Yahoo Forum Archive

Check Ballots for Main Category Books/Time: Gap-Filler

Olorin I Was, Olorin I Am (137): Arquen
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Gandalf's journey after death.

Pippin the Troll Slayer (832): Auntiemeesh
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
We all know Pippin was crushed by the troll he killed during the battle at
the Black Gate, but what happened to him in the two weeks before Tolkien
resumed the story? This is a companion piece to 'A New Kind of Courage.'

Long Leagues for Little Legs (628): Fadagaski
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
On a cold night as the Fellowship journeys south, Samwise has a few pleading
words with Boromir.

Dusk-singer (702): illyria-pffyffin
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
The road from Weathertop to Rivendell is tortuous and full of torment, but
help comes to The Ring-bearer from sources unexpected.

No Stain (1281): lilybaggins
PG, Reason for Rating: mild slash
Romance Partners: Frodo/Boromir
It's Gondor's day for lovers while the Fellowship is in Lothlorien.

Something to Do before the End (753): Lindelea
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Pippin has taken on his troll and afterwards is visited by an old friend,
demonstrating that the bonds of love are unbreakable.

Just in Case (477): Marnie
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Galadriel's temptation by the One Ring is well known, but what of Celeborn?
What did its arrival in his land mean to him?

Sam's Gift (955): Marta
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Galadriel gave Sam a box of dirt from her garden. But what gift did Sam give
to Galadriel?

Forgotten Casualty (591): Thundera Tiger
PG, Reason for Rating: Death
Romance Partners: n/a
Set during the third chapter of FOTR ("Three is Company"), this story takes
a look at a character that had a few thoughts but then vanished completely
from the story. And now, thanks to he magic of fanfiction, we know why he
vanished...

While the Ring went south... (33): Thundera Tiger
PG, Reason for Rating: Some violence.
Romance Partners: N/A
What happened after the Fellowship left Rivendell but before they came down
off Caradhras? Behold the missing scenes.

Making Verses (611): Zimraphel
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
What the Elves really thought of Bilbo's Earendil poem. A humorous vignette.



SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Drabble

Mae Govannen (148): Azalais
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Glorfindel challenges the Nazgul at the Fords of Bruinen, and Aragorn is
*very* glad to see him.

Bed Time (1248): Blackbirdsong
G, Reason for Rating: Mild suggestion of possible slash
Romance Partners: Frodo/Sam
Four drabbles centered around Hobbits going to bed, this time near the
Party.

Charity (234): Dwimordene
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
The Grey Company mourns at Halbarad's pyre.

Beyond the Door (283): ErinRua
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Halbarad and Aragorn talk before the doors of the Paths of the Dead.

Boys to Men (286): ErinRua
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Beregond decides to let Bergil stay in Minas Tirith.

Test, The (385): Forodwaith
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Arwen is tempted by the Ring.

Going to Rohan (401): Gwynnyd
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
An OC dunadan prepares to take Aragorn's horse Roheryn to join Aragorn in
Rohan.

Second Watch (410): Gwynnyd
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Pippin and Boromir have a conversation on the trek through Moria.

Ties That Bind (457): LadyAranel
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Legolas and Aragorn talk just after Gandalf's fall in Moria.

At the Witch King's Feet (459): Lindelea
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Merry comes to Éowyn's aid at the Battle of the Pelennor.

Before the Call to Muster (461): Lindelea
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
While waiting for the call to muster the army of the West, Merry and Pippin
share a last cup of tea.

Devil of Kindness (685): Nancy Brooke
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
"I myself dared pass the doors of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur and explored
his ways, [but] Saruman disuaded us from open deeds against him."

In Bree (1345): Rabidsamfan
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Frodo watches his friends sleep in Bree.

A Step in The Dark (1221): SilverMoonLady
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
It was a dark and dangerous path through Moria…

No Rival (544): Tanaqui
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
A pair of linked drabbles: the first meeting of Arwen and Éowyn, from each
of their perspectives.

Wise Enough (552): Tanaqui
PG-13, Reason for Rating: adult themes
Romance Partners: n/a
Faramir is tempted to take the Ring from Frodo.

Master of the House (639): Vistula the Dunadan
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Sam watches over Frodo in Rivendell



SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Drama

Of Fish and Feverish Hobbits (1180): Anso the Hobbit
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Merry falls ill in Hollin, and the Fellowship all pull together to save his
life.

Walk Warily (1175): Anso the Hobbit/Marigold CoAuthors
PG, Reason for Rating: PG for mild descriptions of injuries.
Romance Partners: n/a
Merry and Pippin search for food in Isengard, and that can be perilous when
you are walking on treacherous ground.

At the Sammath Naur (126): Aratlithiel
PG, Reason for Rating: Dark themes.
Romance Partners: N/A
Frodo claims the Ring.

To keep you from harm (912): Cuthalion
PG, Reason for Rating: angst, difficult parent/child-relationship
Romance Partners: N/A
This short tale tells how Boromir dealt with his father's feelings towards
his younger brother... and who really dreamt the ominous dream which brought
him to Rivendell...

Fellowship (396): Gwynnyd
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Aragorn asks Legolas to join the Fellowship.

Not Without Hope (48): Gwynnyd
PG, Reason for Rating: Some adult themes
Romance Partners: Arathorn, Gilraen
Hiding a vulnerable princeling from enemy eyes and concealing his identity
until he's grown are certainly the stuff of legends. But even if the legend
is true, it probably does not tell the whole story. Would Gilraen have
preferred to raise Aragorn as his father's son and not hidden his identity?
Would Elrond expect Aragorn's mother to come with him to Rivendell, or would
he believe it easier to hide the boy from Sauron's eye if she lived
elsewhere? That they ended up together in Rivendell, and that Aragorn's
identity was successfully concealed, is fact. But how?

Cheery Letters From Bree (1094): Lulleny
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
While staying at The Prancing Pony, Merry considers writing a letter to his
parents.

Warring Duties (806): Pipwise Brandygin
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
How did Pippin and Gandalf know that Merry had been riding with the
Rohirrim? Who told them he actually had disobeyed Theoden’s order? Was the
wounding of Merry and Eowyn, and the death of Theoden, the "something
grievous" Gandalf *saw* on the battlefield from the citadel?

In the Keeping of the King (1107): Shirebound
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Frodo awakens at Cormallen to discover that Gandalf is still alive... and so
is he. With Frodo caught between joy and shock, Aragorn and Gandalf ponder
what has been won - and what may have been lost. (Mostly angst, but
lighthearted hobbity resilience shines through it all.)

Currents (1008): Thundera Tiger
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
A missing scene vignette featuring Frodo and his wandering thoughts as the
Fellowship travels down the Anduin. Frodo is the only true participant in
this story, but his musings cover a lot of territory.



SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Grey Company

Riders from Erech, The (325): Acacea
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
The advent of the Grey Company upon the battle in Linhir adds to the terror
of the second dawnless day.

The Paths of the Dead (999): alex_cat_45
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
The story of the Grey Company's journey through the Paths of the Dead from
the POV of one of the dead.

The Days Now Are Short (1042): Anoriath
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
What drove the Grey Company to cross over into Rohan from their familiar
lands and obligations? A ficlet from Halbarad's point of view.

Weeping Iron Tears (338): ErinRua
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Aragorn remembers his kinsman Halbarad, who fell in battle upon the Pelennor
Field. Semi-companion to "Among the Fields of Green" (but can be read
independently).

Halbarad (341): Fileg
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Halbarad bears the standard of the king on the Paths of the Dead.

Gathering of the Grey Company (171): Leaward
PG, Reason for Rating: implied violence
Romance Partners: n/a
Halbarad must gather the Dunedain of the North that will accompany him to
Rohan as they ride to Aragorn's aid.

Envinyatar (520): Starlight
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
The Grey Company sails up the Anduin.



SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Hobbits

The Diary of Frodo Baggins (1243): aelfgifuemma
PG, Reason for Rating: themes of death
Romance Partners: N/A
Frodo, age 12, recounts his experiences the first few years following his
parents’ deaths.

Lightness (1230): Dana
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Merry wonders if Pippin will ever wake up...

To Water the Dust (77): Eruanna
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
The tale of that last trickle of sweet rain ill-fated to fall upon the walls
of the Black Land, and how it changed the fortunes of two little hobbits and
all of Middle-earth. Because there is rarely any such thing as a
coincidence.

Hand in Hand (888): illyria-pffyffin
PG-13, Reason for Rating: very angsty (parental death)
Romance Partners: N/A
After the death of Drogo and Primula Baggins Bilbo sees Frodo at the funeral
and does his best to offer comfort and love.

Prayer (887): illyria-pffyffin
G, Reason for Rating: angst, but not too hurtfully done
Romance Partners: N/A
Merry sits beside Frodo's bed in Ithilien. His cousin seems to lose the
fight against death, and Merry seeks help where he never did before.

Good Memories, Like Good Stories (906): Jeodo Brandybuck
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Canon; During the quest, Pippin begins his search for courage.

Reunion at Isengard (515): Shirebound
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Merry and Pippin's reaction after Gandalf has come and gone from Isengard. A
gentle, lighthearted look at the aftermath of this unexpected reunion.

The Comfort of Good Friends (626): SilverMoonLady
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
On that last night in Crickhollow before leaving on the Quest, what did some
or all of the Conspirators talk about after Frodo went to bed? Would Merry
have some more questions about the Black Riders and be more worried about
Pippin going along and about the Quest in general?

Foolish Hobbit (120): Tialys
G, Reason for Rating: NA
Romance Partners: NA
Sam accompanied Frodo on his journey as a 'punishment' from Gandalf, but
Frodo knew the perils they would be facing. Did he object? Book-verse.



SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: War of the Ring

Captain's Last Charge, The (81): AmandaK
PG, Reason for Rating: PG for theme.
Romance Partners: N/A
Faramir prepares to do his father's bidding and retake Osgiliath for Gondor.

Sunshine and Laughter (1232): Anastasia
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
Gandalf tries to soothe Pippin's nightmares in Minas Tirith....

For the Common Man (661): Anoriath
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Just what *did* happen to the cock that crowed the break of the siege of
Minas Tirith?

Payment Put Off (1038): pippinfan88
G, Reason for Rating: N/A
Romance Partners: N/A
From the battle at the Black Gate, a young spirit approaches the Grey
Curtain.

One Who Ran (1197): thevina_finduilas
G, Reason for Rating: n/a
Romance Partners: n/a
Inspired by some throwaway lines in 'The Black Gate Opens.' A short vignette
about one of the nameless lost during the last days of the War of the Ring.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On 7 Jun 2005, at 00:09, Ainaechoiriel wrote:

> Check Ballots for Main Category Books/Time: Gap-Filler
>
> SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Drabble
>
> Mae Govannen (148): Azalais
> G, Reason for Rating: N/A
> Romance Partners: N/A
> Glorfindel challenges the Nazgul at the Fords of Bruinen, and Aragorn
> is
> *very* glad to see him.
>

The link on this story points to all of Azalais' drabble. A more direct
link is:

http://www.tolkienfanfiction.com/Story_Read_Chapter.php?
CHid=1123&PHPSESSID=81bbdff5479eba252b785634d85ebade

> Bed Time (1248): Blackbirdsong
> G, Reason for Rating: Mild suggestion of possible slash
> Romance Partners: Frodo/Sam
> Four drabbles centered around Hobbits going to bed, this time near the
> Party.
>

I'm not sure, but should this have a reason for rating? I think the
instructions at the nominations site say we should enter "n/a" for G,
and the fact that it's slash is covered in the pairing.

Also, according tot he site the title of this piece is "Bed Time, Part
2". I think there are two drabble series by the same name.

> Beyond the Door (283): ErinRua
> G, Reason for Rating: n/a
> Romance Partners: n/a
> Halbarad and Aragorn talk before the doors of the Paths of the Dead.
>

The link on this one points to a page of several drabbles. Do you need
to mention that you should scroll down to reach the drabble?

> At the Witch King's Feet (459): Lindelea
> G, Reason for Rating: n/a
> Romance Partners: n/a
> Merry comes to Éowyn's aid at the Battle of the Pelennor.
>

Should this be "the Battle of the Pelennor Fields"? That's the title of
the chapter in ROTK.

Also, a more direct link is:

http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?sid=371&cid=2706

> Before the Call to Muster (461): Lindelea
> G, Reason for Rating: n/a
> Romance Partners: n/a
> While waiting for the call to muster the army of the West, Merry and
> Pippin
> share a last cup of tea.
>

A more direct link is:

http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?sid=371&cid=8009

> Devil of Kindness (685): Nancy Brooke
> G, Reason for Rating: N/A
> Romance Partners: N/A
> "I myself dared pass the doors of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur and
> explored
> his ways, [but] Saruman disuaded us from open deeds against him."
>

Should this quote have an attribution? IIRC, it's from "An Unexpected
Party", _The Hobbit_

Also, according to the website it's rated PG.

> In Bree (1345): Rabidsamfan
> G, Reason for Rating: N/A
> Romance Partners: N/A
> Frodo watches his friends sleep in Bree.
>
> SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Drama
>
> At the Sammath Naur (126): Aratlithiel
> PG, Reason for Rating: Dark themes.
> Romance Partners: N/A
> Frodo claims the Ring.
>

Delete period after "Dark themes"?

> SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Hobbits
>
> Hand in Hand (888): illyria-pffyffin
> PG-13, Reason for Rating: very angsty (parental death)
> Romance Partners: N/A
> After the death of Drogo and Primula Baggins Bilbo sees Frodo at the
> funeral
> and does his best to offer comfort and love.
>

To make this read more clearly, maybe: "and Primula Baggins, Bilbo sees
Frodo"?

> Prayer (887): illyria-pffyffin
> G, Reason for Rating: angst, but not too hurtfully done
> Romance Partners: N/A
> Merry sits beside Frodo's bed in Ithilien. His cousin seems to lose
> the
> fight against death, and Merry seeks help where he never did before.
>

I'm not sure of the rating at this one. I think the website says
G-rated stories should have n/a for their rating reason, but if you
think it helpful maybe we should leave this in.

> SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: War of the Ring
>
> Captain's Last Charge, The (81): AmandaK
> PG, Reason for Rating: PG for theme.
> Romance Partners: N/A
> Faramir prepares to do his father's bidding and retake Osgiliath for
> Gondor.
>

This story is movieverse, and one of the category choices is actually
"Movieverse". Should the summary be edited to reflect this. (Many
readers may not expect it otherwise.)

> One Who Ran (1197): thevina_finduilas
> G, Reason for Rating: n/a
> Romance Partners: n/a
> Inspired by some throwaway lines in 'The Black Gate Opens.' A short
> vignette
> about one of the nameless lost during the last days of the War of the
> Ring.
>

"The Black Gate Opens" is a chapter of ROTK. Should this be mentioned?
I.e., "by some throwaway lines in "The Black Gate Opens" (in The Return
of the King)."?

> Marta

> *****

Home is where you hang your @.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Marta Layton <melayton@g...> wrote:

> On 7 Jun 2005, at 00:09, Ainaechoiriel wrote:
>
>> Check Ballots for Main Category Books/Time: Gap-Filler

<snip>

>> Bed Time (1248): Blackbirdsong
>> G, Reason for Rating: Mild suggestion of possible slash
>> Romance Partners: Frodo/Sam
>> Four drabbles centered around Hobbits going to bed, this time near
>> the Party.
>>
>
> I'm not sure, but should this have a reason for rating? I think the
> instructions at the nominations site say we should enter "n/a" for
> G, and the fact that it's slash is covered in the pairing.
>
> Also, according tot he site the title of this piece is "Bed Time,
> Part 2. I think there are two drabble series by the same name.

Liaison Notes: Thank you for letting me know. What I see in the
nomination looks all right, except that I would change the "Reason for
rating" from "Mild sexual situation" to "mild suggestion of possible
slash". The scene involved really isn't a sexual situation, and I was
very over-cautious when rating it. Apart from that, the only thing I
worry about is its overall classification of type, given that it's
four related drabbles depicting different scenes. I really am unsure
of how else to classify it under MEFA's system, so as long as you
think it's all right to leave it as it is, I'm all right with it.
Liaison suggestion: What we have is the story type Drabble, but
instead of a true drabble (100 words) for length we can select drabble
series. A drabble series is a series of related 100-word drabbles.
Author reply: I remembered after I wrote you that it was originally
rated G and that I had changed it to a U (Universal) a while back in
order to avoid problems with the MPAA. It looks as though the person
who recommended it gave it a PG rating and might have mistaken a
comforting kiss (not on the mouth) between Frodo and Sam as a sexual
situation. Could you change the rating back to G, if it would not
offend your audience? I like very much the idea of submitting this as
a drabble series, as that is how I had written and described it
elsewhere. I had not seen the other submissions, and am glad to know
that that is possible. Everything else seems fine. Thank you very much.

Rhapsody

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Marta Layton
> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 12:37 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Books/Time: Gap-Filler, Check Ballot #1
>
>
> On 7 Jun 2005, at 00:09, Ainaechoiriel wrote:
>
> > Check Ballots for Main Category Books/Time: Gap-Filler
> >
> > SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Drabble
> >
> > Mae Govannen (148): Azalais
> > G, Reason for Rating: N/A

>
> The link on this story points to all of Azalais' drabble. A
> more direct
> link is:
>
> http://www.tolkienfanfiction.com/Story_Read_Chapter.php?
> CHid=1123&PHPSESSID=81bbdff5479eba252b785634d85ebade

Thanks. Fixed it.

> > Bed Time (1248): Blackbirdsong
> > G, Reason for Rating: Mild suggestion of possible slash
> > Romance Partners: Frodo/Sam
> > Four drabbles centered around Hobbits going to bed, this
> time near the
> > Party.
> >
>
> I'm not sure, but should this have a reason for rating? I think the
> instructions at the nominations site say we should enter
> "n/a" for G,
> and the fact that it's slash is covered in the pairing.

I look at it this way: It's required for what's above G. It's optional for
G.

>
> Also, according tot he site the title of this piece is "Bed
> Time, Part
> 2". I think there are two drabble series by the same name.

I changed the title.

>
> > Beyond the Door (283): ErinRua

>
> The link on this one points to a page of several drabbles. Do
> you need
> to mention that you should scroll down to reach the drabble?

Added that to the summary.

>
> > At the Witch King's Feet (459): Lindelea
> > G, Reason for Rating: n/a
> > Romance Partners: n/a
> > Merry comes to Éowyn's aid at the Battle of the Pelennor.
> >
>
> Should this be "the Battle of the Pelennor Fields"? That's
> the title of
> the chapter in ROTK.

Author approved the sumary as is. Not our responsibility

> Also, a more direct link is:
>
> http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?sid=371&cid=2706

Got it. Thanks.

>
> > Before the Call to Muster (461): Lindelea
>
> A more direct link is:
>
> http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?sid=371&cid=8009

Got it. Thanks.

>
> > Devil of Kindness (685): Nancy Brooke
> > G, Reason for Rating: N/A
> > Romance Partners: N/A
> > "I myself dared pass the doors of the Necromancer in Dol
> Guldur and
> > explored
> > his ways, [but] Saruman disuaded us from open deeds against him."
> >
>
> Should this quote have an attribution? IIRC, it's from "An
> Unexpected
> Party", _The Hobbit_

In this case, I did change the summary. Just added the reference.

>
> Also, according to the website it's rated PG.

Author approved it here as G. If they had approved an X or NC17 as R we
would have had a reason to change it, but from G to PG, I'm not going to
bother policing it.

> >
> > At the Sammath Naur (126): Aratlithiel
> > PG, Reason for Rating: Dark themes.
> > Romance Partners: N/A
> > Frodo claims the Ring.
> >
>
> Delete period after "Dark themes"?

No, we needn't be that picky. I'm not going to fix typos in summaries or
missed capitalization in titles this year either.

>
> > SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Hobbits
> >
> > Hand in Hand (888): illyria-pffyffin
> > PG-13, Reason for Rating: very angsty (parental death)
> > Romance Partners: N/A
> > After the death of Drogo and Primula Baggins Bilbo sees
> Frodo at the
> > funeral
> > and does his best to offer comfort and love.
> >
>
> To make this read more clearly, maybe: "and Primula Baggins,
> Bilbo sees
> Frodo"?

Author approved the summary as is. That was their responsibility.

>
> > Prayer (887): illyria-pffyffin
> > G, Reason for Rating: angst, but not too hurtfully done
> > Romance Partners: N/A
> > Merry sits beside Frodo's bed in Ithilien. His cousin
> seems to lose
> > the
> > fight against death, and Merry seeks help where he never
> did before.
> >
>
> I'm not sure of the rating at this one. I think the website says
> G-rated stories should have n/a for their rating reason, but if you
> think it helpful maybe we should leave this in.

It's optional for G.

>
> > SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: War of the Ring
> >
> > Captain's Last Charge, The (81): AmandaK
> > PG, Reason for Rating: PG for theme.
> > Romance Partners: N/A
> > Faramir prepares to do his father's bidding and retake
> Osgiliath for
> > Gondor.
> >
>
> This story is movieverse, and one of the category choices is
> actually
> "Movieverse". Should the summary be edited to reflect this. (Many
> readers may not expect it otherwise.)

Author's responsibility. Not ours.

>
> > One Who Ran (1197): thevina_finduilas
> > G, Reason for Rating: n/a
> > Romance Partners: n/a
> > Inspired by some throwaway lines in 'The Black Gate
> Opens.' A short
> > vignette
> > about one of the nameless lost during the last days of the
> War of the
> > Ring.
> >
>
> "The Black Gate Opens" is a chapter of ROTK. Should this be
> mentioned?
> I.e., "by some throwaway lines in "The Black Gate Opens" (in
> The Return
> of the King)."?

I think readers familiar with these works (as most LOTR fans would be) can
figure that one out.
Why did I add the reference to the other one? Because it quoted directly
from the text.
--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards

Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

On 7 Jun 2005, at 16:23, Ainaechoiriel wrote:

>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> > [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Marta Layton
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 12:37 AM
> > To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Books/Time: Gap-Filler, Check Ballot #1
> >
> >
> > On 7 Jun 2005, at 00:09, Ainaechoiriel wrote:
> >
> > > Check Ballots for Main Category Books/Time: Gap-Filler
> > >
> > >  SubCategory: Books/Time: Gap-Filler: Drabble
> > >
> > >  Mae Govannen (148): Azalais
> > >  G, Reason for Rating: N/A
>
> >
> > The link on this story points to all of Azalais' drabble. A
> > more direct 
> > link is:
> >
> > http://www.tolkienfanfiction.com/Story_Read_Chapter.php?
> > CHid=1123&PHPSESSID=81bbdff5479eba252b785634d85ebade
>
> Thanks. Fixed it.
>

I'm still on dial-up, which meant I did most of my check ballot edits
offline. I want to go through at some point over the next few days and
make sure all of the links are the best ones available. If I find any
would you like me to change them myself? Or should I post them here?

> > >  Bed Time (1248): Blackbirdsong
> > >  G, Reason for Rating: Mild suggestion of possible slash
> > >  Romance Partners: Frodo/Sam
> > >  Four drabbles centered around Hobbits going to bed, this
> > time near the
> > >  Party.
> > >
> >
> > I'm not sure, but should this have a reason for rating? I think the 
> > instructions at the nominations site say we should enter
> > "n/a" for G, 
> > and the fact that it's slash is covered in the pairing.
>
>
> I look at it this way: It's required for what's above G.  It's
> optional for
> G.
>

Fair enough. In which case you probably need to disregard a lot of my
comments on the other ballots. (I'm sorry, I didn't read these emails
until after I suggested edits on the other ones. Feel free to disregard
any changes without having to reply saying you aren't going to make
them.)

> >
> > >  At the Witch King's Feet (459): Lindelea
> > >  G, Reason for Rating: n/a
> > >  Romance Partners: n/a
> > >  Merry comes to Éowyn's aid at the Battle of the Pelennor.
> > >
> >
> > Should this be "the Battle of the Pelennor Fields"? That's
> > the title of 
> > the chapter in ROTK.
>
> Author approved the sumary as is.  Not our responsibility
>

This is another area where you will probably have to disregard several
of my changes. I remember last year we corrected typos and other minor
edits in the summaries, so that each story would be putt forth in the
best possible light. Obviously we're not doing that this year; I
understand why now, but I didn't know that when I was doing my edits.
It's now 2:30 AM, and I've spent the better part of the last four hours
going through the ballots and suggesting changes. So I'm sorry to
create more work, but I'm not going to go back and edit out those
suggestions. Feel free to disregard what you don't think we have to
change, and don't feel like you have to reply here explaining why
you're doing what you're doing.

> > Also, according to the website it's rated PG.
>
> Author approved it here as G.  If they had approved an X or NC17 as R
> we
> would have had a reason to change it, but from G to PG, I'm not going
> to
> bother policing it.
>

Sure, that makes sense.

> > >  At the Sammath Naur (126): Aratlithiel
> > >  PG, Reason for Rating: Dark themes.
> > >  Romance Partners: N/A
> > >  Frodo claims the Ring.
> > >
> >
> > Delete period after "Dark themes"?
>
> No, we needn't be that picky.  I'm not going to fix typos in
> summaries or
> missed capitalization in titles this year either.
>

Fair enough. But see my above comment -- I noted several similar
mistakes in other ballots. Disregard those changes.

Marta
*****
Home is where you hang your @.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Marta Layton
> Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 1:33 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Books/Time: Gap-Filler, Check Ballot #1

> > > The link on this story points to all of Azalais'
> drabble. A > more
> > direct > link is:
> > >
> > > http://www.tolkienfanfiction.com/Story_Read_Chapter.php?
> > > CHid=1123&PHPSESSID=81bbdff5479eba252b785634d85ebade
> >
> > Thanks. Fixed it.
> >
>
> I'm still on dial-up, which meant I did most of my check
> ballot edits offline. I want to go through at some point over
> the next few days and make sure all of the links are the best
> ones available. If I find any would you like me to change
> them myself? Or should I post them here?

Yes, go ahead and change them. I could use the help, especially since I
can't do as much of this while I'm at work.

> > I look at it this way: It's required for what's above G.  It's
> > optional for G.
> >
>
> Fair enough. In which case you probably need to disregard a
> lot of my comments on the other ballots. (I'm sorry, I didn't
> read these emails until after I suggested edits on the other
> ones. Feel free to disregard any changes without having to
> reply saying you aren't going to make
> them.)

Thanks.

>

>
> This is another area where you will probably have to
> disregard several of my changes. I remember last year we
> corrected typos and other minor edits in the summaries, so
> that each story would be putt forth in the best possible
> light. Obviously we're not doing that this year; I understand
> why now, but I didn't know that when I was doing my edits.
> It's now 2:30 AM, and I've spent the better part of the last
> four hours going through the ballots and suggesting changes.
> So I'm sorry to create more work, but I'm not going to go
> back and edit out those suggestions. Feel free to disregard
> what you don't think we have to change, and don't feel like
> you have to reply here explaining why you're doing what you're doing.

Last year someone made the point that the summary helps a reader decide
about the story. Typos and all.


--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards

Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

(Matrta wrote:

> >
> > This is another area where you will probably have to
> > disregard several of my changes. I remember last year we
> > corrected typos and other minor edits in the summaries, so
> > that each story would be putt forth in the best possible
> > light. Obviously we're not doing that this year; I understand
> > why now, but I didn't know that when I was doing my edits.
> > It's now 2:30 AM, and I've spent the better part of the last
> > four hours going through the ballots and suggesting changes.
> > So I'm sorry to create more work, but I'm not going to go
> > back and edit out those suggestions. Feel free to disregard
> > what you don't think we have to change, and don't feel like
> > you have to reply here explaining why you're doing what you're doing.

(and got the reply:)

>
> Last year someone made the point that the summary helps a reader decide
> about the story. Typos and all.
>
>
> --Ainaechoiriel
> MEFA Admin and Founder
>

IMHO, that's one of the reasons to make sure the summaries are as
error free as possible. I want the information on the award site to
be basically neutral so I will go onto the stories with an open mind.
You should not be lending me reasons *not* to read!

Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and most
of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
duplications of information or format consistency concerns -- both of
which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
nomination/verification level of the proceedings.

On 9 Jun 2005, at 08:51, C Dodd wrote:

> (Matrta wrote:
> > >
> > > This is another area where you will probably have to
> > > disregard several of my changes. I remember last year we
> > > corrected typos and other minor edits in the summaries, so
> > > that each story would be putt forth in the best possible
> > > light. Obviously we're not doing that this year; I understand
> > > why now, but I didn't know that when I was doing my edits.
> > > It's now 2:30 AM, and I've spent the better part of the last
> > > four hours going through the ballots and suggesting changes.
> > > So I'm sorry to create more work, but I'm not going to go
> > > back and edit out those suggestions. Feel free to disregard
> > > what you don't think we have to change, and don't feel like
> > > you have to reply here explaining why you're doing what you're
> doing.
>
> (and got the reply:)
> >
> > Last year someone made the point that the summary helps a reader
> decide
> > about the story.ý Typos and all.
> >
> >
> > --Ainaechoiriel
> > MEFA Admin and Founder
> >
> IMHO, that's one of the reasons to make sure the summaries are as
> error free as possible.ý I want the information on the award site to
> be basically neutral so I will go onto the stories with an open mind.
> You should not be lending me reasons *not* to read!
>
> Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and most
> of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
> duplications of information or format consistency concerns -- both of
> which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
> nomination/verification level of the proceedings.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> ý To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/
> ý
> ý To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> MEFAwards-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> ý
> ý Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
> Service.
>
>

*****
Home is where you hang your @.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> IMHO, that's one of the reasons to make sure the summaries are as
> error free as possible.  I want the information on the award site to
> be basically neutral so I will go onto the stories with an open mind.
> You should not be lending me reasons *not* to read!
>
> Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and most
> of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
> duplications of information or format consistency concerns -- both of
> which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
> nomination/verification level of the proceedings.
>

I can come up with a quick style manual for next year. That's probably
a good idea, because I do agree with you -- the awards themselves
should be as neutral as is reasonable. (I am not saying we need to go
and remove or add all of those periods this year... just that
consistency and presenting each story in the best light is a good goal
generally.) There's also the issue that we as an awards want to appear
as professional as possible. Or at least I do.

Anyway, this is all good thoughts for next year.

Marta
*****
Home is where you hang your @.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Marta Layton <melayton@g...> wrote:

> > IMHO, that's one of the reasons to make sure the summaries are as
> > error free as possible. I want the information on the award site
> > to be basically neutral so I will go onto the stories with an
> > open mind. You should not be lending me reasons *not* to read!

I fully agree. A summary is nice, but I don't want to know everything.

>> Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and
>> most of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
>> duplications of information or format consistency concerns -- both
>> of which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
>> nomination/verification level of the proceedings.

I wonder what you mean with ESL.

> I can come up with a quick style manual for next year. That's
> probably a good idea, because I do agree with you -- the awards
> themselves should be as neutral as is reasonable. (I am not saying
> we need to go and remove or add all of those periods this year...
> just that consistency and presenting each story in the best light is
> a good goal generally.) There's also the issue that we as an awards
> want to appear as professional as possible. Or at least I do.

We all do. I am wondering how much, for next year, can be done by the
system or system coding itself or with validation, automatic term
mapping.... For example dropdown menu's linked to each other (when you
select G, the other field automatically says n/a, when you select R,
you can select a reason that is mostly used.) or they don't even have
ti be linked, just a field programmed as a dropdown table with
information would be enough. My experience is, the more (authorised)
indexes (or system tables) you have, the more consistent your database
becomes. Entering it by hand is opening plenty of room for
inconsistency, no matter how much you achieve to be perfect or you
select the person(s) for it. Sad but very true (try to work with a
nationwide informationsystem with trained professionals, even if you
agree on things, put down agreements in manuals or guides... each to
their own and their own interpretation.. and there you go).

Even when you do come up with a style guide (I do not have to say that
there are many many grammar styles for English only), it doesn't say
that a) people read them or b) people make use of them. This is all
said with years of experience on this field. So before you jump off
and start on it.... relax first! Feet up, a nice drink :c) You got
enough stress to deal with.

> Anyway, this is all good thoughts for next year.

Yups, indeed!

Rhapsody
(who got her feet up and a nice drink ;c))

On 6/9/05, rhapsody_the_bard <rhapsody74@gmail.com> wrote:

> I wonder what you mean with ESL.

ESL is shorthand for "English as a Second Language". There are many
non-native speakers who write very well, but when they write in
English they depend on betas to help them clean up the linguistic
quirks which arise in the stories themselves.

But odd constructions or typos can certainly slip into summaries even
when the author does speak English as a native.

> We all do. I am wondering how much, for next year, can be done by the
> system or system coding itself or with validation, automatic term
> mapping.... For example dropdown menu's linked to each other (when you
> select G, the other field automatically says n/a, when you select R,
> you can select a reason that is mostly used.) or they don't even have
> ti be linked, just a field programmed as a dropdown table with
> information would be enough. My experience is, the more (authorised)
> indexes (or system tables) you have, the more consistent your database
> becomes. Entering it by hand is opening plenty of room for
> inconsistency, no matter how much you achieve to be perfect or you
> select the person(s) for it. Sad but very true (try to work with a
> nationwide informationsystem with trained professionals, even if you
> agree on things, put down agreements in manuals or guides... each to
> their own and their own interpretation.. and there you go).
>
> Even when you do come up with a style guide (I do not have to say that
> there are many many grammar styles for English only), it doesn't say
> that a) people read them or b) people make use of them. This is all
> said with years of experience on this field. So before you jump off
> and start on it.... relax first! Feet up, a nice drink :c) You got
> enough stress to deal with.
>

I, too, like the idea of dropdown menus/choice limits but you need
someone who can make them, and that's beyond me. A style guide is the
next best bet. Certainly at the editorial stage a style guide settles
the majority of arguments. I'd probably impose any style limitations
at the liaison stage, when the liaisons take the nominations and begin
to contact the authors. At that point the liaison could eliminate
duplicate information and flag any odd grammar.

If it's possible to have a second "dictionary" in Word, then you could
standardize things like "Middle Earth <-> Middle-earth" and "na
<-->N/A" by distributing the standards to the liaisons -- a much
smaller group than the nominators or authors, and then having them run
spellcheck. I don't know the technical answer to that -- I do know
that a smaller group is more likely to be consistent, given a style
guide to start with.

(I need to stop thinking about this and go do some reading, but I'll
admit I'm having fun with the discussion. I'd never even heard of
"automatic term mapping" and now I'm go to go find out what it is!)

Hi Rhapsody,

I'll try to answer the rest of this later. At the moment I need to do
some studying, so it will have to wait for a few hours.

But for now:

> >> Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and
> >> most of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
> >> duplications of information or format consistency concerns -- both
> >> of which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
> >>  nomination/verification level of the proceedings.
>
> I wonder what you mean with ESL.
>

English as a Second Language. It's a term used in the U.S. to refer to
teaching programs where people from overseas come to the US for 6-12
months to learn the language. My aunt teaches at such a program.
Anyway, it refers to people who learned English as a second language
instead of it being their native tongue.

Marta
*****
Home is where you hang your @.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Marta Layton <melayton@g...> wrote:

> Hi Rhapsody,
>
> I'll try to answer the rest of this later. At the moment I need to
> do some studying, so it will have to wait for a few hours.
>
> But for now:
>
>>>> Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and
>>>> most of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
>>>> duplications of information or format consistency concerns --
>>>> both of which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
>>>> nomination/verification level of the proceedings.
>>
>> I wonder what you mean with ESL.
>>
>
> English as a Second Language. It's a term used in the U.S. to refer
> to teaching programs where people from overseas come to the US for
> 6-12 months to learn the language. My aunt teaches at such a
> program.
> Anyway, it refers to people who learned English as a second language
> instead of it being their native tongue.

Well this European with English as a second language never heard of
it. Thank you both!

Rhapsody

There's also a test (at least in the U.S.) called the TOEFL, or Test
of English as a Foreign Language, but "EFL" never caught on as
shorthand the way that ESL has. I work in Boston, and we get a lot of
English Language Learners (yet another acronym that shows up) in the
library. It's amazing, watching someone go from needing to read books
on a kindergarten level one year to knowing the rules of English
grammar better than I do a few years later...

On 6/9/05, rhapsody_the_bard <rhapsody74@gmail.com> wrote:
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Marta Layton <melayton@g...> wrote:
> > Hi Rhapsody,
> >
> > I'll try to answer the rest of this later. At the moment I need to
> > do some studying, so it will have to wait for a few hours.
> >
> > But for now:
> >
> >>>> Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and
> >>>> most of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
> >>>> duplications of information or format consistency concerns --
> >>>> both of which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
> >>>> nomination/verification level of the proceedings.
> >>
> >> I wonder what you mean with ESL.
> >>
> >
> > English as a Second Language. It's a term used in the U.S. to refer
> > to teaching programs where people from overseas come to the US for
> > 6-12 months to learn the language. My aunt teaches at such a
> > program.
> > Anyway, it refers to people who learned English as a second language
> > instead of it being their native tongue.
>
> Well this European with English as a second language never heard of
> it. Thank you both!
>
> Rhapsody
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> MEFAwards-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

I will also make one post on this when I should be working....

These awarsd are run by volunteers, not paid professionals. Do I want the
awards to look great? Sure. Neutral? We're not the ones providing the
summaries. We aren't responsible for the summaries. And n/a vs N/A doesn't
really matter to me. If you want typo-free summaries, write typo-free
summaries. If you are nominating a great story with a typoed summary, fix it
when you nominate it. You can type the summary. You don't HAVE to just copy
and paste it. These awards are facilitated by staff, but they are
member-dependant to run. Without nominators, we would have Awards. Without
readers, we wouldn't have Awards. That's the membership, people, all of
you. The staff, in that regard, are just members in the same way. We are
nominators and voters. We just volunteered to do the facilitating work.

All we do is present the fields. And the fields are neutral. What's in the
fields is the responsibility first of the nominator and second of the author
who approved it. If you're an author and you don't like how a nominator has
presented your summary or you see a typo in it you didn't see before, you
can change it.

But let's use a more negative example. Say I'm a really mediocre hack. I
nominate my own story which is full of spelling mistakes. My summary has
spelling mistakes. Some readers my look at my summary and think, "If her
summary is that messy, what's her story to be like?" and not read. Some may
give me a try anyway. Reading is subjective here. Not neutral. You read
what you want. Not what you don't want.

On the other side, maybe I'm a Hungarian writing English with a
English-speaking beta. My story has been thoroughly betad but my summary
has not. Might be a case for "give it a try anyway". Maybe not. Who could
have helped my summary along the way? My beta. My nominator. An e-mail
buddy. My Author Liaison (if I had asked because hey, 10 Liaisons approved
nearly 1200 stories this year).

What is neutral in the awards: the fields, the Seasons, the Rules.
What is subjective: the contents of those fields, the choice to read or not
to read, the comments themselves.

The burdon of "professionality" then rests on all of us. The Staff (as Staff
and not just Members) provide an empty framework. It's a shell. The meat,
the content, is provided by the Membership. That's everyone here at the
MEFAwards group. The "professionality" is as good as we all make that
content.

And all this really should have been held onto until Post-Mortem! Why?
Because we're busy enough with running the awards for this year. The
post-mortem is when we discuss improvements for next year. That's why we
have a set aside post-mortem time.

So, drop it for now. Bring it up again in Post-mortem. I'm not likely to
remember it by then anyway.

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards

Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of C Dodd
> Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 2:00 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Re: Again, for postmortem notes...
>
> On 6/9/05, rhapsody_the_bard <rhapsody74@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I wonder what you mean with ESL.
>
> ESL is shorthand for "English as a Second Language". There
> are many non-native speakers who write very well, but when
> they write in English they depend on betas to help them clean
> up the linguistic quirks which arise in the stories themselves.
>
> But odd constructions or typos can certainly slip into
> summaries even when the author does speak English as a native.
>
> > We all do. I am wondering how much, for next year, can be
> done by the
> > system or system coding itself or with validation, automatic term
> > mapping.... For example dropdown menu's linked to each
> other (when you
> > select G, the other field automatically says n/a, when you
> select R,
> > you can select a reason that is mostly used.) or they don't
> even have
> > ti be linked, just a field programmed as a dropdown table with
> > information would be enough. My experience is, the more
> (authorised)
> > indexes (or system tables) you have, the more consistent
> your database
> > becomes. Entering it by hand is opening plenty of room for
> > inconsistency, no matter how much you achieve to be perfect or you
> > select the person(s) for it. Sad but very true (try to work with a
> > nationwide informationsystem with trained professionals,
> even if you
> > agree on things, put down agreements in manuals or
> guides... each to
> > their own and their own interpretation.. and there you go).
> >
> > Even when you do come up with a style guide (I do not have
> to say that
> > there are many many grammar styles for English only), it
> doesn't say
> > that a) people read them or b) people make use of them. This is all
> > said with years of experience on this field. So before you jump off
> > and start on it.... relax first! Feet up, a nice drink :c) You got
> > enough stress to deal with.
> >
>
>
> I, too, like the idea of dropdown menus/choice limits but you
> need someone who can make them, and that's beyond me. A
> style guide is the next best bet. Certainly at the editorial
> stage a style guide settles the majority of arguments. I'd
> probably impose any style limitations at the liaison stage,
> when the liaisons take the nominations and begin to contact
> the authors. At that point the liaison could eliminate
> duplicate information and flag any odd grammar.
>
> If it's possible to have a second "dictionary" in Word, then
> you could standardize things like "Middle Earth <->
> Middle-earth" and "na <-->N/A" by distributing the standards
> to the liaisons -- a much smaller group than the nominators
> or authors, and then having them run
> spellcheck. I don't know the technical answer to that -- I do know
> that a smaller group is more likely to be consistent, given a
> style guide to start with.
>
> (I need to stop thinking about this and go do some reading,
> but I'll admit I'm having fun with the discussion. I'd never
> even heard of "automatic term mapping" and now I'm go to go
> find out what it is!)
>
>
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> --------------------------------------------------------------
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> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

You can come up with a style manual, but as Rhapsody (I think it was) said,
getting people to follow it....

At ASC, we've been promoting authors to use headers in their stories. For
years. Headers are good for everyone. They help the authors by giving
readers enough information to decide if they want to read the story.... Or
not. Headers help the archivists because with headers there's a program to
automatically pull a story into the archive. Headers help SOS maintainers
because we provide the first set of categorizations that the admins then go
over. We get that info from the headers. With a header, an author stands a
better chance of having his or her story in the right category. It's all
good. For everyone. We even have a FAQ explaining the headers.

So you'd think someone who's a veteran in the awards would use headers.
You'd think it....

But alas.....

You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards

Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Marta Layton
> Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 8:37 AM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Again, for postmortem notes...
>
> > IMHO, that's one of the reasons to make sure the summaries are as
> > error free as possible.  I want the information on the
> award site to
> > be basically neutral so I will go onto the stories with an
> open mind.
> > You should not be lending me reasons *not* to read!
> >
> > Again, some errors may be the result of ESL misunderstandings and
> > most of the things Marta has pointed out are either unnnecessary
> > duplications of information or format consistency concerns
> -- both of
> > which could be addressed by a style manual imposed at the
> > nomination/verification level of the proceedings.
> >
>
> I can come up with a quick style manual for next year. That's
> probably a good idea, because I do agree with you -- the
> awards themselves should be as neutral as is reasonable. (I
> am not saying we need to go and remove or add all of those
> periods this year... just that consistency and presenting
> each story in the best light is a good goal
> generally.) There's also the issue that we as an awards want
> to appear as professional as possible. Or at least I do.
>
> Anyway, this is all good thoughts for next year.
>
> Marta
> *****
> Home is where you hang your @.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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