Fanfiction FESTA

The Fanfiction FESTA is a month-long multi-fandom event dedicated to sharing and commenting on as much fanfiction as we're able to as a community. All content - except for AI generated content - and ratings are welcome.

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The Fanfiction FESTA started in 2025. Our goal is to host this event at least TWICE. After each round, we create a roundup with all the fics that were submitted and fics our readers want to share with everyone. We've linked those into their respective pages, which you can view by clicking the round links.

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We also do fun posts with our readers and writers, including interviews and guest posts.Want to be featured? Let us know!

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fanfiction FESTA?
The Fanfiction FESTA is a month-long multi-fandom event dedicated to sharing and commenting on as much fanfiction as we're able to as a community! We run at least twice a year and have a group of dedicated commenters, as well as games (bingo, stamp rally) to encourage participation from everyone.Think of it as a self-promo train where you're guaranteed to get at least (1) new comment from an organized commenting group.This sounds familiar...
This FESTA is a combination of many influences, but especially the JCS tagging system and the fanfiction writer appreciation event.How can we participate?
If you are a writer:
Submit (1) of your fics to our event! How? Just make a post promo-ing your fic, tag a friend, and tag our event account. We are an all-encompassing event (aka. proship), so also be sure to include content warnings. (Examples)If you're a reader:Consider joining our commenting team! We open signups about a month before our scheduled round. We just ask that you try to leave a minimum of 2 comments on submissions. Not ready for the commitment?You can also play our reading bingo/stamp rally game, or just comment on fics as you please. Not sure how to play? Check out this page.If you're an artist:
We'd LOVE to have you on board for simple art designs. We will open signups about 2 months before our scheduled round so be sure to give our accounts a follow.Everyone:We will also have Q&As for the community throughout the month that everyone is welcome to participate in.View February 2025 Archive
View August 2025 Archive

Other Questions We've Been Asked

I'm in OO-fandom. It's not anime. Can I submit for this event?
Yes! We want to read your fanfiction. It doesn't matter what fandom you're in ♡What are the rules for submitting/commenting?
Submissions should be kept at (1) per writer, however, we will promo and share additional submissions. We also have a word count soft spot of 5K for accessibility. But, again, we will share longer stories, including multi-fics (ongoing &/or finished).Writers may also submit thread fics and podfics! Podfic shares must also tag the writer if it wasn't written by the narrator.And the only rule for commenting is that you keep things positive. The goal of the FESTA is to uplift writersDo we have to write new stories for this?
No! Unless you want to. Our goal is to leave comments on fics. That's all. So writers may submit new or old fics. We especially encourage submitting fics with no/few comment counts, but that's not a requirementWe will also have a few bingo prompts that will encourage reading fics with few comments, no comments, few hits, and fics posted before certain dates. If your fics fill any of the prompts, share it with the FESTA general tag (#fanfictionfesta) with what prompt it fills.Can I only submit via BlueSky?
Nope. You can submit via Twitter and Tumblr as well. We will look into expanding to other sites in the future. Writers with blogs may also submit by creating a blog post and sending us the link (or tagging us).What is pro-ship?
At its core, pro-ship means that you believe everyone is allowed to ship and like whatever they want because fiction =/= reality. However, more recently, this has come to mean that people and events are ok with (and allow) problematic and/or DD content to be submitted/shared.What is DD?
DD is short for dead dove (do not eat), which is how many people categorize darker and often taboo content. But it just means to check the tags and to not become upset when you find yourself staring at exactly what was forewarnedRemember that the back button exists for a reason.What about AI?
AI-generated content will not be welcome at this event.I have more questions/suggestions/words to share
Awesome! Feel free to DM us or tag us on any of our event pages. If you are more comfortable reaching out to a Mod you know, that's ok too!Anonymous questions can be sent via our Tumblr. With Neospring (and similar sites closing so quickly), we've also made this info page where you can leave questions in the comments.

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FESTA: How to Play

It's been brought to our attention a few times that people aren't sure how to participate in the FESTA games. We hope this page will come in handy!As always, if something is unclear, don't hesitate to ask

Themes

Every round, the FESTA will have a main theme. All of our games and graphics will center around this theme; however, readers (and writers) are not required to only read (or submit) fics that fit our themes. There are definitely benefits to submitting fics that fit our themes, but we always try to keep things broad so that even fics that seem like they don't fit the themes can count in our games!

I submitted a fic already, but I have another story that fits the theme. Can I share it?
YES! Please do so! And when you make your post, just say something like "this is a fic that can be used for (X-prompt)". But we do caution against spamming us. We'll try to share everything sent our way, but if you send us 10 self-promo fic links, well...

BINGO SHEETS

Every round, we will have at least (3) 4 x 4 themed bingo sheets. One sheet will always be focused on reading fics with low stats, while at least 2 sheets will coincide with our month's theme.Here are some example prompts:

Readers are encouraged to grab any (or as many) of the bingo sheets as they'd like, and post updates on their progress using our event tag(s)Can I read one fic for multiple prompts?
Yes, within reason (ex. don't use 1 fic for 5 prompts). But, as always, if you have time, we do encourage everyone to read (and comment) on as many fics as possible ^^What does ("burned") mean?
Some prompts will be very specific (ex. broken AC), but some prompts are open to interpretation. "Burned" can mean many things: a slow burn, a sunburn, a Shouto-level burn, something spicy, etc.Mod Crimson read a fic that gave them second-hand embarrassment for this prompt, so whatever (X-prompt) means to you is A-OK! But if you'd like some optional pathways, feel free to ask us and we'll give you all ideasDo I have to comment on every fic I read?
This is technically a commenting event, so we highly encourage you all to comment on as many fics as you can, BUT, you only really have to comment if the prompt directs you to.All bingo sheets will have 3 main types of prompts: read, share, and comment.I don't want to read fics based on the bingo prompts. Is that ok?
Yes! These games are just incentives to get people to read as a group, but people can read ANY fics. Even if it doesn't fit a prompt, feel free to share it with our event tags, especially if it's a fic with low stats. We only ask that you mention any important tags (ex. if it's 18+) so that people know what they're clicking.

STAMP RALLY

In conjunction with our bingo sheets, we have a stamp rally. Stamp rallies are usually quest-based rewards, so once you complete a special task for the FESTA, you can "collect" a stamp.Stamps are always LOCKED, which means their designs can only be revealed once "enough" people complete the required task (TBD by mods)

How do we know what tasks need to be completed?
We will announce the tasks in a thread. Here are the tasks for August 2025, but they generally include things like: leaving comments in multiples of 2, getting a bingo row, finishing a bingo sheet, submitting a fic to the FESTA, and more!Want to suggest tasks? Fill out our Feedback FormHow do you check if stamp tasks have been completed?
We don't. This is an honor system game, so if you say you left 2 comments on a fic, we believe you!Exception: If we don't see your fic submission, our mods may question if you actually completed this task (we don't want to accidentally miss your submission)I finished a task! How do I get my stamp?
Each round, we'll release a "Stamp Station" form. Please fill out that form and we'll email you your updated card. You only need to submit your stamp card the first time. We'll keep it on file after that.Exception: If you're in the Discord, go to the Stamp Station channel.

These are our main games for each FESTA. If we develop new games, we will add the explanations here!We hope more people will join us. If something still doesn't make sense, ask away.

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February 2025 FESTA

Submissions on BlueSky
Dates: Feb 1 ~ Mar 16

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Check out the info posts on:
Bluesky | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | WordPress

[View on Canva (Limited)]()
[View Round-up on A Nerdy Fujo Cries (Complete)]()
View Submissions on AO3 (Collection, Limited)

NEW: RECOMMENDED READ LISTSWe heard that a tidy spreadsheet works wonders, so for August, we'd like to share our Recommended Reads spreadsheets!As always, we stress checking the AO3 page for the full tag list.G~T Recs (44 August Titles)
M, E, and Not Rated (61 August Titles)Is your fic on the list and you don't want it to be? Let us know and we'll take it off the list.

August 2025 FESTA

*Note: Alt-txt has not been added to this page because of the limited word count. To see alt-txt, visit our event sites: Bluesky | Tumblr | Twitter

SUBMISSIONS
Dates: Aug 1 ~ Aug 31

OUR THEME
This month, our main themes were: Summer & the Beach. All of our graphics and games reflected this theme.We also had an AU sub-theme, which we feature on our Bingo Sheets

Round-up Links & Previews

These graphics were made especially for the August round. In keeping with our Summer & Beach theme, submissions were spotlighted in 1 of 4 graphics: SFW were either in the sea or on the beach, while NSFW submissions were at the bar at sunset or nighttime. We have added some tags to our spotlights, but please double-check all tags and relationships once you're on AO3View Submissions on AO3 (Collection, Limited)View Submissions on BlueSky (Feed, Complete)View Submission Spotlights on Tumblr (Currently posting ~2/day)Final Roundup (All 142 fics) on ANFC Blog

Our Achievements

We got 38 unique submissions spanning 18 fandoms.With a team of about 18 active commenting members, we managed to leave a minimum of 219 (trackable) comments. That's almost 100 more than our February numbers!

AMAZING job everyone!

Notes on tracking: We were only able to track comments on fics our commenters shared with us, which is one reason why we say "a minimum". We also say this because we were so happy to see (and hear) that we inspired many readers (not on our team) to leave comments throughout the month! So really, in August, FESTA participants (aka. everyone!) may have left closer to 300+ comments on fics!

Weekly Q&As

Every week during the FESTA, we asked all our followers questions related to fanfiction. We compiled the answers in this Bluesky Feed. The event may be over, but feel free to answer the questions!

Bingo Cards & Stamp Rally

Everyone starts with 1 of 3 Blank Stamp Cards, which already have the "Welcome to the August 2025 FESTA" stamp. To collect more stamps, readers are encouraged to grab 1 of our 4 bingo sheets

Stamps for this round were also made by 4 different artists! Thank you to Fizzy, Moth, Raven, and Crimson.Without our stamp artists, this round's stamps wouldn't have been as cool as they were. We hope you all liked them and be sure to follow our stamp artists on their preferred social media accounts to see more updates from them ♥

TIERED STAMPS

This August, we decided to have stamps be tiered in hopes of encouraging everyone to challenge themselves. In keeping with our Summer & Beach theme, our stamps were tiered by Ocean Zones and what animals we could encounter in those zones.

This round we had 14 stamps and ALL stamps were unlocked!STAMP CREDITS

Check out the Bluesky Feed with everyone's updates as they played!

SPECIALS

Here are some other posts and links we'd love to share. Most are related to the August FESTA, but a few were just general posts we thought were relevant. Check them out!

This concludes our August FESTA (aka. our 2nd round!)Interested in more info relating to our next round? We are currently accepting feedback! This Feedback Form also doubles as an interest check, so be sure to let us know what you'd like to see in the future

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Spotlight: Reading and Commenting on Fics with Soyamilk (Q&A)

We can’t believe it but we’ve made it to day 7! It’s so nice to finally sit down and just write everything I’ve been postponing for years. I can’t believe I used to blog regularly, sometimes even making 3 posts a day?!?! Anyway, today we have a special post. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m hosting the Fanfiction FESTA this month, as well as writing 31 posts for Blaugust (HOW), and this is one of the spotlight/interview posts we introduced back in February.And today we’re lucky to be able to interroga– we mean, interview Soyamilk, who has been killing it this month with reading and sharing fics!!First, the icebreaker. Can you introduce yourself? What name do you go by? What are your pronouns? Favorite color? Which reigns supreme, blankets or pillows? The last thing you drank was…? What dessert (or food) would you raise hell for?Hellooo, call me Ree. I sometimes use Mango if there are other Rees, and since my handle across most sites is soyamilk, I’ve been called Soya too.My real name is out there, but I don’t feel like using it in fandom spaces.I’m in my early thirties and I’m residing on the east coast of the USA. I like anime and manga, and sometimes read Korean BL manhwa.My pronouns are she/her, but I also feel comfortable with they/them since my parents’ native language has gender neutral pronouns.I like pink, it’s all over my room, but if you only saw the accessories I carry outside (bags, phone case, clothes, shoes, etc) you’d think it’s lilac/light purple, which is a solid second.I can’t decide between blankets or pillows! Seeing as we get hot, muggy summers AND freezing cold winters, it depends what the weather calls for. I’m ok with neither in the summer, but I absolutely need all the coverage in winter, haha.I drank a Canada Dry! Tummy issues this week.I would raise hell for the one and only Lady M crepe cake. I must travel to the city every other month for a slice (re: expensive)!No way!! Those crepe cakes look so good! But we’re not going to let them distract us… What would you say are the top 3~5 tags you read?In alphabetical order: Angst, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort (or No Comfort – which is just angst again isn’t it?), Smut.What platform(s) have you used (or still use) to read fanfiction?I grew up with Neocities/personal sites, which lead to Fanfiction.net (FF.net), Livejournal (LJ), Asianfanfics (AFF), and Dreamwidth (DW) – even some Tumblr posts. But then issues about privacy and censoring happened on LJ (eatyourkimchi drama anyone??), FF (censoring nsfw), and Tumblr and everyone started deleting their fics or migrating over to AO3. I still have my FF and Tumblr accounts, but these days it’s AO3.Do you only read fanfiction, or do you also read original works? Where is your go-to for reading original works?I’ve browsed fictionpress back in the day, but I really only read fanfiction online. Otherwise, I’m a frequent patron of my local libraries (yes, plural).That sounds amazing!! We love our libraries too, hehe. Since you mostly keep to fanfiction, what are some fandoms you’ve been in?I can’t remember which fandom I started, but around 2013 I read so much EXO (k-pop) fanfiction. This fandom had a chokehold on me, you could say I became a fan of EXO BECAUSE of the fanfics. So much so that I was a fan of specific fanfic writers themselves. For a couple of years the sub-communities were cranking out so much gold. That included EXO fanfic prompt fests, bigbangs, and exchanges. At some point I ran one for a pairing and helped out with a couple of them, too.These days I don’t read many fanfics, but I’d like to, which is why I’m doing this event!Can you tell us about a fic you read recently that you loved?If we’re talking “recent,” my timeline is going to mean 2024, and that was when I read this “My New Boss is Goofy” fanfic called Stranger Nyans by AwkwardPotatoChild. The main character is Hakutou, the cat that was found by our two main characters. (The canon isn’t boys’ love, but they both agreed to the cat’s name being a combination of Japanese characters in both their names… c’mon. He’s their son). The premise is that Hakutou keeps hearing these strange noises in the apartment, and while he’s a scaredy cat, he’s determined to protect his humans. We as the readers understand what’s going on. What do two consenting adults do when they’re often together at night in a closed bedroom? You catch my drift? wiggles eyebrows It’s humorous, it’s fun, it’s lighthearted- I love it.(cries) That’s totally a BL. They made their own ship name! We might need to EHERM, inspect this fic…Speaking of, what do you like about fanfiction?I like that it’s straight from the writers’ heart. It’s often someone’s passion, whether someone writes it with ease, frustration, smiles, or tears, there’s no doubt it’s someone earnestly showing their love for their craft. You don’t have this preconception that I think we have with published works. For me, in the EXO fandom, the band members were more of a vessel to carry the writers’ messages. I loved that I was being transported between worlds only to look up and realize I’m right in my bed at home. They taught me so much as I was simultaneously growing up from high school into college in a progressing world. It opened my eyes to a larger, broader world. Since it was a large international fandom, writers were putting the characters in environments I never even thought of; people’s countries, hometowns, favorite tropes or fandom crossovers. I could exercise my empathy, compassion, and spiritual growth. I genuinely believe I’m a better person for it, emotionally and mentally.Why did you stop reading fanfiction and what made you come back?I touched on this a bit earlier. After the major shift with western kpop fandom, a lot of writers went dark, pulling their fanfics offline or locking them permanently. A few offered PDFs, but for a limited run. So, it was natural that I’d slow down to the point where I stopped altogether. Lately though, I’ll pop into the tags and read fanfic for what I’m watching/enjoying at the moment, especially if I want to read something silly.Are you the type of reader who only reads new stories? Or do you ever reread your favorites?I’d say it’s 50/50. It’s only in recent years that I’ll reread my favorites. I think I’m at that age where nostalgia takes precedent, but ask me in my early twenties and I would prefer a new fic every time. I’ve reread from a user named horse_exobooks multiple times. Their style matches my humor and they’re one of the few writers who still has their fanfics posted up.Do you leave comments on everything that you read? Have you ever gone back to a fic to leave a comment?I try my best to always leave a comment, and if I can’t write it in the moment I make it a point to come back and write one. This usually happens if I’m on the go and I’m reading on my phone. I usually prefer writing out my comments on my laptop because there’s less of a chance I lose what I wrote. (Most times I move to another app and come back to the page refreshing and I lose what I already wrote. It’s happened to all of us, right?) I think every writer deserves to be acknowledged, they’ve taken the time to write their work.Sadly, it has! Apps need to understand we need time, lol. How long was the longest comment you’ve left? How short was the shortest?The longest comment might have been maybe 200 words? I remember gushing on a long fic about scenes I liked. Since I deleted my LJ I can’t say what it was for. (T T)As for the shortest it was: YEs. Thank you. (I looked in my AO3 inbox for that one ahahah) Sometimes short is best, right?? The author got a kick out of it, I think.Have you ever struggled when leaving comments? What do you think is the hardest part about leaving comments?When I took part in fanfic fests or exchanges as a reader, I would try to comment on each one. My mistake was taking in more than I could handle so I was fatigued. I was intent on making each comment unique even if I may have not enjoyed the fanfic. Now that I read more casually and I’m choosing to read at my own pace, I can comment at ease, especially about a scene or something about the character and their development that I liked. I’ve certainly learned from my younger self.When you leave a comment, do you expect to get a response from the writer?I don’t expect a reply, but I do hope they see the comment I left..Is there a writer’s reply that was especially memorable to you?There was a spicy fic I commented enthusiastically on, you know, as one does, and I thought I was just being a silly reader who might annoy the writer with my dramatics. But I was wrong. The writer said they were having a really bad shift at work, but my comment helped make their day (T T) I’m happy it can have that kind of impact.Do you ever read and comment on stories that have been tagged as discontinued (or that just haven’t been updated in years)?I don’t… I know the feeling of incomplete stories and I don’t want to go through with that again if I can help it!How do you choose your next read?I usually look for fics under 5000 words (due to time crunch). I’ll go by: fandom, character or ships > complete fics > exclude some tags if I have any at that moment. So I usually end up seeing the most recent choices. I don’t usually look at the kudos or hits as an indicator if I’ll like it or not. I unintentionally skip the titles for the synopsis, which is why I can turn to a friend and describe the entire fic and never know the name. So, I don’t think they’re too important. Like, a bun is fine, it indicates I’m going to eat a burger, but it’s even better on the whole hamburger with my favorite ingredients.How often do you find yourself marking stories for later or subscribing to writers?I rarely use the mark for later, and the few times I did I left them in there for so long I was no longer interested. Forgive me. I’ve only subscribed to two users to get new chapters/fic, but I prefer not subscribing to anything. I’m not organized by any means, but I don’t want more e-mails… that’s it.Do you leave bookmark comments?I write bookmark comments as if they’re notes to myself. For example: classic EXO fic. So they’re easier.How would you describe your place in the fandom? Do you interact a lot with other readers and writers, or do you keep to yourself?If fandom levels were the planets in our solar system and the sun was fandom, I’d say I’m Jupiter to the sun. I mostly keep to myself, but I tend to reblog and like posts of people from the fandom so I’m mostly in the know. I’ll sometimes pop in to comment, with a little back and forth, but I mostly keep to myself. I’m a lurker through and through. I’m grateful to have friends who aren’t in my fandom who will listen to the occasional quip or two I have to say out loud about my fandom. Maybe that’s why I can keep to myself.Being in fandom spaces isn’t always fun, do you think the fandom has ever negatively impacted you as a reader or commenter?For the most part, I’ve managed to steer clear of the negativity, that’s not to say I’m clean or free from my own heated retorts. I have solid boundaries when it comes to censorship arguments, I’ll refuse to interact or read from those who argue for censorship when fandom has always been about mutual respect and proper warnings and tags.What about the fandom community is something that you love? Do you think it’s positively impacted you as a reader or commenter?I love the shared moments and being able to squeal about anything and everything no matter how “strange” it is. These communities allow you to do things like that and so it makes me feel like I’m connected to people I’ve never met. So, it ties into my memorable writer reply from earlier, it motivates me to keep commenting to nurture that community.Who are some people in the fandom that you look up to?I don’t interact with fandom enough to know names or usernames, but I think it’s the wholesome fandom community as a whole. When people give words of encouragement and openly support one another, even if they might not always understand what it is, is what I want to embody as well.Have you ever considered writing fanfiction yourself?I’ve considered writing (to completion) more these days, but over the past decade I lacked the drive and energy. Plots play in my head like a movie so by the time I sit down with an open document, my brain is already past the whole thing. I have more WIPs than I’d like to admit.Do you have any 2025 reading and commenting goals?Nothing grand, but I wanna read more fics, and simultaneously, comment on them!!Where can we find you?If you’re interested, you can find me on bluesky @nanami-kento.bsky.social

That wraps up today’s post! Ree has also submitted a fic for this round’s FESTA, so definitely go give her fic a read. We already stopped by, and it’s such a cute story for a ship that needs more fics: Satoru and Kiyotaka! Are you working on the bingo prompts? This fic fits quite a few prompts~As always, feel free to leave any extra questions you may have for Ree in the comments section. And if you want to answer these questions here and/or on ANFC too (18+), let us know (you can also answer them on your own blog if you want and then tag us, we’d love to see your answers~)

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