diamondpearl876's Nominations

The fic isn't wholly original in the sense that it attempts to tackle Mew and Mewtwo's story, but the way Negrek goes about it is fantastic. The story is about a child who steals other peoples' identities in order to collect the gym badges, win the pokemon league, and rank as a high authority figure so that it may recruit Mewtwo and save Mew from the trouble she's in. The child, whose story is told amazingly in second-person, is impulsive and often makes the wrong decisions, even though it has a guardian figure (Absol) to help. Even the pokemon characters have personality and will make you laugh. If you're interested in a fic that dabbles in a little bit of everything, this is it.

Sidewinder's "Requiem" is a great story filled with a unique mythological basis. The two main characters, Shelton and Dorian, are siblings whose goal is to protect special shards from the same man who killed their uncle Ronnie. For what reason, you don't know. The full story is revealed slowly, chapter by chapter. Meanwhile, the antagonist, Ethan, slowly loses his touch with reality and you can't help but be torn on whose side you should be on. With Requiem's conclusion this year, it basically tears apart your heart and begs you for more. The description is always wonderful, every character plays an important part, and the plot itself is enough to make you wonder why Sidewinder is such a genius.

And here it is, the sequel to "Requiem." Sidewinder took a break from writing and came back with an upgraded writing style. I have no idea how he did it, but the first chapter offers great promise. The first chapter spoils the ending of "Requiem," so I won't describe it here. Read it yourself and absorb its grotesque images, the sad but hopeful characters, and the beginning of a plot that you probably won't be able to predict no matter how hard you try. My only regret about this nomination is that the story wasn't released in July as originally planned, and so there isn't much to go on yet.

The fic originally seems cliche, considering that the main character is Ash and Misty's daughter. This normally isn't my cup of tea, but the fic is too good for me to care. Ash has gone missing in some ancient ruins, which tells me that Hakajin intends to expand on geographical and mythological/historical concepts that are barely touched upon in pokemon fanfiction. Ash's daughter, Satsumi, is unique in the sense that she's ridden down by some unknown physical illness(es). Despite this, she's determined to find her father, and so she begins her journey. What you can anticipate from this fic: anime-style dialogue and battles, a not-so-typical journey fic, lots of characters from different backgrounds, and improvement with every chapter, as Hakajin isn't afraid to take your critiques to heart.

Honestly, if you haven't seen the anime episode that this one-shot centers on, you can still appreciate the description in this. Have you ever felt like your being has been taking over by someone other than yourself? Have you ever felt so much anxiety, you're unable to do anything but focus on breathing? If you have, then you'll find yourself sympathizing with Giovanni in this one-shot. If not, you're able to take a thing or two away from this fic when it comes to writing intense, horrific emotions.

Griff4815 has moved on from pokemon to digimon, but has only improved his writing since. This story's specialties are characterization, dialogue, and pacing. Each of his characters has not only an elaborate personality, but also a backstory to show how his characters came to be that way. Dialogue and pacing go kind of hand in hand, as the easy-to-read dialogue immediately can tell you who's talking without speech tags, and generally makes for a faster read. "A Dragon in Shining Armour" also has a lot of scenes that will both make you cheer and make you weep, because the description is that damn good and so are the emotions.

"Communication" is a combination of barely-used plotlines that really should be used more often. The story starts out with the childhood of Solonn, the main character. Solonn is a wild snorunt who lives in a very, very secluded area. The area is so secluded that Solonn is surprised to see another species (spheal and zubat) when he wanders off one day. He discovers, though, a talent which is neither cliche nor over-powered: the fact that he can copy other peoples' voices AND languages. A glalie from his pack, however, uses him for this talent and eventually gets Solonn caught by a coordinator named Morgan. Solonn's new goal is to participate in contests in exchange for going home, and all the while he's trying to hide his power so that it won't be exploited. Needless to say, things don't go as planned.

Negrek spins Mew and Mewtwo's story in a way I haven't seen before, and the fic doesn't even seem to be anywhere near done. The main character, a child who can steal other peoples' identities, still has so many flaws that prevents that skill from becoming too overpowered or useful. And the way the child can take a dead trainer's pokemon and somehow manage to convert some of them to its side… It takes a certain kind of talent to get away with that. No

Sidewinder writes perfect descriptions without going overboard. Sentences flow nicely and structure is varied. Dialogue is always solid, as you can tell who's talking just by the tone of voice or the words they're using. The plot is revealed slowly, so as to leave you guessing rather than info-dumping in the end.

Admittedly, I haven't read a lot of Knightfall's work. What I have read, however… Let's just say that I literally want to quote everything and make a comment about it. This story particularly shows Knightfall's skill with words. He has great command of the English language. All scenes are vivid, as if he were inside the PMD universe himself when writing this story. Though he goes overboard sometimes, more is always better than too little.

I really cannot think of anyone who can handle anime characters the way The Great Butler can. He stays true to the personalities his characters were originally given and expands them in a way that makes you wish the anime writers could write half as good as he can. He scrutinizes every bit of canon (mythological stories, Team Rocket's minor characters and backgrounds, etc) and takes from it what he can so that his story can be as in-depth and powerful as it can possibly be.

The Great Butler's character cast is so large and yet he handles them with jealousy-inducing ease. Since the cast is so large, it goes without saying that he has to break up each chapter into smaller, individual scenes, but even that doesn't stop him. Every character in every scene is fully explored and serves some sort of purpose toward character development.

Matt and Nekou's relationship is extremely unhealthy, yet you can't help but cheer them on. Both of them are searching for a better purpose in life. Both of them have terrifying pasts that they only feel comfortable sharing with each other. They use each other to make themselves think they have some kind of support system, but as a reader you know that they only serve to make each other more miserable.

This fic is about Giovanni and his reaction to the anime episode in which he tries to steal Meloetta's power using the reveal glass. From what I've seen of Giovanni, he's very smug. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. He won't accept anything less. But in the anime episode, you see him lose a grip of reality just for a moment. Matori takes that moment and expands on it with such grace that it makes you shake your head at the anime writers for wasting such a chance at character development.

Nekou is… a ferocious character, to say the least. She cares about others, but when it comes right down to it, everything revolves around her. She drinks to drown her sorrows. She yells and swears at anyone who gets in her way. She has a terrible past that she'd rather forget, but can't, so she tries to get support from people who are supposed to be her enemies. And to top it all off, she's with her group of friends on an undercover mission, which only adds to her complexity.

Dorian is endearing, though he has his faults. He's a borderline alcohol with quite a mouth on him, and his impulsive tendencies get him into more trouble than you can imagine, but he's determined to get what he wants and that has to be admired. What I especially like about him is that he does things not only for others (his sister, his pokemon, etc), but he also does things for himself. A character who doesn't give up his life/goals/etc just to make another person happy is a favorite character of mine.

…The main character has no name, which makes things confusing at times, but it doesn't distract from the character as a whole. The child would love nothing more than to have a purpose in life–its own purpose, and not one constructed by someone else's life. The child struggles hard to be like someone else for the sake of its goals, but is always brought down by its original personality. When two or more personalities collide, the results are never pretty.

Because "Mr. Ice Beam" as a real name in a fic would just about kill me. Bonus points for this being an important scene towards the plot.

The child's personality shines through here, and it's particularly heartbreaking to see that its team literally just isn't there for it at all. Some are eating, ignoring its distress, and Rats just doesn't show up at all.

This fic really makes it look the end of the world is coming and there's not a thing you can do about it. This quote in particular makes you realize the direness of the situation Knightfall's characters are in.

Olivia's come a long way to be able to say something like that, that's for sure.

I maintain my nomination from last year. For many years I've seen Griff4815 write the longest, craziest stories and he's asked very little in return. He's taken his betas to heart and has only improved with each piece of critique given to him. Congrats to him this year in particular for finishing his first chaptered fic.

Hakajin could easily write paragraph after paragraph on a specific subject if you're looking for some help.

"Sorry for the huge delay in getting to this! Rest assured, it's been on my mind the whole time." That quote from The Great Butler about sums it up. He's been there through most of fics and has reviewed every chapter with great depth.