Reviews Schmeviews

[TNT]

Right now I will say as a general, overall review--and please bear in mind that this is coming from someone much closer to the story than the rest of the audience--that Carrigul is kind of...not really what I was imagining. Tikora is pretty vicious, but I guess I'm just a little miffed that this savage council of leaders I had envisioned are actually a bunch of snooty, religious aristocrats who eat such froofy, not savage dishes as smoked salmon.

Also, there's the sheer scale of the architecture, and I believe there was a mention of ruins or older buildings in there somewhere, when my first prologue, right near the beginning, says:

However, several seasons ago, as if from nowhere, a mysterious settlement sprang up on the northern side of the mountains.

They've built a whopping great city...and found the time to knock down some of it and rebuild it...not to mention churn out a metric buttload of weaponry...in several seasons?

I dunno, maybe I'm just a little tired of the aristocratic vermin types. One of these days I want a throwback to the books, where the baddies are rough, don't bathe much, and are just. Real bad folks to be around. Don't get me wrong: LOVE the religious angle. It's awesome. It's new. It's believable. Not liking the High Church, Pope Tikora I attitude as much though.

Real, actual reviews and one last interlude coming soon, honest.

[Nyika]

Tara!! Aside from mysterious Carrigul sproutings and religious monarchies aside, have you been enjoying the conflict and direction and character growth, at least?

There are ruins in Carrigul, but it's possible that these ruins were already there and Carrigul was built on top of them, rather than construction beasts finding the time to knock buildings down and rebuild them. The ermine settlement was on top of the mountains; I don't think it's too far-fetched for another settlement to settle below.

[TNT]

I have. I think this is still one of the most cohesively plotted and entertaining stories the survivor contest scene has seen in a long time. I am enjoying the story, even if I've been kind of quiet lately. Still no idea who I'm going to vote for. It might honestly come down to picking at random if I can't make my mind up soon. XD

[TNT]

In light of the secondary awards, I'd like to dole out a few special "awards" of my own. But first, let me say what an honor it was to be able to (sort of) write alongside the contestants. The interludes did not cover everything I had wanted, due to switching jobs and just being generally busy. But I'm still glad I had a chance to write them. When the cast was first chosen, I was thinking, oh man, this cast is amazing, I don't need to write with them, I'll just detract from whatever awesomeness they come up with. But when they told me they'd prefer for me to write interludes covering a little more of the political side of things so they could focus on more of the character interactions, I, of course, obliged. Again, I just wish I could've been less busy and covered more, but they picked up my slack wonderfully. Though we didn't always see plot ideas eye to eye, they're easily one of the easiest bunch of people to work with. And they have had a bunch of wonderful ideas!

TL;DR: I like you guys. :)


And now, the awards. First....


The Torry Steggims Award

This award goes to Nyika, and it is simply because she played the game brilliantly. Torry Steggims of QBIII was notorious for making himself indispensable to the plot to the point that it would essentially destroy the story were he to be killed. Nyika, while she did not go as far as making herself the "chosen one" or what have you, was frequently not just mentioned in, but arguably the focal point of other contestants' posts. While I didn't always care for the direction in which she took her character, I can't fault her for her keen ability to intertwine her character so strongly into the plot that killing her probably would have left a gaping hole in it. While I don't believe she was necessarily the strongest writer in the contest, she most definitely played her cards the best. And for that reason, I believe she deserves the win.

(Now if it turns out Nyika was written by Falar, too, that will be amusing.)


The 180 Award

This award goes to Poko. I was really not fond of Poko to begin with, because I thought she was essentially a bratty Mary-Sue who'd probably be the first casualty (though, for the record, I'm pretty sure I never actually death voted her even once). However, as the weeks went by and Poko, to my surprise, kept not dying, she really grew on me. Also, Poko was easily the most improved of the entire contest. I always appreciated her desire for feedback, and the way her writing improved by leaps and bounds, which showed her applying said feedback. Poko evolved from a brat into something I'd never expected: the young, selfless hero who dies tragically. I was so disappointed that she didn't make the top three. So in short, this award is mostly me being glad that I wasn't the one choosing the entirety of the top nine, because I would have deprived the story of Poko, and that would have been sad indeed. Job well done on changing my mind about you, little sprite. Job well done.


The Most Potential Award

This award goes to Risk. Never, ever, ever would've guessed he'd be the first to die in a million years. Still have not even an inkling of a clue as to why. The audience giveth Poko, but taketh away Risk, I guess. **sigh** Risk may not have been my personal favorite character, but I feel like he had so much potential, and the story missed out on a lot of humor because of his early departure. Risk was easily the most humorous character, and his posts were some of the most entertaining to read. I guess now we'll never know how many more oiled substances would have come into contact with that hypothetical vixen's thighs...


The Definitely Not the Diet Coke of Evil Award

Goragula. One of the best truly evil characters the contest scene has seen in a good while. I never had anything bad to say about any of your posts, ever, which is pretty miraculous due to my nitpicky nature. Whatever circumstance kept you from posting in your last week, I kind of want to hurt it. Because you were amazing, and I think the story actually lacked a strong villainy presence after you left. With Carrigul still off in the distance, it was nice to have a foreboding presence right there in the thick of things, not just being talked about.


The Mr. Consistent Award

This goes to Istvan, because while being most improved or having posts that I don't nitpick are both impressive feats, there is also something to be said of consistency. I never felt like Istvan changed a lot throughout the course of the story, but there was something comforting in that. No matter what happened in the week, I was always guaranteed a solid post from our resident cultist otter. Obviously the rest of the audience appreciated your consistency as well, as you glided into the end zone with nary an audience member trying to tackle you. Also, I suck at analogies.


The Feathery Ball of Cute Award

Noonahootin. Well, obviously, as he's the only one with feathers. But anyway, besides that one really gory post with the wing surgery, Noonahootin's posts always had little cute, touching moments thrown in that made me smile, like Nooners with Poko/Nyika, or with his grandbabies. In such a tragic story, it's nice to have moments like that. Nooners was really a big ol' softie at heart. And his name still makes me chuckle. :P


The Witty Witty Princess Award

Sorry, Gashrock, I suck at naming awards, but you get this one, because, as I've said, you had some of the best opening lines of posts I've ever read. "The Snow Queen" is still amongst my favorite posts of the contest, and while your bare-bones style may not have suited itself to this particular type of writing environment, which, as I recall, was your ultimate downfall, I would love to read a book about Gashrock.


The Snarkvana Award

So, okay, hear me out, Zevka. It's a weird award name, but what I loved most about Zevka was that she was able to balance her snark, which in the beginning could be overpowering and kind of annoying. I didn't appreciate that she was able to verbally best everyone in the beginning, and that that seemed to be her biggest character trait. I loved that you were able to tone down the snark and to bring out other characteristics in her, such as her motherly side and her somewhat geeky tendencies. You achieved ultimate snark balance, or snarkvana. Congrats on making it to the end!


The BOOM! Goes the Canon Award

Vanessa gets this one, for easily having the most canonical feeling posts of the contest. Sometimes we get so caught up in finding our own styles and being different and edgy that we kind of start to forget the source material for this world. Vanessa had pretty much everything a Redwall heroine would have: a tragic past, a desire to fight (sometimes unrealistic numbers of enemies) for justice, and a fierce loyalty to her friends. But all the while, it never felt like something forced or cookie-cutter. Vanessa was a strong character with interesting flaws, and her posts were always reminiscent of something Redwallian.