year and Marizel is a writing partnership that looks set to run and run! :wink:

I enjoyed it very much, ladies.

I know the challenge isn't quite over yet, but I would like to say what a great year it has been in the fanfic stakes ( and of course, I include the calendar in that ). I can't think of anything that hasn't been a pleasure to read and the standard gets higher all the time.

The next challenge ( apart from Valentine's Day, perhaps) will be to produce stories and fan art that will be a fitting tribute to Chris's hard work in making this site, in my opinion at least, the best there is in the Gerry Anderson universe. Onwards and upwards!