Comments From a Simple Treedog

[Bellona Littlebrush]

It's not the final post, ladies and gentlebeasts. Let me just make that clear. There are still a few loose ends that we'd like to clear up. Granted, if everybeast died, that would tie things in a neat little bow, but it would be a depressing, black bow full of regret and 'that was a bit anti-climactic, d'ye think?'. Aye. There'll be more, we're plotting at the moment and hope to have a slightly less-Hamlet-esque ending. Fear not! There will be some death! We're all just a bit too selfish for every character to die. As for the critiques that everything seemed crammed in at the end... Well, perhaps we could have executed everything better, built to the climax more slowly, but all the threads present in the final chapters have appeared long before this last week.

The Srechrrl - They appeared in Week 3 to attack the Fritterik
The Fritterik - They've been about since Week 2
The Slavers (Kelly and Adriak) - They never appeared, but were referenced by Baez in Week 4
The Plague - The cause of Sailpaw's madness in Week 3, discussed by Rugger in Week 4, referenced throughout Weeks 5 and 6 as something that was making everybeast in the Oasis ill

Again, we probably could have executed things better as there is a lot to take in over the course of the last week. The tension has been building, though, as in the final week is when it all comes to a head. We have our encounter with the slavers, these mad beasts who have created the Srechrrl and placed themselves in charge of their demented vision of paradise, we have a mini-battle that has been a long time coming (the vermin and the woodlanders have been butting heads with each other through the entire story), we have a larger battle that has been a long time coming (the Fritterik have lived with the Srechrrl for a long time now and are fed up, especially with outsiders showing them that they could defend themselves), and we have the final quest (the mushrooms must be found or it's 'Ashes, ashes, we all fall down'...permanently).

Even if it is an information overload, I hope the readers are able to process it, because we worked very hard to weave the threads of what has been criticized as a 'meandering/jumpy' plot into a tapestry that is both fine in form and logical in order.

[Magical Fish]

Yes, I know it wasn't the FINAL final post. I meant the final post so far. I'm pretty sure we all know it's not really over yet.

[Venril]

I really liked Kelly and Adriak.  I do wish they had been introduced earlier, but that's because they're fun characters.  I nejoyed reading about them, and I wish I could have written them.  I don't feel that being introduced late really detracted from their quality.

I know some people have saiad they felt the plot jumped around a bit.  Certainly, there hasn't been as much of a single unifying plot as with many other contests, but that's just a different set up, not necessarily an inferior one.  I see this contest as being set up more like a comic  series as opposed to a book or film, with several different mini-stories involving the same setup, with an overall plot that provides a loose organization but does not actively dominate every moment.

[Damask the Minstrel]

Agreed Venril -- also, like comics, it is character-centered rather than plot-centered. Which, for a contest like this one, is not that surprising, and I'm amazed it's not the norm.

What is surprising is that it is so character-centered despite our attempts to foster plot first, via the interludes and co-writing.

[Jarrtail]

Heh, the plot kinda took on a mind of its own.  :D

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Whatever happened to Nona? I do love my otters.

It occurs to me that nobody ever gave Syc an answer on this, so: she escaped the clutches of Adriak and Kelly, and lived happily and prosperously, until she died of natural causes at the ripe old age of 83.

[Birch]

*pouts*

I hate it when I'm wrong.

[Jarrtail]

Whatever happened to Nona? I do love my otters.

It occurs to me that nobody ever gave Syc an answer on this, so: she escaped the clutches of Adriak and Kelly, and lived happily and prosperously, until she died of natural causes at the ripe old age of 83.

Well, that won't do. We need to keep the trend alive!

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Don't worry, Jarrtail! There'll be other otters to messily slaughter, just you wait and see!

[Sycamore]

So what happened while I was gone?

[Jarrtail]

Birch undied, Eliza found the Mushrooms of Power, and the corsairs finally stopped trying to repair their ship and decided that it was a better idea to hike out into the middle of nowhere.

[Sycamore]

Ooh, Zombie Birch. I'll have to check that out. And Eliza is growing when she eats mushrooms? Most excellent. That's a Mario Bros. reference, there.

[Opal]

EVERYTHING. You missed it.

[Sycamore]

*cries*

[Jarrtail]

The winner hasn't been announce yet, though. You didn't miss that.