Post by Kuma on Dec 31, 2015 1:19:19 GMT
Best Hero of the Year: Haruko Miyata/Callis Nomene
Callis continued to be the best hero of the Vice this year. In fact, he’s grown even more from last year. With a place in the world of the Vice, he’s got more than ever to fight for. Notable moments are standing up for his morals in Cave and the recent event in Kyoto. Read Kyoto, you’ll know it. There’s also Arthur. He’s not as noble as Callis, but it doesn’t hurt to remember him. He’s everybody’s favorite stripper nurse and single father, defender of children and finder of secrets.
I will include an honorable mention in several categories. I’m still voting for them, but I’m making it clear they’re not my first picks. Kusuri also had a shot here, but lost out due to a lack of exposure. Goemon and Jose are awesome, but work so well together I don’t feel comfortable giving them separate votes. Be ready for them later. Lastly, Gen finally graduated into heroism, but it was so late I almost don’t feel it’s fair to count him. I remember him as a neutral punching idiot dammit!
Haruko Miyata is the best hero around, she was part of almost every big event, she is the voice of reason every time a group of really unstable and quite aggressive get together and she is in it most of them end up listening to her. And she manages to get this level of respect with fewer skills and powers but an incredible versatility. She is the one leading the charge and keeping a cool head, even with Yamiko inside her (That sounded dirty)
Crow Cementerio had his moments, but he was a bit too occupied reaching the frontier with the dark side to properly convey heroism. Callis also did a great job asserting his own beliefs. Arthur is a great adventuring hero. Most of the characters are more akin to neutral, not many showcase heroism, apart from kicking the ass of villains.
I would give the Best Hero award to Haruko, due to her active participation in so many threads. The more threads she’s in, the more opportunities to be heroic. Right?
Crow Cementerio: Yes I have to cheat a little on this one. I’m not someone who is very egotistical or likes to toot his own horn but this one I have to. Crow has been one of the most if not the best heroic character this year. Everything about Crow screams hero not to mention he was in some of the most important threads this year. He has had some of the best fights within the hero including his fight against Masako and the team effort to face off Wild Battle. While Crow has not been perfect mainly because of my own writing he has been consistently heroic. This is why Crow takes the cake for best hero of the year.
In my opinion, the best hero was both Callis Nomene and Haruko Miyata. These two have been consistently nominated for best hero in this year's awards, and for good reason. Callis loyally followed Yami to try and stop everyone from releasing the Gainen in Cave, and is currently fighting past his wild beast instincts in a battle with Ikari. With so many neutrals in the Vice, it's nice to see a knight like Callis in a group. Haruko also had her own share of heroic moments, the most noteworthy ones being her leading a group in a raid of Marika's Kaspa to save her then-boyfriend John from certain death, stopping Dan from picking a fight with FMY 2 and K-4 and solving the problem diplomatically, setting Marceline and Cosmina free from Marika's control, and even taking Cosmina into her own home. In conclusion, both have embodied heroic traits for the entire year, and earned my award.
Arthur: Besides being a pretty cool character with an incredible ability to manipulate ice and time, Arthur has time again and again proven his worth as a hero. He tends to protect those around him, regardless if he knows them or not. He doesn’t care about the reward, so much as doing the right thing. He always seems willing to go the extra mile for others, and he has been consistently good at his job of saving the day, and kicking the Villain’s ass.
Best Neutral of the Year: Gen Shishioh/Eve Harper
Gen. Dammit Gen. You haven’t been especially active, but you’ve been the driving force in the best plots of the forum. Needless to say, his grand exit was also one of the greatest moments I’ve ever read.
I hate to shill myself, but Eve and Dan have been my favorites to write all year and hopefully just as fun to read. Dan’s continual downward spiral is finally culminating, and Eve has been involved in adventures showing her every faucet. Cold, goofy, violent, competitive, and more. Especially standing out in Dan’s regard were his clever tactics in Cave. For Eve, the betrayal of Ariana in Hell on the Heavenly Lake was chilling even to write. Huntsman continues to be a blast to write, especially since he’s only gotten dumber—and scarier. I have a grimly creative blast writing his increasingly insane attacks in Retrias: First Key.
The Eve-Ariana-Hunstman-Warden-Swallower ensemble takes this. They were everywhere this year and they more or less create a combined neutral after an average of their aligments. They are one of the biggest character groups, not counting factions, and their intertwined stories are a source of mystery, drama and gore in almost equal measure. Hungry Hunter deserves all the recognition he can get for this group of characters as well for Dan, who proves that you can make an interesting Martial Artist without falling in the pitfalls other have fallen.
Still as mentioned earlier the forum is filled to the brim with interesting Neutrals, as most of the population falls in that category. Sid Renen, Falken Degiraz, Halwende Chase and more all serve their parts and purposes in a spectacular way.
The best neutral is Marceline. While she is ready to kill anyone at any time, she is also very cute and surprisingly caring, at least when it comes to Cosmina.
Gen Shishioh: Technically Gen should be Hero of the Year but his alignment is still Neutral either way this has been the Year of Gen an impressive feat seeing as his was MIA for most of it. Gen was the main vital point of several big threads throughout the year in what I personally refer to as the Gen Saga. He has had some of the best fights, the best lines, and best moments this year.
Gen Shishioh: Technically Gen should be Hero of the Year but his alignment is still Neutral either way this has been the Year of Gen an impressive feat seeing as his was MIA for most of it. Gen was the main vital point of several big threads throughout the year in what I personally refer to as the Gen Saga. He has had some of the best fights, the best lines, and best moments this year.
The most memorable is probably his ultimate sacrifice at the end of The Cave. When it comes to writer it’s hard to get me emotional because of that slight disconnect I can have towards characters but his final moments of turning into a comet as he defeated Noble Battle nearly brought me to tears. Especially when you see various people reacting to seeing the comet of light across the sky and this was before I read it with the music.
This makes my Neutral of the Year Gen Shishioh hopefully he returns in some form soon.
The best neutral is difficult, as the vast majority of characters fall into this category. But thinking about what a neutral is supposed to be, I came up with a good measure of character; a person who only does things for their own self interests, be them good, evil, or neither. And with that definition, I would give the award to Eve Harper, Gen Shishioh and Arthur Cromwell. Eve runs the Wild Hunt organization, which hunts monsters for money, no matter who gives the contract. She isn't too concerned about morality, as long as she gets paid. Gen Shishioh regularly attended Spirit Boxing matches to further his own fighting skills, and even ran away from people trying to tell him to help his dying brother. He looks after his own well being first and foremost, even though he does have heroic moments, like when he punched a gainen into outer space. Arthur Cromwell also mostly does activities for either himself or his daughters, regularly being roped into situations by sheer coincidence. In all; Eve, Gen and Arthur win this for me.
The best neutral is difficult, as the vast majority of characters fall into this category. But thinking about what a neutral is supposed to be, I came up with a good measure of character; a person who only does things for their own self interests, be them good, evil, or neither. And with that definition, I would give the award to Eve Harper, Gen Shishioh and Arthur Cromwell. Eve runs the Wild Hunt organization, which hunts monsters for money, no matter who gives the contract. She isn't too concerned about morality, as long as she gets paid. Gen Shishioh regularly attended Spirit Boxing matches to further his own fighting skills, and even ran away from people trying to tell him to help his dying brother. He looks after his own well being first and foremost, even though he does have heroic moments, like when he punched a gainen into outer space. Arthur Cromwell also mostly does activities for either himself or his daughters, regularly being roped into situations by sheer coincidence. In all; Eve, Gen and Arthur win this for me.
Eve - One, you don’t want to fight her, Two, you don’t want to get in her way, and Three, you don’t want to be her prey. Still, outside of being a hunting machine, Eve has brains. She is smart and dangerously so to her enemies, and her willingness to do whatever it takes, makes her extremely deadly. Where Eve goes, expect action. When she speaks, expect laughs. How she gets the job done, expect genius.
Best Villain of the Year : Kuro-san
The greatest villain of the year can only be the great and mighty Kuro-san. Mastermind behind the best stories on the Vice and thread—puller extraordinaire, Kuro is leagues ahead of the sparse competition. I look forward to every future appearance of this magnificent bastard.
Only one villain comes even close to Kuro, and that’s one of his various henchmen. Ikari can be standard in villain dialogue, but it’s still chilling whenever he appears to make things harder for everybody. His duel with Callis doesn’t hurt his position here.
Marika Arachne has clawed her way into the halls of epic villain, becoming one of the most interconnected villains with personal grudges in a web of hatred (Yes pun totally intended) But by extension I also include all the Dolls. They are the street level villains of the forum, something really needed to engage most of the characters in a more personal level than a mastermind. That’s why I consider Marika the biggest villain, since she wasn’t a shadowy figure barely present, just gently tipping the scales… she and her group of demented Dolls are a disruptive force, like a Punk band destroying the hotel
Marika deserves this award do to her cruelty and also the fact that she created the very popular Hate Dolls. Which is a great name for an all-female heavy metal band.
Kuro-san: I don’t think I would have voted for Kuro-san as Villain of the Year if I didn’t read his character recap for the year and saw how much he was secretly behind EVERYTHING. It seems that with each new thread and detail revealed behind Kuro-san’s motives we learn how he is the ultimate puppet master pulling the strings on the show.
He has either been directly or indirectly involved with some of the big threads this year as he creates weaves his great web entangling all those who trifles with him. One of the biggest moments of the year for Kuro-san was his reveal in The Cave. When he reveals himself to Reiji in the Gainen Dimension and renders his unconscious while also revealing he was the one that set up Gen’s injury causing everything to playout as it had according to his plan.
I look forward to seeing more of Kuro-san’s plans in 2016 and how large his devious web really is this is why Kuro-san is my Villain of the Year.
For me, the best villain is tied this year between Marika Arachne and Kuro-san. While Kuro-san hangs over Kuma's storyline and even defeated a VERY powerful fighter in Cave, he is always working in the shadows, letting other people do most of the work for him. His plans are well laid out and is building up to something horrible, but I just would have liked to see more of him. Marika, on the other hand, does most of her evil deeds herself or with her dolls. From capturing people to harvesting parts to build new dolls, she is an up close and personal villain. But along with her horribleness, she has a colorful cast of dolls living with her that both do her bidding, and live their own lives in parallel to the horrible deeds. Both of these villains do score points for having colorful people under their command, however.
For me, the best villain is tied this year between Marika Arachne and Kuro-san. While Kuro-san hangs over Kuma's storyline and even defeated a VERY powerful fighter in Cave, he is always working in the shadows, letting other people do most of the work for him. His plans are well laid out and is building up to something horrible, but I just would have liked to see more of him. Marika, on the other hand, does most of her evil deeds herself or with her dolls. From capturing people to harvesting parts to build new dolls, she is an up close and personal villain. But along with her horribleness, she has a colorful cast of dolls living with her that both do her bidding, and live their own lives in parallel to the horrible deeds. Both of these villains do score points for having colorful people under their command, however.
Kuro-san - The master of manipulation, the spider that creates a web across the world, the one who changes the game with a single move, and the shadow of shadows. The mystery behind this character’ actions is compelling, what is known about him already is fascinating, and the way he plots and acts is fine entertainment. His appearances signals the turning point, while also adding more to an elaborate plot that will most likely shake the world.
Best Story Thread: The Cave
The Cave and Osaka Ablaze were a combined masterpiece, one not quite the same without the other. They finally end Gen’s tale(for now) and continue Kuro-san’s schemes. Osaka contains Gen’s glorious resurrection, one of the grandest moments this year. Cave gives us explosive moment after explosive moment, delivering the greatest final move on the Vice.
Valentines Hearts lacked the grandness of Cave and Osaka, but was a well—paced tale with plenty of pathos. Everybody had their moment to shine, but Arthur’s jokes while being a badass kid saver made him especially stand out.
I feel like Osaka and Cave kind of overstayed their welcome, they do have epic moments and tearjerkers, but they got too long for their own good. My vote goes for Hell in Heavenly Lake and The Big Hunt, as they are more self contained, more driven and organized that the two big threads of the year. They had a good rhythm, many cool moments, character interaction and drama dripping from every pore. I hope we can keep dishing out quality content like it in the future while we also keep doing big blockbuster-style threads.
The best story thread of this year in my opinion is Valentines Hearts. It was just so fun and we got to see some nice character interaction. Plus, it’s the origin of the Hate Dolls!
The Cave: By far one of the best threads this year that had so much going on and yet still wrapped up everything in a nice little bow at the end. Not to mention so many emotional dramatic moments and just great fights. The Cave wrapped up what I refer to as the Gen Saga which starts back in Oh Son Where Art Thou, then continued into Osaka Ablaze and Night at the Castle. It was the culmination of many story threads that let into it and was the beginning of many more problems that will be address in future threads.
It held so many great creative fights from the initial entrance fights against the JHWAB agents, to the ritualistic battles between the heroes and their respective Gainen opponents, the ultimate violent clash against Wild Battle, and finally the dramatic finale between Honorable Battle and Infinite Battle powered Gen.
Finally the whole thread was an emotional roller coaster for not only the writers but the characters as well with dramatic reveals of Kuro-san, final countdown like moments as the volcano erupted, and the tear jerking finale of Gen’s sacrifice and the heroes dealing with that after math. The Cave was a dramatic end to Gen’s story (for now) and was the beginning of many more great threads that are to come making it my personal Best Story Thread.
The best story thread, to me, comes down to two topics which interested me for different reasons. The two being; Valentines Hearts and The Cave. Valentines Hearts I liked because it focused on the events of many people at once, each having their own personal reason to want to invade Marika's hideout. Haruko wanted to rescue John, Arthur wanted to rescue Cosmina, Chase wanted to save Marceline, Huntsman was just happy to be there. And it was because of this topic that gave Marika enough hatred to create the Hate Dolls. The Cave is pretty self explanatory by this point; epic fights with abstract beings, more insight into Kuro-san's grand plan, and a stellar climax to the topic. All around, fantastic.
Cave: An amazing cast. Check. A great premise. Check. Interesting conflicts. Check. Fun moments. Check. I could go on this check list for a while, but the point is that Cave contains pretty much everything you want in a entertaining story. The story itself is done incredibly well, and every writer gives the story a wonderful creative drive in their own ways. Along with including some of the favorite moment this year, it deserves my vote as the best story of 2015.
Best Fight: Gen vs Honorable Battle
One mighty clash this year stood out in its brutality and vast emotional scope. First we have Gen’s clash with the fearsome Honorable Battle in The Cave. There we have the amusing banter and tension building to the massive finale, a combined attack and sacrifice the likes of which I rarely see. Nothing else came even close.
However, that doesn’t mean I can’t have an honorable mention. While not on the scale of the world—threatening warfare in The Cave, Callis and Ikari’s clash in Kyoto is just purely enjoyable. It has just the right combination of brutal attacks and well—explained attacks and defenses. The moment I mentioned before with Callis using Yami’s Gainen powers against Ikari’s own.
Crow vs Masako was my favorite fight of the year, short, violent and full of character development. I liked Gen vs Honorable Battle as well, but I think it was a bit blown out of proportion. I preferred Sid vs Callis when it came to Cave fights (This one tied with Crow Vs Masako in my mind), or Jose vs Street Poison. Haruko, Callis and Jose vs the Akunin Shinobi was also a highlight of the year with different
In my opinion, the best fight of this year is the Battle of the Battles in Cave. It is just so epic, so anime. The highlight of the battle is of course Gen’s last attack.
Masako vs Crow with Toramaru and Raisa: Osaka Ablaze had a lot of great fights from the individual fights between the Gen Rescue Squad and the Full Metal Yakuza, the fight between Crow and Sid against Ikari, and even the brief match between Sid and Andy. But the best fight in the whole thread was probably Crow vs Masako which later features Toramaru and Raisa.
While the fight had its issues in some parts man what a great bloody battle between good and evil. The deranged and insane Masako remembering Crow wanting vengeance and Crow determination to put down the wild beast. Crow would have a great comeback moment when Raisa and Toramaru who were put on the sidelines earlier returned to help him face the Alpha Predator.
The best moment from the fight though was the final blow against Masako when Crow would combine his powers with Toramaru and Raisa who had already created the Endless Dragon Waltz and by combining Rail-gun made the even more epic Late Summer Storm: Rail-gun. It was a fight with high stakes at the penultimate moment of Osaka Ablaze and would take its toll on all characters involved especially on Toramaru this is why it’s my personal Best Fight
Personally, I thought the Sid vs Callis fight in Cave was one of the best fights because it was one of the most choreographed fights we have had this year. It was simply two well-trained fighters, with no weapons, trying to incapacitate the other while fighting on a boat. Both of them used the environment to their advantage, and if it were animated, it would fit in perfectly as a shonen anime fight scene. My honorable mention goes to Yamiko vs Oreki in Kyoto Heist, since having fight between two psychos is fantastic.
Gen vs battle
This fight…is inspirational. The buildup…the exchange of both powerful words and fists….and most importantly, the sacrifice…this fight is without a doubt going down as one of the greatest fights in the vice verse. With, in my own honest opinion, having one of the greatest finishes to a fight in any fictional story I have ever read/seen.
Best Character Relationship: Warden and Ariana
In a year that saw many relationships vanish or fall apart, we still had one that began and stayed strong. Goemon and Jose’s mighty bromance and mentorship is enthralling. Goemon’s playful nature works well with Jose’s stoic nature. It’s not a standard mentor and not a standard student, and that makes it all the more interesting.
Coming up behind, Cosmina and Kate have a budding rivalry over Haruko’s affection. The house isn’t big enough for the two of them and they’re going to fight until one leaves. Or at least that’s the plan. I look forward to the continuation of their struggle in the future.
Warden and Ariana’s relation wins, kudos to Hungry Hunter as I mentioned early his cast of characters and their interactions are one of the things I enjoy the most reading in the forum. I also like Falken and Alexander strange bromance, Falken and Garo’s rivalry, Jose and Goemon student-teacher interactions and more. Some relations do seem forced, but most of the time the relations between characters are quite good.
Kate and Cosmina have a wonderful rivalry going on, fighting for Haruko’s affection. They will make wonderful sisters one day, I’m sure.
Chase and Marceline. Throughout the year, these two have had multiple mid points and...low points. They started out decently enough at the last Christmas party where they met, then he helped save her in Valentines Hearts from her evil creator, and later went on a double date with her, Huntsman and Ron. While they wouldn't work romantically, just seeing that weird relationship unfold has been interesting.
Warden and Ariana
Warden and Ariana
Its the most interesting relationship this year, due to the nature of characters and their situations. Yet, there is also a mystery behind Warden’s motives, which can sometimes be forgotten by Ariana’s overall appeal. Still, the atmosphere around these characters are typically gloomy and bleak. However, between the two is a connection so strong that it is reflects a sense of hope in their dark world.
Best Writer: Kuma
Kuma, you knocked it out of the park over and over this year. Nothing more to say, as I’ve already covered his finest moments. Fine work, sir.
Hungry Hunter takes this, he was everywhere and his concepts really work. He could improve a bit the content, but the quality is still very high. Vapovile, Time Puppy, Waybig and Last Gunslinger come in a close second and there is a lot potential with Obscuris and Iris.
Due to his incredible writing, especially in The Cave and Osaka Ablaze, I feel Kuma has earned this award.
Vapo: This was a bit harder to pick but I feel the honors go justly to Vapovile, he has made some of the most unique and creative characters, created some of the best threads, and written some of the best posts in the year. While my posts are often long and over complicated Vapo is the opposite of the spectrum as he is able to write short sweet posts that get right to the point.
Vapo: This was a bit harder to pick but I feel the honors go justly to Vapovile, he has made some of the most unique and creative characters, created some of the best threads, and written some of the best posts in the year. While my posts are often long and over complicated Vapo is the opposite of the spectrum as he is able to write short sweet posts that get right to the point.
I couldn't possibly just nominate one best writer of the year, so I'm going to name a few of the ones that stood out to me; The Last Gunslinger, for having posts that are always interesting to read and have great detail, HungryHunter for his cast of insane characters that are always a pleasure to RP with, Kuma for making amazing topics that have a great level of detail, and Waybig for creating some of the best fight scenes in Unforgiving Trees. But really, you're all fantastic writers.
Kuma
Kuma has done an excellent job as a writer. From his planning, characters, stories, and overall skill in writing, he is a model for us other writers to learn from his example, which helps us develop our own writing capabilities.
Most Helpful: Vapovile/Kuma
Again, Kuma talked to new players the most and reorganized the whole forum. However, Vapovile also helped a little in that regard and organized all the archived threads. Well done to both.
Vapovile, like his main character Haruko, kept the temperamental users (me included) from clashing against each other, helped a lot in forum organization
The award for most helpful should go to Vapovile, because he is the friendliest of us all, and almost always ready to help.
Kuma: I wanted to vote for Kuma as being the best writer (which he is) but I thought this would be a better category. Kuma has been the spear head since we moved to the new site when it comes to improving, organizing, and moderating. While he can go overboard sometimes its because he cares about this place and doesn’t want his precious hours and work to go to waste if we have idiots running around with no cannon breaking forum rules. Kuma has organized almost all our canon, character database, character recaps, creating a character guide, and many, many, more topics.
I'd have to give the award to Kuma. He organized the art contest, welcome new players when they join, organized the canon thread, made the character index, and so much more. Thanks, man! Stay awesome.
Kuma: I wanted to vote for Kuma as being the best writer (which he is) but I thought this would be a better category. Kuma has been the spear head since we moved to the new site when it comes to improving, organizing, and moderating. While he can go overboard sometimes its because he cares about this place and doesn’t want his precious hours and work to go to waste if we have idiots running around with no cannon breaking forum rules. Kuma has organized almost all our canon, character database, character recaps, creating a character guide, and many, many, more topics.
I'd have to give the award to Kuma. He organized the art contest, welcome new players when they join, organized the canon thread, made the character index, and so much more. Thanks, man! Stay awesome.
Hungryhunter is pretty much everywhere and because he dedicates himself to his and other stories so passionately, it is always nice to have him be part of any story. He gives it his all and he pushes others to do the same.
Vicer of the Year: Hungry Hunter
I have to give it to Kuma. It’s impossible not to. When you hit this many emotional and narrative chords over the year, and set up so much I want to see, there can be nobody else.
To me everybody is Vicer of the Year, as all collaborated in their unique way to make this forum as great as it is now… and I’m confident they will keep helping to make it even greater. From the oldest players to the newest all are equally awesome. But if I need to pick somebody who overall had the greatest run this year it would be Hungry Hunter
HungryHunter is the guy who was in literally everything. I can’t think of a single thread that he wasn’t in. Truly, he is the Vicer of the Year.
Vicer of the year, for me, goes to two people whom I have become decent friends with over these past years; Chronowolf/TimePuppy and HungryHunter. Both of them are active in playing in other people's topics, but they get my nomination for different reasons besides that. Hunter has been great to collaborate with in all the storylines we have done in the last year, and his characters are always an interesting addition to any topic. Cwolf is an all around great guy, and keeps up with all of the topics he is in so they don't bog down. He also decided to stay with us on ViceVerse, even after his two friends who he knew a lot longer than us left the forum at the start of the year. So in summary, I nominate both of them for Vicer of the Year. But you are all amazing in your own ways, and I look forward to continuing writing with you all!
Kuma/HungryHunter
Well this is it Folks, I hope you enjoyed this year in the forum as much as I did, I hope the next year is even better, and we bring more new talent like Iris, Obscuris and Percival. I hope we can keep making good stories, having fun and crafting interesting characters. My desire for next year is that we get better, smarter and happier in the forum and real life.
I invite you to give your closing remarks on the year below.
Happy New Year!
Well this is it Folks, I hope you enjoyed this year in the forum as much as I did, I hope the next year is even better, and we bring more new talent like Iris, Obscuris and Percival. I hope we can keep making good stories, having fun and crafting interesting characters. My desire for next year is that we get better, smarter and happier in the forum and real life.
I invite you to give your closing remarks on the year below.
Happy New Year!