Get the red carpet out, ladies and gentlemen, because here's the moment all the competitors have been waiting for; the Special Awards!
For those of you who haven't come across this before, the Special Awards are our way of honouring exceptional performances that didn't necessarily get through to the final. Occasionally we have had winners who got knocked out in the first round. A competition is more than just the winner (and the runners-up) and in these Awards we'll shine a spotlight on those who we think deserve more recognition, whether that's for an amazing entry, a thought-provoking quote or just for being the first to sign up!
So, without further ado, let's get the paparazzi primed and the champagne flowing, and let's announce our Special Awards winners!
Cheesy acceptance speeches are encouraged.
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Best Entry
One of our regular Special Awards, it also happens to be the hardest one to judge. With so many brilliant competitors, picking out one entry for note has always been difficult. However, it was managed. The entry that we chose wasn't necessarily the most stylish or the most breath-taking, but the amount of thought that went into the ideas and the characterisation and the way it engaged with the concept of a revolution itself made it an entry that we felt we had to credit.
Honourable Mentions: Iliana Noble - The Hostage, Vibbius Cretore - The Crescendo, Enoch Torrence - The Citizen
Winner: Canary Thicket - The Search
Best Quote
Okay, we lied. This is the hardest one to judge. With so many to pick from, choosing just one quote can seem like an impossible task. We'd also like to list the huge number of awesome references that our competitors make; featuring in this competition were The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Game of Thrones and even Frozen, as well as many more that were probably missed! But sadly, although they're always entertaining, we simply don't have the time and the space.
This competition's Best Quote speaks for itself:
Winner: 'Let me ask you something. Who is the real enemy here?' ~ Canary Thicket (spoken by Vibbius Cretore), The Search
Dark Horse
The Dark Horse award is for the person who we think went above and beyond expectations. They may not be one of the standout competitors but they always show the ability to surprise us with a series of consistently good entries. We keep expecting them to falter and be knocked out...and they just keep going. Our winner was somebody who scored middling in the auditions but who was still in the competition when all those in a similar position had fallen.
Honourable Mention: Peter Steele
Winner: Auriel DeFarro
Most Original Character
Every competition sees between twenty and twenty eight new characters for us to enjoy watching. This award honours our favourites. These are not the characters with the endless depressing backstories (you know who you are!), or the characters who are the most unusual, or the characters who do the best. They're the characters who felt real to us, who felt as though a great deal of thought had gone into writing them, and who, frankly, we'd quite like to go for a drink with.
There were two main nominations for this. One, though not strictly an original character, was an intelligent and inspired choice which amused all of the Gamemakers, and whose characterisation was strong throughout. Of all the people with a motive to bring down the Capitol, theirs was strongest and it showed. The second was similar, a refreshing change from a group of tragedy-hit almost-teenagers with feisty attitudes and fiery determination. Every rebellion needs a gung-ho middle aged weapon smuggler with hidden philosophical tendencies and a sense of humour. If they don't have one already, they should get one now. They weren't perfect and they weren't fiesty, but they were likeable and believeable and that is what won them this award.
Winners: Enoch Torrence (CrocodileRocker) and Vibbius Cretore (HeadOnJackwards)
Crowd Favourite
The Crowd Favourite award goes to the character who the public loved so much that they continually voted for them to continue. Openly defying the Gamemakers, they drop into the bottom places only to be saved by the voters once again. It's not easy to appeal to a wide audience, but these characters manage it.
Honourable Mention: Adrian Pylon (PrettyInPaleBlue)
Winner: Alana Grey (ThisIsNotSparta)
Best Newbie
As most of you will be aware, Author_Games enjoys a core of veteran competitors to whom we are eternally grateful. However, we're as much about the fresh meat and this award honours those who entered one of our competitions for the first time and absolutely blew our socks off. Age of Rebellion saw record numbers of newbie competitors, and boy were they impressive. However, a few really stood out for their flair, style and ingenuity. These are definitely writers to watch!
Honourable Mentions: __Nevermore__ (Briar Denmark), Ryusaki_Mai (Daniel Henderson), CaptainHellYeah (Laurence Soye)
Winner: PrettyInPaleBlue (Adrian Pylon)
Eager Beaver
Always a hotly-contested award. The Eager Beaver award goes to the person who was first to sign up - and trust us, that's no mean feat. Maybe they happened to refresh the homepage at exactly the right time. Maybe they were lying in wait, pressing F5 constantly once 10PM came around. We don't know. What we do know is that there was only twenty seconds between the audition sign-up being posted and this first competitor posting their name and pass-code, and that deserves an award in itself.
What makes this winner even more special is that she then went on to be the last to hand in on more occasions that anybody else, also making her the recipient of the Best Procrastinator award. Be proud - if you dare.
Winner: hashtagging
Biggest Pain in the Backside
A new award, and rest assured that it is a joke (before anybody starts getting offended). This award goes to the user who has caused the most chaos behind the scenes, whether that's by handing in at the last possible moment every single time, constantly messaging us with silly questions, or simply requesting special dispensations in a competition where each task is voted on by the public and therefore cannot be released beforehand. However, our winner managed to combine two of those, deliberately setting a new record for handing-in-a-final-before-the-deadline (39 seconds before, to be precise) and throwing himself on our mercy in order to write a task for which he wasn't actually here.
As all Gamemakers will know, there's always one. And no competition would ever be complete without them. For that, they deserve recognition.
Honourable Mentions: hashtagging (consistently handing in in the last few hours), AnderaGNovak (ditto)
Winner: HeadOnJackwards
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That's it for the Special Awards ceremony! Tune in this time tomorrow for the announcement of the winner of Author_Games: Age of Rebellion. And remember, there's still twenty four hours left to vote!
May the odds be ever in your favour,
~ The Gamemakers
President and Head Gamemaker Alithia Warwell (RobotsWillCry)
Vice President Pandora Kleio (_justcloseyoureyes)
Elpis Regnum (GhostOfTheIceberg)
Kalea Farris (Oh_Nostalgia)