Competition » Choices: A Species Change Contest [November 2022] · 1:26am Oct 21st, 2022
Greetings, Fimfiction! You can call me Nitro Indigo, and you may recognise me from the roleswap contests I ran in 2020 and 2021. This year, I’ve decided to do something a little different: a species change contest. But first, you might be wondering:
What is a species change?
A species change is an alternate universe where characters have been different species for their whole lives (that is, not transformed). They can range from just one character being different, to the entire cast. This also includes ponies being changed to different tribes.
Your entries will be judged not only on their overall quality, but also on how well they utilise the species change premise. The characters may look different and have different names, but their personalities should still be recognizable. On the other end of the spectrum, if things play out too similarly to canon, there’s not much point in writing an AU.
Examples of species change fanfics include:
- Heart of the Forest: Applejack is a deer, Fluttershy is a draconequus, and they’ve both lived long, secluded lives in the Everfree Forest until Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash (who are griffons) come to visit.
- Rainbow Unicorns: Rainbow Burst (Dash) is a unicorn, and Celestia’s student. (This can overlap with other common AU genres, such a roleswaps.)
- Sparkles and Scales is an example of what doesn’t count for this contest. Twilight Sparkle accidentally turns herself into a dragon and Spike into a pony during her entrance exam; however, Twilight was still born a pony as in canon.
The theme is choices.
The contest will run throughout the month of November 2022. Entries posted before the 1st or after the 30th in GMT (UTC 0) won’t be counted, unless it’s your first story on the site and is stuck in the approval queue when the deadline passes. If that’s the case, please PM me or another judge to let us know.
Rules and guidelines:
- No M-rated entries or crossovers.
- Please add your entries to the Choices: A Species Change Contest group.
- There’s no word limit, but please make sure you can finish your entry by the deadline. Unfinished stories will be disqualified.
- Your entry can be based on G4 or G5, and you can use any species that has appeared in their official media. That includes Equestria Girls and the IDW comics. (Also, since we haven’t seen much of G5’s world, you’re allowed to use species that have only appeared in G4 so far in G5-based entries.)
- You can have original characters in your entries, but the protagonists must be species-changed canon characters.
Judges
Nitro Indigo
Thesmokinguy
Casketbase77
Punished Bean (who also made the logo)
Scriblits Talo
Prizes:
- £50
- £30
- £20
The prize money will be sent through PayPal.
very excited for this one!
I may finally finish my roleswap entry!
Sounds like it’ll lead to some good stories
I'm definitely joining this one! I love doing some species swaps!
Because it's technically an Alternate Universe, are we allowed to change worlds as well? Or do we have to stay in the land Equestra?
So I'm curious, does Sweetie Bot count?
5693623 What do you mean?
5693625 Robots aren't canon, so no.
5693629
Oh, the species has to be canon? You should specify that, since there're stories like Snakity, and also bat ponies are technically not canon.
5693633 Eh, I'll allow bat ponies because they're depicted as separate from pegasi in the comics (eg: Convocation of the Creatures). Also, that's what the "you can use any species that's appeared in their official media" rule means.
i have one idea, and it's changelings. does it count if they keep their disguises on until the punch line?
5693637 Sure.
Ooooh...another contest for me to take a crack at. I'm a sucker for race swaps and species swaps.
Haven't progressed far enough in Solar and Lunar to make a spinoff fic with Alicorn Sunny or Alicorn Izzy, though...but I'll think of something.
You had to host this the month of NaNoWriMo
Gud Luck Everycreature! And Have Fun
What about showing the Dazzlings as Windigoes? I always figured they were basically the same species anyways.
5693651 To be honest, I forgot NaNo existed.
5693659 Sure.
Appleyak :)
Hello, I have a question!
I got an idea for a story but it might include some violence and swearing, but is not M rated - would that be okay to submit?
So assuming a Changeling Fluttershy story, you're looking for one where it does matter that she is.
*Let's get it!*
5693680 Yes, it's allowed.
5693684
But would it matter if she did?
Man, this looks very interesting! I'm tempted to join. Mostly to experiment with AU and different species.
5693697 *she (If you're referring to me.)
5693697
5693705
My bad! Fixed!
Fine then! I'll just go make my own contest. With blackjack! And hookers!
The prizes have changed. Please could you edit the post to reflect this?
Sounds fun. I’ve made it a point to participate in every contest I see from now one, in an attempt to.puhs myself out of my boundaries and explore more of my own writing.
This contest sounds unique and kinda hard, but I’ll see what I can do. One question, though. Can you explain what you mean by ”the theme is choices”?
Oh so this is why Heart of the Forest is getting read again. Sweet! I think I'll actually enter this one.
Ooh, this one seems tantalizing, with loads of possibilities. I'll have to see if I can squeeze in the time to take a crack at this myself.
5693740 As in, your entry needs to involve a character making a choice.
5693625
5693629
The post says any species that's been in official G4 or G5 media, and official G4 media has so far had four different appearances of robot species, including specifically Sweetie Belle temporarily species-swapped into a robot by Discord in the second IDW Friends Forever comic:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/10/15/1273788.png
If that doesn't count due to being a Discord thing, there's the mecha ponies from Pony Life, which included Pinkie Pie being temporarily species-swapped into one:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2021/4/22/2599467.jpg derpicdn.net/img/2021/4/5/2587000/large.png
The remaining 2 robot appearances are Transformers (while those IDW comics are official G4 media, this probably violates the crossover rule) and very recently, robots of the mane 6 supposedly created by Flim and Flam in Gameloft (don't know the details yet, so these could be very simple robots).
5693882 I honestly wasn't aware of those, so I guess Sweetie Bot is allowed.
hmmm sounds like bat fictions main six :3 in the alternate universe... they shall fall but then rise from the crypts of despair! Of eat mangos all day!
5693629
Like, different worlds. For example, a human Rockhoof in Skyrim.
5693976 Crossovers aren't allowed, so no.
Is there a word limit for fics?
5694007 No.
5694009
Oh, ok. Thanks!
Do all the characters have to be species swapped? Or can we only pick a couple to swap?
5694018
I'm not a judge, and I hope I don't intrude or spread misinformation, but it says in the description:
Like with the example with Rainbow Dash. She can be the only one different, tribe or species, and the rest could remain 'normal'
So, you should be fine changing only a couple of characters.
5694026
Alright. I don't know how I missed that even after reading this multiple times lol.
Sorry for the abundance of questions lol. So personalities must stay the same? Like, for example, a character that in cannon is evil can't be good?
5694059
Pretty sure everything goes in an "alternate universe" but that's just a personal opinion.
Another quote from the description:
But remember:
e.g. I can see an evil Pinkie Pie that has a recognizable personality, but that's just me
5694060
So... a good Sombra would be a personality change... *sighs* Well, there goes my idea 😕
5694105 I haven't read FIENDship is Magic, but I think Sombra has a tragic backstory in one issue, so making him sympathetic isn't completely out of left field.
5694105
Actually, IDW had a mirror universe where the villains (including Sombra) were heroes, and Celestia and Luna villains. Normal universe Celestia fell in love with Good King Sombra, too.
Regular universe Sombra also reformed in the IDW comics at one point, with the help of the mane 6 and his goody-goody optimist bucktoy Radiant Hope. This was of course ignored by season 9 and even later comics, with Radiant Hope never even appearing afterwards.
The main character traits Sombra has when good or bad is that he's flamboyant and all about presentation, and loving having power, a sort of refined romantic big ham. The differences between good and bad are really just that that when bad, he's pretty sadistic with his cruelty, while when good, he's extremely selfless.
Good luck to the people entering the contest! Do wanna see some underrated species being represented such as Parasprites; you don't see that concept in fics much. The most memorable one I know was a one shot all the way back in the 2011-2012 days.