The End (edit)

EDIT: Crit from added

Ok, this is totally weird. I never expected to be writing the final journal so soon. I will be writing the closing thoughts on this oct, but before that, I think I should definitely post what the whole point of this journal is about first!

The winner


WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!





























!!!!!!!!~**~!!!!!!!!

I am sorry, I wanted to make this a little more of a big deal but I don't know how to make the winner icon more dramatic I suppose... BUT that should be no reason to dampen the mood! Since this is the final round and what I believe is a big deal, each of the judges (besides one due to technical issues) has written their personal reasoning for their votes. I understand not everyone will agree with our votes and reasons but we have done our best to judge and I hope you will find the work we put into judging this final round adequate. This was certainly one of the hardest calls of the entire oct, and both of you did a great job!

sky665 vote:



Both rounds were really well done. Each included everything that I would except to see in a final round of an OCT.

Pep’s round was very entertaining and reading it was enjoyable. There isn’t actually anything in it that I could suggest for improvement, since it is only when being compared to Miro’s round that things that could have been added or changed to turn the tables around. Both stories were good, Miro’s was just a smidge bit stronger. My reasoning for this is I felt Miro’s story felt a lot more whole and thought out. It seemed really thought out as if planned from the first round, and I felt like he brought the story to a complete close. (Well, nearly completely! Since he is not technically finished yet as there is still an epilogue to come.) I felt Miro really took note of using the character development he had been creating in the previous rounds to help create a powerful climax in the end. For Miro, however, I would suggest trying to find the time if possible to just go back through and give the pages a quick re-read through. There were a lot of typos, and some panels were a bit confusing, but there was enough back up and support throughout the whole pages to where it could easily be looked over. But its something you could improve on! Although I picked Miro for the win, I really want to congratulate both contestants for working so hard to bring this finale of the tournament to a complete and triumphant close. Big improvements were notable in both rounds. Congratulation you guys!

jackattack1994 vote:



For Pep:

This round was really close for good reason. You have a solid entry and I especially loved your ending. It was a nice resolution and I loved seeing how much Ick had grown as a character--Dip as well. It was certainly entertaining, which is something you have never had trouble in delivering with your rounds. However, I feel that you had an ample cast available to you that you passed over to focus instead upon Ick, Dip, and Festival. Keep in mind that you are not only closing your story, but THE story--the entirety of the Games. Still, your entry was undeniably enjoyable.

For Miro:
You once again had issues of clarity, which is understandable considering your round's length. Still, it appears to be your Achilles heel and I recommend perhaps finding a medium that will maximize your working speed. In any case, you too had an excellent round. I feel that your greatest strength is character development, and you most certainly do not disappoint in this round. Everyone is given time to grow or shine, or even be at their worst. Furthermore, you once again did an excellent job with the plot. However, that cliffhanger did not help you. I personally am eagerly awaiting the epilogue, but it might be wise to try and not bite off more than you can chew in the future.

Both of you had great entries and made this round very difficult to judge indeed.

CampbellDoesArt vote:



Unfortunately, cam cannot write a critique at this time because of technical issues. He assured me this was probably the hardest round to judge in the entire oct and he does not say so lightly, I will try to get him to write one as soon as the things stopping him clear up.

Kirokokori vote:



Both Miro and Pep delivered really great finales to The Games, consistent with their previous work. It was a tough choice picking between them; I would have had them just both win if I could’ve. But, in the end, there could only be one winner, and Miro was the one who pulled through.

Pep, you obviously know how to tell a story, and it really shows in this last round. The standout moments, for me, were Festival’s scene atop the blimp, and the epilogue. You really developed Festival’s character in an interesting way throughout the story, and all that coming to a head on the blimp was really well done. His outburst towards Ick was very effectively written, and the whole scene was a great climax. The epilogue, as well, did a great job closing loose ends, and, while it was amusing, it also had a nice emotional aspect to it as well. You did a great job endearing your readers to Ick and Dip throughout the tournament, and seeing them succeed, become better people, and finally part ways was both really fun and also genuinely sad.

The only place your round fell short in was that some sections seemed rushed, or underrepresented. The whole aspect of the plot with Magrite was a little confusing (how he suddenly went back to normal was…well, sudden, and could’ve done with a bit more explanation), and Sam’s characterization seemed a bit off throughout. While it worked for the story and was interesting in its own right, it felt like one aspect of his character was flanderized a bit at the expense of his other traits.

Still, overall you’re round was a solid, enjoyable read, that did a great job balancing comedy and action/drama. You should be proud of it.

Miro, where you really stood out was in your plot and your handling of the many characters you included, and that’s also what gave you an edge in the end. While Pep’s story telling and character development was also great, we all felt you really went above and beyond in these aspects.

Something I really love about this round, and even what you’ve done throughout the tournament, is how you’ve given both yours and your opponents’ characters such equal representation. Sam got a lot of great development this round, losing his puppets willingly and acting of his own accord, while Ick and Dip were given just as much attention and some nice development of their own as well (the scene where Festival pulled Ick into the sun was particularly nice). Not even just that, but your inclusion and interpretation of each judge was also great. Chiyo, Magrite, Festival, and Gregory were all given there own roles and developed in a variety of interesting ways, and it really added an extra dimension to your round. The amount of time you spent fleshing out each character was just impressive.

Of course, the story itself was also handled very well. You took the concept of The Games in a wildly different direction than anyone else, using a lot of your own concepts and ideas, and it really paid off. The twists, the interaction between the characters, and the different action sequences made for a great and enthralling climax. Everything came together well, which was quite a feat with the amount of stuff you had going on.

As for things to improve on, your handling of exposition seemed a little clumsy at times. It was a bit taxing to have to read through some of your bigger walls of text, and while I understand you needed the exposition there to explain certain things, in some cases it felt like you could have stated it more concisely. In others you would have really benefited from breaking it up between several panels, instead of giving it all at once. Also, as it’s something I’ve noticed throughout the tournament (though it may just be a product of lack of time), it’d be good to go over your work and check for spelling errors, or maybe to have someone proofread for you. Not a major complaint or issue, especially in this forum, but it is something to look out for.

Still, in the end, you gave us a fantastic story, a lot of engaging characters (and representations thereof), and you most definitely earned the win. It was a pleasure reading both yours and Pep’s work throughout, and you should feel proud as well.

P.S. I’d also like to say that the overall quality of the art this round was an immense improvement, and it made the story a lot easier to follow than it was with the more sketchy look of the previous rounds (though, as said before, we recognize why they were done quickly, but it was just a nice bonus to see more clean work this round).
britbau vote:



Ok, get ready for the biggest paragraph ever about you two.

Pep, you are a great story teller and a very funny guy. I realize there is a lot of controversy and drama around our voting in relation to you and how you portrayed your opponents, but throughout the entire oct you have been consistent in both entertainment and art for the most part. Your story telling skills are something that you can boast about and your art is certainly nothing to cough at either. In the final round, I feel you gave a very good and different portrayal of Festival than Miro, as well as closing Ick and Dips story on a very good note. I thought what you did with Sam was interesting, as it shows how the character was really unstable and could very easily become a corrupt creature as opposed to Miro's more strange but heroic portrayal. Something you have that miro doesn't is a fairly consistent sense of art and pacing (granted I think r4s pacing could be a bit better but I think you ran into some time issues). I think you have a very strong identity of what kind of writer and comic artist you are and I think that's a very good thing. In terms of what I voted for Miro, writing the ending this oct, I felt you only covered up the loose ends of those who were against. I fully understand that was partially just the nature of your rounds, and I won't fault you for that because the ending felt very satisfying, however it just felt like miro gave an effort to cover up more holes in the story and tried to develop the Dabik's more so than you chose to do Sam. I also feel that, while your characterization for Gregory and Festival were very entertaining, it was fairly lacking with Chiyo, and Magrite's erratic behavior while fairly humorous, left me somewhat confused and wishing you had done more with his character. I also felt leaving your ending on an unresolved cliffhanger was both a bad and very good thing. On one hand, your round will forever have the feeling of reaching closure, but on the other it was a very honestly haunting and spooky but cool ending. I think that's everything I have to say for your round. That being said, I have read your previous oct entries, and perhaps others may disagree but a lot of the work you did for this oct I consider very high level, and possibly your best work, in terms of octs at least. I understand this may be one of your last octs and please don't take it lightly when I say it was an honor to have you participate, I hope it was a fun and good experience for you as I know it will be a thing I hold close to me for a long, long time.

Miro, you have done above and beyond with your very long, packed full of content entries. You bring a lot to all the characters you write and go out of your way to try and keep as many plotholes from occurring as possible, as well as including a vast array of participants, and even some auditions who didn't make it in. You have large strengths in character development and through the entire oct your story has personally kept me utterly and entirely hooked. In terms of flaws, I do think you need to work on writing your silly characters such as Cratgon and Mono, and I felt that the Dabiks could have been a little more in character, however I can see improvements from your previous rounds. Your art has realllly improved over the course of the oct. Near the beginning of this oct I could barely understand what was going on art wise and if not for your opponent forfeit, I am not sure if you would be here right now. Luckily, it WAS a forfeit, and your story quickly got me hooked, and your art kept improving and now it has really started to develop into something special. You need to work on typoing less, and possibly shorten or pace lengthy dialogue better, but based off the sheer volume of your rounds, that is partially understandable. I think you need to find a good length where you can keep the quality high in both story AND art. Why I chose you for the winner was because of your stellar inclusion of characters, a really interesting and overall massive plot, as well as very unique and strong portrayals of the judges. Through all the twists and turns of the oct, you have kept me guessing what is going to happen and some of your twists have literally floored me. Looking back you have a very tight knit story and I am utterly impressed with not only what you gave us for this oct, but how much you have truly improved. I liked the fact you made all the judges dynamic and literally kept us guessing as to who the big bad would be of this oct, creating 3 great villains out of Magrit, Greg and Festival. Considering festival was the big leader who sort of lost control early on, I was wondering what exactly was going to happen in the end, and somehow you bringing him back somewhat literally as a final boss felt very satisfying. I do sort of want to scold you on leaving it on a cliffhanger, and I hope in the future you learn not to bite of more than you can chew. That being said, I am looking forward to the epilogue. All and all, very unique and interesting story and characterization. I am very excited this is just the beginning of your oct carreer, and I will be watching how you grow as you enter more octs veeeerrrry closely. Keep up the good work. I hope this oct has been a good experience for you and I hope you go on to do big things in octs.

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Thank you so much to the finalists for both submitting kickass rounds and everyone who was involved for this for making my first oct an EXTREMELY INCREDIBLE experience. I realize there were a lot of the bumps in the road and perhaps we were not he best judging team ever, but we did our best and tried to be honest, and I don't have any regrets. I am going to try to ignore all the bad because I know there was a lot of good that came out of too, for not only me, but many of the contestants and people involved. Running an oct IS challenging, but its also a lot of fun to see what people do with what you give them. This was the first time I ever ran an oct, and as someone who normally enters octs, it was a really fun experience. This is my first, but I don't think it will be my last. I can't say anything right now, but look out for another oct some time in the future.

Here's where the prizes are going!

first place:

second place:

third place: (we felt he showed a very good r4 regardless of some of the flak we were given for our vote and I hope this helps assure you we really liked your rounds c: )

Please check the prize journals to see what you get from each person and note them about it! Though I realize many people are busy, i'm sure they will get on them asap!

I guess that's all I have to say, I didn't think i'd actually be sad to write this last journal but haha, I AM! I really am.... But alas all good things must come to an end.

As of now, the games is officially over. If you're looking for a new oct is looking really kickass and I will be judging over there so check it out.

So this is signing off. I'll be back with an oct some day, but until then, happy octing.

Thank you  c:

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