2009: An ROC Year to Remembere

[Venril]

So, I know this may technically be a day late, but I've been thinking about just how big a year 2009 was for the ROC.  I can remember wondering in 2008 whether the ROC was starting to die out.  Fanfiction submissions were dwindling in quantity and often quality, Terrouge had some issues of its own to deal with, and it often seemed like the ROC was just not as vibrant as it used to be.  However, 2009 turned out to be a banner year for survival contests, as we started out the year with Midnight Mossflower, and ended it with Redventure winding up and Redscape (*sigh*) still continuing.  Anyways, I thought I'd set this up for people to post up their favorite ROC moments from 2009.  Here are some of mine.  These aren't necessarily chosen for literary merit, they're just the ones that really stuck out in my mind this year.

Midnight Mossflower:  "Be Our Guest".  I think it's safe to say that this took all of us completely by surprise.  It was actually a fantastic idea for a plot, and more importantly it solved some of the problems that often plague survivor contests, namely providing a strong central plot and forcing everybody to stay together and interact.  The Castle, although just a single building, always felt like a complete environment onto itself.

Midnight Mossflower:  "It's Not Enough to Bash in Heads, You've Got to Bash in Minds."  This was when I really knew that I would love writing Midnight Mossflower.  It's the post where Nallmian, Biara and Saveaux teamed up together, and where Nallmian and Biara first broach the topic of slicing up rodents.  From there, it was on to several more weeks of magnificent musteline mischief that was, in terms of undiluted fun, my favorite part of any contest I've been involved with. 

Midnight Mossflower:  The death scenes.  These are some of the posts that affected me the most strongly.  This was especially true of Kima and Saveaux.  Kima's struggle with herself managed to take the madness trope that is occasionally overused in contests and play a whole new spin with it.  Saveaux's meanwhile, in addition to being one of the most jarring posts I can recall reading, also helped me to deal with my own feelings about my character dying.

Midnight Mossflower:  All the scenes involving the baby hare.  Normally I wouldn't care for a scene like this, but there was something very refreshing about seeing some new life and some innocence in the middle of what was at times a rather cynical bunch of characters.

RV5:  "I Gave You the Best of My Love."  In my opinion, the single best admin decision Tara made in this contest was letting Damask leave instead of die.  This was a beautiful, touching post that tied up all the loose ends involving the character, and managed to show everyone in it in a different light than before.

RV5:  "Just Another Perfect Day".  Full stop.  This post shocked me, and left me speechless.  It also made me hate Nivard more than any other character of the year.  This was something that could easily have gone wrong in so many ways, but Revel's writer pulled it off like a pro.

RV5:  Adriak and Kelly:  These two were just so much fun to watch.  My only regret is that they didn't show up earlier.

Starting Redscape:  At the risk of sounding self-congratulatory, this was a big moment for me personally.  I was still pretty much a newcomer to the ROC when I began to plan this, and I wasn't sure that I could get it to work.   There was something really special about seeing people actually begin to post.  Yes, we're very slow, having outlasted several other contests, but I'm happy with how it has gone so far, and whatever it takes, we're going to finish Redscape.  Hopefully before the end of 2010.

Being the admin, I won't put any specific moments from Redscape here, although I do have them.  I also didn't really follow QBV closely past hte first week, so I'll leave those ROC moments to others.  Happy New Year, and let's hope 2010 is as good a year for the fandom as 2009.

[Cairn Destop]

Well, if we are posting some of the highlights of the past year, then here are some of the highlights from Terrouge and its completed Questor Bold Five.

This story had some special moments that made it special in the history of the Questor series, and possibly in the ROC world.  Here is the list I gave:

The list of ?First? that happened in QB-5



1 ---- QB-5 is the first contest that had a rule regarding the story remaining true to canon. The four that came before allowed many deviations, and encouraged them. This might also be a first for the ROC community. Anyone knows of another Redwall survivor contest that required canon? Maybe Lady Tara Starblade would have that bit of trivia.

2 ---- The contest had ?regions? instead of character types. Writers were to fit a character into the appropriate story section. Applicants had four different choices. There was no restriction on the type of character. Such an open audition is a first for QB, but has been used in other ROC survivor contests.

3 ---- The staff selected six candidates; the audience chose four. The prior QB contests had thirty names for the readers to review while this one had but six.

4 ---- There would be no elimination phase. Instead of seven characters ?dying,? there would be but two. Though the staff didn?t expect it, five characters were eliminated from the story ? Hector, Nadine, Keero, Izlude, and Althen.

5 ---- One contestant, Hector Fotheringdale, was ejected from the game. In a bizarre twist, the other contestants ignored the same rule when they failed to meet the minimum number of postings per week. In fairness to the Administrators, the hare did more than lag on the number of postings as explained in an audience thread.

6 ---- A contestant, Sister Nadine, voluntarily withdraw from the game. Other ROC survivor stories have had characters withdraw, but this is the first time for QB.

7 ---- Two contestants, Hector and Nadine, were banned from the secret forum created for the participants. Per the Administrators, this was done to protect the integrity of the story.  This was reinstalled after the contest was officially closed.

8 ---- A rejected application, Rille, would become another contestant.

9 ---- Rille is the first new candidate added well after the game begun. If memory serves me right, one of the successful applicants in an earlier QB contest had to withdraw due to other commitments prior to the start and another writer, the runner-up in that category, joined the cast of adventurers. Think that was revealed in one of the audience threads when that contest ended. Again, the addition of new contestants late in the game has happened in other ROC survivor games, but it is a first for QB.

10 --- A ?dead? character?s writer reappeared as a new character. Keero returns as a contributor as Gurbax Loor, though he does not post under that name. A special privilege granted by Thalon. One might argue this happened in QB-2, but in that contest, the ?zombie patrol? contributed a finale in character.

11 --- Two losing candidates, Kelpy and Remy, become important non-player characters in the story. In past QB contests, all non-player characters were created by the contestants. None were taken from failed applications. Such an honor was granted by Meadowbrook and Thalon respectively. Since this is a list of firsts, the honor goes to Kelpy and Meadowbrook.

12 --- A contestant, Rille, received immunity from the first death vote. Though understandable, it is still the first time such a favor has been granted a contestant. This is not unique in Redwall survival games. Immunity was part of one contest, so it is a first for QB, but not for the ROC.

13 --- Several non-participating characters became part of the story by submitting a chapter. Prologues are normally done by the contest administrators, so that doesn?t count. Pippy and Brio Cruor are unique in that respect and I hope we learn their identity so they can receive the credit due. Since this is a list of ?first,? the honor of being the first non-participating character posting a chapter in the QB series goes to Pippy.

14 --- The identity of a substitute writer was revealed. In the past, such substitutes might be known to the contestants, but were kept secret throughout the contest. Sister Nadine revealed Hector?s substitute as Daquira in one of the forum threads.

15 --- A QB character is intentionally killed by another QB character. This honor is shared by Keero, Izlude, Althen, and Thalon as the victim and Thalon, Meadowbrook, Rille, and Ashpaw as their killer respectively. This happened in QB-4, but was due to mistaken identity. This killing is a deliberate action, which may also be a first in the ROC. Since this is a list of firsts, the honors go to Keero and Thalon.

16 --- A completed adventure is assured. Two of the contests, QB-1 and QB-4, were never finished. In QB-2, the contest administrators told contestants that if a closing had not been done prior to a certain date, they would do it. No idea if such a threat was given in QB-3, but the contest had a finale. I do believe the Administrators issuing such a guarantee must be a first for the ROC as well.

17 ---- As noted by Zaran, the contest voting addressed plot rather than character deaths. Writers in prior QB contests had full control of the story.

18 ---- As noted by Zaran, the contestants took more than four weeks getting together. Writers in prior QB contests came together in Week Two. Again, this is a first for the QB series, but it is not unique to ROC. Some of these other contests were designed to have the characters meet late in the game, so this is a first for the QB but not for ROC.

19 ---- A contestant did not post for an entire week. Again, considering the controversy over the lack of postings by Hector in the beginning, it seems one of our finalist ignored Week Eight. So the honor of missing all opportunities of posting goes to Liam.

20 ---- As confirmed by Ashpaw?s writer, the first gay romance between a character and a non-player character of his creation. This can be counted as a double first for QB and a first for ROC as well. This is not the first romance between a character and a non-player character. That honor goes to Rystan and Masnitooth in QB-2. It isn?t the first romance for ROC. Operation Sandstorm had two characters fall in love. When they survived, the epilogue had them as a mated pair.

21 ---- Unlike the prior QB contests, the vote for the winner happens after the story is finished. In the previous four editions, the final vote came at the beginning of Week Eight. The winner then closed the story. This most likely explains why QB-4 never finished. If anyone knows the fate of QB-1, I would like to know if there was a final vote for a winner or if it ended without such a vote.

22 ---- Three members of the audience got to provide the name and species of three NPC. This honor was granted them thanks to an audience art contest. I believe this qualifies as a ROC first as well. Since this is a list of first, the honor goes to Boo, created by Sycamore since his is the first character to appear in the story.


Other notables from this contest:



1 ---- Though this is not a ?first? for the QB contests, honorable mention should go to Izlude for the longest time between the closing of the vote for our newest zombie and the actual death posting. It took so long I began wondering if Izlude would die before or after the audience voted on the overall winner. Based on the time voting closed, Tuesday at 21:07 hours, and the upload time reference, Monday at 21:24 hours, our zombie deferred death 144 hours and seventeen minutes. This must be a new record, perhaps even for any of the ROC survivor contests.

2 ---- The most nicknames given to a single character. Our angst otter had three, Breeze, Cinders, and Meddy. The first came from Thalon, the second came from Izlude, and the third came from Liam.

3 ---- Character art was not completed. A ?preliminary drawing of the cast is given, but the classical colored and true-life portraits are never provided. This remains unfinished even after the posting of the final chapter in what is termed Week Nine on September 4th.

4 ---- The character page was never updated. Keero, Izlude, and Althen remain alive. None of Meadowbrook?s nicknames are listed.

5 ---- Geo Holmes does a talk show style review and live discussion with members of the QB cast as guest who offer behind the scene information. There have been discussion threads, but this has to be unique. If this honor is granted, it will be a double first for Geo Holmes as it will also be the first time a non-participant is so honored. Anyone like to comment on that idea?

6 ---- No weekly summaries were written. There is a section on the web page for such summaries, but the page remains blank. If anyone does fill in this portion of the page, it will garner that writer a QB first ? the first time story summaries were done after the contest ended. Is anyone willing to volunteer for that honor?

7 ---- A character who survived the last death vote dies during the finale. This is not a first as Torry does this with his character after winning QB-3. What makes this death a bit unusual is that Althen is killed by another main character, Rille, in battle.

8 ---- In this QB contest, a romance was encouraged. In QB-2, the Administrator stepped in and quashed the Rystan ? Masnitooth romance when it was first hinted. We had planned on using that romance to further our quest for freedom, but had to change tactics. Three cheers for the QB-5 Staff.



A special note for Item 20 on the list of first.  The first gay romance between two characters happened in "The Emperor's Decree."  The one involving Ashpaw was with a NPC of his creation.







Regarding fan fictions:
I went to the site Redwallfanfictions.com and checked the list for 2009.  There are six entries for the year 2009.  Three of them were by Sharpfur - "The Red Days, "It Makes Me Happy I'm Not Them," and "Tales from the Imperium."  Geo Holmes did "Doctor Who and The Bloodied Vermin."  Tdcpresents offered "The Third Star."  None of these stories were completed.

The sixth one was mine, "Tribunal of Redwall."  It was the final installment of my Vermin Badger Series.  This is the only story that is completed.  I will also add that I did this on the other writing site, Fanstor.com, and received a lot of positive comments.  Three chapters were nominated for Book of the Month.  Considering how few comments I received, that is quite an achievement.

[Suellyn]

I'd just like to remark on the some really great subs this year. I know it's easy to focus on the negative of the writers who had to drop out or who couldn't meet a deadline for whatever reason, but that unfortunateness has brought about the chance for other writers to take on those characters and really take off with them. I know there was at least one in MM, several in Subscape i mean Redscape, and Tara did a lovely death post here at RV5. So a toast to the subs of '09! Thanks for keeping us going.

[Cairn Destop]

Another milestone for 2009.

RV4 has concluded.

[Dirgecallers]

Another milestone of the year is that I subbed two contests in one year! I do not know what affected me more though, Flynn's death, or Dirano's. Also noteworthy is that 4 contests ran pretty much simultaneously last year. Is it a common event to have so many ROC contests in a single year?

Anyways, I hope to continue writing in the ROC this year.

Hopefully the ROC can make it another decade?

*When the Sable Quean comes out, expect a flurry of Sable characters to be added to the rosters of contest apps*

[Opal]

Funny thing though, while there was a canon rule in QBV, it like...wasn't enforced. At all. So I'm not sure that even counts. :P

And hah! I beat the Sable Quean by years. Zylia Hellebore, RV3's villain, was a sable. ;D

This is the best timeline I've been able to piece together: http://redventure.swifthost.net/wiki/index.php5?title=Timeline

So it's been fairly common practice to run multiple contests in a year. I think this year has sort of been a rebirth in their popularity. Although, RV4 did draw in many veterans that had been long absent from the ROC. Not sure if we'll ever go back to the days of, y'know, more than only one or two people actively reviewing, like most contests have now.

[Keane]

Funny thing though, while there was a canon rule in QBV, it like...wasn't enforced. At all. So I'm not sure that even counts. :P

Mm, it was somewhat.  For those of us writing seamstress lady-mice, anyway.  :P

[Rath the Whirlwind]

MM1 ended this year as well!

[Opal]

Funny thing though, while there was a canon rule in QBV, it like...wasn't enforced. At all. So I'm not sure that even counts. :P

Mm, it was somewhat.  For those of us writing seamstress lady-mice, anyway.  :P

Yeah, okay, I guess it was enforced up until the contest actually started. Then it basically went out the window fast. :P

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Aye, tragic, that.

I might review TED II, if I've got the time.

I'm trying to think what sort of firsts we've had. These are speculative, because there are a lot of contests I've never read, but here's what I think RV5 has done.

My Bad: Deadtail is the only contestant I've ever seen get killed off by an NPC's stupidity. (Usually that happens on purpose.)

A Face Only A Mother Could Love. And Even Then She'd Have To Be Far-Sighted: I don't recall ever seeing a female character who was just plain ugly. (There've been some old ones, mind you, but none that you'd classify as hideous.)

Interesting Coincidence: It's also noteworthy that Tara had mentioned the top nine thing as being an homage the first ROC Survivor. Both of those contests had an all-female top three.

Tangled Triangle: I also don't know that a full-blown love triangle has ever truly developed before now. Probably the only one featuring three characters of totally different species, and probably the only one where a bird fell in love with a non-bird.

Get In Mah Belly!: First pregnant character.

Lookin' Out For #1: Another award for Deadtail. Nobody in these contests ever goes to the bathroom, ever. Except him. (Eliza also made a subtle reference to this. Didn't you wonder why there was a bucket in her cell in the brig?)

Linguistics Tutorial: Everything in Fritterik does have a literal translation into English. It's pretty cool, actually.

Deliberance, Featuring Large Craig, Featuring Terence D, Featuring Akrillyx & 3rd Lung, Featuring the Overripe MC, Featuring Peacey P!: I don't know that this was the first time that posts were written with mutual authorship credit, but I'm sure that nobody else did it to the degree that we did.

There might be more, but that's all I can think of for right now. (If it turns out other people have done this stuff, please point it out...)

[Cairn Destop]

Deliberance, Featuring Large Craig, Featuring Terence D, Featuring Akrillyx & 3rd Lung, Featuring the Overripe MC, Featuring Peacey P!: I don't know that this was the first time that posts were written with mutual authorship credit, but I'm sure that nobody else did it to the degree that we did.

Rystan did give credit to the members of the zombie league in the finale for their contribution, which was written by each member and incorporated in her post.

[Rath the Whirlwind]

I believe Cidra was an ugly scarred female as well.

(I mean that in the best way possible, of course.)

[Deadtail]

Are Interludes new?

[Norf]

Are Interludes new?

Which ones? In the story or the show?

Sorry. :norf: *hic*

[Deadtail]

In the story.