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.