Awards for Magnificent Canon Storytelling
NOMINATIONS ARE CLOSED
Awards will be posted on December 15, 2004
The Death Dogs are seeking nominations of Magnificent 7 stories that combine literary merit with faithfulness to canon characterization for our Magnificent Canon Storytelling Awards.Our awards are not intended to compete with contests such as the MoM awards and the Ezzies. The stories nominated for Magnificent Canon Storytelling awards will be judged against a standard of excellence -- they will not compete against each other. If there are two or three truly exceptional stories in a category, all will get an award. If there are no stories that meet the excellence standard in a category, there will be no award.
Nominations may come from our rec list but we hope to get nominations for stories we haven't discovered yet. We're always looking for good stories to add to our list. Even if a nominated story isn't quite magnificent enough for an award, it might very well be a solid story we'd be proud to recommend.
The basic requirements are simple:
- A nominated story must be exceptionally well written.
- It must utilize the canon characterization created by the synergy of the series actors, writers, directors and producers.
- A slash story must retain the basics of canon characterization while exploring m/m sexual relationships.
- All AUs must be action based, even if the nominated story itself does not contain action elements. That is, the men should have occupations that invite heroics as did their Old West peace keeper status - federal, state or local law enforcement, bounty hunters, military men, knights, soldiers of fortune, space ship crew, search & rescue, private detectives, etc. However, a story that takes place in this action background might center on a two-person relationship, a humorous interchange, a character study of a one man or otherwise not present an action scenario or even mention all of the Seven. In addition, this "action hero" requirement may be bent for the purposes of satire.
- Pre and post-timeline stories will use canon characterization as the touchstone in showing the reader what the men were or what they became.
- Cross-overs must be faithful to canon characterization of the cross-over series.
- The criteria for kidfic is set out in the description of the kidfic division below and differs significantly from the criteria that would be established by child fic writers.
- An entire series may be nominated or a single story within a series.
- No WIPs - completed stories only.
- Oh yeah - it must be a damn good story [or series].
For a detailed look at our Award Criteria, click on our dog Link All nomination emails will be acknowledged. However titles of nominated stories will not be posted. It has been our experience, in this and other fandoms, that posting the titles and authors of nominated stories leads to too many nominations for stories that could not, and should not, ever win an award for literary merit. [Some people seem to like to see their names on nomination pages.] We don't want to overburden our judges by encouraging those kinds of nominations.
nominations@deathdogs.net Awards will be made in seven divisions:
1. Pure Canon – Old West Gen & Het: This division is for canon fiction using the original characters, facts and settings of the series. The stories in this division won’t contradict what we know about the characters created by the synergy of the series’ actors, writers, directors etc. Of course, the series left plenty of room for speculation, explanation, extrapolation, creation and other “ations.” This category will include stories of the men's childhoods, stories of their lives after a breakup of the Seven and stories which take the OW canon characters beyond the timeline of the series. Cross-overs and series are welcome in this and any other division.
2. One Step Away from Canon – Old West Slash: This division is for fiction that deviates from canon in only one way – it depicts sexual relationships between two or more of the male characters. Of course, there are some authors who have done masterful jobs of writing stories or creating photo collages which suggest the relationships were there all the time in the subtext of the series. Still and all, everyone knows the series was about seven heterosexual men. The winning stories in this division will blend canon characterization seamlessly with the slash relationships.
3. Two Steps Away from Canon – Gen/Het AUs: This division is for fiction that departs from the Old West setting and places the characters in a contemporary, historical or futuristic setting. Canon characterization is extremely important in an AU because it may be the only link the fiction has to the series. If the characters don’t resonate with those from the series – the story is just fiction, not fan fiction.
4. Three Steps Away from Canon - Slash AUs: This division is a combination of divisions two and three.
5. Stepping Out on Canon I – Satire: This division is for stories that take a satirical look at the heroic seven (duh). However, satire is only intriguing to the extent it contains recognizable echoes of the characters being satirized. The story may satirize canon, common fanon or both.
6. Stepping Out on Canon II – Kidfic: This division will be judged under criteria differing significantly from that which would presumably be established by writers/readers in the child AUs who accept and enjoy the canon characterization departures inherent in their stories. [We would encourage childfic writers/readers to create such awards because there are lots of well written child fic stories that will be omitted here because the departure from canon characterization is too great for our canon awards.] In a sense, our awards in this division are for the extraordinary ability of a few writers to maintain canon characterization despite writing in AUs that exchange such characterization for the freedom to write child-centered fic. Because these are awards for excellence in writing stories using canon characterization, a kidfic story will be eligible for an award in this category only if it meets at least one of the two criteria below:
a. The story is told largely from an adult POV or outside observer POV and the story remains a Mag 7 fic [centering on one or more adult Mag7 character] even though the child characters are viewed as OMC’s.7. Magnificent AU Creation: This award is for an author or authors who create an AU. Judges will look at the establishing story and follow-ups by the original author[s] only, whether the AU is open or closed. An AU will be considered a WIP and therefore ineligible until the entire AU "scenario is set up with all seven present and accounted for. AUs will be judged on originality, ability to translate canon characterization into a new setting and the literary merit of the writing.and/or b. The child character is a completely recognizable child version of the adult character and takes a role in the story which adequately fills the spot of the adult character.For a detailed look at our Award Criteria and the various subdivisions into which the seven divisions are subdivided, click on our dog Link
You don't have to understand the subdivisions to make a nomination.
If the story you want to nominate is on our rec list, just include the title of the story and the author's name. If the story is not on our list, please include the URL. NO WIPs. We will acknowledge nomination emails but will not post the titles of the nominated stories. Award winners will be posted on December 15, 2004. Send nominations to nominations@deathdogs.net
Award Links:
Magnificent Canon Storytelling Awards
NOMINATIONSMagnificent Canon Storytelling Awards
AWARD CRITERIAMagnificent Canon Storytelling Awards
Sample Award PageSend nominations to nominations@deathdogs.net