Gloaty Stoaty Revelations

[Bellona Littlebrush]

And so we're all revealed! I think it's fun to note that all three of us Top 3 were associated with Operation: Sandstorm. Me'n Inny as first and second place, and Ubby as administrator. Huzzah for the reunion!

[saffy]

Oh, hey! you favorited the fanfic version! :D

[Revel]

Someone had to!  ;)

My epilogue is done! I'm just going to let it sit in the contestant's forum for a few hours so Bellona and Damask (and anyone else who wants!) can check it for errors. Look for it tonight!

[Jarrtail]

 :twitch: It's not right, getting it up so early...

[Revel]

I would've held out longer, if I'd known you weren't ready yet...

After the first scene, it may help to listen to this song while you read: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01706/

It's the song I listened to while I wrote Revel's first few posts, and is undoubtedly the happiest, most stress-reducing, dance-stupidly-for-no-reason-inspiring piece of music I've ever heard. To put it another way: if you were telepathic, this is what you would hear if you listened to Revel's thoughts!

[Jarrtail]

Wow, Revel. That was...amazing. Very heartwarming. I always did like Flinky, and I suppose he could do much worse.
I certainly look forward to roleplaying with you in the future.

[Dirgecallers]

Which Flinky are we talking about here? There was a canon 'Flinky' I know, so I just wondered if it was that one.

[Jarrtail]

Read the epilogue.

[Revel]

Wow, Revel. That was...amazing. Very heartwarming. I always did like Flinky, and I suppose he could do much worse.

Aye... he could have ended up with Eliza!  :evil:

Thank you, Jarry!

Spoilers!!














Can you spot Slipback, Juppa (she's a freeby), Halfchop, Burrad, Redd, and Plumnose too?

This was actually my plan all along should Revel live. At first I wanted her to lose her tailtip in some kind of predator bird attack, but that would require that she be naked in some snow... so I had her tail get crinked as early as possible, so the nickname would stick long before anyone realized what was up. :D

In Loamhedge, Crinktail also says to Raga Bol, "Fibbers are villains!" and she's the best cook in the vermin gang.

[Dirgecallers]

There were also cannibal rats in Loamhedge(the book). I wonder if revel/crinktail decided to settle at the Darrat camp after the escape from Redwall abbey. Also, I never thought of the possibility of Crinktail being Flinky's 'mate' in more ways then one.

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Wow, Revel. That was...amazing. Very heartwarming. I always did like Flinky, and I suppose he could do much worse.

Aye... he could have ended up with Eliza!  :evil:

Psht. As if he'd even have a chance.

[Damask the Minstrel]

She does have a thing for bards, let me tell you. ^.-

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Mmm, yes. What's not to love about a guy who'll create works of art in order to immortalize your beauty for years to come?

[Revel]

His smell.

The Shaping of a Helpless Joy -- by Saxon Shore

Revel was always supposed to be the most stoatliest stoat ever. As evinced by this video, they are some crazy critters. My only conclusion is that stoats do this for fun, because they are happy and playful. Also, fast. Like a Ferrari getting bugs on the windscreen:

...and her energy felt boosted with each accidental bee she inhaled.

The title of this post is supposed to reflect how content with life Revel is, as well as allude to her being a new character and thus being "shaped". The Saxon Shore song was rather fitting, although when I actually wrote this post, I was listening to Mario Kart 64 remixes (Day's End and Dream Racing) to get into the mood better.

The writing style here was heavily inspired by A. R. Lloyd's Kine saga.

Bruscus may have been Revel's long-lost brother. I don't really know.


With a Sure and Hopeful Smile -- from Riccardo Cocciante's song "Echoes"

The song speaks of innocence lost through becoming an adult - unknowingly, also mirror's Revel's personal journey which starts when she meets Nivard in this post. I really only chose the lyrics because I wanted "happy sounding" titles, and it's one of my favourite Cocciante songs.

Nivard's "Feh" was a nod to the most love-to-hate character on the Vulpine Imperium, Drengull.


Then I Close My Eyes -- by David Gilmour

Partly chosen for a lark to make people think Revel was the death, partly chosen because it has a hill-billy feeling to it that fit perfectly with Revel's blind, budding love for Nivard.

"With stoat" is a small reference to the cartoon version of The Animals of Farthing Wood; in the second or third season, Weasel goes about proclaiming herself to be "with weasel".


With a Wonder and a Wild Desire -- by Flogging Molly

Again, chose the name for the happy sounding words. I don't actually like the song that much. (Which is not to say I don't like any of their songs; I particularly like "Whistles the Wind"...) But this time, the words fit a little better, on account of Revel's wondering at the beauty of life, and her wild desire to, well, eat Birch.

One part we never got to put in that stemmed from this is Birch being all paranoid that she was turning into a stoat from Revel's biting her. At some point, some NPC was supposed to rub ash into Birch's tail-tip to make her freak out, but it just didn't have any place in the story proper - much like the scene in which Revel tries to get her kits to eat Birch.


A Hidden Sun That Burns and Burns -- by The Barenaked Ladies

Hm. The live version has different lyrics. This was chosen for two reasons - one, Revel's kits were her "hidden sun" of sorts: "Inside ourselves a hidden sun that burns and burns, and never does any harm to anyone." 'Cos, technically, they haven't done any harm.

The first line in the album version goes, "Suddenly, things become unsound"; this was in reference to Revel realising she was pregnant. Her whole little world just started changing right then.

"You 'ave to... to look past - to smell past - what you know is there," she explained. "Just like listenin' to trees. Cedars rattle dif'rent than pines, so if you ignore their sounds, y'can hear where a cypress or a fir is growin'."

This part was somewhat inspired by... Naruto. XD The bit where Kakashi is training the main characters and explains, "You have to look beneath the beneath" or something like that.

Trpcic is the last name of the lady who was in charge of costume designs in Joss Whedon's Firefly.


Melodies of Life, Love's Lost Refrain -- from Final Fantasy IX

Again with the multiple meanings! First there's the life in Revel's belly, which Damask sings to sleep with his lovely music... and then there's the story of Revel and Fergly, summed up rather nicely in the lyrics here:

Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why
We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye

and a little further in Damask's poetry:

Your father's been gone, for twenty long nights
I know that you're pining for his voice.
He'd banish these fears, and laugh 'way your tears,
Together we'd revel in his joys.


I'm Learning To Be Brave In My Beautiful Mistakes -- from Pink's Crystal Ball

This one doesn't quite fit... The idea of Revel saving Damask and Tishka from the fighting... Her getting brave despite the first outbreak of true fighting she's almost been part of... Originally, Revel wasn't supposed to kill Tishka, I don't think. It's a nice line, and sort of fits a little, but not enough for me to be happy with it. Dah.


Just Another Perfect Day -- from Miriam Stockley's Perfect Day

This song closes out the cartoon versions of Beatrix Potter's stories.* It's haunting and beautiful, with very Revel-ish lyrics, especially:

On the wild and misty hillside
Fear is nature's warning
Hunger here is never far away

The title is meant to be ironic, of course.

And, no, Nivard did not do what most seem to think he did. I did plan on Nivard and Revel being more cuddly after this - either a small scene with them cuddling (just cuddling) on the cot when Venril comes in, or just the tiniest little reference of Revel rubbing some scars on the back of her neck later - but as the cuddling scene got cut, I was content to let people think what they liked about the end here. But, really, Nivard just choked/suffocated her into unconciousness and, with her lying there for later, went to get food before anything else.

Get yer minds out of the gutters! :P

* On that note, Revel's catchphrase, "A fine trouble" is based off the way characters speak in Beatrix Potter's stories.


And The Sky May Look Blue -- from Pink Floyd's The Thin Ice

Because it's the only song I know of that had "happy" words while still being a little creepy (the sky may look blue...), that was about babies, and it just so happens to kinda tie in with the "Echoes" title from way in Week 1.


Now I Feel Like I'm The Flower -- from Vienna Teng's The Tower

Ever since "I'm Learning To Be Brave..." I've had this in mind for Revel: for her happiness to be slowly squashed and stamped on, until there was simply no where else for her to go but back up. I don't know if I did this little arc right or not, but that was the idea. This song rather reflects Revel's situation a bit.

On the one paw, she feels like a flower - something beautiful. She's rising again, after all the garbage thrown at her in the past few chapters. On the other paw, the full line of verse is, "Now I feel like I'm the flower trying to bloom in snow." - her struggles are not yet over, and she's still got a bit more to dip before she reaches the bottom. (In truth, I don't think Revel really starts her journey back to happiness until her epilogue; the next chapter has her finding Venril's corpse, and then there's that battle, then Yikker dies in her arms from the plague, then Bellona says the most hurtful thing ever right after Revel got done burying her child next to Rath, then she finds out about Zubble, then...)


Once Warm -- N/A

For once, I could not find anything to fit for a title here. I tried and tried to think of something happy-sounding, or just plain weird like any post-rock song title... in the end, I just picked two simple words to describe Venril's corpse.

I don't think there's anything else hidden here, except Revel's last words to Venril: "I didn't mean it... I mean it, Venril, 'm sorry, 'm sorry..."

Which were inspired somewhat by the Pink song, Please Don't Leave Me - "But baby, I don't mean it. I mean it. I'm sorry." - The same song also rather sums up Venril and Revel's relationship.


Until Then, She'll Live in Wonder -- from David Gilmour's A Pocket Full of Stones

In the original, it's "He'll", but obviously that wouldn't work.

You can see by the lyrics here that the character in the song is pretty selfish. But the tone and music says there must be a darker reason for it. In this chapter, Revel is so emotionally beaten that she just goes mute completely for several weeks, withdrawing into her own little world, not caring about anyone else anymore. Which is even more sad considering that, until Bell talked to her, Revel was just about done turning into a creature capable of empathy.

It's all very sad.

Fergly's name was based off the weird kid in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He had such lines as "Wanna see my 'secret freckle'?" and "May I peek at your scab?" I suppose this is my way of making Revel's original mate a creepy creep.


Day's End -- (see Mario Kart 64 songs)

That pang in her gut was no bad cricket, no squirming infants waiting to breathe; it was a hunger for something more than food, and the hurt when it was not fed was more painful than anything. She had never realized the pain was there until it had gone.

I mentioned in the TED forums that I like seeing little philosphical ideas in stories, without them taking over the story and bashing you over the head with Messages. For Revel, the philosphical idea ended up being that of Sehnsucht. The idea didn't really come around until "Once Warm", when Adriak was monologuing at her, but glimpses of it in Revel's story could be seen as far back as her application - although until Adriak came about with his explanation, it was manifesting as simply a stoat's natural instinct to find someplace safe and warm to give birth.

_{Links missing from the following parts, because my internet died so I can't find them to put them in. Google stuff!}

The scene with Little Rath during the storm is based off Vienna Teng's "Lullaby for a Stormy Night". Months ago, in fact. I've been waiting ages to write it for real. There is actually a bit of fan-art for the scene that was done up by a friend when I first explained it to her, but I have to ask permission before putting it up.

The scene with Birch talking to Ara has the line, "So I says to Maple, I says... I'll finish this later." - This was actually Birch's idea, when I asked her for a bit of dialogue. Turns out it's from The Great Gatsby! The actual name suggested by Birch was "Mabel" (as it is in the book), but I couldn't resist another tree. Much to her delight.

During Flinky's speech, he mentions "Braggin' an' Sorrow" - punes on the duo Bragoon and Saro from Loamhedge.

When Burrad throws a fish head at Flinky he says, "Gerron wivvit, you spoony bard!" I had to do this because I'm so mad at Damask for not ever having someone call him a spoony bard in the story.

The Loamhedge characters that show up are: Juppa and her mate Slipback (before he loses his backfur due to what I can only presume is mange, hence Revel's curse at him), Halfchop, Flinky, Burrad, and the little fox in the last part is Little Redd. And, of course, Crinktail. Thank you, Jacques, for letting some vermin be awesome and survive beyond the book's ending.

And thanks everyone who didn't vote for Revvie to die, otherwise a lot of this nifty stuff would have never come to fruition. ^^ Yer all adorable!

As for Revel's life in-between the first three scenes and the part where her kits grow up... You can still be part of that over at Stories of Southsward! Where I will be RPing her indefinitely!

[Jarrtail]

Y'know, I do believe that this is the first time someone's played a canon character in a contest. And you didn't mess up her personality at all, which is good, because then I would have to kill you. I quite liked the Vermin Gang.