JX Valentine
Ever-Discordant
Worlds Collide: A Real World One-Shot Contest
It’s been twenty years since Pokémon was first released in Japan. That’s twenty beautiful years of Pikachu, of gym battles, of all the things we’ve come to know and love about this franchise. So for this year’s contest, we’ve decided to do something a little different: we’ve decided that this year’s theme will be Pokémon and the real world.
What does this mean? A lot of things! You could write about a character from the real world being transported to the Pokémon world. You could write about Pokémon being transported to the real world. You could do a meta fic in which Pokémon has always been fiction, and the fic itself talks about the effects of the games/anime/various media on the real world. You could even write a fic about Pokémon GO! The possibilities are endless, so long as you talk about the interactions between Pokémon and something from our real world.
The Rules
- As always, all Fan Fiction rules apply.
- All entries must be one-shots written specifically for the contest. Please do not submit material you’ve written previously that happens to coincide with the theme.
- Please note that although it might be tempting to submit an essay on what Pokémon means to you to fit the whole “Pokémon interacting with the real world” theme, that’s not quite a one-shot and thus cannot be accepted. Sorry! Non-fiction narrative prose or self-insert stories/stories based on you and your friends are perfectly fine, though.
- While it’s okay (and encouraged!) to find yourself a beta reader and share your story privately with them, please do not post your story publicly before the results are up. Yes, this includes posting your fic elsewhere.
- Entries should not exceed 10,000 words. As always, we realize that different word counters will produce different results, so if you’re over by a little, we won’t mind. However, if it’s very obvious and clear that you’ve exceeded the limit by quite a lot, we’ll contact you and ask you to trim it down.
- If, at any time, you have questions about what is and isn’t kosher or if you have any concerns whatsoever, please don’t hesitate to post in this thread or shoot the judges a PM!
When your entry is ready for submission, either PM it to JX Valentine or e-mail it to the Fan Fiction’s staff email at serebiiyuletide@gmail.com before 23:59 UTC on December 1st, 2016. (Click the link to find a timezone converter. Simply set either timezone as UTC, the first option in either dropdown menu, then insert your own timezone or location in the other field.) If you make edits to your entry before the deadline passes, you may resubmit it by email or PM.
The Judging
The judges for this contest are American--Pi, Dramatic Melody, JX Valentine, and [Imaginative]:[Clockwork]. Once the deadline passes, we will each read all the entries, write reviews for them, and rank them according to our individual opinions. When everyone is done, the reviews will be compiled, the entries will be given points according to their placing with each judge, and their final ranking will go by this combined score. Note that none of us will be privy to anyone else’s reviews or rankings before the final reveal, so none of us will be influenced by each other’s opinions.
Also note that there is always a possibility that the deadline mentioned above will be extended, and judges may ask for extensions on their reviews if need be. However, the judging team will do its best to get the results up within two months. Once the results are ready, every story (or an excerpt thereof) will be posted here, from lowest- to highest-scoring, along with their rankings and reviews from each of the judges. If you would like us not to post your entry with the results, please contact us and let us know before the results are posted.
Tips
- Grammar, spelling, and other basic mechanics will most definitely be considered by each judge. Do your best to proofread before submitting, but if you have a friend who’s willing to beta for you, even better! Don’t hesitate to send your work off to your friend for a second opinion.
- As tempting as it may be with this theme to write an epic, remember that you have only so many words to do it—and that plot and execution will also be things your judges will consider. Make sure your entry is self-contained and can stand on its own as an enjoyable story. Yes, this includes fic in which you throw your poor, unfortunate protagonist from the real world into the Pokémon world.
- This year’s theme is a little more open than previous years in that it spans a vast body of different concepts and genres. Even though we’ve only mentioned a handful of plot ideas in the contest description, don’t feel that you need to limit yourself to just those! Creativity in applying the theme is also something we’re looking for, so if you feel like you’ve got a great way to showcase the relationship between Pokémon and the real world, go for it!
- Most importantly, have fun!
Good luck, trainers!
Sig Graphics
Want to help spread the word about the contest? Just want some nice swag that shows you've participated? You're in luck! Because of the super-shiny "we're doing this for the 20th anniversary" status of this particular contest, co-organizer American--Pi cooked up the following graphics to put in your sig (or blog posts)! Don't think this is the end of it, either. The first-, second-, and third-place winners of this year's contest will also receive awards in the form of shiny graphics by Pi! So do your best and get excellent swag!
The Graphics—Choose Your Flavor
(Note: Please give credit to American--Pi if you choose to use these graphics. Thank you!)
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