Nominations Open! | Silmaril Awards 2021

(So. Let me just. Take a moment for the jitters.)

(Stress? who, me? there is absolutely no reason that I would be nervous, wha-ha-hat– Did you hear an explosion outside or was that just my imagination? I'm in sudden fear for the lives of my petunias–) 

 

Anyway, it's my pleasure and stress to announce to you all, shouting into the depths of the blogosphere like the slightly hoarse and crazy-eyed gremlin I am:

 

Beloved friends and tolerated acquaintances, it's time
for the 2021 Silmaril Awards!

And not only! am I! hosting?? a category! but also!

It's the villains.

Nominations For the Most Nefarious Villain!

 

How to nominate your favourite bundle of death:

• Jump in the comments of this post and yell their name! Usually it's "I nominate Captain Hook! his mustache is the epitome of nefariousness in villains!" or something like that, but if you feel like hiring a herald or something to jazz your nomination up a bit, go for it. It's what your villain would want.
  
  
• Please do tell me what book they're from. It's rude to not introduce someone properly. Any good herald should be fully trained in etiquette, though, so there shouldn't be too many problems.
  
  
• You can nominate more than one villain! If they then come after you for having more than one favourite, well, that's not my problem. That's yours. Maybe keep one eye open while you sleep. 
  
  
• If someone has already commented to nominate your favourite villain, no need to do it again! It's time to second the vote.
  
  
• You can second as many different nominations as you like! Reply to the nomination comment with "AHHHH YES I SECOND UMBRIDGE" or however your heart desires. Bring back the herald. Employ a mime. Hype that villain.
  
  
• The five villains with the most seconds will go to the next round. 
  

 • • • • • • •

 ...we do have a fewww rules though. Don't complain. You don't want to see the mess that occurs if you announce an open invitation to villains. It's not pretty.

Also I have to host the villains that get nominated?? Have pity on me. I must limit them somehow. Most of them are going in tents in the yard but the worst ones (i.e. the most nefarious, as decided by you) I will probably need to put up in the house??

The stress.

Have you ever noticed how a significant percentage of villains have a tendency towards being difficult house guests with snobby tastes? 

"Oh no, I can't share a room with someone who carries a knife of that terrible quality!" "I only use Egyptian cotton bath sheets, what are these-" "I simply can't have him seated next to me at the dinner table, did you hear his evil monologue?"

• • • • • • •

So a few rules, please, let me have them for my own peace of mind, and possibly for the safety of this whole universe, you never know with villains:

• Villains must be nefarious! This is unfortunately a requirement! I would much rather house villains whose evil level rests just above stealing lollies from children and just below kicking dogs, but nOoOo, only the most nefarious villains can get a Silmaril. *grumbles*
   
• Despite previous unofficial visits from Yzma, Moriarty, and other villains (usually disgruntled at being left out), characters who are not 1. villains (duh), 2. from the fantasy genre*, and 3. from books/literature**, are ineligible for this award! Sorry to anyone who hoped to see Thanos turn up.
  
  (*There's a little wriggle room with "fantasy", seeing as it's an amazing genre that pairs well with a lot of good stuff. Feel free to explain why you feel a certain book is more fantasy than sci-fi or whatever other genre it may look like at first glance. It will be considered.)
  
  (**They can feature in a movie, or graphic novel, or similar, but the book format must have come first.)
  
  
• Tolkien characters are not allowed. Why? Because the Silmaril Awards came about out of appreciation for the works of Tolkien, The One Fantasy Author To Rule Them All. Basically these characters are already winners without even doing anything except existing. 
  
  
• Authors, feel free to hype your fan base up and send them over! Buuuut let them do the villain-nominating for you. It's good manners. And sometimes good manners are all that stand between you and a death scene. Just ask Bilbo about that time he riddled with Smaug...
  
  
• Silmarils are a once-in-a-lifetime-and-it's-yours-forever kind of thing. By which I mean, if they've won this category* before, they're obviously acknowledged as a nefarious villain... and can't be nominated again. Give some other villain a chance to shine. (Or glower like a little ray of pitch black. Whichever the case may be.)
  
  (*I'd suggest nominating them for other categories, if you feel they deserve more Silmarils, but... your villain may not fit in well with the Heroes or Counsellors. You could try Silver Tongue, I suppose...?)
  
  
• Anyone who doesn't follow these rules may be sent over to the Magnificent Dragons. I'm sure Christine could use a few more hands around the place... or maybe a few more tasty sandwiches.
  
  Do you want to be a sandwich. Do you.
  

• • • • • • •

Here are those villains who have previously been recognised for their Nefariousness and alread hold a Silmaril:

Voldemort (Harry Potter, 2020) | Death in Life (Tales of the Goldstone Wood, 2019)  

Queen Levana (The Lunar Chronicles, 2018) | Shift (The Chronicles of Narnia, 2017)

The White Witch (The Chronicles of Narnia, 2016) 

 

For a full list of previous winners, including other categories, visit the official Silmaril Awards website!

• • • • • • •

And here are the other categories for the Silmaril Awards 2021! 

To my understanding, there has been a longstanding tradition among the villainous circles that the Most Nefarious Villain is the only category that they accept as a Real Award. Perhaps they believe the rest of the Silmarils are plastic or something. (Probably for the best... we wouldn't want the villains to crash the Most Faithful Friends ceremony and terrorise them all. Then again, the dragons and silver-tongues and imps could probably handle such an interruption to their respective ceremonies, now that I think about it...) 

Nevertheless I must gently direct your attention away from these snobby villains' posturing and glowers and cape-swishing, and towards these other categories: 

 

Strangest Character | DJ Edwardson

Wisest Counselor | Kenzie Keene

Most Epic Hero | Madeline Rose

Least Competent Henchman | Josiah Dyck

Most Faithful Friend | Grace

Most Mischievous Imp | Tracey Dyck

Most Magnificent Dragon | Christine Smith

Most Epic Heroine | E. E. Rawls

Most Nefarious Villain | you're here!

Most Silver Tongue | Jenelle Schmidt

And we also have... an eleventh, new, one-off category! There was a Facebook poll for people to have a bit of fun guessing what this might be, and now we have the answer...

(I, for one, am very excited to see what kind of drama comes out of this category. So excited, you have no IDEA.) Sarah Pennington will be hosting this one, and it is...

-> *expectant drumroll* <-

If you're one of the first people reading this post and you click that link and there's nothing Silmaril-related there, please know that I would appreciate you stabbing the time zones. I'd do it myself but I have cleared my house of knives for next fortnight.

• • • • • • •

And finally, nominating/seconding closes on Friday 10th at midnight CST (which is like ) ... and voting for the top five will go live on September 13th!

So get allll your nominations in early, and get to work persuading everyone else that they should second your favourite villains!

• • • • • • •

...Please excuse me while I frantically munch down a packet of chips. I've never housed a whole bunch of villains before. I hope my petunias will survive. 

(Also this is my 100th post! I shall munch on twelve confetti pieces to celebrate before the villains get here.)

Are you new to the Silmaril Awards? If so, feel free to ask questions! The community here is incredible. Are you an old hand at this? What are you waiting for, get those villain nominations flooding in! Tell all your book-hoarding friends and writerly dragon acquaintances and that one sibling who keeps coming into your room! Silmarils are hotly contested (in fact, in this category, I'd go so far as to describe the conflict that can arise between the nominees as explosive) and you need all the voters you can get. 

Go. Do the thing. Nominate all the villains. Hype that precious bundle of villainy that you keep in your heart and call a misunderstood cinnamon roll with an adorable penchant for knifing people and mass murder. 

Don't lie. I know you have one.