Just an update that signups are closed! I'm going to finish fine-tuning matching tomorrow morning (East Coast time), so don't wait up for unmatchable emails tonight :)
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19 September 2025 @ 02:15 am
The collection is live! We got a total of 30 fics this time, the most we've ever had for a flash round — way to go, guys!
As usual, please do not check out the fics via the fandom list page on AO3. Only a couple of fandoms are listed there, due to AO3's wrangling policy, so most of the stories will not show up on said page. Instead, there's an alternative fandom list below. (You can also browse the collection via the works page on AO3, where all are accounted for.)
All stories, ordered alphabetically by fandom:
( behind the cut )
Thank you so much for taking part! I know these are all nonexistent fandoms, but I hope we can try to check out our fellow participants' stories and comment wherever possible. If you're not familiar with any of the fandoms, you can also try browsing the tag page to see if there are any themes/tropes/kinks that catches your eye.
Happy reading! And if this flash round got the better of you, just remember that the normal round isn't that far off :) I really hope to see all of you then ♥
As usual, please do not check out the fics via the fandom list page on AO3. Only a couple of fandoms are listed there, due to AO3's wrangling policy, so most of the stories will not show up on said page. Instead, there's an alternative fandom list below. (You can also browse the collection via the works page on AO3, where all are accounted for.)
All stories, ordered alphabetically by fandom:
( behind the cut )
Thank you so much for taking part! I know these are all nonexistent fandoms, but I hope we can try to check out our fellow participants' stories and comment wherever possible. If you're not familiar with any of the fandoms, you can also try browsing the tag page to see if there are any themes/tropes/kinks that catches your eye.
Happy reading! And if this flash round got the better of you, just remember that the normal round isn't that far off :) I really hope to see all of you then ♥
17 September 2025 @ 06:24 pm
Finished since the last reading post
Finished Kadonnut perintö, in which Björk attempts to help a woman whose father appears to have been a victim of a fortune-hunter before his death, and finds a much larger network.
In Search of Berlin by John Kampfner, which I'd bought on a whim. It told me some things I hadn't really known or appreciated before, but for someone who's never been to Berlin, it was rather hard to follow.
The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse, the fourth and final part of the Joubert series, was a engaging and easy-to-read book for a travel day with lots of turns in the story to keep you entertained.
Currently reading
Started reading Beyond the Door of No Return (La Porte du voyage sans retour) by David Diop in Sam Taylor's English translation. No progress with anything else
Reading next
No idea
Finished Kadonnut perintö, in which Björk attempts to help a woman whose father appears to have been a victim of a fortune-hunter before his death, and finds a much larger network.
In Search of Berlin by John Kampfner, which I'd bought on a whim. It told me some things I hadn't really known or appreciated before, but for someone who's never been to Berlin, it was rather hard to follow.
The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse, the fourth and final part of the Joubert series, was a engaging and easy-to-read book for a travel day with lots of turns in the story to keep you entertained.
Currently reading
Started reading Beyond the Door of No Return (La Porte du voyage sans retour) by David Diop in Sam Taylor's English translation. No progress with anything else
Reading next
No idea
16 September 2025 @ 09:16 pm
Hello, sweet and spooky Trick or Treaters! Signups close in just under two days (September 18 at 7:59 PM EDT/23:59 UTC). Here is the signup information post!
And for this year's Community Challenge, we're going retro again. Your collective goal is to treat every participant.
*except for the ones who opt out of treats. do not treat them!
This will be managed in a similar style to the 2021 community challenge (see here) with percentage tiers of success. I'll post the exact tier targets after signups close and we have the numbers.
Get excited, and good luck!
And for this year's Community Challenge, we're going retro again. Your collective goal is to treat every participant.
*except for the ones who opt out of treats. do not treat them!
This will be managed in a similar style to the 2021 community challenge (see here) with percentage tiers of success. I'll post the exact tier targets after signups close and we have the numbers.
Get excited, and good luck!
17 September 2025 @ 03:03 am
The deadline is almost upon us, which means that there's now one day left to finish your fic(s)! Technically, that is, because I'll throw in the same "surprise" mini-extension as I always do, and keep the collection open for submissions until an hour before reveals (which will happen at 00.01 GMT on the 19th).
Good job to everyone who has already posted, and best of luck to those who are still writing!
Good job to everyone who has already posted, and best of luck to those who are still writing!
16 September 2025 @ 06:53 pm
I stumbled on the steps up to the bridge that's the shortest route from the bus stop near work to the office yesterday morning and ended up catching myself with my right hand. Fingers first, unfortunately, so for a moment I was wondering if I'd managed to fracture my middle finger again (again, as I definitely did so one spring when I was at university in Sheffield). But it seems it's not as bad this time. That last time, I knew it wasn't good when I ended up feeling faint and nauseous during the lecture I was at after the stumble I took, to the extent I had to be almost horizontal in my seat. None of that this time. The finger is definitely bruised and swollen but I think it's the swelling is the main reason I don't quite have the full use of it rather than any real damage. I don't think I'll have any issues after the swelling eases up. The ring finger also has a little bruise but doesn't seem swollen.
15 September 2025 @ 05:34 pm
After two weeks in Finland, I flew back home yesterday. The journey was mostly uneventful, although with the wind we were warned it might get bumpy and we had the safety belt sign come on rather early over the North Sea. The way the flights worked, I was at home rather late, close to 11pm, so I only really had time to sort out anything I needed for work and go to bed. I found some time to unpack this morning, but felt a bit like a zombie at work by lunchtime. Food, some paracetamol, and a short walk outside helped.
It was good to have two weeks off work and my usual routines. It was my mum's 70th birthday earlier this month, which was why I left it later than usual to have a longer stretch of leave in the summer because I wanted to be there for that and I knew my aunt and one of my cousins who live in Sweden were also coming.
I flew to Helsinki on the 30th and had been hoping for nice weather to walk around. No such luck. It had clearly rained earlier in the day and it was grey and soon drizzly when I set out from the railway station after depositing my bigger bags in the luggage lockers. But I did have a walk, and I did some riding on the trams, and some browsing in the shops. Then it was time to board my overnight train. That meant an early arrival at the other end of the journey on Sunday but that was fine.
At my parents', I didn't get up to much beyond reading, walking, sleeping, and spending time with family. Of course, there were some preparations for the birthday—I baked a cake (could have been better) and made a broccoli pie (tasty), sister made a salmon mousse thing to go with what mum had ordered from a cafe. Mum and I picked up our Swedish visitors from the airport further away and took them back as well. The second trip gave us the opportunity to do some shopping (I bought a dress and a top) and drop by at the older niece's new student digs after she'd had her first actual day at the university.
It was good to have two weeks off work and my usual routines. It was my mum's 70th birthday earlier this month, which was why I left it later than usual to have a longer stretch of leave in the summer because I wanted to be there for that and I knew my aunt and one of my cousins who live in Sweden were also coming.
I flew to Helsinki on the 30th and had been hoping for nice weather to walk around. No such luck. It had clearly rained earlier in the day and it was grey and soon drizzly when I set out from the railway station after depositing my bigger bags in the luggage lockers. But I did have a walk, and I did some riding on the trams, and some browsing in the shops. Then it was time to board my overnight train. That meant an early arrival at the other end of the journey on Sunday but that was fine.
At my parents', I didn't get up to much beyond reading, walking, sleeping, and spending time with family. Of course, there were some preparations for the birthday—I baked a cake (could have been better) and made a broccoli pie (tasty), sister made a salmon mousse thing to go with what mum had ordered from a cafe. Mum and I picked up our Swedish visitors from the airport further away and took them back as well. The second trip gave us the opportunity to do some shopping (I bought a dress and a top) and drop by at the older niece's new student digs after she'd had her first actual day at the university.
14 September 2025 @ 09:07 pm
Why should I nominate?
To create the pool of fandoms available for this year’s Yuletide. More at AO3.
What can I nominate?
Up to 5 rare fandoms and 4 characters you want to request or offer. See what’s eligible here.
When can I nominate?
From now until 26 September, at 9pm UTC. Please check the date and time in your own timezone! Until then, you can also edit your nominations.
Where can I nominate?
Tag set.
Who can nominate?
People with AO3 accounts who intend to take part in Yuletide. You may use only one account for nominations. If you don’t have an AO3 account, add yourself immediately to the invite queue or email the mods.
How do I nominate?
First, check what's eligible. Then go to the tag set on AO3, and make sure you're logged in. Click "Nominate" at top right, enter your fandom and character choices, and click Submit at the bottom. Check the results on the page to make sure you entered them correctly. You don't have to submit all your choices at once - you can change your mind and add or edit your nominations until nominations close.
If you need to explain or argue for your fandom, please make a case for it on the Evidence Post as well as nominating on AO3.
Do I have to use fandom tags that exist on AO3?
Please do, unless:
Please label fandoms according to the Archive's wrangling style. If you’re not sure how to label your fandom, please ask.
When will I see what was nominated?
Not for a while, sorry! You can share what you've nominated and coordinate with other participants at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
yuletide. Moderators will approve tags starting approximately 28 September, and will release the tagset in early October. We will post questions about nominations between now and sign-ups, so please keep an eye on this community.
The Additional Tags at the bottom of the tag set are a new feature from 2023. Here is a post explaining how they work and some background (1, 2).
Disambiguation
When a character name could appear in more than one fandom, or is common, or short, please put information in brackets after the name to show where it belongs. For example:
-Bonnie Parker (Bonnie and Clyde 1967)
-Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves)
-Tulku (The Shadow 1994)
-Leonardo da Vinci (Da Vinci's Demons)
Disambiguation will also solve your problems if you receive the error message: “This character was rejected because it was nominated in another fandom.” If that happens, add more information to the name and resubmit.
Worldbuilding "character"
In most fandoms, you may nominate worldbulding as a character tag, in the format Worldbuilding (Your Fandom Name). However, mods will not accept "worldbuilding" nominations for RPF fandoms or where it is nominated without explanation for a purely mundane canon - there should be a clear fictional element to worldbuild around. See 2021's discussion post about worldbuilding; you may also find recent requests helpful to see how people have used this option.
Other character tips
If you submit a character that is new or rarely used on AO3, a suggestion from AO3 may appear in bold and in brackets next to your nomination after it has been submitted. This is okay, and does not mean that your nomination will be automatically changed. However, if you don't have any disambiguation information in brackets after the name, you may want to add it, because there may be another character with that name. Even if your character has two names, such as “Harrison Chase” or “Elizabeth Burke”, that name may appear in multiple unrelated fandoms.
RPF and Anthropomorphic fandoms must be nominated with characters. Other fandoms will be approved without characters if none are nominated.
Superhero and similar names may belong to more than one character. For example, Batman’s Robin could mean Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, or Stephanie Brown, among others. Please make sure it’s clear which one you mean - in cases where it’s ambiguous, please use their “wallet” name.
We don’t accept group nominations if the group contains named, distinct characters (for example, under Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold, we wouldn’t accept The Five Gods as a character). However, we will allow distinct groups that do not contain individual, named characters. If it may be difficult for us to determine whether this applies to your nomination, please comment in the Evidence post.
Check your nominations!
After submitting, check that your nominations have gone through: click away from the tag set, click back, and, if still logged into the same account, you should be able to see "My Nominations" at top right. Check the spelling and formatting! You can edit your nominations until the nominations period ends.
Enjoy!
PS: as pre-approved nominations can only be seen by mods, consider discussing your nominations with other participants onyuletide or at the Discord. In particular, please see this year's RPF discussion post.
Schedule, Rules, & Collection | Contact Mods | Tag Set | Community DW | Community LJ | Discord | Pinch hits on Dreamwidth
Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
To create the pool of fandoms available for this year’s Yuletide. More at AO3.
What can I nominate?
Up to 5 rare fandoms and 4 characters you want to request or offer. See what’s eligible here.
When can I nominate?
From now until 26 September, at 9pm UTC. Please check the date and time in your own timezone! Until then, you can also edit your nominations.
Where can I nominate?
Tag set.
Who can nominate?
People with AO3 accounts who intend to take part in Yuletide. You may use only one account for nominations. If you don’t have an AO3 account, add yourself immediately to the invite queue or email the mods.
How do I nominate?
First, check what's eligible. Then go to the tag set on AO3, and make sure you're logged in. Click "Nominate" at top right, enter your fandom and character choices, and click Submit at the bottom. Check the results on the page to make sure you entered them correctly. You don't have to submit all your choices at once - you can change your mind and add or edit your nominations until nominations close.
If you need to explain or argue for your fandom, please make a case for it on the Evidence Post as well as nominating on AO3.
Do I have to use fandom tags that exist on AO3?
Please do, unless:
- There is no tag for your fandom (it's totally okay to nominate something with no fic!). Make one up, following this guide.
- The tag that exists on the Archive describes a larger fandom with many parts and your fandom is one distinct part or subset. In this case, instead of using the tag that exists already, please use a tag that describes your specific subfandom.
- The tag that exists on the Archive has the words 'All Media Types' or '& Related Fandoms' in it. Please don't use a label that includes those words without arguing for it on the Evidence Post .
Please label fandoms according to the Archive's wrangling style. If you’re not sure how to label your fandom, please ask.
When will I see what was nominated?
Not for a while, sorry! You can share what you've nominated and coordinate with other participants at
yuletide. Moderators will approve tags starting approximately 28 September, and will release the tagset in early October. We will post questions about nominations between now and sign-ups, so please keep an eye on this community.The Additional Tags at the bottom of the tag set are a new feature from 2023. Here is a post explaining how they work and some background (1, 2).
Disambiguation
When a character name could appear in more than one fandom, or is common, or short, please put information in brackets after the name to show where it belongs. For example:
-Bonnie Parker (Bonnie and Clyde 1967)
-Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves)
-Tulku (The Shadow 1994)
-Leonardo da Vinci (Da Vinci's Demons)
Disambiguation will also solve your problems if you receive the error message: “This character was rejected because it was nominated in another fandom.” If that happens, add more information to the name and resubmit.
Worldbuilding "character"
In most fandoms, you may nominate worldbulding as a character tag, in the format Worldbuilding (Your Fandom Name). However, mods will not accept "worldbuilding" nominations for RPF fandoms or where it is nominated without explanation for a purely mundane canon - there should be a clear fictional element to worldbuild around. See 2021's discussion post about worldbuilding; you may also find recent requests helpful to see how people have used this option.
Other character tips
If you submit a character that is new or rarely used on AO3, a suggestion from AO3 may appear in bold and in brackets next to your nomination after it has been submitted. This is okay, and does not mean that your nomination will be automatically changed. However, if you don't have any disambiguation information in brackets after the name, you may want to add it, because there may be another character with that name. Even if your character has two names, such as “Harrison Chase” or “Elizabeth Burke”, that name may appear in multiple unrelated fandoms.
RPF and Anthropomorphic fandoms must be nominated with characters. Other fandoms will be approved without characters if none are nominated.
Superhero and similar names may belong to more than one character. For example, Batman’s Robin could mean Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, or Stephanie Brown, among others. Please make sure it’s clear which one you mean - in cases where it’s ambiguous, please use their “wallet” name.
We don’t accept group nominations if the group contains named, distinct characters (for example, under Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold, we wouldn’t accept The Five Gods as a character). However, we will allow distinct groups that do not contain individual, named characters. If it may be difficult for us to determine whether this applies to your nomination, please comment in the Evidence post.
Check your nominations!
After submitting, check that your nominations have gone through: click away from the tag set, click back, and, if still logged into the same account, you should be able to see "My Nominations" at top right. Check the spelling and formatting! You can edit your nominations until the nominations period ends.
Enjoy!
PS: as pre-approved nominations can only be seen by mods, consider discussing your nominations with other participants on
yuletide or at the Discord. In particular, please see this year's RPF discussion post.Please either sign in to comment, or include a name with your anonymous comments, including replies to others' comments. Unsigned comments will stay screened.
14 September 2025 @ 05:57 pm
In case anyone here missed the news elsewhere, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
killabeez announced hlh_shortcuts 2025, the annual Highlander fanfiction exchange on the AO3. I'm glad to have it to look forward to. I loved to read it for years before I began writing for it, and since I started writing for it, I've written some things that I'm very satisfied with.
Sign-ups will be October 1-11, with assignments out by October 14, and submissions due December 15. As usual, the first story will be revealed on December 20, as the winter solstice is Duncan's birthday, and subsequent stories will be revealed a few per day as long as they last, to be followed by the author guessing game.
killabeez announced hlh_shortcuts 2025, the annual Highlander fanfiction exchange on the AO3. I'm glad to have it to look forward to. I loved to read it for years before I began writing for it, and since I started writing for it, I've written some things that I'm very satisfied with.Sign-ups will be October 1-11, with assignments out by October 14, and submissions due December 15. As usual, the first story will be revealed on December 20, as the winter solstice is Duncan's birthday, and subsequent stories will be revealed a few per day as long as they last, to be followed by the author guessing game.
14 September 2025 @ 07:28 pm
Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Posting Guidelines | Medium Rulesets | Google Forms (Defaulting, Extensions, Assignment Summary Requests) | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post
Pinch Hitter Requests
Instructions for Filling PHer Requests
Pinch hitters work hard to help us with our exchange, and this event wouldn't be possible without them. As such, we ask pinch hitters who are interested in receiving treats to post below outlining what they'd like to receive, and ask participants to consider treating them!
Pinch hitter treats should follow all FIAB assignment/treat requirements. Post using the instructions under "Posting Anything Without An AO3 Assignment" on the Posting Guidelines.
Instructions for Pinch Hitters
Requirements for requesting:
- You have picked up a pinch hit, including receiving a swapsignment without signing up.
- You are not signed up to the exchange under any username.
- You would like the chance to get treats!
If the above all fit you, then this is where you make requests as a pinch hitter so that treaters can see them!
Guidelines:
You should post your requests as a reply to this post. If you want to split your fandom requests into separate comments, please reply to yourself after your first post.
Since the mods will be checking works to confirm they fill requests, there are some guidelines to help us out!
- Each request should include the following:
Fandom:
Relationship/Character/Worldbuilding Tags:
Medium/Length Opt-Ins:
Details: (DNWs should be labeled clearly as "DNW" or "Do Not Want".)
Letter link: (Optional.)
- Medium and Length Opt-Ins must be in the tagset and must be requested using the exact wording of the tag.
- Please don't remove or significantly change the tag part of requests after you post them, unless adding additional requests/tags.
- If linking to more than one letter (or any other link that contains multiple subposts/links), you must still list any requested fandoms/tags in your comment to this post so that mods can easily verify gifts fill your request. This doesn't apply to the auto-app as long as it's clear and easy to verify what you're requesting.
- Link to the Tagset (click here)
14 September 2025 @ 07:19 pm
Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Posting Guidelines | Medium Rulesets | Google Forms (Defaulting, Extensions, Assignment Summary Requests) | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post
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 October 19 at 10:00 PM EDT.
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 6 - CLAIMED - Crossover Fandom, QSMP | Quackity SMP, Crossover Fandom, SMPEarth, Dream SMP )
( PH 10 - CLAIMED - Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021), Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) )
( PH 13 - CLAIMED - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) )
( PH 19 - 4k - Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Crossover Fandom )
( PH 21 - CLAIMED - Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game), Squid Game (TV 2021), Dead by Daylight (Video Game) )
( PH 27 - CLAIMED - Eye Candy (TV), Hadestown - Mitchell, In the Flesh (TV) )
( PH 30 - 6k - Green Hornet (TV), Crossover Fandom, Ghost Whisperer )
( PH 31 - CLAIMED - Oasis (Band), Kyle Murchison Booth Stories - Sarah Monette, Thor (Movies) )
( PH 32 - CLAIMEDk - Yellowjackets (TV) )
( PH 36 - CLAIMED - Dwarf Fortress, Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Dragon Age (Video Games) )
14 September 2025 @ 01:51 am
Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Medium Rulesets | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post
Your swapsignments have been sent out via email! If you're signed up, the email has gone to the email associated with your AO3 account. If you're not signed up, it's gone to the email you provided when you volunteered to be a secret swapper. If you signed up for swaps and did not receive an email, please contact us so that we can get that information to you. Both people who successfully swapped and people who we couldn't swap got emails, so everyone who tried to swap should have an email.
If you requested swaps despite not being signed up, keep your eyes peeled for the pinch hitter request post. Your secret swaps count as pinch hits, so we'd love to see you make some requests. That post should go up tomorrow or the day after, and will be pinned just below the rules post on the comm.
We would also like to thank those of you who signed up to receive extra wordcount. Some of you simply held extra words while we shuffled swaps around, others of you will receive more than 10k in assignments when your swaps email arrives, and in all cases swaps wouldn't have been successful without you!
Here's what you let us do:
- 1,299,000 words were swapped! (1,200,000 last year!)
- there were 2406 potential swaps (where one swap is a request from one of you create for someone!) (Last year: 1802)
- 621 swaps were made between 260 participants (Last year: 557 swaps; 216 participants)
- 2 participants wanted to swap, but unfortunately couldn't; these participants will be prioritized to the best of our ability next year if they sign up for swaps again (Last year: 5)
- We now have 957 combined assignments and swaps out, most of them waiting to be filled! (Last year: 837)
- This year we timed the swapping process for the first time! It took about 22 hours and 45 minutes across four days. This only includes time spent on figuring out the majority of the swapping, so it excludes the time it took to set the swapping sheet up, do quality control checks on the swapsignments once we thought the swapping puzzle was finished, and send 260 emails.
Finally, thank you very much to everyone for your patience. Please refer to this part of the rules for an in-depth refresher on assignment minimums and expectations, but the short of it is: 10k of complete fic (or equivalent opt-in) is due on October 19 at 10:00 EDT. Email us immediately if you have any problems with or questions about your assignment(s).
Initial Pinch Hits:
Initial Pinch Hits will probably go up tomorrow-ish. Mentally schedule it for ~24 hours after your swaps email, to give us time to get all these swaps into the mod sheet and verify all of the pinch hit amounts.
13 September 2025 @ 06:09 pm
Hello!
Thank you again for joining me for the inaugural round of Casefic Exchange (and thanks to the nonnies who expressed interest in an exchange like this earlier this year—it encouraged me to finally get this one on the exchange scene)!
I have a few things I'd appreciate hearing specifically about, but I'm also keen to hear about other aspects of the exchange. Please keep in mind that I'll be incorporating feedback that works for me as a moderator, as I need to manage this exchange within my schedule and limits.
I will do my best to reply to feedback, but please don't think anything of me saying "Thanks for your feedback!", as I will only ask further questions regarding feedback I'd like more information on.
Perhaps the most important question of them all: 1. Are you interested in another round?
2. I liked the time of year that we held the exchange, and I'd like to do so again, although I would like to shift the schedule to begin earlier in the year. I made the schedule based on my personal and exchange commitments (and will do so again), and if we have another round next year, I will keep the schedule in the first half of the year.
I'm considering starting nominations in January or February next year (I originally wanted to open in March this year, but wanted more time with the exchange before going live). If we open nominations in January, that means nominations/sign-ups are in January and the creation period falls in February/March/April, leaving May/June as the pinch hit/(hopefully) reveals period — would this be ideal? I understand we will always clash with other exchanges, especially those with higher minimums, but early in the year works perfectly for me as a moderator.
I prefer to avoid July entirely as I participate in Battleship Exchange, and I know a handful of you do, too.
3. Did Friday deadlines work? I chose Friday because the deadline conversion would be Saturday early afternoon for me (I am in AEST/AEDT). The alternative is to shift this to Sunday EST/EDT, so it falls on my Monday AEST/AEDT. (Saturday EDT/EST is not an option I will be considering.)
Regardless of the day we settle on, I would ask for leniency, as a mid-afternoon deadline for me may clash with plans that arise over the year. The 11:59pm EDT/EST deadline works for me, and I will keep this moving forward.
I'm not overly concerned about not being online when deadlines hit as long as participants make a good faith effort to meet them and are not stressed out by the fact I may not post until hours later that X deadline has come. (I always intend to post if something crops up offline that will prevent me from executing a phase.) I intentionally waited at least half an hour to an hour after the deadlines before taking any action to give people extra time in case they miscalculated the time conversion.
So: Friday or Sunday EDT/EST? It makes no difference to me, so please let me know!
As someone who exists entirely in the future, my exchange experiences with deadlines have always consisted of me adding a +1, which will most likely be different from the majority of participants, so I'd appreciate feedback on this.
4. Did the minimum requirements work for everyone? Is 3k and its equivalents too small? I have no interest in decreasing this minimum. I'd appreciate hearing from all types of creators—fic, artists, and podficcers.
5. Freeforms were not something I was interested in adding during the first round as I wanted to try to make the exchange run as smoothly as possible so everyone (especially myself) could get a feel of how it'd run without that additional complication. (Full transparency: Freeforms, outside of the medium freeforms, are new for me as a moderator!)
I will investigate how to add freeforms to the exchange for the next round, as I think this would work well for prompts, i.e. you can select "heist", "murder mystery", etc. so your creator(s) know what kind of genre/theme of casefic you're interested in.
I would build into the schedule a week for crowdsourcing generic freeforms, such as "murder mystery", "heist", "stolen item", etc., as I will undoubtedly miss one if I leave it to myself, and make that final list available for you to select when signing up. These freeforms will not be "X con artist steals flower vase from museum" kind of freeforms. It'd be more in line with howfandom5k has genre freeforms. I think this will assist when participants forget or choose not to provide casefic-theme prompts.
Given how small the exchange is, I'm hesitant to make these matchable, as we already are niche given we're a themed exchange.
6. How did you find the creation period? Was it too long? Just right? Did you want longer? I chose three months based on feedback from anons and because I broke it down as 1k = 1 month.
Please be mindful that I'm not interested in shifting the creation period based on other exchange commitments. We will always clash with other exchanges.
7. Did you want a check-in period? Given our long creation period, I wasn't sure if this was desired. I made the default deadline to be an unofficial check-in, but it didn't work as intended. Would you like a mandatory check-in period, similar tofffx?
8. Did you find the default deadline motivating? The default deadline didn't exactly work as I had intended, as we ended up with more extensions than I had anticipated. I'm considering removing the default deadline from the schedule, but since it didn't work as I wanted from a moderator's perspective, did it work from a participant's perspective?
If it didn't work from either perspective, I'll remove it for the next round.
9. As I didn't anticipate so many extensions (there is nothing wrong with this!), I will be building two extension deadlines into the schedule that you can choose from (similar to howficinabox does this), as this will help me manage pinch hits. I learned from this year that having a deadline option available worked better than choosing the next Friday as an extension deadline.
I would prefer participants to email me for an extension, as I find that having this record is useful for me if I need to follow up. I was considering creating a Google form, but I would want emails to be logged/a record of your extension request sent to you so you have a record and reminder that you asked for it. I'd like to hear your preferences, as I have only ever used a Google form to request an extension as a participant and not as a moderator!
10. Given the niche nature of the exchange, I'm hesitant to add swaps; however, I am considering allowing participants to request a specific assignment, with the caveat that you are not guaranteed your request being successful.
I saw some commentary about participants taking a more conservative approach to their offers for this exchange, given the minimum requirements, so I wanted to gauge interest in trialling this approach. (Please note this is not something I have ever offered before in any of my exchanges, so there would be a learning curve on the mod end on how to manage this.)
If there is an interest in swapping, I will investigate further how to run this as smoothly as possible.
*
Please let me know if there was anything else you'd like to be considered for round two! I tried to run round one as flexibly and simply as possible, while being open to ideas as I got my bearings with such an exchange (my experience is with a "/" exchange) and didn't wish to overcomplicate matters. I'm happy to add some more complexity to the exchange if that will improve the experience.
I'd appreciate any feedback, but please be aware that I will only implement what works for me as a moderator and makes the moderator side of the exchange as smooth as possible. I wish I could cater to everyone, but I can't.
You can comment here or email me at gumshoeagency@gmail.com.
Thank you again! It's been a lot of fun. :)
Thank you again for joining me for the inaugural round of Casefic Exchange (and thanks to the nonnies who expressed interest in an exchange like this earlier this year—it encouraged me to finally get this one on the exchange scene)!
I have a few things I'd appreciate hearing specifically about, but I'm also keen to hear about other aspects of the exchange. Please keep in mind that I'll be incorporating feedback that works for me as a moderator, as I need to manage this exchange within my schedule and limits.
I will do my best to reply to feedback, but please don't think anything of me saying "Thanks for your feedback!", as I will only ask further questions regarding feedback I'd like more information on.
More?
Perhaps the most important question of them all: 1. Are you interested in another round?
Schedule
2. I liked the time of year that we held the exchange, and I'd like to do so again, although I would like to shift the schedule to begin earlier in the year. I made the schedule based on my personal and exchange commitments (and will do so again), and if we have another round next year, I will keep the schedule in the first half of the year.
I'm considering starting nominations in January or February next year (I originally wanted to open in March this year, but wanted more time with the exchange before going live). If we open nominations in January, that means nominations/sign-ups are in January and the creation period falls in February/March/April, leaving May/June as the pinch hit/(hopefully) reveals period — would this be ideal? I understand we will always clash with other exchanges, especially those with higher minimums, but early in the year works perfectly for me as a moderator.
I prefer to avoid July entirely as I participate in Battleship Exchange, and I know a handful of you do, too.
3. Did Friday deadlines work? I chose Friday because the deadline conversion would be Saturday early afternoon for me (I am in AEST/AEDT). The alternative is to shift this to Sunday EST/EDT, so it falls on my Monday AEST/AEDT. (Saturday EDT/EST is not an option I will be considering.)
Regardless of the day we settle on, I would ask for leniency, as a mid-afternoon deadline for me may clash with plans that arise over the year. The 11:59pm EDT/EST deadline works for me, and I will keep this moving forward.
I'm not overly concerned about not being online when deadlines hit as long as participants make a good faith effort to meet them and are not stressed out by the fact I may not post until hours later that X deadline has come. (I always intend to post if something crops up offline that will prevent me from executing a phase.) I intentionally waited at least half an hour to an hour after the deadlines before taking any action to give people extra time in case they miscalculated the time conversion.
So: Friday or Sunday EDT/EST? It makes no difference to me, so please let me know!
As someone who exists entirely in the future, my exchange experiences with deadlines have always consisted of me adding a +1, which will most likely be different from the majority of participants, so I'd appreciate feedback on this.
Exchange mechanics
4. Did the minimum requirements work for everyone? Is 3k and its equivalents too small? I have no interest in decreasing this minimum. I'd appreciate hearing from all types of creators—fic, artists, and podficcers.
5. Freeforms were not something I was interested in adding during the first round as I wanted to try to make the exchange run as smoothly as possible so everyone (especially myself) could get a feel of how it'd run without that additional complication. (Full transparency: Freeforms, outside of the medium freeforms, are new for me as a moderator!)
I will investigate how to add freeforms to the exchange for the next round, as I think this would work well for prompts, i.e. you can select "heist", "murder mystery", etc. so your creator(s) know what kind of genre/theme of casefic you're interested in.
I would build into the schedule a week for crowdsourcing generic freeforms, such as "murder mystery", "heist", "stolen item", etc., as I will undoubtedly miss one if I leave it to myself, and make that final list available for you to select when signing up. These freeforms will not be "X con artist steals flower vase from museum" kind of freeforms. It'd be more in line with how
fandom5k has genre freeforms. I think this will assist when participants forget or choose not to provide casefic-theme prompts.Given how small the exchange is, I'm hesitant to make these matchable, as we already are niche given we're a themed exchange.
Creation Period
6. How did you find the creation period? Was it too long? Just right? Did you want longer? I chose three months based on feedback from anons and because I broke it down as 1k = 1 month.
Please be mindful that I'm not interested in shifting the creation period based on other exchange commitments. We will always clash with other exchanges.
Check-in period
7. Did you want a check-in period? Given our long creation period, I wasn't sure if this was desired. I made the default deadline to be an unofficial check-in, but it didn't work as intended. Would you like a mandatory check-in period, similar to
fffx?Default deadline and extension deadline
8. Did you find the default deadline motivating? The default deadline didn't exactly work as I had intended, as we ended up with more extensions than I had anticipated. I'm considering removing the default deadline from the schedule, but since it didn't work as I wanted from a moderator's perspective, did it work from a participant's perspective?
If it didn't work from either perspective, I'll remove it for the next round.
9. As I didn't anticipate so many extensions (there is nothing wrong with this!), I will be building two extension deadlines into the schedule that you can choose from (similar to how
ficinabox does this), as this will help me manage pinch hits. I learned from this year that having a deadline option available worked better than choosing the next Friday as an extension deadline. I would prefer participants to email me for an extension, as I find that having this record is useful for me if I need to follow up. I was considering creating a Google form, but I would want emails to be logged/a record of your extension request sent to you so you have a record and reminder that you asked for it. I'd like to hear your preferences, as I have only ever used a Google form to request an extension as a participant and not as a moderator!
Trialling: Request specific assignment
10. Given the niche nature of the exchange, I'm hesitant to add swaps; however, I am considering allowing participants to request a specific assignment, with the caveat that you are not guaranteed your request being successful.
I saw some commentary about participants taking a more conservative approach to their offers for this exchange, given the minimum requirements, so I wanted to gauge interest in trialling this approach. (Please note this is not something I have ever offered before in any of my exchanges, so there would be a learning curve on the mod end on how to manage this.)
If there is an interest in swapping, I will investigate further how to run this as smoothly as possible.
*
Please let me know if there was anything else you'd like to be considered for round two! I tried to run round one as flexibly and simply as possible, while being open to ideas as I got my bearings with such an exchange (my experience is with a "/" exchange) and didn't wish to overcomplicate matters. I'm happy to add some more complexity to the exchange if that will improve the experience.
I'd appreciate any feedback, but please be aware that I will only implement what works for me as a moderator and makes the moderator side of the exchange as smooth as possible. I wish I could cater to everyone, but I can't.
You can comment here or email me at gumshoeagency@gmail.com.
Thank you again! It's been a lot of fun. :)
13 September 2025 @ 02:01 pm
And with that, our detectives are revealed!
Thank you for joining me for the inaugural round of Casefic Exchange! It has been a pleasure hosting, and I've been blown away by the works we've created.
Please remember that comments are mandatory in this exchange. You have until the next round's sign-ups to comment in good faith on your gift(s). If you have a reason for not commenting on your gift, please get in touch with me at gumshoeagency@gmail.com.
You are welcome to continue submitting works to the collection — it is now unmoderated.
I will be posting a feedback post in 24ish hours! If you have any feedback, please wait for that post, as I have questions about specific aspects of the round I'd appreciate feedback on. :)
For the last time this year: see you soon!
- Commissioner Clawseau.
Thank you for joining me for the inaugural round of Casefic Exchange! It has been a pleasure hosting, and I've been blown away by the works we've created.
Please remember that comments are mandatory in this exchange. You have until the next round's sign-ups to comment in good faith on your gift(s). If you have a reason for not commenting on your gift, please get in touch with me at gumshoeagency@gmail.com.
You are welcome to continue submitting works to the collection — it is now unmoderated.
I will be posting a feedback post in 24ish hours! If you have any feedback, please wait for that post, as I have questions about specific aspects of the round I'd appreciate feedback on. :)
For the last time this year: see you soon!
- Commissioner Clawseau.
12 September 2025 @ 08:55 pm
Every now and then, I do thefridayfive:
1. What is your favourite fruit?
Mango
2. What is the last book you read?
Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4)
3. Do you like any of your school photos?
Yes.
4. Do you ever blowdry your armpits to get the deodorant to dry quicker?
Lol no. Is this a thing?
5. What was the last film you watched?
Casablanca
thefridayfive:1. What is your favourite fruit?
Mango
2. What is the last book you read?
Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4)
3. Do you like any of your school photos?
Yes.
4. Do you ever blowdry your armpits to get the deodorant to dry quicker?
Lol no. Is this a thing?
5. What was the last film you watched?
Casablanca
13 September 2025 @ 07:40 am
Hello everyone,
I wanted to let you know there may be a potential delay in revealing creators as I have to tend to a medical emergency today and am unsure of when I will be back on deck to reveal the collection. It will not reveal before Friday 12 September at 11:59pm EDT, but it may be delayed by a few to several hours.
I apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience!
I wanted to let you know there may be a potential delay in revealing creators as I have to tend to a medical emergency today and am unsure of when I will be back on deck to reveal the collection. It will not reveal before Friday 12 September at 11:59pm EDT, but it may be delayed by a few to several hours.
I apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience!
11 September 2025 @ 05:02 pm
First, if you nominated Batman AMT, Digimon Adventure, or Sonic AMT, please check out this query post!
Second, signups are now open! 🎃 They will close on September 18 at 7:59 PM EDT/23:59 UTC.
Please review the signup instructions in this post before signing up.
The community challenge post will be up sometime this week.
Signup form
Tagset
Requests summary
Signup summary
FAQ post
( Sign up details )
Second, signups are now open! 🎃 They will close on September 18 at 7:59 PM EDT/23:59 UTC.
Please review the signup instructions in this post before signing up.
The community challenge post will be up sometime this week.
Signup form
Tagset
Requests summary
Signup summary
FAQ post
( Sign up details )
10 September 2025 @ 11:50 pm
I have some questions for the nominators of the below fandoms! Please reply by Saturday, Sept 13, 11:59 AM EDT, or I'll choose how to handle them without input.
Note that this deadline does overlap with signups, which will open later today (Sept 11). So if you intend to sign up with any of these fandoms, you may want to wait a couple days - my apologies for the inconvenience!
Batman - All Media Types
There are various Batmans already in the tag set. Can this be merged into DCU (Comics)?
Digimon - All Media Types
Digimon Adventure
There are two overlapping Digimon nominations. Can the AMT nominator pick a specific version? And does the Digimon Adventure nominator mean the original anime or the 2020 reboot? (or does the fandom treat them interchangeably?)
Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games) is already in the tag set. Can this be merged with that, or can you pick a different specific version?
---
Tron - All Media Types
Tron: Uprising is already in the tag set. Can you pick a specific version?
The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Other Zeldas are already in the tag set. Can you pick a specific version?
Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
The TV show and video games are already in the tag set. Can you pick a specific version?
Note that this deadline does overlap with signups, which will open later today (Sept 11). So if you intend to sign up with any of these fandoms, you may want to wait a couple days - my apologies for the inconvenience!
There are various Batmans already in the tag set. Can this be merged into DCU (Comics)?
Digimon - All Media Types
Digimon Adventure
There are two overlapping Digimon nominations. Can the AMT nominator pick a specific version? And does the Digimon Adventure nominator mean the original anime or the 2020 reboot? (or does the fandom treat them interchangeably?)
Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games) is already in the tag set. Can this be merged with that, or can you pick a different specific version?
---
Tron: Uprising is already in the tag set. Can you pick a specific version?
Other Zeldas are already in the tag set. Can you pick a specific version?
The TV show and video games are already in the tag set. Can you pick a specific version?
11 September 2025 @ 02:43 am
Half the writing time for this flash round has already flown by, which means there's now only a week left to add your fic(s) to the collection! How is it going, guys? I wish you all the best of luck with finishing on time!
10 September 2025 @ 11:37 am
RPF nomination categories can be fluid in Yuletide, so we encourage RPF fans to coordinate with each other about the social circles, career groups, and characters you're interested in, to help ensure the resulting categories suit as many people as possible.
Coordinating your RPF nomination with other fans is the best way to make sure we can approve RPF fandoms quickly and easily. You are also welcome to reach out to us directly at yuletideadmin@gmail.com to discuss a potentially sensitive nomination.
This year's eligibility post covers what characters and fandom labels you can nominate. Here is a post from 2023 that explains why we may reject some RPF nominations.
While each RPF fandom must still meet Yuletide rules for size (no more than 1,000 complete works in English), we won’t reject an RPF fandom label for being too broad (i.e., for covering too wide a topic). However, we prefer not to approve two fandoms if one of them is a subset of the other, so please use this post to make sure your nomination doesn't clash with someone else's.
Click for links to some previous tagsets
2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014.
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