Hi all, since we only have two fills this week we'll be doing our usual mini-amnesty round. Feel free to post any further fills for this prompt up until 10/8 at 9pm EST when our next challenge goes up!

To claim, please comment on this post with your AO3 name and the number or name of the pinch hit you would like. Comments are screened. Pinch hits are first-come, first-serve, and if you're the first to claim, you'll receive the assignment to your email.

You don't have to be signed up to Trick or Treat to claim a pinch hit.

These are due at the regular assignment deadline, October 24, 23:59 UTC.

PH #5 (facethestrange):

镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest, Crossover Fandom

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/facethestrange

PH #6 (firsttraintovictoriaville):

Roots of Pacha (Video Game), The White Stripes, Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Video Game), Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop - Hwang Bo-reum

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/firsttraintovictoriaville

PH #10 (MxKit):

Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo! (2020), The Nameless Game (Gameverse), The Spectacular Spider-Man (Cartoon)

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/MxKit

PH #13 (plicate):

Head On (1998), Set It Off (1996), Succession (TV 2018)

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/plicate

PH #14 (psychomachia):

Blood Son - Richard Matheson, The Devil You Say - Charles Beaumont, Blood Creek (2009), The Lawnmower Man (1992), The Fall of the House of Usher (TV 2023), The Sinner (TV)

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/psychomachia

PH #15 (redgear):

Hallo itt Mátyás király! - Bogáti Péter, 15th Century CE RPF, Debrief (Paracelsus Games Roleplaying Game), Felvidek (Video Game), Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula (2000)

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/redgear

PH #16 (rubylily):

Code Vein (Video Game), 神さまのいない日曜日 | Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi | Sunday Without God (Anime & Manga), Märchen Forest: Mylne and the Forest Gift (Video Game), Octopath Traveler (Video Game), Octopath Traveler II (Video Game), 刀使ノ巫女 | Toji no Miko | Katana Maidens (Anime), void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium (Video Game), Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game)

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/rubylily

PH #18 (UnhinderedDreams):

Crossover Fandom, The Black Dagger Brotherhood (TV), Buffyverse (TV), I Kissed A Vampire (2010), Nocturnal Animals (2016), The Vampire Diaries (TV)

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/UnhinderedDreams

PH #23 (xeena):

Squid Game (TV 2021), Nine Puzzles (TV 2025), Near Dark (1987), Scream (Movies), Hellraiser (Movies 1987-2018), The Lost Boys (Movies)

https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/trickortreatex2025/user/xeena

( already claimed! )

Nominations are now open for the Fall 2025 round of Seasons of Drabbles!  Nominations will remain open until signups close on Sunday, October 19. Note we are reusing the tagset from last round, so please check if what you're nominating is already in the tagset before submitting them.

Important Reminders

• All character nominations should be disambiguated, for example: Steve Rogers (Captain America (Movies)). Not doing this slows the approval process significantly, so please disambiguate! Characters may be nominated in any/every fandom in which they appear.

• We will not approve broad writer's-choice character nominations (e.g., "Creator's Choice of Demon" or "Any Star Trek Captain"). This is because it requires the mods to have fandom-specific knowledge when checking that gifts are for a requested character during approvals. Instead, please nominate specific characters.
  
  For example, we would not approve "Creator's Choice of Jedi" under Star Wars because it'd require the mods to know/find out which individual characters in a gift are Jedi or not. Instead, we'd ask you to nominate specific Jedi characters. The only fandoms where such broad nominations are permitted are the "Creator's Choice" fandoms (e.g., "Female Character"), since by their nature, character nominations cannot be specific.

• You may nominate up to 10 fandoms with up to 10 characters each.

• Both umbrella fandoms and sub-fandoms are allowed. For instance, you may nominate under Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars - All Media Types. You may also nominate under sub-fandoms such as Thor (Movies) or Star Wars Original Trilogy.
  
  Please remember that if you request Any for an umbrella fandom, you will be requesting any character who appears in any of the fandoms below the umbrella - NOT just characters in the tagset. So if you plan to request Any, you may want to request under a specific sub-fandom rather than the umbrella.

• RPF is allowed. Nominated RPF characters must be famous in their own right, and must be 18+ for modern RPF.

• Crossovers are allowed. Crossover fandoms should be nominated as Fandom A/Fandom B. Character nominations for crossovers should be nominated as Character's Name (Fandom A/Fandom B). For example, if nominating Luke Skywalker for a Narnia/Star Wars crossover, the fandom would be nominated as Chronicles of Narnia/Star Wars, while the character would be nominated as Luke Skywalker (Narnia/Star Wars).

• Recursive fandoms are allowed. The required format is Recursive: Fic/Series title - Creator. Recursive fandoms may be nominated under two circumstances: 1. the creator has posted a blanket permission statement, 2. you are the creator. In either case, please contact us when nominating so that we have the pertinent permissions. Characters nominated under recursive fandoms should be disambiguated with the title of the recursive fandom.

• Since we will be re-using the tagset all year, recursive fandoms will be removed on an as-needed basis between rounds (only if a blanket permission statement comes down, or the creator asks for it to be removed).

• Original Works are allowed. When nominating characters, please disambiguate with (Original Work). If an original character's gender is important to you, please specify it in your nomination. An example nomination: Original Nonbinary Character (Original Work)

• Original characters may also be nominated in existing fandoms. When nominating an original character within an existing fandom, please disambiguate with the name of the fandom. If an original character's gender is important to you, please specify it in your nomination. An example nomination: Original Anbu Character (Naruto)

• Objects/concepts/etc. may be nominated in the character slot for any canon in which they appear. For Original Works, you can make some up if you would like. Some example nominations: Cursed Hat (What We Do in the Shadows (TV)), Magic Mirror (Original Work)

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio, Diefenbaker, Frannie Vecchio, Margaret Thatcher, Armando Langoustini, Victoria Metcalf
Rating: Teen
Length: 60,820 (whole series) Real Boys is 22,820, Real Worlds is 38,000
Content Notes: Author "chose not to warn", but I don't think any AO3 warnings apply.
Creator Links: MSSalieri (aka Troyswann, Salieri): MSSalieri on AO3 and Salieri's old site on Wayback
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friends to lovers, Action/adventure, AU: Science Fiction, AU: robots & AI, Fandom Classics, Worldbuilding

Summaries: for Real Boys:
Ray looked out from between his fingers. The creature was there, on the other side of Mr. Thug, and it had lots of silvery fur and teeth that would be gleaming really nicely if the 'liner hadn't gone and taken most of the light with it. Between Mr. Thug and Ray, there was a pair of tall boots. Tilting his head back, Ray looked up, up past the red jacket all the way to the head, which was wearing a wide-brimmed hat. On the face under the hat there was a small smile.

"What the," Ray said. "Who the."

for Real Worlds:
"His existence is a violation of Armistice Statute—"
"God laws."
"Yes."
It took only one long stride for Ray to get into Thatcher's space and to her credit she didn’t back down. "You're gonna quote God laws at me?" He jabbed her with a stiff finger. "Who's playin God here, huh? You wave the fucking God laws at me while you got Fraser strapped to a table somewhere so you can put his fucking brains in a blender and take what he is? Look in a fucking mirror, lady."
"For some reason I can't fathom, Mr. Kowalski, I like you, so I'm going to give you a piece of advice." Her chin came up. "You might watch your words. Unless you want to join Fraser on charges of sedition."
"What?" Vecchio was incredulous. "You're yankin me, right? Fraser’s a kitchen appliance, but he's man enough to be brought up on charges? How the Jee does that compute?"

A sequel to Real Boys:
Three years raising sheep on Clementine, and it all comes crashing down in a skip storm, some consequential psychosis, a kidnapping and a global catastrophe. He may be the universe's punching bag, but Ray will fight for freak love. He's getting Fraser back, God Laws be damned.

Reccer's Notes: There are very few AUs that put the due South characters into spaaace! This is a fusion with the Bladerunner universe where Fraser's an android looking for the killers of his AI father and partners up with Ray Kowalski, a futuristic but very recognisable CPD cop. Salieri's a marvelous writer who takes aspects of the Bladerunner universe and expands on them with extraordinary worldbuilding to tell a complex and riveting tale. There's a gradually developing relationship between Ray and Fraser, nefarious villains, and anti-android laws that wrench the boys apart so that both Rays have to fight to get Fraser back. A triumph, and a due South classic. Here's a quote from a comment by Moth: "The other day I was talking to a friend about Philip K. Dick adaptations and I said that it was funny how one of the best adaptations out there was a due South fanfic. So I went and searched for it to see if it lived up to my memories and it actually exceeded them. This is the best type of AU, one that transplants the canon characters, storylines, and themes to a new universe, while also commenting on the both the canon as well as the nature of fiction." It's also a bloody good read!

Fanwork Links: Real Life series on AO3
Podfics of both stories: Real Boys read by Zabira & Real Worlds read by Luzula
Fanart for the series is here (scroll to the end)

Theme Prompt: #276 - Moonlit kisses
Title: Who lives and who dies
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Jack is haunted by the decisions he has to make in the heat of the moment.

( Read more... )

Seasons of Drabbles is an exchange for the creation of drabbles and drabble variants which runs 4 times a year.* The current round is for Fall 2025.

*Each round takes place sometime within a three-month period (March-May, June-August, September-November, December-February). Each round will take about a month from nominations through author reveals.

Schedule:
Nominations open: Sunday, October 5 (will remain open through signups)
Signups open: Sunday, October 12
Signups close: Sunday, October 19 @ 11:59pm Eastern Daylight time (Countdown)
Assignments out by: Wednesday, October 22
Assignments due: Saturday, November 1 @ 11:59pm Eastern Daylight time (Countdown)
Collection opens: Saturday, November 8 @ 1:00pm Eastern Standard time (Countdown)
Authors revealed: Monday, November 11 @ 1:00pm Eastern Standard time

This round's AO3 Collection | Tagset | Nomination guidelines | Requests App | Mod email: seasonsofdrabbles@gmail.com

Need to contact us or have a question? See the Mod Contact post!

The full, newly reformatted Guidelines are below and we strongly encourage you to read them! Here are some quick notes, though:

• First time doing a fic exchange? Welcome! Fanlore has some helpful explanations about how AO3 exchanges work and general exchange etiquette. Don't be afraid to ask a question if something's confusing.
• Here, "drabble" does not just mean a short fic, but a specific wordcount. In addition to single drabbles (fics of exactly 100 words), we accept double drabbles (200 words) and triple drabbles (300 words). We also accept drabble series/sequences.
• When you sign up, you cannot exclude single drabbles from your offers or requests. You are still welcome to request or offer the other drabble types, you just can't leave 100-word drabbles out entirely from your signup. See below for more details about this recent rule change.
• Participants must be 18+.
• Don't use generative AI for your gifts.

( Guidelines )

fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules.

This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!

Sign-ups are now open for hlh_shortcuts 2025, the long-running annual Highlander "Holiday Shortcuts" fanfiction exchange! (The "Shortcuts" nods to the 500-word minimum, from the days when most events defaulted to a 1,000 word minimum.)

When:

• Sign-up: October 1 to 11, 2025 at 11:59PM CDT on AO3
• Receive assignment: By October 14, 2025
• Default deadline: November 20, 2025
• Submissions: By December 15, 2025 on AO3
• Stories revealed: The first on December 20, 2025 (the winter solstice, Duncan's birthday) and the rest a few per day as long as they last, per tradition

How:

• This year's collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/hlhshortcuts2025
• Guides: HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Sign-Ups + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Submissions + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Defaults + Find a beta-reader / be a beta-reader

Yay, Highlander fun and friends! Come play with us...?

Fandom: Nail Polish (Industry) (the AO3 tag, probably worded to disambiguate from at least two bands by that name. I’m calling it Nail Polish Blogosphere, since the characters are using and reviewing rather than manufacturing the nail polish.)
Pairings/Characters: Gen; OCs
Rating: General Audiences
Length: Only Once: 449; Only Once Remix: 1,960
Content Notes: modern in-universe folklore, nail polish connoisseurship, possible unreality, the sad beauty of transience
Creator Links: (AO3)Sineala; (Dreamwidth) sineala; (Tumblr) sineala; (AO3) woodpusher
Theme: Uncommon Settings, Folklore & Fairytales, Friendship, Magic, Social Media
Summary:

Sineala: The story of the most beautiful nail polish in the world.

woodpusher: Like a good manicurist, this story fills in some plot holes and smooths some rough edges from Only Once.

I was trying to boost my readership so welcome to the newly gifted.

Comments are welcome!

Author’s Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Reccer's Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Fanwork Links:
Only Once, by Sineala for Lysimache; Yuletide Madness 2011
Only Once Remix, by woodpusher for Sineala, Meltha, kuramas30, Viridian5, Qem, and Lysimache.

Sign-ups are now open for hlh_shortcuts 2025, the long-running annual Highlander Holiday Shortcuts fanfiction exchange! (The name "Shortcuts" nods to the 500-word minimum, from the days when 1,000 words was the usual minimum.)

When:

• Sign-up: October 1 to 11, 2025 at 11:59PM CDT on AO3
• Receive assignment: By October 14, 2025
• Default deadline: November 20, 2025
• Submissions: By December 15, 2025 on AO3
• Stories revealed: The first on December 20, 2025 (the winter solstice, Duncan's birthday) and the rest a few per day as long as they last, per tradition

How:

• This year's collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/hlhshortcuts2025
• Guides: HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Sign-Ups + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Submissions + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Defaults + Find a beta-reader / be a beta-reader

Yay, Highlander fun and friends! Come play with us?

Theme Prompt: #276 – Moonlit Kisses
Title: Under The Moonlight
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: It’s a beautiful full moon night, perfect for a stroll through a park…

Here are this week's votes tallied, and below the cut are our winners for Challenge #275 – One More Try!

( This week's finalists are... )

Total Challenge Words Written: 2916

Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who took the time to cast their votes! autobotscoutriella will be making this week’s banners, so keep an eye out for those next week.

You may now post your Challenge 275 entries to any additional communities, blogs, archives or sites as you'd like! We also have a FandomWeekly AO3 Collection if you'd like to add your stories there!