• The GIFtacular Story of the Winter Ciddies '15

    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba View Post
    Wow. A Gifgasm!

    So, the Ciddies Christmas Party is over. The awards have been handed out, the laughter still clinging in the air. The Ciddies is such a fantastic event, isn't it? It's that time of the year where we all come together to hand out little golden trophies with a guy's face, for all manner of inane, silly awards.

    And the winners were even sillier! 'Award Claus & a Selection of Young, Nubile Elf Boys'!? Should I be reaching for the emergency services? Are the intelligence services tracking a Mr. Award Claus? And let's look at this one quickly: 'Loony BoB & Your Panties Which Proudly Adorn His Face As he Slithers Around Your Bedsheets Like A Snake Hopped Up On Mescaline'. Is this Bob character a panties thief? Should I warn my friends? Does it only extend to panties? Should I warn my male friends to keep careful watch of their boxer briefs?

    Such worrying thoughts aside, perhaps the most noticeable aspects of the Ciddies are the GIFs. If you took only a cursory glance at the Ciddies action, you would have seen several GIFs that our members have sourced from all across the internet. This article will take you through some of my favourites, painting you a journey through the Ciddies, GIF by GIF. The Ciddies may disappear, but the GIFs will keep looping, forever and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever... (and ever)

    The Pre-Ciddies Build-up

    You don't have to look far to see GIFs adorn the Ciddies; you don't even have to look at the revelations thread! The Nominations thread got heated quickly with claims from some members of bullying and harassment regarding nominations.

    Award Claus was quick to diffuse the situation:


    Bows- I mean Fynn, who was in charge of harassing reminding people, also sent this friendly message to reassure members:



    Otherwise, nominations went without a hitch and plenty of members did their bit and nominated. Award Claus announced the finalists for all the categories shortly thereafter and immediately some members were overjoyed that they were included!



    As voting continued, Award Claus's behaviour became more and more erratic:



    The voting thread otherwise centred around debates revolving the sincerity of the Most Intimidating Ciddie, Fynn's confusion over his MLT Obsess Over Eggnog votes and disappointment over the lack of female finalists for the Funniest Member Ciddie.

    Just like any other Ciddies, really. Happiness, confusion and disappointment. Just like a proper Christmas!


    Speech Writing

    Throughout much of the build-up, several members of EoFF took it upon themselves to write fifty unique speeches in the space of a week. Brave speech writers, like Bubba, Colonel Angus, Fynn, Freya, Pumpkin and Wolf Kanno contributed to the efforts.

    At times, the process was stressful, and tensions raised:


    Such reactions from Shai deeply shocked me, given how chill she usually appears:



    It just showed the stress writing can take on a person! By the end of the process however, all of our members buckled down and managed to complete (most of) the speeches in time for the Revelations!

    First Day of Cidsmas

    As the Ciddies started, it was clear from the beginning that things would be exciting for all involved:

    Quote Originally Posted by Shauna View Post
    what a disappointing opener
    Quote Originally Posted by Dat Matt View Post
    I want a refund.
    Things quickly hotted up however as the first MLT awards got under way:


    As the first results came in, members of EoFF congratulated others for their victories!


    Yes, it was so lovely to see young love be recognised.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jar Jar Jinks View Post
    OMG SHAUNA AND I WON THE MLT GET TOGETHER AWARD

    I AM ACTUALLY SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT

    DO YOU GUYS REALIZE WE BECAME FRIENDS LAST YEAR DURING WINTER CIDDIES

    WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO CELEBRATE OUR FRIENDIVERSARY


    love you, shauna
    Some victories were by a really large margin!


    Some awards unfortunately didn't have speeches, which in some cases actually worked:

    Quote Originally Posted by Award Claus View Post
    Oh um, I guess we don't have a speech for this.
    Quote Originally Posted by Shauna View Post
    The person who would have written this speech is also too busy playing FFXIV to write the speech
    Quote Originally Posted by Fynn View Post
    That is so meta
    On occasion, it was pretty obvious who would win certain awards. Take MLT Look The Sexiest While Wearing A Santa Costume, for example:

    NSFW & Not Safe For Soul

    As the night wore on, the arrival of MLT Be The Elf On The Shelf made the Ciddies take a creepier turn:



    The night ended in dramatic fashion, but with the fervour and excitement for more Ciddies the following day!


    Second Day of Cidsmas

    The second day of Ciddies began with the Most Dramatic Member award, a Ciddie ripe for amusing GIF jokes:



    The second day continued to prove that the Ciddies is an excellent venue for GIFs. The day also proved to be the raunchiest yet, with several speeches using sexy pictures for illustrations:

    Quote Originally Posted by Freya View Post
    Sexy workers, I liiikeee
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Carnelian View Post
    Saucy speech! I like it.
    Quote Originally Posted by Loony BoB View Post
    where did you get that photo of me
    For some, the Ciddies began a tad early for a Sunday:



    A trend set by Ayen formed early into the second day:


    For members such as Aerith's Knight, the realisation that they were spending their Sunday on a Final Fantasy forum's community contest struck deep:




    Others however were swept up in the excitement; some results were real surprises!


    A few members incorporated GIFs into their speech: this was my favourite GIF from one of Night Fury's speeches:



    As the Ciddies reached the final ten awards, the crowd went wild with excitement!


    The latter stages saw the conversation turn frankly bizzare at times:

    Quote Originally Posted by Shauna View Post
    Posts are swell.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ayen View Post
    Is it true that posters posts posts?
    Quote Originally Posted by Freya View Post
    It's true. They post.
    Some latecomers did manage to contribute some GIFs before the close. Sephex in particular knew exactly what he had to do:


    Quote Originally Posted by Sephex View Post
    Bah, a little late again, but I caught up now! I'm supposed to post a silly pic or something so


    It was like the GIFt that kept on giving!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sephex View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Shauna View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Fynn View Post
    Who's RSL?
    I knew this day would come.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sephex View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Karifean View Post
    Go RSL! Go sharky! Go Pike!

    ...wait who's RSL?

    In the end, it was Bubba who was crowned as the Winter Ciddies '15 Best Member! As the Ciddies ended, Bubba was over the moon with his victory!


    Concluding Thoughts

    What a Ciddies. We had drama, excitement, controversy! But most importantly, we came together as a community; don't puke just yet.

    Every Ciddies is built up by the community: without EoFFers, could we really put on a Ciddies? Could we commemorate achievements, honour our members where they've been kind, generous, hard-working? Could we do all that without the support of our members, who work hard twice every year to put on the best Ciddies they can?

    Members such as Pumpkin, Fynn, Colonel Angus, Shaibana, Bubba, Night Fury, Wolf Kanno, Freya and others should be congratulated for their hard work and efforts. Be it hosting, badgering or speech writing, all of them played their parts in making the Ciddies special.

    But the Ciddies isn't some formal awards ceremony. The Ciddies should be a time of enjoyment! The heart of every Ciddies is the members who contribute and take part in the events. GIFs such as these may be fun, frivolous images, but they are tantamount to the appreciation our members show every Ciddies.

    In writing this feature article, I thought to myself: "what do I remember most about the Ciddies?" And the answer to that was 'fun'. And every year, without fail, you members find GIFs from who-knows-where and make me smile.

    Have a merry Christmas from me, and all of us at EoFF!
    This article was originally published in forum thread: The GIFtacular Story of the Winter Ciddies '15 started by Formalhaut View original post
    Comments 10 Comments
    1. Freya's Avatar
      Freya -
      I may super enjoy disney gifs.

      Maybe...

      YAY FUNN! HAPPY MERRY CHRISTMAS
    1. Formalhaut's Avatar
      Formalhaut -
      Quote Originally Posted by Freya View Post
      I may super enjoy disney gifs.

      Maybe...

      YAY FUNN! HAPPY MERRY CHRISTMAS

      You know, there are bonus points to be had for responding to this via GIF, right?

    1. Colonel Angus's Avatar
      Colonel Angus -
    1. Ayen's Avatar
      Ayen -
    1. Mr. Carnelian's Avatar
      Mr. Carnelian -
    1. Midgar Mist's Avatar
      Midgar Mist -
      Quote Originally Posted by Ayen View Post
      I see you were in a Home Alone phase during the ciddies
    1. Ayen's Avatar
      Ayen -
      I'm not sure how you came up with that conclusion. Those gifs were from a fun independent film called Sunshine Daisy.
    1. Bubba's Avatar
      Bubba -
      Just spotted this, Formy. Excellent job!
    1. Formalhaut's Avatar
      Formalhaut -
      Glad to see this got a late surge of interest a full month later.
    1. Mr. Carnelian's Avatar
      Mr. Carnelian -
      Quote Originally Posted by Formalhaut View Post
      Glad to see this got a late surge of interest a full month later.
      Attachment 66355
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