The GIFtacular Story of the Winter Ciddies '15
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bubba
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
what a disappointing opener
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dat Matt
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
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 :heart:
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
Oh um, I guess we don't have a speech for this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shauna
The person who would have written this speech is also too busy playing FFXIV to write the speech
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fynn
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
Sexy workers, I liiikeee
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mr. Carnelian
Saucy speech! I like it. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Loony BoB
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
Posts are swell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ayen
Is it true that posters posts posts?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Freya
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
It was like the GIFt that kept on giving!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sephex
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sephex
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!
