Blood, Gore, Cuteness

[Tooley Bostay]

My thanks once again for the excellent review, Zevka. Always a pleasure hearing your thoughts! You bring up a good point about mammalian differences as far as climate-tolerance goes--I'll be keeping that in mind come future posts. I'm curious, though, if you knew Daggle's death was coming before reading any of the other posts?

[Zevka]

So, I am short on time to review the rest of the posts before the deadline, but I will try my best. For the sake of reviewing everybeast, I may not review Chak and Plink's second posts in close detail.


Plink: I Do Heartily Repent
Well, this isn't a bad look at Plink's psychology, but the fact of the matter is that nothing much happens during this post: Plink, Robert, Chak and Minstrel walk. And they walk. And Plink reflects on her feelings, and Chak hits her, and Minstrel sings. The problem is, none of this was really that significant to the plot. We do get some more development for Robert and Chak, but nothing ground-breaking: we already basically knew that Chak is a horrible person and Robert is everybody's Cool Uncle. Now, there were some bright spots here: Minstrel's song was a wondrous thing. In fact, all of the songs in this contest are ? the best I could ever do with songs is Chatterley's gatesawful ?Imperial Anthem,? but these songs sound like they could have come out of the books themselves. Also, Plink's attempts to wrestle with her worry over Scully and her bluster in the face of her powerlessness are interesting. The most interesting relationships here are with Minstrel and Robert: the mouse seems to be moving Plink into the role in his life previously filled by the other slaves, while Robert is clearly moving plink under his figurative wing.

Bottom Line: I cannot say that I was hugely impressed with this post ? not enough happened, and not enough of what happened was really new. It wasn't bad by any objective measure ? it never failed to keep my attention and clearly express what was happening ? but it was not one of the stronger posts of the week.

For the Future: Plink needs to take a more active role in the plot. Last week I largely gave you a pass on this, since being a stowaway imposes some limits, but now Plink really needs to start exerting more influence on events around her. Plink is currently a character who is acted upon, not who acts upon others. You have some good raw material here, and I think you can really get a good dynamic going with Robert, and possibly with Ciera or Vera when the cast (presumably) all get into the same frame in the future.



Crue: Thorn in My Side
The main goal of this post is clearly to bring Crue, Tooley and Daggle together with Robert, Chak, Minstrel and Plink, and it gives us plenty of detail along the way fo rus to sink our fangs into. You do a great job of driving home just how tired and spent all three beasts are, and their different ways of dealing with it: Crue's constant thinking through towards practical solutions, Tooley's cheerful levity and Daggle's ever present complaining. The post introduces a major plot point here: the island has residents. This isn't totally a surprise ? it wouldn't really make that much sense to set the island up as completely uninhabited, but this was a nice, low-key way of introducing it. Your post is fairly sparse with the details, but it serves as a good building-camaraderie mechanism for Crue and Tooley, and highlights their widely differing interpretations of what they've found: a lot of the things Crue is thinking about clearly go well over Tooley's head. Tooley is done perfectly here ? this is the best portrayal I've seen of him outside his own writer's posts ? and the relationship between the two of them needs all the development it can get, since Crue's main patient, Daggle, is about to get gruesomely killed to death by Chak.

Which brings me to the main liability for Crue: her relative lack of what Matra called plot ammo. Crue's motivations are currently fairly straightforward: live and provide medical care, period full stop. Her quick friendship with Tooley (who heartwarmingly is the first to call her his friend), her own account of why she joined up with Atlas and events in prior posts all make it clear that she is a Robert Rosequill-style punchclock Waverunner who couldn't care less about extirpating piracy and fighting vermin so long as she gets the resources to keep doing her medical research. The problem is, she's too detached emotionally. She hasn't really had meaningful interactions with anybeast else but Tooley and Daggle yet ? she met Robert, had Fildering guard her stuff, and I think she spoke briefly to Scully, but none of these was really that major. Now, I didn't notice or mind this much during Week 1, because you did such a good job of establishing her relationship with the Waverunners as a collective, but you're rounding out the week with a fairly sparse set of character relationships, and with a very limited set of motives. Still, there's lots of room for Crue to grow: let some beasts break through that prim shell of hers and remind her that healing is about hearts and minds as well as bodies. Let her find more things to care about. Alternatively, let her fail to save a life (not counting Daggle ? nothing she could have really done there), and show us how this impacts her.

Bottom Line: Very solid post, and you're really making Tooley and Crue into a great duo ? very fun to watch. However, they're you're only duo right now.

For the Future: Already said most of it, but focus on building up some plot ammo.



Vera: Searching for Supper
Matra did a better job on this than I could, but I really liked this post as well. It shows us that Vera, although not totally thawed by Ciera's show of emotion, is not an Ice Vixen. She does have things she cares about, even if those things are not necessarily other living beasts. Her grief and shame over her brother's fate seems very real to me, and I get the impression she has spent a lot of time brooding over this. For that matter, it makes me surprised that she didn't poison the horde rather than drugging them ? which again suggests that she isn't a totally sociopath, and maybe on some level didn't really like the idea of killing so many beasts at once. The way Vera seizes on the need for food and is able to effectively disarm the suspicious woodlanders shows off her cleverness and her ability to talk her way into and out of situations. Although Vera has not yet met that much of the cast in any meaningful sense, this does bode well for her ability to interact when she does meet them. You do a very solid job with dialogue.

The last part of this post, focusing on the papaya tree and the snakes, is very well written, although it raises more questions than it answers: where exactly is this island? Why is Fildering acting so odd around her? The cliffhanger was done quite well ? if this was a movie, the ?suspense music? would be done perfectly ? and we had just the right level of ominous leading up to the snake grabbing Vera.

All around this was done very well, although you have not completely filled the gap left by the fact that a lot of Vera's most detailed interactions last week were with Vasily. Still, I understand that you were limited by the geographic distribution of the cast, so not going to be too upset over this, especially since everything else is still so well done. You have plot ammo aplenty in the form of the amulet and Vera's efforts to break the ice with the woodlanders, but I do think that, like Crue, she might be a bit too aloof. Not saying she should turn into the Den Mother here, but maybe let her warm up to Ciera or Tooley a bit.

Bottom Line: A well written, plot-driving post that breaks new ground for Vera and leaves us wanting more.

For the Future: Trying fleshing things out with Ciera, Scully and Tooley. Vera may not like Ciera, but perhaps she can see some use in the emotional vulnerability the ferret just displayed to her, or be won over by Ciera's growing and apparently sincere concern for her welfare. Vera might also be a good ?introduction to vermin? character for Scully, since Plink is another kit, and Vera's behavior might be more instructive in terms of what vermin are like. Tooley, meanwhile, owes Vera his life, plus she just seems like a beast he would like.


Fildering: Heart of Darkness
Oh, such delightful awkwardness. I enjoyed reading this post, and it moved the plot along nicely, but there's some things with it that don't match up perfectly with what's going on in the rest of the week. We start off with Fildering being a badtail and attacking the snake, saving Vera from certain devourment ? our vixen may be a cleverboots, but she is not a warrior by any means, and this post reinforces that important weakness. She may have whacked Fildering over the head, but honestly, that was luck more than skill. Fildering's motive of ?because it's wrong? for not abandoning Vera is fair enough, but I kinda wish it had been fleshed out more. Maybe there's a specific thing in Fildering's past or in his personal worldview that would really drive this point home? And the post doesn't really provide a compelling explanation of his odd behavior in the last post: the weird conversation about Fildering's Dorothea Dilworthy-like sister tells me very little about what is going on here. I know the post seems to take this explanation at face value, but it just isn't very satisfying as a reader, and especially doesn't explain why he was acting like a leveret with a crush during the time leading up to the snake. I also feel like a chance for more interaction between Vera and Fildering was lost. What you have is good enough, but this feels like a chance for a more substantive conversation was lost.

In the past, I have told Ciera and Plink that they spend too much time with their character's introspective sides. I feel like Fildering may have the opposite problem: his motivations, outlook and worldview aren't well developed enough, and he feels too much like just a basic, standard-issue Long Patrol Hare without enough unique traits to really distinguish him. He's a solid, upstanding guy, but I don't feel like I really know enough about what makes him tick, and what I've seen so far is not as colorful as for some of the other characters. Contrast that to, say, Scully or Ciera or Robert or Plink: I know exactly what they're thinking and feeling, and why, and where it comes from.

Bottom Line: You moved the plot along nicely, but Fildering himself is not as sharply developed as some other characters at this point in the story.

For the Future: Keep developing Fildering's interactions with Vera, but don't stop there ? I think Fildering could actually play well off of Tooley ? a kind, simple, non-threatening vermin that Fildering did indeed almost kill ? or off of Scully and/or Chak, the vermin-aligned woodlanders.


Robert Rosequill: Confrontation
This post deftly solves R2's most noticeable liability, while also nicely developing his character and advancing the plot. I wrote earlier that Robert's main issue is that he had no real motivations except get home to his family: now, however, he has clearly found something, and somebeast, that makes him very angry. Chak and Robert are perfect foils, although I didn't ever realize it until now: Chak's deep cynicism and twisted, blue-orange sense of morality versus Robert's mixture of kindness and badtailery. I really want to see this rivalry continue to develop. As of this post, Robert and Scully are the two beasts who feel the most like ?The Protagonist? of the story, if that makes any sense. There are so many moments here who help show us who Robert is: his efforts to comfort Tooley, his interactions with Minstrel, and above all, the titular confrontation with Chak. I can't wait to see what R2 does next with Ciera, with Scully, with Vera, etc.

Bottom Line: Not a lot to say here, because this is just fantastic work.

For the Future: You seem to have a very solid course plotted out, so all I'll say here is that I'd love to see Robert interacting with Ciera and and reacting to Scully's actions later this week.


Scully: Lullaby
This is my favorite post of the whole week, and possibly of the contest so far. We start out with Scully having hit rock bottom, and end with him having wrested control of the entire story and burned his bridges with the Waverunners. The poor widdle bunny starts out our post very homesick, and only just starting to really internalize the implications of his actions: all the hardship and danger that didn't ever quite seem real, the fact that his parents, whatever his problems with them, genuinely will grieve for his loss, and the fact that his mentor seems to have not fully thought things through himself: Scully may be smart, but that doesn't mean sending a leveret to kill Atlas Stormstripe was ever a good plan.

The whole sequence of Scully being captured by and then trying to charm the snakes reads like professional-grade, published storytelling. I don't really have anything else to say about it, save that this scene completely captivated me, as did the mystery of how Scully got one of Blade's daggers. The dagger ? which also sets things up for a talk with Ciera Ancora, clearly establishes that Scully and Brother Sage are not just a pair of schoolhouse radicals: at least one of them has clearly had substantive contact with Blade. The end of the post also is a wonderful piece of character development: Scully makes a clean break with the Waverunners, leaving them to be hostages ? and quite possibly food! ? while he runs off with Captain Ancora, savoring every minute of this decision. This post sets the stage for a whole plot arc, and does so superbly.

On the other paw, this post also reminded me of just what Scully looks like to other woodlanders: a traitor, and a rather callous one at that. Scully is sympathetic to us because he's a cute little bunny wabbit with a crush, but this chapter makes clear that there is a good deal of ice in his veins: he is not bothered at all by stabbing the Waverunners in the back, even though they all seem horrified when the snakes are looking like they want to eat him. I find myself almost reminded of Light Yagami without the magic ? the brilliant, arrogant, idealistic manipulator who is the protagonist but certainly not heroic. Depending on what perspective you bring to this story, and what traits Scully is showing off at a given moment, you can read him as either a Young Adult novel hero, or as a fiendish Villain Protagonist who is set up perfectly to be another enemy to Robert Rosequill or Fildering's archnemesis.

Either way, though, this was a masterful post, and I loved every minute of it and want to see more.

Bottom Line: Loved it loved it loved it *wardances*

For the Future: See Ciera's review: I want to see Ciera and Scully interact ? they're so similar, but Ciera represents what Scully could become if he survives this contest only to look back on his actions and regret a lot of them. Mr. Rosequill and Vera, as mentioned earlier, could also be really interesting foils for Scully, as good Chak, for that matter. As I've said before, Scully's knowledge of vermin is largely theoretical at this point, and I want to get the full blast of how he reacts to the complicated, messy reality. I love vermin ? they're fun, colorful, delightful killing machines made of cuteness ? but they are not poor opwessed widdle creatures, and I think some of Scully's ideas are going to have a very hard time upon first contact with reality.
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[Plink]

Zevka, thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate the feedback so much! And if you have any thoughts (even brief ones) about my part 2 this week, I'd love to hear them. Because, honestly, if I was going to cut one of them, it would be the first.

You've got a good point about Plink and the plot. My posts this round haven't done much to move the plot forward. I wrote this first one because it was a moment of decision for Plink, a chance to begin warming up to Robert (the Best of Goodbeasts) or to follow Chak (and piracy) at her own peril. To base her later choice to run off after Tooley solely on Chak murdering Daggle might have been more expedient, but it would also be impersonal. There would be no real relationship with Chak established on the page before being abruptly broken off. Her return to and ultimate refusal to accept Robert's paternal overtures would also be lost. These are subtle things, and easy to deem unimportant in the face of the lack of plot progression, it's true, but they're still important to fleshing out the way this character forges (and refuses to forge) relationships within the group.

At this point in the story (as Matra put it, the reset) there's not much a kid among adults *can* do to further the plot. She's got no horse in the power struggle race, as it were. Next week will be much better, I swear - so long as Plink makes it through the vote.

[Fildering Dillwithers]

Thanks for th' jolly reviews, Zevka, e'en if I got th' bally ol' ticket 'fore I could make good on Filds, wot. Still a help, though, still a help! I applaud ye.

[Zevka]

So, real life has been kicking my tail. I'm not going to be able to do full reviews for most of the posts of Week 3(if you really, really want one, leave a reply below and I'll see what I can do), but I did have at least a few general thoughts to share.

* Please for the love of Vulpuz and the All-Mother can we please get the cast all in ONE place for more than 2 posts?!? I love the characters individually (in fact, taken as such this is one of the strongest casts I can remember), but it drives me nuts that it's Week 3 and we still have characters who haven't met one another (Ciera and Vera have never met Robert or Crue, Tooley has never met Scully). This sort of thing cuts off a lot of potential character relationships, and it fragments the plot.

*Chak: I absolutely, positively, did not in a million years see Minstrel's death coming. It's a gutsy move, and one that could have been a huge problem if mishandled, but you did a great job with it. Nimbleton is a classic Redwallian hero who happens to have run into 1) Terrible luck, in the form of the ship combusting and 2) An unfortunate life debt thing to his most hated enemy. I almost wish you had played this out longer, but I think on reflection this is the right way to handle things: you've shaken Chak to the core and forced him to depend, practically and emotionally, on other player characters. You also did a solid job of ushering in a new, less-belligerent relationship with Robert.

*Scully: Yours is still my favorite character story arc overall, but this was my least favorite of your posts ? the bit with Crue was a bit awkward, and I feel like you could have gotten more out of two moments here. First of all, Scully eating the fish and the crab. This may seem like a fairly minor thing, but it's a rare example of a herbivore eating meat, and it could have been a really good symbolic moment driving home that Scully knows, for better or for worse, exactly what side he's on. Secondly, Murdin torturing the shrew and making Scully take part. I understand why you went for the ?Scully shuts down his conscience? angle, but I would have wanted to see more interaction with the shrew ? actually, maybe it should have been someone who knew Scully better, like one of the other hares. Maybe a friend of his brother's, something like that? Something more jarring and harder for Scully to just shut out of his mind. On the other paw, I loved the bit at the end where Scully deduces the way forward, and the bit with Brother Sage. Overall, however, this post feels like a lost opportunity. I still maintain that Scully feels the most like The Main Character, if I had to choose just one, but you've reduced that a little bit here. Still, I loved your other posts, and I tend to grade people on their overall performance, so you have lots of opportunity to keep moving forward.

*Ciera: You and Chak were tied for my favorite post of the week. Murdin's death could have easily been a clich?, but you handled it beautifully in terms of sheer suspense and badtailery ? I actually wondered for a moment during that part if somehow Ciera was going to really, seriously hurt Vera. Also, the bit with Ciera and Cyril is interesting ? also, I love seeing Carrigul get itself worked more and more into the fabric of the Survivor contest continuity.

*Robert: Keep doing exactly what you're doing.

Might post more of these as they pop into my head. Overall though, great job everybeast!

[Airan]

also, I love seeing Carrigul get itself worked more and more into the fabric of the Survivor contest continuity.

It's my headcanon that MO1 and MO3 are happening at the same time.

Good to see you're still around, Nallmian :)

[Zevka]

So, due to a bunch of real life stuff, I don't have time to do full, formal reviews. Instead, what I'm going to do is just jot down some general thoughts on how everybeast did this week.

*Blade: I LOVED the twist with Blade being alived ? didn't see it coming at all, didn't even consider the possibility. This threw me for a loop. Blade is shaping up to be the scariest, most effective villain in any Mossflower Odyssey contest: he's as well resourced ? if not more so ? than Tikora or Chatterley, but much smarter and much saner. I know that last adjective sounds odd, given what he is shown as doing, but he seems to me to be a sociopath/psychopath/ruthless tyrant who is nevertheless rational enough to avoid most obvious traps and be truly effective. He has a clear charisma to him, and you can see how once he and Ciera would have been a great match. His best moments are in Scully's post, when you get to see him at his worst and at his cleverest ? our scheming hare is thoroughly totally outmatched in every way.

*Ciera: Ciera has moved front and center in the plot, but in a way that bring danger along with the opportunity. Her reaction to Blade being alive is exactly what I expected, but this is clearly an enormously complicated relationship. Blade is strongly implied to have tried to give Ciera an involuntary abortion-by-club, and yet interestingly he doesn't ever appear to consider hurting her when she punches him, despite the immense cruelty and vindictiveness he is shown capable of later. Their reunion is one of my favorite posts of the contest, and it shows us the whole breadth and depth of her character. The potential problem is that Ciera is now drifting out of the orbit of the rest of the cast ? and the one thing that does bother me about this otherwise superb story is that I can't ever remember a cast being this atomized. This is Week 4, and there are still multiple pairings of characters who have spent very little time talking to each other compared to past contests. Anyways, you need to make sure Ciera does not get drawn into Blade's orbit too far or for too long ? characters have died for less. However, you've succeeded in putting Ciera center stage and reminding me why I love this jill. I don't think anyone else improved their hand as well during this round.

*Scully: Our hare finishes his transition from villain protagonist in the form of a cute, cuddly widdle bunny wabbit into a total monster ? and a pathetic one, at the end. Blade shreds Scully mercilessly, and everything he does, including at the end, makes perfect sense. You built up Blade more than anybeast else this week, and your creation is a chilling thing ? brilliant, cruel and driven. The ghastly treatment of General Hriston shows us what Blade is capable of, as does the fact that he clearly has multiple sources of information on Salamandastron ? of which you paint a vivid picture as well. The mountain is a showcase for Atlas' character arc ? a cleverly-designed defense system of multiple layers that has fallen into disrepair as Atlas has grown crazier. This post is one long exercise in tearing Scully down ? Blade's manipulation of his young ?charge? with food and then alcohol, his review of all of Scully's betrayals, etc. Scully's final act reminds us just who he has become ? he starts abusing a horribly multilated old slave over a cake. By the end, Scully is ready to die.

So, Scully at one point was my choice for #1, and I still would have liked to have seen more of him, but there were some missed opportunities here. The way you handled Fildering's death and the shrew's torture were too casual and too superficial ? these should have been jarring for Scully, and made him really question his certainty. Things never gelled between Scully and Ciera ? Ciera's tendency to go all Palpatine on Scully (?Give yourself to the dark side, Scully!?) and the hare's inability to do or say much to counter her just never really worked as well as it could have or should have. I realize that Ciera can be sharp-elbowed and prickly, but maybe he could hav ebeen so much of a starry-eyed idealist about Blade as to make her realize that he's heading down the same path she did.

Bottom line, though: I really enjoyed Scully. He did seem like The Main Character for a while, and you clearly have lots of talent. Stick around, I'd love to see more from you.

Vera: So, Vera's had a big week this week: her horror at the conditions of the slaves, her distress over Hyland and her efforts to protect Plink from all of this carnage and suffering all point to a vixen who is starting to acquire more of a conscience and a wider variety of motives. The biggest mistake you could have made is to keep Vera focused on Survive/Get necklace thing as her main motives, and you avoided it superbly. Aside from a scene with Blade to show that Vera does indeed still want it, you kept the focus on why Vera cares and what she wants: she wants her friend free, and it is made clear that if an opportunity comes to do something about the slavery around her, she would want to take it. Between you and Chak we have a very rich picture of the environment ? and it is a HORRIBLE one. Viciously cruel slavedrivers and the presnece of a substance that makes every wound excruciating. Take this new direction and run with it ? make Vera realize that, deep-down, she does have a heart. As for Hylan the pine marten, I was skeptical at first (?WTF is this??) but it actually makes sense for Vera to finds someone she knows and want to help her friend get out of there ? it gives all those slaves a name and a face. Just be sure you don't spend too much time and focus on him at the expense of character interactions.

Also...what kind of MONSTER cuts a pine marten's tail off? I mean seriously, what sicko does that?!? I mean, yeah, slavery and piracy are bad, but THEY CUT A PINE MARTEN'S GATESDAMNED TAIL OFF!?!?!!?!?!fdsa;ldZOr'&(PB (P&[!!!!;ljkl;js d;urpu9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAK!!!!!!!!!!!%%%%!!!!!!!! Can you please kill that NPC off horribly? They deserve it because they went and CUT A PINE MA--- okay, I'm calming down now.

Crue: You go way out of your comfort zone in this week, and it works. Crue was starting to get left behind by the plot, but you've gone and effectively given her a new vantage point that lets her see the story from a different angle, and gives her more plot-leverage. Crue has a completely different relationship with Blade and Shuga and the mongeese than everybeast else: use this to your advantage. Let her have a civilized conversation with Blade (the more screen time he gets, the better!) ? and maybe have it turn out that our humble squirrel healer is actually far more resistant to his mind tricks than a beast like Scully. Or, better yet, have that civilized conversation with Ciera. She and crew are so alike in many ways ? cerebral, introspective and driven by ideas larger than themselves ? and they have barely had anything to do with each other yet. Maybe Ciera hasn't yet fully recovered from everything that's happened, or doesn't care for her new climate, and Crue is in a position to help. Both you and Ciera have the same potential pitfall ? you are separated physically and emotionally from the rest of the cast. Oh sure, you're not flat out an adversary to them, but you are also not in the same boat. I think it's the perfect time to let these two finally talk to each other. Most importantly, you've shown us that Crue really understands her situation quite well, and intends to change it. You barely escaped my vote last week, but you have nothing at all to fear from me this week: I loved both of your posts, and the second one especially.

Robert: I don't know if you have a second post lined up, but your first one was amazing, especially the very end. Keep doing what you've been doing.

Tooley: Okay, so the problem is that the plot seems to be getting away from our widdle woozle. Thus far we have seen no reaction from Tooley to the events going on around him, and even in other people's posts he's a bit player. The problem is that Tooley seems to me like his most likely response to all of this would be shellshocked passivity. Which will get you killed. You need to find a way for Tooley to gt something done, and fast, because he's starting to get pushed aside by events. Does he form a vendetta against Ciera for betraying him, or maybe do something unintentionally horrible because he desperately wants her to care about him? What about befriending Robert or Plink? Maybe he can be Plink's new buddy after what happened to Scully. Or maybe build on things with Crue. I'm not sure exactly what would fix things iwht Tooley, since part of his inherent nature is to be confused and somewhat pliable, but you need to figure out a way to make Tooley a subject rather than an object, so to speak.

Plink: I'm going to wait until you do a second post...assuming you are. I imagine some of it will be Scully's death.

Chak: I'm running out of steam and time. I'll get to you tomorrow.

[Airan]

Yes, Tooley, Plink and Robert all have second posts that should be up within a few hours hopefully. And don't worry about your real life stuff. We love reading your thoughts :)

[Chak Ku'rill]

Chak: I'm running out of steam and time. I'll get to you tomorrow.

[Matra Hammer]

That is the CUTEST angry face I've ever seen. It may or may not be my work desktop.

Shame shame, Zevka. Letting Mr. Saltdog McDisapointmentpants down!

/coughpotcallskettleblackcough

"Bottom line, though: I really enjoyed Scully. He did seem like The Main Character for a while, and you clearly have lots of talent. Stick around, I'd love to see more from you."

It's safe to say at this point that all of the cast is a main character. What I mean is every participant has a running arc with tons of big-story potential. Chak faces his slaving ways and a new future. Plink discovers a "treasure" in a way out/a way into Blade's chamber. Vera might as well get a sickle and hammer since she's handling the plight of the peoples. Robert needs a Danny Elfman soundtrack for all the dramatic standing and delivering he's doing. Crue has transformed figuratively and literally in her stint under Shuga. Tooley is about two seconds from stumbling Atlas to freedom, or getting a memory surge and burning the fire mountain down. And Ciera? Gah, don't even know where to start with the babe, ties to blade, etc.

At this point in the contest we're switching gears into "what kind of story does the reader/voter like." I know I have my favorites. But time and again this switches as these authors jump up and surprise us. This week...garh, this week was full of just that. Finally caught up and I don't know how many times I went "for real!? woah!"