Roses and Chocolates: A Romance One-Shot Contest!

[Draco Malfoy]

Roses and Chocolates: A Romance One-Shot Contest!​

Approved by Dragonfree


Welcome to Roses and Chocolates: A Romance One Shot Contest! Tacky title, I know. Anyway, most obviously, this is indeed a contest to write a romance one shot! And it is led and organised by none another than your local crack-induced newb and a talented Romance Writer *pretends to be smug*, masterwannabe! You may also call me Digital_Encryption if you wish. This contest was inspired by Laughingstock, a Comedy One Shot Contest and the Trial of Terror, a Horror One Shot contest. But we all know that the horror genre is too melodramatic and comedy is too crack-induced. Even for my liking. Of course Romance is superior, at least in my eyes any way. I mean, Romance is very adaptable, able to go well as a subplot and fitting in well with ANY other genre such as Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Drama, Angst and Comedy, to name a few. Okay, may be I being a bit weird but seriously, wouldn’t you rather read some good ole’ STABLE and SANE Romance rather than risk your sanity by reading Comedy or even worse, Horror! (Oh the horror! XD)



There are five judges to this contest. (Well duh. What did you expect?):


Judges

1.) Masterwannabe (The Organiser)

~*Romance Works include*~: Picture Perfect, Rumours, Of Hullabaloo Galore and Wacky Festivities: The Encore Edition, The Cruelty of Rain, Cupcakes and Springtime Rain.

Masterwannabe is only new to the Romance Genre. Yet he made a good positive impression as a writer with some promise. His favourite form of romance is witty and unique. He is perhaps better known in the Shipping Section and has only recently been known in the Fanfiction Section after his debut, Of Hullabaloo Galore and Wacky Festivities, was awarded Third Prize in the Laughingstock Contest. He has only written one chaptered fic and the rest are one-shots. His best works include the Cruelty of Rain and Rumours. Personality wise, he is weird, hyper, some times sadistic, funny, smart, insistent, witty, sarcastic, lovey-dovey, pessimistic. Emphasis on the Fresh.

2.) Encyclopika

~*Romance Works include*~: Contest Tie, the Treehouse Saga, Demons of Metropolis, Painted White, The Wynaut Episode Rewrite and Forced Paradise

Encyclopika is one of the most well-known and popular Romance writers on the SPP. Her favourite form of Romance is intelligent yet dramatic and sometimes even tragic. She’s one smart cookie. Of course she has also shown to be very adaptable and is perfectly able to write cute/fluffy stuff but being a self proclaimed high school goth, I think she prefers a more darker option and times. She has written countless Romance stories, many Contestshipping, but she is most well known for her fic, Umbreona, the Contest Tie and the Treehouse Saga. Personality wise, she is smart, witty, sarcastic, avid (about Drew, Pikachu, Contestshipping and Ed Elric anyway), occasionally even sadistic, understanding and kind (the last two are necessary as she a Mod. Mods can’t be complete Grinchs. Although they don’t have to be saints either. >>; ). Emphasis on the Dramatic.

3.) Brian Powell

~*Romance Works include*~: Against All Odds, Something Stupid, True Colours, Your Song, You’re Beautiful, Mysterious Girl, Big, Big World, Wonderful Tonight, Only One Road, All I Want For Christmas IS You, I’ll Stand By You, Lady in Red, I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing and If You’re Not The One

Brian Powell is very respected, by almost everyone. He is an oldler member of Serebii and is pretty experienced in the Romance Genre, like Encyclopika. His favourite form of romance is classy, clean yet with a hint of fluff on the side. He has no chaptered Romance fics, but he is well known for his many romance one shots, usually orienting around Ash and Co. and the possible ships and pairings from the group, most particularly, Pokeshipping, Advanceshippnig, Contestshipping and Brockshipping. Personality wise, he is helpful, kind, respectable, honest, encouraging, understanding, classy and surprising normal in contrast with other Romance Writers. Emphasis on the Normal.

4.) Jo-Jo

~*Romance Works include*~: Taking A Chance, Firelight

Jo-Jo is also a respected Romance writer on the SPP, and although only wrote two Romance fics, she became an instant success. Her fic, Taking A Chance, a Contestshipping/Pokeshipping fic, has become one of the most well known Contestshipping fics on the SPP. Her favourite form of romance is witty but with sweetness and fluff consisting it. She is also a Misty fan who has been involved in many May v.s. Misty and now even v.s. Hikari flame wars and tries to play the mediator at times. (God, those people make me laugh, morons. This is an anime, not some psycho survival war). Jo-Jo is also a Harry Potter fan and has been known to support different varied shippings, such as Pokeshipping, Handymanshipping and Contestshippping. Personality wise, she is kind, deep (at times), understanding, funny, calm, charming, avid and psycho (at least when it comes down to Drew and Harry Potter. The current Drew Fanbase reminds me a lot of the old Misty one. How ironic.) Emphasis on the Cute/Fluffy.

5.) xXSaberXx

~*Romance Works include*~: Pokemon Revelation: Cross of Fates

xXSaberXx is one of the most successful writers of the SPP of all time, and although only wrote two fanfics, those two are two of the most viewed and reviewed fics in the forums. Her main and first fic, Cross of Fates is an OldRivalshipping (FR/LG Boy x FR/LG Girl) fic which involves three aspiring trainers, Chris, Saber and Kai who embark on a Pokemon Jounrey, knowing little of what great perils and fortunes Destiny held for them. This fic is not only one of the most famous Romance fanfics of the Pokemon Forums, but it is also one of the most famous and loved fics of all times. Her favourite form of romance is the hyper variety but with randomness and serious romance bahootie consisting it. Personality wise, she is kind, jumpy, amiable, funny, random, serious, witty, hyper, sarcastic, helpful and positive. Emphasis on the Hyper.





This contest consists of three parts:

1.) Submit your Romance One Shot before the deadline
2.) Wait patiently for the Judges to review and rank the entrants
3.) Read the results and rejoice! (or weep!)



Now, of course there are Guidelines and Rules. We do expect some degree of good writing in the one-shots. We’re not sparing some of our (precious) time to read any old bland clichéd One-Shot, we do expect at least some decent writing. That’s what the Guidelines and Rules are for; to make our lives just a tad bit easier.


Okie, dokie, the VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! And the final votes are in and there is a clear winner... MWB! (Yes Limes, No Lemons). So here are now the FINAL set of rules. We making NO MORE CHANGES to them, particularly in terms of smut because the majority of you guys VOTED FOR IT. So if you have a problem with the FINAL Smut Rules, pester the majority of the voters instead. Now here are the final rules:


Rules and Guidelines:


1.) Good grammar and spelling is required

2.) Must not exceed Rated 'R' (i.e. No Lemons)

3.) Must pertain to the Romance Genre, may have other genres but the romance should be prominent.

4.) Put some effort into your work. Must have some creativity and imagination evoked in it. Don't have an uncreative, bland, boring clichéd fic. Actually spend some time on it.

5.) Must be AT LEAST 2-3 pages long on Microsoft Word. That's the minimum. You may feel free to write as long as you want but don't go overboard. We're humans as well.

6.) Can be of any subordination of Romance. Het, Yaoi, Yuri, Human x Pokemon, Pokemon x Pokemon are all allowed. But remember, we are judging for the quality of the fic, not the pairing

7.) Must be related to POKEMON or ORIGINAL. It is adviable not to do a cross-over.

8.) It may be in Script-Format but it must not be poorly written. Bad Scripts ruin everyone's day. Including ours.

9.) Have FUN!

10.) It must be NOT have been posted on the SPP until the results are announced. If you wish to use SOME recycled material, you must ask the Judges’ permission before hand and we will decide to let you or not.



Okie, dokie, in regards of the smut issue, the final votes are in… and Limes wins. Therefore, here are the FINAL rules in terms of smut. THERE WILL BE NO MORE CHANGES TO THESE! You guys voted for Limes but no Lemons so the majority says that so if you have a problem, pester the majority of the voters instead. Now, here is the final verdict:



Maximum Rating: R. R is still allowed though. After all, the Horror Contest had some pretty nasty stuff kids shouldn't read as well.

Citrus Content: Like Jo-Jo said, you may go down the road of Lime but the following MUST be upheld.

1.) Not very explict (i.e. Don't you even DARE say the names of the gentalia which people use in bed. Use words like 'anatomy' instead.)

2.) Don't dwell on it, don't make your whole one-shot on it. There is more the Romance than JUST sex and lust ^^;;

3.) There is an intergral difference between Lime and Lemon. Lime is Rating R, Lemon is NC-17. Lime skips over most of the sex (i.e. Penetration and stuff happened OFF Scene), Lemon, well, likes to go on and on ^^;;, Lime isn't explict, Lemon is, Lime concentrates more on the FEELINGS of the characters, Lemon is basically porn. So now get it? So start off with steamy kissing, may be go into 'mutual agreement', molesting (characters don't even go down to the 'taking off clothes' stage), then scene change, and you could kind of tell what happened OFF scene. That, my friends is Lime.

4.) Remember, like Encyclopika said, in smutty scenes, we are judging you on more on the description of contact and the emotion felt by it. Romance isn't all porn. You may use Lime as a technique to help convey to emotion of the fic but we WILL be harsh on you if you use excess smut for no legitimate reason and the fic must only have a maximum of 65% of the actual fic are the smutty scenes. Go over and you WILL be disqualified. Sorry about the limit but I can't stress it enough, yes smut is a part of Romance but it isn't ALL about the genre. If you go over the 65%, it'll be more like a porn fic than a Romance fic and this is NOT a Lubricant and Condoms: A Porn One-Shot Contest >.<;; I'm adding this into the Rules/Guidelines.



So I hope now that you get it. Smut is allowed but ONLY Lime, not explicit, skips over parts of it, and we will judge you in smut scenes how good of a ROMANCE fic it is, NOT a pornagraphy fic.



Here’s a quote by me in regards of this issue. READ.

I stand by my verdict; Limes should be allowed as smut, if used properly can be a great character tool, but no Lemons as we are concentrating more on the Romance side of things, not writing smut for the sake of it. Besides, the youngest readers/reviewers/authors I know who write fanfics are Timid Kyogre, Shadowcat and myself, all twelve. And in Year/Grade Six, most people know what sex is and some countries even do that 'sexual education teaching program'. So all of guys are thinking about seven year olds; I have NEVER heard of seven year old reviewers/readers.

Remember, smut can be a great literary tool but Romance isn't all smut. I'm just doing this voting thing so we can actually get over this issue and go on with life. You don't have to vote but I suggest you do if you want your oppinion about the issue known. Anyway, there is a tradition that in these One-Shot Contests, the maximum rating allowed is R and NC-17 isn’t allowed. So no Lemons (Rated NC-17) but yes Limes (Rated R). Why should we break that tradition? Laughingstock and Trial of Terror let Rated R fics in but no NC-17 Rated fics, we’re doing the same

Also, allow me to quote fellow Judge, Encyclopika’s words in regards of this issue.

No, you write as you please. It's a known policy in the shipping section, after my own troubles with this debate, that you may write anything you please (of the romance genre) as long as you do it tastefully and give a warning. I don't think limiting your ability in a contest when a younger viewer could easily turn the other cheek is a good idea as a judge. So I say, do whatever you want, but remember: if you're not good on the subject, don't risk your chances for a higher grade. Sex is an EXTREMELY difficult thing to write tastefully, along with rape. You're better off not including anything of sort because you don't know what the judges (except me for obvious reasons) think a sex scene should be handled. It's very precise.

So nonetheless, smut is VERY hard to write and unless you are fully confident that you can pull in off with style and preciseness. And smut has certain level of preciseness so it is discouraged to write smut. Of course you can but don’t risk your chances in getting higher marks by writing smut; smut is VERY hard to write and marks are VERY easily docked in this area so beware. You’re better off not trying smut anyway.



Another Quote you should read.

I still stand by my verdict; Limes should be allowed as smut, if used properly can be a great character tool, but no Lemons as we are concentrating more on the Romance side of things, not writing smut for the sake of it. Remember, smut can be used as a great literary tool but Romance isn't all smut. Also r emember, as Encyclopika said, you can go ahead with the smut but always remember that if you're not good on the subject, don't risk your chances for a higher grade. Sex is an EXTREMELY difficult thing to write tastefully, along with rape. You're better off not including anything of sort because you don't know what the judges (except me for obvious reasons) think a sex scene should be handled. It's very precise.

Plus we are assessing the Romance side of your entires, not the smut side. So what I mean by that, during sex scenes, we'll judge you on the emotions and thoughts of the characters, so HOW you conveyed the fact that the two like each other apart from the physical side. Romance and Smut are two different things and Love and Lust are two different things. Smut and Lust CAN be part of Romance and Love but Smut and Lust isn't everything about Love and Romance. You can LUST after someone but that doesn't necessarily mean you LOVE them. Smut written for no other purpose other than for it self is NOT a Romance/Love Story.



So basically, get it into your heads Lust and Love are different but Lust CAN be part of Love but Love isn't all Lust. This is a ROMANCE Contest, not a smut contest. We'll be judging on the Romance side of things in all parts of the fic, even during the sex scenes. If your whole story consists of only sex and Lust then just know you're breaking one of the rules (Maximum 65% of the fic dedicated to Smut). So please, unless you're confident that you can use smut to serve a purpose in your entry (other than itself) (i.e. to express the two love each other truly in a symbolic manner, to help the two realise the line between lust and love and realise they love each other, etc.), then don't use it. Smut is very hard to write and smut in a Romance story can easily become misguided and turn the story into another genre (pornography) and by doing so, you might be risking your chances for a higher grade. In fact, a lot of fantastic Romance stories don't include smut. Remember, we're judging the Romance side of things during every moment of your fic. Not doing smut will in fact able you to get a higher grade then perhaps doing smut (unless you're 150% confident you can pull it off with style)

And one final quote. This one thouroughly explains the difference between a Lime (Rated R) and a Lemon (Rated NC-17)

So like I said, SEX is allowed (Lime. Not explict) but SEX SCENES aren't (Lemons. Very Explict). There's a difference. I hope I don't have to post you some examples so you understand the difference between the two...

Information from wikipedia:

[BOLD]Definition of Lime:[/BOLD]

A Lime is a fan fiction story that stops short of full, explicit descriptions of sexual activity. A common analogy is that it is Rating R action, as opposed the NC-17 kind of fanfiction or lemons, where limes are not quite as explicit as the lemon. Another definition is that it includes everything up to, but not including penetration, but that can be a subjective call.

Other forms of limes are those stories that approach an intimate scene, and then go "off-camera", with the intimacy left to the reader's imagination. As with the other terms of this type, the orientation of the characters involved (such as the slash yaoi and yuri pairings) are not as important as the kind of intimate activity engaged in.


[BOLD]Definition of Lemon:[/BOLD]

Lemon is a term used in reference to anime and manga, especially fanfiction, to describe material with explicit sexual content, such as hentai, yaoi, and yuri.

Some have elaborated this into a string of different terms involving citrus to describe the "rating" of a particular piece; a hint of citrus indicates subtle innuendo, etc. The most common derivative is lime, which denotes sexual content that is not quite explicit. A rarer tongue-in-cheek term is pineapple (deriving from Japanese animation studio)

The Dead Line is Midnight, 20 November, 2006 (GMT). The Dead Line is Subject to Change. Be sure to put at least SOME effort into this contest. Lazy slobs WILL be executed. *sharpens an axe*


Anyway, HAVE FUN WRITING! Be sure to awe us with your amazing Romance One-Shots! Entries may be PM-ed or emailed to one of the Judges. After one of us receive an entry, he/she will send it to the other Judges. Entries MAY NOT be posted on SPP until the judging is finished and done with. If you have any questions, please feel free to post. Happy to oblige.



So any suggestions, additions, removals....? Questions anyone?



*Goes back to daydreaming*




Current Entrants:

Knightblazer
Celine_Dion
katiekitten
Lady Myuu
Delfino
IceKing
Mystery
The Red Butterfly
Digital Fortitude
misty_aquamaster
Ledian_X
Bay
Fez the Misfit Elf
Ampris



EDIT:

Also, another addition to the rules, your entry and any direct excerpt from it musn't be posted on the SPP BEFORE the Results are out. Also, you may have only ONE Beta-Reader. One is more than enough. Sorry but it is to minimise information leaks. Why would you need more than one anyway?


EDIT 2:


This Contest is Closed. Sorry, no more entrants. Please wait patiently for the Judges to finalise the scores.


Current Judging Dead Line:

The Dead Line for the Judges' Final Results and Ranks is the 14th of February, also known as Valentine's Day (GMT).

 

[Burnt Flower]

Hm, this contest seems very interesting, and best of all, I think I have an entry perfect for this. =)

Everything seems pretty clear to me, masterwannabe, so no questions. :3

Yay, first post!

 

[Arcanine Royale]

Hey, it looks like you've covered all bases. And woot to the judges! Man, does Brian Powell write everything, first Laughingstock and now this...

Anyway, I'm definitely participating, if only to get some feedback on my fic. Because it'll be my first try. But, everything looks good in the intro.

Meh, the name is a little wierd, but I guess it fits. Actually, it's an okay one, now that I think about it.

W00T! Second post!

 

[IceKing]

Hm, this contest seems very interesting, and best of all, I think I have an entry perfect for this. =)

Oh snapizzle, you and I are going to go head to head =)


I have been working on something for months, I suppose I can perfect and submit that in. Can the romance in the romance one-shot be one-sided? And good luck organizing and heading this contest!

 

[Arcanine Royale]

Hmm.. Ice King vs. Burnt Flower

*envisions shards of ice and flower missiles flying everywhere, a jynx and a trenchcoated wobbufet wrestling across the ground*

On second thought... maybe I'll stay out of this for my own safety.

But I think I'm gonna try a human x pokemon fic - one that actually makes sense like human x Kadabra or x Gardevoir or something.

 

[PDL]

I'd enter, but out of complete laziness I'd probably just enter my "Birds and Beedrills" fic from the last contest :\

I'm assuming that isn't allowed, and I don't really care for romance fics all that much so I'll probably stay out of this one.

 

[Literate]

:O Yay! I'm definitely going to enter this. I've never written Romance but I'll give it a try.

(I'm definitely going to submit it. Because I want for it to be reviewed.)

(Also because I swore to myself that I would enter the next contest. >.<)

~Literate

 

[Astinus]

I'll attempt to enter. I'm back in school, so the writing is easy. And this will give me a chance to show how I write.

Now I just need to come up with a couple...

 

[Bay]

Yay, another contest! I got an idea for a romance fic already, but...I am afraid it will be more drama then romance. :/

Also, I got a question: is it okay if I can have someone betaed my romance one shot contest fic for any grammar mistakes before I turned it in? Grammar is usually my weak point in writing, though I strived my best to get better at it.

Laslty, it's good the deadline is in November. With "Nothing, Everything" and "Mori", family, and college, that should give me more then enough time to have the romance one shot get finsihed. ^^



;134;~Good night, and good luck~

 

[Psychic]

I'd like to have a go at this one, actually. It's definitely caught my attention, and for me not to even attempt to write something for this would be wrong, and I'd be terribly disappointing myself. I know I said I'd do the same for Laughingstock (shut. up. *twitches*) but this time I'm a tad more serious. :/

I probably don't stand much chance of winning, but I've been wanting to write something along the Romance lines for awhile, especially since I recently read a more *coughs* adult-themed romance-type book (and not one without sex scenes).
So I'll step up and see what I can do, maybe look to the aforementioned book for help if I need, and who knows? Maybe I'll come up with something decent enough to post.


~Psychic

 

[Ledian_X]

I'm in. I've done a few romantic things in my stories from time to time. And I have the perfect idea for a one shot. Don't worry. No sex scenes. Just good ol fashioned first date type deal.


Edit: Can it be in the first person? Mine'll obviously be original. I know exactly who I'll be using.
LX

 

[Nylf]

Count me in. I'll fail miserably, but heck, I need to do something to help me get round the writer's block stopping me updating.

Mine'll be nothing compared to most of the other writers, but it's about the only genre I can really take a lot of joy in writing and even consider entering a contest about.

 

[Knightblazer]

Romance? Oh, hell yeah! I'll sure enter this contest, since I skipped the Horror one... *grumbles to self* But I think I won't win anyway... >.<

I'll problary be doin' yet another Mew X Mewtwo one, since I'm most comfortable with that. (Another Hellsing-inspired work again, I guess... XP)

Knightblazer ;262;

EDIT: Whoops. Typo alert. >.<

 

[Draco Malfoy]

Yeah! People are interested already! Now I’m starting answering those questions and enquiries! (Puts on a pair of glasses and pretends to look posh)

Burnt Flower: I’ll be looking forward to reading your entry Burnt Flower!

Arcanine Royale: Don’t worry, we’ll give feedback. It’s our job.

IceKing: GOOD LORD! (Has a slight seizure). Nah, just joking. And yes, one sided Romance is still Romance; of course it’s allowed!

Bay: So a Beta Reader? Okay, you can have it betaed but on three conditions. The Beta Reader does not reveal ANY part of the story to anyone else without your permission, have only ONE Beta Reader and the Beta Reader must NOT post it on the SPP. Other than that, yep, you may have it betaed. A Drama/Romance fic eh? Don’t worry if it’s more Drama than Romance, those two go REALLY well hand in hand anyway but Romance should still be pretty prominent and one of the main genres of your fic.

Ledian: First Person’s fine. But it still must be Romance!



Wow! Lots of CRACK PAIRINGS! (i.e. Human x Pokemon, Pokemon x Pokemon.) One of the potential Fifth Judges is going to be very pleased.

 

[Saffire Persian]

Me? Write romance? I could try.. I dunno how much sap I could get into it. Most likely it'd be mixed in with other genres. Heavily.

 

[Celine_Dion]

Romance? Okay, I might as well give it a go!

 

[Quackerdrill]

Awww gawd. Yeah, I totally skipped the horror one, then forgot about Laughingstock- I should actually do a contest now, huh? >_< I dunno. If the ideas flow and the stars aren't against me, I'll do this. Maybe. Unlike horror, romance isn't a genre that's like poison to me, so this'll probably work out.

I just wanna read what Icee's got cooking. XD And I really appreciate having the entire month of October to write- first bit of fall is the best time for writing 'teh mushiness'. IMO.

I'll give it a shot.

 

[Rani Fernleaf]

Ooh. Another contest! I missed Laughingstock, and was content to sit in the sidelines for the Trial of Terror. I might give this a go, though. Let's hope I actually go through with it XD

 

[Saffire Persian]

I just wanna read what Icee's got cooking. XD

Methinks Onions [/quote]

 

[Zerodius]

I'm not into contests usually... but well, for some reason, I feel like making a fool out of myself.

Well, here goes, I guess...

... just wondering if love triangles and other complex relationships outside of just couples are allowed... because, well, I already have an idea of what I'll use for the one-shot...

Also, I find it ironic, myself. 99% of my work is adult-rated dark stuff and yet, here I go, wanting to post fluffy (although, being true to myself, slightly twisted and confusing) stuff for a random contest.

Oh well... sticking to one genre all the time gets boring after a while, after all.