Reading

Short-Form Fiction and Poetry 2025

Thank you to donutsweeper for finding many of these! Feel free to ask me to add canons that would fit.

Ballad of the Mari Lwyd - Vernon Watkins

Benlian - Oliver Onions

Casting the Runes - M. R. James

The Changeling - psychomachia

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came - Robert Browning

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

Craobh-Òir agus Craobh-Airgid | Gold Tree and Silver Tree (Fairy Tale)

The Day Before the Revolution - Ursula K. Le Guin

Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen

Fandom For Robots - Vina Jie-Min Prasad

FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense - Luke Burns

For Sale: Baby Shoes Never Worn - Anonymous

Goblin Market - Christina Rossetti

The Green Hills of Earth - Robert Heinlein (Short Story)

Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers - Alyssa Wong

Jorinde und Joringel | Jorinde and Joringel (Fairy Tale)

La Barbe bleue | Bluebeard - Charles Perrault

Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke (short story collection)

The Library of Babel - Jorge Luis Borges

Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)

Lucifer's Wife - Eleanor M. Ingram

mulberry down!! - Nicole Kornher-Stace

Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad - M. R. James

Sandkings - George R. R. Martin

Seventy-Two Letters - Ted Chiang

Solitude - Ursula K. Le Guin

Sonata for Harp and Bicycle - Joan Aiken

A Study in Emerald - Neil Gaiman

There is No Antimemetics Division - qntm

Two Loves - Lord Alfred Douglas (Poem)

The Very Pulse of the Machine - Michael Swanwick

Wind Will Rove - Sarah Pinsker

Wulf and Eadwacer (old English, modern English)

Yudah Cohen Series - Rebecca Fraimow (one, two, three)

Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne | East of the Sun and West of the Moon (Fairy Tale)

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[#278] WATCHING THE WATCH (GAME OF THRONES / ASOIAF)

Theme Prompt: #278 - Dark forest
Title: Watching the Watch
Fandom: Game of Thrones (ASOIAF)
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Something is lurking out in the depths of the forest, watching the Night's Watch.

( Read more... )

Works are Revealed

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mini-challenge

Wrapping Paper 2025

The Wrapping Paper art challenge for Yuletide is an opportunity for those who love art to opt-in to giving and receiving art treats! Comment here to request art, and/or read the comments to find someone to treat.

Please be sure to post your treats to the Madness Collection; art is not permitted in the main collection. Please respect your recipient's wishes as to whether they'd like art as a treat. Tag your treats with "Wrapping Paper" to help them be found!

If you want to receive art, please provide this info in the comments:

AO3 Handle: Letter Link: Fandom and character(s): Prompts:

Happy treating!

(If you're here from the future in 2026 and want to post Wrapping Paper yourself because it's taken a while to go up: feel free!)

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admin: theme reminder

Theme Reminder: Uncommon Settings

Photograph of the full moon encircled with added text: Uncommon Settings, at Fancake.

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[Anime] Season 8 Episode 162

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canon roundup

Interactive Fiction in the 2025 Tagset

This is a roundup of IF in the tagset, with links and nominated characters. There aren't many, but they're spread over a few categories, so can be hard to find. There are a few things I weren't sure if they counted or not, so this is just the ones I was certain of. Let me know if I've missed something and I'll add it.

16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds

1. Claire (16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds)
2. Lucy (16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds)

Changeling Charade on Choice of Games website or Steam

1. Alistair Farrington
2. Rowan Forester
3. Valentine Dupont
4. Worldbuilding (Changeling Charade)

Freshman Magic: Spellbooks and Tangled Sheets Choice of Games website or Steam

1. Alistair (Freshman Magic)
2. Halim (Freshman Magic)
3. Main Character (Freshman Magic)
4. Worldbuilding (Freshman Magic)

Keeper Series - Brynn Chernosky (tumblr link, but it has links to places to play in the sidebar)

1. Astrid Adtaz (Keeper Series)
2. Cressida Monroe (Keeper Series)
3. Female Main Character (Keeper Series)

Stay? - E. Jade Lomax

1. Esteban
2. Myka
3. Jo
4. Worldbuilding

Vampire: The Masquerade — Parliament of Knives - Jeffrey Dean Choice of Games website or Steam

1. Arundel
2. Qui
3. Robert Ward

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Star Trek Holidays Noms and Sign Ups OPEN

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2025: 10,
signups

Signups closing in 2 days!

You have just under 48 hours, as of this post, before both signups and nominations close on Sunday, October 19 @ 11:59pm Eastern Daylight time (Countdown).

As you finalize or submit your signup, remember to check out Uncategorized Fandoms for crossovers and other fandoms you might have missed! Here's the requests app that may be easier to browse than AO3.

As usual, there will be a 12-hour grace period after signups close during which you can ask us to add tags to your requests/offers.

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Doodle 4 Doodle 2025 - nominations are open!

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canon roundup

Podcasts/Audio Series in the 2025 Tagset

I started listening to so many great things last year thanks to making this list, so I'm back at it again with a compilation post for podcasts, audio dramas, actual plays, and radio shows in the tagset with links on where to find them on the internet (they can usually be found in your favourite podcatcher with little issue). I've also included links to transcripts when available.

Please comment with anything I've missed!

( Read more... )

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Regular Challenge 25.20 - Pizza

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admin: poll: theme

Round 180 Theme Poll

Poll #33735 round 180 theme poll

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 80

Pick the next theme of fancake:

Mystery & Suspense
36 (45.0%)

Protest & Revolt
25 (31.2%)

Whump
19 (23.8%)

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: my desk

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[#278] Into The Forest (Original)

Theme Prompt: #278 – Dark Forest
Title: Into The Forest
Fandom: Original.
Rating/Warnings: PG / None
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: There were no trees in sight when they’d parked, but now there’s a whole forest…

( Into The Forest... )

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due South: Build a Rocket, Boys! by feroxargentea

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio, Harding Welsh, Renfield Turnbull, Sam Franklin
Rating: Mature
Length: 26,765
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: feroxargentea on AO3
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friendship, First time, Action/adventure, Complete AU, In Space

Summary: Androids are going missing on the giant spaceship Chicago! A Mountie and a space cop team up to investigate why, and to find their friend before it’s too late.

Reccer's Notes:
As I mentioned earlier, there are very few due South fics set in space - and this is an excellent one! The familiar due South characters and settings are translated into space, with their base being on the Spaceship Chicago, and Vecchio in trouble over at spacehub Vegas. There's action, adventure, banter, romance, plot and drama as Fraser and Ray work to solve the case and rescue Vecchio. A cracking read!

Fanwork Links: Build a Rocket, Boys!

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Crossworks - Crossovers/Fusions - Due Oct 22 - Post-Deadline

crossworks

Crossworks is a gift exchange for fusion or crossover fic or art, where a gift must combine two fandoms from one of a recipient's requests (participants make several sets of requests).

Our main deadline has passed and pinch hits are urgently requested. Works are due 11:59pm EDT 22 October, or negotiable. Works must be complete, 1,000 words+ or a piece of complete artwork, must depict a combination of two canons from the same section of the recipient's requests, must stand alone, and must be wholly the creator's own work.

Please contact me at the

crossworks community to claim!

PH #2

Art/Fusion, Fic/Fusion: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger, Bionicle - All Media Types
Art/Crossover, Art/Fusion, Fic/Fusion: Ghost Rider (Marvel Comics), Transformers: Prime
Art/Crossover, Fic/Crossover: Tetsuwan Atom | Astro Boy, Portal (Valve Video Games), Metroid Series
Art/Fusion, Fic/Fusion: Ghost Rider (Marvel Comics), Tron - All Media Types

PH #5

Fic/Crossover: ONE - Cheesy Hfj (Web Series), ねこあつめ | Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector, Toy Story (Movies), Solaris - Stanisław Lem
Fic/Crossover: To the Moon Series (Video Games), Inside Out (Pixar Movies), Mindplayers - Pat Cadigan, Solaris (2002)
Fic/Crossover: The Greengage Summer - Rumer Godden, Monsieur Spade (TV), Song of the Sea (2014), Trouble With Lichen - John Wyndham

PH #6

Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | Daomu Biji | The Lost Tomb - All Media Types, 太岁 | Tài Suì - priest
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | Daomu Biji | The Lost Tomb - All Media Types, 叛逆者 | The Rebel (TV 2021)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester, 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | Daomu Biji | The Lost Tomb - All Media Types
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest, KPop Demon Hunters (2025)
Fic/Crossover: 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | Daomu Biji | The Lost Tomb - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types

PH #8

Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: モノノ怪 | Mononoke (Anime & Manga), 蟲師 | Mushishi (Anime & Manga)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: Lancer (Roleplaying Game), Infinite Revolution: Overdrive (Roleplaying Game), I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Video Game), Wayfarers Series - Becky Chambers
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: Pressure (Roblox), Lancer (Roleplaying Game), Mystery Flesh Pit National Park - Trevor Roberts, Carrion (Phobia Game Studio Video Game)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: Psychonauts (Video Games), Dandadan (Manga), CAIN (Roleplaying Game)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: Norfolk Wizard Game (Web Series), Columbo, Deltarune (Video Game)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: Kill Six Billion Demons (Webcomic), Lancer (Roleplaying Game), CAIN (Roleplaying Game)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, とんがり帽子のアトリエ | Tongari Boushi no Atelier | Witch Hat Atelier (Manga)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: 悪魔城ドラキュラ暁月の円舞曲と蒼月の十字架 | Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Dawn of Sorrow, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Fic/Crossover, Fic/Fusion: Any Other Fandom I've Requested in CW2025, Any Other Fandom I've Requested in CW2025 (Select ONLY In Combo With AOF Tag & No Other Fandoms)

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mini-challenge

Unconventionyule

Unconventionyule is a mini-challenge to help people who like unconventional formats find one another's requests, whether that’s poetry, epistolary, spreadsheets, social media, puzzles, or other unusual mediums. Please remember that works in the main collection must still be at least 1000 words, but shorter works can be submitted to the Madness collection!

To participate, simply copy-paste the following into a comment:
AO3 Name:
Letter Link:
Requested Fandoms:
Format(s): (e.g. epistolary, poetry, spreadsheets, social media)
(Optional) Prompts:

Tag your work with Unconventionyule and/or Unconventional Format to help others find your works!

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mini-challenge

Chromatic Yuletide 2025

Chromatic Yuletide is a collection post for Yuletide requests that include characters of colour. Posting here doesn't obligate you to do anything, but it helps writers find your requests and treat you.

Posting requirements:

Your request centers around at least one character of colour.

(I acknowledge there are some shortcomings with the "person of colour" descriptor. I'm also not going to police who is or isn't a character of colour; please just use your best judgment.)

To participate, simply copy-paste the following into a comment:

AO3 name:
Letter link:
Fandom:
Characters:
What is it? description of canon or a link to a canon promo (optional)
What kind of thing am I requesting? also optional

AO3 name: Letter link: Fandom: Characters: What is it?</stong> description of canon or a link to a canon promo (optional) What kind of thing am I requesting? also optional

If you post a fic for Yuletide with one or more POC characters, tag it with Chromatic Yuletide so people can find it easily!

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Webcomic fandoms you can offer/request in Yuletide 2025

A roundup all the webcomic fandoms in the 2025 tag set (plus all the characters you can request for each one), including links to where you can read them online. Fandoms are in the order/format AO3 puts the tags in.

I tried to flag everything that was (a) NSFW and/or (b) at least partly paywalled. If I missed any examples of that, please let me know!

( Comics, on the web, (mostly) free to get and easy to read )

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Pinch Hits 75-81 (and repost of others)

Pinch hits are participants who are without creators; pinch hitting is the practice of volunteering to make a gift for a pinch hit. These pinch hits are all due on November 2nd at 10:00 PM EST.

Fic In A Box has a very unusual set of assignment requirements: everyone is owed (and is asking for) 10k of fanfiction, which by default can be given as one 10k+ fic or several 1k+ fics. Participants have also had the option to opt-in to other minimum lengths or to other formats of fanwork. The other fanwork mediums are given word count equivalents, which you can view on the medium ruleset post.

Additionally:

Fic In A Box creators may default after partially filling their assignment—say, if they discover that they can only write 9k of fic—and PHs can be picked up in 1k increments!
You may always swap all or part of your assignment for a PH, just let us know that's what you're doing when you post to claim the PH.
In the future we'll include details in the post, but for this post we're linking to the app for that to keep the post size down!

In order to pick up a pinch hit you need to either email us or comment on this post (comments are screened) with:

The amount of wordcount you would like to claim (even if you're going to do fanart or some other non-fic opt-in medium! If you aren't sure what the equivalent would be, we'd be happy to help you convert it!)
The exact username of the AO3 account you will be posting your fill(s) from (if you post from a different account from the one you give us, we won't be able to count the PH as filled unless you update us!)
An email where we can reach you (you might not be getting the AO3 assignment when you pick up a PH, so we need to know where to send the assignment!)

( PH 4 - 2k - Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (TV), Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Resistance (Cartoon) )

( PH 7 - 10k - Only Murders in the Building (TV), Roseanne (TV 1988), Red Band Society (US TV), Degrassi the Next Generation, Win or Lose (Cartoon), Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV), Divergent Series - Veronica Roth, The OC (TV), Short Term 12 (2013), Turtles All the Way Down (Movie 2024) )

( PH 12 - 10k - 鹿鼎記 - 金庸 | The Deer and the Cauldron - Louis Cha, 鹿鼎記 | The Duke of Mount Deer (Hong Kong 1984), 老洞 | The Old Miao Myth (TV) )

( PH 14 - CLAIMED - Neon Genesis Evangelion, Final Fantasy XII, Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, i could command you be cruel to you compel you - jonphaedrus (Exchange Disambig), Don Giovanni - Mozart/Da Ponte, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson, Crossover Fandom )

( PH 16 - 3k - 阴阳师 | Yīn Yáng Shī | The Yin-yang Master (Movies - Guo Jingming), 陰陽師 | Onmyouji (Anime 2023), 밤에 피는 꽃 | Knight Flower (TV) )

( PH 18 - 7k - The Fixer Series - Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Earth Girl Series - Janet Edwards, Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold, The Librarians (TV 2014), Crossover Fandom )

( PH 20 - 9k - Wahkonda (Band), Wahkonda (Band), Wahkonda (Band), Springtime (Band), Mind Your Language (TV), Münchener Freiheit (Band), Wahkonda (Band), Springtime (Band), Men's Football RPF, Wahkonda (Band) )

( PH 22 - 7k - The Good Wife (TV), Fresh Meat (TV), Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater, Guardians of Time - Marianne Curley, Crossover Fandom, Crossover Fandom )

( PH 29 - 10k - 단금지교 | Dangeum and Jigyo (Webcomic), Star Control (Video Games), Chang Feng Juan | I Promise to Return (Webcomic), 고진감래 | Go Jin and Gam-rae (Webcomic) )

( PH 30 - 6k - Green Hornet (TV), Crossover Fandom, Ghost Whisperer )

( PH 35 - 8k - Men's Hockey RPF, Interview with the Vampire (TV 2022) RPF, Jaws (Movies), Saw (Movies) )

( PH 51 - 4k - Dreaming of Sunshine - SilverQueen (DFE), Crossover Fandom, Beware of Chicken - Casualfarmer, Assassin's Creed - All Media Types )

~~( PH 54 - CLAIMED - Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Surrender Denied by SassySnowperson (DFE), Starian Cycle - Iris Foxglove, Original Work )~~

( PH 65 - 10k - Hallo itt Mátyás király! - Bogáti Péter, Crossover Fandom, Night Prince - Jeaniene Frost, Felvidek (Video Game), 15th Century CE RPF )

( PH 73 - 4k - Stranger Things (TV 2016), Stranger Things (TV 2016) )

( PH 74 - 7k - The Attic - A. M. Burrage, The Passenger (Movie 2023), Outlast (Video Games), DCU (Comics), 花开有时颓靡无声 | Meet You at the Blossom (TV), 타인은 지옥이다 | Strangers From Hell (TV), The Collector Series (Movies), Dune (Movies - Villeneuve) )

( PH 75 - CLAIMED - Original Work, Arsène Lupin - Maurice Leblanc, Poker Face (TV 2023), Columbo, とんがり帽子のアトリエ | Tongari Boushi no Atelier | Witch Hat Atelier (Manga), Original Work, Original Work )
~~( PH 76 - CLAIMED - Thor (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, The Magnus Archives (Podcast), Crossover Fandom, Divinity: Original Sin (Video Games) )~~
( PH 77 - CLAIMED - Bridgerton (TV), Don't Worry Darling (2022), Dune (Movies - Villeneuve), Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), Little Women (2019 Movie - Gerwig), Outlaw King (2018), The Princess Diaries (Movies), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), This Means War (2012), Wish (Movie 2023) )

( PH 78 - 5k - Invisible Inc. (Video Game), Invisible Inc. (Video Game), Tactical Breach Wizards (Video Game) )

~~( PH 79 - CLAIMED - Dead Boy Detectives (TV), 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù )~~
( PH 80 - CLAIMED - Star Wars - All Media Types, 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, Men's Hockey RPF, 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), Qin Yaling Extended Universe - Nemainofthewater & Tavina )
( PH 81 - CLAIMED - 9-1-1 (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Captain America (Movies), Crossover Fandom, DC Extended Universe, Elementary (TV), Gilmore Girls (TV 2000), Smallville, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Ted Lasso (TV) )