Come What May Creator's Challenge

A creators challenge for the month of May! All fandoms and orginial works encouraged to join us (Please no AI, thanks!♥)

[come-what-may-challenge]

►How does this work? We'll post a "Maybe This or Maybe That" prompt every other day in May 2026 at 5 AM Eastern time! Create anything* inspired by either of the prompts (or both!) You don't have to use a word or phrase exactly; it just has to be inspired by it! ►Who can join? Any creator of any kind that doesn't use AI! ►Where do I post? On Tumblr tag #come what may creators challenge and/or #cwmcc2026, and/or you can post to the AO3 collection, which can be found-> [here]. ►What fandoms? Any and all fandoms are welcome to join us! (Including original works!) ►Will you be reblogging everything? No, this blog will stay prompts-only for ease of use, but please peruse the tag and get your fandom involved! It will be more fun that way! ►Do I have to use the exact word?! Many of the words have multiple meanings, and we encourage you to interpret them any way you wish! You can take the idea of any word figuratively; it doesn't need to be literal or exact! Feel free to think outside the box and use the prompts as a starting point. (It doesn't even have to be a major theme!) We're trying to encourage your creativity, not constrain it! ►Can I use multiple prompts in one creation? Of course! ►How long do I have to post my work? As long as it takes you! We'd love to see your creations in May, but there is no "last day" to post! *What do you mean by anything? We mean anything! Write a multi-chapter fic, drabble, one-shot, haiku, or experimental poem. Puffy paint a t-shirt. Make a sticker or paper collage. Sketch in your journal. Take a photo. Cook a recipe. Bake. Embroider! Sew. Quilt. Mood boards. Alter a book. Send postcards to friends. Sculpt. Make a house for your pet rock! Invent a cocktail. Write letters! Create playlists! The list goes on infinitely!

[word-scramble-challenge]

We'll be returning in August 2026! Stay tuned!

[come-what-may-challenge]

From the creators of the @come-what-may-challenge please join us for our August event @word-scramble-challenge! We'd love to have you!

[come-what-may-challenge]

Thank you so much for playing along! The AO3 collection will be open indefinitely if you'd like to finish any prompts! Below the cut is the final list of all the words! See you next year!

Borrowed/Light

Tender/Reckoning

Salt/Honey

Hidden/Orbit

Silver/Smoke

Music/Static

Open/Secret

Glass/Fire

Window/Underground

Feral/Grace

Crimson/Golden

Paper/Thread

Quiet/Ruin

Crooked/Honest

Bone/Silk

Divulge/Unspoken

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Helpful tip! Many of the words have multiple meanings, and we encourage you to interpret them any way you wish! You can take the idea of any word figuratively; it doesn't need to be literal or exact! There is no wrong way to create along with us this month! Feel free to think outside the box and use the prompts as a starting point.

Examples from the image for the word "present" •Here is a present for you. •I'm in shock, I need to stay present! •I will present my thesis on Monday. •We must face the present issue!

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Hello friends! Thank you so much to all of you who are participating and to those of you who are storing the prompts to participate later! There was a little hiccup today; the image said "Day 12" on today's prompt. I've corrected it to say Day 11! I'm so sorry for that ♥. If you need a little refresher on where we are, here are the prompts so far:

Borrowed/Light

Tender/Reckoning

Salt/Honey

Hidden/Orbit

Silver/Smoke

Music/Static

Open/Secret

Glass/Fire

Window/Underground

Feral/Grace

Crimson/Golden

You can also read all the amazing works posted so far in our AO3 Collection [here].

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link!Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!) UPDATE: The image has been updated to reflect the correct number as "Day 11"; previously, it said "Day 12," so sorry for the hiccup.

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)

[come-what-may-challenge]

Create anything inspired by either prompt (or both!). Post on Tumblr using the hashtag #cwmcc2026 or post in the collection on AO3! See our pinned FAQ post for the link! Who can join? Any creator of any kind for any fandom or original works that doesn't use AI! (It's so much more than a writing or art challenge! Think: playlists, mood boards, gifs, photography, nature walks, cooking & more!)