Itās that time of year again!!! Get ready to gear up for Inceptiversary 2026!
We want to know what you want to watch! You decide, we host!
Please use this survey to provide your opinion on watch party movie choices for Inceptiversary 2026, the fandomās month-long celebration of Inception!
We all love a little variety, so if there are any other films youād like to watch outside of the survey list please mention them within the survey in the āOtherā field. A romcom? A horror film? We don't judge, drop us a suggestion!
We are always in need of hosts, so if you are interested in hosting a watch party this Inceptiversary please let us know!!
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Survey closes Sunday, June 14th, 11:59PM CST (Monday, June 15th, 5:59AM BST/4:59AM GMT, Monday, June 15th 2:59PM AEST).
Please see the FAQs for further info - any questions please do not hesitate to drop us an ask!
Signups will open on Friday, June 19 at 7AM ET (click the hyperlink for your timezone!). There will be 10 slots available!
Signups will close as soon as all slots are filled, or by Thursday, June 25 at 7PM ET at the latest.
AELDWS will run for six weeks from June 26 to July 31. The weekly schedule is below:
Friday @ 1AM ET - prompt revealed
Tuesday @ 1PM ET - drabbles due
Tuesday night - drabbles posted, voting opens
Thursday @ 7PM ET - voting closes
Thursday night - results posted, drabbles revealed
Friday @ 1AM ET - new prompt revealed
AELDWS is a weekly, elimination drabble contest. Each Friday, a prompt will be posted which consists of a prompt, genre, and word limit. Author drabbles are compiled, with author names removed, and the fandom is invited to vote for their favorite and least favorite drabbles. The author who comes in last place each week is eliminated until there are only three authors remaining in the final week.
Note: If all ten slots are filled, the first two weeks of AELDWS will be double elimination weeks.
If you have any questions, send us a message or an ask!
The OTW is Recruiting for Fanlore Chair Track Volunteers, Communications Social Media Moderators (English and Chinese), and Open Doors Import Assistants
Do you have experience in managing or leading people? Are you a frequent Bluesky, Twitter | X, or RedNote user who enjoys helping others? Are you interested in the rescue and preservation of fanworks? The OTW is recruiting! Learn more at: https://otw-news.org/mrx56zjn
To recap quickly for any new friends who've joined us here: Inceptiversary is the Inception fandom's annual extravaganza throughout the month of July (which usually also spreads into August). We have a whole slew of events to enjoy and some prizes to win!
But first things first: the Inception fandom has two chat room servers (invite links are hyperlinked)
Discord: You're Waiting for a Train
Inception Slack: InceptionChat
We also highly recommend following @inceptioncentral to keep up-to-date on all things Inception all year 'round!
Jump on in and say hello! If the links are expired, don't hesitate to reach out to the Inceptiversary mods for assistance.
Below the cut is a list of all the events taking place this year!
Most will run from July 1 to 31, but some start earlier and some run longer.
Be sure to follow all the event blogs directly, and don't hesitate to reach out to us mods if you have any questions at all! You can message, ask, or email us at inceptiversarymods @ gmail . com.
Inception 30 Day Challenge (@inception30daychallenge)
The inception 30 Day Challenge is a set of 30+ questions and prompts about Inception, its characters, and you! They're meant to inspire some reflection and creativity about Inception, whether it be through a simple text post, art, music, recs - anything goes! And there will be prizes! Keep an eye on the event blog for the full list of questions to be released before July 1!
Arthur/Eames Last Drabble Writer Standing (@aeldws)
Signups will be open June 19 to 25 or until all 10 slots are filled.
A weekly elimination drabble challenge where all works must fit a given prompt and feature Arthur/Eames as the main pairing. This year's AELDWS will run for six weeks, starting June 26, with a maximum of 10 participants. Prompts are posted on the @aeldws blog Friday at 1AM EDT and drabbles are due Tuesday at 1PM EDT. Voting will take place Tuesday night through Thursday night.
Inception Big Bang (@inception-bigbang)
Signups will be open May 11-18. Posting day is July 31. For the full schedule, see the big bang blog!
An author and artist collaborative event. Authors anonymous submit fic summaries, and artists claim their favorites and create accompanying art! For more details and the full event achedule, be sure to follow @inception-bigbang!
Inception Kitties (@inceptionkitties)
A blog to celebrate all the Inception pawrents in our community! Share photos of your furry felines or follow to admire everyone else's!
Inception Positivity ( @inceptionpositivity )
Submissions will open late June!
Inception Watch Parties ( @inceptionwatchparty )
Inception Positivity is a place to send love and kind thoughts to Inception fandom friends anonymously and receive some love in turn. People submit kind messages via Google form and these are turned into colourful posts that are posted on the blog.
Watch parties will be hosted starting July 1 on the Youāre Waiting for a Train Discord server.
See above for invite link to the server or contact the watch party mods. For the full schedule and list of films that will be viewed, be sure to follow the @inceptionwatchparty blog!
Inception Watch Party Bingo (hosted on @inceptiversary)
Come join our annual Inception Day watch parties and play bingo for prizes! Grab a bingo card ahead of time by emailing inceptiversarymods @ gmail . com and enjoy!
Dear diary this list came to me in my dream!Ā Looks like AU-gust 2026 is here...
What is AU-gust? It stands for Alternate Universe August, and it is a creative challenge for everyone. Writers, artists, fans; anyone can join! Be sure to check out ourĀ FAQĀ for more answers! Join us onĀ BlueSky,Ā AO3,Ā DiscordĀ and under the tags #au gust and #au gust 2026.
Special thanks toĀ @yaoyorozoopsĀ for creating our wonderful graphics!
[ID] 31 days challenge prompt list as follows: 1 Steampunk, 2 Roommates, 3 Boogyman, 4 Hero, 5 Farmers and Markets, 6 Magic Realism, 7 Long Lost Relative, 8 Alternate Timeline, 9 Seamstress, 10 Arthurian Mythos, 11 Small Business, 12 Reality TV, 13 Cults, 14 Isekai/Reincarnation, 15 Fourth Wall Broken, 16 Only One Bed, 17 Time Travel Fix-It, 18 Sirens, 19 Animal Trainer, 20 Graveyard Keeper, 21 Glitch in the Matrix, 22 Technopunk, 23 Midlife Crisis, 24 Post, 25 Monster Hunter, 26 Soul-bound, 27 Virtual Reality, 28 Bad End, 29 Survival, 30 Earth Two/New Planet, 31 Two of the Above. You have four Jokers: Not Related, Daemons, Furry, TTRPG Players.
It's officially May, which means it's almost time to start thinking about this year's challenge! Sign-ups are not open just yet, but will be up soon, so participants are welcome to start spreading the word.
What is AU Roulette?
A casual fic-writing challenge encouraging fanfic authors to play around with different types of alternate universe stories, which will be randomly assigned to each participant regardless of the fandom they sign up with.
How does it work?
Writers will be able to sign up from May 10th-31st with a fandom of their choice. At the start of June, each participant will be assigned three AUs from a masterlist using a random number generator. Each author will then have the choice of completing the challenge one, two, or all three of the AUs. Any fic exceeding a 500-word minimum will be considered a completion, so long as it employs the AU premise. Fics can then be posted at any point during the month of June.
What kind of AUs will be included in the challenge?
AU Roulette focuses largely on popular, staple AU types with broad applicability to any fandom or relationship type. For example, a possible result might be something like a Time Travel AU (encompassing all the possible subsets, such as fix-it time travel, time loops, or other tropes under the same umbrella), but more restrictive AU types like a Soulmate AU that make assumptions about the authorās interpretation of character relationships in canon have been intentionally kept off the AU masterlist. The official list of AUs will be shared midway through the sign-up period, with 36 different prompts on the list.
What if I get an AU type that doesnāt work for the canon I chose?
Limited re-rolls will be allowed on a case-by-case basis. But you are also encouraged to be as creative as you want with your interpretation of your assigned AUs, which may help with making them fit! The goal of this challenge is to encourage weird, creative fanfic, not to have every author who rolls the same result write the same types of stories. If you were to get a Coffee Shop AU, for example, there is no requirement that the coffee shop in question be a real-world 21st-century Earth Starbucks. In fact, deviating from the mold is highly encouraged.
How do I sign up?
Watch this space! The official sign-up link will be posted on this blog on May 10th. In the meantime, feel free to share this post to let people know the details of this year's challenge.
Sign-ups May 11-18
Author summaries due May 29
Artist claims start June 1
Pairing announcement June 15
First check-in July 1
Second check-in July 15
Posting date July 31
A Big Bang is a fandom event where authors and artists work together on a two-part project. When signing-up, authors submit a summary of the fic theyāll be working on during the event, as well as the rating and relevant tags. Fics are later claimed by artists during two rounds (if
needed) of fic claims. (Details below the break)
For authors:
Your final piece should be:
an Inception fanfic
written for the Big Bang (no reposting of old works)
at least 1500 words
Other than that, we are open to all ships and gen stories!
IMPORTANT: During sign-ups and fic claims the authors are anonymous. This keeps things fun! We want artists to choose based on the fics alone. Donāt make posts that give away which fic is yours. After claims, talk to your artist! Keep each other updated - the best thing about a fandom Bang is working with each other!
Frequently asked questions of authors:
How much do I need to write before signing-up?
We recommend writing a summary of your story, the rating, and a couple relevant tags. Remember, what you submit is what we send to the artists! Make it easy to understand your story.
Can I change my mind about my submission?
Before fic claims you can send us updates or even send us a different story altogether. Allās fair. After fic claims, any big changes should be discussed with your artist. You cannot change the rating from G, T or M into explicit. If you believe your fic might go down that road submit the tag before fic claims.
Can my fic be a crossover?
Sure!
Can it be a continuation of an older work?
Yes, as long the original ficās name is not included on new piece and the part submitted for the Big Bang has never been shared anywhere else before. Big Bang projects are secret until the reveal date.
Can it be OT3 / Major Character Death / Kink?
Sure! Just keep in mind that the more specific your work is, the harder it may be for one of our artists to connect with it. This is true for anything you may come up with - crossovers, PWPs, squeamish themes, you name it. We encourage creativity! But use the appropriate tags when you send us your summary and consider being flexible if our artists might have a hard time with that one.
Can I submit multiple stories?
Nope!
Is there the possibility of my fic not being claimed?
We work with artists interested in all different kinds of fics! We also have very cool and open-minded pinch-hitters. In our recent years all fics were claimed. That being said, yes, there is the possibility. It ties back into the OT3 / major character death / kink topic ā the more specific your work is, the harder it may be for our artists to connect with it. Also, the harder it may be to actually depict the story. Be considerate of our artists when picking the fic to write for the Big Bang.
Can I sign up as both author and artist?
Of course! Just make sure you have the time and resources available to fulfill all the roles you choose!
For artists:
You will be choosing one (or more!) fics to make art for. Between fic claims and the final posting date you and your author will have one and a half months to work on your collaboration.
Your piece should be:
Art drawn or painted, including digital art
Photo manips
Original music
Gifsets (if youāre making them! donāt re-use/steal gifs)
Fanvids of at least 45 seconds
Physical crafts like sculpture, knitting, and embroidery
If you want to create something we havenāt mentioned here, check in with us first, but chances are youāre fine. As long as it's something you can submit within the deadline itās fair game.
Frequently asked questions of artists:
How do claims work?
We will make an anonymized master post of all the story summaries available for the Big Bang. To make claims on them, send us an email with your top 3 picks. Fic claims happen on a first come first served basis so try to respond as soon as you can. If needed, we will have a second round of claims.
I'd really like to participate but I'm not sure of my availability - can I still sign-up as an artist pinch-hitter?
Absolutely! We can always use extra help. If you sign-up (only) as a pinch-hitter we will contact you after both rounds of fic claims, or later in the event if weāre needing back-up.
Can I sign-up as both artist and author?
Of course! Just make sure you have the time and resources available to fulfill all the roles you choose!
Most asked question for everyone! XD
Panic time, I wonāt be able to make the deadline! What now?
Hey, itās okay! Life happens, we get it. But keep us updated. Send an email to [email protected] or drop a message to @stormofsharpthings
We can work out extensions, or if you canāt complete your piece, we can talk to pinch-hitters. Itās okay, really, as long as you let us know what's up!
ladies, gents, and everyone in between or outside of those parameters, we are back again for 2026, this time kickin' off the announcement a little bit sooner. after last years outstanding support and excitement for this event, we've decided to run it again! the planning is just about all the same as last year too, no big surprises about it.
and, as always, a little bit about your host. hi! we're Mito/Rev, our pronouns are ve/1t, and technically we're the same guy running it as last year but with a sprinkling of turns out theres more than one of us. we're collectively aromantic with some variance in how the lot of us experience our non-ace aro'ness.
schedule
prompt submission: May 1st to May 10th
prompt voting: May 11th to May 17th
prompts posted: May 18th (probably won't have fancy formatting)
downtime to pre-create: May 18th to May 31st
posting week: June 1st to 7th
guidelines
1: anyone can participate! whether you're non-ace aro, aroace, alloace, or alloallo, you can participate! just keep the works focused on aromanticism without the asexuality, yeah?
2: please tag your works properly! nsfw and dead dove creations are allowed and welcomed, but it'd be nice if ya tagged 'em
3: donāt worry about posting ālateā! iāll be scrolling around for things posted late through all of June, aim for posting during the week but itās okay if ya donāt. however, if you do post late please tag the blog* to ensure we see it!
4: any fandoms** and any āshipsā are allowed! this is a multifandom event, and, truthfully, the more the merrier and all that jazz!
5: most importantly, have fun with it!
aaaaaaaand, yep, that brings this post to a close!
all in all, we continue to hope that this event brings the non-ace aro community a little closer together, raises awareness of non-ace aro experiences in fandom, and most importantly, that everyone has fun with this event
arrow assets made by @aroworlds
if anyone has any questions about the event, the askbox is open as always
-Mito/Rev
*last year there were issues with posts not showing up in the tag, so if you desperately want your post to be reblogged here we would suggest just tagging us to make sure we see it
**the one stipulation to this is works by jk rowling and neil gaiman, we cant stop you from making them, but we wont be reblogging them
To improve account security, we now alert you if your AO3 password matches a password known to be compromised on other sites. If you see this banner when logging in, please change your password. For more advice on protecting your account: otw-news.org/y8jnay3v
AO3 is currently down. We do not have an estimated return time currently. We're looking into it with one of our third-party support providers and will update when we have more information. Thank you for your patience!
We've identified the problem and are working on a fix. We expect to remain down for several more hours. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience!
AO3 is back up! We appreciate your patience. We've got our protections against bot traffic turned up a bit higher than usual, so some users may experience problems if they're using a VPN or similar tools.
AO3 is currently down. We do not have an estimated return time currently. We're looking into it with one of our third-party support providers and will update when we have more information. Thank you for your patience!
The OTW is Recruiting for Social Media Moderators, Organizational Culture Roadmap Volunteers, Software Developers, Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers, and Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Are you a software developer? Would you like to wrangle AO3 tags? Are you interested in helping shape the future of the OTW? Do you like using checklists to administer personnel related tasks? The Organization for Transformative Works is recruiting! Learn more at: https://otw-news.org/5cvvedxbĀ
hello everyone!! we at platonicsource would like to host a friendship appreciation week in march 2026. any and all creations are welcome as long as they center around friendship. we have daily prompts lined up for you, but we're simply happy if you create anything at all!
here are the prompts:
day 1 (09 march): favorite friendship
day 2 (10 march): beginnings / first meetings
day 3 (11 march): hugs & kisses
day 4 (12 march): underrated friendship
day 5 (13 march): defining moments
day 6 (14 march): missed opportunities for friendship
day 7 (15 march): free choice
please tag your entries with #fsw26 and/or #platonicsource so we're sure to catch it and reblog this post to get more people to see it!
if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in our inbox right here!
A wave of spambot guest comments claiming to be AO3 volunteers has recently been made across the site. They claim that there has been a data breach and that fraudulent password reset emails have been sent out. In addition, the harassment spambots are now accusing users of being sex offenders.
These claims are not true. These comments are not being made by real AO3 volunteers or users, and AO3 has not experienced a data breach.
These comments copy existing AO3 usernames in order to make their accusations seem more legitimate. They may also try to lure people onto other platforms, similar to the art commission scam.
AO3 volunteers will never communicate with you through guest comments on your work. All important communications from AO3 about your account will be sent via email. More general announcements will be posted on our official social media accounts or published as news posts on AO3 or OTW.org.
If you want to make sure you're doing everything possible to protect yourself and your accounts, our Policy & Abuse volunteers published a news post earlier this year with advice about internet safety best practices: Protect Your AO3 Account.
As always, we recommend that you do not click on any suspicious links or give your contact information to scammers. Instead, simply mark the comments as spam or report them so that Policy & Abuse can remove other comments left by these spambots.
If you aren't sure how to mark guest comments as spam, learn how to handle them below the cut!
As these comments have so far all been from guests, our advice is to flag them as spam to better filter them out. To do that, simply follow the instructions below:
If the comment is on your own work:
Go directly to the comment on your work, either by clicking on the link in your email or in your AO3 inbox.
Click on the "Spam" button to mark the guest comment as spam and remove it from your work.
Note: The "Spam" button only appears when viewing a guest comment directly on your work. This is because the AO3 comment inbox is merely a copy of the work's comments ā deleting a comment from your AO3 inbox does not delete the comment from the work itself.
If you see comments like these on someone else's work:
Feel free to let the creator know the comment is from a bot, and that they should mark it as spam.
You can also report the comments as botspam via the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form linked at the bottom of every page on AO3.
If you are reporting multiple guest comments, please submit only one report, and include all comment links in your report description. (You can get the direct link to any comment by clicking the "Thread" button on the comment, and then copying the URL of that page.)
If you're not sure if something is a spambot comment, you're welcome to contact Policy & Abuse for assistance. Refer to the original post for more information!
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
blakekathryn
ellievsbear
stormborns
theartofmadeline
vaporwave
prguitarman
