Passing For Normal

The sum of ourselves (468 words) by Petra, Teland
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Roy Harper & Koriand'r & Jason Todd
Characters: Roy Harper, Koriand'r (DCU), Jason Todd
Additional Tags: Nostalgia, Crack, Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Canon
Summary:

Red Hood and the Outlaws sit around chewing the fat after their first successful mission.

There is no stagnation in the heavens;
They spin on, shedding their light, as we watch.
So too, below, change both kneads and leavens,
Now squashing flat, now lifting heart and crotch.
The dearest lover's touch, once memorized,
Arouses in absentia, but its shade
Can't match the novel zing of lust surprised.
The chaos factor that brings us arrayed
To catch new paramours, or woo the caught,
Is lightning flash astonishment that's chased
In renewed union and a clinch red-hot,
With new-found passion or love long-embraced.
So bring to bed good novelties and play,
That you may keep love fresh, as dawn starts day.

* * * * *

Many happy returns of the day, dear heart!

Fandom: Princess Tutu

Characters/Pairings: Mytho and Rue.

Rating & Warnings: Unrated. Not entirely sure what warnings to put on it (may need help with that too), would probably consider it rated Teen at the moment. There's some themes of unreality and depersonalization, at least.

Estimated Fic Length: Currently at 5,889. Not sure how much longer it will end up being.

Notes: This started as a series of post-canon oneshots and twoshots with shared continuity and themes published on Cohost. Before Cohost shut down, it was strung together hastily into three fic entries and posted on Ao3 without proper forethought - I regret not asking a beta reader for input at the time. Need input on overall structure and on how the published chapters "come across" in characterization and tone. Particularly need input on the fic within the series labeled "Magpie," as I'm less confident in its function as a cohesive whole than "Glamour."

Thematically, I'm trying to explore the potential complications of Rue and Mytho's "happily ever after" - ways that they could struggle to fit inside the story-world, that old traumas could cause strain on their marriage, etc. I'm more interested in writing a "messy" or "toxic" relationship (with individual fluffy moments) than a wholesome happy ending here, so keep that in mind.

A few potential new chapters have been drafted for months now, but I've been holding off on publishing them because I want to "clean up" the existing fic - may ask for input on them later.

Our new challenge is:

SAND

As always, you can interpret the prompt literally or figuratively, in whatever way works for you.

Each work created for this challenge should be posted as a new entry to the comm. Posting starts now and continues up until the challenge ends at 4pm Pacific Time on Saturday, January 10th. No sign-up required.

Mods will tag your work with fandom and challenge. When you've posted entries to three consecutive challenges, you will earn a name tag, and we'll go back and tag all your previous entries with your name.

All kinds of fanworks in all fandoms are welcome. Please have a look at our guidelines before you play. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact a mod. And if you have any suggestions for future challenges, you can leave them in the comments of this post.

You can view stats for fan_flashworks entries and search and filter them via the Community Report and Creator Report. See our FAQ post for more details.

Also, keep an eye out for the next ffw_social post, which will go up in the next couple of days. If you haven't joined the ffw_social comm, it's never too late to come and check it out. (Posts are locked, which means you have to join to see them.)

The Amnesty challenge is now closed. Here are the entries:

Anywhere But Here Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Finding Happiness, by badly_knitted
Washing and Clean Challenges: Women's Soccer RPF: Fanfiction: Laundry Day, by infinitum_noctem
Rumour Challenge: Babylon 5: Unfounded Rumors, by badly_knitted
Thirst: Guardian: fanfic: Look and Feel, by china_shop
The Last Word Challenge: Babylon 5: Sacrifice, by badly_knitted
Solitary Challenge: Babylon 5: On The Outside, by badly_knitted
Role Reversal Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Healing The Healer, by badly_knitted
The Other Side Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Far Side Of The Island, by badly_knitted
Fragile: Call the Midwife: Meta: Fragility, by smallhobbit
Trapped Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Earthquake, by badly_knitted
Fight Challenge: Babylon 5: Illegal Actions, by badly_knitted
It's a Trap!: Stargate Atlantis: Fanfiction:Echo of a Memory, by lucy_roman
Sign Challenge: Babylon 5: Separate Pages, by badly_knitted
Waiting Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Unexpected Rescue, by badly_knitted
School : BtVS : icons : SHS, by highlander_ii
Ice Challenge: Winnie-the-Pooh: Fanfic: Winnie-the-Pooh's Icy Day, by smallhobbit
Circle Challenge: S.W.A.T.: Fan Fiction: Together, by darkjediqueen
Choices Challenge: Babylon 5: The Only Way, by badly_knitted
Memory Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Healing The Healer, by badly_knitted
Cream Challenge: Torchwood: Fanfic: Self care, by m_findlow
Weather Challenge: The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Bad Weather, by badly_knitted
Candles + Marathon: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fanfic: Misunderstood, by veronyxk84
Not What It Looks Like Challenge: Spooks (MI5): Fanfic: All I Want For Christmas, by smallhobbit
Memory Challenge: Babylon 5: Traitor, by badly_knitted
Clean: Your Mum Does the Washing: Poetry: The World According to, by teaotter
science: Stoker: Podfic: no longer human (the nothing that can’t hurt us), by bluedreaming

Congratulations to bluedreaming, who earned 12 Challenge Streak, 12 Posted Works, Brave New Fandoms, 10 Fandom Spread, The Yulegoat, Female Characters, and Governor of Gendom!

\o/ \o/ \o/

Thank you to everyone who participated! You're now free to post your entries to your journal or wherever else you'd like. If you're archiving on AO3, you can add your work to our fan_flashworks collection there.

The Community Report and Creator Report will be updated shortly with the entries from this round. See our FAQ for more details.

In September, when we announced the new reports, we confirmed our plan to wait a couple of months and then remove the challenge tags from the comm. That time is NOW.

This is a reminder that the challenge tags will be going away TODAY.


New challenge coming right up!

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Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills Football Player)

Next Picture:

What I said in my last post? Today is not that day...

There's now a DW comm for Heated Rivalry and the Game Changers series.
gamechangerhr - the profile page has several resources and events listed, like a big bang organised via tumblr.

And I did locate a Hollanov discord - here's an invite.

I wrote three stories this Yuletide. The first two won't make much sense if you don't know the canons. With the third, all you really need to know is that mushi are magical creatures and Ginko solves people's mushi-related problems.

28 Years Later

Memento Mori. Dr. Kelson creates his masterpiece.

I really liked the movie, which is extremely different from the first one (also extremely different from the second, which I don't care for) and also extremely different from the brilliant trailer, which introduced me to the astonishing recording from 1915 (!) of actor Taylor Holmes reciting Kipling's poem "Boots." It's a post-apocalypse movie that's partly a coming of age story, partly an action/horror movie, and partly a beautiful and moving drama about life, death, and remembrance. And then there's the last two minutes, which are basically parkour Trainspotting.

I actually matched on The Leftovers, but I liked the 28 Days Later prompt so much that I wrote that instead.

Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey

Hunger. Both Lessa and Kylara are Searched for Nemorth's final clutch.

I just really enjoy writing in this canon. I love the dragons and McCaffrey created a lot of very interesting characters even if she often ended up not knowing quite what to do with them.

Mushishi

A Turn of the Wheel. Ginko encounters an unusual mushi in a village known for pottery.

Mushishi is an incredibly beautiful anime and manga with a dreamy, wistful atmosphere. I saw a prompt for mushi infesting a piece of pottery and could not resist. This story was also inspired by having recently visited Japan in the summer, a time of year I very much do not recommend for a visit if you can possibly avoid it. It's like living in a sauna. Now imagine doing a kiln firing in that sauna.

Oh, Streetcar! being the Simpsons' musical version of A Streetcar Named Desire, which also takes place in New Orleans.

If you haven't seen it this decade, click through first, to hear Ned Flanders belt "HELL" if nothing else.

Tell me Louis didn't think his life would be a Mardi Gras, once upon a time.

"I think it's supposed to symbolize her descent into madness."

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Pairings/Characters: Crew of the Revenge, Israel Hands/Roach (it's tagged this, but it's very blink and you miss it)
Rating: T
Length: 2182 words
Creator Links: sweatervest
Theme: crack treated seriously

Summary: A single artichoke appears onboard the Revenge, and Izzy Hands is nowhere to be found. Naturally, the crew draws the most logical conclusion.

Reccer's Notes: The crew finds a single artichoke on the Revenge and draw the very erroneous conclusion that Izzy has been turned into a vegetable by a sea-witch.  This is delightfully funny, as the crew try to protect the artichoke from getting eaten, among other things.  It very much fits in with the silliness of season 1 of the show. 

Fanwork Links: AO3

moodthemeinayear is now open for 2026!

Have you ever wanted to create a custom mood theme, but found yourself overwhelmed by all of the potential moods you'd have to make? Mood Theme in a Year has you covered! The community assigns three moods a week for you to design graphics for, with regular week long breaks. Draw, screencap, and/or animate your way to the custom mood theme of your dreams, with a community by your side to support and encourage you.

Not up for a full year/132 images? No problem! That's just the Maximum Track, which runs from January 1st through (roughly) the end of the year. If you want to make a smaller mood theme, you can follow the Minimum Track (18 images) or the Medium Track (34 images), or maybe somewhere between one of those and the Maximum Track. The goal of this community is to create a custom mood theme that you like, at a pace that works for you.

For those who missed it: While uploading and using a custom mood theme is restricted to paid accounts, as of December 2025, creating at least 18 mood graphics can earn you Dreamwidth points! Now, even if a paid account is out of your budget, you can still have the chance to upload and use your own custom mood theme. Read this post for more details.

The first three moods of 2026 are now up; thanks for reading, and I hope to see you there!

Challenge #1

The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

Hi, I'm Petra. I'm a writer and avid reader, primarily focused on fanfiction and poetry, who will write damn near anything for a drabble or a limerick at a time in one of my many fandoms, and I currently have a writing offer open here if anyone has any relevant requests they'd like me to entertain.

I am still very stuck on Star Wars, but I have never been monofannish, so if something else on my list pings your brain, by all means, prompt me!

I don't write about my personal life much, so here's the tl;dr -- 40's, they/them pronouns, happily married, happily employed.

I like Snowflake Challenge because early January is dark and miserable in my area, and it helps to have something to look forward to.

 I posted recs for 4 Yuletide (and Madness) fics over on my blog for Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels, Breach Wars) and the Singing Hills Cycle over on my blog. Breach Wars is not yet categorized on AO3 and not showing up in the fandoms list, so please go check out those fics if you're an Ilona Andrews fan!

Joyce: Have you tried not being a Slayer?

~~Becoming, Part 2~~

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Happy New Year from The Sunnydale Herald!

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[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

• 
• Homeless by badly_knitted (Buffy, T)
• Rose by GarsCrucible (Warren/Andrew, T)
• if you want forever (and i bet you do) by lyfthemuffinmoth (Giles/Ethan, T)
• Bitter Night by GarsCrucible (Spike/Andrew, G)
• Kintsugi by TheClowniestLivInExistence (Giles/Jenny, T)
• I Hate Myself For Loving You by angel_of_malice (Faith/OC, M)
• Only Trusted Adult by Laqt15 (Giles & Willow, G)
• you're the cure by honeypiehotchner (Giles/reader, m)
• Underground by ScattyUK (Buffy/Spike, T)
• Hush, Little Baby by XtinaJones91 (Buffy/Faith, T)
• 
• While You Were Sleuthing by LadyInQuest (Buffy/Spike, R)
• Caught Him by elements (Buffy/Spike, PG)
• Waves by DarkVoid116 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)
• Therapeutic Poetry by Orange Wombat (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• Let Me Be Sweet by NotYourGrave (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• I Dreamed That Fire Was Freezing by acekoomboom (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)
• A Holiday Reunion by ChronixCreature (Buffy/Spike, PG)
• 
• A Family Portrait by GhostsInLove (Buffy/Spike, PG)
• Anya to the Rescue by EnchantedWillow (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• Sneaking Around by acekoomboom (Buffy/Spike, PG)
• Silver and Green by acekoomboom (Buffy/Spike, G)
• Five Times Buffy Fell Asleep on Spike's Watch, Plus One Time They Look Forward To It by acekoomboom (Buffy/Spike, G)
• That Same Slayer by acekoomboom (Buffy/Spike, G)

[Chaptered Fiction]

• 
• The Night We Met, Chapter 22 by TheSadPoet (Spike/OC, Buffy/Angel, M)
• The Scientist, The Witch and the Superspy, Chapter 113 by Dyrla (Faith, Willow, multiple crossovers, E)
• Just a Little Bit of Your Heart, Chapter 24 by Mems_the_word (Buffy, Willow, Wicked crossover, not rated)
• The Fireproof Girl, Chapter 10 by Account2002 (OC Slayer, Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld crossover, T)
• Having, Being, Holding, Chapter 12 by xaeyrnofnbe (Buffy/Spike, M)
• A Hellmouth Christmas, Chapter 31 (complete!) by The_Crazy_Knight (Buffy/Giles, E)
• Time of Troubles: Chapter 8 by TheLightdancer (Willow/Tara, E)
• Hearts a Mess, Chapter 4 by splendidchapette (Buffy/Spike, E)
• The Loneliest Time, Chapter 2 by slayerBoy (Faith/Buffy, M)
• Never Too Late to Make Amends, Chapter 2 by Strongermagikarp (Buffy/Faith, M)
• Past and Future Tense, Chapter 1 by Sdhuskerfan (Buffy/Giles, M)
• time cast a spell on you (but you won't forget me), Chapter 1 by MadeInGold (Riley/Sam/Buffy, M)
• After That, Chapter 7 by ScottisI (Buffy, Joyce, Scoobies, Harry Potter crossover, M)
• 
• A Vampire's Heart Pt. 9: We by itsalwaysteatimeinwonderland (Spike/reader)
• 
• Made For You, Chapter 49 by missambermarie (Buffy/Spike, R)
• Just Two Lost Souls, Chapter 4 by Holly (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• A Century of Longing, Chapter 7 (complete!) by Pyewacket (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)
• The Joker and the Queen [Kinktober 2025], Chapters 4-31 (complete!) by Moonzari (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)
• 
• Lessons in Love, Chapter 1 by Kenijo (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Images, Audio & Video]

• 
• Artwork: Darla x Tara by MadeInGold (worksafe)
• Artwork: Twisting By The Pool by MadeInGold (Tara, NSFW)
• Artwork: Dawn Summers Digital Painting by MadeInGold (worksafe)
• 
• Manips: Crush Carol by EverythingElse (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)
• 
• Artwork: Angelus with long hair sketches heheh PLUS bonus angels by kleoshe (worksafe)
• Artwork: Willow/Tara by littlebigisla (worksafe)
• Artwork: Silly little Spike by unwilling-brainrot (worksafe)
• Artwork: Spike by unwilling-brainrot (worksafe)
• Artwork: Spuffy doodle to welcome 2026 by unwilling-brainrot (worksafe)
• Gifset: (3x14) Bad Girls by likeafantasy
• Gifset: 💜🤍💜🤍 : BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997 - 2003) by andremichaux
• Collage: warren mears by saivanmarly (worksafe)
• 
• Crafts: Scythe earrings by Kettle Designs (0)

[Reviews & Recaps]

• 
• Podcast: Angel S5E10: Soul Purpose by Booze & Buffy

[Community Announcements]

• 
• 2026 Round of Crack the WIP - Rules and Sign-up! by crackthewip
• Thursday, January 1 + 2 - Starting all over again by fic_promptly
• Drabble-fest 2026 Event by otherworldly_chemistry
• 
• January 2026 Event: Drabble-fest! by otherworldlychemistry

[Fandom Discussions]

• 
• — 6.08 -> 7.01 [Buffy & Dawn] by 5bi5
• one of the funniest things about the buffyverse is that they have an apocalypse virtually every season by rabbitmotifs
• The Girl In Question is a deeply hilarious episode to me by rabbitmotifs
• there is no way that season 5 is considered the best season of the show [Angel] thats crazy by rabbitmotifs
• If I were to write a BTVS Ella Enchanted inspired fic by thezestywalru
• Thoughts on Rewatching S2E11, “Ted” (5/5), “Freud might not have done that little dance” by btvsfemslashenjoyer
• crazy that everyone conveniently forgot Buffy saved their asses for 7 years straight by floralgreenery
• The extremely homoerotic reunion of Spike and Angel in the "School Hard" episode by jetsjunkdrawer
• Every fandom got the ... (ship edition) by rebornautumn
• one of if not the most important acting choices jm made as spike by socratesgirl
• kinda funny how biphobia was baked so heavily into the franchise when ... by xaeyrnofnbe
• I really, really hate Willow by your-own-scifi-nerd
• 
• What would you guys say is the most embarrassing thing you've done in the fandom? by FallenAngel00
• 
• What did you think of Angel and Buffy in "I Will Remember you?" by Fit-Difficulty8902
• Anthony Stewart Head’s favorite BTS moment by Squidoriya
• Buffy/Angel: Why do you love them?(No bashing and no Angel vs. Spike debate please) by Fit-Difficulty8902
• First Time Watcher by Easy_Maintenance5787
• Buffy S5 ep21 [Buffy/Angel in Forever] by Fit-Difficulty8902
• Harm's Way Appreciation Post by kipcarson37
• What would you guys say is the most embarrassing thing you've done in the fandom? by Interesting-Tea3907
• Should Buffy apologize to Angel? [for not trusting him in AtS Season 5] by FoxIndependent4310
• Buffy’s signature move by Odd-Significance-17
• Buffy The The Srlaver 😆 by GoblinQueenForever
• I wish dawn had been introduced earlier by jasminecr
• A random episode idea by debujandobirds
• Most Heart Wrenching Episode by biggie-molls
• Did Angelus want to kill Buffy or turn her into a Vampire like Drusilla? by InfernalClockwork3
• New friends/relationships for Buffy? by negratengoelalma

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Next picture: Elphaba Thropp (Wicked)

Madalena's Ballad of Great Success provides the sheet music. And now, this link is where you can listen to the song! Come get it stuck in your head with me!

Happy holidays and happy 2026!

One of you lovely people, you know who you are, sent me a paid account! Thank you so much! Which means I should do what I'm always threatening to do and post here more often. So I will attempt to keep up with snowflake_challenge in January. I also signed up for getyourwordsout, even though the brain fog absolutely hates me these days and I failed my last two pledges really hard. There's no punishment obviously, but I'm not sure if it's helpful or discouraging? But if I didn't sign up I'd kind of miss the community. I am trying not to just give up attempting to do things, even though in this terrible body that often feels like the most logical strategy.

I also figured I'd do a January talk meme? Pick a date, ask me a question. ❤️ I am gonna try and do a books of 2025 post? A yuletide post? Other than that I have gotten pretty bad at having blog post ideas I think, so hit me with whatever you'd like to hear about.

( talk meme dates )

I'm really bad at getting to the end of my reading page these days, will work on that too! That does mean that if you posted anything you wanted me specifically to see, I may or may not have seen it. Please feel free to tell me again!

*

Despite having just shared this list of things I'm going to do, I am super in the weeds on festivids, so back to that I go. (I may be catching something rn, because I keep falling asleep. Not helping!) They have a pinch hit up, for anyone less overwhelmed than me. I've signed up for Bulletproof Exchange with a bunch of nonsense requests too? I'm sure it'll be fine. 😂