Competition » Crackship Contest: 2022 Jan 06 - Mar 03 · 4:12am Jan 11th, 2022
commission from the amazing Shaslan
Welcome!
Hello friends!
Have you ever read a fic that romantically paired two characters you couldn't imagine ever interacting, much less dating? And then were blown away by how well the author made it work? Well, that is crackships, baby! And that is what this contest will be about, until 2022 March 03.
Of course, picking two random characters, declaring that they're in love for no discernible reason, and then calling it a day isn't quite what we are looking for!
Criteria!
Entries will be considered and rated based on a few metrics, including the creativity of every ship, how the ship itself is handled, and the dynamic and characterization.
Creativity of the Ship
For this contest, consider a crackship to be one a ship that is between two or more characters who do not naturally cross paths during the show, and are brought together in a way that feels natural with the characters (either currently or previously!) in a romantic relationship. Remember that this is a general guideline and fringe cases like, say, Pinkie Pie and Moondancer may violate this but still be accepted. If you aren't sure, please feel free to ask!
How the Ship is Handled
As stated, characters should have good chemistry with the other. The ship should be presented as a believable one!
Dynamic and Characterization
Do the canon characters act like the canon characters? If a background pony with little to no characterization is used in the show, how well-developed and rich is this background pony? Do they feel like an actual character or more of a prop? Each entry will be considered alongside the following factors. We're looking for the most creative and most dynamic ships!
Prizes!
Note that all prize amounts will be sent by PayPal. If you are unable to receive money by PayPal, I, Bicyclette, will try my very best to arrange an alternative that works for you, but please be aware that it may not work out.
Thanks to me, Bicyclette, we have a total prize pool of $250!
The top four winners will gain the following in American Dollars:
- First Place: $80
- Second Place: $55
- Third Place: $40
- Fourth Place: $25
In addition, each judge will bestow a Judge Prize of $10 on any entry of their choosing.
Judges!
Author of: Limerence (Luna x Coco Pommel); Rooftop (Sunset Shimmer x Abacus Cinch)
Fan of: How to Farm Rocks (in three easy steps) (Princess Cadance x Limestone Pie) by mushroompone, Catch Us If You Can (King Sombra x Troubleshoes) by Miller MinusAuthor of: transequestrianism (Sky Stinger x Sunburst); Forever Fell Short (Derpy x Lightning Dust); A Lesson in Romantics (Cheerilee x Mage Meadowbrook); No Heroes Allowed (Apple Fritter x Twilight Sparkle); A Study in Red (Flash Sentry x Spearhead)
Author of: A Scratch On Shining Armor (Shining Armor x Vinyl Scratch)
Is: a baticorn
Obsessed with: pineapples and headpats
Founder of: Reviewers' MansionAuthor of: BERR-E (Tempest Shadow x Autumn Blaze); Putting Together The Puzzle Pieces (Cheerilee x Coloratura); The Thread That Binds Us (Coco Pommel x Moondancer)
Please keep in mind that judges are not allowed to preread, edit, or discuss any entries with the author before the contest results are released! In addition, judges are asked to withhold commenting on entries until after the release of contest results.
Community!
The group Original Pairings will be hosting the contest. Please join the group to have contest updates in your feed as well as to submit your entry into the contest folder, which is an official requirement. You are also welcome to join the Discord to talk with the judges and other writers!
Rules!
- Stories can be of any genre, not necessarily "romance" stories, as long as they center around a ship. It must also be a ship, not a friend-ship!
- Stories can be any rating or content, with the following restrictions: T-rated stories cannot have the Fetish tag, and M-rated stories cannot have the Fetish, Porn, or Sex tags. Sex and violence can be themes, but pornography, erotica, and gorefests are not allowed.
- Stories based on Equestria Girls, Pony Life, and MLP:ANG (G5) are allowed.
- AUs, crossovers, sequels, and side stories are allowed as long as they can be understood without having read their source material.
- OCs and crossover characters are not allowed as a part of the ship, but you may use background ponies, keeping in mind the judging criteria above.
- The deadline is 1900 03/03/2022 UTC-5:00 (7:00PM of March 03, 2022, EST). Stories must be published and completed, and placed in the Crackship Contest Submissions folder by this time in order to qualify. There will be no extensions or exceptions.
- The one exception to the above is if a fic is stuck in the moderation queue (because you are a new writer, for example). In this case, you must PM me, Bicyclette, with a password before the contest deadline in order to qualify.
- There is no minimum wordcount, but the maximum is 20kw. If you feel this is too restrictive, please contact me, Bicyclette, to discuss a possible exception.
- Authors may submit only one entry into the contest, but in the case of people who write multiple fics, they may change their mind on which to submit up until the contest deadline.
- Collaborations between authors are allowed, but count as the only eligible entry for all authors involved.
- If you feel like your idea, despite technically meeting all these rules, might go against what we might reasonably expect from a good-faith entry, or if you have any questions or want to clarify anything, please don't be afraid to discuss it with me, Bicyclette! The last thing we want is for you to spend a lot of time working on an entry and then have it not qualify at the end. We understand there will always be corner cases to consider.
- For legal and job reasons of myself, any submission under the same account as fics that would be illegal to publish in the nation of Australia (a certain subset of pornographic material) are disqualified. This is the only requirement based on factors outside of the actual submission itself.
Other Contests
If this contest is not enough for you, try:
- Reactception's Sunset Shimmer x Trixie Lulamoon Contest, ending on 2022 Jan 30
That's it!
Good luck!
A crackship contest you say?
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Random
- Anthology
Ever wonder just how odd of pairings I and others can come up with and expound in 100 words each? Wonder no more!Here I am, all primed and ready to start working on new chapters to my older, neglected fics...
and then in walks this blog, tempting me away with tantalizing ideas of absurd pairings.
Oh what a terrible, dreadful decision... what to cut from my vibrant social life such that there's time to write both.
Alas, such is the fate of a writer.
This feels somehow appropriate:
I mean, I got entirely too many Flash Sentry/Carrot Top stories to work with here. But that's just me being a pretentious ass. Per the usual.
Still trying to decide between Tempest Shadow x Soarin or Big Macintosh x Daring Do.
For my competition entry
5626074
im personally hoping for another one of your last-minute contest maresterpieces:
- MLP: FiM
- MLP: Movie
- Romance
- Random
Pinkie & Tempest Blow [yay] up in the desert. Written for the May Pairing Contest, which is unfortunate for whoever has to judge this story. I'm so sorry, contest judge; you don't deserve this. I hope you find a quarter on the ground to make it up.5626086
if being pretentious means more Flash Sentry/Carrot Top stories then please be so!
5626090
either of those would be great!
5626076
as contest host my official position is that you should not deprive yourself of life experiences to write for a fanfiction contest, no matter how awesome it would be for me to see that absurd pairing!
Fiddlesticks
5626109
big if true
I just finished the G5 Bingo. Why you doin' this to me?
I gots other things to write.
Now all I can think about is Sprout meeting that beatnik unicorn from the Crystal Tea Room...
I don't wanna wind dollars, I don't even have a bank account and we are in different countries
Hey so I blocked Wanderer D but still got this notification, what gives?
Oh dear im absolutely horrid at writing romance
5626135
This is a site notification I think you have to go to settings to turn those off. And also because I'm a saucy bitch who loves drama, why the fuck would you block wanderer d?
5626138
Because I don't want notifications about these contests and whatever
Quick rules question: Do stories about Ex-s meeting again count? Relationships that failed? What if, though focused on their present ex-couple state, it includes repeated flashbacks to earlier, happier times when they were dating?
Why was this posted in HIE?
After raising the sun, Celestia was sitting in her garden with her morning tea, contemplating
a 'statuesque' Discord, when Maude ambled by with Boulder.
............................ that's it, that's all I got...................
A while ago, just for funsies, I made a computer program that would pick two MLP characters at random, then print out, "One's a [description]. The other's a [description]. They fight crime!" Maud and Lyra, for instance: "One's an emotionless geologist who wouldn't have a reaction if the apocalypse was nigh. The other's a musician with an unusual fixation on impossible cryptids. They fight crime!" I guess I can change that last sentence to, "They kiss!" That Tempest x Sunburst fic I was planning would be too long, anyway.
I haven't written any horse words for a while, but my brain's pinged me with a potential pairing that doesn't seem to have any stories yet, and now I'm considering it...
Hmmmm...
I haven't written MLP fanfiction for a while now, but I kinda want to write something for this.
...that is, if I can think of a crackship.
Alright! *cracks knuckles* Time for some good ol' Kerfuffle x Hoity Toity!
I haven't written fanfic in a pretty long while now, but a friend (Thanks, SaddlesoapOpera!) mentioned this in a chat, and a flash of inspiration hit me.
... guess I'm doing this? Maybe? I definitely have my ship and their setup in mind, at least.
5626147
answered elsewhere but yes, stories about exes are definitely shipping stories. the winner of the SunFlower Shipping Contest was exactly that, and an amazing entry (and much better than my own)
- Equestria Girls
- Romance
- Drama
- Slice of Life
Wallflower Blush comes to terms with the end of her relationship. Twenty years ago, Wallflower Blush and Sunset Shimmer fall in love.5626176
pog
5626181
very pog
5626189
yes
5626190
hope you do!
5626221
now that's a crackship
Due to a current living situation, I would not be able to recieve money via Paypal or any other alternatives. Can I still enter the contest just for the sake of writing pony? It sounds fun!
(Had to edit a few times, apologies)
5626141
5626141
i.ibb.co/brFxfHD/image.png then turn it off here.
I look forward to copious amounts of MordiTwi.
Funny, I was just about to try my hand at running a contest, with the plan for Applejack crackshipping...
Bad timing, but at least this happened before I posted anything definite.
5626104
I'll subvert expectations by finishing the story this week but don't worry it will still suck
suck on Trixie's worm ayelmfao5626104
I wrote a story of this type a while back, would I be allowed to enter that or would I need to write something new?
5626258
Same, this sounds fun!
I can't think of a more crack ship than the Trixie/Smeargle pairing I pulled for a contest like this years back.
...maybe Ivory Cedar/Jormungandr or something like that.
........ah horseapples, that's practically canonical the more I think about it.5626244
ooh, best of luck! very happy to see this little contest inspiring people to get back in the saddle
5626263
of course! and if you are unable or unwilling to receive money, i can also direct any winnings to an agreed-upon charity of your choice, or have it redistributed back into the prize pool to other writers
5626296
i personally love the MordeTwi ship, but crossover ships are sadly disqualified by the rules, as tempting as the single-ship exception is
5626342
oof, really sorry about that! i think that the more contests there are, the better, and encourage double submissions to any applicable concurrent ones, but i understand it's awkward to do when one prompt is a subset of the other. but i hope you get to run that one at some point, so i can enter it myself!
5626412
good luck! also, i can't read text that's been crossed out so i have no idea what the rest of your message says
5626462
it would have to be published between the listed start and end dates of the contest, so any story published before 2022 Jan 06 is not allowed. you are the third person to ask this, haha
5626617
sadly, for this one we are restricting to ships between characters canon to the IP, and not crossovers, as fun as those are
5626623
Figured, just wanted to be sure.
5626633
Well, my only other idea was Tempest Shadow and Argyle, but I'm not good at writing serious romance without injecting a hectoliter of crack into the ship so I'd have to figure out a decent comedic twist.
5626692
that's a good one, good luck with it!
You accidentally put a Maudlestia pic up for your crackship contest.
Does the fic have to come out in a single installment, or is it okay to release it in chapters (with a combined total of less than the 20k limit) if they're all out by the limit date?
5627148
yes, if you need a contrived situation to get two characters together, it counts!
5627150
it's exactly like the second, publishing in chapters is perfectly fine as long as it's Complete by the end date!
When you say "collaborations between authors", does that count for editing as well as cowriting? Or only for cowritten entries?
5627867
editing does not count as cowriting, so you can edit for an entry and write one yourself, for example
As a supporter of Crackship I’m writing a short one for Tempest x Soarin but writing is making me want to go back to a story idea/Crackship I long since abandoned.
So thanks competition creators.
Is 20kw 20,000 words?
Just bringing this up to help others who may see it and get confused, the link to the contest folder says (within the folder) "Deadline March 17". Is that a copy-paste error or was the deadline moved?
5641014
the deadline was moved but they can't edited here
Made it in under the wire on the expanded deadline, yeehaw! Best of luck, everypony!