The Carthage Awards

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Okay, now if you’re reading this, you’ve obviously seen the forum “The Carthage Awards” and you may be wondering what that is. Well that's too bad because I'm not going to tell you!

Okay, I will. But it will be long and ramblyish!

At one point in time, back on the original XL, there was going to be fanfiction awards. Those fell through. Now, we’re going to try it again, a little different than the original ones, to be sure, but still fanfiction awards. This year is mostly a test run. If it works: FANTASTIC! If it doesn’t, we’ll know better next time. Which is why it’s up to you guys to make it work if that’s what you want.

Let’s face the facts: there’s a lot of crappy fanfics in the CL fandom. But there is also a lot of treasures that need to be shared and enjoyed. And awarded, and we’re taking that upon ourselves to do so.

The point is to recommend the good fics, The fics you could read (and in some cases have read) over and over again. Now for some personal notes, I don’t want this turning into a XL-Fest, where we vote for only the stories of current members (you certainly can, of course). I also don’t want this turning into an oldfanficfest. There were definitely some goodies in the old fanfiction, but there are definitely some goodies recently as well. Finally, can you vote for yourself? You can, but I don’t want this to be some sort of challenge to try to win. Even if a fic of yours is recommended in a category you want to judge, you can still do so.

One more thing, if the work you would like to recommend is in a compilation, feel free to only use the chapter in question.

This is not fanfiction.net exclusive. Anything, whether it be on livejournal, deviantart, some random person’s blog, is allowed.

Speaking of which, we will need judges. If you like to read good fics, have a keen eye, and want to be a part of this exciting event, go right ahead.

Do not recommend fics yet. As for right now, we’re going to get the categories, judges, and prizes in order.

The categories I am considering are:

Adventure/Action
Angst/Tragedy/Hurt/Comfort/Horror
Family/Friendship
Drama
Suspense
Romance
General
Humor
Drabble
Crossover
Other: Crime/Supernatural/Spiritual/Sci-Fi/Western/Fantasy/Mystery/Parody/Poetry

Also, I’m going to let the people suggest more categories/changes. So please do that below. I’m willing to set up a poll for a few more, less basic categories, but for now this is what we have.

And honestly, please sign up to judge. It’ll be fun. We will be adding more and more to this as the month goes on.

If you have any questions, please contact me. Remember, nothing above is set in stone...yet (I have my ingraving kit with me).

[Soul Jelly]

Sounds awesomeee. I'd like to have a go at judging, do I sign up here?

Personalised banners/sigs as prizes might be an idea; that's what I've seen done in other fandoms for fanfic awards anyway.

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Yesh, this would be the place to sign up. Glad we have two on board now! Banners/sigs sounds good...as long as the person is on a forum. But I definitely like the idea.

[aelitaxwilliam]

Ooh, I'd like to judge. I can't do anything in the form of banners or graphics, so no help there though. Besides, it'd be great to get some nice CL reading material!

[chiwill]

Am I be a judge?

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

If you want, then sure. So, assuming you do want, we have four judges: Shadows, Soul, Chiwill, and Kelly. I'd like a few more, of course, so spread the word.

[Lyokofelinae]

I will give it a shot for being a judge

[Guest]

Oh, that idea from the old forum. I remember suggesting the categories and for some reason it never happened. Well, it actually kinda happened because I remember pming some authors telling them that their stories are nominated for XL awards, but yeah... It just never happened. I had many stories to recommend back then and it's still the same.

The original idea was to recommend stories from FF authors generally not only XL members. Is that the case here? Also, how does it work? Who recommends the stories? The members, the judges or both? How does the judging work? Review the stories or just have the judge choose the winning story? If a review is required, should it be posted here or on FF/DA...etc?

I would suggest having a very very small number of judges. I would be comfortable with one (especially me because I trust my judgment and obviously every single member does) but I can see how that may cause chaos and for the sake of having more than one perspective, I would say two or three is the max number. Sadly, I will be busy with exams and travelling all over the globe so I can't do much until summer (the real summer). I know... Be brave my people. The dawn is coming.

Back to the point, I am not sure why you want more judges when you already have more than enough. One for each category? Unnecessary if you ask me. The lesser the number, the more recommended stories from inside the community. I can see ten judges running around recommending stories and reviewing each other's stories. Maybe it's just my troubled mind, but I can't see that working. Atleast not how it should work.

[Atlas]

Too many categories. Need to cut down on those.

And Legend is right about the Judge count. 3 should be more than enough.

Anyway, try to keep your maiden voyage simple here. Try like 5 categories, and a handful of fics.

Then go from there.

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Any member will be able to recommend a story for any part o the CL fandom, as I said above. The judges will decide on a story democratically and after much discussion in a way that I will reveal to them when the judging begins. We have multiple judges so that we can obtain multiple viewpoints becaue the deacisions of one individual can be skewered and reflect their own viewpoints ( for instance if I was the sole judge... Well let's not go there ) You guys are right about the three judges... There will be a few tests to determine the judges.

Memebers will he required t supply reasons for the nomination when they post it so they done recommend a story solely for the benefit of them or a close friend. Thanks for the pointers though and I hope you recommend some stories, Legend.

Five categories... I'm seeing Angst, romance, general ( including friendship) , other, adventure, best fix, best Drabble. It's six but it each is vague fr breathing room.

[Atlas]

The number itself isn't important. The point is to keep it at a manageable amount.

[Soul Jelly]

If this all goes smoothly you could always up the number of categories for next year. As it is, I think keeping it relatively small and manageable is the best since we're doing this for the first time.

[Guest]

I see no problem with the categories even with the old number. I think three judges can manage ten categories or so. It's not like judging will end in a day or two. Anyways, slow and steady is the best way to go for now.

Is there a certain limit concerning a story's date?

[Atlas]

Well considering that there wasn't a ton of stories for that fic challenge in April, and just today they got to it....

I'm a little concerned.

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

There will be a strict schedule for this. It won't be done in a week, but it will get done.

As for Legend's question, for the first few awards, we will allow any stories posted at any time. The CL fandom is a little slow right now and there's no reason none of the older stories shouldn't be honored. Of course, that being said, we don't want all nominations to be from three years ago. A good mix of the old and the new.

[Guest]

It's all about who is judging, Atlas.

Sounds good. Word limit? Some stories tend to stretch for eternity. Doesn't help the judges.

I am still not sure how the system actually works. The judges pick one recommended story and... What? What happens if they don't like it? Move on to another reommended story?

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

No word limit. Again, these awards will not be done in a week- it will take probably the entire second half of June and most of July (the recs are going up tomorrow and that will be open for a month).

The judges will read each fic and will discuss which one is to be the winner. There will be voting, they will have to give reasons, etc.

[cya6]

I have a question. Are the catagories for stories catagories or judging guidlines.

If a story is slightly angsty but very well written, vs. a story which is very angsty, but not as well written, which would win? Obviously accounting that both stories are good enough to be nominated.

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

The categories are for the stories. I would say the story that is very well written would have a stronger chance, assuming both are angsty enough to fit well in the category. It would also depend on the judges and the stories though.

[cya6]

Thank you! Oh, and when will we be able to submit stories?

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

No problem! And you can submit them starting either tomorrow or Tuesday and the nominations will go until June 15.

[TechnoSam]

No problem! And you can submit them starting either tomorrow or Tuesday and the nominations will go until June 15.

Wait... By "submit," do you mean you can nominate your own? That doesn't seem right...

But this whole contest here looks pretty cool! I know I won't win, lol, but it seems like it should be fun. I'll have to figure out which fic I want to nominate...

And normally I would sign up to be a judge, but I've got these time constraints with College and work, so I don't think I would have the necessary time...

[cya6]

oh, where do we send in nominations?

[Soul Jelly]

Seconding Cya's question. Also, can you clarify how this process will work for us please Shadows? I'm guessing anyone nominates fics, then out of all the nominations the judges choose one for each category. I assume there's some kind of forum-wide poll in there somewhere so everyone gets their say once the nominations are chosen, or something(?)

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Okay, in a few minutes (or a few minutes ago, depending on how you're reading, there will be a myriad of fun topics. In these topics, you will be asked to fill out out a small form about the fic you are nominating. While I technically can't stop you from nominating your own story, that is highly discouraged. This isn't meant to be a challenge, it's meant to be an honouring of the best fanfictions out there. The judges will choose the best fic in each category.

The forum does get their say, when all the nominations are over, they will all get put into a poll where you can vote for your favorite. It'll be a huge topic devoted to awesome fics where you can vote for either your favorite or maybe your top three favorites (yet to be decided). However the actual categories will be judged by the judges, who will be decided after a series of tests.

[Sponsored content]