# Non-judging Staff

Members of ThraelosVerse Staff that are involved in BTOCT, but NOT judging in it.

# Agent Cheshire

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-%5Bquote-content%5D----%5B" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 0px; width: 110.357%; height: 1140.73px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 64.1667%;"></col><col style="width: 35.8333%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 1130.73px;"><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 1130.73px;">> Don't get me started we'll be here for hours.

*-- Chesh*

Rambling incoherently about comics and storytelling since \[checks watch\] 2006. I love comics and storytelling and love discussing them

<details><summary>Table of Contents</summary>

1. [OCT Experience](#bkmrk-backstory)
2. [Judging Expectations](#bkmrk-reference-sheet)
3. [NPCs](#bkmrk-npcs-belonging-to-%5Bi-1)
4. [Judge's Notes](#bkmrk-judge%27s-notes)

</details>### OCT Experience

---

Way back in the DeviantArt days I judged <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Throne of Meriel</span> (I'll be impressed if you recognize it, it was fairly small and it's been *years*) and most recently I helped with <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Television Space</span> though unfortunately I only really had the time to judge auditions and round 1 before I had to step down due to being too busy to judge thoroughly.

I've competed in <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Divine Inferno</span>, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Adrift</span>, and most recently <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Summer Leagues</span>.

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 1130.73px;">  
<table border="1" class="align-left" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 93.7008%; height: 1078.94px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 99.5798%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 81.625px;"><td style="background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 81.625px;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">**Agent Cheshire**</span>

<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">\[Tagline descriptor\]</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 287.938px;"><td style="height: 287.938px; border-style: solid;">![AC Logo Update bg.png](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/ac-logo-update-bg.png)</td></tr><tr style="height: 61.5938px;"><td style="height: 61.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Aliases/Nickname(s)**

Cheshire/Chesh

</td></tr><tr style="height: 55.5938px;"><td style="height: 55.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Pronouns**

He/They

</td></tr><tr style="height: 76.375px;"><td style="height: 76.375px; border-style: solid;">**Vocation**

Comic Creator

</td></tr><tr style="height: 64.8281px;"><td style="background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 64.8281px; border-style: solid;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Social Media</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 51.5938px;"><td style="height: 51.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Discord:**

@agentcheshire

</td></tr><tr style="height: 55.5938px;"><td style="height: 55.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Website:**

[www.agentcheshire.com](https://www.agentcheshire.com)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 64.8281px;"><td style="border-style: solid; background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 64.8281px;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Judging Info</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 57.5938px;"><td style="border-style: solid; height: 57.5938px;">**Judge in:**

CoEOCT, and DEMOCT (when they open)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 56.5938px;"><td style="border-style: solid; height: 56.5938px;">**Medium Focus**

Comics, Animation

</td></tr><tr style="height: 58.5938px;"><td style="border-style: solid; height: 58.5938px;">**Brackets Judged:**

N/A

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 10px;"><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 10px;"> </td><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 10px;">  
</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Judging Expectations

---

Buckle up we're gonna be here a while.

While core aspects of storytelling are universal across mediums I'm much more versed in visual mediums than prose and will be sticking to comics and animation for judging. With that in mind, here's a not so brief overview of what I'm looking for in entries.

#### General Expectations

Pacing, composition/visual interest, characterization

#### Comic Specific

Paneling, speech bubbles, flow

- **Paneling/Flow:** I need to be able to follow panels across the page easily, doesn't have to be super fancy but a significant lack in variation in panels will likely lose you points from me (don't make each page layout look the same essentially). If you want to go above and beyond though I personally really love when the paneling is also used to help convey what is happening in the scene. Not every page needs to be like that and sometimes doing this can risk making a page's flow confusing but if pulled off well then it can really elevate a scene for me.
- **Speech bubbles/text:** I need to be able to read the text, especially dialog. I would strongly recommend typing all your dialog as hand writing can often be hard to decipher. Keep it clear, keep it simple. If color coding speech bubbles you need to make sure there is enough contrast between the text color and the bubble color, check your values (how light/dark a color is when saturation is turned all the way down). And PLEASE don't give each character's dialog a different font, it doesn't give them a distinct "voice" it just makes it a mess to read and will, frankly, just annoy me. Only use a change in font if a character is supposed to sound drastically different from the average character. For example if the dialog is coming from a horrible monster then the font being different from the typical dialog font would make sense, just be sure the font is still readable.
- **Sound Effects:** A big pet peeve of mine is when a written sfx is just describing the action being shown. Things like "reach" and "step" are not sounds and come of to me as a lack of confidence in your art to depict the action. Your sfx need to be actual sounds and you *will* actually lose points from me if there are too many describing actions. If you want to go above and beyond though I really like when sfx are stylized to look like what is making the sound and incorporated into the image rather than just thrown on top. For example the text "splash" being made to look like water or an actual splash.

#### Animation Specific

Potentially controversial but I'm sticking to my guns on this one. I am generally not impressed *just* by the fact an entry is in video format. And I say "in video format" rather than "animated" for a reason. Animation is hard, and putting together a fully finished animation complete with voice acting, music, and sfx is even harder. So I'm not faulting anyone who may submit an animatic or a silent animation with subtitles or anything similar. My expectations aren't so high as needing an animated entry to look and sound studio level professional.

However, the reason I say "in video format" is because there's been a significant enough amount of entries I've seen in various OCTs these last few years that are just that and I wouldn't necessarily count them as "animations". Basically these are video entries that I would have much rather just read as a comic and are tedious as a video.

These types include:

- **Talk sprites/visual novel:**  
    I'm sorry but it's just not that visually interesting to watch characters stand there while text appears in a box one letter at a time. Backgrounds and character expressions/poses may change to varying degrees but overall I feel the time and effort put into compositing the video would have been better served being put towards just making an interesting comic.
- **Fake video game:**  
    This has some overlap with the visual novel style videos but while fun in concept again most of these just come down to misplaced effort to me. It's not as engaging to watch someone play through a game (or emulate playing a game) than it is to actually play a game. Especially when the fake gameplay is also a whole lot of characters just talking.
- **Animatics with very few actual frames:**  
    I know I said I won't fault anyone for an animatic rather than something fully animated, but there is still a certain threshold it needs to meet for me. This one is kind of the most "this should have been a comic" when it happens because many of these frames could be easily converted into comic panels. What makes animatics still work as animations is the changes between frames that would be tedious in a comic. So when animatics hold on single frames for extended periods or have very minor movements repeated for extended periods (such as a still image of a character bobbing up and down to simulate walking) I would much rather have read a comic with a couple panels of a character walking down a hall than watching a character bob up and down for 2 full minutes.

To actually get to specifics of what I *do* want from animations (in addition to the general expectations) instead of what I *don't* want though.

- **Timing/pacing:** Keeping scenes an appropriate length can be tricky, you want to get your story beats across without rushing or dragging. Just knowing when a scene should linger a bit or be short and sweet to give the desired effect is a skill in itself. If you can get something across in 2 minutes without sacrificing the tone of the scene then it doesn't need to be 6 minutes. Sometimes slowing down for a scene is warranted, but also sometimes it just makes scenes unnecessarily long. Really take the time to think about how your timing/pacing can affect the tone and mood of a scene and if that aligns with the information you're trying to convey in that scene. Also establishing shots don't need to be that long at all, just period.
- **Subtitles:** Yes even if you have voice actors, it's just good practice to have that option. In the event that you don't have voice actors and the subtitles are the only form of understanding the dialog then please make sure you keep the text on screen for a reasonable amount of time. When in doubt read the text out loud and see how long that takes and/or have a friend watch and get their opinion on if they felt rushed reading the text. If people have to pause just to read that's a bad sign.
- **Audio balancing:** If you don't have any audio then don't worry about this, you're not going to be judged more harshly for not having audio, but if you do have things like voice acting, music, and/or sound effects then you need to take the time to balance the audio. It doesn't have to be perfect but I should be able to still hear the voice actors over any music and the different audio sources shouldn't have wildly different volumes. Sounds that are meant to be louder than others are fine (for example a door slamming would be louder than footsteps) just keep audio levels in mind so you're not inadvertently blasting people's eardrums.

All that said it probably sounds like I'm very hard to please but I promise I'm really not. Most of all I want to see entries that their creator cared about and put effort into. This doesn't mean something fully polished, but more means something had clear thought put into it.

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-npcs-belonging-to-%5Bi" style="color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: var(--font-body); font-size: 14px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 99.7863%; height: 1107.56px;"><tbody><tr style="height: 58.4375px;"><td colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 58.4375px; vertical-align: middle; width: 100.095%;">#### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">NPCs Belonging to Agent Cheshire</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 462.766px;"><td style="height: 462.766px; width: 50.0476%;">[![democt_symbol_VECTOR VARIATION 1 smaller.png](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2024-12/scaled-1680-/democt-symbol-vector-variation-1-smaller.png)](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2024-12/democt-symbol-vector-variation-1-smaller.png)</td><td style="height: 462.766px; width: 50.0476%;">[![democt_symbol_VECTOR VARIATION 1 smaller.png](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2024-12/scaled-1680-/democt-symbol-vector-variation-1-smaller.png)](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2024-12/democt-symbol-vector-variation-1-smaller.png)</td></tr><tr style="height: 62.7969px;"><td style="height: 62.7969px; vertical-align: middle; width: 50.0476%;">Kazuya

</td><td style="height: 62.7969px; vertical-align: middle; width: 50.0476%;">Coming Soon

</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Judge's Notes

---

✦ It's easiest to get a hold of me on Discord but please only DM me if you *really* need to, otherwise messaging me in the OCT servers or submitting a ticket is preferred.  
✦ All my social media links are on my website  
✦ Ultimately I want to encourage people's creativity and for them to improve their skills, but OCTs are still competitions and it can sting to lose and/or receive criticism. If there's anything on my feedback you feel I was too harsh or unfair on I'd be happy to discuss it to explain my reasoning and to understand yours.

# ElectricEidolon

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-%5Bquote-content%5D----%5B" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 0px; width: 110.357%; height: 1140.73px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 64.1667%;"></col><col style="width: 35.8333%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 1130.73px;"><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 1130.73px;">> I don't halfass anything. I am either no cheeks or all 3 cheeks deep in.

*-- EE*

Hey yall. I'm the one you can blame for ThraelosVerse, and all of the OCTs therein, existing. This has been my brainchild project, with pre-production on and off, for about half a decade now. I'm BEYOND thrilled to finally kickstart it and bring it to fruition. I hope somehow someway ThraelosVerse will inspire, encourage, and spark the joy of creation, storytelling, and collaboration in all of you!

<details><summary>Table of Contents</summary>

1. [OCT Experience](#bkmrk-backstory)
2. [Judging Expectations](#bkmrk-reference-sheet)
3. [NPCs](#bkmrk-npcs-belonging-to-%5Bi-1)
4. [Judge's Notes](#bkmrk-judge%27s-notes)

</details>### OCT Experience

---

#### <span style="text-decoration: underline;">As a Player</span>

At the risk of aging myself, I am a certified OCT veteran; I joined my first OCT as a player way back when EndZone (the "first OCT" as we know "OCTs" to be defined as) was still *running*. I started around 2007/2008 in *Infractus Fatality*. Since then I've entered more than I can honestly recall these days, but sadly most of the time the OCTs I entered ended up fizzling out (sometimes before R1 could end), or I ended up having to back out around R2/R3 due to being busy in my offline life. If I were to guess, I'd say I've participated in about 10-12 or so OCTs (that actually got started and didn't simply close shop before auditions ended-- I wouldn't dare to try recalling all of those).

As of right now, my favorite OCT that I've ever participated in as a player was *AdriftOCT*. It was there that I met most of my OCT pals that I still am good friends with today, and where my teammate, AnimationMutation, and I really started to learn and hit our stride in comic-making progress. Much love to *AdriftOCT*, always.

Speaking of teaming up with AnimationMutation: we long since started a silly gimmick of having our OCs be the same ones we entered in each OCT together every time, with a continuous plotline (as if their OCT journey was one big unbroken story journey). It was a huge challenge to make the leaps between different OCT premises make sense, but we loved it. We hope to bring those two OCs, Talib and Zeke, out of OCT hibernation one day and continue that challenge in new OCTs as players again.

The most recent OCT I participated in as a player was *ParasomniaOCT*, teamed up with my pal LinksTheShifter. Unfortunately, we had to bow out in R1, submitting a hastily made comic, due to crazy work life pressures offline.

#### <span style="text-decoration: underline;">As a Judge</span>

My OCT judging career has comparatively been far more recent and less filled out. I have judged for *TelevisionSpaceOCT (TVSOCT)* and *Summer Leagues OCT* (season 2); both OCTs were in recent years.

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 1130.73px;">  
<table border="1" class="align-left" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 93.7008%; height: 1078.94px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 99.5798%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 81.625px;"><td style="background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 81.625px;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">**ElectricEidolon**</span>

<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trombone honk made sentient</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 287.938px;"><td style="height: 287.938px; border-style: solid;">![eep5icon1.png](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/eep5icon1.png)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 61.5938px;"><td style="height: 61.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Aliases/Nickname(s)**

EE, Eido, Electric, Elec, Eedon, etc

</td></tr><tr style="height: 55.5938px;"><td style="height: 55.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Pronouns**

Any; he/she/they

</td></tr><tr style="height: 76.375px;"><td style="height: 76.375px; border-style: solid;">**Vocation**

artist | animator | musician | stagehand | programmer

</td></tr><tr style="height: 64.8281px;"><td style="background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 64.8281px; border-style: solid;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Social Media</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 51.5938px;"><td style="height: 51.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Discord:**

electriceidolon

</td></tr><tr style="height: 53.5938px;"><td style="height: 53.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Twitter | Bluesky:**

[https://twitter.com/ElectricEidolon/](https://twitter.com/ElectricEidolon/) | [https://bsky.app/profile/electriceidolon.com](https://bsky.app/profile/electriceidolon.com)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 52.5938px;"><td style="height: 52.5938px; border-style: solid;">**DeviantART:**

[https://www.deviantart.com/electriceidolon/](https://www.deviantart.com/electriceidolon/)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 55.5938px;"><td style="height: 55.5938px; border-style: solid;">**Website:**

[https://electriceidolon.com/](https://electriceidolon.com/)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 64.8281px;"><td style="border-style: solid; background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 64.8281px;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Judging Info</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 57.5938px;"><td style="border-style: solid; height: 57.5938px;">**Judge in:**

BTOCT (if needed as a substitute \[eventually CoEOCT, DEMOCT\]

</td></tr><tr style="height: 56.5938px;"><td style="border-style: solid; height: 56.5938px;">**Medium Focus**

Comic, writing

</td></tr><tr style="height: 58.5938px;"><td style="border-style: solid; height: 58.5938px;">**Brackets Judged:**

\[TBA\]

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 10px;"><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 10px;"> </td><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 10px;">  
</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Judging Expectations

---

Above all else, my focus is on **overall storytelling**. Every story is unique; not every piece of advice will fit every story trying to be told. I want to know *your* story and how you can convey that specific story to me. OCTs are a storytelling competition that utilizes both short-form (round, like chapters in a comic series or novel) and long-form (the overall plot of the story you are telling across the OCT as a whole) storytelling techniques-- striking that balance is much harder than most realize. That's the fun challenge, in my opinion. Additionally, I love to see out of the box and creative thinking in plots. Sure, tropes are staples for a reason, but even how you *use old tropes* can be creative. In the end, I want you to tell me your story to the best of your ability-- and have fun with it.

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-npcs-belonging-to-%5Bi" style="color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: var(--font-body); font-size: 14px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 99.7863%; height: 1107.56px;"><tbody><tr style="height: 58.4375px;"><td colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 58.4375px; vertical-align: middle;">#### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">NPCs Belonging to ElectricEidolon</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 462.766px;"><td style="height: 462.766px;">[![judgecain_chibi.png](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/judgecain-chibi.png)](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/judgecain-chibi.png)</td><td style="height: 462.766px;">[![democt_symbol_VECTOR VARIATION 1 smaller.png](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2024-12/scaled-1680-/democt-symbol-vector-variation-1-smaller.png)](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2024-12/democt-symbol-vector-variation-1-smaller.png)</td></tr><tr style="height: 62.7969px;"><td style="height: 62.7969px; vertical-align: middle;">[Cain Salvatori](https://archive.thraelosverse.com/books/npcs/page/cain-salvatori "Cain Salvatori")

</td><td style="height: 62.7969px; vertical-align: middle;">\[Coming Soon\]

</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Judge's Notes

---

✦ I prefer contact over email (<ElectricEidolon@gmail.com>) or Discord DMs (electriceidolon). While I may not answer messages instantly due to being very busy, I will always try to read and respond as soon as I am able to.

# Sent

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-%5Bquote-content%5D----%5B" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 0px; width: 110.357%; height: 1140.73px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 64.1667%;"></col><col style="width: 35.8333%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 1130.73px;"><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 1130.73px;">> im a rocker goddammit, its in my genes/jeans

*-- Sent*

I'm here mostly to observe how OCTs work, and to score anything that needs music and/or audio. With the occasional helping hand with editing, text formatting, and whatever work that needs to be done on the staff side of things.

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 1130.73px;">  
<table border="1" class="align-left" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 95.4386%; height: 880.388px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 100%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 300.8px;"><td style="height: 300.8px; border-style: solid;">![New_MAL1.jpg](https://thraelosverse-octs.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/new-mal1.jpg)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 61.5875px;"><td style="height: 61.5875px; border-style: solid;">**Aliases/Nickname(s)**

Sent, Senti, Tempt

</td></tr><tr style="height: 55.5875px;"><td style="height: 55.5875px; border-style: solid;">**Pronouns**

He/Him

</td></tr><tr style="height: 76.375px;"><td style="height: 76.375px; border-style: solid;">**Vocation**

musician | audio technician | helper | assistant editor

</td></tr><tr style="height: 64.825px;"><td style="background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 64.825px; border-style: solid;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Social Media</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 51.5875px;"><td style="height: 51.5875px; border-style: solid;">**Discord:**

sent\_tempt

</td></tr><tr style="height: 141.6px;"><td style="height: 141.6px; border-style: solid;">**Bluesky | Youtube | Bandcamp:**

[https://bsky.app/profile/malleyricon.bsky.social](https://bsky.app/profile/malleyricon.bsky.social) | [https://www.youtube.com/@malleyriconatmospheressoun8917](https://www.youtube.com/@malleyriconatmospheressoun8917) | [https://malleyricon.bandcamp.com/](https://malleyricon.bandcamp.com/)

</td></tr><tr style="height: 64.825px;"><td style="border-style: solid; background-color: rgb(185, 106, 217); height: 64.825px;">##### <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">OCT Info</span>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 63.2px;"><td style="border-style: solid; height: 63.2px;">**Medium Focus**

Musical scoring and audio

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</td></tr><tr style="height: 10px;"><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 10px;"> </td><td style="border-width: 0px; height: 10px;">  
</td></tr></tbody></table>