Holly Poly 2024 Feedback & Input on 2025 Changes
Aug. 10th, 2025 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maevedarcy posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
holly_polyHi everyone!
As Holly Poly season approaches, we'd like to hear from you regarding a few things, including your thoughts on how the exchange ran last year.
We're trying to get ahead this year and your feedback will help us solve issues people had on the participant side of things.
Please note: if you had any issues regarding a rejected gift, DNWs that were not honored, or lack of comment/kudos from your giftee, please email us at holly.poly.exchange@gmail.com.
Use this post to give us feedback on any of the following:
We are very excited to hear from you to make this year’s Holly Poly run as smoothly as possible.
As Holly Poly season approaches, we'd like to hear from you regarding a few things, including your thoughts on how the exchange ran last year.
We're trying to get ahead this year and your feedback will help us solve issues people had on the participant side of things.
Please note: if you had any issues regarding a rejected gift, DNWs that were not honored, or lack of comment/kudos from your giftee, please email us at holly.poly.exchange@gmail.com.
Use this post to give us feedback on any of the following:
- Any constructive feedback in general on how it went last year
- Specific feedback on any tagset issues, for example, if you think fandom any splits/merges should be done differently in future
- What are your thoughts on the nomination pre-gaming we introduced last year? (i.e. loading tags from last year’s tagset into this tagset determined via comments on a post to make nominations easier on the mods without importing fandoms that no one might request)
- Any comments on possible issues that might come up this year with any new fandoms? E.g. sequels or prequels with different continuity, video games vs their adaptations, etc.
We are very excited to hear from you to make this year’s Holly Poly run as smoothly as possible.
Round 153 Dates
Aug. 9th, 2025 04:57 pmxandromedovna posting in fic_rushAnd...it's a tie between ticky box and ticky box! What a close race that was! As for dates, it looks like more people are available 22-24 August, so that's what we'll do! I'll check in with the Chart of Temporal Mysteries closer to the time.
Silmarillion: By Other Means by SpaceWall
Aug. 8th, 2025 01:41 pmbeatrice_otter posting in fancakeFandom: Silmarillion
Pairings/Characters: Luthien/Maedhros
Rating: teen
Length: 66k
Creator Links:![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
SpaceWall
Theme: marriage of convenience, old fandoms, small fandoms, book fandoms, rare pairings, AU (fork in the road), pretend couple
Summary: Centuries after the arrival of the Noldor and the Teleri in Beleriand, a celebration of Morgoth’s defeat brings the Crown Princess of Doriath and the Crown Prince of the Noldor together. To save this newborn peace from their respective fathers, they’ll do whatever it takes. Including... getting married?
Meanwhile, Lord Fingon of Himring faces the monumental task of healing Morgoth’s ills.
--
They regarded each other with quiet understanding, all the vast majesty of their respective lineages rendered unimportant by the connection between them. Music wound through the trees; harp and flute, surely joyous in context, sounded lonely in their solitude.
Reccer's Notes: Fëanor is a very complex character in the Silmarillion, who both has reasons for what he does and also does some terrible things. Fanon tends to sympathize with him, and also make him a good father to compensate for his other issues. SpaceWall takes the opposite track, leaning into his selfishness, his arrogance, and his suspiciousness. And then asks, if he had survived on Beleriand, what would have happened? If Fëanor, brilliant and terrible, were in command of the Noldor? Some things are better, some things are worse, (and Thingol is still Thingol), and so at a crucial juncture Maedhros and Luthien step forward to try and prevent disaster and war between the Noldor and Sindarin. And, in the process, they both learn a great deal.
Fanwork Links: By Other Means
Pairings/Characters: Luthien/Maedhros
Rating: teen
Length: 66k
Creator Links:
Theme: marriage of convenience, old fandoms, small fandoms, book fandoms, rare pairings, AU (fork in the road), pretend couple
Summary: Centuries after the arrival of the Noldor and the Teleri in Beleriand, a celebration of Morgoth’s defeat brings the Crown Princess of Doriath and the Crown Prince of the Noldor together. To save this newborn peace from their respective fathers, they’ll do whatever it takes. Including... getting married?
Meanwhile, Lord Fingon of Himring faces the monumental task of healing Morgoth’s ills.
--
They regarded each other with quiet understanding, all the vast majesty of their respective lineages rendered unimportant by the connection between them. Music wound through the trees; harp and flute, surely joyous in context, sounded lonely in their solitude.
Reccer's Notes: Fëanor is a very complex character in the Silmarillion, who both has reasons for what he does and also does some terrible things. Fanon tends to sympathize with him, and also make him a good father to compensate for his other issues. SpaceWall takes the opposite track, leaning into his selfishness, his arrogance, and his suspiciousness. And then asks, if he had survived on Beleriand, what would have happened? If Fëanor, brilliant and terrible, were in command of the Noldor? Some things are better, some things are worse, (and Thingol is still Thingol), and so at a crucial juncture Maedhros and Luthien step forward to try and prevent disaster and war between the Noldor and Sindarin. And, in the process, they both learn a great deal.
Fanwork Links: By Other Means
Some More Pinchhits #5, #6, #8, #9, #11, #16-19
Aug. 8th, 2025 10:30 pmtentaclemod posting in raremaleslashexThe Pinch Hits are due the same time as regular assignments. The deadline is set for Saturday 16 August at 20:00 UTC. You can view a countdown here.
To claim: please reply to this post with your AO3 username and the name and number of the pinch hit you want to claim. Comments are screened. You can also email tentaclemod@gmail.com.
Anon commenting is fine but bear in mind that I cannot reply if you comment anon!
You don't have to be signed up to the exchange to claim a pinch hit, but you do need an AO3 account.
All pinch hits must comply with the rules here. The minimum is a completed work of fanfiction of at least 1000 words or a completed piece of fanart or 500 words of podfic (depending on what the recipient has requested).
CLAIMED!
( PH 6 - [Fanfic + Fanart] NoPixel (Web Series), 鴨乃橋ロンの禁断推理 | Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri | Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective (Manga), 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs, 吸血鬼すぐ死ぬ | Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu | The Vampire Dies in No Time (Anime), Runescape (Video Games) )
( PH 8 - [All Fanfic] Bandom, Cool Runnings, due South, Good Omens, Zootopia, Real Genius- )
( PH 9 - [All Fanfic] Dishonored (Video Games), BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games), Revenge (1990) )
( PH 11 - [All Fanfic] X-Men: The Animated Series (Cartoon 1992), World of Warcraft, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV 2000), Hellboy (Comics) )
CLAIMED!
CLAIMED!
( PH 17 - Crossover Fandom, Naruto (Anime & Manga), 新世界狂歡｜NU: carnival (Video Game) )
( PH 18 - Biggles Series - W. E. Johns, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Labyrinth (1986), Sime~Gen - Jacqueline Lichtenberg & Jean Lorrah, Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band (Song), Original Work )
CLAIMED!
To claim: please reply to this post with your AO3 username and the name and number of the pinch hit you want to claim. Comments are screened. You can also email tentaclemod@gmail.com.
Anon commenting is fine but bear in mind that I cannot reply if you comment anon!
You don't have to be signed up to the exchange to claim a pinch hit, but you do need an AO3 account.
All pinch hits must comply with the rules here. The minimum is a completed work of fanfiction of at least 1000 words or a completed piece of fanart or 500 words of podfic (depending on what the recipient has requested).
CLAIMED! PH 5 - 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, 镇魂 | Guardian - priest, Crossover Fandom, 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
( PH 6 - [Fanfic + Fanart] NoPixel (Web Series), 鴨乃橋ロンの禁断推理 | Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri | Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective (Manga), 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs, 吸血鬼すぐ死ぬ | Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu | The Vampire Dies in No Time (Anime), Runescape (Video Games) )
( PH 8 - [All Fanfic] Bandom, Cool Runnings, due South, Good Omens, Zootopia, Real Genius- )
( PH 9 - [All Fanfic] Dishonored (Video Games), BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games), Revenge (1990) )
( PH 11 - [All Fanfic] X-Men: The Animated Series (Cartoon 1992), World of Warcraft, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV 2000), Hellboy (Comics) )
CLAIMED! PH 14 - Bleach (Anime & Manga), Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends, フェルマーの料理 | Fermat no Ryouri (TV)
CLAIMED! PH 16 - 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, Elden Ring (Video Game), 魔尊也想知道 - 青色羽翼 | Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know - Cyan Wings, The Magnus Archives (Podcast), The Glory (TV 2022), 苍兰诀 | Love Between Fairy and Devil (TV), 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 내가 키운 S급들 - 근서 | S-Classes that I Raised - Geunseo, 오픈 더 도어 - 임짜달 | Open The Door - Imjjadal, 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021)
( PH 17 - Crossover Fandom, Naruto (Anime & Manga), 新世界狂歡｜NU: carnival (Video Game) )
( PH 18 - Biggles Series - W. E. Johns, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Labyrinth (1986), Sime~Gen - Jacqueline Lichtenberg & Jean Lorrah, Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band (Song), Original Work )
CLAIMED! PH 19 - Red One (2024), Justin and the Knights of Valour (2013), Spacelords (Video Game), Original Work
Pride and Prejudice: To Bear is to Conquer Our Fate by Shem
Aug. 8th, 2025 11:57 ambeatrice_otter posting in fancakeFandom: Pride and Prejudice
Pairings/Characters: Kitty Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Rating: 106k
Length: teen
Creator Links:Shem
Theme: marriage of conveneince, rare pairings, old fandoms, book fandoms, epic works, novel-length, AU, happy endings,
Summary: The day after the Netherfield Ball, a simple walk through the countryside has wide reaching consequences for Mr Darcy and a certain young lady from Longbourn.
Reccer's Notes: This is such an engaging look at a very different pairing and what might have been. It's long, plotty, with lots of good character work and a great slow burn.
Fanwork Links: To Bear is to Conquer Our Fate
Pairings/Characters: Kitty Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Rating: 106k
Length: teen
Creator Links:
Theme: marriage of conveneince, rare pairings, old fandoms, book fandoms, epic works, novel-length, AU, happy endings,
Summary: The day after the Netherfield Ball, a simple walk through the countryside has wide reaching consequences for Mr Darcy and a certain young lady from Longbourn.
Reccer's Notes: This is such an engaging look at a very different pairing and what might have been. It's long, plotty, with lots of good character work and a great slow burn.
Fanwork Links: To Bear is to Conquer Our Fate
The Queen's Gambit (TV): you wait and you wonder who'll take on your odds
Aug. 8th, 2025 03:42 pmsasheneskywalker posting in fancakeFandom: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Pairings/Characters: Beth Harmon/Benny Watts
Rating: Explicit
Length: 138,010 words
Creator Links:paperclipbitch
Theme: marriage of convenience, future fic, slow burn, mutual pining, exes to friends to spouses to lovers, chess
Summary: “Don’t think of it as marriage,” Benny tells her. “Think of it as castling.”
Beth raises an eyebrow. “Am I the king or the rook in this analogy?”
Reccer's Notes: An amazing post-canon fic where Beth, frustrated by the period-typical sexism she keeps facing, marries Benny for convenience and now they’re stuck in a fake relationship full of unresolved tension, mutual pining, and all their messy issues (addiction, gambling, competitiveness). It’s smart, emotional, and so compelling. I loved every moment <3
Fanwork Links: you wait and you wonder who'll take on your odds
Pairings/Characters: Beth Harmon/Benny Watts
Rating: Explicit
Length: 138,010 words
Creator Links:
Theme: marriage of convenience, future fic, slow burn, mutual pining, exes to friends to spouses to lovers, chess
Summary: “Don’t think of it as marriage,” Benny tells her. “Think of it as castling.”
Beth raises an eyebrow. “Am I the king or the rook in this analogy?”
Reccer's Notes: An amazing post-canon fic where Beth, frustrated by the period-typical sexism she keeps facing, marries Benny for convenience and now they’re stuck in a fake relationship full of unresolved tension, mutual pining, and all their messy issues (addiction, gambling, competitiveness). It’s smart, emotional, and so compelling. I loved every moment <3
Fanwork Links: you wait and you wonder who'll take on your odds
Dark Shadows: Angelique (The Devil Need Not Own You) by Laramie Dean
Aug. 7th, 2025 12:05 pmpronker posting in fancakeFandom: Dark Shadows
Pairings/Characters: Angelique Bouchard/Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, Nicholas Blair, other canon characters
Rating: Unrated; my best guess is T for violence
Length: ~11,000
Creator Links: Link to author's blog
Theme: marriage of convenience, backstory
Summary: The witch Angelique married numerous times throughout her long life and liaisoned even more times. Her great beauty ensured attracting anyone she could use and discard.
Reccer's Notes: Angelique owned many family names throughout the 5 year run of the show, and this story encompasses her entire life from childhood on. The convenient marriage is the one to Roger Collins while she is disguised as occult student Cassandra Blair. This story rocks because literally each of her identities receives insightful exploration, though the main "Pairing" consists of Angelique/Barnabas, the most well-known of her loves. She loves too well and not wisely at all.
Fanwork Links: Angelique (The Devil Need Not Own You)
A new fandom tag, please?
Pairings/Characters: Angelique Bouchard/Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, Nicholas Blair, other canon characters
Rating: Unrated; my best guess is T for violence
Length: ~11,000
Creator Links: Link to author's blog
Theme: marriage of convenience, backstory
Summary: The witch Angelique married numerous times throughout her long life and liaisoned even more times. Her great beauty ensured attracting anyone she could use and discard.
Reccer's Notes: Angelique owned many family names throughout the 5 year run of the show, and this story encompasses her entire life from childhood on. The convenient marriage is the one to Roger Collins while she is disguised as occult student Cassandra Blair. This story rocks because literally each of her identities receives insightful exploration, though the main "Pairing" consists of Angelique/Barnabas, the most well-known of her loves. She loves too well and not wisely at all.
Fanwork Links: Angelique (The Devil Need Not Own You)
A new fandom tag, please?
Tags:
- due: no deadline,
- fandom: multifandom,
- format: bingo,
- format: given prompts,
- format: meta,
- format: recs,
- format: remix,
- format: rewatch,
- format: varied challenges,
- frequency: monthly,
- medium: any/multi,
- medium: art,
- medium: craft,
- medium: fic,
- medium: meta,
- posting: no deadline,
- site: ao3,
- site: tumblr
Captain America: You Would Be In Clover by ChibiSquirt
Aug. 6th, 2025 12:08 pmbeatrice_otter posting in fancakeFandom: MCU
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Bucky, Sam/Steve
Rating: explicit
Length: 127k
Creator Links:ChibiSquirt
Theme: marriage of convenience, pretend couple, happy endings, genderfuck
Summary: Sarah “Gwen” Rogers was nineteen when she married Bucky Barnes, and she knew at the time just how stupid it was: it wasn’t exactly a brilliant move to marry a man who could never love her, even—or especially—when she knew that she was in love with him.
Neither of them could have predicted the war that came, and if they had, then they sure as hell couldn’t have predicted what would happen when Gwen volunteered for Project: Rebirth.
Reccer's Notes: This is one of the more interesting Captain America genderswaps: what would it do to the essential closeness and devotion of Steve and Bucky's relationship if Bucky was 1000% gay, and Steve was a cis woman? But they still cared about each other as much? They decide to get married, to protect Bucky from gossip, and things go from there. This is such an interesting take on their relationship, on how being a cis woman would affect "Sarah" (especially once she wakes up in modern America after being frozen for seventy years), and her relationship with Sam. All while telling the basic events of the movie.
Fanwork Links: You Would Be In Clover
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Bucky, Sam/Steve
Rating: explicit
Length: 127k
Creator Links:
Theme: marriage of convenience, pretend couple, happy endings, genderfuck
Summary: Sarah “Gwen” Rogers was nineteen when she married Bucky Barnes, and she knew at the time just how stupid it was: it wasn’t exactly a brilliant move to marry a man who could never love her, even—or especially—when she knew that she was in love with him.
Neither of them could have predicted the war that came, and if they had, then they sure as hell couldn’t have predicted what would happen when Gwen volunteered for Project: Rebirth.
Reccer's Notes: This is one of the more interesting Captain America genderswaps: what would it do to the essential closeness and devotion of Steve and Bucky's relationship if Bucky was 1000% gay, and Steve was a cis woman? But they still cared about each other as much? They decide to get married, to protect Bucky from gossip, and things go from there. This is such an interesting take on their relationship, on how being a cis woman would affect "Sarah" (especially once she wakes up in modern America after being frozen for seventy years), and her relationship with Sam. All while telling the basic events of the movie.
Fanwork Links: You Would Be In Clover