These are AmericanPi's nominations and comments for the 2015 awards. See all nominations here.
Time and Tide features a rich plot, excellent writing techniques, and memorable, multi-faceted characters.
Shattersoul's first fic features mastery of writing techniques, memorable characters, and many aptly humorous moments.
"Stationary" is an artistic one-shot that deeply affects the reader emotionally without using any dialogue whatsoever, which is a great feat.
"This Is…" is an artistic, reflective, complex, and emotional one-shot that fulfills the FFQ Edition 2 challenge of not using any dialogue.
Time and Tide features a very rich, detailed, complex, and creative plot.
The Curse of Forgotten Time has a dynamic plot that is always moving forward as the protagonist finds out what has happened to him.
Humans of Hoenn has an interesting and offbeat format, but it works like a charm.
Glittering Celestial V combines elements of many different works into an interesting alternate universe where superheroes and game villains collide.
JX Valentine's prose is very detailed and nice to read.
[Imaginative]:[Clockwork] writes with style, reflection, and simplicity.
The descriptions of the desserts were so good, I could almost taste them myself.
JX Valentine describes her scenes and her characters' feelings very well.
Glittering Celestial V takes place in a fun, creative, and interesting alternate universe where characters from many different works collide.
Time and Tide takes place in a richly developed world.
"Exit Interview" excellently and believably addresses the question of what happens to a villainous team after the leader is defeated.
Inspired by Humans of New York, Dramatic Melody uses short vignettes to characterize and shed light upon non-playable characters who are often overlooked.
Though there are only three characters in this one-shot, they are all interesting and characterized well.
Elaine, Chamila, and Oliver are all very well-characterized. They each take solace from their monotonous life with moments of serenity - Elaine with being alone in her office, Chamila with interacting with customers, and Oliver with bonding with his Pokemon.
The five members of the superhero team have a strong, believable friendship with each other.
The mother-daughter relationship between Nida and her mother is very organic and believable.
"Stationary" uses writing techniques such as repetition to effectively convey the anxiety of the protagonist.
The fic takes the reader through a rollercoaster of happy, scary, angry, depressing, and hopeful scenes, and the downer ending really ripped my heart in two.
Most of bobandbill's drabbles are funny, but "A Few Words" effectively broke my heart in just one hundred words.
"Starlight" effectively scares the reader with its graphic description of a Garbodor and the terrifying events the main character goes through.
bobandbill's cute, funny collection of Pokemon-centric drabbles reads like a collection of fun comic strips.
Each of bobandbill's drabbles focuses on a single Pokemon, bringing many different species of Pokemon into a fun spotlight.
"Dessert Course" focuses on Wally and an off-screen experience that shapes who he is.
Avice has a strong, compelling narrative voice and an interesting story to tell.
Chamila is a sweet, friendly young woman who is well-characterized in the space of a one-shot.
Nalna is a very interesting and well-written villain - her twisted behavior, which entails luring humans to her mansion to gleefully watch them suffer, makes her memorable.
Ash is so dense that he can't even figure out how to use a ThunderStone. Then he collapses under the weight of his newly evolved Raichu. What a dweeb. :D
"O." "O?" "O." "Oh." "O." That exchange between O and Wally says it all. O is a spritely, quirky, and all-around amusing character.
<Enter,> She said.Henry’s mind skipped a beat. Then he nodded, and without a word, he stepped into the sparkling void.As soon as he was past the threshold, the hall outside vanished. There was only star-studded blackness where the doors should have been. Whatever unseen floor lay beneath his feet disappeared next—the sky now surrounded him from all sides—but he didn’t fall. He hung in midair, cradled by Her power as She rose to meet his gaze.<So,> She said. <You’ve barely arrived, and already you’ve managed to disappoint me.>Henry’s mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. Distantly, he realized he wasn’t breathing, and apparently no longer needed to. But first and foremost in his thoughts were Her words, echoing in his mind. His heart seemed to turn to stone inside him. No…<I cast my sentries in the form of carrion birds to unnerve you,> She elaborated. <I conjured the foulest creature I could imagine to disgust you. I intended you to crawl up those stairs. To collapse before you ever reached me. And yet you refused to break down, refused to cry out, refused to give me anything I wanted.>He stared through wild, bulging eyes, desperate to assure Her that yes, yes he could suffer for Her, yes he could stop holding back and let any further misery show, if only She’d give him another chance. But he couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. Didn’t need to.Until She lay Her hands upon him.Suddenly his lungs burned in their emptiness. Suddenly his tears dried away, and he flailed helplessly in the air-that-wasn’t, reaching out to Her with swollen hands. But She drifted back out of reach, Her form still crystal clear as the stars dimmed all around him.<I should have known,> he thought he heard, before it all went black and he knew no more. <I should have known you’d only bore me.>
Nalna's disapproval of Henry is so bone-chilling because how can anyone can have such horrible logic? Eesh.
In front of you, the growlithe sits back down. Its tongue hangs out of the corner of its mouth, and its eyes sparkle at you like you’re God. You look up, back towards the desolate city. The townsfolk are waiting for you. They need you to come back. They need something to hope for.If you say a pokémon isn’t infected, then it’s not infected as far as they know.But that’s not good enough for you. And it’s not good enough for you because it wasn’t good enough for her.So you put the muzzle of your rifle to the growlithe’s forehead and pull the trigger.
This scene, after the fic takes the reader through happy, scary, angry, depressing, and hopeful scenes, really ripped my heart in two.
The sun was setting as the Pokémon Fan Club Chairman gazed toward his Pokémon. He murmured the words to his friend, the same he had told so many times before, to the visitors to his club, and his friends who had heard the description a myriad of times. The words washed together. His cherished Rapidash heard how it was…cute… lovely… smart… adorable… irresistible… plus… amazing… (Don’t you think so? he thought.) Oh, so… wild… beautiful… kind… (I love you.) Warm and cuddly… spectacular…captivating…simply divine… I treasure you… (I’ll always treasure you.)The man smiled, patted the tombstone and ambled away.
With just 100 words, bobandbill effectively writes a drabble that makes you feel sorry for the Pokemon Fan Club chairman and feels like a punch to the heart.
The battle is very well written. All five members of the superhero team use their unique skills and work together to defeat Bowser and his castle.
I found that exchange between O and Wally to be quite funny, for obvious reasons.
"I understand. I miss the old world. The world where I didn't have to hide. The world before I was considered a monster." - Nil
This quote really hit me right in the feels and made me very curious as to what exactly happened to the "old world".
Having been writing for a long time, Sike Saner is experienced and creates interesting stories.
JX Valentine writes with experience, technique, and artistry.
Shattersoul's first fic, The Curse of Forgotten Time, is an interesting twist on the journey fic.
Shattersoul updates The Curse of Forgotten Time quickly and regularly.
Spiteful Murkrow makes regular updates on Fledglings.
An experienced writer and reviewer, Psychic is very helpful in that she is friendly, willing to answer questions, and detailed in giving advice.
As an experienced writer, Dramatic Melody always gets to the point in suggesting what in a story needs work.
Negrek not only got back to me multiple times; she also took the time to give a good amount of advice on how to improve my stories.
[Imaginative]:[Clockwork] is a very active and dedicated reviewer who has reviewed many stories.