|-THE ROOSTER-|
Although they didn't get involved in the early race for this reward, where Joe and... the other Joe were submitting entries as soon as I posted the tasks, Pheeney consistently handed in entries well before most of the competition, saving me from much stress, and earning them this reward for Not Being A Procrastinator.
Linda Lowes by Then_Harry_woke_up
|-THE CROW-|
I wasn't expecting to hand out an award for this at the start of this competition, but someone has spent a lot of time motivating and participating in the proceedings that I feel they deserve a shout-out. From collecting everyone's entries for reasons I still can't quite comprehend to personally overseeing the writing of many of them, who knows how things would have turned out without them. I am honored to present this award for participation to the somewhat frightening single-person mafia/pep squad of Idle, Arizona:
Joe Vaccaro by ugh_andi
|-THE STALKER-|
Another award I wasn't expecting to exist when I started this. Actually, this is less of an award as it is a mark of shame. So there I am, leaving notes on Pheeney's entry when the dreaded J dot flashes at the top of the Google doc. Not only has she started replying to my comments as soon as I placed them, but she has also sat and watched me for like the half-hour it takes me to write the final notes on an entry. Okay so maybe it's not as bad as I am making it out to be, and maybe I actually just find it funny, but still. SHAME!
Linda Lowes by Then_Harry_woke_up
|-BEST NAME-|
We certainly had some names that were designed to stand out in this competition, but this is a name that caught my eye as soon as I saw it. It is a beautiful name and the way that it rhymes makes it trickle off the tongue. As I got deeper into the form and the entries, I gained even more appreciation of it as it works so well in the phrase "Las Morenas de Morana." The amount of thought and effort which went into this name is obvious, and it deserves to be rewarded.
Ofelia Morana by adonian
|-FAN FAVORITE-|
It's too close to call! I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that y'all were indecisive. Both of these residents made it through two rounds of voting before the semifinals. It's easy to see how they captured the hearts of the voting public as they were both charismatic characters with writing styles that came off as so bright. Whether they were serving drinks or serving scoops, know that we all love you guys!
Chase Lunsford by Katastrofree and Angela Gomez by Shoemaker-Levy9
|-BEST QUOTE-|
There are so many I could've chosen from, and to be honest I didn't go back and scour every entry just for this award so I'm sure there are even more I missed. This could have gone to anything in the ongoing flame war between Linda and Angela, or to an excerpt of the stunning description in basically every entry I received. I decided to give it to a quote on the page as well, and one that comes from someone we heard so little from. But when John Doe speaks, he makes his words count. "Even before I became her, my daughter was absolutely extraordinary." This is stuffed with meaning, from the subversion of Barbara's 'ordinary' motif to the subtle way it reveals both the speaker and the power behind Barbara. It makes a great conclusion to the battle with The Dry Death.
John Doe by TheCatKing
|-BEST FORM-|
The thought behind this character immediately drew her to me. A monster hunter in a town full of monsters added a perfect wrinkle to the dynamic of Idle and I was devastated that I hadn't thought of it myself. A brilliant form supplemented a brilliant idea, with great uses of parallelism and the introduction of interesting themes which followed Camren throughout her stunning run through this competition. Also, "Absolutely not," is the best Oddity section I could have ever hoped for.
Camren Tarrayo by -Raven-
|-BEST CHARACTER-|
For all the spaghetti westerns I stylized Idle after, perhaps my biggest influence on this competition was Scooby Doo and The Alien Invaders, so I was delighted to receive a Cygnus Starseed - whatever that is. Hugh was simultaneously the strangest and most normal character in every situation and I loved what you did with simplicity and understatement to give that effect. Even though your time got cut short, I could tell that the conflict in Hugh's arc was set up to be special.
Hugh Man Guy by thisismyplutonym
|-BEST ENTRY-|
A beautiful monument to ambition, perched so precariously above the rest. Task 3 was all about dialogue and in Terre Schaefer's entry, we got just about every form of dialogue you can imagine. Different types of prose, different dynamics in conversations, and different stories, all pulled together by the deft pull of a string of understanding in the end. All of it was so artfully crafted.
Terre Schaefer's The Breeze by yellowbillycat
