Exchange season is at hand!
I look forward to this time period every year while also feeling bad for looking forward to it because it means the year is coming to a close 🥺 But as a wise Tumblr(?) user once said, "the time will pass anyways", and it's nice to have the excitement of preparing for exchanges and planning gifts as the months (in my part of the world) get darker and colder.
I've been doing Yuletide every year since 2018, and although some years are a bit "skin of the teeth" (my 2020 and 2021 Yuletide gifts were 15k and 13k words, respectively... I very deliberately wrote a shorter fic last year xD) I still have a lot of fun taking part every year. Then a few weeks ago I was boosting posts by the Festivids account on Mastodon because \o/ yay vidding \o/ and I thought, hold on... I could actually do this?? I've never even considered taking part in a vidding exchange, but the idea is really exciting. (I also like that Festivids takes a very expansive view as to what you can nominate as a fandom, and also what counts as a vid, so you can get pretty creative).
Luckily, the timelines for Yuletide and Festivids don't overlap that heavily (obviously they're running around the same time, but the nomination periods are one after the other and the Festivids submission deadline is a while after Yuletide), so I feel pretty good about signing up for both.
But that's not all! (As you can tell from the title of this post xD) I've been on a Fence! fandom kick lately, ever since the last issue of the comic's latest volume, Fence! Redemption, came out. If you haven't heard of Fence!, let me briefly evangelise: it's a comic all about fencing and fencing rivals, in the tradition of sports manga, with a main character who's very determined to become the greatest fencer and beat his rival, whom he definitely despises and does not have a crush on, at all. Also, OMG, they were roommates. (In fact, let me share with you this panel that I coincidentally have a photo of...)

It's wonderfully queer with lots of shippable pairs (mostly M/M but the last few issues introduced a really TOP tier F/F ship that my friends and I are vibrating over), which isn't surprising when you learn that it's written by C.S. Pacat of Captive Prince fame, with artwork by Johanna the Mad. If your interest is piqued, you can get it on Amazon, oooor there are online uploads to be found if you're strapped for cash. The fandom is small but very enthusiastic, as small fandoms often are :D
Anyway, I've been enjoying making and sharing posts on Tumblr, and then I saw that there is a Fence! Secret Santa being organised for December! I thought... I can squeeze in one more exchange, right? XD
And that is the story of how I came to sign up (well, technically sign-ups aren't open yet for Yuletide or Festivids, but I'm definitely gonna) for three different holiday challenges this year :3 I'm sure many habitual exchange-goers do several at once, but the most I've ever done is two (Yuletide and Murderbot Diaries New Year's Gift Exchange in 2021), so, this should be fun!
I look forward to this time period every year while also feeling bad for looking forward to it because it means the year is coming to a close 🥺 But as a wise Tumblr(?) user once said, "the time will pass anyways", and it's nice to have the excitement of preparing for exchanges and planning gifts as the months (in my part of the world) get darker and colder.
I've been doing Yuletide every year since 2018, and although some years are a bit "skin of the teeth" (my 2020 and 2021 Yuletide gifts were 15k and 13k words, respectively... I very deliberately wrote a shorter fic last year xD) I still have a lot of fun taking part every year. Then a few weeks ago I was boosting posts by the Festivids account on Mastodon because \o/ yay vidding \o/ and I thought, hold on... I could actually do this?? I've never even considered taking part in a vidding exchange, but the idea is really exciting. (I also like that Festivids takes a very expansive view as to what you can nominate as a fandom, and also what counts as a vid, so you can get pretty creative).
Luckily, the timelines for Yuletide and Festivids don't overlap that heavily (obviously they're running around the same time, but the nomination periods are one after the other and the Festivids submission deadline is a while after Yuletide), so I feel pretty good about signing up for both.
But that's not all! (As you can tell from the title of this post xD) I've been on a Fence! fandom kick lately, ever since the last issue of the comic's latest volume, Fence! Redemption, came out. If you haven't heard of Fence!, let me briefly evangelise: it's a comic all about fencing and fencing rivals, in the tradition of sports manga, with a main character who's very determined to become the greatest fencer and beat his rival, whom he definitely despises and does not have a crush on, at all. Also, OMG, they were roommates. (In fact, let me share with you this panel that I coincidentally have a photo of...)

It's wonderfully queer with lots of shippable pairs (mostly M/M but the last few issues introduced a really TOP tier F/F ship that my friends and I are vibrating over), which isn't surprising when you learn that it's written by C.S. Pacat of Captive Prince fame, with artwork by Johanna the Mad. If your interest is piqued, you can get it on Amazon, oooor there are online uploads to be found if you're strapped for cash. The fandom is small but very enthusiastic, as small fandoms often are :D
Anyway, I've been enjoying making and sharing posts on Tumblr, and then I saw that there is a Fence! Secret Santa being organised for December! I thought... I can squeeze in one more exchange, right? XD
And that is the story of how I came to sign up (well, technically sign-ups aren't open yet for Yuletide or Festivids, but I'm definitely gonna) for three different holiday challenges this year :3 I'm sure many habitual exchange-goers do several at once, but the most I've ever done is two (Yuletide and Murderbot Diaries New Year's Gift Exchange in 2021), so, this should be fun!