MelancholyMorningstar

You know, the podficcer

[louisegluckpdf]

i remember learning the word melancholy at age 7 or something and thinking oh this word's gonna be huge for me

[melancholymorningstar]

I love seeing the original Game Changers/Heated Rivalry covers

Source: Game Changers Series Wiki

[j03-05]

Inspired by MelancholyMorningstar’s Femslash February Podfic Edition, I wanted to also create a Sapphic September Podfic Edition 👩‍❤️‍👩

All audio works that are centered on at least one sapphic character or relationship will be accepted in the collection.

The ao3 collection will be unrevealed until September 1st, and then, works will be revealed progressively. The collection will stay open until October 1st 🥰

[melancholymorningstar]

Woooo! I'm so excited

I think I have a podfic!

[ilyapasta]

Speaking of video edits but here's a list of songs that I don't think anyone has made Heated Rivalry edits to that I think would be fucking baller and I'm pissed I in no way know how to make edits because I would make them with these songs:

The Distance by CAKE (horniest song in the world in my opinion, driving bass line, great lyrical content)

I Wanna Get Better by Bleachers (specifically for Ilya I think, struggling with depression and self worth, but might work better once we have season 2 content)

50 Ways to Leave your Lover by Paul Simon (this would require some vision but I think this song would make a KICKASS ensemble edit about the homophobia experienced and closeted behavior exhibited by the main characters, like Scott in the gallery, Ilya coming in Shane's back door, Shane checking under the bathroom stalls, Shane dating Rose, etc, with Hollanov and Skip both possibly!)

Please! If you are inspired please take my ideas!!! Just let me watch it if you make itttttt

[melancholymorningstar]

I do not have the time/energy to make a proper vid for 50 ways but I was inspired to make an itty bitty version of the 50 ways vid because I see the vision and its a good vision

https://www.tumblr.com/melancholymorningstar/818851176543027200/i-do-not-have-the-timeenergy-to-make-a-proper-vid?source=share

[melancholymorningstar]

I do not have the time/energy to make a proper vid for 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover but I was inspired by this post from @ilyapasta to make something https://www.tumblr.com/ilyapasta/816706886976110592/speaking-of-video-edits-but-heres-a-list-of-songs?source=share

Have a teaser trailer, I guess (someone really should make the whole vid with Scott too)

[melancholymorningstar]

THE LONG GAME SPOILERS

[heated-blanket]

I think what’s wrong with a lot of people is they’re not eating breakfast. They’re starting the day with at most 16 ounces of milk with espresso and riding on that until lunch time. What they don’t understand is eating breakfast helps absorb all the excess yellow bile that builds up overnight when they sleep and makes them angry. It’s basic humor balancing

[aceoftigers]

Where Should Journalists Draw the Line With Fandom?

‘The Pitt’ outcry proves we need clear etiquette in journalism about fandoms.

thanks @melancholymorningstar for pointing me to this article, and I'm even going to quote the same part from the end that you did, because it is both good and very relevant:

There is a difference between covering fandom and exploiting it. So, what would fandom etiquette for journalists actually look like? At the very least, it means asking permission before embedding fan art or linking directly to fan fiction in coverage. It means thinking twice before asking actors or artists to react to ships or explicit fan creations. It means considering whether a fan reasonably expected their work to stay within the community it was made for. Most importantly, it means treating fandom spaces like real places inhabited by real people, many of whom seek out these spaces precisely because they offer a sense of belonging they may not find elsewhere. Fandom does not need to remain in the margins to deserve respect. But if journalists are going to cover this subject, and we should, we have to be willing to approach these spaces with the same care, ethics, and nuance we would bring to any other community. Because behind every fic or piece of fan art is someone saying, "This mattered to me." Did it matter to you too?

[melancholymorningstar]

Thank you, I found the article and (almost) that exact quote from @elision

https://www.tumblr.com/elision/813435143894269952/so-what-would-fandom-etiquette-for-journalists?source=share

[hollandar]

Hudson Williams, #1 Shane Understander

I think Shane was a character who, soon as I read him, made all the sense to me. I felt immediately a kinship and an ownership over Shane. I was like, “I need to be the only person to tell this story. I get it. I want to be the person to be Shane and I want to spend time with him.” [x]

(sources below)

PANEL 1 Out

PANEL 2 (fear/desire) The Permanent Rain Press

PANEL 3 (vegas bathroom) Numero Netherlands

PANEL 4 (tears) Harper's Bazaar

PANEL 5 (ilya inverse) Teen Vogue Image: [x]

PANEL 6 (additions) (4 gifs) Numero Netherlands Entertainment Weekly

PANEL 7 (good job) Them

PANEL 8 (dichotomy) eTalk CTV CBC News Images: [x] [x] [x]

PANEL 9 (cottage home) Variety

PANEL 10 (heart eyes) Timid

PANEL 11 (evolution) Much Image: [x]

PANEL 12 (yuna) Variety

PANEL 13 Timid Numero Netherlands Out Image: [x]

[melancholymorningstar]

I couldn't believe that I could not find a single Heated Rivalry to Call Me Maybe

So heres the results of the last 3 hours of my life

[melancholymorningstar]

Do you also have a song you desperately need to see a Heated Rivalry vid for?

I'm offering one edit for Fandom Trumps Hate and bidding is now open...

See MelancholyMorningstar's works <a href="https://melancholymorningstar.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://archiveo

[vexbatch]

Bidding is open for Fandom Trumps Hate!

To view all listings for Heated Rivalry, go here: https://fth2026offerings.dreamwidth.org/tag/fandom:%20heated%20rivalry

There are people offering fanfic, podfic, fanvids, fanart, as well as beta services, culture pickers, typesetters, and more! This is an easy and fun way to get a fanwork made while also supporting charity. Bidding ends March 7!

Not sure what any of this means?

You can look through all the auctions, view existing bids and place a bid using the spreadsheet and form linked in each individual auction post, and if you win, the creator will work with you to create a fanwork after you have donated to one of the charities they have specified!

Be sure to read each auction carefully to find the ones that align with what you're looking for. Closer to the end of bidding, there will be a searchable tag added to find auctions without bids!

For more links separated by type of auction, see under the cut!

Fanfic

This is separated into three links based on the creator name... Because we have so many! 🎉✨

A through G

H through P

Q through Z

Fanvids

Podfic

Fanart

Fan Labor

[melancholymorningstar]

With a total of 149 works, Femslash February Podfic Edition 2026 has been a smashing success!

After accidentally becoming a competition halfway through, the battle for Top 5 Ships, is finally over!

Due to some beautiful ties, the Top 5 ships are technically the Top 10 ships

So without further ado

Ship Number 1 is a three way tie between:

1. Amane Misa/Rem from Death Note (9 works), Kyoshi/Rangi from Avatar The Last Airbender (9 works), and Komatsu Nana | Hachi/Oosaki Nana from Nana (9 works)

It is important to note here that each of these ships made it to share the top spot due to the tireless stats manipulation efforts of three individual podficcers determined to get their ship to victory

peasina was responsiblefor all 9 Misa/Rem podfics, pezzax was responsible for all 9 Kyoshi/Rangi podfics, and daisydiversions was responsible for all 9 Nana podfics (including 2 whole original not!fics specifically to make that number higher when there weren't enough fanfics with BP available to beat the other ships)

The number 2 ship was:

2. Fem!Lan Wangji/fem!Wei Wuxian from Mod Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed (8 works)

This ranking was a collaborative effort between six podficcers, though apparently stats shenanigans victory was also deliberately planned by at least one MDZS discord server

Ship number 3 is a two way tie between:

3. Mira/Rumi/Zoey from KPop Demon Hunters (7 works) and Agatha Harkness/Rio Vidal from Agatha All Along (7 works)

Mira/Rumi/Zoey was possibly the only ship on this entire list not involved in stats shenanigans and doing it purely for the love of the game. Kudos to all three podficcers for making these podfics

Agatha/Rio was my own modly intervention in the stats race I just wanted to join in

Ship number 4 is another three way tie between some extremely respectable classic femslash ships:

4. Jess Bhamra/Jules Paxton from Bend It Like Beckham (4 works) Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel from DC (4 works) and Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor from Supergirl (4 works)

And last but not least, 5th place is:

5. Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain from DC (3 works)

Other fun stats!

13 characters from the top 10 ships are characters of colour! Also 9 out of the 10 most popular characters!

[melancholymorningstar]

It's halfway through Femslash February Podfic Edition 2026 and we're already doing amazing! We have 46 podfics in 36 fandoms!!

Currently the works are pretty spread out across ships and fandoms. The current leaderboard is:

1. Mira/Rumi/Zoe from Kpop Demon Hunters (6 works)

2. Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn from DCU (3 works)

3. Female!Lan Wangji/Female!Wei Wuxian from Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed (3 works)

4. Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain from DCU (2 works)

5. Cassandra Cain/Natasha Romanov from DC and Marvel (2 works)

6. Fay/Arla Fett from Star Wars (2 works)

Which means if you want your ship to win Femslash February (a thing that is both normal to want, and possible to achieve) the only thing standing between you and victory is approximately 7 podfics

[melancholymorningstar]

We are now at 62 works (16 more podfics in 4 days!) and the top 5 (ish) has shifted!

I can see my stats worked mwahahahaha

1. Mira/Rumi/Zoey from KPop Demon Hunters barely hold the lead with 6 works

2. Female!Lan Wangji/Female!Wei Wuxian from MDZS/The Untamed has risen in the ranks with 5 works (will they take the lead?)

2. Komatsu Nana | Hachi/Oosaki Nana from Nana has joined the list already in second place with 5 works (surprise contender!)

3. Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel from DC has 3 works! (3 for 3)

4th place is currently a 5-way tie!

4. Jess Bhamra/Jules Paxton from Bend It Like Beckham have the nostalgia crowd digging out their mics with 2 works

4. Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain from DCU are holding steady with 2 works, but Cassandra Cain is the most popular character appearing in 8 works!

4. Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler from Stanger Things have clawed their way onto the list with 2 works

4. Cassandra Cain/Natasha Romanov DC x Marvel, this surprise crossover ship is holding onto it's position with it's teeth with 2 works

4. Fay the Jedi/Arla Fett from Star Wars have also held steady with 2 works

Another fun stat for you very cool podficcers:

6 out of the top 10 characters are Character of Colour!

[melancholymorningstar]

It's halfway through Femslash February Podfic Edition 2026 and we're already doing amazing! We have 46 podfics in 36 fandoms!!

Currently the works are pretty spread out across ships and fandoms. The current leaderboard is:

1. Mira/Rumi/Zoe from Kpop Demon Hunters (6 works)

2. Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn from DCU (3 works)

3. Female!Lan Wangji/Female!Wei Wuxian from Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed (3 works)

4. Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain from DCU (2 works)

5. Cassandra Cain/Natasha Romanov from DC and Marvel (2 works)

6. Fay/Arla Fett from Star Wars (2 works)

Which means if you want your ship to win Femslash February (a thing that is both normal to want, and possible to achieve) the only thing standing between you and victory is approximately 7 podfics

[melancholymorningstar]

✧ Filthy by Aaron Jones ✧

This is my favourite thing I have made... possibly ever

[shaneswhitesocks]

i see your "hayden is in love with shane" and raise you a "hayden thinks shane is in love with HIM"

maybe jackie asked him about it before the aquarium trip and hayden's like "no way you're insane" and she rolls her eyes and tells him to "bring up having kids or shane dating anyone at all and see how weird he gets"

so of course he does and shane cracks a joke about hayden impregnating him and sirens start going off kill bill style and then he asks about ex-jessica and he watches shane go all distant and that's all it takes for hayden to come busting through the door of his suburban McMansion screaming "JACKIE YOU'RE RIGHT IM IRRESISTIBLE"

and now he's walking around all "the greatest hockey player of all time has a crush on me 😏" and "i can't believe i'm breaking his heart like this 🥺" and "my poor gay buddy, he needs me to set him up with someone 😤"

think of the utter devastation when he learns who shane has actually been pining for the whole time

[melancholymorningstar]

Okay so I couldn't find a single Heated Rivalry Vid to Call Me Maybe by Canadian Gay Icon Carly Rae Jepsen which is an absolute tragedy

Enjoy the product of the last 3 hours of my life