Sorry: I've been doing battle with financial documents all this week ... ah, the joys of retirement! And the team of heroes (add star-phoenix to the list, who got left off in a dim moment despite her eagerness to help) has been somewhat quiet on what new wrinkles to propose. In general, the list of categories has worked well in the recent past, and so it seems that no really major changes are in order. Here (for reference) is the most recent (2011) list:
CATEGORIES:
(C) = Cel (H) = Hanken (MC) = Model Cel (O) = Other (P) = Painting (R) = Rilezu
Accessory - Emphasis on what the character is holding, using, swinging, playing, aiming. (C, R)
Action - Scenes of action, movement, motion. (C, R)
Background - No characters allowed. (C, P, R)
Children - Youth, babies, kids. (C, R)
Creature - Animals, monsters, pets, catgirls, demons. (C, R)
Cute - Adorable, precious, toothache inducing. (C, R)
Death - Characters in the final throws of death, or those that have already passed away. (C, R)
Embarrassed - Blushing, mortified, awkwardness, total humiliation. (C, R)
Fan Art - Made by you or another artist. (C, P, O)
Female - The fairer sex. (C, R)
Funny - Laugh out loud moments. (C, R)
Group - Art of two or more characters. (C, R)
Hanken - Art used for merchandise or other non-production special circumstances. Hankens are not allowed in any other category except hentai. (C, H, P, O, R)
Harmony - Unique combinations of line work and watercolor used to convey deep emotion and profound artistry. (C, P, R)
Heroic - White knight saves the day. (C, R)
Industry Art - Original artwork from industry artists, comic artists and mangakas. (C, P, O)
Insanity - Irrational delirium, totally crazy. (C, R)
Joy - Extreme happiness. (C, R)
Male - Boys, men, guys, bishonen. (C, R)
Outfit - Best dressed, emphasis on clothes and costumes. (C, R)
Rage - Mad, angry, extreme agitation. (C, R)
Robot - Our mechanical friends. (C, R)
Romance - Kissing, hugging, cuddling, anything non-explicit. (C, R)
Shocked - Stunned, horrified, utter dismay. (C, R)
Sorrow - Tear-jerkers, sadness. (C, R)
Special Effect - Power bursts, transformation effects, airbrushing, etc. (C, R)
Tranquility - Characters who have found their inner peace. (C, R)
Vehicle - Takes you where you want to go. (C, R)
Villainous - Archenemies, evil scientists, meanies, wicked bad guys. (C, R)
OPTION Animated - Short sequences of animated artwork. (C, R)
OPTION Hentai - Sexually explicit & nude. All pairings welcome! (C, H, R)
OPTION Settei - Characters, items or scenery. Model cels are not allowed in any other category. (MC, R)
Now the one area where there's been some discussion is "Romance." A member caused some eyebrows to raise by submitting a cel of two guys that knowledgable collectors recognized as father and son. Of course, if you didn't know the series, you could see the cel as a john with an unusually ugly hooker, or, more favorably, as a yaoi moment. Still, one of the team suggested that we rename the category simply "Love." That might, however, be too broad, including not only the devotion of a child for a parent or sibling and vice versa, but also as that of a child for a beloved pet. (Not to mention that of Gollum for the Ring.)
So might we retain "
Romance" as celebrating the emotions of two persons who are drawn to each other through physical passion (and the voters in Cephiro recently affirmed that this need not be limited to a man and a woman)? But add "
Affection" as celebrating the equally important tenderness between two characters (man and woman, father and son, girl and older brother, kid and dog, cat, baby dragon, etc.?) who are not seeking a long-term physical relationship? [Biblical Greek was clearer on this front, distinguishing "eros" (physical love) from "agape" (sacrificial love), "philia" (altruism), and "storge" (natural love between family members). "Romance" would focus on eros, "Affection" on the other three.]
A second suggestion is to add an OPTIONAL category to be termed "
Novel set-up." It would be a match of an original cel or celss and an
unmatching background positioned together in any way the owner of the pieces sees fit to make an interesting or unique "dream" scene.
It would still follow Eligibility Rule #2 [the contestant must physically own both the cel(s) and the background] and Submission Rule # 10 [the images cannot be digitally modified or enhanced, except by combining two scans for a pan object]. Entrants would need to scan their cel and background together and not do Photoshopping or computer editing of any kind.
A final suggestion is to include a few unique categories for each contest, just to keep things lively. They need not be included each time, but would simply provide a once-off fresh angle, maybe in a facetious way. For instance, the 2010 contest included "
Worst" cel, but this category was omitted (to my chagrin) in 2011. Others suggested are "End of the world" or "In a sticky situation." Others were proposed in a playful mode in
this thread.
Others? And are there rules that need to be reconsidered?