What are the Skiffy Awards?
The Skiffys are awards for the best fan fiction which is character specific. If ever you've tried looking for the very best Sheppard Hurt/Comfort tale or the best Jack O'Neill romance, look no further than here.
Who runs the Skiffy Awards?
Currently, I (BiteMeTechie) am all the staff we've got. Thus, you should be absolutely astounded that I manage to keep this award on time and on track.
Why did you start the Skiffy Awards?
Frankly, I'm an impatient person. I got tired of waiting around for the Stargate Fan Awards to announce nominees/winners. They didn't stick to their schedule and that rubs me the wrong way. There are hundreds of people kept on tenterhooks when they do things like that. As a result, I started the Skiffys and have vowed to stick to my schedule religiously. The only exception to this is when we extend the nomination deadline--but never beyond the pre-determined date for announcing the nominees. Unless I lose a limb or croak, you can always count on the Skiffys to be punctual.
Also, there's no fanfic award that embraces all the Sci-Fi fandoms that we love so well or that focuses on all our favorite characters. There should be. Thus, there's us.
Can I nominate Works In Progress?
Yes you may, but remember that the more of a story there is, the more likely someone is to read it.
Can I nominate my own work?
Yes you may, but for the love of S'mores, don't nominate everything you've ever written. That's just bad form. If you want to nominate your own stuff, limit yourself to three works. Not three works in every category, three works total. I know you're probably a genius and you want everyone to know it, but babe, so am I. That doesn't mean I'm nominating upwards of a hundred works just 'cause I'm that damn awesome.
Can I nominate you?
You may, but at my discretion I may decide not to participate, depending on whether or not we need more nominees to fill up a category.
Can you explain the categories a little bit?
Sure I can, I have nothing but time.
Action/Adventure: This category should be pretty self explanatory. Fiction that contains action and/or adventure belongs in this group. Think of something like stories of King Arthur’s court, Indiana Jones, daring deeds, that sort of thing is classified as Action/Adventure.
Angst: Angst is defined by the amount of torture any particular character is put through in the story at hand. Sweet stories that give you a case of the warm fuzzies don’t belong here. If I were to point out a film that I would classify as angst, I would probably pick out something like Dangerous Liasions, because watching the end of that makes me feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. Angst stories often deal with serious themes like death, torture, and suicide. The characters involved are usually very depressed and all around miserable. Yeah…they’re a barrel of laughs.
Drama: Drama, in my opinion, is a step down from the extremes of angst. Just like any film labeled ‘Drama’, stories that are in this category tend to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.
Friendship: Friendship stories focus on, guess what? Friendship.
General: General is anything that doesn't fit into the other categories, really.
Horror: Horror is my favorite genre to read. Anything that gives me chills up my spine, anything that makes me a little bit more paranoid about my surroundings while reading it, is like a mini shot of adrenaline. Horror isn’t only defined by gross out blood, guts and gore (though those are fun) it can also be very cerebral and almost like high art if done well.
Humor: Unless you’ve been living under a rock your whole life, there’s a pretty good chance you know what humor is. Humor is that magical, unpeggable thing that makes you giggle, laugh or guffaw insanely.
Hurt/Comfort: This refers to stories where one character is injured (physically, emotionally, it doesn’t matter which) and another character offers comfort to them. Hence ‘Hurt/Comfort’.
Romance: This is another genre that should be pretty self explanatory. Any story where romance serves as the central theme is automatically classified as such. Now don’t confuse ‘trashy’ romance novels as being the only sort of romance out there in the world of writing. There’s more to it than that. Romance has as many sub-genres as humor does, from erotica to romantic comedy.
When it comes to choosing a character when nominating a story--let's take a sparky story as an example--would Sheppard or Weir be considered the main character?
Either or. It's up to the person nominating to decide which they'd rather have it categorized under.
But it can only be submitted under one character name? I.E, you can't submit it twice under both character categories?
You can submit it under both, just don't use the word 'or'. I don't have time to decide for you. Pick one, pick both, but don't make it multiple choice.
Is there a rating limit (no graphic sex) or taboo (no rape, incest, etc)?
There is no rating limit--but M or NC-17 fics will be specified as such in the listing of nominees so that people who don't want a lemony surprise don't have to read them. Rape for tittilation or incest, as well as other squick-worthy things (golden showers, beastiality, etc.) is not allowed. You should see the rules page for more in-depth information.
If a reader's level preference is going to affect what fics they read, won't it affect what fics they vote for?
There's no real way to control who reads what and there's no guarantee that everyone will read every fic in the awards. Chances are they'll vote for the character categories that they themselves care the most about--so if nobody likes Radek Zelenka this year, his stories will be in vote-related trouble. However, I can't force anyone to read the fics in his categories, the same way I can't force anyone to read fics that aren't rated to their liking. Like it or lump it, that's the way it works.
So sex-capade fics will run alongside sweet romance? And nitty gritty guts-in-your-face fics will run alongsidge general violence?
Ratings will be given next to the story title; that's as far as it goes. It'll work the same way ff.net does. It's up to those voting to choose what rating levels they're comfortable reading.
This is a little obvious, but to what capacity are original or real life characters allowed?
We're going to be lenient with original fiction characters--but if a story is original character centric, it should be nominated under the 'Other' character category. Real Person Fic is not allowed because the awards are meant to be character specific; not actor specific.
Is there any limit on how many times someone can nominate stuff?
You may nominate any given story once. Flooding our inbox with nominations for the same story again and again will not make us happy and if you do it, we will ignore your nominations completely. I might even go so far as to make an unkind comparison between you and an ill-mannered barn animal. In short: Don't do it.
Any limit on how old/new the story can be?
No. This is for the best out there--it doesn't matter how old it is, it's quality in your eyes that counts.
Can I nominate a story that was already nominated in a round of the Skiffy Awards?
If it was nominated and didn't win an award (this counts for first place and second/honorable mention) you may. Otherwise, no.
If you have a question that's not on the list and you'd like it answered, please e-mail the staff at skiffy_awards@yahoo.com