Talk to the Tree Weasel

[Zevka]

So, you know the drill. Go ahead and ask me questions about Zevka and try to guess who I am. I know one of you figured out my true identity weeks ago, but I want to see who else can get it. Fire away!

[carelesswhisper]

Male or female?

Favorite contest that you've read or participated in?

Did Zevka ever have a thing for Nessa?

[Istvan]

Did Zevka ever have a thing for Nessa Istvan?

Fixed that for you.
But in all seriousness, I would be very interested to hear your perspective on Istvan and Zevka's relationship. I found it to be quite a wonderful character arc for the pair of them, if only because of how unexpected it was, and I'd like to know how you interpreted things.

Also, there's a question that's been nagging at me for a while: would Zevka prefer Clausewitz's On War or Rommel's Attacks?

[Erethas]

Oooh, another reveal thread!


Kay, here you go:


What helped inspire Zevka?

How would you and Zevka get along if the two of you met each other?

Would Zevka/you have done anything different with this contest if you were given the option?

What is your favourite colour?

[Matra Hammer]

Who is the best Looney Tunes character and why?

What is the profession of the first child Vanessa and Zevka have together?

The perfect cake is made with *blank,* filled with *blank,* topped with *blank,* and served with a side of *blank.*

What would Zevka have done if she found out Mekad was dead? Or "evil?"

Think of your character, your favorite character in the cast, and your least favorite character in the cast. Who are their real life actor equivalents?

What would change for Zevka if Goragula and/or Risk survived longer?

[Zevka]

Carelesswhisper:
1. I'm a guy.
2. My two favorite contests (won't say if I was cast or audience) are Midnight Mossflower 1 and The Emperor's Decree II. Both had really well written stories and some of the best characters I can remember seeing.

Did Zevka ever have a thing for....
Nessa: No. This is one Zevka ship I never really saw. So far as I'm concerned (never actually asked Nessa's writer about this) they're just really good friends with nothing else mixed in.

Istvan: Not really. Maybe there was a bit of something there, but in practical terms, they were always way too different to ever have a relationship work, and I'm sure they both would know it. Again, I see them as really just friends who have gained a lot of respect for ach other over a very difficult time in their lives.

Mekad: Yes. I may go into this more in my epilogue post, but suffice to say that all those beasts at Bayguard were on to something with these two. Basically, they started liking each other after they had already gone to Bayguard, but never actually became a pair because 1) Both assumed that their feelings were unreciprocated by the other, 2) Stekpo was always trying to marry Mekad off to various wildcat warladies/princesses, and both were worried that if Stekpo actually succeeded that Mekad's future arranged mate would get rid of Zevka, and 3)Zevka was pretty sensitive about being perceived as somebeast who slept her way to top, and also just thought that being in a pairing with her boss's nephew/possible future warlord was not a thing to do.

Erethas:
*I had wanted to write a pine marten advisor type character for a while, and came up with the idea of somebeast who survived a battle with Redwall during a long drive back. I wanted to make Zevka a "practical intellectual" sort of character, and also liked the idea of a character that could be both affectionate and ruthless, which I had used before in another character.
*I think Zevka would be a lot of fun to hang out with in real life, and she's one of the characters from survivor contests who I think would actually like living in the modern age. I think her geeky side would come out a lot in the modern world -- for example, I can definitely see her being a fan of "Total War" type games as well as just action figures. Although she might still be a Warhammer player.
*Well, there are a few scenes that I would have liked to have used, but came up with too late or didn't fit. For example, Poko and I came up with the idea of Zevka and Poko trapping a wood pigeon together. The way I imagine it, wood pigeons are not sentient in the way that Nooners or Aster were sentient, but are somewhat intelligent -- enough to suffer. Poko would have eaten wood pigeons before, but the experience of seeing somebeast kill a screaming, struggling bird in front of her would have been new and upsetting. Unfortunately, we only came up with this idea after they were already in the city. I also wanted to have Zevka call Nyika a jill, only to have Nyika interupt to reminder her that not everybeast is a mustelid.

On a different note, I think that Beechton Valash's exact scheme with Mekad could have used some refinement. I was so focused on Zevka's adventures to rescue Mekad that I devoted sparse attention to why he was being held hostage in the first place.
*Dark blue

[Zevka]

Matra:
Sorry, don't have much of an answer for the cake question (I'll have to think about this one) but here are the others:

*Was never much into Looney Tunes as a kit, but I remember always rooting for cartoon cats to just catch the damn bird/mouse/what have you. I have nothing really against birds, but being a biology nut as a kid, I was well aware that mice spread all sorts of awful diseases, and always wanted to see the poor cat just get his lunch and go home. Also, I loved cats as a kid, but could never have one due to a family full of allergies.
*I see what you did, you ZeNessa shipper, you.
*Oh geez...if Mekad had died before Zevka had gotten to him, two things would have happened. The first would have been Zevka just being absolutely devastated. The second would have been Zevka adopting a distinctly more bloodthirsty attitude towards Carrigul. She might, for example, have tried a plan to just burn down Tikora's palace or poison its food/water supply, and would just generally be VERY aggressive. Mekad being evil was never really a serious option that I considered. He's just too nice.

Now, a more interesting scenario would have been if Zevka had been kidnapped by Carrigul and Mekad had gone with the party. I haven't fully fleshed out what all of his character relationships would have been, but here are the Cliffs Notes versions:
-Poko: This would have been similar to Zevka's relationship to Poko in most respects, although Poko might have been more comfortable with Mekad's approach to things than with Zevka's, given that Zevka is the more ruthless of the two.
-Nyika: Mekad would have been somewhat more skeptical of the ghosts than Zevka. He would have felt sorry for Nyika, and tried to help her as much as he could, but would not slip towards semi-believing int he ghosts the way Zevka did.
-Istvan: Mekad and Istvan would probably have had a more positive relationship starting off, but I don't know if their eventual friendship would have been as interesting or as deep. Mekad would not have argued about religion, but would have protected Poko. I just don't think the dynamics of the relationship would have stayed the same, though.
-Goragula: Mekad would not have made the kinds of overtures to Grags that Zevka did. The toad would creep him out like nobeast's business, but Mekad would be less intimidated by him than the others.
-Noonahootin: Mekad would be fascinated by a beast like Noonahootin, and these two probably would have wound up being good friends. An extra element here is that Mekad was born and raised to rule, but feels a considerable level of insecurity about his actual ability to do so, and would have been eager to learn from a creature like Noonahootin.
-Nessa: Mekad and Nessa's relationship would have been very similar to Zevka's and Nessa's. I'm not sure whether Mekad would have thrown the mole or not, but I don't think he would have. Need to think about this one more.
-Gashrock: Mekad loves theatres and performers and showbeasts even more than Zevka does, and would have really appreciated Gashrock in a way that Zevka did not. He would have been much more enthusiastic about her ideas, and I could see a nice "theatre games" type scene playing out here.
-Risk: Not as interesting as Zevka's relationship with him. Mekad just plain wouldn't have liked him.

*Actor equivalents: Ooh. THat's a tough one. I need to think about this more.
*Goragula: I can see Goragula and Zevka becoming outright enemies. If Goragula had gotten to Carrigul and then supplanted Ruark, she would have perceived him as very dangerous because of his cunning and his unique knowledge of the party that nobeast else in Carrigul would have had. Additionally, his interest in killing Nyika would have incurred Zevka's wrath as well, and anything against Poko or Nessa would have been just as bad. It would have been very interesting to see Goragula playing against the rest of the cast, although I think I do like having the last three all be on the same side better.
*Risk: So, this one really got nipped in the bud. Zevka and Risk would have bantered a lot more, but Zevka would not have quite known how to handle Risk's hitting on her. She would have treated it as a joke, not understanding that Risk might have been serious. Zevka is not used to being hit on, given that most jacks at Bayguard thought that she was with Mekad, and didn't want to make a pass at the perceived mate of a wildcat who was also the boss's nephew. She also would have appreciated his help in protecting Poko. If he had lasted until the Mole-throwing incident, things would have really gotten interesting, because she would have really appreciated his (probable) support in that situation.

Even more interesting would have been the eventual revelation about him, Mekad and Nyika. I can't even begin to figure out how Zevka would have handled that one! On the one paw, she would have been absolutely furious at him for traumatizing and orphaning her best friend. On the other, she would really be very conflicted about seeking any kind of revenge on a beast who by then would probably have saved her and/or Poko and/or Nyika several times over, and with whom she shared the experience of being stuck in the mountains. Not to mention the very real practical issues in seeking revenge on a beast who she knows is a much better fighter than her in a situation where they have way too many enemies to begin with. Mekad, for his part, might also have been unsure of what to do if Risk had ever saved Zevka. Zevka would have also been worried sick about Mekad taking on a beast like Risk, wildcat or none, and would have tried to dissuade him from holding a grudge against Risk that could wind up claiming his own life. I could probably write a whole scene about this one.

Come to think of it, that's a loose end I need to tie up: whatever happened to Gypsumfur?

[Zevka]

So, in the absence of any new questions in the last ten days, I think I'll go ahead and announce that Zevka was played by...












Nallmian.

Everybeast has said it before (including me), but I'll say it again: I loved every day of this contest. This has been an absolutely fantastic group of people in terms of both talent and temperament, and I hope to write with or review each and every one of you again in the future. But don't go away yet! We all have epilogue posts planned! You didn't seriously think we would just leave our characters hanging, did you? No! Of course not! I have Zevka's afterstory thought out, and you'll be seeing it soon, once some real life stuff stabilizes for me.

Once more, a huge thank you to Tara, Balma and the whole cast for making this an awesome part of my life.