Hello, everybody who cared to click into my story! I've been reading lots of Selection SYOC fanfics, and I received a starter from Hofund who is currently in Sichuan, so we're doing this together! My exams are coming March through April, so I may stop updating for a while, but I promise to update when I have the time! Please, enjoy the prologue. Rules will be found at the bottom, and the form is still being proofread by Hofund. It may undergo some changes, but I do have the confidence I did well enough.
To all the people living in the country of Illea, life was good. And signs indicated that it was going to get better. The Heir, their admired Second Prince, Daniel, is holding his Selection.
The reason he became heir over his elder brother? Easy. Three weeks ago, Prince Harold made a speech in front of the royal court. Even today it is still known. And has been the subject of many a viral feature in all media, from gossip magazines to The Report to social websites.
"I, Harold Schreave, hereby declare myself an incurably incurable playboy, a disgrace to the Royal Family, and someone who has no ambition whatsoever. For the love of our country, and for the reasons I have just presented, I say I am not suited to be heir to the Throne. If you didn't get me, then you are stupid and can pack up and go home." And, leaving a court full of shocked people and his hyperventilating father behind, had gone off to get a bowl of noodles at his grandparents' noodle shop, where the Princes' mother had come from before before she won the King's heart and the previous Selection.
After the shock of the speech had worn off, Prince Daniel had gotten the place of heir instead. Of course, it was known that Prince Harold was a high-bred merrymaker and hedonist, Prince Daniel a gentlemanly leader, and Prince Arthur who won most battles he fought and was a major reason the Rebels had been forced to go so deep underground they might as well be nonexistent, but everyone had expected Harold to have the position while Daniel served as Advisor.
Speaking of Prince Daniel, he was as famous as his elder brother was infamous. When the New Asian Navy invaded, four years ago, Illea hit the jackpot of back luck: the Rebels made their move at almost the same time and most major provinces had their hands full dealing with the outlaws. If Prince Daniel hadn't stepped in, and written down four steps to tackle the crisis on the map in the Map Room, Illea would have fallen to the might of Emperor Jing. As it was, less than half his Navy limped their way back to New Asia's ports, battered, demoralized, and afraid. The Rebels lost over half their forward bases and retreated to their strongholds in Dominica, Whites, and Hudson. The Illean forces suffered their own losses, but next to either of her opponents, it was really quite trivial.
When the generals looked at the steps again, they saw that they hadn't carried out the final step, and yet the crisis had been averted. They had won, and they had won beautifully. When the King heard of this he was overjoyed and held a banquet, inviting his son as the Guest of Honor. However, the servant came back with a message from the Prince that said, 'Father, I appreciate your gratitude and it is an honor. However, my brother Arthur played a pivotal role in this. If the banquet cannot be cancelled, hold it for my brother instead. Furthermore , the provinces of Sonage, Columbia and Atlin have been damaged by war and because war damage is non-insurable, I strongly suggest you start preparing to deal with and support the representatives of the various victims. They should be arriving two days later.' Arthur was confused, because the tactics he used against the enemy had been given to him by his brother in the form of some books and he had only tweaked them a bit, but he didn't say anything.
The real hit came two days later, when three representatives came to the palace demanding help and support with repairing the damage the skirmish had done. It was then the officials truly acknowledged Prince Daniel.
Prince Arthur
I knew exactly where I would find Danny and I was right. Playing his violin in his room was just so him. Prince Harold had called Dad 'a solemn old statue' just now and was made to sweep the floor. Of course, he simply smiled at the maids and was currently lounging in his room, writing letters to his new girlfriend...his third this month, which I found surprising; it was already the middle of the month, when he he should have had about six of them by now.
I knocked carefully on the door. The music slowly ceased.
"Come in. Or rather, open the door. I suppose this is about Father calling me to his study?"
I opened the door. He had that warm, calm smile on his face, like he always did. "How did you know that?"
"Fairly simple. I was made Heir over my elder brother and I'm already 17 and a half. I'm half a year late for my Selection already. Harold farts in Father's face, and most of the servants are off today. Any who aren't would be deemed too lowly to be in his presence or had actually chosen not to be off to attend to Harold and his charms. Therefore, you are sent. After you, brother."
We went to Dad's study and he let us in. I stood to the side.
"Daniel, you have been named Heir and it is now time for you to be one by holding your Selection. However, I know you may not be ready for this abrupt occurrence yet and after discussing with your mother we've decided we can shelf it for half a year, until you turn eighteen." I shook my head at Dad's naivete. Danny wouldn't have been able to save all our butts at thirteen if he was that short-sighted. And which, lucky us, he isn't.
"Father, with all due respect, I have been waiting for this for a week already."
"Nothing less from you, Daniel. I suppose you have something to ask of me?"
"Yes. I propose we use this Form that I drafted with Harold instead of the conventional one."
"Now why did you drag me into this, little brother?" A vibrant, humorous voice came from the doorway.
"Harold!" Dad reprimanded, "You did not knock."
"Ah, not this crap again. Dad, you heard the door open. Or is your hearing as bad as your muddled brain is? Now please explain, little brother."
"Harold, I did consult you and you did come to me with a few...ah, interesting ideas. I never dragged you into anything. On the other hand, you dragged countless girls into your bed. IF anyone dragged anyone else that would be you."
"Hey, hey, little brother." Harold knocked on Daniel's head as if knocking on a door. "One father yapping like the rabid little dog he is is quite enough. I don't need my younger brother, who I respect, bitching at me too."
"HAROLD! I am right here, if you haven't noticed!" Seriously, no one can rile dad up like our big brother does. How does he do it at all?
"Yes, Sire. I noticed. And that is why I said it. Or would you prefer me say it behind your back and insult you even more instead?"
"You...!" Seeing dad's beet-red face was too much for me. I giggled.
Prince Daniel
I sat in my room, thinking.
If I was going to hold a Selection, I would have to be careful that some girls would be kept around for Harold to mess with. I can't afford to have 35 potential soulmates lose their virginity to Harold before I even get started. It would be a bad slap to my image and the pride of taking 35 virgins would bloat Harold's ego to an unbearable size.
I snapped my fingers. The head of my personal Guard dropped in from the window. "You called, my Lord?"
"My father is still unaware?"
"Yes. Even with the industrial sabotage in Columbia he still does not know. If I may, he is too focused on getting your Selection to work."
I frowned. "Then...go to Columbia and have an aristocrat in a lawsuit. I have here a file on Lord Rolle, Chairman of Rolle Industries. Be careful not to ruin him."
"Yes, my Lord."
So here it is! Our joint SYOC, or rather, the prologue! Rules are below and form is under that. Do please read the Rules. Oh, and the Form will be posted on my profile later. If you are feeling hardworking enough or your device can copy it, early-birds are welcome(First submission is guaranteed a spot!)
Rules:
1) Acceptance is based on the scoring on a Standard Marking Scheme. We will average our scores and tell you. If you want comments after that please say so.
2) Submissions are open until end of April. If you see your character being replaced and you want to know why, we are open to questions.
3) All submissions must be through PM, for the sake of telling you your score.
4) Details are appreciated, but we don't like medical reports, okay? Report-like forms get 5 marks deducted instantly(not much out of 120 full marks, but sometimes it makes a big difference!).
5) Send us snapshots of your girls! We see more of their real personality and life through those, really. Just like how all of us do with each other. Good snapshots will get 3-7 bonus marks! Bad ones or artificial ones...we won't deduct, but her impression with us will be affected.
6) We know that the general variety of girls depend heavily on other submissions, so we're only going to recommend this: send us different girls!
7) What kind of person Prince Daniel wants is your guess. No spoilers. And you might have noticed some clues in this chapter.
8) Make her realistic, like, someone you and I can bump into on the streets and have normal conversations with. Those are called filled-out characters. Of course, we meet exotic people too, so just a reminder here.
9) There are NO MORE RULES! Happy creating and submitting!
P.S.) If you want to submit in parts or a certain bit of Form is too long to be contained in a single PM, tell us or we'll think it's incomplete.
Form:
Full Name:
Nicknames (Optional):
Age (Prince Daniel says: I am not a pedophile, and I don't have a wrinkle fetish either!) :
Province:
Caste:
Occupation (Make sure they can actually live off what they do.):
Height/Weight/Build:
Eyes:
Hair(no rainbow afros, please.):
Skin Tone:
Overall Appearance/Other Distinct Features:
Makeover Changes:
Signature Mark(what makes them a unique human being?):
Style without Obligations(how they dress when they're free to dress as they wish):
Style with Obligations(how they dress for things/people they take semi-/seriously):
Personality:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Likes:
Hobbies:
Passions:
Dislikes:
Fears:
Family (Name, Role in Family, Short Personality, Relationship with Character):
Pets?:
Best friend:
Friends:
History(Optional, feel free to give me their ancestry...or not):
Background:
Maids (Optional, create three for your character):
How do they treat themselves:
How do they treat anyone other than themselves:
Thoughts on the Royal Family in general:
Reason for entering:
Anything else:
Do they want a different Prince other than that smiling piece o' jade, Daniel? Say, the mighty, merry Prince Harold? Or the Stonefaced, warmonger Prince Arthur?