Hi, guys! I've mentioned here and there that I've been working on an idea, and I think I've gotten about as far as I can with it on my own, so it's time to share. Basically, it's what it says in the subject: some sort of annual PPC Fic Awards ceremony.

Why?

Basically, two main reasons:

1. It could be fun! It's always nice to get recognition, and I'd personally love to see stories get remembered and discussed beyond their publication announcement threads.

2. It could be a way to solve a problem that's gone unresolved for too long: How do we nominate new pages for a place in the Slain Mary Sues category on the wiki?

Why Not?

I foresee a few potential problems we'll need to sort out if/when we decide to do this:

1. Who's going to run it? I don't want to do it every year, so we'll have to figure out how to appoint a Master of Ceremonies or some such.

2. What if people try to shoehorn X thing(s) into their stories just to get nominated for X category/ies, or treat it as some sort of checklist? That would suck.

3. What if the same people get nominated all the time and the same people don't? That would also suck.

How?

Something like this would need a system of categories and rules for nomination. I have a few ideas:

Rules

1. It's an annual thing, so only fics posted in the last year can be nominated.

2. No one may nominate their own work.

3. A story may be nominated in more than one category.

4. Only one winner in each category. Second and third place in a category may be granted if there are enough nominees.

5. A story needs at least X nominations/seconds to qualify. (Three, maybe?) The first nominator must supply a link to the story and tell us why they nominated it. (We're looking for more than "I just really like it," ideally.)

6. Once all qualifying nominations are in, a vote will be held to determine first, second, and third place. Probably on something like Google Surveys to keep it neat. (I'm thinking the whole process should take maybe a week.)

7. Anything else?

Categories

* Best Newcomer - Best story by a PPCer who just got Permission in the last year.

* Best New Spin-off - Best first chapter in a spin-off established this year by someone who got Permission more than a year ago.

* Best New Episode - Best new chapter in a spin-off established more than a year ago.

* Best Mission (Action) - Best story concerning the adventures of action agents in the field.

* Best Mission (Infrastructure) - Best story concerning the adventures of infrastructure agents in their job.

* Best Interlude - Best story concerning any PPC agents/characters outside of work.

* Best AU - Best story set outside the main continuity, such as Ten Years Hence stories and Trans-Canonical Fictional Defence Agency stories. (All others are assumed to take place in the main timeline, past or present.)

* Best Assassination - The story with the most creative/funny/original/satisfying Mary Sue death.

* Best Exorcism - As above, for exorcisms.

* Best Takedown - As above, for missions not involving assassinations or exorcisms. (It happens, theoretically!)

* Most Memorable Suvian - For the story containing the Sue/Stu that still makes us laugh/cry/vomit the most. The winner or possibly the top three would get a page in the Slain Mary Sues category.

* Any others? Or are these too many or too redundant?


So... that's what I've got. What do you all think? I've pretty much already said my piece here, so I may not talk a whole lot more, especially since I don't want this to be My Thing. I have enough Things. I'll jump in if I have anything else worth saying, though.

~Neshomeh