Archive of Our Own

Well, folks, it's that time of year again. Actually, it's past that time of year again, but sometimes real life can be a big pain in the keister.

Anywho, we're finally ready to launch The Papa Bear Awards! Rejoice!

We have a bit of a small playing field this year, so we're going to try something new, so pay attention to the rules!

This year, we will NOT be having a nomination round. Instead, we will move straight into the voting round. You MAY NOT vote for your own works.

We've decided to eliminate the usual BEST OVERALL category. Instead, it will be split into two different categories: BEST OVERALL DRAMA and BEST OVERALL COMEDY. This gives our comedic writers more of an opportunity for recognition.

Additionally, there will be no 'episode' category this year as we only have two stories that qualify.

Because we've eliminated the nomination round, we've instituted a rule that you cannot vote for your own works. You will get three votes/category unless stated otherwise. We've also decided to treat ties as follows:

- If a pair of authors tie for first place, they each receive a gold medal, no one is awarded silver and the bronze is awarded to the runner-up(s).

- If a pair of authors tie for second place, they are each awarded a silver medal and there is no bronze given out.

- If a pair of authors tie for third place, they are each awarded a bronze medal and gold and silver are awarded as usual to the first and second-place finishers.

In the event of a three-way tie, we may consider a run-off voting round.

Also, because there will not be a nomination round and there will be no subcategories for General/Drama/Comedy, your vote for BEST OVERALL DRAMA/COMEDY does NOThave to appear elsewhere on your ballot. This allows you to vote for your absolute favourite stories as BEST DRAMA and BEST COMEDY without having to sacrifice the limited space you have in the other categories (usually you can select 9 stories in any given length category given the 3 genres, but now you can only vote for 3).

You will have three votes/category unless stated otherwise.

You can find more information on our website.

There is a Google Sheet attached to the website with all the stories in their categories, but I will also list them here in a separate post.

As always, we're looking forward to this year's PBAs and we hope you have fun with it! To send in your ballot (there is a doc attached on the website), email us at or send us a PM here on FFN.

Cheers!

Snapshots (3 votes)

1. Happy Days by Faebees Knees
2. Lest We Forget by LightShiner14
3. Burdened by Crystal Rose of Pollux
4. The boy, he forced me to be by Shiro.d kumo
5. Eyes of Mercy by LightShiner14
6. I Come and I Go- Houdini by Deepbluethinking
7. Turkish coffee by Shiro. d kumo
8. Three Old Women Went to Market by Fear-Of-The-Cold
9. It's a Puzzlement! by snooky-9093
10. A Lie of Dye by TheSailingRabbit
11. The Ham Scam by Tuttle4077
12. I Can't Share Everything by ShortGirlWithAPen
13. Close to Home (crossover) by Crystal Rose of Pollux

Short Stories (3 votes)

1. Hitching a Ride by snooky-9093
2. Invisible Cat by tallsunshine12
3. A POW's First Impressions by tallsunshine12
4. Wrong Place at the Right Time by Crystal Rose of Pollux
5. The Short Con by Abracadebra
6. Christmas Cheer by tallsunshine12
7. Shower Slips by PicassoPenguin
8. A Tale of Three Cities by Sierra Sutherwind
9. A Slip of the Tongue by whatisthismandoinghere
10. A Discouraging Word by PicassoPenguin
11. As Heroes Often Do by SierraSutherwind
12. Lambeth Walk by pronker
13. A Sister's Heart by Tuttle4077
14. A Russian's Graze by Vintronics
15. The Heart of a Story by meatsouuuup
16. The Night of La Befana by Sierra Sutherwind
17. Stalag 13 Dreaming by Dabbled-at-Euchre
18. That's a Lot of Blood by Rockport268

Medium-Length Stories (3 votes)

1. The Cat Came Back by Tuttle4077
2. A Family Affair by Fear-Of-The-Cold
3. Strength by Trekkiehood
4. The Day I Died Young by Sierra Sutherwind
5. Bonfires and Illuminations by Goldleaf83
6. Hogan, Private Eye by Sam Worth
7. The Good, the Bad, and the Pigeon by TheSailingRabbit
8. Life's a Journey- Fork in the Road by Sam Worth
9. Hop to It by Abracadebra
10. A Better Place by Fear-Of-The-Cold
11. Candide's Garden by dust on the wind
12. A Proper Dog by dust on the wind
13. Ears to the Ground by snooky-9093
14. A Friendly Game of Monopoly by Tuttle4077
15. Strange Bedfellows by snooky-9093
16. The People We Know by Tuttle4077
17. Knock Heads by Khebidecia
18. The Man in the Mirror by Abracadebra

Long Stories (3 votes)

1. Life's a Journey- Road Conditions by Sam Worth
2. The Price of Compassion by LightShiner14
3. The Last of the POWs by Rockport268
4. Just Like Mum Used to Make by DeathThouShaltDie
5. The Great (Chicken) Escape by tallsunshine12
6. Hogan's Heroes' Heroes (crossover) by TannaraMoonvale
7. Careful the Things You Say by Abracadebra
8. Hubris (crossover) by snooky-9093
9. All's Well That Ends Well by LightShiner14
10. Life's a Journey- Dead End by Sam Worth
11. Damaged Goods by Tuttle4077
12. Screaming to Be Heard by GrrraceUnderfire
13. Blue Rose by Sam Worth
14. The First and Last Dance of General Kinchmeyer by Book 'Em Again
15. There'll Be Vampires Over the White Cliffs of Dover by Sierra Sutherwind
16. The Last Escape by Rockport268
17. The Horn and the Belle by Tuttle4077
18. A Hogan's Heroes Christmas Carol by Rockport268
19. 2024 Short Story Speed Writing: A Coward's Guide to Survival by dust on the wind

Novellas (2 votes)

1. Fractured by Fear-Of-The-Cold
2. Beat The Odds (crossover) by Crystal Rose of Pollux
3. Dawn on the Horizon by Sam Worth
4. Inktober 2024 Shorts by Tuttle4077
5. Done Talking by GrrraceUnderfire

Challenges (3 votes)

1. As Heroes Often Do by SierraSutherwind
2. The People We Know by Tuttle4077
3. Lambeth Walk by pronker
4. The First and Last Dance of General Kinchmeyer by Book 'Em Again
5. The Day I Died Young by Sierra Sutherwind
6. A Friendly Game of Monopoly by Tuttle4077
7. The Man in the Mirror by Abracadebra
8. Fractured by Fear-Of-The-Cold
9. The Heart of a Story by meatsouuuup
10. Hogan, Private Eye by Sam Worth
11. There'll Be Vampires Over the White Cliffs of Dover by Sierra Sutherwind
12. The Last Escape by Rockport268
13. The Last of the POWs by Rockport268
14. Screaming to Be Heard by GrrraceUnderfire
15. Just Like Mum Used to Make by DeathThouShaltDie

SSSWC (3 votes)

1. The Good, the Bad, and the Pigeon by TheSailingRabbit
2. Strange Bedfellows by snooky-9093
3. Ears to the Ground by snooky-9093
4. Bonfires and Illuminations by Goldleaf83
5. A Family Affair by Fear-Of-The-Cold
6. Careful the Things You Say by Abracadebra
7. Knock Heads by Khebidecia
8. Candide's Garden by dust on the wind
9. A Proper Dog by dust on the wind
10. Life's a Journey- Dead End by Sam Worth
11. Shower Slips by PicassoPenguin
12. Life's a Journey- Fork in the Road by Sam Worth

Crossovers (2 votes)

1. Beat The Odds (crossover) by Crystal Rose of Pollux
2. Close to Home (crossover) by Crystal Rose of Pollux
3. Hogan's Heroes' Heroes (crossover) by TannaraMoonvale
4. Hubris (crossover) by snooky-9093

Multimedia (3 votes)

Newkirk in Profile by peter-newkirks-smolder

In addition to these categories we also have:

Best Portrayal of a Canon Character (3 votes)

Best Portrayal of a Canon Extra (3 votes)

Best Original Character (3 votes)

Best Portrayal of a Visiting Crossover Character (3 votes)

BEST OVERALL DRAMA (3 votes)

BEST OVERALL COMEDY (3 votes)

Voting ends March 16, 2025.

Our voting survey can be found here. But for all those who prefer a 'paper' ballot, there is one on our webiste!