Once again, I have to apologise for being late. But this time a have an excuse! I work at this store - lets call is Schmarget - and they originally only scheduled me to work Thursday (the 14th) night. So I had planned to update that morning, and maybe I would have forgotten (I probably would have forgotten), but if I hadn't (which I probably would've) I would have been on time! You guys would be very proud of me! You wouldn't have to leave reviews asking me when I was going to update! But none of that happened, because I had to take someone's shift that morning. Friday I had a Shrek marathon*, Saturday and Sunday I had to work. So here we are. On the 18th. Four days late.
I'm very sorry. It will not happen again.
But! Anyway! Enough making excuses! The contest!
This year we got way less than last year! But that's okay, because last year we got 48! And the year before that we had 80. 80. And that was very difficult to manage. But this year we have less, which means it'll be way easier for you to try and read as many of the nominated stories as possible (not sure how many of you do that, but I know that Curlscat tries to get through them all every year). And you know what they say? Less is more.
But before I post the list of nominees, here are the unaccepted nominations:
- "Battle Scars" by LuisantEtoile (published in 2016)
Congratulations to LuisantEtoile, but unfortunately I couldn't accept your story. Fortunately, there's always next year!
So now it's time for this years nominees. Are you ready? Of course you are. You've been ready and waiting a whole day for this.
And the nominees are (in alphabetical order of authors):
- "Dancing with Demons" by Annie Carter
- "Inadequacy" by Annie Carter
- "Obscurum" by Annie Carter
- "anything that may delay you" by beautesansepines
- "augenblick" by bluepianos
- "how do fools fall in love" by bluepianos
- "Foreign Policy and Hostage Situations" by Curlscat
- "Teaboos, Historians, and Meddlers" by Curlscat
- "Both mad from love" by Dark lord of Bunnies
- "I'd run away" by Dark lord of Bunnies
- "Hot Handles" by Delfinos
- "Training for Love?" by DelusionalApple
- "Surprise" by DelusionalApple
- "mesmerized" by ember53608
- "Fairy Princess" by EstrangeloEdessa
- "now be sincere," by fluggerbutter
- "though the stars walk backwards" by fluggerbutter
- "unbeing dead" by fluggerbutter
- "Stick Figures" by The Ginger Avenger
- "The Thesis of Us" by iizninja
- "Unfamiliar Territory" by The Irish Lass
- "1975" by IsiGrace
- "Drunk" by IsiGrace
- "The Return of the Scarlet Hand" by megslee-dem
- "Til Death Do Us Part" by Ms. Goodfellow
- "Year After Year" by Ms. Goodfellow
- "Flying on waxen wings" by OakeX
- "The Silence of Insanity" by OakeX
- "Fourteen" by quillandspindle
- "Brink" by quillandspindle
- "Don't Go" by quinn the finn
- "No Pain No Gain" by quinn the finn
- "Operation Rent-A-Brat" by Shh-Cassidy-is-a-Mutant
- "The Golden Knight" by SweetShireen
- "A Fairies' Lullaby" by WinterMagic1
So there you have it! 35 nominated stories! Like I said, less than previous years. But I'm actually pretty excited for that! Voting will be much more concise, and we're less likely to have ties (things get very complicated at that point).
Congratulations to the 22 authors above! You guys should be very proud of yourselves! And if you aren't proud of yourselves, at least I'm proud of you! Well done, you guys are the bomb (collectively; together you are the bomb).
But now it's time to vote for this year's top fifteen! We're going to have two rounds of voting again this year. This round will determine the fifteen finalists, and the next round will determine the best Sisters Grimm story of 2015**!
Here are the rules for this round of voting***:
1: As per usual, there will be two rounds of voting. This round will determine the fifteen finalists that will go on to the next round of voting, which will determine the winner.
2: The top fifteen stories, which are the fifteen fanfictions which received the most votes, will be accepted. If there are ties, the story that is completed will come out on top. If neither of the tying stories are complete (or both are complete), both will go into the final list, which will be extended.
3: You guys get to vote for three stories from the Nominations List above, and THREE STORIES ONLY. No more, but you MAY vote for LESS than three stories. If you vote for more than three stories, I won't be able to accept your votes.
4: Each vote is worth one point, so you don't need to place the stories you vote for in order of preference. Of course, you can if you want.
5: You may vote for any story more than once this round. So you can't vote for a story three times, in order to give it three points.
6: You are allowed to vote for your own story, but you'll have to give me a reason why you think your story deserves to win. It doesn't have to be spectacular, it just has to be acceptable. For example, if the reason is "... because I want to win," or "... because I need more votes," I won't be able to accept the vote. This rule is in place to stop authors from just coming to vote for their story, then leaving without considering the other nominees. All this being said, there is no shame whatsoever in voting for your own story! If you think your story is one of the best three nominated stories, then go for it!
7: Those with accounts MUST, I repeat MUST vote via PM, unless your PMing device is deactivated (switched off). Those without accounts (anons) may vote via a review on this chapter.
8: If you cheat, none of your votes will be counted, in this round, or the next. If you are cheating in order to boost the votes for a story you have written, I will disqualify all your stories from this year's competition.
9: Voting will close on the 4th of February, and I will update with the finalists on the 5th or 7th.
So there you have it! Let the first round of voting begin! Remember, the 4th of February will be the last day you can vote, so you guys have two and a half weeks! However, if you've missed the deadline, but I haven't updated yet, I'll probably still be able to accept your vote. As you can surely tell, I'm not so good with deadlines, so it's only fair that I allow for you guys to be a little late as well.
Once again, congratulations to all the authors above! Well done and good luck to you all!
Thanks,
-Ellie
*Not even joking. I can quote the entire first movie, verbatim. Shrek is love. Shrek is life.
**Why am I plugging my own story within itself?
***YOUNEEDTOREADTHERULESPLEASETHANKYOUILOVEYOUYOU'RETHEBESTYAY
