The Semisteries 2023 Prizegiving

[MisterM]

Hello, Hello, Helloooooo one and all, and welcome to the start of the 16th Annual Award show of 667 Dark Avenue, this year entitled 'The Semisteries'. Adequetly enough for a Semi, only one of your hosts has arrived, and perhaps come a bit too early. Anyhow, I want to get things moving, So i'm going to dive straight in with the first award.... Most Notorious.

Over the years 667 has been full of maybe notorious members, some notable for good reasons, others less than good. This year, however only three of the nominees recieved votes. Whilst Ollie and Urbanletteropener are certainly making an impact, it's clear not notable enough

Zortegus recieved 2 votes, which just goes to show that you can perhaps try a bit too hard sometimes.

Twiggy recieved 3 votes. Better luck next time Twig. Maybe she should have mentioned the calendar more often?

Semblance got 6 votes, which shows that really, what you need to do to win in this game is delete your account and break all our hearts. Well done mate.

[Tiran O'Saurus]

Congratulations, even though you won't read this.

[Esmé's meme is meh]

This just started and I'm already crying

[Mara]

this is so slay

[tricky]

damn he be notorious in past tense

[Glittery666]

You won't see this, but congrats anyway.

[B.]

Right, I'm going to present our second award- although I have to agree, Semblance is definitely most notorious here, not only for his sudden departure but also for the way he impacted 667 over the past three years.

With that, I am presenting 667's award for Best Volunteer.

Looking at 667 as it is today, you could argue it is easy to forget the original reason the forum was founded. Glancing at the most recent threads page, you can see discussions on topics ranging from music recommendations to bookshelves, to the last thing forum members threw in the bin. As Willis, or Sixteen, or Hermedy said once many years ago, however, without Lemony Snicket, 667 is just a group of friends chatting online. Similarly, without the social and friendship aspect of 667, we're just a book report that took over 20 years to write.

With Dante and Semblance's departure, and a lack of any consistent Handler material in the last few years (not counting the disappointment that was poison for breakfast), I don't think I'm unjustified in saying that we've seen better days for the more academic side of 667. Indeed, it's been a good few years since I contributed anything meaningful at all to this side of the board.

But I digress, this isn't about me. Before I announce the winner of this award this year, I'd like to add to the definition of 'Best Volunteer' that this is not only for the member who has shown the most dedication and valued contributions to the snicket-focussed discussion aspect of 667, but also the one who has made the most effort in encouraging others to discuss the books, theories, and supporting all contributions across the board.

Let's take a look at the nominees:

Jean Lucio - Juan has been a valued contributor to 667 for around 3-4 years, and his enthusiasm for Snicket is always evident.
Bear - I'm hard-pressed to remember this forum with Bear (and even remember the days of Bandit), and while he brings so much more than just enthusiasm for Snicket to this community, it's not hard to see his dedication to the works of Snicket.
Urban Letter Opener - Another member quickly becoming a 667 veteran, ULO, I don't know you as well as I'd like but you've always been proactive on reporting new snicket news and projects and fostering discussion
Chow - His mother is Sherry Ann. Need I say more?!

And now, let me announce the winner...

SPOILER: Click to show

Jean Lucio! with 6 votes

Congratulations! Banner making its way to you shortly.

-B.

[bear]

damas y caballeros, senhoras e senhores, meine Damen und Herren, ladies and gentlemen, i am here to present the one award that is indubitably the most precious to all of us. sure, we all have our niches -- some strive to be the best writer, artist, comedian, or snicketologist (wtf is that?) -- and many feel honored to be named the MVP. but when all is said and done, each of us wishes nothing more than to have the Best Organised Balls.

some may wonder how balls can be organised at all. others may consider the whole 'balls' fad to be low-hanging fruit. but i can tell you one thing: well-organised balls are never low-hanging. they are kept close and tight, just like the voting for this award.

in last place comes penne , who presumably has balls, but i'm not sure any of us would associate them with organisation. nevertheless he got 1 vote, which must have been from a ghost.

in third place comes Skelly Craig , with 2 votes. perhaps he got his 2 balls to vote for him.

that leaves Esmé's meme is meh and MisterM .

Ballsygus is notable as the most ardent campaigner for this award, having initiated the balls-display-names trend. he also asserted that he would win "all the balls awards" despite this being the only one, and he even claimed to be the "Biggest ho with the best organized balls."

Mister Balls was nominated as an afterthought, although he was the one who suggested "Best Organised Balls" in the first place.

suffice it to say, we all know that Ballsygus and Mister Balls are formidable organizers, but only a lucky few of us truly know whether they've applied those organizing skills to their balls. personally, i was swept up by Ballsygus' confidence, or, one might say, his ballsiness. that's 1 vote from me.... and i assume he voted for himself -- that's 2.... and one more, for a total of 3 votes. i suspect that the third voter was Hitler's ball. if only Hitler had brought his other ball to Argentina with him instead of leaving it in the Albert Hall.
















that means, with 4 votes, the winner is MISTER M!



congrats!

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Oh thank you very much! I really appreciate this award and am very grateful that you still see me as a good volunteer. The absence of Dante, Hermes, Foxy really affected me a lot, as they were people I really enjoyed making theories and counter-theories with. Still, asoue has itself been a source of both joy and mental challenges. And seeing the new generation of Snicket scholars emerge, especially two people who have given me a lot of fun while rereading the books (too bad I'm so late) has made me a lot revived as I continue to analyze asoue's mysteries.

Without having other people that I perceive to be interested, I really feel unmotivated to write about the subjects that come to my mind from time to time for some mysterious reason that I have given up trying to understand it. Thank you very much for this award, and you can be sure that it motivated me a lot.

[Tiran O'Saurus]

I've disagreed with you a lot, but I can't deny that you deserve this.

[Glittery666]

Congrats Jean! It's so nice to have someone to discuss ASOUE with, especially since I don't know any other fans irl except my sister.

[tricky]

j'ai l'honneur solennel d'être le moins intelligible pour présenter ce prix. je remercie l'académie de m'avoir accueilli ce soir et j'aimerais féliciter les nominés. la reconnaissance du dévouement à l'écriture est la raison pour laquelle je suis ici, pour réfléchir à ces pages de lumière bleue, sur un écran à rayures.

vos mots sont un réconfort et un lien avec la littérature, un fil conducteur qui nous relie tous sur ce forum. sans des catégories comme celle-ci, les liens avec nos sources et un intérêt commun - la lecture - seraient perdus. merci aux deux écrivains qui ont consacré de nombreuses heures à taper sur le clavier pour notre bénéfice. que le public soit grand ou petit, qu'il s'agisse d'un auteur auto-publié ou d'un aimable modérateur, nous vous remercions. mais comme je l'ai déjà dit, avec la diminution de notre nombre, cette remise de prix se rapproche des jeux de la faim... ce soir, il n'y a que deux candidats. le district, les utilisateurs du nom de mister balls et jean ballucio.

MisterM - qui a rédigé plusieurs nouvelles, dont le plus récent est Puzzle, et a été précédemment connu pour Black ink, dans lequel hermes' a propulsé le soutien pour, The Quantum Possibility Engine, The Marvellous Marriage, ainsi que Ribbons.

Optimism is my Phil-osophy - connu auparavant pour Untie My Silence Knot, ainsi que pour Tales from a Quiet World, A Series of Unfortunate Events On The Ocean, et bien sûr The Litory Intelligences.

bien qu'aucun candidat n'ait été TEH ADVENCHURS OF FOIREL BODALARE, nous reconnaissons ces écrivains comme d'excellents candidats pour le prix. ici, les votes ont été très serrés, avec cinq voix pour le second et six voix pour le vainqueur. pour ne pas vous laisser sur votre faim, j'aimerais également saluer quelques héros méconnus, ceux qui n'ont pas été nominés méritant peut-être un peu de lumière.

quoi qu'il en soit, le grand perdant est bear for Isadora/Duncan (WSW 2022), qui n'a reçu aucun vote, mais aussi aucune nomination. The Ballad of Semblance the Postie était pourtant très bon, RIP semb.

The Coup de tiran a prouvé qu'il ne pouvait pas être un tyran.

Saint Jerome's Home for the Parented a été nominé pour le meilleur fil de discussion par moi, mais aucun vote pour le département de l'écriture.

10 Years Later: Book 1 a été oublié par l'auteur.

j'aimerais aussi vous rappeler The DARK Avenue Murders, qui était une collaboration avec roxy, m. m et semblance, l'une des rares traces que nous ayons d'un fantôme en antiquité.

le moment que vous attendez tous, ou peut-être pas. je m'en fiche, je suis contractuellement obligé de vous le dire.

le lauréat de cette année, avec six membres actifs ayant voté, est le seul et unique Jean Ballucio.

j'espère que cette course serrée vous encouragera tous les deux à rester déterminés, à taper, à améliorer votre art et, surtout, à conserver votre amour des histoires. Lulu: allez harceler quelqu'un pour qu'il vous envoie la bannière, ce n'est pas mon boulot.

et maintenant, direction le public, où nous ferons une pause publicitaire.

[Esmé's meme is meh]

Can't believe you voted Mister M for Best Organized Balls. I won't recover from this.

[bear]

mademoiselle twiggy, je suis très impressionné par votre français impeccable de collégienne, (même si je ne suis pas du tout convaincu par l'expression --les jeux de la faim--) .... et j suis très ému par votre reconnaissance de mes oeuvres, même si vous n'avez pas fait mention de l'immense travail que j'ai réalisé tout seul (malgré les apparances) pour Bear's 667er.

félicitations à Monsieur Lúcio

[MisterM]

I'm really enjoying all these presentations so far.