My list of Top 10 Bowser

#1: Bowser

#2: Bowser

#3: Bowser

#4: Bowser

#5:Bowser

#6: Bowser

#7: Bowser

#8: Bowser

#9: Bowser

#10: Bowser

Behind the Brawl (Brought to you by Blogger.com!)

Hello boils and ghouls. With another brawl under my belt and an unfortunate champion along side it, its about time I pull back the curtain and show you what went on behind the scenes as I do every year since last year. With a long-standing tradition like that, you can't afford to break away from it.

Once again, I shall be using the pretentious writing method of pretending I am being interview about the brawl, once more just so my thoughts have a focal point so I may better convey them.

Before I kick off, some numbers. This year we had 46 entrants and 89 images, while last year we had 40 entrants and 83 images. Somehow, having six more entrants ended up with us having 6 more images. I guess the action shots just balanced out that way, since while last year I scrapped many for the sake of time, this year I think I used every image idea I had plus some extras for Goops to draw. The universe works in strange ways...

Q: Why did you choose an advertising theme for this Brawl?

A: Well, I've had this idea in mind for almost a year, maybe longer. Last year I almost had a cute line about a sponsor near the start of the brawl, the joke about the Charmin bears that I used in the pre-show this year. The advertising theme probably grew from there, and it was definitely planned the moment Satan destroyed the holodeck and sent FYM into financial straits.

The FYM money problem was always planned to be solved by the next brawl, with the brief period in between to introduce new things like Whitey. As for how it would effect the brawl itself, the theme was mostly done for the sake of a few jokes and the mystery fiter. Again, I can't tell you how long I intended to use the giant specifically, but I know he was the idea that stuck out amongst the rest. Big ol' guy who bust up things AND has magic plant growing powers? Sounds good to me!

When CKR told me her planned entrants, it pretty much cemented his position as the obvious mystery fiter of choice. Both Giant Green Gunter and Impossibear had ways to play off him, so I already had ideas about the relationship between those three before the brawl started.

Early on I feared people might think the "selling out" joke might actually impact the brawl in a meaningful way, but no one ever seemed to air any grievances. I kept its involvement low as shown, mostly just jokes and the inclusion of Bibendum. Bibendum felt like he could be a mystery fiter, but I decided against it because of his low effectiveness, but still, he had a rare distinction.

FYM rarely has sponsors when I write it, although they seem to crop up commonly in guest writes. However, one of the few times I've written a sponsor it was during Race Yer' Mates when a Michelin slogan came up. Doing the whole big advertising thing, it felt odd to leave out the one real use of it before, and I thought it would be a cute callback. I knew Draco was coming back and he seemed like the dragon to rope the Michelin Man in for a price, so I planned that out to be his inclusion, even if it didn't amount to too much in the end. He did stuff at least, like get popped!

It also allowed me to make a new arena, with two ends to facilitate two different breeds of fiters. The rocky end definitely proved more useful, while the watery end had little to do with it. I just wanted it there in case someone along the lines of Ceadeus or Ogopogo would enter, guys who can fite on land but much better in water. At least it gave Skurvy somewhere to rest his boat.

No mid-brawl commercials though. I think this year had a pretty good flow, while last year I think maybe the pace dipped at points. A commercial might have broken up that pace and the idea didn't really occur to me either. I mostly just used it for snarky corporate jokes in the pre-fite show. In the end, the theme was a way to give the brawl some color outside of the main thing. We've come far from the big flat dirt arenas of the first brawl, so themeless doesnt even feel like an option anymore.

Q: How was the new timetable for the brawl?

A: I think we found the magic formula. I was able to finish the main portion of the brawl before we even hit july, the pre-fite show shortly after, and the art was finished the night before the brawl itself (barring scanning and touch ups). I don't know if the time will work as the brawl continues to grow in size, but I was sick for a decent portion and took many breaks as a result, so maybe a healthy me could rocket through it faster. I do hope on improving my art though, since I felt very self-conscious next to the quality work of the other three. I can do fair enough in smaller fites where I only need to focus on 3-4 pics, but in these big brawls I draw probably at least half the pictures on my own, neccessitating 40 or more pics done in a short period. The reason the title card was a cop-out again this year is because despite the crunch never really hitting, there still wasn't time to draw 46 faces, even though I had tried to start.

I think the voting/sign-ups was a perfect fit too, although voting went longer than planned because I put the wrong date. Still, everyone got to vote who would vote and we got tons of quality effort posts. Which only made it sting more when I for no good reason ended up winning.


Q: So, about the winner...

A: I'm sure I'll grow into it eventually, but for now I'm still seething at the result. I can see how it might be like, an arc or something for Mac Tonight, and it let me pretend JRM entered him into the Brawl all those years ago knowing he had it in him to win, but having to see Gloria go down was heart-wrenching even for me. Gooper definitely deserved the top spot over me for all he's done for the brawl these years, but there is one thing I am glad about Mac winning.

We haven't had a repeat user win so far, so this was me getting put out of the way now so others can win later. I can't predict the whims of the RNG, but I have faith we won't see repeat user wins for at least a few more years, so this saves us later pains. Still, I'd have much preferred almost any other result, with probably only Goomy and a few others seeming worse in my mind.

Mac will be back next year to defend the champion title, and by defend I mean hand it over willingly pretty much. He'll fite and all, but it will be his official last year for certain. The moon-faced mascot shall be hassled no more.

I'll keep most my whining and moaning to myself though. Let's move on to something more interesting.

Q: Secret Fiters!

A: Every year I like to do something new with entrants. Year 2, the lotto, Year 3, a new slot, Year 4, the Secret Fiter. People were always tossing ideas around Chatzy about potential mystery fiters I could use, and many good ideas were thrown around. So, I decided to open the gates so to speak to see what people would throw at me. The fiter ideas ranged from the hilariously odd to the surprisingly scary and I was tempted to allow more than 1 to enter, but I thought it best to stick with the basic 46 so that it would be easier to meet the number and surpass it next year. I'll leave most secret fiters secret for the sake of the users who suggested them, but Bree's idea was hilarious and I am glad the tractor picked it. I am also somewhat glad they died early, because I have the feeling being killed by Edward or Bella might be worse than death by Spider-Pig.

Mac Tonight killing Bella was a relic of an idea I had for whoever got first and last. People often see a character kill someone and suspect that character will be on the chopping block soon, so I decided first place would kill last place in the ultimate psych out. Unfortunately, Mac was first and Bella was last. This made it seem more like I did it as first Mystery vs. first Secret, and since I owned Mac and knew the results, I wasn't sweating bullets anticipating his death. It was my attempt at making the winner seem less inevitable. I had also hoped to pull some tomfoolery with the finalists, but when Skurvy ended up near the end with Mac, Lisa, and Gloria, the characters were kinda set to fite each other a certain way. Alliances and all that.

Q: Why don't you tell us about the entrants?

A: Because we've been talking about other stuff.

Well, like every year, there are characters I wanted and didn't get, characters I got and never knew I wanted, and characters I've always wanted and finally got. Zeph and Draco were two chars I always wanted in a brawl, as well as Santos and pretty much any sarahkin. Shuma's surprise return was definitely a highlight, and the huge vote weight behind him shows that. In the end, he did have the most spots on the tractor, and during the brawl I gave him a pretty big push to acknowledge that. Browny was an unexpected entrant and unfortunately he bombed early, but it was nice to have him since I never even thought of him as a potential entrant after 2012 ended. To go on a case-by-case basis might be a little bland to read, but I think we probably have one of our strongest casts yet, even though some big names aren't present. I think this group might have the most flow, with even some of the out-of-nowhere entrants finding niches or serving roles.

One particularly case I am amused by is Him, Mikey, and Beck. I had anticipated Mega Man and Ronnie both as entrants last year, but they were both replaced by associates, with Him returning after his failed attempt to enter FITE WEEK and fite the two. It's not really a big deal, but it was something that amused me and let me do something during the pre-fite show. There were many character interactions I enjoyed, although some I couldn't pull off. Redscales was going to hound over April, but character placement and the big alliances kept them apart. The two dragons would have been interesting to have fite, but at the same time, both would prioritize other targets first. Draco is hugely anti-mammal and Redscales both had his lecherous nature and alliance to think of. They probably begrudgingly accepted each other's presence, any animosity dwarfed by general distaste for other fiters.

One absence I am surprised I didn't feel was Widow Maker. Shuma's return felt fresh and Rainbow Power kept Rainbow Dash from being a fiter on repeat, but unlike last year where I felt Wids had to return, I guess I was accepting of her absence. She might have been interesting, but I don't think there were any characters besides Tenshi I wished were in the arena for a specific reason, and the only reason I wanted Tenshi was because of a giant Peach Tree being there. Her remark from the audience was pretty sufficient anyway.

Also of note are the two big alliances. We almost had a third big alliance in the form of Haven residents, but Ash's low placement coupled with Beck's good showing and Jack's nature made it seem like it would be strained at best. Maybe if Reject or the Succubi had also joined it would have been formed, but Tallish kept Ash away from Beck so Beck and Jack were left to their own agendas. The two big name alliances that did form, The Warriors of Fite and the Musical Alliance, ended up playing huge roles in the end, mostly because of how the standings came out. The obvious alliance came in the form of Gloria, Sammy, and the ro-bros, but the fact that Browny came back and he and Zeph were pretty much coworkers made him a perfect fit into the group, even if he went down early. The Musical Alliance came about because I noticed how many fiters had music as their weapon, and I briefly considered adding Kela to it because of her rapping as an effort post, but Kela's yarn was her main weapon and the late ranking made her seem a better fit for the end-game girl alliance that formed.

Both alliances were tested too, split up and forced to accommodate both extra attention and members interacting badly. The Musical Alliance was more turbulent due to Beatbox's own agendas, but the impulsiveness of Sammy and Oceanus marred the effectiveness of the Warriors. In the end both paid off pretty well though and made for some interesting groupings and dynamics.

Brief alliances also cropped up, and this year it felt a lot easier to get multiple fiters into one spot. One problem with the brawl is that characters WILL fall into the background, but some big ol' baddies allowed me to remind us they exist. Might have been one reason I felt things flowed better.  If you want me to give me thoughts on an individual character, just ask, I had fun with a lot of them this year, although I felt some chars like Draco, Ash, and Sammy got robbed of higher places and could have done more if allowed to live.

As for my own entrants, Tallish was entered this year because of it being our last year in Orvance. I had been tempted to enter him last year as well, with the Hound of Tindalos as an assistant, but decided against it. Also, had I known I would do an advertising theme, I would have saved Yahoo Bot for this year :V I wanted our bartender in the brawl, and this seemed like his last chance to get involved. Mac Tonight was supposed to be my way of ending the tradition so to speak. He pretty much IS the BBB's mascot, but things must be put to rest eventually. Looks like we'll have to wait another year for that. Also, Mac fits the theme as well. I had also considered as entrants: Jaws, Reject, The Borax Kid, Phantomon, and Samurai the Cleric. It pretty much came down to who I thought would be best, and I can use most of them other years if I really wanted to.

Also, my "If I could vote" choices would have been, in no particular order: Draco, Skurvy, Saxton, Shuma, and Zeph. Only Draco I know I would've voted for for sure, the others are just characters I'd be really tempted by. I can't say for sure if I would vote for them, especially since all but Draco were picked by me just now as I looked at the list. A bit of a preference for the old guard is evident, eh?

At the end of this blogpost I think I'll post a list of chars I've wanted in brawls that I can think of and have yet to get. You know, in case you're interested ;D

Q: How did you decide on specific character deaths?

A: Surprisingly this year, I used limb removal a lot less than usual. It was mostly a byproduct of the roster I think, with many character who either would not try to hock off parts or not really able to with what they brought. I also liked having deep wounds over full removal, like Sammy and Saxton both getting their arms wrecked instead of removed. It also felt like many more chars couldn't run with such injuries and those who could didn't face those who would tear them apart. Either way, I like to think it made me be more elaborate in my kill methods, although you know, we had tons of energy sapping this year and power overloads. Zoe and Utsuho died by sap and Shuma and Hypo by overload, with Santos pretty much killed by it too. I just thought it was an interesting way to play with powers, so hopefully it didn't come off repetitive.

The Dufe was an interesting addition, allowing me to make Dr. Deer more "awesome" before his death but more importantly crippling the seemingly indefatigable Ash to make his early death more plausible. Guys got crazy powers and he needed something to take him down a bit to be killed, and even then it was death by electrocution... which also killed Saxton. ANYWAY, Cornwind pitched an idea where Christine charged in to recover the corpse, but I think I accidentally removed the necessity for such before recalling the idea, Ash plopping down into the audience anyway.

On that note... YAY, NOT SO MANY ZOMBIES! Zook is arguably one, and Redscales briefly brought some to life as a zombie fake-out, but I was happy to see a year where they didn't play a big role. Maybe that also helped the flow? I dunno, but if Redscales HAD killed April after unsuccessful flirting, April would have returned as a zombie and hassled Priscilla with a line like "SOME GRUDGES TRANSCEND DEATH!" It was a dynamic I didn't get to touch on much unfortunately, but oh well.

I imagine Mikey might be one of the more controversial kills, seeing that he killed both Beck and himself. This interesting dynamic I felt worked better, although I worried how it would go over as I wrote it. I imagine Mikey just got fed up with Beck pretty much lording heroic acts over him the whole brawl, and Mikey taking the satisfaction from Zeph seemed in character. Besides, a second later and he would be dead by Zeph claw anyway. He just got fed up with this shit.

Jack made for an interesting show, in that he allowed me to play around with Oceanus a bit. Having Gloria have Osh as a summon pretty much led into the idea of the early fall of the robot and being just a head for so long. Interestingly, Jack didn't integrate any competitors, only assistants, and I thought Park being added would be interesting because she is organic underneath it all. I remember Sheep reminding me of that to make sure I knew she wasn't full robot, and I decided to play with the idea instead. Park was slated to die later in the brawl though, but I used the phrase "walk in the park" at one point and couldn't resist the transition so she got axed earlier. I almost did the idea of "bodyguard without her charge", but Ravage kinda did that two years ago :V

Speaking of Jack godbeast, Peach Tree godbeast was sort of a way of redeeming Impossibear's poor performance and giving Gloria ammo for the final showdown. Perhaps with less impact than regular godbeasts, especially since we had two more, it still served a few purposes like forcing out the Mystery Box and making some characters relevant again. I also wanted a godbeast that isn't ____mass or giant version of guy, and apparently plants are the ZFRP enemy of choice these days :V

I'm off on a tangent again, but there was one dichotomy at the end during the finale. Mac used the power of his allies to win the day, while Gloria used those she had defeated to try and win. It's supposed to be meaningful, like "it's better to build of your friends than your enemies" or something, hence why Gloria's two summons were godbeasts. She pulled on those she defeated while Mac was propped up by those he helped, or rather helped him.

Q: The characters from nowhere, why were they there?

A: There weren't that many this year to be honest. Discounting Gloria summons, we had Barf and Lone Starr, who were killed during the RV scuffle. The RV was meant to be a fake-out as well, trying to look like "Clippy and Widow Maker drive through Manhattan" or "Aevar stuck in the dirt" but actually coming in to play quite early. It also created a nice concealed space for some early action and Barf and Lone Starr just got in the crossfire. They were meant to be just jokes in the Utsuho vs. Marisa fite, evolved into support characters because I liked having Spaceballs chars around, but quickly became dead weight, so killing them off didn't hurt much. I liked having Barf do the scene with Thurg in the Thurg vs. Bubs fite, but other than that they had little point so they were written out.

I already explained the Michelin Man being there and the Peach Tree, although the Peach Tree would have been more obvious had people seen Bravest Warriors. The tree doesn't behave exactly like that in Bravest Warriors, but it is clear it had odd qualities as the stick, and mixing magic allowed me to make it into more than a tiny fruit tree.

No crowd deaths this year, mostly because of little crowd interaction coming up. Shuma and Silence fought in it as a twist though, but I had no point where I thought hurting the crowd would add anything. Besides, they hurt themselves enough during Redscales's song.

Q: Pre-Fite Show, talk about it.

A: Again, I think this year had more point to it than usual, even beating out year 1. Some characters will always awkwardly fit in or contribute little just due to the nature of it, but having Green Kroc and Cutlass bumble about through it was a fun dynamic and having the Musical Alliance form during it was like a plot thread. A lot more of it mattered in the end I think, with very few red herrings. Santos psyching out Ash, Reimu looking at her gohei like it was useless,and a few others showed up, but many at least had small pay-offs. Diptera attacked Ant's monsters, Kela attacked Saxton for being rude, important alliances were formed, Goomy stayed hidden due to the hate, and many more!

The company jokes were fun too, even though I was running dry at one point. I need to be more cynical to corporate America it seems!

Q: Next year?

A: I can't say much about next year yet. I have a few ideas swimming around, and if we do go to Las Vegas, I definitely have a plan or two, but again it's too soon to ask. I will say this year I felt heavily burdened by last year. I felt like I wouldn't live up to it, it would be inferior in comparison or missing those memorable moments. The end result didn't help those feelings either, and I lost motivation at a few points as I moped that I had somehow won. I hope next year I won't be stressing out so much, but I probably will, and hopefully it won't affect the brawl's quality.

Besides, in the end, the Brawl is only as good as everyone else makes it. They give me the Legos to build a grand structure, so until those legos start coming in to place, I can't plan much ahead. All I know is that we'll have an awesome cast again next year, and hopefully a more satisfactory champion.

Hopefully this has all proved interesting in some form. I bet there are tons of things I left out, but for the most part this brawl came together well. No huge hiccups and only a few missed opportunities, so I can only hope next year also comes together so nicely!


So ends my self-indulgent ranting, but now its BRAWL WISHLIST TIME! Here are the characters throughout ZFRP history I have specifically pegged as wanting in the brawl. There are others I'd like to have and I don't think there is anyone I particularly WOULDN'T like to have, but these are guys who make me say "Wouldn't it be so awesome if they joined?"

-Eddie Riggs
-Rain
-Jonesy
-Alex the Raptor
-Morgana
-Josephine
-Pech
-Sarah
-Tenshi
-Reject (yes, my own char, but at this rate he might never get in)
-Father Squid
-Meat Boy
-Tiberius (yes, I know, a dog, but he's one cool pup)
-Octavious/The Dolls
-Starscream
-Lightwing (another of mine, but I don't want to pull her back out just to die)
-Gundog
-Rebecca
-Dr. Grendel
-Ilsaria
-Jewel Man
-Ymir the Tusk
-Biollante
-Celestia
-Joe the Boyga Ant
 -This is an incomplete list obviously, just the guys I can think up as I write this at 4 AM.

Like I said, these are characters I wold love to have, but not all the characters I'd like to have, just the top of the list. Sheryl would be nice to have in there just because I love having BARtenders in BAR brawls. There are characters like Optimus Prime or Baltan I'd LIKE to see, but I understand their absence and don't "need" them in. Also, a second shot at the now established Leo might be interesting if just for Edyth angst :V Either way, I can't wait to see the cast of the next year's brawl. I am certain it will be full of pleasant surprises and probably one or two dogs. On a similar note, I am glad Diptera came off as more of a Sheep character, in that she looks like an old lady, but she acts all horrifying so it's not bad to kill her. I had thought when Spy brought her up she would be some old woman oblivious to her creepy nature, with plague and flies following her while she tried to be friendly. I was happily proven wrong!

Anyways, see you next year folks!