Chatterbox

[Rascal]

Welcome to the general chit chat thread for all those discussion topics about the contest that are not long enough to warrant a full thread elsewhere. Feel free to bring up any subject about the contest: which characters do you like, which do you not like, and most importantly, why. Why why why :)

Remember to keep the discussion constructive and not spoil which character(s) you are.

[Tooley Bostay]

Not related to a specific character, but dang are there a lot of foxes? I think I counted five? And two of them are silver foxes. And as far as mustelids go... *counts* Eight. Yikes! Not necessarily a bad thing, and I love the unique species we've gotten (sneks and bahts and vohls oh mai), but it's interesting to see what species people went with.

[Rascal]

Because foxes are fluffy 8D

I think people choose weasels and ferrets and etc because they are common enough to not be exotic, while being exotic enough not to be common. ... That or people think they are cool and fit the characters personality.

[Airan]

There's a pretty heavy ratio in favor of vermin in general.

18 Vermin
7- Woodlanders (3 of which are voles)
3- Neutrals (Kali, Bechtel, Azalea)

Personally it's sort of skewing my opinions slightly in favor of the woodlander and neutral characters, just so we don't get a cast composed of only vermin.

And two of them are silver foxes.

Only one, though the other is a Cross Fox.

I do plan on mentioning this later in one of my reviews, but among the apps there's surprisingly an ongoing theme of 'running away from something,' whether it be literal or metaphorical. Among the applications: Aldridge Moor, Blu Yardel, Sly Speakeasy, Bechtel, Kentrith Hapley, Maeve, Jarl, Komi Banton, Thrayjen and Nokki Avaartin all have something they're running from. It's a pretty interesting theme, especially when combined with the arena setting where their only option now is to stop running and to fight. So, if these characters make the cut to the top 10, it's definitely a theme I think could be explored more and kept in mind while the story is being written.

[Tooley Bostay]

Well, you'll never hear me complain about woozles and mustelids, Rascal. I think you're totally right about the exotic/common thing, though. Heck, I wrote Tooley as a weasel for no reason besides "I like weasels. I think they're cool."

Only one, though the other is a Cross Fox.

Nah, Lacey and Altra are both Silver Foxes.

And that's a really cool observation. I think that could work wonderfully as an overarching theme for the story, should it fit the cast of characters that make up the Top 10. Keep that in mind, authors!

[Airan]

What, Lacey's a silver fox too!? So we've got two silver foxes and a cross fox. Man, not only did everyone decide to write foxes this time, everyone chose super cool foxes too.

[Rascal]

Just so long as they know that silver foxes are not actually...silver c:

At least not completely silver or...something like that xD

I will though say that vermin do appeal to me more than woodlander but for purely personal reasons

[Airan]

Just so long as they know that silver foxes are not actually...silver c:

At least not completely silver or...something like that xD

I will though say that vermin do appeal to me more than woodlander but for purely personal reasons

And you know, that they're from North America :P

I like Vermin too, but as an artist who will be drawing portraits of everyone, I'd like a good deal of variety so that I don't get bored :P Also Woodlanders working with Vermin, Woodlanders being forced to fight other woodlanders, etc, is just bound to breed the delicious inner cast conflict that I crave.

[Vera Silvertooth]

I would be interested to know what the species ratios were in the apps that didn't make top 30. Or... 28, since I think a couple categories only had 2 apps? There should be about 20 apps that we're not seeing here.

Zevka said he was going to post some of the apps that didn't make the cut, so just for curiosity sake, I'd like to see what didn't make the cut.

[Rascal]

Honestly, after all these weeks guessing who these characters were I want to know how accurate our wild predictions were.

[Vin]

Gotta be honest, one thing I'm a little surprised by is not as many people chose to use any hardcore accents; I feel like this would have been the perfect contest for people to try it out. Now I haven't read all the apps, but I can only think of about 2

[Rascal]

Ha! It would be interesting to see more German, Irish, Welsh, Russian, Scandanavian accents in the story.

Every one has such different ideas about what they want from the story, which is healthy for a contest like this. It is interesting to see what people are looking for in a character and what drives them away. One person's epicness is another anathena. For me I get hung up on smaller plot holes revolving around how characters do things. Small background details. Like, why isn't anyone in the background reacting to character X's actions? Or how did character Y get away with this with out someone stopping them?

[Rascal]

I'm not one to usually spam my own thread but it is rather quiet here today so I thought I might talk about team composition. Team = final characters because I'm lazy. Every character has a role to play in a story. Each character should find their own special niche in the story, even if there are two brutish warriors who fell scores of opponents with ease they should serve a different role, be they comic relief or heart felt or a rival or ...something. As long as that something is different enough to make the character become less expendable to the story as time goes on. :3

Remember too that team comp is going to change as time goes on. Characters who provided essential roles will DIE, and the rest of the cast will have to press on with out their brutish warrior, sly thief, or the heart and soul that glued them all together...

So that said what characters or character concepts would you like to see in the story? You need not mention who you are voting for, instead you can just mention two or three chars you would love to see interact c:

[Vizon]

Maybe I'll think more about which beasts might go well together once I'm through considering and reviewing all the apps. Fresh after reading Tooley's "Beast with a Secret" review, however, I'm wondering about this idea of leadership and who might also possibly fit that role. With Thrayjen's skulking around when he was taken in, "half drowned and skinny as a quill," I didn't actually see the potential for leadership that Tooley seems to recognize, but I suppose it could be there.

Plenty of other beasts seem to have leadership skills though too - Kentigern (if he can win anyone to his POV), Strathcomb, Malukh (if he can win anyone to believe/respect him), Silas (possibly - though we know about as much about his leadership capabilities as Thrayjen's), Altra (if she can get past her snooty bias, she has the strength and confidence), maybe Jasper, Kentrith would certainly have experience to bring to the leadership table, Faye and Lacey both have the wiles to manipulate others, Komi has a lot of potential to be a leader since she used to be one (makes me think of Zev, even), Diamond actually has leadership capability too, I'll wager (strong and confident, approachable), and actually Nokki sounds like he was some sort of big name in the past, so he too could step up and lead potentially (though maybe not everyone would be up for following a vermin known as "Shrewslayer").

Which brings two questions to mind. How does one become a "leader" in a contest? And would species influence that?

First, how would two (or more) beasts who are leadership material, hash out who's going to actually lead? I have yet to read older contests, so I only have three contests I can reference, but it is interesting to think about how characters fall into place as followers and leaders.
In MO1 there were two clear leaders (after Risk was gone): Noonahootin and Zevka. They were both leaders, but they were spared any sort of power struggle because Noony was in charge of his soldiers, and that was enough for him. Zevka stood on her own and let others fall in step behind her (or not). It wasn't about control as much as inspiration. So maybe it would be similar with this contest. Those who are most inspiring would gather followers. Those who are selfish or silent will quietly do their own thing (a la Istvan).
In MO2 there were a lot of passive characters. Sal turned out to be the leader(ish) pretty much by default because he wasn't inspiring or outgoing or even friendly. Just tough and got things done. Lakmir was more of a leader, but he got voted off earlier on (and his leadership seemed to be taking his follower to a pretty dark place). MO2 lacked a lot of things, and a sane, morally strong leader was one of those things, I think. I do NOT think that will happen with the current lineup of characters we have for this contest.
In MO3 there was Ciera and Rob. I think they would have definitely fought it out if they had been forced to move in the same group, but lucky for both, the contestants were divided into two groups for most of the time. I am curious how it might have turned out if everyone had been forced into one group sooner. Even once they were all together, they were split apart again fairly quickly in Dead Rock. Hmm... Chak would have had some difficulty figuring out his alliances, me thinks. Was good for him, at least, not to have his captain around during his moral crises.

So - lots of potential for leadership, actually. And there's no way all these characters will be split up. They're going to all be in one crater/prison. So will the leader be the mouthiest boldest and most self-confident beast? Or will the leader be the more fatherly/motherly type who cares about everyone (like Robert Rosequill)? Or will they just be the toughest, strongest beast who is willing to let others follow him or her as they try to figure a way out? That last one seems most likely. So I'm going to sort through these again:

Kentigern (too exclusive)
Strathcomb (too hard to understand)
Malukh (too crazy)
Silas (years of hard labor might help, certainly driven, but a bit old(ish) being in his forties)
Altra (certainly strong, but not inviting)
Jasper (cares about others - but goodbeasts too? Already under leadership himself I assume)
Kentrith (experienced, but maybe defeated - or is he?)
Faye (maybe too selfish)
Lacey (too used to breaking/destroying relationships to care about loss of other contestants, I think)
Komi (experience (cowardice?))
Diamond (strong and confident, approachable, but used to following)
Nokki (probably too verminy)

So in addition to Thrayjen, there could be the other rat, Silas. I think they could get along. They actually seem a lot alike to me. Kentrith would be the most natural leader if he gets in, holding a strong place in the story to begin with. Is he actually even a slave though? I wonder. Faye could surprise us. We know so little about her, but she certainly has the confidence a leader would need to have. Seems more apt to ditch others than risk her own skin for them though. Komi would be a natural leader, I think. I can see her and Thrayjen and Silas all putting their heads together to plan an escape. Unless Silas's revenging gets in the way of that. Diamond would be an interesting addition to the mix, but maybe less as a leader than a strong arm to assist a more in-charge type.

[Rascal]

Oooo! Leadership! I didn't think of that...I didn't actually plan on thinking much of anything this late at night but with some idiots deciding to start the forth of July early in the park behind my house I think I will add my two cents. (It will certainly give me something to do other than contemplate showing the idiots the kind of fireworks shotgun can set off x.x)

Soooooo, lack of sleep indused murder ramblings aside, back to the leadership role. I think you hit it on the nose with your list who and who would not be a good leader. Generally in times of crises people turn to either A. People in Athority or B. People with confidence, or C. People who just buckle down and start doing things. In a Bloodsport arena though it all depends on how the characters plan to get out of it.

This of course, all assumes that every character will be on the same side against Nire. There are a lot of characters who could easily be considered Villains or at least another antagonist to overcome. There are certainly enough characters in the contest who I can easily see selling the party out to save their own hide. And since the nature of the story revolves around sacrificing a character each week to the Voting God's there is a possible outcome where those beasts left standing at the end enjoy the game and glory of the arena and stand with Nire...or over his corpse after they steal the arena from him.