Sunset Shipping Contest: Changing Seasons Results · 5:07am Sep 22nd, 2017
Sunset Shipping Contest - Changing Seasons Results!
Hey folks. We’re finally here. A month of you all writing your asses off, and a solid three weeks of us reading what you wrote. Between all five judges, every story has been read, and we are ready to deliver unto you the results. (And the prizes!)
Still though. Thank you all so much for participating, and making this contest a success. 50+ stories is incredible! That’s a lot of Sunset, and considering my goal was to flood the site with stories about everyone's favorite bacon haired horse-human, it was a glorious success.
We had a lot of amazing stories submitted. More than we can actually give awards to. Competition was very stiff! So even if your story isn’t listed below, know that all of your hard work is immensely appreciated.
And now without further adieu, the winners of the Sunset Shipping Contest.
Third Place
By MaxKodan
Oroboro
The implicit agreement between two people watching a show together not to skip ahead is an important one. A bond that should never be shattered.
One of only a few stories in the contest depicting an ongoing relationship, this stories centers around a simple and minor mistake on Sunset’s part. But one that hurts all the same. Sunset’s attempts to make it up Rarity escalate quickly in hilarious ways, to the point where the lack of a comedy tag on the story feels a bit odd.
But the relationship is sold just as well, and Sunset and Rarity have great chemistry, all in a pretty compact wordspace compared to some of the other entries.
Not to mention the brilliance that is interpreting “Changing Seasons” as seasons for a TV show.
The Albinocorn
Sunset did dun goofed and spends the rest of the story trying to fix her and Rarity’s relationship. Funny shenanigans, real emotions, the story got a lot of mileage out of a simple premise. Out of the top three, this one is probably the most relatable because someone out there has messed up like this. The use of the contest theme was also very cleverly used, so kudos for that.
Scarlet
I'm tempted to forgo serious analysis and give this story third place entirely on the strength of the deep-cut pun approach to the prompt. God damn you MaxKodan, you made me smile. The story itself made me laugh, though. This is such an understated romantic comedy that I almost want to argue that we should've placed it higher, because no other story in this contest felt like it made me so happy while demanding so little of my mental processing power. There's something magical about that.
Novel-Idea
If there’s anyone who’s become adept at dealing with fallout, it’s Sunset. Dappled Shores gives her just that: a whole lot of fallout from a small—yet critical—mistake. What makes this work is just how far Sunset’s willing to go to make her relationship with Rarity work, and the hysterical fallout of every desperate apology.
Dubs Rewatcher
This was the first story I read in the entire contest. And to the very end, no story made me feel any emotion as strongly as this story made me happy. With nigh flawless characterization and perhaps the most creative use of the prompt in the contest, Max Kodan’s given us one of the sweetest shipfics I’ve ever read—as well as taught me to never watch ahead.
Second Place
By R5h
Oroboro
Full disclosure: I’m friends with R5h in real life. Which is why I’m so glad that the story’s quality speaks for itself, and the other judges agree. This story is, at its core, a redemption story. About a broken, lonely girl, who is gifted with superpowers that she abuses for power. Who better to relate than Sunset Shimmer? Empathy is her whole schtick
The action is good, but the heart of story lies in the Sunset’s attempts to reach out, armed with nothing more than kind words and a cocky smile. The connection they share doesn’t get a lot of time to be romantic in nature, but it's a strong connection all the same.
The Albinocorn
While I’m not too sold on the romance, everything else in the story was very good. It was thrilling, suspenseful, and made great use of the theme. I don’t see much of human Chrysalis, and I think R5h made great use of her.
Scarlet
This is one of the only Sunset shipping stories submitted that doesn't actually star Sunset. And I think that, more than anything, is what I like about it. Rather than a romance built around why Sunset would fall for another character, this story is about another character falling for Sunset. And that fall takes place during easily the best magical adventure story of the contest. This one and Posh's story were actually tied on my judge slate.
Novel-Idea
Out of all the entries, this is one I never saw coming. The human Chrysalis and Sunset, bound together by emotional empathy and the corruption of that dang leaking magic portal? Add that to an incredible narrative voice driving the story? You get a fantastic picture of a broken girl and just what’s needed to make her change.
Dubs Rewatcher
Despite the Magical Girl Adventure tropes that tend to make up most canon EqG content, the large majority of EqG fics on the site are calmer slice-of-life jaunts through high school life with some magic thrown in—”Suburban Fantasy,” to steal a phrase from GaPJaxie. Knowing that, I never saw this fic coming. R5h perfectly blends high stakes magical adventure with the slice-of-life romance genuineness we all love, creating a fic that’s engaging through and through. It’s his creative take on EqG Chrysalis, though, that makes this fic a must-read.
First Place
By Posh
Oroboro
Everybody's hot for teacher, right? Sunset and Cheerilee is a unique and unheard of pairing, and Posh captures it beautifully here. The romance is split between a past, teenaged relationship with Pony!Cheerilee, and the awkward connection Sunset now shares with the older counterpart of her former marefriend. Both characters are well realized (Posh writing great Cheerilee is practically a thing at this point), their chemistry is undeniable, and the story sells the romance in a way that makes me happy to have it win first place. Congratulations, Posh. You deserve it.
The Albinocorn
Sunset and Cheerilee? It sounds a little off-putting at first, but Posh sells it very well. This story encapsulated everything the contest stood for: romance and change. The characterization and chemistry were great and believable; easily some of the best in the contest. I’m happy to give this one first prize.
Scarlet
I am not normally one for teacher/student romances. In this case, I'm willing to cross that bridge. Posh wrote probably the strongest straightforward romance out of everyone else in the competition, and I knew from the moment I opened the fic that it was going to end up with the edge overall. This is the one story I think every single judge agreed on.
Novel-Idea
Hands down the most romantic entry I got the privilege to read in this contest, I didn’t expect to see Sunset have such a powerful chemistry with the EqG Cheerilee. But Posh delivers and then some with parallel storytelling, a fantastic coming-of-age arc, two people holding themselves back for all the right reasons… and what happens when those reasons are gone. Simply a must read!
Dubs Rewatcher
This fic deserves first place for one reason, and one reason only: in the span of three sentences, it made me like Timber Spruce as a character. What the fuck. But seriously, Posh makes me jealous with his prose. Funny, tragic, and undeniably romantic, Posh seals his first place win with ease. Also, he is the cutest and all around best pony (pony).
Honorable Mentions
Hey wait! We’re not done!
In addition to the top three prizes, each judge has decided to do an honorable mention for a story that tickled their fancy in some way. Each honorable mention will be awarded a prize of $10.
Oroboro Honorable Mention
This story made me laugh my ass off from start to finish. An absurd, gory comedy, where everyone is absurdly over the top yet somehow still feels in character. Aragon is a master of his craft, using narration, dialogue, and character interaction all to elicit a smile or a chuckle. While it's not a super romantic story in and of itself. Sunset and Rarity have a great dynamic together.
The Albinocorn Honorable Mention
All of us judges were going to submit stories that wouldn’t be a part of the official judging. It would be just for fun. But life happened and I couldn’t get my idea off the ground. This story did what I wanted and couldn’t do! It told a story of a lopsided, unhealthy relationship between pre-reformed Sunset and Fluttershy, the bully and the doormat. I loved it! They were both in character the entire time. You get to see Sunset slipping further and further down her slippery slope; it’s all fantastic!
Scarlet Honorable Mention
This was probably the most divisive good story in the entire contest. One judge wasn't fond of it, one judge had trouble even dealing with the content, and the rest of us got on board the crazy train and rode it all the way home. Black comedy is an acquired taste but if you're already fond of the subject matter and you're looking for something with a bit more bite to its laughs, this is the fic for you.
Novel-Idea Honorable Mention
Sunset’s now dated three of the rest of the group, and we find out there’s a darn good reason why. I adore the concept at the core of this story. I don’t want to spoil it all for you, but it’s one of those moments that make everything you’ve read shift ten degrees to starboard. Add that to Sunset’s constant desperate—and unsuccessful—attempts to avoid thinking about just how cute Applejack is and a whole mess of hard work, and you get something really special. For all these reasons and more, this definitely deserves an honorable mention.
Dubs Rewatcher Honorable Mention
Immediately after I read this, I stated outright to the other judges that if I were alone in picking a winner, this would be my choice. Engaging, creative, impactful. Violence done right. Characters that you care about—whether that means you want to see them succeed or get their brains blown out. Yes, yes, yes. The only criticisms I can make are that there were a number of typos, and that I wish it was longer. One of the only AU fics I’ve ever read and enjoyed.
And that's that! If you haven’t read these fantastic stories already, you should do so now. Not to mention all of the other fantastic stories still in the contest that didn’t quite make it into this blog. I’ll be contacting all of the winners about their prizes.
Congratulations again to all of the winners, and a big thanks to all of the judges who agreed to help me out in my mad dream. There’s no way I could have done this alone.
If you didn’t win, and wanted to hear some feedback on your story, feel free to PM me. If you’re upset about the results, feel free to PM me. If you have other stories you want to recommend from the contest, feel free to do so in the comments!
Running a contest is a lot of work, but I think it turned out pretty well, for my first time. There’s plenty of stuff I had to learn, and will be ready for the future.
You know. When I do this again next year.
I'm looking forward to joining next year! Here's to a year ignore writing what I could consider the most difficult and complex thing I've ever thought of!
I've had an idea for a really complex Sunset Shimmer romance since June. Stupid writers block >:[
Congratulations to all the winners! You all deserve it and I'm very happy to see you get the recognition you deserve!
It's been a wild ride, and I'm glad to have been able to share it with all of you. I've grown a lot as a writer because of this contest, and made some new friends as well, in keeping with the spirit of MLP.
Thank you so much for organizing this Oro, and for the judges for taking the time out of judge this contest, and for all the people who submitted stories to the contest - I definitely got my money's worth out of this.
Until next time, may the sun never set on your writing endeavors.
There's a few other fics that I'd love to call attention to, so at some point soon I'll be writing a blog post signal boosting a few of the non-winning and non-HMing fics that I really liked.
In the meantime, to all the authors who participated: thank you, and feel proud, whether you won some cash or not.
Meh, I tried at least.
Congratulations to the winners and the honorable mentions! You guys earned it!
I did cover art for 3rd and 2nd place, and for the sake of my self worth I'm going to choose to believe that this helped contribute in some small way to their success! :D
Huh. Well, I was expecting to lose the first contest I've ever entered, so I suppose I'm not too disappointed at least. But still, feelings are being felt right now. And I suppose in hindsight I should have expected all but one of the winners/honorable mentions to be stories I haven't even read, picky reader that I am. Perhaps I'll give some of them a proper chance if/when the mood strikes me.
Perhaps next year I'll have something better. At least I got what I believe is a solid start to a new AU timeline to toy with out of this.
But still, congratulations to those who placed or got an honorable mention, and I mean that.
And, of course, a big thanks to Oroboro for putting this together, and to all of the judges for their work in sifting through 55 stories to decide upon the 3 best. I can only imagine how much effort it took.
Congratulations to all the top finishers! And to everyone who extended themselves for this contest, whether or not mentioned in this post — it's great to see such a wealth of quality fics come out of competitions like this. That's the real prize for us readers.
You know, I haven't seen so many contests in a row like I have this year, and I think that's fantastic! People are all getting together to put time and effort into creating good stories, making learning experiences, gaining knowledge, and some are even winning prizes for their work. I love seeing things like this because it challenges writers and readers alike, I think, to take a serious look into the story.
I know it must suck for the people who didn't win, but I think Horizon tells it best: it's a winner for all readers to see good fics. However, for you, the writer, you must remember that writing is an art that is admired and praised; money and accolades shouldn't stop you from writing, and it shouldn't force you to write well. At the beginning, all of us were here to read quality stories, and the writers were there to write them. Money was not even a thing when this site first started, so I think the point I want to get across is this:
Don't let this stop you. Let it empower you to keep writing better and better stories. Losing is an important part of winning, remember that, and don't be dismayed if your hard work didn't make the cut. And remember . . .
SunLight OTP
Oh my goodness. If I'm being honest, I had to check that, yes, my story did, in fact, get an honorable mention, three times. There were so many good stories, I'm really proud that someone thought mine should stand among them.
Congratulations to the winners! I've only read one of your stories thus far, but that is going to change very soon!
I do feel a little foolish for not getting a prereader or editor for the story now, but this was my first competition and something to remember for next time.
I still can't believe I submitted a story to a Sunset Shimmer romance contest where Sunset gets shot. What was I thinking?
This got me to finish a story two minutes before the deadline, and even if it was mediocre, I wouldn't have written it otherwise. So thank you for running this contest!
Congrats winners, and congrats everyone who wrote anything for writing something!
Heck, I didn't expect my fic to show up here at all, so I'll be happy to take that honorable mention. Thanks, Novel!
And of course, congrats to all the winners. I aim to seed these into my review schedule and see just what makes them so special.
This was my first contest that I’d enter here... and I plum forgot entirely about the theme and in fact my fic had nothing to do with changing seasons.
Well, regardless of my goof, congrats to all the winners who actually paid attention to the rules.
one day, I will read these stories ;_;
Well, at least I had fun participating.
Happy Sunset Shimmer Day to you all.
Well, congratulations to the winners.
I really wanted to at least be a honorable mention, but oh well, I'll try harder next time.
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Personally, I think the idea that Timber isn't a creep who would take advantage of a drunk girl is the most unrealistic thing about my story. That, and Cheerilee being described as curvy and shapely, like she doesn't have the same figure as every other woman in EqG.
Anyway, thanks to the judges, to my readers, to my pre-readers, and to all the participants in the contest. I've only gotten around to reading a couple of these entries, and I'm looking forward to going through more of them now that it's all over.
It feels like I have read almost every story in the contest except the ones that won or got an honourable mention. Maybe I should go read those soon...or maybe what I really should do is get the next chapter done of my own story before my fans murder me for being tardy. Either way, this has been a fun contest, and it's been even more fun to see what people have been coming up with.
Thank you everyone for your amazing stories! There are a few others I'd like to give shoutouts to, but like Dubs, I'll be doing a post later for all of that!
Have a great Sunset Shimmer Day!
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WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SECOND PLACE BAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I'd like to thank all the judges and all the people who preread my story and all my readers and basically I'm feeling very grateful in general so thank you! Also, I find it funny that two judges said:
It's funny, because I was talking about this fic almost daily in the FiMFiction #writing-help chat. Which brings me to my next point of gratitude: thank you, everyone in that chat, for being helpful and supportive! It made a huge difference.
It's not like I expected to win (goes off to sulk in a corner).
4675738
Same....
Well, in the end, I had fun and got to stretch my writing muscles in writing a fic I might have normally not envisioned if not for this contest. So I'm thankful for that at least.
I had fun and got a chance to ease my way back into writing, so I consider it a win either way. Congrats to the winners and honorable mentions, this contest produced a lot of great content from everyone that participated.
Well played, Posh. Well played indeed. And my congratulations to everyone who participated too. It was a worthy contest. Shame it's all over for now; I was really getting into the spirit of things.
Thank you for hosting this contest. It was a pleasure to participate in it
I'll keep an eye opened in case another contest interests me.