Curtain Call!

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Nine months? That's a long time for just a tail. It only took me a few weeks to make five stoat tails. It must be worth it. Can they make me one? How much would they charge?

It's totally worth it. It takes much longer to make a Stradivarius than a Guitar Hero controller, y'see. :p

Hmmm. I kind of doubt it. The tails usually come attached to pine martens. You should totally have nabbed Adriak's when you had the chance! But I'll see what I can do. It'll probably be expensive. (But not "your firstborn child" expensive. They won't take Pinky.)

Anyway, congrats on the win. Eliza was one of my early favorites. But I've been wondering: What's the deal with her family? How did she go from hiding out in caves to living in high society?

Excellent question! I'm actually planning on addressing this in the epilogue, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait until then. :p

(But, rest assured, there is an actual answer that I plotted out in, like, week one, and just never had a chance to throw into the story.)

[Jarrtail]

Hopefully, that'll speed up the epilogue. Another fifteen month wait would not be optimal.  :P

[Sycamore]

I dunno. I think adding depth to the character this late in the game is a bad idea.

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Mmm, don't think of it so much as adding depth, as it is answering questions, Syc.

All of the answers would have been added into other posts, had there been enough of a need for them, but as it turned out, the majority of my posts were designed to move the plot along.

(And, mm, any more questions? Anybody?)

If not, I'm going to post some fun stuff (f'r instance, what all of my post titles actually mean, and all of the little things I threw in there just to make myself smile...)

[Sycamore]

How would you compare yourself to the other pine martens of stories olde?

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

Great question, Sycamore!

Do you mean characterwise, or writing-wise?

If it was characterwise, I would probably compare Eliza most to either Ildiko Soska of Questors Bold III (and, later, Operation: Mindstorm). Ildiko also had the fancy dresses and dancing aspect to her, but she wasn't terribly... evil... like Eliza is. Biara was also a good degree more evil (and only had one eye, equating her with the ugliness factor), but I don't think she was quite so well-to-do. (Though I can't be certain, as I haven't read MM.)

Writing-wise? Well, I'd like to believe that my writing is kind of unique, but I'd probably most have to compare it to either Kirill Voinomirsky (with the exception that he's scads better) or possibly Biara. Balmafula's a pretty astoundingly awesome writer, and she likes to play with description the way that I do.

I'd say, though, that Eliza's a bit different from other pine martens, for two reasons. One of them being, I don't recall the rarity of pine martens ever being an issue in other contests (though I could totally be wrong. If I am, please correct me), but it was definitely something we played with. The other reason, and this one's totally my own OCD bit, but I'm also the only one who never called their character simply a "marten" in my chapters. Eliza was always, without fail, a "pine marten." Pine martens, incidentally, have always been my favorite species. It was definitely a blessing to be able to play as one.

And, mmm, I would totally do my post titles bit now, but I don't actually have time to get all of the links for the references. Maybe I'll just list 'em and put links in later. I will.

Every single post title was not only a theater reference, but also a song lyric. Put together, the lines theoretically tell the story of a theatrical production, but I don't know how well I succeeded. Okay, from the beginning:

"Overture, Raise The Lights": Sycamore, you actually nailed this one. The Bugs Bunny theme was the only song I knew of that contained the word "Overture".

"All Their Lives Waiting In The Wings": Tevin Campbell's "I 2 I", better known as "The Power Line Song" from one of my childhood favorites, A Goofy Movie.

"With Makeup Running Down My Face": This one made me laugh when I did it. The lyric looks beautiful, but it comes from one of the most hardcore songs in my music library: "Psycho Circus" by KISS.

"Raise The Curtain For Act III!": This one is technically not a song lyric, it's a paraphrase of one from "If Everybody Was Listening" by Supertramp. This was actually also a fourth-wall break, because it was the first post of week III. :p

"Her Beauty In The Limelight Overthrew You": A rework of a lyric from "Hallelujah" by either Leonard Cohen or Rufus Wainwright, depending on which decade you were born in. This is also a reference to Bathsheba of Biblical fame. If you don't know the story, I'm not telling you. But it makes the post about fifty times funnier.

"Tremble And Fret Upon The Stage": Oh, wait. Okay, I lied. This one's not from a song at all. But it's a shout out to two previous Survival contestants. Both Wolcnum of ROCS2 and Gabrielle of QBIV used this Shakespeare line in their death posts.

"When The Lights Go Up, You'll Understand": "Pain" by Three Days Grace. (Incidentally, I was supposed to go see them in concert on the night that this post was posted, but my ticket got given away! Shameful!)

"A Simple Prop, To Occupy My Time": The prop actually does refer to Damask, and Eliza totally stares into the fire while thinking about him in this post JUST to make the reference five times cooler. "The One I Love" is just about the best R.E.M. song of all time, unless possibly you count "Orange Crush" or "It's the End Of the World As We Know It."

"Applause! Applause! No, Wait, Wait": Panic! At The Disco's "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage." Awesome song, and it actually speaks both to how I was feeling as a writer and how Eliza was feeling. Double bonus.

"Fates Lays In The Hands That Clap": "Movers and Shakers" by The Clash. Adriak claps his paws before sending them into the pit. Eh? EH? (But, Bell deserves the credit for that idea. I've never even heard the song. I only used the title because I wanted a Clash reference.)

"We've Got Everybody Singing": Was notably NOT posted by me, and I don't think I wrote much if any of the post, but is a reference to "Whoa" by Paramore. "Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down" is not a theater reference, was also my title, and was originally called "The Ones On The Run" as a reference to Alvin & The Chipmunks' "Diamond Dolls," which I proudly claim is still cool fifteen years later. The Ashes bit just fit better than anything else I could have said.

"Lights Down, Take A Bow": This was what I was going to call my death post if Eliza ever got voted off. (That, or "Exit Stage Right," but that wasn't a lyric of anything.) The lyric comes from probably the best Christian music song of all time, "The Show" by Sanctus Real.

"Everybody's Screaming For The Encore": From... "The Encore Song" by a MySpace band called Ray Mailman. (They actually sing it AS their encore.) If you haven't listened to them... DO IT. And I'm not saying it as one of those guys who wants you to listen to some cruddy emo indie band they know. I'm saying it 'cause they're good, and have won stuff at the LA Music Awards. So there. :p

Also for fun, here's my "Eliza" playlist, that I listen to, because every one reminds me of Eliza:

"Imitation of Life" - R.E.M.
"To The Moon And Back" - Savage Garden
"Strutter" - KISS
"Misery Business" - Paramore
"My Heart" - Paramore
"When She Cries" - Britt Nicole
"Maneater" - Nelly Furtado
"Iris" - Goo Goo Dolls
"There She Goes" - Sixpence None The Richer

EDIT: To come: References to the show Survivor! How many could there be?

[Damask the Minstrel]

Wow. I did the lyric thing, too, but not quite to /that/ level. ^.^

And it's good to know that someone else had a playlist -- mind you, mine was quieter than yours. XD

[Sycamore]

"Overture, Raise The Lights": Sycamore, you actually nailed this one. The Bugs Bunny theme was the only song I knew of that contained the word "Overture".

"Actually"? Did you . . . were you . . . not . . . expecting me to get that?

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

'ey, nobody else mentioned it!

And what I meant was, "Actually, Sycamore, you nailed this one."

So sue me. Or, because it's you, and you WOULD, sue... Revel.

EDIT: AND, you should be nice to me, Mr. Otter, since I'm the only one of the top four who never killed an otter in any of their posts. So there! *sticks out tongue*

[Jarrtail]

So when are you going to reveal your identity? Or have you already, and I just missed it?

[Cricket Argyll]

You and Revel still need to reveal. *pokeapokes both of her lazy companions*

[Revel]

What? I am Reveal! I mean Revel!  ;)

So sue me. Or, because it's you, and you WOULD, sue... Revel.

What? why me? Why not sue Su?

[Suellyn]

What? why me? Why not sue Su?

what did Su ever do to you?

[Revel]

Convinced me to go on this perilous journey when I was perfectly content to lay about on her bed is what! I would have cleaned up the dress mess, I promise. And the cooking mess. I was so ready to make that nice little cottage my own! But then you had to drag me along to town to find a mate and I didn't even understand what you were saying half the time because I wasn't paying attention!  :-[

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

I'm almost ready to reveal, honest!

I just... want everything to be in place. Sigh. I wanted to have 'The Adventures of Debonair Dashing' done, too, but I may just have to finish that tomorrowishly.

Alright, so, references. I didn't put terribly many of them into my posts, but there were a few that I do recall. These are just some generic notes of little things that might interest you:

In "A Simple Prop", Matukhana is described as looking "mad as rabbits." This is a reference to the Panic At The Disco song of the same name.

Eliza's last name, as correctly guessed by several of you in the preseason, was indeed a reference to Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum. I never liked the Temperance League vampires, because I felt like, just once, they needed to be all blood-sucky and vampire-ish. Lacrimosa was definitely my favorite character, because she was this spastic little homicidal brat, who turned out to be pretty much the only one of the Magpyr brood to have any sense. Definitely the most 'true' vampire in the series.

I referenced this during the deathmatch. When Eliza is preparing to kill Rugger, she tells herself to "go for the throat." That phrase, in Latin, is Carpe Jugulum, which is the name of the book and also the Magpyr family motto.  Also in the deathmatch, when Eliza is being strangled, there are subtle references to Throttle Grassbillow's death post in ROCS2.

Eliza's use of actually as a sarcastic sentence-ender is a reference to Diamanda from Pratchett's Lords and Ladies. "Loathe at first sight", a pun I used in reference to Kelly, was one that showed up in my head one day. Whether or not I invented it, I'll never know. Eliza's being totally unwilling to cry in front of anybeast else is a reference to R.E.M.'s song "Imitation of Life." Slapping the weasel guard to death in Week Two was a reference to a very old inside joke between myself and some friends of mine. I can't explain it. Eliza's thoughts about telling Revel that "you can either get a dress or knock me unconscious" is a reference to the season two finale of House.

I suggested that Quentin get the last name Quinton, because it sounded funny and hare-ish, and it was a Survivor reference, and Bell gave him the middle name Quincy as a nod to Tara. I slipped the 'e' in there, as a nod to Bram Stoker's Dracula, which I'm a big fan of. And, again, with the vampire thing. 

Eliza specifically punched one of Revel's kits in her epilogue, because I wondered for a long time whether Eliza was evil enough to punch a baby. The answer is yes, but only because it was biting her.

The mushrooms in "Fate Lays In The Hands That Clap" were actually based off of real mushrooms. The white gills/yellow gills distinction is definitely one that exists in the real world, and the interval to weaken Matukhana was the realistic one. (Even the blue specks are feasible, if there's enough iodine present in the cavern.) This post was also written to be read twice: the first time, you're supposed to believe Eliza has the cure, and Matukhana has stolen it. The second time, in theory, you go back and realize that Eliza has poison, is thinking about killing herself to avoid the torture, then Matty comes and steals it. I don't know how effective that was.

The little "know which mushrooms will kill you and which won't" rhyme is a classic example of how truly lousy I am at poetry. (It may surprise you to know that before university, I had taken a grand total of one English course in my life, which did not feature a poetry unit. That's why I also tend to invent new adverbs from time to time.) It's also cool to note that Eliza doesn't call him "Father" in the flashback. She calls him the much more intimate "Daddy."

The hallucination post is a huge reference to my favorite TV show: House, MD. The season finales for seasons two and four were my major inspirations for the post (one of the lines that Bell says is said almost verbatim by Wilson in the season two finale). It's worth noting that every hallucination talks and acts the way that they do, because they're essentially an extension of Eliza's mind, just in another form.

The hallucinations mirror an idea I had for ending the story. I was originally going to have it turn out that the entire contest was all a massive hallucination that Eliza was experiencing, and in reality she was still unconscious from Lehman's house collapsing on her. (Thus, the entire contest is the "Mirage" mentioned in the title.) However, I felt that an ending like that would probably cheapen things, and possibly mess up what Bell or Revvie might have planned, so, rest assured, that's not how RV5 will end.

"The End Part III" is the only post in the entire contest to actually use the word "mirage" in it.

Venril's post title "World 1-2: START!" came from a suggestion (I believe it was by me, but I don't remember) to reference Super Mario Bros, because we were going underground in search of mushrooms. How awesome is that?

Virgill, the only NPC I named in the entire contest who wasn't a reference to Survivor, was actually a reference to my favorite movie of all time, The Core. And, also, I believe, to Dante's Inferno, except I'm uncultured and never read it.

In week four, we had briefly bandied about the idea that Verand wasn't actually dead (hence Venril thinking he heard a moan after dumping the body), but decided to pursue other routes instead. But I hoped vainly that someone would have a "No way! He's still alive?!?!" moment, just for fun.

Oh, and on one final note: Yes. I named a mouse Mik. Mik Mouse. It would totally have been Miki, but I didn't think I could really get away with that. :p

Alright, so, the Survivor references... at last count there were something like 20 of them, but I may well be missing one or two. (In a perfect world, there would be one for every single season of Survivor, but it's not, and there isn't.)

For the most part, I actually studiously avoid naming any NPCs until about... week three or so, because Eliza just generally wasn't interested in knowing anybeast's name. After that, I just found surreptitious ways of sliding them in.

Here are all of the ones that I recall, and the real-show Survivor contestant they're based off of.

Eliza: Eliza Orlins, Survivor Vanuatu.
Chivis Mik: Mick Trimming, Survivor Samoa.
Clayten De Lorenzo: double reference. Clay Jordan, Survivor Thailand, and Danielle DiLorenzo, Survivor Panama.
the village of Apostol: Tyson Apostol, Survivor Tocantins
Captain Heidik: Brian Heidik, Survivor Thailand
Brkich stew: Amber Brkich, Survivor Australia
Hantz fish: Russell Hantz, Survivor Samoa
Parvati: Parvati Shallow, Survivor Cook Islands
Jonathan: Jonathans Libby and Penner, from Survivor Palau and Cook Islands, respectively.
Dugan the stoat: Jaime Dugan, Survivor China
Skinny Ryun: 'Skinny' Ryan Shoulders, Survivor Pearl Islands
Biskiskis the weasel: rework of the last name of Aras Baskauskas, Survivor Panama.
Ole Kimpy: Kim 'Kim P' Powers, Survivor Africa
Rosenberger, Quentin's family name: Ian Rosenberger, Survivor Palau
Quinton, Quentin's last name: Brandon Quinton, Survivor Africa
Kelly: (Note: Revel came up with 'Keller', as an homage to Helen Keller. I suggested nicknaming her Kelly, as a joke, but it actually worked so well that we just kept the nickname and didn't get around to calling her by her real name, like, ever.) Kellys Wiglesworth, Goldsmith, Czarnecki, and Sharbaugh, from Survivors Borneo, Africa, Gabon, and Samoa, respectively.
Baron Lehman: Marcus Lehman, Survivor Gabon
Filarski: Elisabeth Filarski, Survivor Australia. (Later married, and is now Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View fame.)
Crittenden: Chad Crittenden, Survivor Vanuatu. (Also, Survivor Australia contestant Rodger Bingham was from a town named Crittenden, Kentucky.)

Yes. I'm obsessed. I know. :p