Buckle in your seatbelts because it's time for another long talk about the Pokémon Watty Awards. I've got to talk about the PWA19 results.
Somehow, The Isles of Gracidea won first place in the Adventure category and then the Special Awards for Best Prose, Best Depiction of Setting, and the Pushing Boundaries award. Out of all those things listed, the only one I thought I'd win was Pushing Boundaries. That loud-ass gasp I let out when TIOG was revealed to be first place probably punctured the eardrums of everyone in the HSC voice channel lmao.
It only sunk in the morning after the PWA results video that TIOG actually did that. And you know what? I cried. I cried for like a good ten minutes because I got overwhelmed that people like my story so much that they would want it to win awards. I can't emphasize how much everyone's support for TIOG means to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you 💓
There were absolutely fantastic entries this year. I enjoyed every fic I read, and I was cheering like a dork seeing my favorites being recognized for their greatness. If you're looking for a good story to read, check out the reading list on the PWA account for 2019 entries. From JunieWeathers' animated Disney short film-like "A Pokémon's Purpose" to the fantasy epic that is SGMijumaru's Astral Genealogy, it's impossible to go wrong by perusing that reading list.
I have to give a huge round of applause to my fellow category winners. ImberLapis, you mad lass, I'm thrilled Motomoto-Lotoloto got gold with My Name is Loto. DI_Gremlin, you knocked the ball out of the park with your insanely charismatic "Champion of the People." d_s_t_e, I can't wait to read We Need Insurance?! and catch up on the hype! Y'all deserve everything you got and more 💖
All the Wattpaders who partook in the PWAs, whether they're a competitor or a judge or both, should be proud of what they accomplished. Everyone who was involved worked their ass off in the ways they contributed, and it shines through at the end when we see the accumulation of all our hard work paying off.
I think it's funny because every time the PWA results video goes live, the next question everyone has 'cause their so excited over the event is, "When's the next one?"
And, uh, this is the part where I reveal the real reason I wrote this post because I had this section written up before the results premiered.
I think that people tend to forget that Wattpaders are real people. We see icons and usernames, not faces and real names. When you don't see people as, well, people, problems arise. This is where most of the drama that popped up in the past month or so stemmed from.
The Pokémon Watty Awards is run by real people. Those admins and staff members have names and faces and family and history and all that jazz. They're no different from you, they're no different from me. They're human. What do humans do? We make mistakes.
The PWA will never be perfect. We can try to improve it as much as we possibly can to try to address concerns people have had about it before, but we will never be able to live up to the massive expectations people have for it. Constructive criticism is one thing, but rage-fueled bashing without giving out any advice on how to solve the problem(s) you brought up is another.
It's exhausting to run the PWAs. The amount of stress placed upon the admin is insane because it seems like no matter what zie does, zie is going to be met with animosity. It drains people's mental health. And you know what? That ain't it, chief.
Would you want to run the PWAs if you were faced with such a situation? The answer is probably 'no' because of all the work involved. CoordinatorIza taking up the helm like the way she did is extremely admirable. I've adored Iza since I first met her back in 2017, and I will have some choice words if people act nastily towards her because they forget humans make human errors.
I know you're probably gonna 'ok, boomer' me when I say this, but PWAs are not a right, they're a privilege. The PWA is run by volunteers whowant to help the community. The backlash they keep on getting only discourages these said volunteers from wanting to continue to run the PWA because it's becoming a question if it's even worth it anymore if they're just going to catch more and more and more flack. If you keep on biting the hand that's been consistently feeding you since it was founded on Wattpad in 2013, you're not going to have a PWA anymore.
With all this being said, be nice to people. If there's not a change in behavior any time soon, the PWAs are going to be put on hiatus and probably come to a cease altogether. It's extremely disappointing that I have to come out here and remind Wattpaders to have some common courtesy to not act terribly towards one another.
Think about all the amazing things the PWA does. It showcases amazing stories that might have otherwise been missed. It brings together a community and lets people make new friends. It overall makes Wattpad a more fun place to be.
So be nice. Please. Let's make the positivity outshine the negativity.
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