Voluntary Email Gathering
Nov. 1st, 2026 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nightingalesighed posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
swrarepairsHello everyone! While our beloved Ao3 is down, the writing goes on, as does participants wanting to ask clarification questions. This has led to us realizing a problem - Ao3 is where we store the emails we use to get a hold of you all! Oh no!
We're sending out a general call, if you see this and are participating, please send us your Ao3 name and an email, so we can communicate if needed.
You can send us this information via email to swrarepairsexchange @ protonmail (dot) com, or reply to this post. Comments are screened.
The emails will only be accessible by the mods of the exchange. We will hold these emails for the duration of the exchange, and delete them after author reveals.
-Nightingale
P.S. - if your Ao3 name starts with T, extra please reach out, we may have a clarification question waiting for you already.
We're sending out a general call, if you see this and are participating, please send us your Ao3 name and an email, so we can communicate if needed.
You can send us this information via email to swrarepairsexchange @ protonmail (dot) com, or reply to this post. Comments are screened.
The emails will only be accessible by the mods of the exchange. We will hold these emails for the duration of the exchange, and delete them after author reveals.
-Nightingale
P.S. - if your Ao3 name starts with T, extra please reach out, we may have a clarification question waiting for you already.
Wedding Mystery Challenge: An Unexpected Conclusion
Oct. 31st, 2026 06:09 pmpumpkinkingmod posting in trickortreatex[See previous post for details on our AO3 outage delay]
Your keen detective work leads you through the quaint pumpkin patches and spooky murder sheds of Halloweenland, to the (insert ominous music) graaaaaveyard.
A bit of stress hastens your steps. Halloween is here, and the Spirit of Halloween requires their bride. You expect another careful investigation leading to the next clue.
But upon arrival, you find less a clue than a clearly posted solution: a wide path stomped into the woods by large feet, strewn with chocolate wrappers and sparkly dildos.
You call the Spirit of Halloween—and the Halloweenland Beautification Committee to pick up the chocolate wrappers and sex toys—and set forth.
Twenty minutes later, behind a creepy caramel apple orchard, you find Detective Pumpkin herself. She's standing up from a cauldron, unwrapping herself from a string of blinking lights.
"Trick or Treaters!" Detective Pumpkin says, clearly relieved. "You're just in time. We have a mystery to solve."
No shit, you all think. That's what this whole community challenge is about. But before you can ask Detective Pumpkin what she's doing, the Spirit of Halloween appears in a whirl of bats and bonbons.
"My beloved!" the Spirit cries, and rushes forward.
When the public display of affection concludes, Detective Pumpkin asks, "What's wrong? Oh... oh dear. I lost track of time. It's not..."
"It's October 31st," the Spirit says. "Halloween, and the day of our wedding, yes. But that's not what matters. Are you all right? What happened?"
Detective Pumpkin sighs. "I was abducted by Cupid, Kinky the Smut Fairy, and seven hippos. It was all supposed to be very complicated. A multi-step mystery that would have taken our investigators several rounds of tags to solve. But they were still debating where to hide me, when they all vanished."
You recognize the names. Deities of the greatest, most sacred holidays of all: fanwork exchanges. A chill runs down your spines.
"The Great Archive has disappeared," Detective Pumpkin says, clutching the Spirit of Halloween's appendages. "My spooky darling..."
"I know," the Spirit of Halloween says, their voice hardening. "Today may be October 31, but our wedding will be on Halloween, and Halloween is whenever I say it is. I declare that Halloween is postponed until the mystery of the vanishing archive is solved, and every exchange returns to the land."
Overwhelmed by her darling Spirit's investigative spirit, Detective Pumpkin throws herself forward. The public display of affection resumes.
Happy October 31st, Trick or Treat community! Here's to a speedy AO3 restoration and rescheduled Halloween.
Your keen detective work leads you through the quaint pumpkin patches and spooky murder sheds of Halloweenland, to the (insert ominous music) graaaaaveyard.
A bit of stress hastens your steps. Halloween is here, and the Spirit of Halloween requires their bride. You expect another careful investigation leading to the next clue.
But upon arrival, you find less a clue than a clearly posted solution: a wide path stomped into the woods by large feet, strewn with chocolate wrappers and sparkly dildos.
You call the Spirit of Halloween—and the Halloweenland Beautification Committee to pick up the chocolate wrappers and sex toys—and set forth.
Twenty minutes later, behind a creepy caramel apple orchard, you find Detective Pumpkin herself. She's standing up from a cauldron, unwrapping herself from a string of blinking lights.
"Trick or Treaters!" Detective Pumpkin says, clearly relieved. "You're just in time. We have a mystery to solve."
No shit, you all think. That's what this whole community challenge is about. But before you can ask Detective Pumpkin what she's doing, the Spirit of Halloween appears in a whirl of bats and bonbons.
"My beloved!" the Spirit cries, and rushes forward.
When the public display of affection concludes, Detective Pumpkin asks, "What's wrong? Oh... oh dear. I lost track of time. It's not..."
"It's October 31st," the Spirit says. "Halloween, and the day of our wedding, yes. But that's not what matters. Are you all right? What happened?"
Detective Pumpkin sighs. "I was abducted by Cupid, Kinky the Smut Fairy, and seven hippos. It was all supposed to be very complicated. A multi-step mystery that would have taken our investigators several rounds of tags to solve. But they were still debating where to hide me, when they all vanished."
You recognize the names. Deities of the greatest, most sacred holidays of all: fanwork exchanges. A chill runs down your spines.
"The Great Archive has disappeared," Detective Pumpkin says, clutching the Spirit of Halloween's appendages. "My spooky darling..."
"I know," the Spirit of Halloween says, their voice hardening. "Today may be October 31, but our wedding will be on Halloween, and Halloween is whenever I say it is. I declare that Halloween is postponed until the mystery of the vanishing archive is solved, and every exchange returns to the land."
Overwhelmed by her darling Spirit's investigative spirit, Detective Pumpkin throws herself forward. The public display of affection resumes.
Happy October 31st, Trick or Treat community! Here's to a speedy AO3 restoration and rescheduled Halloween.
The Trickiest Trick: Reveals Delayed, AO3 Down
Oct. 29th, 2026 02:50 pmpumpkinkingmod posting in trickortreatexPer the OTW status page, AO3 is currently down for maintenance, projected to last two to four weeks.
Unfortunately, this makes Halloween work reveals impossible.
I'm currently pushing Trick or Treat dates back by about two weeks. Remaining pinch hits are due Nov 12, work reveals Nov 14, and creator reveals Nov 21.
However, we'll need a few days of functioning archive pre-reveals, so pinch hitters can post and so I can confirm everything is in. I'll post again on November 10 to confirm whether we're good to proceed or need to delay further.
Thank you to the assigned creators and pinch hitters who've left us in such good shape going into this delay. We won't have much scrambling to do once the archive is back :)
In the meantime...
- We have one more pinch hit available at the latest pinch hit post. Please claim this either logged-in to Dreamwidth or with a contact email so I can confirm your claim, and I'll assign them via AO3 when possible.
- Requests are still viewable via the handy auto app, so you can spend the extra time preparing treats!
- I believe one of the Community Challenge tags, Ghosts, had reached 20 works yesterday. So, I'll post an amended challenge update on the 31st :)
- If you have IRL plans to celebrate Halloween, please share in the comments below! Tell us about your costumes, your decorations, your sweet or spooky desserts.
One last thing...
Timely reveals are especially important for holiday exchanges. Since its first round in 2014, Trick or Treat has never delayed past Halloween. (*time zone dependent.) I've been proud to continue that track record since I took the gourdly crown in 2021. Through the tremendous efforts of pinch hitters—fellow participants, kindly strangers, friends I gently harass to help—our tricks and treats have always been ready on October 31.
I'm sad to break the streak this year, but that only highlights how impressive it is. Thank you, everyone, who's made that possible!
Unfortunately, this makes Halloween work reveals impossible.
I'm currently pushing Trick or Treat dates back by about two weeks. Remaining pinch hits are due Nov 12, work reveals Nov 14, and creator reveals Nov 21.
However, we'll need a few days of functioning archive pre-reveals, so pinch hitters can post and so I can confirm everything is in. I'll post again on November 10 to confirm whether we're good to proceed or need to delay further.
Thank you to the assigned creators and pinch hitters who've left us in such good shape going into this delay. We won't have much scrambling to do once the archive is back :)
In the meantime...
- We have one more pinch hit available at the latest pinch hit post. Please claim this either logged-in to Dreamwidth or with a contact email so I can confirm your claim, and I'll assign them via AO3 when possible.
- Requests are still viewable via the handy auto app, so you can spend the extra time preparing treats!
- I believe one of the Community Challenge tags, Ghosts, had reached 20 works yesterday. So, I'll post an amended challenge update on the 31st :)
- If you have IRL plans to celebrate Halloween, please share in the comments below! Tell us about your costumes, your decorations, your sweet or spooky desserts.
One last thing...
Timely reveals are especially important for holiday exchanges. Since its first round in 2014, Trick or Treat has never delayed past Halloween. (*time zone dependent.) I've been proud to continue that track record since I took the gourdly crown in 2021. Through the tremendous efforts of pinch hitters—fellow participants, kindly strangers, friends I gently harass to help—our tricks and treats have always been ready on October 31.
I'm sad to break the streak this year, but that only highlights how impressive it is. Thank you, everyone, who's made that possible!
Holly Poly Re-Schedule Announcement
Oct. 29th, 2026 06:02 pmmaevedarcy posting in holly_polyDear Holly Poly participants:
Due to the current AO3 downtime event, Holly Poly remains in stasis. There will be changes in schedule, but we don't know yet by how much, and we won't know until AO3 is back up.
If you're interested in keeping up with updates, we recommend Tracking the DW comm/activating notifications on your platform of choice.
We will keep you informed as soon as we're able to.
Best,
Holly Poly mods
Collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/holly_poly_2026/profile
Tag Set: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/32671
Tumblr: https://holly-poly.tumblr.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/holly_poly_ex
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/holly-poly.bsky.social
Google Groups - Holly Poly Updates: https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-updates
Google Groups - Holly Poly Pinchhits: https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-pinchhits
Due to the current AO3 downtime event, Holly Poly remains in stasis. There will be changes in schedule, but we don't know yet by how much, and we won't know until AO3 is back up.
If you're interested in keeping up with updates, we recommend Tracking the DW comm/activating notifications on your platform of choice.
We will keep you informed as soon as we're able to.
Best,
Holly Poly mods
Collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/holly_poly_2026/profile
Tag Set: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/32671
Tumblr: https://holly-poly.tumblr.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/holly_poly_ex
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/holly-poly.bsky.social
Google Groups - Holly Poly Updates: https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-updates
Google Groups - Holly Poly Pinchhits: https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-pinchhits