Animation Source Forums

(Mods - I hope this is okay in this particular board. I couldn't think of where else to put it and, since this will lead into future fan fiction material, well...)


Well, folks, after a little more than a month's worth of some very good entries and supplemental artwork by the entrants into my "Mates for the Serum Run heroes" contest (/balto/en/contests/Mates_for_the_serum_run_heroes_WINNERS_T/165190.html), I have reached a decision in keeping with the deadline (more or less, as it is now early Sunday my time...lol), and would like to deliver as promised!

This was NOT, NOT, NOT an easy decision! There were several great entries, and some very nice fan art designed along with it (some of you were very clever with that, I must admit...lol). I had a very hard time coming to a decision, and really obsessed about the eventual disappointment those who didn't win would feel at the results. But I had to make a decision eventually, right?

I want to thank EVERY entrant for their contributions, and the work they put in! Some put in more work than others, and even some who didn't win put in a fair to large amount of work on this. But just so you understand, I based my decisions on the following (and NOT on the things one might presume, such as artistic ability, popularity of characters or their owners, etc.):

• Complexity of the character's biography and personality;
  
  
• Realism of the character's design as a Siberian Husky (of the time period - the 1920s)...anything even approximating a sparkle dog or else just being too sporadic or chaotic in design was passed by (as well as those I viewed as too "teen beat" in their personalities);
  
  
• Whether or not any information about dog sledding, the gold rush, the serum run, Alaska, Siberia, and/or human emigration to Alaska were mentioned in the bios of the characters...

No criticism is meant of any character based upon the above items. Each entry was fantastic in its own way. And the extra art some of you submitted was really wonderful, and I am grateful for it! I wish I could make clear just how tough a decision this was! You all deserve congratulations for a good effort!

But enough waffling and beating around the proverbial bush. As you saw on my contest rules, there was going to be one first-place winner for each dog (Togo and Fritz). Those would be their romantic life mates (à la Balto and Jenna, etc.). There was also going to be one second-place winner for each dog. THESE would be dogs who were mated, at some point, to them, but not life mates. In human terms (combined with the anthropomorphized world of the Balto movies), they would have been girlfriends of some term, but not lasting. In real-world terms, arranged breeding for each dog by their owners. This would allow for story possibilities and emotional attachments for a time between the characters, and lasting friendships, but no lasting romantic affiliation in the classical animated (or real-world) sense. Togo and Fritz are both older dogs (I don't envision them as senior citizens for any romance or "dating"...the existing material in my fan fiction gallery is from much later in Togo's life)...so there is a lot of room for storytelling in this vein.

And I should point out that, in terms of sorting this out, I ran into a situation where I just COULDN'T pass up a couple of entrants. In short this means that, as far as winners go, we have a tie in the second-place category for each dog (I couldn't do a tie for first-place...lol. That just wouldn't work out)!

So, the winners aaaaarrrrre:

First Place, Togo's life mate: Tanta (Eska)

First Place, Fritz's life mate: Pixie (CatWhoHas14Tails)

Second Place, Togo's mate: TIE!

- Marisol (Lone)
- Chianti (Mav)

Second Place, Fritz's mate: TIE!

- Milena (Lady_Jenna)
- Fefferi (LuckyLunny)

Congratulations to the winners! And thank you to everyone who entered and submitted characters and art! Each was wonderful in its own right! You made it tough for me! Really! And I hope I haven't disappointed anyone too badly...

Now the real work begins. The eventual development of the relationships, and the fan fiction works to follow. Oy.

Discussion is welcome.

Wow! I knew you were working hard, and it really was a hard selection! I am very honored that you chose Tanta, I got a little weak in the knees when I read that, to be honest. I am also amazed/admire that you put such an equal weight on personality and design as you did art, I know that's a very hard thing to do. There were some truly wonderful pictures up there. I think you really looked at each character as a whole, which is impressive with the number of entries!
I like the romantic and human aspect as well. I'm sort of envisioning them as breeding pairs- lots of breeders will do that when they find two dogs that really compliment each other. Now Seppala sounds like a man who will really want quality over quantity, from how I understand him.

Congrats to the winners!
You all did really well!

And a good job to the rest, who tried their best!

I am working out some options for a few others who came very close, and I won't talk of that generally, but I feel a few of the runners-up deserve something out of their effort. I will contact them privately.


He was a man of exacting standards. And, to be fair, I didn't stick as strictly to it as he probably would have, were he alive to even see this stuff (he died the year I was born...eh heh). In fact, truth be told, he probably would turn off quite a few people given their modern-day sentimentality about dogs and breeding...he could be very crotchety and persnickety. Not that he didn't care about his dogs, and dogs in general. And he treated his dogs very well, and bonded with them very strongly and closely. Of course, I am no dog breeder or shower...not by a long stretch. I just know good character design when I see it. And thanks for noticing that I wanted more than just good art to make a choice from!




I already saw the expected and invariable results of certain choices I made, in the BS shoutbox shortly after I announced the winners. It was said in one case that I chose Cat because she's popular. Hardly. Like the others, and even more so (because I had a lot of conversation with her about this throughout the process), she really put a lot of effort and interest into it, and that meant more to me than the fact that she's either popular or a good artist. I want to make it clear, once again, to everyone reading this -- I did NOT choose anyone because of:

- their relative skill as an artist or role-player, or because of any gift art they did to, as some might say, try and curry favor and earn brownie points (which I do not personally think was the intent here...and I think the gift art was wonderful...and it was and IS much appreciated!)


- their "popularity" on Animation Source or deviantArt


- whether or not they are friends here (in fact, two of the winners are people with whom I once had mutual drama...they and I going head-to-head...stupid as it was; the others are either not specifically friends, or only recently became such)

Just getting that out there now...just in case...

Wow, thank-you JC, even though Melina didn't get first place I am happy she still placed at all in second. I really didn't expect her to as I was never quite satisfied with her biography when I was creating her. I myself saw a lot of wonderful entries and would like to extend my own congratulations to everyone who entered, not to just those who placed. I too like both aspects of viewing dogs both in the cartoon sense and the human sense as far as mates/breeding pairs go.

Oops. So, is it "Milena" or "Melina"? The profile page has the former spelling.


Surprises all around then. But if you want to flesh her out some more, I would be very happy to see that. And it would benefit her anyway. And we can talk about it more as we go.


That part definitely made this tough to decide upon! Granted, not ALL the entries were well-written or organized, but most were. And some who joined never did submit entries...including a few people whom I expected some real interesting submissions from! And, sadly, at least two had decided to back out because they just couldn't come up with something they wanted to submit. A shame, that.

Congratulations to the first place winners! You guys worked very hard and did a wonderful job.
There were a lot of god entries for this contest, and I really didn't think Fef was going to place. xD The entries were just that good.

And to those who didn't end up making it, you all did a very great job! You worked your hardest, and that is what truly counts. Sadly, in things like this, not everyone will be pleased with results. But still I give you my congratulations, because you are all winners for trying so hard. c:

As for Fefferi, I'll add some information about some things in her history. It won't be a part of her real history, but it'll give some background information on some points in her history.

As for fanfiction ideas, pfft, I have little to none. lol I'm horrible with these kinds of things.

I'm not sure I follow. Fefferi is a real dog somewhere? Or you're not going to include this new material in her official bio here?


There is time enough to sort that out.

No, she's not a real dog. xD
No, I mean I'll expand a bit on information from things like the lighthouse(s) in Svalbard and Finland and stuff. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.
Ah, I'm no good at explaining these things.

That comment about her "real history" sorta threw me for a loop I guess...lol

Still not sure I'm following, but meh...

I'll probably just put the information somewhere else. It was just something extra that's not that important, really. Its purpose is only to give information.
It doesn't change anything about her.

Thanks JC! First contest I ever entered, didn't expect much for me, but I appreciate all the hard work everyone put into it. It was fun!

My only concern is that some of you are expressing that you honestly didn't expect much from your chances in this, or the characters you submitted. That's disconcerting. I labored over this decision, and obsessed over the fact that some people were not going to experience the satisfaction that their characters received a winner's slot...or even the slot they expected and maybe even hoped for if they did win. Guys - show some confidence in your characters and yourselves! If nothing else, it will put me more at ease, and will make the loss less bitter to those who did not win!

And it will help when the time comes to include these characters in fan fiction material. I don't want the motivation and the effort to start to wane because of a lack of enthusiasm on your parts!

Congrats winners :3 All the characters entered were amazing. The decision must have been really hard for you Jersey. I'm glad you took so much care into running this contest. I was also wondering what Ilakulik was lacking? If you don't mind sharing of course.

Well, I hesitate to do this openly, as I don't want the thread to turn into comparisons and criticisms (even if they are benevolently offered, as is my intent here). But if you ask, just this once, I will respond (NOTE EVERYONE: I would really prefer that this NOT become a critiquing thread!).

The character's physical design is impressive (if perhaps a bit unnecessarily complex in the facial markings). And I think the use of a Russian name is fantastic, and spot-on. Sled dogs were as likely to have Russian and Siberian names as European ones (though it was rare to find a dog with a Native Alaskan name, surprisingly).

I think what cinched it for me was that there was no mention of the serum run, even if you did mention Russia and touched briefly on dog sledding. The profile was just not detailed enough in important areas (such as the serum run), and I wasn't keen on the mentioning of dog shows. Now, with respect, I realize that most people don't know the history of dog shows and Alaska (and I can hardly hold that against you in the purest sense), but a few important facts here:

-- The first U.S. dog show was the Westminster Dog Show, held in New York in 1877.


-- The American Kennel Club, the oldest U.S. club, was formed nearly ten years later, in 1884. And the United Kennel Club, the U.S.'s second oldest, in the late 1890s. However, the Siberian Husky was not officially recognized by the American Kennel Club until 1930 (five years after the serum run). The breed was recognized by the UKC in 1938 as the "Arctic Husky" (which later changed to "Siberian Husky").


-- Alaska was not a recognized by the U.S. as a state until 1959. And while it was a military district and, later, a territory of the U.S. much earlier, there is no evidence that there were any dog shows held in the region prior to much later than the serum run.

Ilakulik is a good character. And her bio is a good framework. But against some of the other competitors, she just was not sufficiently developed for what I was looking for. But perhaps we could involve her in some aspect in a future fan fiction. Time will tell.

Thanks for asking, and I hope my explanation helped. I regret that I had to look past her. You did a good job! I hope I haven't disappointed you in all this.