Challenge 2024 Fanfiction Summer Olympics

It's summer again, which means the Fanfic Olympics is back and better than ever complete with the exciting unveiling of some new events!



This Fanfiction Summer Olympics will be very similar in schedule and structure to the ones I hosted in 2020, 2021, and 2023 respectively, which inspired some truly marvelous stories on a variety of characters across the Star Wars and non-Star Wars fandoms.

The main difference is an increase in the number of events participants can choose from to create stories that will count toward their triathlons, pentathlons, or decathlons. These new events are designed to keep the Fanfic Olympics feeling fresh and to give the competition more of a choose-your-own-adventure type of vibe. So feel free to mix and match between old and new prompts for your triathlons, pentathlons, and decathlons.

A special shoutout and thank you to my wonderful fellow fanfic mods @Findswoman and @Mira_Jade for helping to come up with some of the marvelous new prompts and events that make this year's Fanfic Olympics more exciting than ever!



This Fanfiction Summer Olympics is a competition where authors attempt to complete their choice of a triathlon (three writing events), a pentathlon (five writing events), or a decathlon (ten events) for a character, couple, family, or friendship they have selected before the competition closes.

Nota bene: if you pick a certain character, couple, family, or friendship, that character or those characters should be the main focus of your stories, but you are certainly welcome to include other characters as well. For example, if you are writing Han/Leia for the Star Wars Pentathlon, Luke is welcome to show up as well in your story or stories. When picking a couple, you may also write about a non-canon couple if you'd like, and when writing stories, you may write in an AU if you'd like as well.

For the triathlon, pentathlon, and decathlon there will be Star Wars and non-Star Wars categories in which authors may enter. This means the available events are as follows: Star Wars Triathlon, non-Star Wars Triathlon, Star Wars Pentathlon, non-Star Wars Pentathlon, Star Wars Decathlon, and non-Star Wars Decathlon.

To enter the competition, simply post in this thread with your intention to enroll in a particular event in the Star Wars or non-Star Wars category and list what character, couple, family or friendship you would like to use for each event. You may enter multiple events. For example, you could announce your intention to write about Luke Skywalker for the Star Wars Pentathlon and Lily/James in the Harry Potter fandom for the non-Star Wars Decathlon. You can also edit your post to add new events that you’d like to sign up for as the competition continues.

In your post, you can provide a link to your story thread or threads. You should keep all the events for a particular competition that you are entered in confined to one thread for easy reference and include the events in separate posts. For instance, if you are writing for the Luke Skywalker Pentathlon, all your writings for that event should be in one thread, but you should have another thread for your Lily/James submissions for the non-Star Wars Decathlon in another thread in the non-Star Wars category. Likewise, if you were to decide to write a Star Wars Triathlon for Han Solo, you would create yet another thread for that. You should also update your post with information on the different events that you have completed as you go along so that everyone can see and celebrate your progress.

Multiple people may choose to write about the same character, couple, family, or friendship for their category (for example, multiple people could write about Han/Leia for a Star Wars Pentathlon, or multiple people could write about Anakin Skywalker for a Star Wars Triathlon). The main point of having people choose the couple or character they wish to focus on is to provide an extra element of challenge to this competition.

At the end of the competition, anyone who has finished an event in a particular category will be considered a champion and a virtual gold medalist in that particular category. Anyone who completed multiple parts of an event but did not completely finish the event will receive a virtual silver medal in that category. Anyone completing one event in a particular category will receive a virtual bronze medal.

Important Dates:

The competition opens: July 1st, 2024

The competition closes: August 31st, 2024

Medal Ceremony: September 1st, 2024



Event Choices:

The Star Wars or Non Star Wars Triathlon: Pick any three of the below listed events OR any two of the below listed events if one of your selections is Marathon Swimming.

The Star Wars or Non Star Wars Pentathlon: Pick any five of the below listed events OR any four of the below listed events if one of your selections is Marathon Swimming.

The Star Wars or Non Star Wars Decathlon: Pick any ten of the below listed events OR any nine of the below listed events if one of your selections is Marathon Swimming.

400 Word Cross Country: Exactly 400 words about your character, couple, family or friendship with any theme.

110 Word Hurdle: Exactly 110 word story. As an optional bonus challenge, don't mention the name or names of your character, family, friendship or couple aren’t mentioned.

Prime Time Coverage: Minimum 500 words of action, adventure, or excitement with your chosen character, friendship, family or couple as the star.

1500 Word Dash: An exactly1500 word story about your character, family, friendship or couple with any theme.

100 Word Sprint: A 100 word drabble about your character, family, friendship or couple using any theme.

AU Archery: A story of at least 100 words set in an alternate universe with your character, family, friendship, or couple.

Fantastical Fencing: A story of at least 100 words involving your character, family, friendship or couple in which something fantastical happens.

4x100 Relay: 4x100 word drabbles of exactly 100 words each on the four types of love (affection, intimacy, friendship, and charity) as experienced by your character, family, friendship or couple in one post.

200 Freestyle: An exactly 200 word story about your character, family, friendship or couple with a free choice of any theme.

Single Sentence Shot Put: A story told in a single sentence about your character, family, friendship or couple.

Water Polo Poetry: Water Polo Poetry has no word limit. The rules are that it must be a piece of poetry written about your character, couple, family, friendship, etc. The piece of poetry does not have to be in any set style, either. It can be a haiku, a limerick, a sonnet, or something written in free verse. As long as it is poetry, it counts. Remember poetry is a celebration of sound and imagery and sometimes but not always rhyme, so those are the kinds of things expected in Water Polo Poetry.

Rhythmic Gymnastics Drabbles: Write 5x100 word drabbles each exactly 100 words for the prompts Elan, Apparatus, Asymmetric, Spiral, and Formation.

3x3 Basketball: Write 3x300 word stories. Use the prompts Net, Fake, and Rebound for your triple drabbles. Each story should be exactly 300 words long.

Marathon Swimming: Write a story of at least 10k words to honor the epic test of endurance that is a 10km swim! Remember if you choose this event, it counts for two events, not just one. For an optional bonus challenge, draw inspiration from each of the following images:

Spoiler: Marathon Swimming Images

Equestrian Cross-Country: Jump the following hurdles in a story of 400 or more words. The story must feature the story element of turning a cornerand include the verbs stride, gallop, and endure (any form permitted). It must also either include or take inspiration from the following quote: "You just keep moving on to the next element and you try not to think back."—Ilia Malinin, American figure skater

Tennis Match: Write a story of 100 or more words that is dialogue-only to create a true volley of words.

High Dive: Write a story of 500 or more words of dialogue-free introspection.

Judo: In Japanese the word "ju-do" means "the way of suppleness", referring to the story of the tree branch "bending" under the weight of the snow and not breaking. Write a story of 100 or more words where your character shows "the way of suppleness."

Rugby 7's: Write a story of 7x7 sentences. As an optional bonus challenge, use these seven quotes (in any order you want) as inspiration for each of your seven sections of seven sentences:

"The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed." Martina Navrátilová, Czech-American tennis player

"I fear no one, but respect everyone."—Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player

"I was built this way for a reason, so I'm going to use it." —Simone Biles Owens, American gymnast

"My brother is really, really slow."—Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter

"I'm very easy to see on the podium because everyone else is small!"—Svetlana Khorkhina, Russian gymnast

"Having a normal knee would make life a lot easier."—Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player

"Rest, rest, rest, rest, rest."—Misty May-Treanor, American beach volleyball player

Synchronized Swimming: Write a story between 230-500 words in length inspired by a song of your choice. Word count may include or exclude song lyrics at the author's discretion.

The Judges: Write a story of 100 to 1000 words from an outsider's POV on your character, couple, family, or friendship.

The Medalists: Write a story of 100+ words where your character, couple, family, or friendship achieves a victory – or, alternately, experiences a defeat.

Athlete Down: Write 100+ words of a hurt/comfort story (be it physical or emotional) with your character, couple, family, or friendship.

Hosting The World: Write a story of 500+ words where your character, couple, family, or friendship acts as a host.

Team Pursuit Cycling: Write 4 stories of 400 words featuring your character, couple, family, or friendship for the prompts tandem, draft, pace, overtake.

New "Olympics Remix Athletes" Category Announcement:

As a way of honoring Olympians past and encouraging people to return to Olympic decathlons, pentathlons, and triathlons from previous years that may not have been completed yet, I have created a new "Olympics Remix Athletes" category where participants can write a story for any prompt from this year's Olympics for a decathlon, pentathlon, or triathlon from a previous Olympics.

To compete in this category, simply let me know what previous decathlons, pentathlons, and triathlons you will be working toward, and then when you have written a story with a prompt from this year's challenge for one of those decathlons, pentathlons, or triathlons, you can link to it in this thread, and I will add it to the index.

"Olympics Remix Athletes" who complete one such story will earn a bronze medal. Those who complete two such stories will earn a silver medal, while those who complete three or more such stories will be honored with a gold medal!


Competition Rules:

1. All stories should comply with the fanfiction rules of this site, but I’m sure all you wonderful people knew that already.
2. All word counts for stories should be followed as exactly as possible in order to ensure that the competition remains challenging.

Q: Does a story have to be "new" and written specifically for the Summer Olympics to be used for the Summer Olympics?

A: In a nutshell, yes, I would like all the stories posted for the Summer Olympics to be new, but don't be too intimidated. Remember that if you sign up for a particular triathlon, pentathlon, or decathlon, you can still become a bronze or silver medalist if you finish a story or two from that triathlon, pentathlon, or decathlon, so any progress you do make toward finishing your triathlon, pentathlon, or decathlon will be celebrated and acknowledged!

Q: Can stories written for the Summer Olympics be combined with other challenges (e.g. 4x100 Relay also being written for the OTP Challenge)?

A: From my end, I'm fine with someone "doubling dipping" with a particular story by making it work for this event and other challenges. I would still like anything written for this challenge to be put in its specially made thread for easy finding, though. For example, if someone were writing an Anakin/Padme Decathlon and the 4x100 Relay was also used for the OTP Challenge, I'd like for the 4X100 Relay to be in the thread the author made for the Anakin/Padme Decathlon. Also, since I don't want to step on any toes or violate the rules of any other challenge, I'd say to double-check with whoever is running the other challenge you plan on "double dipping" with just to make sure that they are fine with it. I'll put the responsibility of double-checking that with each individual competitor, however, and if a story that "double-dips" is posted for this Summer Olympics, I'll assume that they did get such approval from the person running the challenge.

Q: For the 4x100 Relay, what are the definitions for affection and intimacy, and how do they differ? How intimate does intimacy have to be?

A:I'd define affection as that sort of warm, fuzzy feeling of fondness. Affection could be for a family member, a friend, or a pet.

I'd define intimacy as a deep feeling of closeness to someone; a sense that you know someone profoundly and that person knows you. It can be felt between people in a romantic relationship, but also between parents and children or between siblings or between friends. It doesn't necessarily have to be physical intimacy in my opinion.

I'll also say that you can be quite open-ended and flexible with the definitions. Ultimately it is about what intimacy or affection means to your character, couple, family, or friendship if that makes sense.

Q: Do signups close on July 1st when the competition begins?

A: Since this is such a long competition, I will leave signups open after June 1st, and allow signups until the closing date, though, obviously, the nearer you signup to the closing date, the less time you have to work on your events. This also holds true for people who might have signed up already but want to add another event. For instance, if someone signed up to write a Luke Pentathlon but wants to write a Han Triathlon as well, that person can signup after June 1st for the Han Triathlon. I know it can be hard to predict in June what your August schedule will look like so I think having signups that go beyond July 1st will help with that.

Q: Can we start planning before the competition officially opens?

A: Absolutely. Everyone is welcome to plan and outline before the official start of the competition. Consider it training and warmups for the Olympics!

Q: Do titles count toward word counts?

A: I don't generally include titles in calculating a word count, but you may as long as you are consistent throughout the competition.

Q: Can we start writing the actual stories before the official opening of the competition?

A: You may begin writing your stories, but please wait to post them until the competition opens officially with a post in this thread on June 1st.

Further Questions:

If you have any further questions about this Fanfiction Summer Olympics, please feel free to post in this thread or send me a PM, and I will do my best to address any questions you might have.

 

Opening Ceremony and Parade of Athletes (a.k.a. Index of the Competition):

Star Wars Triathlon:
@Raissa Baiard: OC Wren Ordo, Triumphs and Kaz-tastrophes
@JediMaster_Jen: Obi-Wan, Satine, and their kids
@devilinthedetails: Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll, Bruised Orange Blades

Star Wars Pentathlon:
@DarthIshtar: Mara and Leia friendship, What's the Good?
@gizkaspice: origin stories of the Rakata
@devilinthedetails: Jocasta Nu, Apprentice Archivist
@Chyntuck: Origin stories of 5 Wookie tribes
@Vek Talis: Vek, Astar, and Rilash Fairve
@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha: Han/Leia, Mirax/Corran, and Luke/Mara: Cozy & Fun Times with Family & Friends
@brodiew: Rebels crew, Joy Ridin' Rebels
@Thumper09: Rebel Hoth troopers, Out in the Cold
@RX_Sith: Varied characters, Heavy Duty
@Findswoman: The Anzellan species, Minuscule
@earlybird-obi-wan: Jeki Eki, Ker Zomorian, Tim Kirwin and Jika Bale, Falcon files and more for Jocasta Nu

Star Wars Decathlon:
@DarthIshtar: Han and Luke friendship, Two You Owe Me
@Thumper09: OC Niilo Castor, Digging Deeper
@earlybird-obi-wan: OC Ker Zomorian, Spooks
@earlybird-obi-wan: OC Tim Kirwin, Spooks
@Seldes_Katne: A raft of pirates, The Pirate Papers
@Happy Sando: Reva Sevander, Third Sister, Two Thirds:The Tragedy of Reva Sevander
@earlybird-obi-wan: OC Jika Bale: Summer Olympics Decathlon with Jika Bale
@Vek Talis: OC's Astar Payne and Vek Talis, Decisions
@earlybird-obi-wan: OC Jeki Eki, Spooks
@earlybird-obi-wan: OC Hems Oilosse, Summer Olympics with Hems Oilosse
@Kit' : featuring Jedi Shadows Tara, Davin, Saelyra and Caelum, The Shadow's Edge

Non Star Wars Triathlon:
@DarthIshtar: Harry and Hermione (Harry Potter), Life by Mountain Troll
@RX_Sith: Varied Characters (Star Trek), Dutifully Heavy

Non-Star Wars Pentathlon:
@gizkaspice: Sauron and the cats of Middle Earth (Simarillion), The Silmeowrillion and the History of Middle-Earth
@devilinthedetails: Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Warrior of Wolf Cove
@devilinthedetails: Yue (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Light of the Moon
@devilinthedetails: Mai (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Firefly
@devilinthedetails: Ben Davidson (American Girl-Felicity Series), Independent Spirit
@devilinthedetails: Suki Pentathlon (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Heart of a Kyoshi Warrior
@Force of Light: Marida and Owen (Jurassic Park / Jurassic World), Lost in Paradise
@amidalachick: Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things), Can't Start A Fire Without A Spark

Non-Star Wars Decathlon:
@Chyntuck: OC's Alec Burton and Mina Lamb (crossover of The Longest Day and Mira_Jade's Victoria AU)

Olympics Remix Athletes (Athletes using prompts from this year's Olympics to complete stories for decathlons, pentathlons, and triathlons from prior years' Olympics. Finish one such story to earn a bronze medal, two such stories to earn a silver medal, and three or more such stories to earn a gold medal):

@Mira_Jade: Our Hearts Were Never Meant to Yield (Maul and Mara Jade decathlon, Summer Olympics 2023), completed Though Our Roots Remain in Shadow for Water Polo Poetry
@Mira_Jade: A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand (Victoria/Melbourne Decathlon, Summer Olympics 2023), completed 6 chapters of Your Miles of Shore for the Marathon Swimming event (including the optional pictures prompts), completed 2 bonus 3X300 basketball events.
@Raissa Baiard: Take Me Home (Mult-Chapter Marathon Swimming event for Ezra Pentathlon, Summer Olympics 2023)
@devilinthedetails: Henry from the Hollow (OC Henry Potter Triathlon, Summer Olympics 2023)
@devilinthedetails: Fire in Her Veins (Izumi Pentathlon, Winter Olympics 2022)

 

Medal Ceremony:

Gold Medalists in the Star Wars Triathlon:
@Raissa Baiard, Triumphs and Kaz-tastrophes
@devilinthedetails, Bruised Orange Blades

Gold Medalists in the Star Wars Pentathlon:
@DarthIshtar What's the Good?
@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha, Cozy & Fun Times with Family & Friends
@Thumper09, Out in the Cold
@RX_Sith: Heavy Duty
@Findswoman, Minuscule
@earlybird-obi-wan, Falcon files and more for Jocasta Nu

Silver Medalists in the Star Wars Pentathlon:
@devilinthedetails, Apprentice Archivist
@brodiew, Joy Ridin' Rebels

Gold Medalists in the Star Wars Decathlon:
@earlybird-obi-wan, Ker Zomorian
@earlybird-obi-wan, Tim Kirwin
@Seldes_Katne, The Pirate Papers
@Happy Sando, Two Thirds: The Tragedy of Reva Sevander
@earlybird-obi-wan, Jika Bale
@Vek Talis, Decisions
@earlybird-obi-wan, Jeki Eki
@earlybird-obi-wan, Hems Oilosse
@Kit' , The Shadow's Edge

Silver Medalists in Star Wars Decathlon:
@DarthIshtar, Two You Owe Me
@Thumper09 , Digging Deeper

Gold Medalists in the Non-Star Wars Triathlon:
@DarthIshtar, Life by Mountain Troll
@RX_Sith, Dutifully Heavy

Gold Medalists in the Non-Star Wars Penthatlon:
@gizkaspice, The Silmeowrillion and the Hisstory of Middle-Earth
@devilinthedetails, Warrior of Wolf Cove
@devilinthedetails, Light of the Moon
@devilinthedetails, Firefly
@devilinthedetails, Heart of a Kyoshi Warrior
@amidalachick, Can't Start A Fire Without A Spark

Silver Medalists in the Non-Star Wars Pentathlon:
@devilinthedetails, Independent Spirit

Bronze Medalists in the Non-Star Wars Pentathlon:
@Force of Light, Lost in Paradise

Gold Medalists in the Olympics Remix Event:
@Mira_Jade, A Kingdom Where My Love Can Stand

Bronze Medalists in the Olympics Remix Event:
@Mira_Jade, Our Hearts Were Never Meant to Kneel

 

@DarthIshtar Wonderful to have you participating in the Olympics again this year! I've got both your Han and Luke friendship Star Wars Decathlon and your Leia and Mara friendship Star Wars Pentathlon in the index now

@Thumper09 Happy to have you aboard as well, and awesome to hear you are excited by the new events! I've got your Star Wars Decathlon in the index now, and if you do feel inspired to sign up for anything else, just let me know at any time!

@gizkaspice This year has been flying by, and it is hard to believe it is June already! I've got you signed up for your Star Wars and Non-Star Wars Pentathlons now, and if they do turn into decathlons, just let me know, and I can bump them in the index as well

@earlybird-obi-wan Awesome to have you joining the fun again this year. I've got both your Star Wars decathlons listed in the index now

@Force of Light Happy to have you joining the Olympics! I've got you down for a Non Star Wars triathlon in the index. You don't have to decide what specific events (like AU Archery or 400 Word Cross Country, etc.) you will be completing now, but for the Olympics, there should be a common thread running through all the stories in your triathlon, pentathlon, or decathlon. Something like a single character, couple, friendship group, or family we are following. Or else a particular AU verse we are focused on throughout all the stories. Something to tie them together and make them one collection. When you've figured out what that element will be for your Non-Star Wars Pentathlon, just let me know and I will update the index accordingly. And there is no rush, of course.

@Chyntuck Excited to see which ideas you will decide to write about for this Olympics

 

Hey, so, as @devilinthedetails said above, the way this challenge works is that the whole collection of stories has to be about the same character, relationship, or character group. That’s what devil meant about “a common thread running through all the stories.”

So, for example, you could do a non-Star Wars triathlon about Marida and Owen, in which all three stories were about Marida and Owen. Or you could do a non-Star Wars triathlon focusing on Lisa Winchester, in which all three stories were about her. That is what devilinthedetails is asking you to decide on in her earlier post, because a triathlon of three stories each about different characters from different fandoms would not be allowed; it’s not really in keeping with the point of the challenge.

Is that making sense now? Again, there’s no rush, and you’ve got time to choose.

 

Sounds good, that’ll definitely work! Thanks so much for clarifying, and I hope my awesome colleague @devilinthedetails doesn’t mind that I took the liberty of adding you to her index!

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Great to have you aboard again this year, and, yes, the Rugby 7's should be 7 stories of 7 sentences each

And I've got your Star Wars decathlon added to the index now as well!

@Raissa Baiard Excited to have you joining the Olympic fun! I've got your Star Wars Triathlon in the index too

@Findswoman Thank you so much for putting Force of Light's entry into the index as well!

 

@Seldes_Katne A raft of pirates sounds intriguing! I've got your Star Wars decathlon added to the index now, and I'm so thrilled that you are feeling inspired by the new prompts

 

I actually second @ViariSkywalker's question in my own way, if you don't mind, @devilinthedetails!

After giving it some thought, I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to start any new Olympic threads for this year; instead, I'd like to work on finishing my incomplete decathlons from last year. (I know, it's so hard being a responsible author, but I am trying. ) To do so, I would love to use some of the new prompts from this year's events, if that would be permissible?

Even if that just makes me an unofficial participant/spectator this time around, I can't wait to cheer everyone else on, and see what you're inspired to come up with, as always!

 

@ViariSkywalker Good questions! In answer to your first question, you are definitely welcome to write within a particular AU and use that as the unifying theme again this year.

In answer to your second question, if you have an existing thread dedicated to a particular AU, you could post your Olympic events in that thread and then clearly mark what events they are for and link to the stories as you post them in this thread. I don't think a brand new thread for the Olympics is necessary in that case unless you want one!

@Mira_Jade I understand wanting to focus on incomplete Olympic decathlons from last year, since I myself have some Olympic collections from previous years that are still not finished because I keep getting distracted by other projects!

You could definitely feel free to use the new prompts from this year's events to complete those decathlons, and if you want as you post those stories, you could link to them in this thread saying what prompts inspired them, and I could include them in a special category in the index for easy reference and so everyone would know what prompts inspired the stories