Site Post » Reunions: A Swapped Roles Contest! · 2:40pm Jun 1st, 2021
Okay guys here's something fun presented by Nitro Indigo.
Presented by me, I guess, but I digress.
Swapped Roles Contest
Last year, I (Nitro Indigo) noticed that there was a surprising lack of roleswap fanfics on this site. To fix that, I decided to run a roleswap contest over the summer themed around secrets. While it didn’t get many entries, it nevertheless attracted the attention of some big authors and was the origin of two of my favourite fics. Overall, I think it was a success, so I’ve decided to run another one!
This year's theme is reunions. It will run throughout the entire month of June, in the BST (UTC +1) timezone.
But what is a roleswap?
A roleswap is a fanfic that takes place in an alternate universe where canon characters have each other’s roles, but are still otherwise themselves. For example, a fanfic where Spike is the Element of Magic and Twilight Sparkle is his assistant - but Spike is still a plucky, young dragon and Twilight is still a bookish, older pony - would count as a roleswap.Roleswaps are not to be confused with other kinds of swaps, such as gender (Spike is a dragoness and Twilight is a stallion), personality (Spike is bookish and Twilight is plucky), species (Spike is a pony and Twilight is a dragon), age (Spike is older and Twilight is younger), or body (Twilight screws up a spell that makes her switch bodies with Spike for a day). However, these can overlap with roleswaps. (eg: If you wanted to swap the Crusaders with their sisters, it would be logical to swap their relative ages as well.)
If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, feel free to use my roleswap generator! If you’re not sure if your idea counts as a roleswap, don’t be afraid to ask!
Rules and Guidelines
- Entries will be judged not only by their quality as stories (grammar, coherency, etc.), but also on their originality. Celestia turned evil instead of Luna? Nah. That’s been done to death. Octavia is the Element of Magic? Daring Do is the captain of the Wonderbolts? Twilight hatched Smolder during her entrance exam? Now you’re talking!
- Unlike last year’s contest, you’re allowed to write sequels, prequels, and side-stories to existing roleswap fanfics this time. However, they must introduce and focus on a roleswap that hasn’t appeared in that continuity before. If it’s a continuation of someone else’s story, remember to ask them for permission!
- Only one entry per person. They must be written specifically for the contest, published no earlier than the starting date, link to one of the announcement posts in the long description, and be added to the contest folder in the Swapped Roles group
- No M-rated entries, crossovers, humans in Equestria, or ponies on Earth.
- You can write entries based on other My Little Pony generation 4 media, such as the comics and Equestria Girls.
- There’s no word limit, but please make sure you can finish your entry on time. Unfinished entries will be disqualified.
Judges
- Nitro Indigo
- Casketbase77
- Bicyclette
- RDT
Prizes
- $40. This will be sent through PayPal.
- Art of your choice from RayneTheSkunk. He'll only draw up to two characters with a simple background.
- A reading of your entry on my YouTube channel.
A reminder: all questions go to Nitro Indigo.
Okay guys let's have some fun.
I had an idea like this, though it would be a divergent path from the show rather than a complete alternate universe. Does that still count?
5528219 Yes. I'm pretty sure all roleswaps follow the "diverges from canon at some point" setup, as opposed to being complete AUs like Fallout: Equestria where the setting is fundamentally different.
What is a roleswap?
Well if theres a role swap, such as with Spike, more things would need to be swapped
Sounds cool.
Tried the generator. First result:
...
Could be interesting, but probably not in the spirit of the contest. :p
Looks like fun. If I wasn't dealing with so many things already, I'd join in.
5528222
People have different definitions of what AU means, so i ask to be sure
Word limit?
5528228 I don't know how to prevent duplicates from appearing.
Count Bagel Muffin in.
5528223
It was literally explained in the post...
5528287
Oops
5528249
I'm swapping Aloe and Lotus and nopony can stop me
40$ that's some big money. Thats a whole short shift at McDonalds.
5528228
Be creative, Celestia and evil Celestia from the mirror universe swap places. :P
Oh damn, this sounds like fun! Am I allowed to write a story inspired by an image? Assuming I have the image's artest's permission, of course
5528456 That's... honestly less creative than swapping her with her normal self!
Swapping places with evil self is so well-known there's even a prog rock band named for it.
5528557 Yes.
This seems interesting enough.
Well there goes my idea of using the Different View universe...
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/802359/the-different-view-universe
In fact I don't think any of the aus I made will fit in so guess I'm out.
5528589
True but this is comic canon evil self instead of just her being an evil version of that universe of her. XD
5528355
Anyone wanna call dibs on swapping Flim and Flam?
Do you have to show both sides of a swap? Or can it just be one or more characters who have obviously exchanged roles with another? Also would swaping cultures count?
5528910 Yes to the first two questions. An alternate universe version of Discord features prominently in It Takes a Princess (an entry to last year's contest that was disqualified because it's unfinished), but the canon Discord doesn't appear at all.
As for your last question, I'm not sure. Please could you be more specific?
5528929
Say I reverse the nature of two cultures say Griffinstone and Mount Aries. So Hypogiffs are dirt poor fishermen for example and Griffinstone is still the shinning kingdom it once was, and this has a affect on how the story plays out. Or you could reverse the nature of the species; have Hypogiffs be greedy materialists while Griffons are more laid back in general.
5528953 Yeah, that counts. I sort-of did that in one of my fics, The Lost Fledgling of Griffonstone.
5528958
Great! Thanks for the help!
Dibs on Swapping Flim and Flam with Aj and Big Mac!
Ack, that "reunions" theme has me stumped. I had "Cozy Glow and Diamond Tiara pre-S8" and "Sandbar and Twilight Sparkle pre-series" as options, but I don't think I could make a reunion work.
Oh well, I'll just have to think harder. Does sound like a really cool contest for an idea that I haven't seen much of, as compared to RGRE or transformation or something.
Have to ask: is there a time parameter on the swap? As in, can it be temporary or must it have always been like that, i.e. if I were to switch Derpy and Daring Do (that's a good one), is it allowed to be a temporary thing in normal canon, or must they have always been switched?
5528899
Maybe do a crossover with Bill and Ted, also swapped.
One last question. What about minor role swaps? Like you change one thing in the time line conceivably minor and yet that leads to massive changes between two character dynamics. Like a story that focuses on Pinkie Pie having become Discord's friend (as opposed to Fluttershy) but it's still very much Pinkie Pie as opposed to a full character swap.
5529195 That would still fit.
5529150
Roleswapping a single episode or other event is fine.
5529044
Go for it. I wouldn't have thought of that, but it sounds amazing!
I'm notoriously bad at finishing contests I enter, but I'm gonna try this one out! Maybe it'll help me get my creative horse-words flowing again!
When are entries due by? I can't find the due date on this page.
5529637 30th of June.
What would be the limit to how far these Roleswaps can go to be allowed?
For example, Let's say Celestia, Luna, Thorax and Pharynx swapped places. The Equestrians are ruled by tough, fair and good-intentioned Royal Brothers, while the Changelings are ruled by corrupt and evil versions of Luna and Celestia, and the two easily overthrew Chrysalis and took her place as rulers?
Not gonna enter this contest but here's a idea if people are struggling, feel free to use it.
Mlp Villains as the Element Bearers and the good guys. Chrysalis as Honesty. Discord as Laughter. Nightmare Moon as Loyalty. Tirek as Kindness. Cozy Glow as Generosity. And King Sombra as Magic.
And while the Villains are good guys, Twilight and her friends fill the role as Villains.
5529936 That sounds fine.
Interesting contest, might have to keep this in mind for motivating me to write again.
Two questions though: what about non-binary roleswaps? As in, role triangles or hypothetically role dodecahedrons? A in the role of B, B in the role of C and C in the role of A.
And is the theme "reunions" specified somehow? I'm a bit confused if it means reuniting with their counterpart in the other role, or with their canon versions, or something else?
(Edit: Would it count as a "reunion" of the roles for example if the swapped characters actually meet for the first time in the story?)
5529936
I like the idea, but "evil, corrupt versions of Luna and Celestia" feels like it's stretching the rules of the contest a little since the first rule specifically says
. So if you'd want to go a serious route, making them Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker would probably be fine but having them look like Luna and Celestia and otherwise act nothing like themselves would probably against the spirit of the role swap concept.
Alternatively one could make it a comedic fic and have Luna and Celestia trying to rule a hive who is used to Queen Chrysalis.
("The blue one does do a lot of yelling but there's barely any threats or shooting magic at me. And the white one keeps calling me her little changeling. The old Queen didn't do that and she was literally my mother.")
Do we need to include both halves of the role-swap?
As in, if I were to swap two characters, would I need to include both of them in the story, or can I have just one?
I’m only asking because all the role-swaps I can find have both of the swapped characters.
I have an idea I'm planning for this contest. There are two ways I could write it, one of which is a retelling of Friendship Is Magic parts 1 and 2 to highlight the differences from canon. I see though that the first contest explicitly forbade those. This contest doesn't seem to actually specifically say that's not allowed, but would I be right in guessing that it's still going to be frowned upon?
This is a fun idea! :) Wish I had seen this earlier, but maybe I could still come up with something. Might be a good way for me to get started here. I know that the entry is due June 30th, but is there a time as well? I don't see it on here. Sorry if it's a redundant question. I'm still learning my way around this site, and a lot goes on here, lol.
Thank you. :)
How about Maud as the element of Harmony and Pinkie as the geologist? Has it been done to death yet?
How about a story about Starlight Glimmer & Twilight Sparkle Swapping Roles?
Or one about Rarity & Spike Swapping Bodies?
Or how about one with the Humane 7 Swapping their clothes?
5530915 A role hexagon would be Magical Mystery Cure, I think?