Blood. Gore. Cuteness.

[Balmafula]

What are you talking about? I'm sure this is exactly what he had in mind when he made this topic.

[TNT]

Yeah! We are having a SERIOUS DISCUSSION about the merits of bloody pie filling and oily vixen thigh pebbles here.

[Rousseau]

I find the title to be very appropriate and we're clearly discussing those three things. Blood pies, check. Oiled pebbles, check. Us fanboying/girling over the applications, check. And if he's upset with us, this emoticon of the happy smiling Goragula should cheer him up: :goragula: <(TEAM VIST!!)

Even Goragula is team Vist guys.

[Balmafula]

And we've got the cuteness down, too. I mean, two cute widdle ferret faces! What's not to love?

[Chokk Wulgar]

 :ferret: :ferret:

Seweously adorwabol!

Ok I'm done now... I feel like a badtail thread hijacker! 

I love the expression badtail. So funny!

But back on topic... where was I? Oh yeah! TEAM VIST! *such a fangirl*

[Nallmian 2.0]

*Comes in* Well, I wonder what everybeast thinks of my ---

*Full stop*

*Surveys trashed room full of congealing, sanguine pie filling, old pie tins coated with rock hard crust fragments, petroleum-coated pebbles and vixens of questionable moral fiber*

???    :o     ; :twitch:

HAHAHAHA!!!!! Oh, I love this crazy board.

Anyways, I will be back in a bit to review guards.

[Chokk Wulgar]

heehee... glad you like what we've done with the place! Our decorating skills are quite nice  :hamster:

[Nallmian 2.0]

Grainger: I definitely liked this one. Yes, it does come off as a little bit of a police/military procedural, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion. Furthermore, contrary to what some people have expressed, I actually am favorably impressed with the way in which the author has deftly handled a large crowd of NPCs all at once, without losing any coherency in the scene. Grainger comes off as an archetypal good non-commissioned officer here: tough as a nail, but still genuinely concerned with the welfare of his subordinates. The situation is set up well, and I get a pretty good impression of the setting -- Yew is definitely not a peaceful place, at least around the outskirts. Lots of banditry going on, and there are lots of beasts getting killed or injured in the area around the town. Ayers and Race are both fairly well characterized as well, and I would like to see more of them, especially Ayers. I am also favorably impressed with your ability to write dialogue and conversation. On the other paw, although I do like this app, the things that I have said to Zevka go double for you: make sure that you do not spend so much time with your solid stable of NPCs that it inhibits Grainger's ability to form relationships with other player characters. Also, even though I have no problem with even this many NPCs, I get the impression that other people do not share this viewpoint. Even if this were not the case, as a matter of practicality, you really are going to need to trim down the squad worth of NPCs into two, maybe three tops.

Speaking of "tops," am I correct that his nickname is a reference to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_sergeant#United_States_Army ?

Bottom Line: I am thinking seriously about putting you in my top two. Not absolutely certain, but I definitely don't agree with the more negative reviews centered around the number of NPCs. I like the sense of setting you create here, and I think Grainger has some very obvious leadership potential for the group.

If You Get In: Take Grainger away from most of his NPCs for a while. Don't kill them or isolate him totally, just separate them enough that Grainger has a chance to develop more on his own and spend time with other characters. Spend more time on Grainger's feelings and inner thought processes; you seem to already do a good job on his logical processing and interactions with others.

Istvan: This is a top favorite of mine in the entire haul of apps, judge's picks included. Istvan is effing terrifying, and you do a wonderful job of creating a sense of menace that just oozes off of him. His sort of muscular neopaganism is portrayed convincingly as a strongly held and internally consistent belief system, and it gives Istvan a very strong sense of characterization right off the bat -- I feel like I know EXACTLY  what makes this beast tick. I like the prose, I like the merchant's reaction to the realization that he may have summoned the help of a crazy beast -- I like all of it, really. I do acknowledge that you need to keep his menace restrained enough in-story to allow him to form alliances and enmities of the sort that don't result in quick death or maiming, but I have full confidence that you can do this. Maybe just make sure to introduce some factor to force Istvan to direct his rage elsewhere, or cause his most negative relationships to be with beasts who have the ability to potentially hold their own against him. While Istvan is clearly formidable, his target here is rather malnourished, so just be sure you form a clear idea of his limitations and stick to them. I don't have a lot of time to write this, and I think I've already gotten my point across. Great app, great character. This one is a shoo in for me.

Bottom Line: I'm voting for you.

If You Get In: As stated above: come up with compelling friendships and enmities. Keep doing what you're doing in terms of his philosophical/religious viewpoints, motivations, etc. It works really well.

Ben Slider: This is a really great concept executed well...but there's also an obvious problem here, and I'm not sure how you're going to solve the latter without compromising on the former. Slider's horrible predicament is portrayed convincingly and movingly, and you really drive home the sheer horribleness of what is happening to him. His way of forcing his wife to find a way to live without him was deeply touching as well -- what an awful situation he has found himself in. I'm very favorably impressed with how you've written this app. Here's the problem: The list of conditions that you give for infecting others is so extensive that I don't see how you're going to explain why the whole cast isn't infected (assuming the whole cast does not consent to this) by the end of Week 2. Not only does it impose constaints on you, but it also imposes some limitations on what other characters and non-disposable NPCs can do with your character. Yes, there's an obvious potential for a Slider-infect-somebeast-and-watches-them-die-and-feels-awful storyline, and I feel you could write that well, but that is definitely a one-shot occurrence. You get one, MAYBE two times to infect anybeast (chars or NPCs) before people get tired of reading about Typhoid Mary in the form of an otter. I'm going to have to think about this one. This is a grea tapp in itself, and I would love to see a fanfic of this, but I really do question Slider's ability to fit well into the story.

Bottom Line: I'll sleep on this before deciding. I am seriously thinking of voting for you, but this is a strong field, so I cannot decide for certain. I'm open to the floor insofar as whether and how people think Slider's extreme limitations on close proximity to others could help or harm the story. I think I'm actually leaning towards Slider for the second slot right now, but that is not certain.

That's the last one for now. I'll come back later and get the last two either later tonight, or more likely tomorrow. At this point, I have read the other two apps, and neither one of them is enough to displace Istvan, who is getting a vote. However, the competition for the second slot remains fairly rigorous. I'll have to really give this some thought.

[Nallmian 2.0]

I just realized that I had not posted a full ranking for the other categories yet. Nyika, Zevka and Terrence are cycling around in my head. for top three, with Nyika lagging just slightly behind the other two. Alder in fourth and Pollux in fifth are pretty much set in stone. I still need to think a little about this one. Pyracantha Troupe is Shortstack, Risk, Poko, Vist. Istvan is a clear-cut number one for Yew Guards, with the rest of the field not set in stone yet.

However, I do want to downgrade my review of Ben Slider a little bit. As good as the writing is, I actually sorta forgot that he HAS to be a guard. This REALLY doesn't fit with the lethal communicable illness angle, as I am pretty sure that constantly coughing up blood and killing everybeast who comes into contact with you is a disqualifier for every police force ever to exist in real life or in fiction. Yes, I suppose he could hide his condition, but it seems pretty conspicuous, and only just so many deaths will be able to occur before other guards start to take notice. I'm sorry, but I think this is a good app in the wrong category.

[Vizon]

However, I do want to downgrade my review of Ben Slider a little bit. As good as the writing is, I actually sorta forgot that he HAS to be a guard. This REALLY doesn't fit with the lethal communicable illness angle, as I am pretty sure that constantly coughing up blood and killing everybeast who comes into contact with you is a disqualifier for every police force ever to exist in real life or in fiction.

Yeah true enough, though I guess I was assuming from the app that he'd "recover" enough to not be coughing bloody mucous on everyone.

?A contagious liver disease. Some beasts die and some recover, but it stays with them all their lives.?

I don't suppose anyone would hire him in the state he was in in the application. Foxpen suggested in her audio review that it might be hepatitis? I tried looking that up but there are a lot of varieties and then I doubt it'd be the same for animals as people - depending on how realistic the author wants to be in a world of talking walking upright animals, ha ha.
It doesn't sound like Slider is the type to want to infect others, so maybe he'd take measures (gloves? A mask? Carrying a hip flask (a la Madeye Moody?). Just throwing out some possible defenses since he was high in my slots too. I'm actually not as sure about my order anymore - like I think I was too harsh on Grainger and he does seem like he'd be a pretty interesting addition to the story as an organizer and caring leader (which they'll probably need). Not that Noonahootin isn't caring, but it's more difficult for "the troops" to relate to a giant bird than to a squirrel and fellow mammal.

[Sycamore]

Or maybe the doc is a quack and it's just the common cold.

Truthfully, I think it'd would be really cool for Ben to get in and infect everyone by week 2, and then we have a disease on our paws that we have to stave off, but in the frigid mountaintops, characters succumb on a weekly basis, or maybe they all get the ax by week 3. Can you imagine a contest like that?

"Welp, looks like disease ridden Ben got in. You all have three weeks to write a story before you all die."

I think that would be fantastic.

[Nallmian 2.0]

Maxine Honeydouble: I really enjoyed reading this little scene about an eccentric retired badass and her decision to leave her comfortable job because if she doesn't go, somebeast else will. The single word that comes to mind for Maxine is formidable. She clearly has a deft paw with supplies, and I enjoyed the descriptions of her perfectly organized and well-stocked abode, which fits perfectly  with your character. Nice bit with the armor, too. I always like it when people have descriptions for their weapons, armor, and even mundane tools other than simple categorizations by size and general type. Like Maxine, I was taken aback by what we learn from Fellows -- what is going on with Carrigul that the Yew guard is enlisting small kits? We see Maxine at a very important decisionpoint. She's clearly exceedingly good at her job, and very, very comfortable in the life it brings her -- she can sleep and eat as much as she wants and do her work without dealing with Ricard or other Yew Guards. But Maxine going means a cannon-fodder kit doesn't have to, and so Maxine hauls out her awesome suit of armor and heads once more into the breach.

Bottom Line: In any other category, you would be a 1. However, you are not quite at the point of dislodging Istvan, so in this category you are going to have to settle for a secure number 2.No really major weaknesses come to mind here. Even though MAxine is clearly a bit of a misanthrope, the whole point of the app is that she will take charge when necessary, so I cannot see her being too passive. Writing is very good. Like I said, this would have been my first choice if Istvan wasn't just that good.

If you get in: Keep doing what you're doing. The one thing I would be careful with is how Maxine reacts to vermin. I cannot see her being warm and fuzzy with them, but there are limits to just how hostile you can be to the rest of the cast. Make sure she has some ability to at least sort vermin into different categories of badness.

Captain Noonahootin: This is a fairly solid app in a similar vein to Grainger's. I do like bird characters, and Noonahootin is a pretty credible owl with the interesting quirk of being diurnal by necessity. Corporal Wingchut is a fairly interesting NPC, and their aerial training session was a lot of fun to read. There's nothing really wrong with this post, except that it just isn't quite as good as Istvan or Maxine. We don't get as much introspection or a really important decision point here, and this app does not have the drama that hte other two do -- this is  apretty calm, unremarkable day in the life of Captain Noonahootin. I wouldn't mind if this got in, but it's not in range of Istvan or Maxine. Also, although the descriptions of setting and action are good, Noonahootin is just not as vivid as the aforementioned apps.

Bottom Line: It's a solid three. Good app, fairly solid character, but not on the same level as Istvan or Maxine, in my view.

If You Get In: Pip in TED II got an incredible amount of mileage out of exploring what it is like to be a sentient beast in a world full of other sentient beasts who would love to tear into your delicious, succulent corpse. Try to find your own unique spin on this situation.

Category Overview: This may be the single strongest category I can remember seeing in any contest. None of the apps were bad at all. However, Istvan and Maxine just blew all the others out of the water, even if the others were pretty good in their own right. IStvan is just downright chilling, and we get a really great look into his head. Maxine is also a really well writtena pplication with tons of potentia. I would not be at all surprised to see either beast make top three.

1) Istvan.
2) Maxine
3) Noonahootin
4) Grainger
5) Slider.