Madame Askew and The Grand Arbiter

Friday, January 31st, at 6:30 PM Pacific (Seattle)

Originally posted to our Patreon

The Tippy Golden Teacup Awards are on the horizon and voting is currently happening for the Bibliomancy Award and nominations are open for the rest of the community driven awards. These awards are one of our newest annual traditions, and something I think is not only a delightful lark but also deeply important. 

Three years ago, Eve Riot, the Grand Arbiter and I were having a little chat, as has long been our habit, and as we were discussing our thoughts about awards shows like the Golden Globes and Oscars, we realized that we wanted to create a moment that would be full of glitzy nonsense, ceremony, and exuberance. We wanted to make a big splash in celebrating all of the wonderful humans who inspire and energize our CommuniTea. The question became “Well, why can’t we just make an annual Steampunk Awards Show?” And thus was born the Tippy Golden Teacup Awards!

On the surface, this is our usual cheeky, flamboyant nonsense. I know there are some who even dismiss this as very trivial or simply a kind of vapid silliness. The thing is, my darlings, Eve Riot, the Grand Arbiter and I are certainly very willing to embrace silliness. We are deeply cheeky creatures! But we are, categorically, never vapid. We only play vapid for “the bit,” as it were. 

Over my many centuries of time traveling, I have learned that one of the best gifts is to feel seen and valued. I am always so personally touched by those moments–whether they are one on one or on a more public stage–but there is something transcendent about having that experience in a more public space: a statement boldly made to the community that we have collectively borne witness to a person’s work. In a world that often brushes aside moments of kindness and creativity for the next click, the next negative reaction, this becomes even more powerful.

So for all that we celebrate in the full decadence of our cheekiness, we three poured much thought into organizing the categories, titles, and awards. We spend months compiling the honorees because we are committed to elevating luminaries each year who may not get the acknowledgement of their peers throughout the year. Not because they are shy necessarily, but because we live in a world that can overshadow or even bury the beautiful work of so many brilliant, kind, generous souls. This is always about art for us, of course, but more than anything, it is about our CommuniTea and the ways in which each of you have helped create our enchanting, shared province of Steampunklandia.

Naturally that does mean that we endeavour to honour new people every year and to add more magic into the event. This is why your nominations are so important. We do our utmost to stay engaged with our Steampunk CommuniTea, to laud our artists throughout the year and take note of who is creating and inspiring the best in our broader Steampunk world. The three of us, however, cannot witness all of the magic that happens, no matter how much we wish. So if you haven’t yet taken a moment, please fill out the nomination form and vote on the Bibilomancy Award. If you’ve already nominated someone but have more thoughts, fill out the form again. Nominate as many luminaries as inspire you. Nominate yourself. Yes, one thousand times yes, nominate yourself if you feel that you are doing the work in any of our categories. (And if you do not have nominees for all of the categories, simply reply with “not applicable” and move to the next section.)

Thank you for being a vital part of this piece of CommuniTea magic. Thank you for being here for so many years and enabling us to create so much ridiculous nonsense. My love for each of you is boundless, and I feel deeply your support in a myriad ways. There is no Temporal Entourage or Steampunk CommuniTea without you. Please help us celebrate our cheeky, kind, and inclusive CommuniTea this year at our Tippy Golden Teacup Awards, Friday January 31st at 6:30 PM Pacific. Let us light our own metaphorical sparkly unicorn candle together on this one night to lend us resilience for the year ahead together!