You should all be ashamed.

[Sycamore]

Ashira is dead. I don't think I can believe it.

I have lost complete faith in our audience and voters. They have decided to kill the best character. They have decided to remove the best writer. They have decided they no longer want a good story.

Ashira, hands down, is the best villain on the island. All the goodbeasts fear her, all the vermin butt heads with her. She's the only one willing to do things, with Silus deciding it would be better to sit and kill in moronic fashion while she provides entertainment for the rest of us. The author has magnificently set up relationships with every other character. Good, entertaining relationships that have now been cut short because people are idiots.

Ashira has never slacked in her posting. She's been the first to post every week, thereby setting up how the week will progress. And they are magnificent chapters. I have nothing to look forward to anymore at the start of each week. I predict the story will slow down considerably without her.

We have lost one of the greatest characters in the story, along with one of the greatest writers. My prediction is that this story will flounder and die along with her.

Everyone that voted for her should be ashamed.

[Opal]

It's okay to disagree with the outcome of the vote, but the audience can vote for whichever character they want, so I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here. Your prediction of the story dying without her is not accurate. It will be different, certainly, since Ashira was just so wonderfully evil, and she was indeed first to post nearly every week (I'm still not quite sure how that worked out. XD), but the story will go on. There is still plenty of evil to go around. We've still got two evil contestants and I assure you, there are still quite a few tricks up the remaining five's collective sleeve.

And also, I think all of them are very talented writers, or else they wouldn't even be here in the first place, no? ;)

[Sycamore]

It's okay to disagree with the outcome of the vote, but the audience can vote for whichever character they want, so I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here.

You sound as though she deserved to die.

*sigh* I'm sorry. I did not mean some of the things I said. I was upset and I needed to yell. Yes, I think those that voted for her should be chastised. Yes, I think that the story will suffer without her. I don't think it will die. Ashira is not the only author I enjoy reading. She just happened to be one of my top picks.

I just haven't enjoyed this week. Kelsey dies, and Ashira gets the boot. I think the best thing that came out of this week was that Ashira got two posts.

[Opal]

No, I sound as though the audience can decide to vote out whoever they like. Sometimes I agree with them, sometimes I don't. But that's totally irrelevant.

However, I can share your pain, because it always seemed like in other contests, like QB and such, that everyone else seemed to hate most of my favorite chars. Only four of my QBIV picks got in, so yeah. Less than half. And it didn't make any sense to me. Because. Clearly I knew what was good! And the rest of the audience was just poopy. :P

Anyway, now that I've...not made my point at all, I'm gonna go... XD

EDIT: Also, even though only four of my picks got into QBIV, I still gave it a chance and absolutely loved the story. Well. What they've written of it anyway! Ahem. :P

[Stonewall]

What I really want to know is, can the people who voted for Ashira at least step forward and tell us why? I certainly enjoyed Ashira, and I'm curious to know what it was that people found lacking.

[Sycamore]

EDIT: Also, even though only four of my picks got into QBIV, I still gave it a chance and absolutely loved the story. Well. What they've written of it anyway! Ahem. :P

Eh.. I don't think that's relevant in this case. Five weeks into a story, the characters have been able to establish themselves, and the authors have been able to develop. It's not like we're running off 600 word applications anymore. I think two of my picks got in this contest, and I have enjoyed it immensely.

I'm not trying to say I haven't enjoyed the story, and no longer will. Well, maybe I was, but that was because I wrote that post before I allowed myself to calm down. Which was silly of me and I apologize for sounding so mean-spirited.

I am curious though if those that voted for her will own up...