Competition » May Pairing Contest 2023 · 7:57pm May 2nd, 2023
Howdy!
It's once again May, and you know what that means: it's time to crackship!
What is the May Pairings Contest?
If you don’t know, the May Pairings contest is all about original, rare, or unique ships that aren’t afraid to explore unique dynamics between characters. This means that stories about Lyra and Bon Bon, Vinyl and Octavia, or Rarity and Twilight wouldn’t qualify. Rather, we want to see stories about Autumn Blaze and Lemon Hearts! Daring Do and Treehugger! Octavia and Applejack! You get the picture.
Rules
- Your story should feature something that can be argued to be a rare, unique, or original pairing. The pairing does not need to be inherently romantic: student/teacher dynamics for example are fine! If the judges do not believe that your pairing qualifies it will be disqualified. If you aren’t sure, feel free to look around FimFic to get a feel of how popular/not popular a story is. If you still aren’t sure, don’t hesitate to ask!
- No OC’s, anon stories, or self-inserts. Stories with unvoiced background ponies are fine.
- Human AU’s, EQG, and Comics characters are allowed.
- Crossovers are not allowed as we want to focus on MLP shippings. Any other genre is fair game.
- Stories of all ratings are allowed: be aware that Mature-rated fics may not rate very highly and may even rate lower if not executed well!
- Fetish fics of any kind will not be accepted. We reserve the right to disqualify any story that we feel violates this rule.
- The contest period runs from MAY 1st TO MAY 31st! Stories must be newly published between these dates. If your fic gets stuck in a publication queue please contact the judges!
- One submission is allowed per author. Stories must not be longer than 20k words. There is no minimum word count.
- Collaborations are allowed, however these fics will count as one entry for both authors. It is up to the authors as to how they will split the money if they win.
- Stories must be submitted to the contest folder found here by the deadline to qualify.
Remember to join the group for updates!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is [insert pairing here] rare enough?
A: We’ve fielded a lot of these already, and more are coming every day. The only way you will be disqualified is if you submit a ship that without question is against the spirit of the contest: AppleDash, RariTwi, OctaScratch, LyraBon, the likes. As long as you don’t do one of these ships (romantic or otherwise), then no matter the pairing, your story won’t be disqualified. However if it is still a fairly unoriginal pairing, it just might not score that high with our judges.
Here are some quick self-check items that could help you narrow down whether or not you have a rare pairing, or just one that you personally have never read about before:
Do these characters exchange lines? If they have ever talked to each other, it’s probably not as rare as you think.
Have these characters shared a scene? If they’ve appeared in the same frame, you can possibly guess they’ve interacted offscreen.
Do these characters have an obvious connection? Two members of the Wonderbolts know one another. The pairing isn’t rare or spontaneous, it’s more just luck if you haven’t seen them before.
If these rules are still too squishy for you, please use the site search metrics to see if there exist stories starring the pairing you want to write about. Fimfic’s search function, both on desktop and on mobile, allows you to search by character tag. Punch in both your characters and see what pops up. If you get more than one page of hits, you might be up a tree.
Still not sure? It’s probably a “if you have to ask, it ain’t it” situation. Go back to the drawing board and challenge yourself to think creatively. Maybe check out the tag directory and look for characters who have very few stories to begin with.
Q: Is it okay for me to ship the pony version of [insert eqg character here] with a pony? How about the human version of [insert pony character here] with a human?
A: Of course! But the pairing still has to be rare! Pony Sunset X pony Twilight doesn’t get points just because twiset is most traditionally shipped with their human counterparts. Likewise, human SoarinDash is no better than pony SoarinDash. You came up with a unique premise, not a unique pairing. You’re not going to receive a good score for this (especially since the judges don’t like being punked).
Q: Is genderbending allowed?
A: Yes! But the pairing still has to be rare! Dusk Shine x Rainbow Blitz is not fundamentally different from twidash on the basis of originality - as above, the judges don’t like being punked! You won’t be disqualified per se, but you’re sure as sure not going to win anything by thinking you can cheat the rules.
Q: Are gen 5 characters allowed?
A: Yep! You can pair purely within gen 5, or pair across the generations for some truly unique and spicy combos.
Prizes
This year we have a prize pool totaling at $250:
First place receives $100.
Second place receives $60.
Third place receives $40.
5 Judge's Picks will receive $10 each.
Judges
DaOtterGuy
Howdy, hi! I’m the otter gay guy. I write mostly Flash Sentry being gay with different stallions, pairings that no one would normally write. I have been a judge before on several contests and am excited to be a judge for this one! I look forward to everyone’s pairings entries and wish you all the best creative energy to write!
RedParade
Red Parade is a big fan of obscure shipping having created one of his own involving Fiddlesticks and Lightning Dust, the two most important characters in all of MLP.
Zontan
Hello, everypony! I’m Zon, and I mostly write stories that revolve around interesting characters and why they do the things they do. I’ve written a few crackships in my day, but I’m mostly going to be looking for characters who have chemistry with each other, and how they show that. I’ve been a judge for the May Pairings Contest last year, and that had some great entries, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you all come up with for this one.
Shaslan
There's no pairing like a rare one, and I love seeing the ways in which different characters' personalities can be explored by pairing them with different personalities. In this contest I'll be looking for writers who write the characters true to themselves while still finding a way to make crazy ships work. Can't wait to see what you all throw at us!
MushroomPone
Hey there, I’m Mushroom! I’ve been active in the rarepair scene and the contest-judging scene for a while now. There’s nothing I love more than an odd pairing that just works—romantic or otherwise. I’m super excited to see what you all bring to the table this year! Happy writing!
Good luck everyone! Make sure to join the group here to submit and contact us with any questions!
And what is the uniqueness here? This canonical world includes only a few males for the entire Equus!
Out of curiosity, would Starlight/Applejack be known as Starfruit in shipping terms?
And if I could write a lick, I think a Big Mac/Maud Pie variation on the ApplePie ship would be hilarious to do, the shipfic equivalent of a silent movie.
5725981 People are gay, Max.
I have a suggestion Spoiled Rich x Dusk Shine, as I'm not a writer myself
Out of an abundance of caution...would the characters have to be ones that actually have tags for them on FiMFiction? Because I'm realizing the ones I'm currently looking at do not at the moment.
It's gonna be tough to outdo last year's winner with Blueblood and Ember.
I also have a suggestion, because I definitely will not participate in this competition (besides, as a military man, I have a salary of about $ 6 thousand).
Can writers use this guy in the plot?
derpicdn.net/img/2018/1/18/1635310/large.png
That would be the most unique Pair.
derpicdn.net/img/download/2017/11/8/1581596.png
Capper x Opalescence! 🤣
i.pinimg.com/originals/2a/0f/c3/2a0fc3f083dfb5b65d0f22a31c4036af.png
It dawned on me that Hasbro's screenwriters laughed at this phenomenon.
Talking, intelligent, upright Abyssinian cats. And ordinary cats.
5725987
where can I read this?
5725993
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/495943/weekend-with-the-dragon-lord
5725987
Two years ago, actually.
5725981
The Apple family alone has Big Mac, Braeburn, Bright Mac, Apple Cinnamon, Apple Split, Bushel, Golden Delicious, Half-Baked Apple, Happy Trails, Hayseed Turnip Truck, Prairie Tune, Red Delicious, Uncle Orange, and Wensley. There's plenty of stallions in Equestria.
5725995
Huh. Whadda you know. I guess last year was more forgettable than I thought.
5725996
You clearly lack a sense of humor when you wrote this comment.
Maybe now you can list the names of all the mares from Ponyville?
5725999
Some people probably aren't aware how many stallions there are in canon, and might be discouraged from checking, so I figured I'd give just a small sample of mostly-obscure stallions for their benefit. Of course there are many, many more—IIRC Creme Brulee has appeared in over 100 episodes and I bet nobody's written a romance with him in it yet.
I could list all the mares from Ponyville, but as a writer who has long used obscure background characters as stars in my stories—to the point where some readers have referred to a canon character who even has an official trading card as 'my OC'—I think my work stands for itself.
5725983
5725986
Keep rules 2 and 3 in mind:
Otherwise you can use the "Other" character tag!
Sounds like a stupid question but is there a way to win but with the option of obtaining the money or not?
5726009
Winners are automatically entitled to their prize, if a winner does not wish to claim it we can arrange for the amount to be redistributed to the other winners or donated to an agreed upon charity.
5726007
It's just I have this worry that for at least one of these characters, readers are going to think I just made 'em up because they're a background pony that's really in the background...but I'm not coming up with any better known canon characters that would work better for my purposes, so...
The other character is Greta...who I'm genuinely surprised apparently doesn't already have a tag. Like, what's up with that, FiMFiction?
5726010
Alright thanks for clarifying 👍
5726011
The default rule with those background ponies is that we're going to look very carefully at how you develop character. I'll point you to this excerpt from last year's Crackshipping Contest: though it had different criteria and rules I think it gives a good layout for what we expect.
Basically, if we don't feel that the character was developed enough we may not rank it as highly, because these characters are so malleable given their blank slate nature. Hope that helps.
Do Starlight and Discord qualify as rare?
Man I've been sitting on this Maud Pie x Vinyl Scratch idea for a while. This might be motivation enough to dust off my notebook and write it...
I'm honestly surprised that Rarijack isn't the most popular Rarity example, but maybe that's a bias I have for my favorite canon ship talking lol.
I was so confused for a moment there. I was wondering why the comments were seemingly completely different than what I saw earlier. Turns out that was a completely different post entirely.
So, I've been thinking of ideas. I won't go into full details till after the story is posted, which hopefully I'll do and it won't be last minute. I have a pair in mind, however it might not be romantic, which is allowed. But there would still be a bond regardless. I rather not try to force a romance if it really wouldn't fit. These characters never met in the show. Although knowing my luck I can look up these 2 characters and there's pages upon pages of friendshipping and romance between them, ruining my idea. Well, it's still early days so if they're too common, there's others to look into.
Edit: I checked, I couldn't even find enough stories to count on 1 hand about this particular duo. I think it counts as rare enough, although I wonder if I should contact a judge (not sure who) or maybe it should be a fine submission.
5726020
The FAQ covers that question!
I was wondering two things.
1. Are poly-ships also allowed? Or do these pairings have to be between only two characters?
2. If poly is allowed, the possibilities are quite endless of course. Is it okay if it consists of two characters that arent a rare ship, but paired up with a third rare character? As long as that triangle hasnt been used before?
Hope that makes sense haha
5726062
Does it really? I mean yes they shared lines, scenes and habe an obvious connection, but as fas as i know they havent been shipped together much on here at all. Wouldnt that make it a rare ship still?
Just asking cause i had the same ship on my idea-list haha
(Edit: i double-checked to make sure. There is not a single Discord x Starlight shipfic on here 👀)
Can I do Sunset x Opaline?
Time for my Phyllis/Boulder OTP to shine
5726066
Polyships are fine but the story should only focus on the dynamics between two of the characters in said relationship.
Yes and no. If you submit an Applejack Rainbow Dash and Cheerilee fic but the fic is largely centered on Applejack and Rainbow Dash with Cheerilee hanging out in the background this does not count as a rare pairing.
5726070
5726120
do it
I sort of want to use my version of Toola Roola, who I wrote as a college friend of Rarity's before she entered G4 canon as a foal younger than the CMC. Is that cool?
5726148
AU's are fine so long as the pairing is still original
1. Stance on sequels?
2. Define collaboration. Are authors allowed to preread and edit for each other without it counting as collaboration?
3. Can I write a story about my barely disguised fetish for baggy cargo pants, and can it be about anonfilly? I’m still mad at Eileen for her previous contest disenfranchising me and my incredibly terrible ideas.
5726172
1. Sequels are admissable, but understand that the judges will not be reading anything published outside of the contest period. To score well in the judging, a sequel would need to stand alone, with no knowledge of preceding installments necessary.
2. Collaboration in the form of editing and prereading is welcome!
3. Since you asked so nicely, no
5726211
I'm sure the link to the folder is not correct and should be this
Since the Mirror exists, do characters hailing from each world count as separate characters in regards to shipping? Would EQG Dash x MLP Applejack count the same as shipping both characters from one world? Would a cross pairing such (e.g EQG Cheerilee x MLP Rarity) make an already rare pairing even rarer? Would shipping the same character from each world (e.g EQG Pinkie x MLP Pinkie) work as a pairing?
Also wondering about the Sunset originally from EQG's world, as iirc we don't know anything about her.
5727672
As per the rules:
5727692
I'll admit I misread that at first, but it doesn't fully answer my questions.
5727705
Cheerilee x Rarity is Cheerilee x Rarity regardless of if one is EQG and one is MLP. The same goes for AppleDash. You don't get bonus ducks for mixing and matching. EQG and an MLP variant is acceptable unless there are for whatever reason 70 stories about that topic already.
I wonder if anyone's ever shipped the justin bieber guy from Our Town (the one with the three swooning mares as a recurring gag) with vinyl scratch since they're both musicians, or at least I think he is, but it's less obvious than Vinyl and the one who plays the piano (whose name I am forgetting yes)
but don't mind me I'm just back at it again with another 4 AM literary disaster waiting to post
in a multi chapter story, does the story have to be complete by May 31st to be considered for judging?
I'm not sure if anyone asked this yet, but are friend-shipping fics allowed? Like a fic where you just write about a friendship that is rare? If so, I have the perfect idea for it. Also, I assume we would have to make a new fic for this contest?
5728536
Per the rules:
All submissions must be new stories on the site, you cannot submit something that has been published before May of this year.
Do the pairings have to be amicable towards each other? Or could they be antagonistic?
My draft’s already evolved past that original idea, but I’m still curious. Maybe I could still do something with it.
5728782
Per the rules:
Hey, you guys still need to update the link to the folder; it’s still going to the 2022 contest folder.