2026 - WAWA Submissions
Best World
With a nomination last year and change in judging criteria this year, I opted to submit wow that's a lot of stars to Best World again. The new rules ask for five pieces of the submission: your homepage and four supporting pages of any type.Last year, in an article similar to this one, I wrote "the Best Worlds are those that make a promise on their homepages and intros, and their articles and other content fulfill that promise." For Best World this year, I submitted articles to make that promise to judges and demonstrate that I fulfill it.
The Promise
wow that's a lot of stars is a soft sci-fi setting featuring space travel, psychic powers, and forgotten technology. It's about taking a stand and making a difference. About finding your way through uncertainty, creating joy despite hardship, and making connections across space and time.
Above all, it's a celebration of what makes us human. Everything on it is human made, inspired by my closest friends, and used to help us all cope with a real world that denies our humanity.
Above all, it's a celebration of what makes us human. Everything on it is human made, inspired by my closest friends, and used to help us all cope with a real world that denies our humanity.
My primer completes the promise, introducing the setting's core concepts, scope, and major conflicts. The headings are the three main themes I write toward. The rest of my supporting articles had to be ones that developed these core concepts and supported the main themes.
The Delivery
For the first theme, "There's Always More to Discover", I decided upon the ultimate unknown: Metadimensional Space. Required for space travel, yet incredibly dangerous and largely unknown. It's a space that tempts you with answers, yet each one opens a dozen more questions.
Where metadimensional space is a galactic concept, hoverboard relay focuses on the people and conflicts of a single planet. Here, "Everyone is hiding something" includes the authoritarian government and the idols they use as puppets. There are always those willing to break the law in order to do what's right.
Angela is one of my favorite articles of 2025. As a virtual intelligence and personal assistant, she was seen as obedient, under control, and below notice. A perfect example of the final theme, "Anyone Can Change History". Her actions were only possible because she wasn't alone in wanting a better future.
The Conclusion
As happy as I am with my selections, it's hard to shake the anxious What-Ifs. What if I chose poorly? What if judges would rather my most popular articles, instead of lofty ideas about promises? In the end, it's more important to present what I think makes my World the best, not to guess at what a judge would agree with. For me, these lofty ideas, bigger pictures, and deeper meanings are what I enjoy most about creating.Whether I come away from this with a rosette or not, I'm glad to have had the excuse to curate this collection. It's been a good reminder about what I love about this setting.
Best Article
I'm not sure what makes something the best worldbuilding article. In general, I consider interconnectivity of articles to be more my strength, rather than standalone articles. I could simply not submit, but I decided to be cheeky and throw in my character creator.It's perhaps not directly worldbuilding, but it has inspired multiple others to create their own versions. That's already a pretty big reward, so I figured why not.
Minor Articles
The rule that nominated articles can't be resubmitted had made me hesitant to submit at all. I understand why this rule exists, but as a not-very-prolific article writer, I don't love that my best articles are forfeit if they're deemed good but not great.Alas, the rule won't be changing and it's far from guaranteed I'll get any nominations at all, so I opted to submit what I could this year.
I've talked enough already and won't go into detail on all these articles. Unless any end up nominated, in which case I'll gladly chatter on about them.
Non-Article
My only non-article submission is a timeline, and mainly to help ensure there are enough entries to run the History challenge. There were a mere six entries last year, and it's devastating when people submit work they're proud of only for the category to be cancelled due to lack of submissions.I'll be satisfied if all I do is provide more competition for others, but I'm quite proud of the results of making this timeline submission-worthy.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you and wish you lots of luck.
Blue's Worlds - Elaqitan - Naharin
Thank you!
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