DARK REPRISE: Dazzlings Contest - 9/1 - 10/15 · 5:16am Sep 1st, 2017
As the air gets colder, I take delight in seeing the little reminders of my favorite time of year sprouting up around me. A horror webseries marathon here, a Spirit Halloween megastore there... It all serves to remind me of one thing:
There's dark days coming.
To help us all get in the mood, I'm hosting a contest. Two paths to prizes, three awards each. Pick your poison.
THE BLACKEST NIGHT
Sonata Dusk. Aria Blaze. Adagio Dazzle. A villainous trio with the power to compel the weak-willed. The eye of the storm in a sea of chaos they inspire. The loss of their gems was but a setback. This is the Low Road, the tale of Dazzlings Ascendant. Shake the heavens. Remind Equestrians why they fear the night.
Give us your best Dazzlings-as-Villains story, feature one, some, or all of our favorite sirens prominently, and make your heroes RUE THE DAY!
- Adagio's Darling - The most intricate story. Each piece in their place, every gambit planned. Become Gendo. Become Light. Become Xanatos.
- Aria's Bullyboy - The most action-packed story. From fist fights to starfighter duels, get our blood pumping. Bring the pain.
- Cute, But Evil - The most off-the-wall story. An undersea pillow fight over soggy burgers. A portal to a world of pure saltwater taffy. Make us laugh.
THE BRILLIANT DAWN
While the sirens were strong enough to survive getting Friendship Lasered in the face with their minds intact, the loss had to be humbling. Can they pick up the pieces? Can they put the terrible things they've done behind them? Or are they doomed to repeat old failures ad infinitum? This is the High Road, for Dazzlings Redeemed. Give them a shoulder. Take back the night. Do better.
If you seek to write a tale of redemption, this is for you. Take at least one of our repentant sirens and bring them into the warm light of friendship.
- Dazzled - The most emotional story. Get us mad. Get us weeping. Get us laughing. Make us feel.
- Blaze of Glory - The hardest lesson learned. Get them dirty. Make them earn it. Drag them into the light kicking and screaming.
- I'm Not The Worst Anymore!- Charm the pants off of us. We're short on diabeetus, so fill 'er up. The fluffiest, silliest, most adorable outing will win this award.
Aim high!
Uh, almost. There are a few, uh, provisos...
Before you go tearing off to your drafts, let me just state the rules clearly. Don't say you weren't warned.
- Word count limit: 15,000 words. So far, it's just me judging these. Please take pity on me, don't exceed the word limit. It's not an automatic disqualification, but dang...
- Rating limit: T. Keep it PG. 80s PG is probably fine, but watch it.
- Subject limit: Be tasteful. This isn't a clop contest, nor is it a gorefest. Quality will be favored over quantity!
- Time limit: You have from when this posts straight through to 11:59 PM MDT on October 15th. Late entries will be heavily penalized, if not rejected outright. Remember, it's just me so far. Respect my time, and I'll respect yours.
- PRIOR SUBMISSIONS ARE NOT ALLOWED. This exists to reward new creations, not highlight those already written. There's other places for that.
- Finally, the prizes: The winner of each of the above will earn a $50 Amazon gift card, or $50 worth of something cool from the community. I'll reach out to the winners to hash this out once the judging's concluded. Winners will be announced as soon as judging is completed, based on entries received. We're tentatively aiming for Halloween, so we all have something to celebrate!
Alright, so with that: writers, to your marks! Remember, your characters should earn their happy endings! Sharpen your quills, dip your ink, and...
[EDIT BECAUSE EBON IS A DUM]
So, submissions... Go ahead and link the story to me in a PM upon completion, and I'll post links in blog posts as we go. Also, please mention which road you're taking in the story's description, either Dazzlings Ascendant or Dazzlings Redeemed.
Ooooooooh.
Two questions:
Do the stories have to end on the ascendant/redemptive note? Like, they ascend/redeem... and then it gets overturned (in a final, closing way, not an ambigous way).
E.g. The Sirens have done it! They've taken over the world!... and then they get killed.
Multiple entries from a single writer: legal or ill eagle?
The stories can have multiple chapters, right?
4654581
1) Depends on the entry, but remember the rating limit!
2) Rule of Acquisition #242: 'More is good, all is better.' That said, I really don't want more than one prize per author, so be aware of that.
4654586
So long as you keep an eye on total word count, I encourage it!
I'm in. Since it's a Halloween contest, seems odd that there isn't a spookiest category (Villain Sonata, maybe?), but I'll be sure to have fun with this.
Ok, yeah, I'm totally telling Justice3442 about this.
4654698
The villains can be as spooky as you want. Nothing like a terrifying villain to inspire some thrilling heroics.
media.tenor.com/images/0bdb2af3738b4d7a428707fbac6de564/tenor.gif
Time to get my sp00k on.
Holy Bawls Guarana, Batman! A Sirens contest?! YESSSSSS
Might I recommend making a group for the submissions to go into? It's what the cool kids/other big-prize contests this year have done, and it's convenient for linking and keeping things organized.
4662979
I had planned to curate the entrants myself, and then release this as a fait accompli, but here it is: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212767/dark-reprise-dazzlings-contest
It's not pretty yet. But it will be.
How are things looking with the contest? I confess I got really bogged-down with RL during September and am only now coming back to this.
<Groan> Why am I only just hearing about this?
I had a story in mind that would have been ideally-suited to it, too, but there's no way I can get it written in three days
I absolutely love that you've organised a siren contest, that's the best thing and it needs to happen more. But I really wish you'd mentioned it in the siren group, so I'd known about it six weeks ago.
Still, maybe next time!
4695515
Came here to say the same thing.
Well that was one hell of an 11th hour rush, but I did it. Good luck to everyone else in the contest!
4695515
Could do an extension, Mr. Quill sir?
4699079 Hardly seems fair on everyone else, and personally I'm now pretty busy until Christmas
After having had a month when I might have been able to fit it in.
Just... next time... letting people know about stuff like that is exactly what the siren group is for
I PMed a link to my entry to ebon quill, but just in case ill put a link here too! Good luck to all the other participants!
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/379150/you-cannot-redeem-me-sunset-shimmer