The competition had nothing to do with me or Skulduggery — it was all to do with an educational video game designed to teach you maths and have, you know, actual fun while you do it. Incorporating historically accurate aspects of Native American tribal life and culture, the game was called Spirit Lake, and the competition was to find someone to become a character in it, using your name and likeness. Here's what I said about it at the time:
"And if this works like they hope it will, this could be the beginning of something huge. This could revolutionise teaching, and learning— not just in America but across the world— and it could be just the thing that's needed to help struggling students make that singular, all-important leap. This could change people's lives."
The competition was a great success. I got in some hilarious responses, and also some heartfelt ones, and while it was not easy to pick a winner, a winner I did pick.
And now I'm going to do it all over again.
These same awesome people — people who include the mother and sister of my personal (Twitter) friend, UFC champion Ronda Rousey* — have another game in development, called Forgotten Trail.
SO — if you like the idea of having a video game version of yourself teaching kids maths across America, give me your reasons why. In no more than thirty words, explain why you should win, and send your entries to skulteams@hotmail.com. You can enter as many times as you like, you can be any age, from any country, and the winner will be announced at the end of July.
Good luck!
* Yes, Ronda does count as a friend**.
** By friend I don't, of course, mean someone I've ever actually met, but that's not what's important here***.
*** What's important is that we're PALS. Some might say buddies. Kindred spirits, perhaps. I might even go so far as to say I've taught her everything she knows****.
**** I haven't ACTUALLY taught her everything she knows, but she knows that I would have, if ever I knew something that she didn't already know. Such as writing*****.
***** Although seeing as how Ronda's autobiography has made it to the New York Times bestseller list — a list I have yet to ACTUALLY grace — this probably isn't the best use of my, or her, time. But even so, I am sure there are PLENTY of things I could teach her. Though probably nothing useful or, you know, not-imaginary, like unicorn-taming, or yodelling******.
***** I'll shut up now.
Posts
4,893 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 3001 – 3200 of 4893 Newer› Newest»Felix: it was weird how it attacked Sil.. I mean, she didn't even do that to me...
Alys; I I don't know...
????: *groans quietly*
(Hey :3
really excited for tomorrow and Monday even though the flight is at 6am lol)
Alys: she's coming around! *kneels infront of her*
(Hehe the nasty lady is blown up like a balloon and floats away)
(@Gemmy I hope you enjoy yourself :)
????: *twitches, slowly opening it's eyes, pupils back to normal now*
(@Chloe xD watching itv by any chance?)
Alys: hey girl!
????: *blinks at her*
*whines*
(Nooooooo XD)
(So your saying you didn't just watch the flickering street light, creaky play ground stuff, dog thing.)
(Night bus.)
Alys: *strokes her hair softly* there there
+to felix* go get her some food
Felix: w why me?!
Alys: *gives him a look*
Felix: fine!
????: *squirms, relaxing slightly*
(...yes
The freaky head thing)
(xD Yep. The little old lady.)
Felix: *goes to alys house to get some meat*
Alys: didn't like the vampire, did you?
????: *growls gently*
*whimpers*
(Am I the only one who ships lupin and Sirius ?)
(xD probably not.)
Alys: was it her...? Or was it because she was a vampire ?
Felix: *cones back with meat*
????: *bares her teeth, trying to get across 'vampire'*
*sniffs at the air, smelling the meat*
Felix: who wants yum yus?
(That book made me jump(
????: *glares for calling it yum yums*
(XD)
Felix: *chucks the meat at it* go wild
(Guess who's going to harry potter world next week!)
????: *catches it in her mouth*
*drops it, ripping part off, eating it*
(Hope you enjoy yourself)
Felix: she doesn't seem too angry
(Thanks ^.^)
????: *rips another part of, chewing and swallowing*
Alys: I think we need to build her a home
Felix; what?!
Alys: well she won't go back...
????: *finishes the last of the meat*
*licks her lips*
*jumps back into the water, splashing about, sending water everywhere*
Felix: watch it you!
Alys; *laughs* she won't leave this place
????: *swims downwards*
*swims to quickly, sending herself flying up out of the water*
*sprawls in the air so when she lands in the water again it makes a giant splash*
Alys: she is enjoying herself ^.^ we should start now
*pulls out a piece of paper *
Felix: you are going to do what you did with the knife? Of course
*alys;
Of course
????: *splashes them both*
Felix. *doesnt look impressed *
Alys: *giggles and sketches a massive dog house, with comfy bed and plenty of food*
*murmurs an incantation and the house appears*
(Hello! May I join?)
????: *splashes Felix more*
(Hey Duggy! Sure :)
(Go ahead dug!)
Felix; *growls and sulks*
Alys; guess who has a new home?
(Cool, thanks! I'm assuming it should be a fresh start..?)
(@Duggy yeah xD)
????: *climbs out*
*shakes off and cautiously approaches the house*
Alys: all yours !
(Okay, just wanted to make sure!)
*walks over to Alys and Felix*
Hello, what's going on?
(Buck beak is coming up!)
????: *spins, hissing at Duggy*
(Buck beak is already there! He just bowed.)
Alys: h hello...
Felix; hey... We found this thing and don't know what to do with it
????: *glares at Felix*
Felix: *shrugs*
(I want a hypogriff)
*she jumps a little*
Oh!
Hello, I'm okay.. I'm not going to hurt you..
*she holds her hands Palm up in front of her slightly*
*when Felix speaks she turns her head forwards him, speaking in the same soft tone*
This thing? That's not very nice is?
(They are pretty cool.)
????: *crouches low, looking between Dug and Felix*
Felix: *mutters* it doesn't like me anyways
Alys; s she's like a d dog...
????: *sniffs her palm*
*nods and turns to the house again*
????: *glares at Alys*
*frowns*
She seems more human than dog like..
*turns back to ???*
Can you understand us?
????: *looks at Duggy*
*nods*
Alys: s sorry!
(Malfoy you bitch!)
(@Chloe xD)
*smiles at her, flashing a look at Alys and Felix*
Exactly.
(I had a pic with the irish kid)
Alys: w we don't know what she is exactly
(@Chloe cool!)
????: *walks to the house, poking her head inside*
Alys. You like, g girl?
Yeah, I agree with you there, but because she seems to be her own new species you shouldn't just assume she's like something else you know about.
But it was every kind to make her a house.
*looks at ????, taking in how thin she is*
Do you need more food?
Alys, what have you fed her?
????: *moves to the bed, sniffing it, confused*
(I can't believ how hot Neville is now!)
Hello fellow people of Blogland
(Hello AndViolet. Stay.)
(Hello violet ^.^)
(Vi! Hi! Ooh, I made a rhyme! How be's yous and yous eyes?!
**cough*silandinkygoforitshesherenow*cough**)
Okay. *stays*
Alys: I fed her m meat... She enjoyed it
And you guys do realize I read all of the conversation I miss, right?
(Whatamisupposedtodo?!)
(@Dug I've text gemmy. If she doesn't show up in half an hour I'll go.)
????: *nudges the bed*
Okay..
We should see if she wants something other than that.
*she approaches the house, noticing ??? Confused look*
That's a bed. It's very comfortable for sleeping.
(I figured Vi. That's what I do too!
*HIGH five!*
????: *looks at dug, head tilted*
(@AndViolet yup. We do.)
Alys: g good idea
Felix: she isn't very smart, dug
*high fives Dugglyn*
????: *growls at Felix*
You can lay on it and sleep. It is more comfortable than the ground.
*her turns and glares at Felix*
She is very smart, she just hasn't experienced a bed before. And that's not. Her. Fault.
(So Vi, how are you and how are your eyes?!)
????: *hops up onto the bed, shifting around awkwardly*
*jumps back onto the ground, laying down there*
Felix: *rolls eyes*
Alys: *elbows felix*
I'm pretty good, I have a fun day ahead. And my eyes are horrible, as always. That's why I wear glasses with a -4 prescription :P
Alys: don't you like the bed, girl?
*tilts her head*
Are you sure?
Here I can show you how to do it.
*she climbs into the bed, laying on her side facing ???*
Like this! You put your head on the pillow. Different people like different positions. I prefer on my side.
(*hugs Vi*)
????: *looks at Alys*
*nudges it with her head*
????: *looks up at Dug*
*jumps up beside her, frowning*
(Oh cool! What do you have planned?)
*hugs Jai*
Alys: isn't it Comfy?
*smiles*
Okay. Good job! Now try laying down.
*moves over so she has more room*
????: *carefully settles down*
Well my friend is having a birthday/end of year party and then I'm going home with a different friend and spending the night over at their house(they have a hot tub!!!)
Alys: good girl ^.^
(That's awesome violent ^.^)
(Oooh, sounds fun!!!!)
There you go!
????: *squirms slightly, not used to soft ground*
*the softest thing she's slept on was someone body*
Yes, me is violent at heart ;)
Do you like it?
((Violent, such a wonderful nickname XD))
(*is disgusted by that*)
Felix: shall we leave her? Give er some peace?
Yes, me likey ;)
(Disgusted at what ???? Has slept on
I meant violet
Damn phone -_-)
...
@Star and K: In all honesty, I(aka Lav) wasn't even considering it like that. :P It just came out that way because she made him upset and wanted to let him know she's sorry and wants to be friends.
But now that you put it that way, I'm laughing too. XP
*is probably not here as it's almost 1 AM and she's about to sleep*
*totally wasn't half ghosting though*
(xD sorry Chloe.)
????: *grunts and jumps off*
*runs over to Alys, having heard Felix*
*growls at him*
(*mutters*
Damn she knows our plan...)
(Night tam tam)
Felix: woah!
Alys: I don't think she wants to be alone ...
And for those of you who are planning to pin me down and scare me... Good luck ;). Wow, I'm using that face a lot this morning...I'm okay with that ;)
(Night Tami.
*hugs*)
(There she is. Gemmy, go!
Bye Tama)
????: *grunts, glaring at Felix*
*goes back to Duggy*
Alys, she seems to hate men...
(Gotta love the twins XD)
(You do :)
*sits up, dangling her feet off the edge of the bed*
Okay, so they said they fed you meat. Is that good or do you want some other food?
(Ok first, you understand what RP is and how to RP, andviolet?)
????: *bites dug's leg*
Alys: girl!
????: *looks at Alys, still biting Dug*
Er, I understand what it is, but not exactly how to do it...that's why I was asking for help earlier...
(*laughs at the creature biting Duggy's leg*)
Alys, let. Go. Now
Hey!
Ow, what are you doing?!
Please let go..
????: *makes a face*
*spits Dug's leg out obediently*
Alys: *hands on hips* no biting of eating friends
????: *stomach growls loudly*
*growls quietly*
*pulls her legs up*
Why did you do that?
Alys: okay omay, want more meat?
Oh.
Never mind.
Do you want more meat?
Or other food?
Um, nod once for meat, twice for other food. Three for both.
????: *pads over to Alys, nibbling at her leg pointedly*
????: *nods once at Dug*
Alys: okay, *draws meat on a piece of paper and summons it*
Felix: you could've done that before!
Okay.
Felix, will you take care of that?
And are you thirty?
Never mind, that was smart Alys!
????: *nods at dug*
*eats the meat that Alys made*
*she could get used to this..*
(Ok i'll try my best to explain. I explained it to a...friend...of mine.
so, we use certain punctuation to show actions. Most use * at either end of the action e.g. *hugs*
Some use dashes - or ~.
so most of us put the name of the character that is doing the action, then the action in the middle of the punctuation.
e.g. Chione: *hugs Andviolet*
Or you could write it like a story that some people do.
"Chione goes up to andviolet and hugs her" there isn't a specific way for people to RP here.
We live in the SP universe with vampies and witches and warlocks like the books so we choose a sutiable magic for that universe and a character, whatever name we want. Most people write backstories for their characters of how they got to Blogland, the place we live.
you may have noticed that some people speak in brackets, that's the author speaking. Like Jaimie or Me(Gemma) but outside of brackets we're our characters and we're RPing.)
Alys: *blushes* t thank you... B but it isn't really...
Do you want wAter or something else?
Okay, I think I got that... So no unicorns? Damn...
????: *looks at dug*
*nods twice*
(Vi, it's Blogland. As long as your character had limits on power you can do whatever you wAnt! I LOVE UNICORNS.)
Alys; *frowns/8 what else would she drink?
Felix: *mutters-8 she could like alcohol like inky
Must be a mutt thing
Oi! I heard that *stabds in the doorway*
Okay.. something else.
Uhh milk?
Juice?
Soda?
YAY UNICORNS
????: *growls at Felix*
*leaps at him*
Felix: *shrieks like a girl and dodges*
Alys; girl....
What's going on?
????: *growls at him*
*nods once at Dug*
*slowly approaches inky*
Hello.
You don't have to stick to the SP universe, btw. A lot of people have brought in things from y'know Marvel and Greek mythology and their own stories and all kinds of stuff. :)
@K&Tama: Let me scroll a sec.
*laughs*
Hey Inky! She just showed up and as you can see she's very thin so we've been going her food and stuff.
(Hey star :)
Also oohhhhhhh K how do you see me??
Milk, okay.
Alys, can you do that?
(Star! :D)
Oooo hh! Who's thiS? Is she safe around children? *has Ben and Tegan and lil in a pram*
????: *looks into the pram*
*frowns at the weird small things*
Okay. Cuz since people mentioned it I've been thinking about characters, and most of them don't belong in the SP universe or magic types...and there are unicorns and alicorns
Okay.
First of all, I wasn't talking about you specifically, Conductor. You mentioning friendzoning the other night reminded me of it, but I wasn't talking about just you.
Secondly - eh. I don't think there is a secondly.
The other night?
*last night
Eh.
(*nods* ok. Now there are terms we use here that you may or may not know.
OP- overpowered.
some people make characters that don't have a lot of weaknesses which make them difficult to fight.
God-modding- when you take control over another characters actions.
e.g. *Chione sticks an icicle into Sil's heart and she dies*
We have to give the characters a chance to dodge and stuff.
e.g. *Chione lunges for Sil, aiming for her heart*
Sil: *dodges to the side*
So that it makes the fight more interesting and that we don't die unless we allow it.
MSD- may stay distant
the author may not come back on the blog for a while because of something they're doing in real life.
Think that's everything... anything else guys?)
MBD- may be distant
the author is doing something in real life so they may not reply for a while
*picks up Ben and holds him infront of the thing*
@Andviolet: Seriously, SERIOUSLY - don't try to stick to SP if you don't want to. :)
@Jai: Hi. :) :)
@Dugglyn: Hi! :)
:) Gemma, you ARE good at explaining this.
(@Gemmy love how I'm the example xD
And sil wouldn't die there. *nods* she's too stubborn.)
????: *sniffs Ben*
*growls slightly at the weird creature*
(Shoot Gtg, pie! Feel free to continue without me!)
Okay, awesome...cuz unicorns, and stuff... If you can't tell by now, I enjoy unicorns immensely :)
(Bye Duggy!)
(Msd for food, if so will BBS)
(Byii dug!)
Ben: *cries*
*pulls him close* there there baby
*to alys-8 I guess that's a no then
*to felix* don't call me a mutt again
(Thank you, Star *smiles*
Yeah sorry you don't really have to stick to the SP universe... i took characters from Greek Mythology but Chione is clearly an elemental in the SP universe and i fit her into the SP universe. Aria can't really be put into the SP universe... meh.)
(Well, I'm officially a graduate.
...
Huh.)
????: *jumps back, at the crying*
*looks at Tegan and Lil*
*sniffs them*
(Well done john!!!!)
Lilith: *laughs*
Tegan *sleeps*
Ben : *shifts into a small wolf*
(Bye Duggy!)
(Congradulations John, again.)
(And now I have to go because my entire extended family is downstairs and I need to learn a lot of names.)
Congrats, J. :)
(Heheh okay john ^%.)
(Bye John...)
I'm here
Don't start the party without me lol :D )
(Hey rhos)
(I wasn't going to but she didn't know how to RP so i thought i would tell her a bit)
(Hey Chloe and Gem
And yeah that makes sense Gem
So now we can party!
Violet where are you hiding??)
(Did Jai poof?)
In my brain, solidifying the wisps of ideas for characters/back stories that I had
(I think Jai and Violet poofed)
Alys: *stomach growls*
*doesnt want to go home*
Hey, I'm right here!
(Oh hello Violet. Well let's get this thing started. Do you have a character or will we just call you Violet for now in RP?)
I don't need to leave for about 50 minutes
Yeah, I have a character, she's only partially formed though... Her name is Ariana
(Sorry I was eating :)
????: *tilts head at the giggling*
*nibbles Lilith's toes*
Oi! Get away from her
Alys; b behave girl....
Felix: nothing but trouble
Actually over the past day or two I have come up with a small band of characters... I enjoy coming up with characters, and this was just an excuse to make more!
(Tis okay Jai!)
(*facepalm* that's 3 ari's now for nicknames. Oh well.)
*Chione is walking around the forest, her trail, well... trailing behind her on the forest floor*
*she turns round and sees a girl standing near her*
Hello?
(Ok try it, Violet.)
????: *ignores them all, nudging Lilith with her head*
(Okay, I'll give it a go...)
*immediately jumps around, pulling sword from sheath on her belt*
*cautiously replies:*
Hello...
*lilith giggles. And claps* woof woof!
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