Welcome to the 10th Bi-monthly Twilestia Contest: Princess for Life Edition! Unlike most previous events in this series, it is not hosted by Knight of Cerebus, but instead by your tyrannical ever benevolent Princess Kinsley! As such, there are a few changes, so please read carefully! Otherwise, everyone and anyone is welcome and encouraged to participate by writing or judging!

The Premise: After a few minutes careful investigation and thorough research, the prompt will be Let It Out. What “it” is, who and how “it” is let out is left as an exercise to the reader. Er, to the author.

Limitations: Any and all content in the fic is legal unless the group rules say otherwise. Please check over the rules thread if you have any worries about content. If it's within the rules, it's fine. As for word count, our lower limit is 1500 so that your story can actually be, y'know, a story, and our upper limit is 25,000. Yes, that's three zeroes. Any more and our judges would be fatigued reading the lot of them. Lastly, the story you write for this contest must be original. This means that you have to have never posted it before. Stories that have been written up but not posted are allowed. Reworks of stories written and posted two months ago are not. However, reworking and adapting prompts is acceptable, provided there has been significant change or expansion. If you’re unsure, message me!

Entering a story: In order to enter the contest, simply add your story in a comment in the thread of the contest. This is important. We once had an author that wanted to apply for the contest missed his chance because he forgot to do this step. If the judges don't know where to find this story, it can't be judged.

Judging: The judges for these contests are chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis, and there are three available judging slots. Please comment below if you're interested. Judges, please be prepared to deliver your verdicts soon after the contest closes. In addition, judges are barred from submitting a story unless they resign their judging post.
The Judges are:
-- Foals Errand
-- DarkDarsi
-- TwelveSong

Winnings: As always, runner-ups for third and second place will receive an advert in the form of a group comment post on them. Second place will also receive a group post about its placing, with an optional interview from a willing group member. First place will receive a position in our lovely contest box, but because it's also getting a little crowded up there will more importantly be featured on the front of the group page beneath the description. All entrants and judges can choose one of the unclaimed keys from Kinsley’s personal collection at the end of the contest*. In addition, offers of fanart will go to first place, then second, then third as they arrive.

Deadline: Entries will be due by June 3rd (11:59:59 PM, PST), giving you plenty of time to write them up before and during the spring and summer breaks.

Best of luck to all entrants, and enjoy the show to everyone!

*Additional terms and conditions apply. Kinsley reserves the right to distribute prizes at her discretion. Judges must have their votes in by no later than one week after the end of the contest or forfeit their Steam key. Stories must meet certain quality requirements to qualify for keys as well; entries that are clearly garbage or trolling will be deleted. While “garbage” and “trolling” may not have solid definitions, “I know it when I see it” - Justice Potter Stewart. I honestly don’t expect to apply this rule, but basically, don’t bullshit and expect to get a free game. Write a good story for the sake of writing a good story and then get the digital equivalent of a cookie.
The full list of keys available will be published at a later date and is subject to change. Keys will be distributed on a random ordering after participants have selected the keys they wish to redeem; should a key be unavailable or unredeemable, another key may be selected.

I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute judge.

That prompt seems vague enough to work... or kill us all. It really is a fine line to walk. I might try to write something to ease back into writing. But first I'll have to check if I'm actually still alive, or if this is just gas escaping from the folds of fat on my bloated and overstuffed carcass... Again it's a fine line.

5148973
*giant hopeful eyes* I miss Twilight's Secret, Celestia's obsession... i've read and reread it going on 30 times now! *Even bigger giant hopeful eyes*

It's going to take some time to come up with something, but I think I might enter this again. This time I'm going for first place!

I'm tentatively throwing my hat in. I have an idea, but it's a... uh, bit different than my usual fare.

5149039
I'm still surprised to this day that people enjoy my dribble, but thank you very much for the kind words. I'm trying my best to, well, try, but coping with mental illness is never easy. I'm hoping that once I start to write more often, updates will come sooner.

5149395
I understand completely!

5148850
The honorable Judge Foals Errand, presiding!

5148973
Will this finally be the time? Will the great Dungeon Maestro grace us with an entry?

5149163
And best of luck to you! I'm really glad you participated last time, and I hope you can bring a new story for this one!

5149210
Different is good! Especially if different is.... Well, let's hope the judges don't have a Mature filter set.

5150305 I'm probably going to enter all of these contests from here on out, either as a writer or a judge.

5150305
I'll have you know, I entered one time... and failed miserably. I intend to do much, but getting anything from the planning phase to the application phase is always tough, as any engineer will tell you. And maybe your soul-crushing sarcasm may finally be what motivates me!

5148760 I might not be as illustrious as Foals but I'd still like to offer my input as a judge if you'll have me.

5151000
If you can make the commitment to be able to read the stories in a week come June 3rd, absolutely!

5152118 Yes I can do that.

Friendly reminder that this contest is still going! The deadline is June 3rd at midnight if you're just starting.

We also need one more judge! Anyone not writing is welcome to judge the stories.

Because judges can't judge without being emotionally compromised. I'm entering Remembrance

I'll judge too

5228837
Welcome aboard!

5149163 5148973 5149210
Quick reminder to you folks and anyone else looking to write for the contest! Deadline is less than two weeks away on June 3rd at midnight PST! There's still time to get an entry together and submitted! Don't forget to post it here when you're ready.

5246242
Alas, it took quite a while for inspiration to strike, or to at least strike in a short, concise manner. I may not make it in on time, but at least I tried. We'll see, I've got a week or two left, but as anyone who has read my stories will know, my progress can proceed at a nearly glacial pace.

My entry's up. Eventide's Demise

I'll think about it.

5149163 5148850 5148973 5248822 5248297 5152180 5228837
Fresh reminder for everyone, the contest ends this week! June 3rd at midnight Pacific time (UTC-7) (3AM Eastern (UTC-4), 7AM UTC) is the deadline for entries. You're free to make any edits or write another entry until then. After that, no touchy. Judges, you can read the entries at any time before the contest is over, but please reread them after the contest is over. I'm hoping we can entries judged within a week so you can claim some Steam keys too.

I'm considering entering but have a couple of questions first. I don't believe they were covered in the OP or Rules Thread, but it's entirely possible I missed it so I apologize if you get these very often.

First, while I know that the group isn't strictly about romantic Twilestia stories, is it the same for the contest? Because the story I'm working on is intended to feature a relationship between Twilight and Celestia, but not particularly a romantic one. Not at the moment, anyway. Can't promise I'll never change my mind on these things.

Second, does it have to be a completed story? I ask because while I could probably enter a chapter or two as a one/two-shot with a relatively ambiguous or open ending, it's very unlikely that I'm going to get the entire story finished any time in the immediate future. It's not going to be a novel length epic or anything like that, but it's not something that I expect to end in a handful of chapters.

5262512
It was covered before, but yes, it is not required for the contest that their relationship be romantic. It's a requirement of the group that the relationship be loving, but it doesn't have to be romantic. And stories do not need to be complete to be entered. It may work against you, but considering that the last contest almost had an incomplete story take 1st place (it took 2nd), it's not out of the question.

5262638 Thanks for the clarification. I know you probably get this kind of question more often than you'd like. Still not sure if I'll end up taking a shot at this one, given that I've got a fair bit to work on before I'd even be satisfied with the current chapters as an entry (and not too many days left to do it), but even if I don't I'll be sure to keep that in mind for the next one.

Hello, I have a submission to enter.
Heart of the Cards

5267905 Thank you, and best of luck!

5149163 5148850 5148973 5248822 5248297 5152180 5228837 5262680 5267905
We're in the final stretch! Less than 55 hours until the deadline folks! We have three confirmed entries so far, so thanks to those authors for participating! If you're still on the fence, it's time to get those creative juices flowing and put words to pages! Judges, don't forget, starting on June 4, it's time to judge these entries!

5268504
Unfortunately it seems my internet router is on its last legs. Assuming I can actually get something done, not sure if I'd even be able to submit it.

MADE IT!!! I MADE THE DEADLINE!!!

HERE IT IS!!! MY ENTRY!!!

Hatred

Next time, assuming I don't choose to judge, I'll try to write something nice and fluffy for this ship.

Have to pass on this one. Even if I wasn't having some irritating internet issues, I just don't feel like it's ready yet. I'm not an amazing writer or anything, but I'd have to rush out something mediocre even by my standards to get it ready in time. Oh well. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

5268504
I must unfortunately not enter this time. Good luck to all those who did.

5270388 5270568
That's too bad. Hopefully you can join us next time!

We're approaching the very final stretches of the contest submission period! Just over two hours left to get anything submitted.

Here she is, reasonably alarmingly late.

The contest submission period is officially over!

5228837 5152180 5148850
Judges! It's now time for you get to work on reading and judging these stories. In keeping with tradition and to make things easy for me, I would like to see a list of how you would place each entry, 1st through 5th. In support of that (though not a requirement), if you could also list thoughts and reasons for how you placed each fic. Send this to me privately through Fimfic's PM system.

The official entries to the contest can be found in these posts: 5228832 5248297 5267905 5270083 5273730

To the contestants and judges: once we're all wrapped up with getting the results back, I'll post my list of available keys for you to select from. How to claim your key will be detailed later. For now, good luck to all who entered!

5228837 5152180 5148850 5248297 5267905 5270083 5273730
To all those who participated by judging or writing, thank you very much! As promised, I have a list of Steam keys available for your perusal (game names in bold have been added since the last contest).

In order to claim your key, you must send me (via PM) a ranked list of the keys you want. At least two, no more than ten. Once all of the selections are in, if there are no conflicts, everyone will get their first choice. If not, I'll randomly select one person to receive that choice and move on down the list. No keys will be given out until all those who are eligible to receive them have made selections or opted out. If you wish to opt out and not receive a key, please PM me as well so I can confirm that choice.

Judges: a quick reminder that you are only able to receive a key if your votes are in by June 10th.

Also, if anyone would like to offer feedback or suggestions for future Twilestia contests, please head over to this thread.

5228837 5152180 5148850 5248297 5267905 5270083 5273730
I am pleased to announce the results of the 10th Bimonthly Twilestia Contest!

Once again, thanks to all of you who participated; this doesn't happen without all of your hard work. I'll be sending the Steam keys out shortly, so thank you again.

Our Runner's Up!
Eventide's Demise by ultra1437
Hatred by SapphireLibra3

Just like the last contest, this was a very difficult choice to make for the judges. There were still votes to place these stories in the top 3. A very, very commendable performance. Congratulations to you both.

Third Place!
Remembrance by JKinsley

Second Place!
Heart of the Cards by TsubakiHime

And last but not least,
First Place!
Palimpsest by NorrisThePony

Again, this was a hard choice for the judges to make. All of them had a hard time making the final selections. Again, congratulations to all of you are in order. A very standout performance from you guys.

I've been banging on about this for the past couple of days because while the past two contests have gone really well (again, I can't stress how impressed I've personally been and how hard of a time the judges have had making these decisions), I want to see that success continue. If you can take a few minutes, I have a survey to collect some basic feedback. I also have a thread if you feel like leaving even more detailed feedback.

5277995 *sighs* Congratulations to everyone who placed. I'm a little disappointed, but hey, I did my best. I'm not going to give up though. One day, I'm GOING to win one of these contests.

5277995
If any authors are interested i'm willing to share my thoughts about your story! Well done everyone!

Oh wow, I was not expecting second place at all!! There were so many better ones than mine haha wow!! Thank you, judges!!

5278066 I would very much like to hear some feedback, could you send me a PM? Its very late/early where I live and I just happened to check my notifications randomly.

Again, thanks everyone!

Goodness, thank you very much. I wasn't expecting to rank nearly that high.

I'm very pleased you all enjoyed.

5278066 I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts, myself. Thanks again!

5278066
Yes please! I love feedback! Could you PM it to me?