Subject: Is everyone cool with June?
Author:
Posted on: 2015-02-08 02:41:00 UTC
I was thinking January for simplicity, but whatevs. People might need time to read the stories up for vote, so more free time for students is a good idea.
~Neshomeh
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
I think it's an excellent idea.
Judging from the fact that it seems to be about PPC fiction, perhaps a better name would be PPC Story Awards. I was momentarily confused when I first read your post, and thought it was about our favorite fanfiction in general.
Regardless, I like this idea!
I think we should have it in June, when most people's school years/semesters are winding down
As someone in college, June or July seems like it would be the most convenient time so people can finish missions if they couldn't during the school year.
I was thinking January for simplicity, but whatevs. People might need time to read the stories up for vote, so more free time for students is a good idea.
~Neshomeh
Summer holidays and all that.
.../eyeballs previous sentence/ Wait, holidays? Since when am I British? I thought we said 'vacation' around here.
But yes. As a student myself, I fully support the timing.
~DF
Hi, by the way! Haven't seen you in ages. How're things?
(I will make a returnbie post, I will make a returnbie post...just as soon as I decide on a clever way to do it, anyway.../sigh/)
~DF
In college now. It's fun so far, though 17 credits make things busy. I have released a total of 0 missions since I saw you last, though the crossover with Iximaz is going wonderfully. On the whole, things have been a lot worse.
How about yourself? How are things in your neck of the woods?
I'm glad you're enjoying college! That's always a good thing. I can definitely sympathize with the many credits, though, as I'm doing that too this year (I'd tell you how many credits, but I expect we count credits a little differently at my school, so the number would probably horrify you). Crossovers going well also=a good thing.
Me, I've been busy. So much so that I've been away long enough to actually feel qualified to make a returnbie post /headdesk/. Don't think I've done that before. I've also been a Boarder for two years now! That's exciting! And there are a whole bunch of other things that I meant to post about months ago and...didn't. In my defense, I did take an exhausting but fascinating course abroad over the winter break.
And, in my last bit of news, I'm still writing (both for the PPC and not), and I am very ready for it to be reading week (unfortunately, there's still a week to go). Up Canada!
/jumps out the window and onto a snowy moose/
/jumps off the moose and runs back inside for warm things/
Silly idea, that, really...
~DF
(Also, take this plate of Returnbie SPaGhetti!)
I could have sworn you've been around longer, though that could be my technically-newbie-ness kicking in...
Also, finish any mission by June.
Also, pick up some eggs at the store.
Sounds like a good idea, you certainly thought it out.
As for 'Who's going to run it/ What if the same people get nominated' thing, maybe if at least one of your stories won last year, they can't be nominated this year? But then that would potentially cut out some great missions for nomination... I'd need to think about that.
As for 'what if people try to shoehorn in X things', I think the best we could do would be to rely on the honor system. Still, I think attempted shoehorning would be obvious enough.
Other than those potential problems you mentioned, it sounds like a lot of fun!
(Also, I just had the weirdest thought that I would qualify as a newcomer. :P )
This sounds like a fun idea!