~*~ The 2023 Favorites of FanFic Festival ~*~ Week 6: Make-Ups Week!

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The plush purple velvet curtain rises on the stage, lit in shades of purple, magenta and gold. To stage left is a larger than life statue of Emperor Palpatine which reflects the spotlights beautifully; Palpatine never looked so good in life. The audience members murmur among themselves as a C-3PO’s voice comes over the sound system to announce: “Ladies and gentlebeings, droids and creatures, it is with great pleasure that we welcome you all to the 2023-2024 Festival of Fan Fic Favorites. Please join me in welcoming our host for this evening— Jedi Ezra Bridger!”

A bearded young man with curly hair, wearing a t-shirt with the slogan #HeresEzra walks onto the stage, smiling. “Thanks! Hey, it’s great to see you all and it’s great to be back at the Festival of Fan Fic Favorites. I just flew in from another Galaxy, and boy, are my….” His voice trails off as he looks around the stage. “Wait, what’s all this? I thought this was supposed to be the Golden Yodas?”

Suddenly, the stage lights go down and the orchestra begins playing the Imperial March. A cloaked figure slinks onstage and Threepio announces, “And now our special guest…oh dear…Emperor Sheev Palpatine…”

There is a smattering of applause from a group of Imperial officers wearing dress grays and cheers from the squadron of stormtroopers accompanying them.

“Good, good…,” Palpatine croons, nodding approvingly at the statue of himself. “Once again, everything is proceeding according to my ultimate design and I have reinstated the Golden Palpatines, a fitting tribute to my Imperial glory!” He sweeps his arms wide, blue Force lightning dancing at his fingertips. “Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational Fan Fiction Festival!”

His lightning sputters as he belatedly notices Ezra. “You!” Palpatine sneers. “What are you doing here?!?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing. Aren’t you supposed to be dead? Again?”

Palpatine sweeps his arms again, Force lighting crackling once more. “Somehow, I have returned!” he announces melodramatically.

“How?” Ezra asks, looking spectacularly unimpressed.

“…what?” Palpatine’s lightning fizzles down to sparks.

“How? How have you returned?”

“Somehow!!!” Palpatine insists with another flourish.

“Right, but how?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” the Emperor snaps testilty. “How did you survive flying through hyperspace to another galaxy in a ship with a shattered viewport?”

Ezra looks nonplussed for a moment. “Er…the Force?” he ventures at last.

“So in other words….somehow.” Palpatine leers triumphantly.

“…..” is all that Ezra can reply. “Right, so anyway…welcome to Week One of the Festival of Fan Fic Favorites, the Style and Length categories, which include

• Favorite One-shot
• Favorite Short Story
• Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic
• Favorite Part of a Series
• Favorite WIP

“Yes…” the Emperor sneers. “Post your favorites in each category here. All good Imperial citizens and others who do not wish to face my wrath should include the category name, the story title, the author, and a link to the story.

“For NSWFF, please also include the name of the fandom,” Ezra adds. “ You may post two stories for Star Wars FanFic and two stories for Non-Star Wars FanFic under each category. If you prefer to submit your nominations anonymously, please send them via PM to @The Golden Yoda.”

“Heh… Golden Yoda…”Palpatine mutters under his breath. “Afterwards, you are all invited to join yours truly for a buffet of delicacies from around the Galaxy prepared by celebrity chef Strono Tuggs, as you mingle with the Galactic elite…and also your fellow fan fic writers.”

“That’s…very generous of you.”

“I never said it was free. However, I am prepared to offer a discount to anyone who enlists in the Imperial forces.”

Ezra sighs and shakes his head. “You never change, do you?” He brightens as he adressses the audience again. “Thank you all for coming; we look forward to seeing all of your awesome fan fic favorites. Let the Festival begin!”

​

 

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Hello JCF FanFic! ​

Another year and another round of wonderful stories later, Festival season is here again. Welcome one and all, to Jedi Council Forums’ sixth annual Favorites of FanFic Festival! If you were here last year, most of this year's rules will look pretty familiar. But we recommend reading through carefully, since two new categories have been added.

A couple of notes before we get started:

Your Festival hosts this year are: @amidalachick and @Kahara. Feel free to write to us with questions or comments about what you see here!

The writer of our first skit and maker of the nifty artwork you see is the very talented @Raissa Baiard .

As with last year, this Festival is kicking off now that the rules post has been made. Once the introductory posts are up, you are free to start posting your favorites for Week 1! ​

A big thank you to the mods (@devilinthedetails , @Findswoman , and @Mira_Jade , as well as @A Chorus of Disapproval ) for all their help putting this together, and to all the participants of these fanfic forums. We look forward to seeing you at this celebration!

@amidalachick, @Kahara, and @Raissa Baiard


How the Festival Works

Below you will find a list of all the categories included in the Favorites of FanFic Festival. Starting today, we will post one group of categories every Sunday. You can then either post the stories that were your favorites for the given categories that week, or if you’d like to remain anonymous, you may PM us (@The Golden Yoda) with your story nominations and we will post a batch of them at the end of the week. The next week we will post the next group of categories, and so on until we reach the end. We will then create a master index of the 2023 Favorites of FanFic, which will remain stickied at the top of Resource for the rest of 2024.


The Rules

1. No submitting your own stories. Any funny business with socks will result in a ban.
   
   
2. Stories must have been STARTED or UPDATED at least once between January 1st, 2023 (PST) and December 31st, 2023 (PST), for both SWFF and NSWFF.
   • Please note, this is a change from earlier past festivals -- we are continuing last year's policies on this topic. Stories that were started before and continued in 2023 are indeed eligible for all applicable categories.
   
   
3. You may submit (up to) TWO STAR WARS stories per category and TWO NON-STAR WARS stories per applicable category. Most categories work for both SWFF and NSWFF, but there are a few dedicated to their respective subforums (in the Character and Author categories).
   
   
4. When you post for the categories, please post the category, the story title, author, and a link to the story. If it’s NSWFF, please include the fandom as well. You may post two stories under each category heading.
   
   
5. Make-ups will follow the same pattern that was established last year, with make-ups allowed throughout the festival. We will have a make-up week at the end of the festival (Week 6), but you may post make-ups any week until the Festival ends. For the sake of keeping things relatively manageable, we ask that you try to post your make-ups as soon as possible after the week that you missed. This won’t be a hard and fast rule; use your best judgment, and try not to clutter the thread with excessive make-up posts. If you need to make-up several weeks, please consider waiting until Week 6, at the end of the festival.
   
   
6. If you know in advance that you are not going to have time to post your favorites, you are more than welcome to PM us with your selections in advance, and we will be happy to post them with the PM submissions for the appropriate week.
   
   
7. If you see a mistake in someone else's submitted stories – be it your own story or someone else's – please just let it go unless you strongly feel it's an attempt to circumvent the rules (e.g. you know for a fact it's a sock). We'll take care of any clear mistakes (e.g. blatantly wrong category, story not eligible) when we make the master list.

Tips for finding eligible stories

• If you are looking at the boards sorted by "last message" (which is the default), stories posted or updated in 2023 go back as far as page 19 as of February 11. For NSWFF, stories posted or updated in 2023 go back to around page 4.
• If you click on "start date" that is at the top of the story boards (in the list that says "Title, Start Date, Replies, Views, Last Message") it will sort the stories by newest start date to oldest. Stories posted in 2023 go back to around page 11 as of February 11. For NSWFF, stories posted in 2023 go back to around page 3.

Important Note, Everyone Read This!

Since last year's experiment of combining the Festival Social & Question thread with the main Festival thread went well, this year we will be doing the same thing. Feel free to write your own short festival-going skits with yourselves and/or characters (OC and canon both welcome), ask questions, socialize, and generally enjoy the celebration right here! Try and keep posts to a reasonable size, as usual with most forum threads, and be considerate of one another as always.


Past Favorites of FanFic Festivals
2022 Festival Thread | 2022 Favorites Index
2021 Festival Thread | 2021 Favorites Index
2020 Festival Thread
2019 Festival Thread | 2019 Favorites Index
2018 Festival Thread | 2018 Favorites Index

 

2023 Favorites of FanFic Festival
Categories & Schedule​

Week 1: Style & Length (February 11-17)
Week 2: Characters & Relationships (February 18-24)
Week 3: Genre & Canonicity (February 25-March 2)
Week 4: Fun Categories That Don’t Have a Catchy Group Name (March 3-9)
Week 5: Reviewer & Author (March 10-16)
Week 6: Make-up Week (March 17-23)


The Categories

Week 1: Style & Length

Favorite One-shot – A short story posted to the boards as a single entry (as a guideline, less than 5,000 words). This includes, but is not limited to, individual drabbles, poems, flash-fics, song-fics and vignettes.

Favorite Short Story – A short story that can generally be read in one sitting but has been broken up into multiple parts (as a guideline, between 5,000 and 15,000 words).

Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic – A longer story that takes more than a few minutes to read (as a guideline, more than 15,000 words).

Favorite Part of a Series – A story that was posted or updated in 2023 but that also was part of a larger body of a continual storyline (other parts of the story can be posted before 2023).

Favorite WIP – A story that was started or continued, but not completed in 2023, and which may have been overlooked in favor of complete stories. (Note that a story may still be eligible for above categories if not completed as well, but this is specifically for ongoing stories). Must be a WIP as of February 11, 2024.


Week 2: Characters & Relationships

Favorite Interpretation of a Movie Character – The best/most faithful/most relevant portrayal in fanfic of any character that appears, however briefly, in any of the 11 SW movies (TPM, AotC, RotS, ANH, TESB, RotJ, TFA, TLJ, TRoS, Rogue One, and Solo).

Favorite Interpretation of an EU Character or Game Character – The best/most faithful/most relevant portrayal in fanfic of any character that appears only in Expanded Universe material (New Canon or Legends, including the TV series) or any SW board or video game, or an RPG character. No movie characters are eligible under this category, however brief their appearance in the movies.

Favorite NSWFF Canon Character – The best/most faithful/most relevant portrayal in fanfic of any character that appears, however briefly, in their respective media.

Favorite Original Character – Your favorite portrayal of a character created by a fanfic author.

Favorite Villain – A character that you love to hate, hate to love – or better yet, both! An antagonist character who just has that extra something.

Most Wholesome Character – The character that you want to hug and feed cookies to. This can be a traditional epic hero or the star of a much smaller-scale fluff story, but they are a perfect cinnamon roll too good for this world/Galaxy and just seeing them "on screen" in the story brings you joy.

Favorite Established Relationship – Any relationship (familial, friendship, romantic, rivalry, etc) between two Canon or Legends characters that is established or strongly implied in New Canon or Legends material.

Favorite Original Relationship – Any relationship (familial, friendship, romantic, rivalry, etc) between OCs or between an established (from either New Canon or Legends) character and an OC. This also includes a relationship between two established characters that does not appear or is not strongly implied in Canon or Legends.


Week 3: Genre & Canonicity

Favorite Humor – A story which is comedic in nature by virtue of its characters, situations or dialogue, and whose intention is to provoke a reaction that may range from chuckles to ROFLs.

Favorite Drama – A story that centers around a conflict that is neither physical nor romantic in nature. It may include the protagonist(s) addressing serious issues that impact them on a personal level, or it may be broader issues like a political-drama.

Favorite Angst – A story dealing with sad or tragic topics meant to evoke melancholy emotions in it’s readers.

Favorite Fluff – A story with little to no conflict or antagonistic intent, usually written to give the readers “warm fuzzy feelings” in their hearts.

Favorite Romance – A story that centers around the protagonist discovering, exploring and/or developing a strong romantic emotional bond with another character.

Favorite Action/Adventure – A story in which the characters overcome challenges by means of fast-paced, usually physical, adventurous activity.

Favorite Genfic – A story where non-romantic, non-sexual relationships are central to the plot and there is little if any romance featured. For example, stories where a friendship, sibling relationship, mentorship, bitter lifelong enmity, etc., is the main focus would all count. Any romantic pairings featured are not the focus of the major characters’ development throughout the story and anything that happens on screen between said pairings is G-rated.

Favorite World-Building – A story that adds to and/or explores some aspect of the world/universe it is set in with more depth than canon ever had the chance to explain. For example, a Star Wars story that fleshes out an existing planet, culture, or technology – or that introduces a new one in detail.

Favorite Continuity Compliant – A story that does not diverge from or contradict the established storyline (New Canon or Legends) in which it is written. Stories that aren’t blatantly AU and aren’t defined as AU by the author in the opening post or the title bar can be assumed to be canon-compliant. (Note: this is the category that used to be called ‘Best Canon’ in previous years.)

Favorite Alternate Universe – A story that diverges from or contradicts the established storyline (New Canon or Legends) in which it is written. This is usually, but not always, indicated by the author in the opening post or the title bar.


Week 4: Fun Categories That Don’t Have a Catchy Group Name

Story You Just Can't Stop Thinking About – A story that really stuck with you. Something so memorable that it needs no re-reading to bring back the impressions you had when first reading it.

Unclassifiable Classic – A story that really doesn’t fit anywhere else, but that you think should have a moment of glory.

Head-Canon Accepted! – Part of a story that is now part of the personal Star Wars (or NSWFF) universe in your mind. This can be a detail or storyline that is neither confirmed nor denied by official canon, or it can be an alternate universe “fix-it” that you prefer to what happened in canon. (Any canon – Disney, Legends, and all the plot holes in between.) Either way, a fact or event in a fic that is now canon in your heart.

Favorite Title – It's the title that first caught your eye. You saw it and thought "I want to read that fic!" It's like a great cover on a book that draws you in!

Favorite Line in a Fic – A sentence or two that were just perfectly phrased.

Favorite Headsplode Moment – A moment that really and truly surprised you! To keep these moments a surprise for readers who haven't read them yet, please put your description of the moment itself in spoiler-quotes after the story and author, like this but with the spaces before and after both instances of the word "spoiler" removed:

Story by Author
[ spoiler ]Your description of that cool Headsplode Moment [/ spoiler ]

So that you end up with:
Story by Author

Spoiler

Your description of that cool Headsplode Moment

Favorite Action Scene – The action scene that you enjoyed the most: space battles, sparring matches, duels to the death, food fights – the works! The scene does not have to be from an adventure-focused story so long as the scene itself meets the requirements.

Favorite “Finally” Moment – The moment between characters that you have been waiting for through the whole story. This can be romantic, fluffy, sad, humorous, or otherwise, but you were waiting for it and it was delivered with all the trimmings. So we don't break the suspense for first-time readers, please put your description of the moment itself in spoiler-quotes after the story and author, like this but with the spaces before and after both instances of the word "spoiler" removed:

Story by Author
[ spoiler ] Your description of that long-awaited Finally Moment [ /spoiler ]

So that you end up with:
Story by Author

Spoiler

Your description of that long-awaited Finally Moment

Crushed That Challenge – The most enjoyable, unexpected, and/or creative response to a challenge. The challenge itself can be from a previous year, as long as the response story itself was posted/updated in 2023.

Choose-Your-Own Fave - A story that you want to recognize as your very favorite of a category that you don't see listed here. For example, Favorite Lightsaber Duel, Favorite Animal Character, or Favorite Story Featuring a SW Holiday. As with the other categories, you can pick two stories for SW and two for NSWFF. You can keep these all as one Choose-Your-Own category (for example, four stories for Best Crackfic) or come up with a different one for each nomination. It's entirely up to you; just keep it TOS-friendly. And if you feature a quote or other potential spoiler from the story in your response, please keep it under spoilers as you would for the Headsplode Moment and similar categories -- thanks!


Week 5: Reviewer & Author

*choose up to 2 in all categories unless otherwise specified

Favorite Reviewers (choose up to 4) – Your favorite reviewers who leave the most thoughtful/in depth reviews on stories in any era of the Star Wars FanFic forums and/or in the Non-Star Wars FanFic sub-forum. *Though it isn’t at all required, including a little blurb about the reviewer is a welcome addition. (Ex: “Reviewer leaves wonderfully detailed comments/is a supportive regular/has great humor in their comments//has fantastic enthusiasm for the characters and era that I write or read in/whatever is especially awesome about their reviews here.”)

Favorite Contributor to Resource - A poster whose additions to the Fan Fiction Writing and Resource forum you would like to recognize for the year 2023. This includes posters who add their feedback and ideas to ongoing threads, as well as those who run challenges/indexes/discussion groups, etc.; anyone whose contributions to the forum help make it a more inspiring place! Anyone who posted in Resource during 2023 can be nominated. *As with the reviewer category, you may add a short note about why you nominated this person.

Favorite Author in Before – The author whose work in Before (either Canon or Legends) consistently demonstrates a high degree of skill and creativity in their creation of memorable characters and settings, original plots, interesting themes, and overall depiction of the GFFA.

Favorite Author in Saga – The author whose work in the PT and/or OT and/or ST (either Canon or Legends) consistently demonstrates a high degree of skill and creativity in their creation of memorable characters and settings, original plots, interesting themes, and overall depiction of the GFFA.

Favorite Author in Beyond – The author whose work in Beyond (either Canon or Legends) consistently demonstrates a high degree of skill and creativity in their creation of memorable characters and settings, original plots, interesting themes, and overall depiction of the GFFA.

Favorite Author in NSWFF – The author whose work in Non-Star Wars FanFic consistently demonstrates a high degree of skill and creativity in their creation of memorable characters and settings, original plots, interesting themes, and overall depiction of their chosen fandom(s).

Favorite New Author– Your favorite author who posted his or her first story on the boards within the eligibility dates. This category is not era-specific.

Most Versatile Author– The author whose work, in your opinion, tackles the widest range of aspects of writing fanfic (e.g. multiple eras, multiple genres, multiple writing techniques, etc.) This category is not era-specific.

Favorite Story YOU Wrote- This is an exception to the rules. For this category, tell us YOUR favorite story that YOU wrote! To be eligible to submit in this category, you must have submitted at least one story or author nomination for one of the previous categories.


Week 6: Make-ups

If you missed nominating at some point, you can post make-ups for those categories at this time.


*Many thanks to Kahara for putting this year's rules & categories posts together, and to everyone who contributed to these announcements, rules, and categories through working on the Festival in years past! And kudos to Chyntuck for suggesting a resource contributor category, and to UltramassiveUbersue and WarmNyota_SweetAyesha for the feedback that inspired a choose-your-own category.

 

Starting with my Star Wars faves, though I'll be back with NSWFF soon!

Favorite One-shot
Closed Borders by @Thumper09
I Don't Wish Upon a Star by @Raissa Baiard

Favorite Short Story
Heroes by @Pandora
The Light Will Burn Again by @JediMaster_Jen

Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic
The Book of Gand, Part the Fourth: The Findsman’s Secret by @Findswoman
Tides of Darkness by @Theodore Hawkwood

Favorite Part of a Series
All These Broken Pieces by @ViariSkywalker (in the EfF-verse that started with Enter the Foreign)
Hearts of the Children by @DarthIshtar (in her AU series starting with Sins of the Fathers)

Favorite WIP
Because Reasons by @UltramassiveUbersue
Reclamation by @Gabri_Jade

 

A harried Chyntuck steps onto the stage. "I'm sorry, everyone, but with everything I have going on – work, kids, real life and the new Kessel Run prompt that's dropping today – I don't have much time to socialise this week."

Thre is no reaction from the festival-goers. They're far too busy looking at the motley cast of characters from all types of fanfic that are milling about to even pay attention to her (they're also giving worried looks at the statue of Palpatine and wondering who will beat the Sith this time). "Okay then," she says quietly. "I guess I'll just leave my week 1 favourites here and call it a day. Many thanks to @amidalachick @Kahara and @Raissa Baiard for hosting this – I hope you guys knew what you were getting yourself into – and thanks as always to our mods @devilinthedetails @Findswoman and @Mira_Jade. Oh, and @A Chorus of Disapproval, it's nice to see you on this side of the boards. Maybe you can help us figure out the 'somehow' part of how Palpatine returned?"

Week 1: Style & Length

Favourite One-shot
And Dances with the Lilliadils by @Mira_Jade
Icarus by @vader_incarnate (from Certain Dark Things)
[Stranger Things] Airplanes in the Night Sky by @amidalachick (from With Sky to Spare)
[Sense and Sensibility] A Difference of Seven and Ten by @Mira_Jade (from The Best Is Yet to Be)

Favourite Short Story
The Kammris Falcon by @Kit'
Heroes by @Pandora (from Lovely Dark and Deep)
[Victoria] Queens of England by @Mira_Jade (from A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand)
[Hogan’s Heroes] Enfilade by @pronker (from Age of Reason)

Favourite Multi-Chapter or Epic
The Book of Gand by @Findswoman, parts I-III, part IV
Palace, Forest, Stars: The Journal of Queen Breha by @divapilot
[Harry Potter] Godric’s Squire by @devilinthedetails
[Victoria] Say We Choose (but It’s No Choice at All) by @Mira_Jade (from A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand)

Favourite Part of a Series
Hearts of the Children by @DarthIshtar (part of the Queen Leia series)
Of Small Propagules by @Mechalich (part of the Acenou series)
[Sense and Sensibility] In Benefice by @Mira_Jade (from The Best Is Yet to Be, part of Mira’s S&S series)
[Harry Potter] Circles and Heirs by @devilinthedetails (from Henry from the Hollow, part of the Henry Potter series)

Favourite WIP
Your Heart Will Catch Its Breath Again by @Mira_Jade
Snips and Snails and Banthas’ Tails by @Kit'
[Harry Potter] All the Magic and Mystery of my Days by @devilinthedetails (from Henry from the Hollow)
[Sense and Sensibility] The Captain and the Commodore by @Mira_Jade

 

Favorite One-shot:
Talisman by @DarthIshtar

 

Favorite One-shot
On A Moonlight Path by @Hopefulwriter
A Lovely Night by @DarthIshtar
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] The Legend of Pelican Mothers by @devilinthedetails
[Star Trek] Making More Great Memories by @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Favorite Short Story
Word Smith by @Kit'

Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic
Palace, Forest, Stars: The Journal of Queen Breha by @divapilot

Favorite Part of a Series
Auction Angst by @pronker (from Where Were You On The Night Of January 16th?)
The Great Berry Escapade by @JediMaster_Jen (from She Didn’t Begrudge Them…Not Really)
[Ghosts (US)] Thorfinn by @Thumper09 (from Ghost Stories)
[Stranger Things] Kessel Run 2023 Week 1 by @brodiew (from Greasing the Wheels)

Favorite WIP
The Way of Things by @JediMaster_Jen
[Victoria] A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand by @Mira_Jade

 

(NSWFF)

Favorite One-shot
[Star Trek] Making More Great Memories by @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha
[Good Omens] Valentine’s Day This Year by @DarthIshtar

Favorite Short Story
[Hogan’s Heroes] Enfilade by @pronker
[Poster Girl] Who are you when nobody is watching you? by @Mira Grau

Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic
[Victoria] "Queens of England" by @Mira_Jade
[Top Gun] Fragmentary by @DaenaBenjen42

Favorite Part of a Series
[Stranger Things] Airplanes in the Night Sky by @amidalachick (from the collection With Sky to Spare)
[Sense & Sensibility] "In Benefice" by @Mira_Jade (from the collection “The Best Is Yet to Be”)

Favorite WIP
[Victoria] “Sta et Retine (Stand Firm and Hold Fast, From Now On)" by @Mira_Jade
[LOTR] Sauron: The Lord of the Cats by @gizkaspice

 

Week 1: Style & Length

Favorite One-shot
Conquest of the Catlaxy, by @Chyntuck.
From the Unofficial Alliance Jokebook, by @rktho.

Favorite Short Story
Budding Archivist (Jocasta Nu Pentathlon for the 2023 Fanfiction Summer Olympics), by @devilinthedetails.
The Life of Shh-Kir in 31 Snippets, by @earlybird-obi-wan.

Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic
Star Wars Episode 1: The Steadfast Wreckage, by @Happy Sando.
Color Commentary (2023 Fanfic Summer Olympics Pentathlon), by @Thumper09.
Non-SW: “[LOTR] Sauron: The Lord of the Cats,” by @gizkaspice.

Favorite Part of a Series
The Book of Gand, Part the Fourth, by @Findswoman.

Favorite WIP
Star Wars: Tides of Darkness, by @Theodore Hawkwood.
“Once a Pirate,” by @Raissa Baiard.

 

Hello there! A friendly reminder that today is the last day to post your picks for the Style & Length categories before the Character & Relationship categories begin tomorrow. If you prefer to remain anonymous, feel free to PM your favorites to @The Golden Yoda. And if you do miss the deadline, no worries - you are welcome to post your make-ups throughout the festival, as well as during the make-up week at the festival's end. Thank you, and have a wonderful day!

 

Favorite One-shot
A Profusion of Palpatines by @Bel505 and @SnubJockey
Efflorescence (from A Strange and Dazzling Array) by @ViariSkywalker

Favorite Short Story
Heroes (from Lovely Dark and Deep) by @Pandora
The Fisher Droid by @GregMcP

Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic
All These Broken Pieces by @ViariSkywalker
Beneath the Gods of the Bright Sky by @ViariSkywalker

Favorite Part of a Series
Words We Never Say (from Futures and Dreams) part of the Enter!verse by @ViariSkywalker
Our Hearts Were Never Meant to Kneel part of the Song!verse by @Mira_Jade
[Sense and Sensibility] The Captain and the Commodore from Mira's expansion of Sense and Sensibility by @Mira_Jade

Favorite WIP
All These Broken Pieces by @ViariSkywalker
Your Heart Will Catch Its Breath Again by @Mira_Jade
[Sense and Sensibility] The Captain and the Commodore by @Mira_Jade

 

Sorry everyone, accidental post!

 

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Rules | Categories​

Meanwhile, on Exegol...

"ALL LIES, MY ESTEEMED DARK BRETHREN! LIES AND PROPAGANDA!"

A figure stands with his arms upraised before the fire smoldering in a dumpster marked with the New Order's sigil. A motley assortment of cloaked and hooded figures is gathered around. These are the only living beings left on the storm-struck world. They are the sum and total of the Emperor's servants who were witness to what they thought would be the final confrontation... well, those who were left after the ghostly shadows of the Sith left their midst.

(And, of course, only those who survived the vicious Battle of the Last Concession Stand, in which lives and limbs were sacrificed for dibs on the last bag of Blue Milk Salted Cheese Crunchies and other such treasures.)

The fuzzy reception on their one almost-working, at-least-it-receives-sometimes holotransmitter unit clears for a moment. It sure looks like old Sheev himself standing by that Rebel scum.

"Let the Festival begin!"

"INCONCEIVABLE! His Tenebrous Majesty would never abandon m-- us, to go throw a party with Rebels in attendance! We must stay strong and perse-- oww! Who. Did. That."

The straw wrapper that just bounced off Trioculus's third eye, the eye that is his pride and joy, flutters to the ground as Ysaaaaanne Isard (once and future ruler of Imperial Intelligence, fourth of her gene code) takes a long noisy sip from her Liquid Nutrition Packet.

"Be quiet, Trioculus. We're trying to listen to something more relevant than your hot air. It's time for Week Two of the Festival of Fan Fic Favorites, the Characters & Relationships categories."

"You -- you would dare..."

Vestara Khai flips onto her back on the First Order-issued bedroll she commandeered when everything went to poodoo, keeping a wary ear on the ensuing fisticuffs between former spymaster and former warlord. Sighing, the young Sith warrior gazes up at the tumultuous sky. Lumiya had better be right about this arena being protected from lightning strikes or they're all quite literally toast. The Emperor's once-secret throne world has enough basic supplies and tasteless rations for this little group to wait out any ten apocalypses, but beyond survival Vestara can't see much to recommend Exegol in its current state. Least of all the companionship of her fellow de-facto exiles from a Galaxy several alternate universes over. Worst summer job ever.

Against the ambient noise of Trioculus screaming "Uncle" to no avail, Moff Gideon and the Grand Inquisitor lean in towards the transmitter to watch and hear the categories announced.

"This week's categories are as follows. Take heed that a few only apply to either SW or NSWFF, so these categories will have a maximum of two nominations each. Others contain both SW and NSWFF, and as such may have up to 4 if you choose two for SW and two for NSWFF. If you really must insist on valuing such pitiable concepts as... "wholesomeness" and... "relationships". How utterly abominable."

• Favorite Interpretation of a Movie Character
• Favorite Interpretation of an EU Character or Game Character
• Favorite NSWFF Canon Character
• Favorite Original Character
• Favorite Villain
• Most Wholesome Character
• Favorite Established Relationship
• Favorite Original Relationship

"Tavira. Brakiss. Tamith Kai. Zsinj. Jerec. Sedriss. Lumiya. Ismaren."

With a fractional nod to the group, Gideon settles himself down at the end of their shared slab of rubble as nonchalantly and elegantly as he can manage, and he fancies that he manages both pretty well. The hodge-podge collection of darksiders and re-recruited, probably post-mortal Imperials don't show much reaction and he'll take that as a win.

"Inquisitors too mean, huh?"

"What? No!" He finds himself crossing his arms unconsciously. He is not a flashy, grandstanding wannabe. The Grand Inquisitor is just a moof-milker. "I don't need validation from the likes of them."

Brakiss raises a knowing eyebrow. "Sure. Suit yourself." He gives a little self-deprecating shrug. "Personally, I grew up with them and I'm staying over here, thanks all the same." Jerec makes a vague noise that could be agreement, and Irek Ismaren mutters something uncomplimentary about Inquisitors as a species.

Chatting idly with Jerec and Brakiss as they watch Lumiya and Sedriss engage in a foolhardy catch-the-flaming-sugared-blobs-in-your-mouth contest featuring the dessert portion of their meal packets, Gideon finds that they are, mostly, at least a bit more bearable than he'd thought. Though he's not sure what to think of Zsinj sobbing what he insists are happy tears when the holos of various smiling couples, friendships, and families from an assortment of universes play on the holotransmitter.

Well, it takes all sorts.

​

 

Week 2: Characters & Relationships

Favorite Interpretation of a Movie Character
Jocasta Nu: Budding Archivist (Jocasta Nu Pentathlon for the 2023 Fanfiction Summer Olympics), by @devilinthedetails.
Plo Koon: "Keeping Score," by @Kadar Ordo.

Favorite Interpretation of an EU Character or Game Character
Xanatos, in “Art and Performance,” by @devilinthedetails.

Favorite NSWFF Canon Character
Piandao, in “The First Test,” by @develinthedetails.
Caspian, in “Tales of Mystery and Stardust.” by @develinthedetails

Favorite Original Character
Ludo Gum in Star Wars: Episode I: The Steadfast Wreckage, by @Happy Sando.
The Great Mother of All, in In the Shade of the Wroshyr Tree, by @Chyntuck.

Most Wholesome Character
Hyperjump, in 1500 Word Dash story of Color Commentary thread, by @Thumper09.


Favorite Established Relationship
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn in “The Dark Side of Passion,” by @UltramassiveUbersue.


Favorite Original Relationship
Ludo Gum and Mylo Lloyd in Star Wars: Episode I: The Steadfast Wreckage, by @Happy Sando.
Ben Cozine and Troka, in Star Wars: Tides of Darkness. by @Theodore Harkwood.

 

Somehow I have returned and just in time it seems

Makeup Week 1: Style & Length

Favorite One-shot
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] A Cat and a Cucumber by @devilinthedetails
Conquest of the Catlaxy by @Chyntuck

Favorite Multi-Chapter or Epic
Kylo's Metaphysical Life Day Journey by @devilinthedetails
In the Shade of the Wroshyr – Tales of the People of the Trees | Wookiee myths & legends collection by @Chyntuck

Week 2: Characters & Relationships

Favorite Interpretation of a Movie Character
Jocasta Nu: Budding Archivist by @devilinthedetails

Favorite Original Character
Blacky in Cat clan DDC 2023 by @earlybird-obi-wan

Favorite Established Relationship
[LOTR] Celebrian & Elrond in My Heart is Whole Again by @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha
Obi-Wan and Siri Tachi in Personal Files by @earlybird-obi-wan

Most Wholesome Character
Lys Solay in Walks on the Wild Side by @Seldes_Katne

Favorite Interpretation of an EU Character or Game Character
Ashaa AKA "Mother Machine" in Ashaa's Memory by @Mechalich

 

Adding my character nominations first; will be back with relationships sometime soon!

Favorite Interpretation of a Movie Character
Breha Organa in Palace, Forest, Stars: The Journal of Queen Breha by @divapilot
Zuckuss in The Book of Gand, Part the Fourth: The Findsman’s Secret by @Findswoman

Favorite Interpretation of an EU Character or Game Character
Jesse in "And Dances with the Lilliadils" by @Mira_Jade
Jesse in Song of Fate by @Chyntuck

Favorite NSWFF Canon Character
Lord Melbourne in [Victoria] “Say We Choose (but It’s No Choice at All)” by @Mira_Jade
Marya in [Hogan's Heroes] Enfilade by @pronker

Favorite Original Character
Effdee (FD-3) in The Fisher Droid by @GregMcP
Antares Ragnarsdottar in Heroes by @Pandora
Chiaki in [A:TLA] A Cat and a Cucumber by @devilinthedetails
Dr. Silmë Tanä in [LOTR] Sauron: The Lord of the Cats by @gizkaspice

Favorite Villain
Lumiya in Executioner's March by @Vialco
Fengor in The Book of Gand, Part the Fourth: The Findsman’s Secret by @Findswoman
Azula in [A:TLA] I Conquer Ba Sing Se and Other Earth Kingdom Adventures by devilinthedetails
Sir John in [Victoria] "The First Grave" by @Mira_Jade

Most Wholesome Character
Kazuda Xiono in With This Ring by @Raissa Baiard
Reezel Fel-Dain in Reezel -- Future Lawyer by @Seldes_Katne
Puddleglum in [Narnia] A Young Marsh-Wiggle’s First Trip to Beaversdam by @devilinthedetails
Elrond in [LOTR] My Heart Is Whole Again by @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

The surviving Sithlings on Exegol stare in disbelief at the flickering holotransmitter that now shows a dishevelled middle-aged woman stepping onto the stage. "Can anyone figure out what she's mumbling?" Vestara asks.

Roganda leans in closer. "I think she's complaining about having had too many drinks last night."

Meanwhile, items are flying out of the woman's purse as she looks for her week 2 nominations. Soon, the stage is littered with a miscellany of objects: a mobile phone, a comb, a granola bar wrapper, an empty pack of tissues, a few coins... "Ten credits she never finds her paper," Gideon says.

"Twenty."

"Thirty."

"Oh, she'll find it. She may appear a mess at first sight, but she always pulls herself together in the end."

They all turn to face the newcomer, whose getup clearly indicates that he's from another universe. There's a golden ring with elvish markings on his finger that's muttering almost as loudly as the woman on the holo.

"Excuse me," Irek asks, "but who the Sith are you?"

Soon, they're so busy swapping evil tips with Sauron that they fail to notice that the piece of crumpled paper is in the woman's hand.

Week 2: Characters & Relationships

Favourite Interpretation of a Movie Character
Palpatine in The Patient Gardener by @Mira_Jade (from Antigravity)
Maz Kanata in The Universe through Seaglass by @Kahara (from Zoochberry Cobbler)

Favourite Interpretation of an EU Character or Game Character
Hondo Ohnaka in Once a Pirate by @Raissa Baiard
Lys Solay in Walks on the Wild Side by @Seldes_Katne

Favourite NSWFF Canon Character
Marya Parmanova in [Hogan’s Heroes] Age of Reason by @pronker
Mrs. Jennings in [Sense and Sensibility] The Captain and the Commodore by @Mira_Jade

Favourite Original Character
Nyx Senka in The Kammris Falcon by @Kit'
Ludo Gum in Star Wars: Episode I - The Steadfast Wreckage by @Happy Sando
Henry Potter in [Harry Potter] Henry from the Hollow by @devilinthedetails
Chiaki the cat in [A:TLA] Vain Feline Photoshoot by @devilinthedetails

Favourite Villain
Palpatine in A Good Day by @Ultramassive Ubersue (from Rumours and Speculations)
Coquette Palpatine in Veiled by @Vek Talis (from Wicked)
Lord Byron in [Victoria] Say We Choose (but It’s No Choice at All) by @Mira_Jade (from A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand)
Sir John Conroy in [Victoria] The First Grave by @Mira_Jade (from A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand)

Most Wholesome Character
The inimitable Gritsi in Gritsi – Future Librarian by @Seldes_Katne (from Career Exploration (with Gungans))
The bumbling Chutaree in Color Commentary: Untitled Prime Time Coverage Entry by @Thumper09
Li’l Billy who won’t go to bed in [Stranger Things] Airplanes in the Night Sky by @amidalachick (from With Sky to Spare)
Baby!Henry Potter and his accidental magic in [Harry Potter] All the Magic and Mystery of my Days by @devilinthedetails (from Henry from the Hollow)

Favourite Established Relationship
Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade in How Far We’ve Come by @JediMara77
Bail, Breha and Leia Organa in Given in Love by @DarthIshtar (from Heavy the Head)
Victoria and Melbourne in [Victoria] A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand by @Mira_Jade
Sauron and Galadriel in [LotR] Sauron: The Lord of the Cats by @gizkaspice

Favourite Original Relationship
The Chaos Twins in Force Bond by @Viari Skywalker (from Futures and Dreams)
Zodath and Splotch the Blarth in Adjustments by @Seldes_Katne (from Career Exploration (with Gungans))
Henry Potter and Godric Gryffindor in [Harry Potter] Godric’s Squire by @devilinthedetails
Margaret Dashwood and Arthur Jennings in [Sense and Sensibility] The Captain and the Commodore by @Mira_Jade

 

Favorite Interpretation of a Movie Character
Breha Organa in Palace, Forest, Stars: The Journal of Queen Breha by @divapilot
Qui-Gon Jinn in A Meditation on Unconventionality by @devilinthedetails

Favorite Interpretation of an EU Character or Game Character
Palo Jemabie in Palo's Sketchbook by @Findswoman (from Rose Garden, Evergreen Forest)
Sabine Wren in Strict, Unbending Rules for Dealing with Stray Loth-cats by @Raissa Baiard

Favorite NSWFF Canon Character
Colonel Brandon in [Sense & Sensibility] The Best is Yet to Be by @Mira_Jade
Puddleglum in [Narnia] A Young Marsh-Wiggle’s First Trip to Beaversdam by @devilinthedetails

Favorite Original Character
Vek Talis in Victory by @Vek Talis
Dr. Erek Nikana in Winds of Change by @JediMaster_Jen

Favorite Villain
Palpatine in Certainty by @vader_incarnate (from Certain Dark Things)
Dooku in Trouble in the Jedi-temple by @earlybird-obi-wan
Ozai in [A:TLA] Excuses of a Tyrant by @devilinthedetails (from Endless Echoes of Angst)

Most Wholesome Character
Allana Djo Solo in The Dress by @ViariSkywalker (from A Strange and Dazzling Array)
Kazuda Xiono in With This Ring by @Raissa Baiard

Favorite Established Relationship
Owen Lars/Beru Whitesun in Four Ways to "I Love You" by @devilinthedetails
Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa in We Shall All Hang Separately by @DarthIshtar
Zuko & Izumi in [A:TLA] Vegetables before Ash Banana Pudding by @devilinthedetails

Favorite Original Relationship
Nadira Jade & Mara Jade in Promise by @Gabri_Jade (from From the Ground Up)
Palo Jemabie/Padmé Amidala in Palo's Sketchbook by @Findswoman (from Rose Garden, Evergreen Forest)
Lu Ten & Chiaki in [A:TLA] A Cat and A Cucumber by @devilinthedetails

 

Favorite Interpretation of a Movie Character:
Luke Skywalker in Talisman by @DarthIshtar

Favorite Villain:
Darth Vader in We Suffer by @vader_incarnate

 

Rules | Categories
​

MUSTAFAR

Smoke rises from the charred landscape. Lava swirls and spurts, a fiery river flowing past Vader's castle. Vader sits inside the dark, towering fortress, watching the festival proceedings on the holo, angry that he wasn't invited.

"Welcome to Week 3 of the Festival of FanFic Favorites, where we are celebrating the Genre and Canonicity categories." Palpatine's holoimage sneers under his cowl. "What meaningless terms - whatever I want to be canon, I will make it canon.

Now, to present our categories, my apprentice Darth Vader."

Vader's fists clench and he's on his feet without even realizing it as he sees himself appear on stage next to Palpatine.

"Yes, my Master." Holo-Vader inclines his head to Palpatine, then takes the podium. "This week's categories are:

• Favorite Humor
• Favorite Drama
• Favorite Angst
• Favorite Fluff
• Favorite Romance
• Favorite Action/Adventure
• Favorite Genfic
• Favorite World-Building
• Favorite Continuity Compliant
• Favorite Alternate Universe

You may choose up to 2 SW and 2 NSWFF stories for each category. Please post the link, the story title, author, and fandom for NSWFF stories. You may also PM @The Golden Yoda with your nominations." He pauses, then adds ominously, "Don't be fooled by the name 'Golden Yoda'. You can't escape the power of the dark side."

The camera pans out to show the audience, listening intently to holo-Vader. There are humans, animals, aliens, droids, and more from countless universes, but a few familiar faces catch Vader's attention.

"What - " he says, looking closer at the row where Anakin Skywalker sits with Padmé, Obi-Wan, and two young children, a blonde boy and a brown-haired girl.

The camera switches back to holo-Vader at the podium, and it's then Vader realizes. This is a different timeline and he's stuck on this version of Mustafar, missing out on the festivities.

Raising his fists, he shouts:

​