Halo Fanon:Annual Halo Fanon Wikia Awards/2017

Welcome one and all to the Tenth Annual Halo Fanon Wikia Awards for 2017. We are honoured by your attendance to this annual community awards ceremony and celebration, the tenth, and hopefully, not the last of its kind. This project is coordinated by the Halo Fanon Wiki Administration, and we once again thank the Star Wars Fanon Wiki for donating the concept of this annual community ritual to us many years ago. We look forward to your participation in this community-wide celebration, and hope that you will all participate! Now, read the regulations, nominate your favourite articles, and vote!

Regulations

 * 1) Nominations at around 12:00 AM midnight UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on December 1st, 2017 and voting begins at the same time on December 15th. It will conclude promptly at 12:00 AM midnight UTC on December 31st, 2017! Any exceptions to this are listed below. Final winners will be announced and receive their awards on January 1st, 2018!
 * 2) Voting Qualifications: Users eligible to nominate and vote must have been users for at least four weeks and have sixty or more mainspace edits in order to vote. Because of the style of this ceremony, sockpuppets and sock masters are not invited, and will be promptly banned from the Wiki and barred from future voting.
 * 3) Nominations:
 * 4) You may only nominate articles for a category so long as it expressly fits the definition of each category . Nominations that are not eligible for a category will be deleted or moved to the appropriate category by the administration. You may request a clarification about the definition of any category from . You may not nominate an article for more than one category, with the exception of Best Canon Expansion and Best Concept. Articles that are not eligible for nomination will be removed without any notice if they are found to have "content issues" ("Unrealistic", "Non-Canon Friendly", etc.)
 * 5) You may nominate an unlimited number of articles written by any number of other authors for any number of categories. However, you are restricted to nominating only one of your articles for only one category for the whole ceremony . This is to promote professional sportsmanship. For categories pertaining to users ("Best Writer of the Year", "Breakthrough User of the Year"), you may not nominate yourself.
 * 6) "Recycled" articles will not be accepted into the nomination process. An article that has received minor or no edits for the duration of the year is not eligible for the event. Every article's edit history will be checked when nominated, and will remain valid for nomination only if it has received moderate to major changes/improvements throughout the year.
 * 7) You must nominate articles according to the proper format (listed below). Fill out all the fields when submitting a nomination, and post the completed nomination form underneath the category that you're nominating the article in question for.
 * 8) Perceived breaches of good conduct and professional sportsmanship will be prosecuted by the administration to maintain the dignity of this voting system.
 * 9) The author of an article reserves the right to withdraw his or her own article from a nomination at any time, with or without given reasons. However, if a user has nominated an article that is not their own, they may not withdraw it.
 * 10) Eligible categories are decided in advance by the administration. If you have a suggestion for the addition or removal of a category, please discuss it with one of the administrators.
 * 11) Winning articles of the previous annual awards be nominated only if it's been improved upon drastically after receiving a previous award, for a maximum of three awards in separate years. This applies only to the articles, not the authors of the articles, who may only win the Best Writer or Breakthrough User award once. This does not mean that the article can only win three awards; for example, if an article can be nominated for the Best Canon Expansion category, along with its own category, and wins in the top three awards of the year, and does so for three separate years, the article in question can theoretically win nine awards in total (this is, however, highly unlikely).
 * 12) You may always contest in a category even if you won an article in that same category before with a different article.
 * 13) Voting:
 * 14) Eligible users may vote for a maximum of two articles in a given category . You may vote for only one of your own articles for the entire ceremony, no matter how many articles you have in how many categories . You may not vote for yourself under a user category.
 * 15) Please sign your vote with a non-bubble text signature to verify your identity.
 * 16) You do not have to vote for an article you nominated.
 * 17) The process has two stages: nomination and voting. Users may nominate articles for the Annual Awards from December 1st, 2017 to December 15th, 2017, in order to fill out the categories with prospective AA winners. Then, from the 15th to the 30th, voting will take place across all categories.
 * 18) Winners of the Heroic, Legendary and Mythic Articles of the year will be decided between December 30th, 2017, and January 1st, 2018
 * 19) Any categories with ties by 12:00 AM UTC on December 30th, 2017 (24 hours before the end of the vote) will be remitted from public voting and will enter private administrative ballot to decide ties. The results of the ballot will be announced afterwards. All administrators with a registered email will have twenty-four hours to decide ties.
 * 20) Winning:
 * 21) The article for the most votes in a given category will be formally acknowledged as the winner for the category, and the article and its author will be commended by an official award granted by the administration approximately by January 1st, 2018 and the end of the ceremony. Category-winning articles will be eligible for winning the Heroic, Legendary or Mythic Article of the Year awards once voting is over.
 * 22) In the event of a tie, a tiebreaker will be performed, and the winner will be decided by private administrative ballot. The ballot's content will be disclosed at the end of the ceremony.
 * 23) If an article is the only nomination in its category and receives fewer than three votes, it will be combined with another similar category after the voting process to avoid "winning by default", and votes will be counted accordingly.
 * 24) Questions: Please address if you have any questions whatsoever.

Nomination Process
Please fill out the following form for any nominations and file underneath the appropriate category:

ARTICLENAME ()

 * Name: ARTICLENAME
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (NUMBEROFVOTES)
For the Best Canon Expansion of the Year category, the special application to be used is as such:

ARTICLENAME ()

 * Name: ARTICLENAME
 * Original Article:
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (NUMBEROFVOTES)
For the Best Writer or Breakthrough User of the Year category, the special application to be used is as such:


 * Name:
 * Nominator:

Characters

 * Best SPARTAN of the Year — Any character enrolled in any SPARTAN program.
 * Best UNSC Personnel of the Year — Any character associated with the UNSC Marine Corps/Navy/Army/Air Force or any of its subordinate commands. Does not include SPARTANs.
 * Best Sangheili Character of the Year — Any Sangheili character of any affiliation.
 * Best Third-Party Faction Character — Any non-Sangheili character who is affiliated with a non-UNSC organization; includes, but is not limited to: AI, Insurrectionists, organized criminals, Forerunners, Precursors, etc.

Technologies

 * Best Vehicle of the Year — Any classification of vehicle or individual vehicle capable of spaceflight, extra-atmospheric, or ground travel.
 * Best Technology of the Year — Any physical object or knowledge paradigm used to influence an individual's interaction with the environment, including, but not limited to, defensive systems, weapons, equipment, etc...

Societal

 * Best Event of the Year — Any event that occurs, including a military engagement (battle, campaign, or war) between any contenders for any length of time, or a non-military event.
 * Best Location of the Year — Anything involving planets, cities, space stations etc. If it's on a map, it can be nominated here.
 * Best Organization of the Year — Any organization, including, but not limited to, governments, militaries, military subdivisions, units, civilian corporations, etc...

Stories

 * Best Novel of the Year — Best long literary fiction. A nominated novel does not have to be completed but substantial progress should have been made. There is a general minimum length threshold for novels to be considered. Does not include roleplays.
 * Best Short Fiction of the Year — Best short literary fiction. Short fictions can be nominated in groups or collections. It is recommended that the nominated fiction is completed.

Users

 * Best Writer of the Year — For literary excellence in writing articles, fictions, roleplays, and/or productions.
 * Breakthrough User of the Year — For newfound outstanding participation and contribution on the wiki and friendly interaction with the community.

Miscellaneous

 * Best Concept of the Year — A sort of 'other' category for quality articles that do not fit into any other category or are not seen enough on the site to warrant their own section; species, games etc.
 * Best Canon Expansion of the Year — A well-written article based off a canon element or article that has strong connections to canon as well as the author's own creativity.
 * Best Collaboration of the Year — Any singular collaborative work, including but not limited to, roleplays, expanded universe, alternate universe, or other type of article written by two or more people that does not qualify for any of the above categories.

Placement

 * Heroic Article of the Year — The article with the third most number of votes in the "placement" stage.
 * Legendary Article of the Year — The article with the second most number of votes in the "placement" stage.
 * Mythic Article of the Year — The article with the most number of votes in the "placement" stage.

=Nominations and Voting=

Merlin-D032 ()

 * Name: Merlin-D032
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) I won't deny that I'm passionate about Tyler winning the award; he's been my flagship article all this while obviously. But still, then, my vote would also be still for Merlin-D032. I give credit to Merlin for not only being the first fleshed-out and well-written Delta Company Spartan, but also becoming the second forefront of our DELTA Initiative collaboration, alongside the actual Delta Company. I can only surmise on how much more exciting this character would turn out during the events of the Created crisis and the all-out chaos in that time. Incorporating a lot of short stories under the Delta's Path banner, fully-detailed personality, relationships, and training life, and also including a crossover with one of HF's best-written Spartan characters, Simon-G294, this article deserves nothing short of an AA award, even if that means competing against my own treasure. Good luck!
 * 2) Showerhead has been one of my favorite characters to have collaborated with, and--although I hate to say it--I'm a tad bit biased towards Deltas. KOY-1150-5  - ( Talk ) - * KingOfYou115 throws a book at . 23:23, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 3) The center of Tide's Boson has quickly grown into one of my favorite SPARTANs on site, and for good reason. He's gotten nominated for AA as a Spartan completely rooted in the lore of Halo Fanon rather than 343's, and has done so because he simply is just that damn good.User:Spartan-D042 screw this sig stuff 16:39, December 25, 2017 (UTC)

Tyler-A319 ()

 * Name: Tyler-A319
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (5)

 * 1) This is always one of the toughest decisions each year, but considering how much work Coolbuddy (sorry man, the name change isn't gonna stick) has put into improving Tyler's article since last year I think this edges out the competition this year. There's a good balance of informative detail and compelling writing in the biography that makes it a great read overall, and I appreciate the detail put into the equipment sections.
 * 2) This was a very close call for me and it really came down to whether I preferred the pictures (better in another Spartan contender IMO) or content (better here). There's a lot of detail pumped into this article's biography that I think really makes it stand out from the others and score my vote this year.
 * 3) This is my first AA and I can attest that the competition for this year is very competitive. While a fan of every Spartan in this competition and even biased toward my own - I can only concur with others and say that Tyler-A319 has certainly earned this spot having gone through many changes over this last year and more. Distant Tide (talk)
 * 4) Well, shameless self-vote, but I'm very proud of the character I've created. "Too many unfinished sections", one may say, "More coding and weapon images in the tables rather than stuff in other sections" one may argue. But I can say with conformity that I've definitely put a lot of effort in polishing this article ever since it won GA at a rather highly-underworked state (still feel bad about that stupid act). While the battles section is definitely not done, as I have a lot of plans for it as well as a few possible crossovers, I've also added huge chunks of text for personality and skills and will do for relationships and other character-development sections, as I agree with the belief that a well-fleshed character is as equally important as a long combat history. Wholly happy about this!
 * 5) My impression of Tyler at the time it came up for GA was that CB (sorry, D379) was shooting for GA as a test of ability, and though it seemed not ready initially, the author did something far more commendable: took the GA panel's suggestions to heart and worked to improve what he'd written, to the level it was indeed able to earn the status. And since then, the page has expanded with that same level of quality. Absolutely keep going. That Damn Sniper 01:50, December 23, 2017 (UTC)

Cody-B042 ()

 * Name: Cody-B042
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) It's refreshing to see a number of flagship characters up this year, because truly they--and Spartans in particular--have been the site's lifeblood through its ages. And D042's article plays straight a choice that's often toyed with: their attitude towards aliens. I've got multiple Spartans without much hatred for the Covenant, but given it was practically a founding tenet for the S-IIIs, I do like to see when the grudge is preserved in the character post-war, even as necessity brings the UNSC and the characters into working with old and bitter enemies. Not to mention I squarely envy the consistency and quality of images for an SPI Spartan, some of which I haven't seen before even after trying to track them down frequently for various characters. That Damn Sniper 01:50, December 23, 2017 (UTC)

Jez 'Varum ()

 * Name: Jez 'Varum
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Toru 'Makhan ()

 * Name: Toru 'Makhan
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (4)

 * 1) It was a tough call between these two articles, as both have had a ton of hard work put into them and tell some exciting stories in their courses, but I have to come down on Toru's side for the vote. Jez has participated in a few more community projects, I believe, but Brodie's rounded out Toru's article with more than Biography, which reminds me what's on the page does count, even when I give bonus points for community interplay. That Damn Sniper 01:57, December 19, 2017 (UTC)
 * 2) I'm not familiar with Covenant characters that much - as I have not taken the time to develop my own and I do note that the Halo community does seem to pivot toward human characters more often than not. Therefore, I find my judgment a little less effective when discussing the Sangheili. One thing I do notice between the AA nominees though is they both attempt to tell variations on the Elite character template with Sangheili leaving the Covenant after the Great Schism and joining up with the Arbiter or becoming a part of other successor factions. Both Toru and Jez share in a fine polish in terms of telling stories, however, its clear that Toru has had a little more focus placed beyond a detailed biography which applies to my vote in his favor, in concurrence with Sniper's conclusion. One thing that Jez does better than Toru is the images, that said, this was a very hard decision to make. Both articles are more than deserving of winning this AA category. Distant Tide (talk)
 * 3) I have to go with this one. Not much that I can say that's already been said, besides a couple grammatical mistakes I picked up from reading the article, but despite that the article shines more in terms of length. We get a pretty good biography and his skills and personally go hand in hand with his background, giving us a better understanding of the character.--Andromeda Vadum (talk) 23:50, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 4) One thing that caught me off-guard about this article is the amount of detail that went into Toru's service before the Human-Covenant War. It's a very refreshing take on Covenant articles, whereas most users neglect this period to focus on their exploits during the war. The writing is enjoyable to read, though the only critique I can offer is that the article could use more in the way of images and quotes to break up that daunting wall-of-text appearance. Might use it for inspiration when I work back on my own Sangheili articles.

Ivanir Stanislav ()

 * Name: Ivanir Stanislav
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Sylvia Farkas ()

 * Name: Sylvia Farkas
 * Author:, and
 * Nominator:

Voting (6)

 * 1) While strong contenders all around, Sev's work on a character conceived purely from another user and within an RP - Farkas has most certainly come far in the span of a few months. I wonder how this woman didn't get court-martialed in all her years of military service, however, as a character she is most certainly an impressive feat. Minus the flirting though...god she needs to settle down. Distant Tide (talk)
 * 2) It's nice to see a trend of articles lately that aren't about your traditional combat-oriented personnel, and Sylvia Farkes is a great example of this. While the biography isn't quite finished, there's been a ton of work put into developing her personality and abilities that is seldom seen in many characters, and I really appreciate that.
 * 3) Voted!--Andromeda Vadum (talk) 23:50, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 4) Agreed, the competition here is very intense, but in the end, my vote goes for Sylvia. Sev, along with the other two users managed to create an interesting pilot character. But what really got my attention is the equal importance given to the Skills and Personality section and the main Biography. Also wins points for being in a Dahm relationship!
 * 5) A great break from our usual fare of Spartans and ground pounders, Sylvia's article combines good writing with some impressive pictures for an all-around great presentation.
 * 6) With Zaytseva up for nomination again this year, I had to go back and compare edits to the articles only since the start of the year, and Sylvia has had the more content added in the year. It's really neat to see both takes on a dropship pilot, though. Carol Rawley was one of just a handful of named and relatively important characters in the original Halo, and it's a shame that archetype of character sort of fell by the wayside as the series went on. The collaborative angle to her creation also seems interesting, but I'm not quite sure what it entails--a character having their article on HF written by another user? It might be worth putting a creator's note at the bottom to explain it. That Damn Sniper 02:43, December 24, 2017 (UTC)

Aleksandra Zaytseva ()

 * Name: Aleksandra Zaytseva
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) An established powerhouse in the Halo Fanon community, TEmeigh's creation of this female pilot has been a loaming prescence through my time on HF, starting with my introductions to her in the Status Quo RP. I'm also coming to the realization that there are multiple female hotshot pilot characters in the HF community that have had a tendency to turn my characters into blabbering morons. Am I starting to see a pattern? Distant Tide (talk)
 * 2) KOY-1150-5  - ( Talk ) - * KingOfYou115 throws a book at . 23:23, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * Ah, the mighty and fearless Sasha! With a peculiar name that's as long as the page itself (:P), there was no doubt this page would make into this year's AAs as well. Sasha has made her presence well known to various users on the site now given her frequent appearances in many stories and RPs. My only concern would be Tim's rather odd choice of image placement, but that's just a visual opinion, and nothing like that changes the article's quality!

Yun'da'Klem ()

 * Name: Yun'da'Klem
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Thomas Koepke ()

 * Name: Thomas Koepke
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (2)

 * 1) I gotta admit, one thing that has always interested me is the concept of a tragic hero, and while it's not pulled off in it's entirety here, it does take some tropes from it. While out-of-context Koepke is basically a thug in a uniform, Actene skilfully writes it in a way that I cannot do anything but sympathise with him.
 * 2) There are some really unique contenders in this category, but ultimately, I can't help saying few can put an article together the way Actene can. I believe this became something of a passion project for him after deciding to use a couple particular image sources for this article and its counterpart, exploring a part of our ongoing collaborative works that I haven't been diligent in expanding myself, and with great results. That Damn Sniper 07:02, December 25, 2017 (UTC)

Edmond Dahm ()

 * Name: Edmond Dahm
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) With a long and checkered past, the story of Edmond Dahm's life has been one of the most interesting character biographies I've read in a while, and while it's not quite finished I still found it to be an enjoyable read. As always, Sev has put a lot of focus into developing Dahm's personalty to make him a well-rounded character who changes over time. Good stuff overall.
 * 2) This year has been a tough one as far as the AA's go. Even though I'm rivaling against three other articles, this one caught my interest. A couple things that I feel need to be addressed, like from a bank robbery to a career in law enforcement seems unlikely to happen. I feel that some where in the middle of these two sections it needs some elaboration. Did he get his record expunged? Although, certain police agencies will have access to your sealed or expunged record. But I guess I digress. The biography is good and I feel that it will eventually coincide with his more detailed personality.--Andromeda Vadum (talk) 23:50, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 3) The cop who survived the gauntlet of SOTF, and as previously mentioned by Brodie sports one of the most interesting histories I've read in some time. This was by no means an easy call, Thomas in particular nearly bested Dahm with his own complex history and motivations, but Edmund just barely surpasses him with his transition from criminal, to cop, to soldier.User:Spartan-D042 screw this sig stuff 16:39, December 25, 2017 (UTC)

Kyle Craig ()

 * Name: Kyle Craig
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) Voting on my own article sigh. I feel that it should win mwahahaha not only because it's rich with detail and personality that matches with his motives, but after losing with the GA awards - please don't kill me for the negative undertones. - I took a few of snipers suggestions into fixing some grammatical inconsistencies, making the article stand out a little better. Lots of hard work over the year, and still adding more detail little by little.--Andromeda Vadum (talk) 23:50, December 20, 2017 (UTC)

Artemis-class Battlecruiser ()

 * Name: Artemis-class Battlecruiser
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (4)

 * 1) While the Mercury and the Artemis are both well-executed articles, the Artemis sits better both in recent memory and has definitely garnered unique attention for a ship article, even attracting the praise of the SOTP development team. I believe this battlecruiser wins the day. Distant Tide (talk)
 * 2) The fact that the ship category this year is a tossup between two of Sev's ship articles is a testament to his skill with crafting tech expansions. As per Distant's vote, both are very well done articles but the Artemis definitely edges out the Mercury in terms of overall detail and design.
 * 3) When writing articles like this, I've always felt that you have to get this good balance between getting the technical information down and making the details an interesting read, and this one does that perfectly. While both submissions were great this year, I think this one is definitely of higher quality.
 * 4) Both are put together well, but at the end of the day the Artemis-class just has more content devoted to it and seems a little more balanced in terms of distributing that content, if that makes sense. Being an expansion of a piece from a fan project, too, makes it a unique approach to finding fanon fodder. Alliterations. That Damn Sniper 07:08, December 25, 2017 (UTC)

Mercury-class Destroyer ()

 * Name: Mercury-class Destroyer
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Colt Blaster HDW Mk.15 ()

 * Name: Colt Blaster HDW Mk.15
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (7)

 * 1) Hands-down to what I'd say the best weapon article I've read on this wiki, the Colt Blaster definitely deserves this award, for being such a unique take on a weapon article. While other writers generally focus more on the ballistics and functionality of the weapon, leaving the other parts bare, Tide manages to make both the weapon's statics and its long-spread history just as exciting. I can say honestly that even if other weapon articles were to compete with this, my vote would still be on the Colt Blaster. Well done, Tide.


 * 1) It's been a while since the wiki got a weapons article as detailed as this and it's great to see this combination of tech writing coupled with the great trend of articles weaving themselves into wiki prominence through collaboration and RPs.
 * 2) 3 If someone were to come up to me and say that not only would a user make an AR15-inspired article that flaunts the boundary of our WW2Halo policy, not only that it actually gets into a state that it would be good enough for the AAs, but it is wholeheartedly accepted and used by the community in roleplays and collaborations, I would've laughed in their face and bid them good day. And yet, here we are. The article has a historical focus which talks just as much about the culture of the weapon as it does it technical aspects, which is a very unique way to do a weapon article. Maybe this is my bias setting in, but had we had a more traditional gun article to compare it with, I think I would still go with this article.
 * 3) As per the other guys. I've praised the Colt Blaster before and I'll do it again here; this is probably one of my favourite articles of the entire year.
 * 4) I still remember when Tide explicitly stated not to nominate this article for an award, but judging by the unanimous praise from everyone exposed to it, it's definitely worthy of the AA. KOY-1150-5  - ( Talk ) - * KingOfYou115 throws a book at . 23:23, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 5) Per the other votes. I agree!--Andromeda Vadum (talk) 23:50, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 6) I think more than I can add here given what's been said already is that I've seen this article pop up among the favored weapons of multiple users' characters, and if that's not a mark of success for a tech article, I know even less about tech articles than I think. That Damn Sniper 07:11, December 25, 2017 (UTC)

Battle of Second Sanctum ()

 * Name: Battle of Second Sanctum
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (4)

 * 1) I'm going to cast my single shameless self-vote for this article, as it's one of few pages that I've completely finished and something that I worked hard on across the year to be as high-quality as possible.
 * 2) While battle articles aren't my forte, damn-it if they're not a good read when they're done well.
 * 3) Being the only event nominated this year, it goes to show how difficult it can be to write a thorough and interesting event article and what caliber of a writer is required to make such an enticing item like the Battle of Second Sanctum interesting to read. Brodie-001 is certainly that type of author and has a reputation on HF as one of the few authors who write with a refined level of quality consistently. While I don't believe that Second Sanctum is ground-breaking in terms of execution, it is an overall refinement of the niche category that is Event Articles on Halo Fanon. If I could recommend anything to writers that might look to write their own Event articles - Second Sanctum is one to look at as a guideline, going forward. Distant Tide (talk)
 * 4) This article represents what's really a pretty big event in Brodie's expansive Sigmaverse--main characters from several different veins come together here, from his main Spartan characters and the venerable Richard Mack, Jr. to the vessel Bright New Day, which sees so many other appearances it hasn't even included its appearance here yet. That Damn Sniper 01:48, December 27, 2017 (UTC)

United Republic of North America ()

 * Name: United Republic of North America
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (2)

 * 1) Usually when you get an article featuring the history of somewhere on Earth it runs the risk of having big, potentially controversial sections based entirely on author conjecture, but this one smartly averts any of that and proves to be a great take on the URNA. The integration of both canon and fanon events is something I really appreciate here, too.
 * 2) When you try to get the first vote for this article but Brodie steals it Although Sirona deserves another AA too, I'm voting for URNA, considering the amount of work Tide's put in this article and fleshing out the country's history, even containing a list of notable UNSC personnel from the country (including all of his Deltas!) Next year, next year I will come back with my Union of Indian States article to compete with yours! Until next year, this one shall hold the title.
 * 3) As much as I would sometimes wish to see a possible explanation of how the United States would fall apart, and how the divisions wouls shape the states to form in its wake, surely it never occurs quite the same way in everyone's minds, making DT's decision to start immediately after a wise one. And there's still plenty of interesting material therein to be had--Canada, who'd have thought?--especially because this article tells a good part of the UEG's history as well. I do think it dwells a little too long on certain recent events, but when you look at, for example, Halopedia articles on places, they tend to devote as much time to the short interactions characters have with the subject, because as part of a story it's simply what the story pertains too. So all in all, the article does a great job of doing what it's meant to do. That Damn Sniper 02:18, December 27, 2017 (UTC)

Sirona (Groombridge 1618 b) ()

 * Name: Sirona (Groombridge 1618 b)
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) It was a tough call between these two articles, but Tim's refinement of his writing on the page over the page and the interesting description of its flag and name ultimately won me over.

Gilgamesh Free State ()

 * Name: Gilgamesh Free State
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (4)

 * 1) Lancer's been doing a great job recently with his work on secessionist factions that go beyond your generic rebel groups, and has clearly put the time in to create a believable scenario while chronicling the rise and fall of the GFS.
 * 2) Another great secessionist government article from Lancer? Blasphemy! Anyway, I think the changes Lancer did to the GFS compared to his other works - by describing them as a legitimate government - is always an interesting way to take a rebel faction, especially with all the thought to make this as believable as possible.
 * 3) If the Victorian Independent State wasn't a well-enough-written rebel faction from Lancer, there you go, he's made another one, just to prove you wrong. Even being the main organization of Status Quo doesn't convince you? Read the article. If you're still not convinced, Lancer'll make another such one next year to win another AA, maybe that'll be enough :P
 * 4) Of all the articles that I have had the chance to see in the Organizations category, I don't think anyone is more deserving the title of Best Organization than the GFS. The Gilgamesh Free State saw its premiere during Lancer's own Status Quo RP and took off running. You can tell that the page has received a labor of love as Lancer has been thorough in developing an entire nation from the ground up and leaving no stone unexplored or unturned. He knows this world and has done more world building than most Halo Fanon regulars are willing to do with their own organizations. It's breathtaking and inspiring to see it get this far, even if he pulled a similar stunt not too-long-ago with Victoria. Once SQ reaches its end, can we expect another rebel colony to be explored in the near future from him? Only Lancer knows. Distant Tide (talk)

Baal Defense Solutions ()

 * Name: Baal Defense Solutions
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) A good article with fleshed out history and organization structure. Colin kept bringing this up in RP's and the discord chat that it seems to be one of the more popular companies out there in the frontier, how can this go unmissed!--Andromeda Vadum (talk) 23:50, December 20, 2017 (UTC)

Reyes-McLees Corporation ()

 * Name: Reyes-McLees Corporation
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Team Boson ()

 * Name: Team Boson
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) While it was difficult to pick between this and Distant's other nominated organisation this year, Team Boson stood out to me as a particularly interesting take on the standard Spartan Team formula. While most pages would likely dedicate a few lines to how Spartan teams got along with each other, the inclusion of an entire section dedicated to their relationship with their peers was a great addition to the page and certainly caught my attention.
 * 2) Doesn't deserve this vote because Accretion is not at all mentioned. Then again, who's Accretion yet anyways? Still, have to work on them. Good article overall! :P
 * 3) I nominated Boson for a reason, being the most developed of Delta's teams, Boson has ties with most every team made for our rendition of Delta. Writing their 'complex' relationship with Anion in training has been a blast and I can't wait to hash out how the two will interact in the futureUser:Spartan-D042 screw this sig stuff 16:39, December 25, 2017 (UTC)

Glass Raiders ()

 * Name: Glass Raiders
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

SPARTAN-II Program, Class II ()

 * Name: SPARTAN-II Program, Class II
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Gilgameshan honey bee ()

 * Name: Gilgameshan honey bee
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) Like at least a few other people out there I'm sure (anyone?), I had my Animal Planet phase a long time back, and that makes it neat for me to see a bit of biology come up in an unlikely place. Of course, when filling in the just about literally most tiny detail, there have to be ways to tie it in to the bigger things to make it relevant, and this article does have a couple. Most notably is the honey's properties, which makes for a great example of planetary colonists on their own making do with what they can find around them. I could see it being more connected, maybe the honey being a profitable export or the bees being able to rejuvenate species on Earth itself, but I like what it does currently enough to get my vote. That Damn Sniper 02:41, December 16, 2017 (UTC)
 * 2) In this case, yes, we are of the same mind Sniper. I grew up on American PBS late-night science shows, particularly Nova and Nature. Along with the rare opportunity of watching Animal Planet, Steve Irwin, and the Discovery Channel when I could because of my basic cable plans as a child. I'm very disappointed that Echo did not invite the development of a painful sting into this creature for the likes of writing about a scene similar to Brave Wilderness. Also, didn't this start out as a joke about shooting beehives in Status Quo? What next? An article about Gilgamesh Peanuts? Good work Echo. Distant Tide (talk)
 * 3) Gilgamesh Peanuts! Good one, Tide! But back to the article, I never would have expected someone to try something along the lines of this, and especially not Echo. But here it is anyway, worthy of an award. KOY-1150-5  - ( Talk ) - * KingOfYou115 throws a book at . 23:23, December 20, 2017 (UTC)

RP:Jaeter's Protectors ()

 * Name: RP:Jaeter's Protectors
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) Jaeter's presence as the first fleshed out RP on Discord for Halo Fanon is definitely worth a mention as a unique concept. While many users on HF have not been quick to adopt Discord as a means of RP as it does have some issues that previous methods of RP have proven more effective - JP has done a wonderful job in cultivating its own world. Distant Tide (talk)

Halo Wars 2: Swords of Sanghelios DLC ()

 * Name: Halo Wars 2: Swords of Sanghelios DLC
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) While it might not seem like much, one must remember that this was created for the Weekly, and as such was subject to a word limit. In that context, this article succeeds at getting the most amount of information onto the page without confusing the reader. The faction itself is interesting and fits right at home with how Sangheili society - and the ambitions of their newly-risen government - act in lore. The only thing I'd like is a short description for each unit, as despite drawing many of the units from canonical concepts to give us an idea how they look, I'd like to know how he believes they'll behave in the game.

Bazaar on the Frontier

 * Name: Bazaar on the Frontier
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (2)

 * 1) While I believe this is nowhere near finished, Tide has tried something that we've never thought of doing. While many users try to merge their characters into each other's stories and make a shared universe, Tide instead turned towards the overlooked aspects of the Halo universe; weapons, starships, vehicles, even goddamn for-hire organizations like Baal Defense Solutions for example, and got various people to get interested in it. It might be classified as an EU, but in my opinion, it's a shared collaboration, an attempt at getting people together without making one's Sangheili fight alongside another's Spartan, and with good thought at that.
 * 2) Frontier Bazaar is definitely a unique idea - create a nice-looking catalogue showcasing everything that HF has to offer. There's definitely great promise here.

SPARTAN-II Program, Class II ()

 * Name: SPARTAN-II Program, Class II
 * Original Article:
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) Having written an article like this myself, I can appreciate just how much work had to go into this project: getting dates right, planning a timeline that would match up, coordinating canon and fanon characters. And a lot of work's been done, with just enough canon info to require some figuring and an extensively filled out history. Images and tables for some visual variety, and the result is a fantastic work. But beyond it being a solid work, being open for contribution provides something invaluable to the site: consistency. When a newcomer considers making a Class II, they can look at any of the character pages involved, see there's a shared history, and get a feel for it instead of wondering why different user-universe versions and characters don't match up. It makes the site more accessible, and it gets my vote for that. That Damn Sniper 06:07, December 17, 2017 (UTC)
 * 2) Am I biased because I have several characters in here? Maybe. But what one me over is CB's extensive work on the page, and as Sniper mentioned, it provides consistency and does an incredible job coordinating fanon and canon.User:Spartan-D042 screw this sig stuff 16:39, December 25, 2017 (UTC)
 * 3) Similar to Delta Company, Class II represents a Halo Fanon movement - led by Coolbuddy, to compensate for 343's further developments of the Halo Universe Canon and thus shrinking the available scope of the Halo Expanded Universe. When Class I SPARTAN-IIs had only 75 recruits and with 56 or more already named members - Halo Fanon runs the risk of running out of mainline SPARTAN-II numbers to occupy. It may be an inevitably even that all HF Spartans may be forced to transition into Class II to compensate for this shrinking space of fan interpretation. Coolbuddy's work on Class II is, while developed, still in its infancy and has yet to see the same enthusiasm that Delta Company has experienced in the last year. Either way, Coolbuddy has done an extensive job in making Class II fit the Halo Canon and to give fans a little extra breath to stretch their writing muscles. The creation of Class II was likely inevitable, in one way or another, however, CB has done the wiki a service by stepping up to the plate and knocking the ball out of the park. Distant Tide (talk)

Reyes-McLees Corporation ()

 * Name: Reyes-McLees Corporation
 * Original Article:
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

UNSC Maritime Operations ()

 * Name: UNSC Maritime Operations
 * Original Article:
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) I was really torn on which of these articles I'd pick until I spotted Tide's creator's statement in the Notes--that the article sprang up as a reaction to and part of the discussion of the Wet Navy by the community, and found that really cool. There really isn't much canon info to expand on with the maritime navy in Halo, but Tide's done a thorough job of finding what needs to be stated to paint a pretty complete picture of them, and includes some neat coding besides. I would have said it's presumptive the entire world would universally adapt to the United States' systems, but then, Nylund in the initial books leaned heavily on doing exactly that for a lot of the UNSC in general, so in that way it fits right in. Excellent concept, and great execution. That Damn Sniper 06:07, December 17, 2017 (UTC)

RP:Status Quo ()

 * Name: RP:Status Quo
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) I'll be honest here, I wish I had the time to participate in this RP. I always do. Something that originally started off as an idea for another RvB-based RP, Status Quo has been one of the biggest discussions among the community this year, even going so far as to having a separate channel for its plot discussion on Discord while it lasted. This RP brought a various lot of users together in an intense event, with many of them creating not only characters but also various new sort of articles (like the Gilgameshan honey bee) that have made their way to the AAs here. Definitely deserving of an Annual Award.
 * 2) Even though the base story went completely sideways almost immediately, SQ is still my favorite collaboration/RP I have been a part of. Despite taking ten or so sessions just to recover from the first session (which doesn't matter anyway, as everything will go sideways again in the next session), I enjoyed using what little we had to stay hidden and still mess with the GFS. This also marked the first official debut of Rayne and Theia, two characters of mine that I absolutely enjoy writing about. KOY-1150-5  - ( Talk ) - * KingOfYou115 throws a book at . 23:23, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 3) With the advent of the RvB RPs years back, after Dwindling Flame dwindled as the largest heroic effort to reignite on-site RPs, IRC roleplays have become the go-to medium, and Lancer's has been, to my knowledge, the first attempt at a heavily structured and scheduled one. And it's borne fruit quickly; everything to do with and expand upon Gilgamesh, the characters to be involved or come out of the events--these are articles the site wouldn't have if not for this RP. Like a few of us armchair-RPers now, I wish I had the ability to commit like I'd originally signed up to, and while I enjoyed thoroughly my interactions and part in The Hunted, Status Quo has gone on where others slowed to a halt, and for capturing the energy necessary to make that happen, I think it deserves the award. That Damn Sniper 01:55, December 24, 2017 (UTC)

RP:Jaeter's Protectors ()

 * Name: RP:Jaeter's Protectors
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) While I've only participated a little myself in this RP and played a somewhat obscure antagonist so far, I can say that Jaeter's Protectors is a solid RP, and probably the first we've seen to be involved with Halo Fanon properly with its members contributing work to Halo Fanon in the form of articles. While its clear that Jaeter and Halo Fanon do not see eye-to-eye in a lot of things - primarily coming down to the interpretation of canon - JP has a history of adopting soft canon while HF has been strident in maintaining its own Canon Policy. Both systems have their merits for RP, JP's promotes greater involvement from the vanilla Halo community and lacks the learning curve that Halo Fanon requires to be a regular contributor here. There are things I believe that Halo Fanon can learn from JP in its interpretation of canon and its connection with the rest of the Halo community, however, under its own merits - Jaeter is the first Halo Fanon Discord RP. The minor Delta Company RP on Discord has taken notes off of JP in how it carries itself similarly. Distant Tide (talk)

RP:The Hunted (,, )

 * Name: RP: The Hunted
 * Author:, and
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) I remember when this RP started during the last Annual Awards, and despite the complete drop in activity near the beginning of Act II, Act I was definitely a fun experience, with Shiv entrusting me with the big red "Crash The Ship" button. It was the debut of my previously-just-a-name-not-even-a-face ODST, Jet, and what was left of his squad. Working with Shiv for the interactions between him and his Spartan, Harald, was a fun experience, and I still intend on translating the RP into book form. I'm giving this RP my self-vote. KOY-1150-5  - ( Talk ) - * KingOfYou115 throws a book at . 23:23, December 20, 2017 (UTC)

Halo: Oversight ()

 * Name: Halo: Oversight
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Halo: Those Who Walk In Darkness ()

 * Name: Halo: Those Who Walk In Darkness
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Halo: Necessary Evil ()

 * Name: Halo: Necessary Evil
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Something Felt Wrong. . . ()

 * Name: Something Felt Wrong. ..
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

It's A Survival Blanket ()

 * Name: It's A Survival Blanket
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) So there's a lot of grim darkness in the Halo-verse. Well, not to the degree that phrase suggests, though there are moments of it, but between xenophobic religious genocide and Cold War-ish machinations tearing down innocents or supposed allies to better positions of organizations like ONI, we don't get a ton of humor, and when we do it sticks out (hands up if Naomi's "Does this armor make me look fat?" line in Glasslands got an aloud laugh from you). But more than a joke at Simon's expense in this short, we get a genuine moment between his embarrassment and Cassandra's promising to keep it secret. It's a sweet personal moment and it has my vote. That Damn Sniper 03:22, December 16, 2017 (UTC)

Heavy Weapons ()

 * Name: Heavy Weapons
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Uneasy ()

 * Name: Uneasy
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) Maybe its our instinctive first reaction to root for the underdogs, but stories about Grunts like Yayap and Dadab trying to survive their miserable lots in life and sometimes do things even beyond that do always manage to hold my interest, and this piece delves right into what makes them interesting by just giving us a glimpse at a Grunt's daily life. It's a life of constant danger thanks to their superiors alone, who are willing to throw any Grunt that fails to do what's automatically expected or causes any sort of problem out an airlock, and then you can think about this being the lot of a permanent population aboard just one warship. Then add how little Yadap realizes he really knows, that information is being kept from him and asking will undoubtedly result in his death, and you've got a pretty good idea of how pitiful the life of an Unggoy is. Novel about a Grunt when? That Damn Sniper 03:22, December 16, 2017 (UTC)

Talitsa February ()

 * Name: Talitsa February
 * Author:
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) I went in mistaking this for another one of Actene's stories, but instead I got gripped into this little piece - and honestly, it's good that I read this last. It separates itself from the other entries here in what it doesn't straight-up tell you - it uses descriptions and gestures from the characters to build up the atmosphere in the scene up and beyond when the punchline is told, leaving the reader being forced to interpret the feelings themselves. The result is quite a powerful piece in my opinion.

Delta's Path (, )

 * Name: Delta's Path
 * Author: and
 * Nominator:

Voting (1)

 * 1) Although there's no doubt every single one of the authors of the stories above has put effort into making their stories stand out in the AAs, I feel my vote goes for Delta's Path. While we as the original creators were just getting started on expanding Delta Company's functioning, Tide and King (who is also one of the OG writers) managed to flesh it out even more by focusing on the lives of the Spartans of the infamous Company. With excellent writing from both of them, Delta's Path really has some solid effort put from both King and Tide in this anthology, and that makes it deserving of this award and most definitely not because it's Delta Company, eyy.


 * Name:
 * Nominator:


 * Name:
 * Nominator:

Voting (3)

 * 1) It's always great to watch users start out on this site and gradually improve their writing over time, and S-D379 is a fine example of how much a user can progress in just a few short years. Considering the massive spike in quality across all his articles this year and the amount of work he has put in to create an EU with interesting characters and stories, he's definitely my pick for writer of the year.
 * 2) This was a tough call to make, but S-D379 has steadily increased his work on the site throughout the year. I'm impressed with his growth as both a writer and a community member and look forward to seeing what he has in store for the future.
 * 3) When I first met CB, I never really thought much of him - to be honest, there was nothing that made him stand-out as someone my newb self wanted to collaborate with, what with a stub game article he was working on. But he took his experiences and critiques on-board, with his writing quality improving from year-to-year. I'll admit, I still wasn't sure what we were thinking when he came up to me and pitched the idea for a collaboration of an illicit Delta Company - but he proved to be up to the task, becoming the main writer alongside myself since its inception. It's awesome to see him finally have many of his own solo articles competing his year - he's an example that it's never too late to become a great writer and community contributor. Good going mate!


 * Name:
 * Nominator:


 * Name:
 * Nominator:

Voting (6)

 * 1) Distant has certainly made his mark on the site in his relatively short time here, and has not only produced some excellent articles but has established himself as a helpful user in our community in the past year. Here's to more great work from him in the future!
 * 2) If Tide doesn't get Breakthrough User this year, I don't know who would. He's surprised me time and time again with his dedication to his writing, and the number of articles of his that are up for vote this year (and the number of votes they're getting) are a clear indication of that. And besides his writing, Tide is an outstanding member of the community, being a part of multiple EUs including Delta, participating in (I believe) every RP hosted on HF this year, as well as taking the initiative to introduce new users to the site and it's canon policy. He's definitely deserving of this award. KOY-1150-5  - ( Talk ) - * KingOfYou115 throws a book at . 23:23, December 20, 2017 (UTC)
 * 3) Was there any question about this? I predicted that Tide would be worthy of becoming the Breakthrough User of the Year back in August, and expressed this to Sev, who agreed with me. And here we are, at the AAs, and it's certain he's going to win his award. Tide's made plenty of good articles, even winning GA and FotM status for many of them. But what really turns the tide for him is his community interaction. He has adapted to our community far quicker than I ever did, and has become one of our core and most frequent members on our Discord, and that's a good sign. I'm expecting to see this award on his userpage, along with a Distinguished User award or two!
 * 4) Distant Tide may be the only contender in the category this year but I have no doubt I'd be casting my vote for him regardless of the playing field. From his work on the site to being a steady and pleasant presence on the irk, Tide is a welcome addition to the community and I hope we'll be seeing continued activity for years to come.
 * 5) I'll be honest, when some guy showed up for Status Quo trying to orbital drop in some boats, I had my concerns, but in a heartbeat Distant proved himself. His work has become some of my favorite and I can't wait to see it continue to grow,User:Spartan-D042 screw this sig stuff 16:39, December 25, 2017 (UTC)
 * 6) I was sitting here trying to think up of a big speech proclaiming why he should get it, but there's only one thing I can really say; is there any doubt that Distant was going to win this? He's made a fantastic addition to our community - one can only hope for the things that will come from him in the future.