As you can see, I'm continuing to shift the Fan Art updates toward the new official fan art update day, though I'm still not really sure which day that will be. It probably won't be Tuesdays or Wednesdays because those days don't get a lot of activity. On the other hand, days like Saturdays and Sundays get a lot more activity and it would be sad to see Fan Art drowned out by everything else. So that leaves us with Thursdays, Fridays, and Mondays. Mondays I dare not compete for with Dracos and his army of editorials. Thursdays are too much like Wednesdays, and I often treat them as one mega-day that I like to call Wedursday. Fridays then, yes? I also recently discovered that Saturdays have mornings like all the other days of the week, so maybe that would be a good time for some artstuffs.

Input, please! Which day would you like to see Fan Art updated?

We have an even dozen works in this week's showcase. First off are two Mithra-themed pieces courtesy of [Tako]. Next, Andromeda brings us a lovely winged Emeralda. Cyllya shows "What Really Happened" with a spoiler-rific Tales of Symphonia work. Jamie Jennings and Maeva are all about the Star Ocean 3 art. Nikki0417 settles the whole "Is the White Mage a boy or a girl?" debate once and for all with this Yuna piece. S.C. doubles the Final Fantasy fun with two works featuring Rikku and Vincent Valentine. Many of you should remember Silkenray from her former tenure as RPGamer's Fan Art Curator, and she sends her greetings in the form of The Legend of Zelda's old man. Staci/Nadia makes a triumphant return to fan art with some Seiken Densetsu III goodness. The Pokeduck concludes this week's fabulous assortment with a sketch from Chrono Trigger.

The deadline for Round One of OmniArt 2005 is coming faster than a chocobo on steroids, so get those entries in! To be fair to those who have already sent in their entries, the deadline won't be extended anymore. Remember, even if you don't get one of the top three spots, being selected as an honorable mention will help you when it comes time for wildcard selections.

Oh, and we have two more frequently asked questions this week:

i hate ur slephie contset. its stupid.
That's not a question, but I'll answer it anyway. A couple people wrote in saying that they don't like the challenge for this round. Maybe they don't like Final Fantasy 8, maybe they don't like Selphie, or perhaps they just don't like first rounds.

Yes, this round's challenge was made very specific for a reason: It's meant to challenge artists to come up with a creative solution to what seems to be a limitation. However, from the entries we've received so far, you all seem to have realized that this was not meant to be a limitation as much as it was meant to be an inspiration.

Who owns the rights to my art if I enter it in OmniArt 2005?
You do. By submitting any work of art to RPGamer Fan Art, whether it's for a contest or for a normal showcase update, you retain all rights to your work. You can (and are encouraged to) submit it to other websites, magazines, etc. and do anything else you want with it. The only right we have is to post it on RPGamer for our readers to enjoy.

The last update before Christmas will be going up next week, so I welcome all holiday-themed submissions. Please try to get them in by Monday, December 20, 2004. However, if you want to celebrate Christmas next April, you can also send them in whenever you like. After all, it's always Christmas somewhere, right?

The Most Requested list on that right menu bar thingy has been updated, so send in your fulfillment of requests, or make your own requests! Also, if you'd like to make a suggestion for a contest round challenge/theme, please post it on this update's message board thread or e-mail it to me. The other judges and I will be making our final selections for the rest of the contest later this week. Remember, the more unique and exciting your idea sounds, the more likely that we'll choose it!

Boy, I can just talk and talk and talk. I'll stop for a bit, but not before I say again how happy I am to see such a full plate of fan art this week. Keep up the good artwork everybody!