The Spiral Awards (Final nominations)

[Nab]

Hello to all...

The Spiral Awards were created by a group of people interested in promoting writing in the Erotic Mind Control genre. The awards have no official affiliation with the MCForum or the Erotic Mind Control Story Archive. The object is to help quality writers in this genre receive recognition for their efforts and help encourage further writings.

The final nominees were selected via secret ballot by the portion of the EMC community that chose to participate. Votes for ineligible stories or from opted-out writers were returned to the voter with a request to make another selection.

Below is the listing of the five stories that made it through to the final voting in each of the colour-coded categories.  Many stories were nominated in each category, but these were the ones with the most support, and thus remain to be voted on by all of you.

It is our hope that you can take some time to examine them, to maybe even read or re-read them, and to make the most informed decision you possibly can before voting on what you consider the best in each category.  In the best of all possible worlds, you would all read every story before making your picks, rather than voting for friend's stories, or simply the ones you may have already read.  We know that this won't be the case, but hope that you will all do the best you can to make your decisions as to which are "the best" stories of 2005.

The Awards panel sets no rules or directives in regard to voting on your own story(s), only asking that each author does what they feel is the most correct.

Finally, in order to vote on any or all categories, simply select those you wish vote on, and dump them into an IM to send to either Nab or Darkmind, as Rinky Dink, Jo, and Topaz have nominated stories, and should not have any involvement in collecting said votes.

Everyone... panellists, nominators, and authors... have been working very hard to make this the fairest, most all-inclusive, Awards event that we possibly could.  We hope we have done so, and now ask that you consider voting, and having your informed say about which of the nominated stories, below, you might consider the Best of MC Writing in 2005.

We send out our great thanks to all who have participated and worked on this so far, and to all of you who will take the time to vote.  The time frame in which to vote and send your ballots to Nab or Darkmind is from today until February 22, 2006.  The winners will be announced shortly thereafter, after all the votes are tabulated and verified.

So, without further ado, here are the nominated finalists, in alphabetical order, in each category.  We are giving you the link, along with the story codes, and either an author-supplied synopsis, or the synopsis Simon used on the EMCSA...


Pink (FF)  -

  Gerri Holcombe: Lesbian Private Eye by flibinite (mc ff)  -  There's someone missing in 1949 Los Angeles... And when that happens, there's only one person to call to find out what's going on...

  Gutter-princess of Xanadu by EyeofSerpent (mc ff)  -  This story is about sex in strange places and the people who go there.  Along the way, you'll find monsters, saints, hot cars, the universe in peril, vending machines that brainwash women, etc.  Beware. The author will also abuse the English language and re-invent words.

  Rouge by Tabico (mc, ff, rb)  -  Four investigative journalists attempt to infiltrate the Mars home base of the powerful Rouge Corporation, whose utterly secretive rejuvenation treatment is the closest humans have come to achieving immortality.

  Sappho High by Rinky Dink (mc ff)  -  Being a beautiful straight girl in an otherwise all-lesbian high school is a problem to Kari, until ‘Arundsen’s Device’ seemingly solves it.

  Watching Heidi by Cafetray (mc ff)  -  Linda's niece has gone to a party without permission, and Linda has to pick her up.


Green (MF/FD)

  Assert Yourself by Decker (mc mf ff fd)  -  Office mouse Mina receives some self-help assertiveness CDs at work that change her life, and the lives of those around her.

  Geisha by Archibael (mc mf ff fd)  -  A useless bimbo is mind-controlled into becoming a smart, competent, and ruthless executive.

  Helpful Questions by flibinite (mc, ff, mf, fd)  -  A 54 year-old woman, with a power she doesn't understand, goes to an Upstate New York college to see what has gone wrong with the daughter of a close friend.

  Overwhelmed by Julian D'Angelos (mc ff mf fd)  -  Angela and Jarred are hypnotized with overwhelming lust.

  Puppet Girl by MichelleLovesTo (mc mf fd)  -  A mysterious woman visits the mall. What's it like to dance at the end of her string?


Yellow (MF/MD)

  Acid-Washed Reflections by TryMyHand (mc mf ff md)  -  A hunted man eyes a lovely woman in a library. Can he persuade her to come to his aid? Is she too innocent to corrupt?

  Breakfast At Lenny's by Ms_Myrrh (mc mf md)  -  A woman is the only person who can see a woman giving a man a blowjob at a restaurant.

  Graduation Day by X.Ray Specks (mc mf md)  -  During her commencement, Cass is teased and tantalized as Master makes his once-doubted control undeniably evident.

  Lie Berries by MichelleLovesTo (mc mf md)  -  Jeff decides to get hypnotic revenge on his fiancé after he catches her cheating on him.

  Special Express by Abe Froman (mc mf md)  -  Stacy works for a specialized courier company, and while she loves the perks they offer their employees, she isn’t quite aware of the perks their clients enjoy.


Purple (Mixed)

  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Mind-Control Forum (mc mf ff fd md ma) by ghosthostblue  -  What if an interest in MC stories became all too real? A beginning writer of erotic fiction receives, and is affected by, private messages from a fellow MCForum member.

  Beads of My Heart by Archibael (mc mf ma)  -  Kelly finds her new bead necklace a compelling masturbation tool.  But then the beads start to be compelling in other ways...

  Colors by MichelleLovesTo (mc ff mf fd md ma)  -  Leia is visited by two strangers at school, who invite her to a special academy for people with powers like hers.

  Generous Spirit by ghosthostblue (mc mf ff md fd ma gr)  -  A miraculous weather event is visited upon a remote town.  A multi-fetish delivery system masquerading as an epic mystery.  “I’m absolutely dripping,” responded one reader.  “Noooooo! Don’t let it end!” wrote another.  But it does. Eventually.

  Summit by Tabico (mc mf ff fd md)  -  There’s a new Mind Controller in town, and the Masters and Mistresses already living there must decide how to deal with him.


White (MM)

  A Season to Remember by mbennett22 (mc mm)  -  Matt is encouraged by the other members of the basketball team to switch sides.

  But I’ll Make You Like It by bobwhite (mc mm)  -  Kurt is finally free of Michelle’s control... and that’s not an unmixed blessing.  "This story made me write it.  I wrote it as my first MM because that’s how it was conceived; changing it would have cheated it."

  Christopher, Craig & Co. by SoxnTies (mc mm)  -  Chris Boldt began hypnotizing Craig Matthews into slavery but romance developed, and Craig learned hypnosis from his Master.  Can their relationship and hypno skills withstand the challenges of new friends and old lovers?

  Deus Ex Machina by Julian Obedient (mc mm)  -  What happens when Barr quits an oppressive job...

  Joseph — The Programmable Boy by Topaz172 (mc mm rb)  -  The Agency's plan to create an expendible Spykid ended in disaster a decade ago. Ex-Spykid Joseph was happy for everyone to think it was all over. Unfortunately falling in love with a straight boy wasn't part of the plan..not tactically or strategically. The only option left is to use the Cephelographic Analogue Transcriber one last time.

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So there are your finalists for this year's Spiral Awards.  If you'd like to participate in the final results, we'd all love to have you.  Remember, the deadline for sending in your selections to either Nab or Darkmind is February 22, 2006, which gives us all plenty of time.  As we just want this information in this thread, it is being locked.  Please start another thread if you want to comment on the Awards in any fashion.  Or, if you can wait until toward the end of the voting period, Jo will be starting up her "Favourite Stories of 2005", to talk about the stories we've all enjoyed the most, and will perhaps consider in their voting, if they haven't voted already.

Thanks all... we hope you can have some fun with this.

       The Spiral Awards Panel