Please read the complete challenge and criteria for each category. Anyone is eligible to submit a story and/or win one of the prizes, even if they have never submitted a story to Heliopolis before. All stories must be submitted for posting to Heliopolis. You may enter as many times as you wish, but each person may only choose one prize. Because the prizes include DVDs, livejournal (or insanejournal) gift certificates, amazon.com gift certificates, and other items which may not be of interest to all parties, prizes with be awarded by allowing the first place winners to choose first, then the second place winners from remaining prizes, then third, etc. If any person wins more than one place, they will receive priority in this process. Graphics Banners will be awarded for all winning entries (1,2,3, and HM places depending on number of entries.) A minimum of six entries is required per category to allow for voting. If there are less than three entries per category, a smaller selection of prizes will automatically be awarded.

Entries should be submitted to webmistress [at] sg1-heliopolis [dot] com and should include "Helio Fic Contest" in the subject. It should be clearly labeled which challenge you are participating in. Stories are due no later than 11:59pm PST, Sunday, 23 December 2007. Voting will run from 24 December - 31 December, with winners announced on 1 January 2008. Stories should remain anonymous until that time and should not be reposted on other websites or journals until after the voting, or they will be disqualified.

I will also accept donations and gifts that can be awarded for prizes until that time. You can also suggest a special award, based on these challenges, if you wish to sponsor it.

Challenge 1 : It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?
This is a GEN/TEAM challenge for Heliopolis and Helio:Atlantis. It can involve any incarnation of the SG1 or SGA team. Any het/ship content should be kept to a bare minimum.
Story should be a holiday-themed fic. It can take place on or off-world. It can be Christmas, Channukah, New Year's, Yule/Solstice, or any other wacky celebration that you wish to celebrate/create. There should be team bonding and holiday spirit - humor, nostalgia, melancholy, candy canes, candles, whatever your muse desires is welcome.

Challenge 2: Unending Variations
This is a GEN/TEAM or HET challenge for Heliopolis and Helio2.
I always thought it was strange that SG-1 was meeting up with the Asguard for something of this magnitude and it was Landry and not Jack who accompanied them. I would like to see a rewrite of this episode where Jack is present and Landry is not. You may cover any aspect of the episode timeline.
*** A Bonus award will be available for anyone who combines challenge one and challenge two, but it is not necessary to do so.

Challenge 3: Open Re-write Challenge
This is a GEN/TEAM or HET challenge for Heliopolis, Helio2 and/or Helio: Atlantis.
How would you do it? Take any episode, and develop your premise for what you would have done differently. One episode, One theme, One what if? (Episode and change must be clearly stated in your header.)
Suggestions and Examples:
What if in 'The Road not Taken' Sam was married to Jack, and not Rodney?
What if in "The Line in the Sand' Jack was with Sam, instead of Cameron?
What if Vala had convinced Adria to come with her to Earth at some point?
What if Vala decided that she liked playing Cam's girlfriend in 'Bounty'? What if she decided that she wanted to stop playing and make it true? What if it is all a ploy to make Daniel jealous in hopes that he with step up and claim her as his own?
What if the memory loss in 'Tabula Rasa' had some residual effects on someone due to the length/severity/interaction with meds or existing condition/other reason? How would you know what you've forgotten? How would it affect/change how they dealt with life on Atlantis/their significant other/etc.?
*** If not enough entries exist in challenge 2 or 3, these categories may be combined for voting purposes.

Please comment to this entry with any questions, comments and/or suggestions. Also, feel free to e-mail me at the above address.