It's almost October, and that means Jilytober is right around the corner! We're making some slight modifications to the JilyExpress from last year—this year, it's all in the Jilytober Discord, so you'll need to join to participate (you can do so by sending an ask to the JilytoberFest Tumblr account for a link).
What is the JilyExpress?
The JilyExpress is a collaborative fic writing event, also sometimes known as a round-robin writing event.
How does the JilyExpress work?
In the Jilytober Discord, we will have two simultaneous JilyExpress threads going- a General thread, and (if there's interest) an M rated thread.
On October first, a mod will start the threads with a message no longer than 3 sentences. From there, anyone can jump in and add onto the story, 3 sentences at a time.
There is no length of time to wait to post another addition onto someone else's continuation of the story once it gets going, we only ask that you let 2 other people post after you before you take another turn.
We'll keep the threads going all month long!
The JilyExpress is open to anyone! Writers, readers, artists—if you want to try your hand at writing in a very low-stakes (potentially high chaos) environment, then board the JilyExpress!
Lily has no idea how much blood the human body holds— later, when she's sitting white-faced and trembling outside the makeshift infirmary she’ll finally speak the question aloud and Sirius will tell her it's 5 litres (why he knows this, she does not question)— but she does know the burgundy pool beside James’ shaking body is too big, his wheezing too loud, his breathing too laboured. Her eyes are too blurry to catch the way he looks at her as he fades, her hands are too busy casting— a frantic attempt to mend his cursed wounds— to note the feeble squeeze he gives her knee and she's much too scared at the thought of losing him to focus on anything but saving him. A hand—Sirius — squeezes her shoulder and with a hurried tap of her wand they begin to spin.
It was common knowledge that soup was only for for the sick, or so Lily thought. Be it for her nemesis (he got promoted to love crush a few months ago) to refute that fact and cause an all out war in the Gryffindor common room. And that’s how Lily found herself on top of one of the couches there, arguing her case in front of the makeshift jury— Remus Lupin, Mary MacDonald and Benjy Fenwick.
We all know James and Lily live a long happy life together but do you know how they met? Was it on the Hogwarts Express where one accidentally bumped the overhead luggage and caused it to drop on the other? Or was it because Lily wanted to know who lets their dog pee on her lovely Petunia that she keeps next to her door and waits to yell at him as he went about his morning routine? Who knows? Who will tell? And just so everyone can know the different answers to the above question, this year’s theme for jilytober fest is…🥁🥁🥁🥁 ‘MEET CUTES/UGLIES!’
Disclaimer: this post is a lil’ long
Bittersweet
We all know honey gets sweeter when you stir it up, but can you make it bitter too? What happens when we give you a fluff prompt but ask you to give us angst? We get bittersweet jily, addictive and delicious. Oh and how about when you turn our angsty prompt into sweet nothings and sugar coated love declarations? Absolute delight! Come ask for your prompt and twist it to your flavour
The participants will be given a fluff prompt which should be interpreted as angst. And vice versa. Those interested in participating in this challenge can send an ask, and a prompt will be assigned to you! (Yes, both writers and artists can participate 🥰). There is no deadline to register for this event.
Masquerade challenge
Are you as good as a Marauder at detective work? Can you sniff an authors tells at the poker table? Can you sense the writer before the end of the story? Can you tell which James loves Lily the most? If you think you can come have a guess 😉
A few writers will write and anonymously submit their fics to the challenge collection (will be posted soon). Readers have to match the fics to the writers. The options for authors will be given via a tumblr poll. Everyone is encouraged to participate :)
To be a writer, send an ask saying that you wish to participate by the 20th of September (so that you get enough time to write)
Jily sprinkle moments!
At the beginning of each week, 5 one word prompts will be posted. They can all be connected together to make one fic, or as many as one wants. There is no limit! Go grab that jily moment and put it in <<101 words! (If inspiration strikes, feel free to go crazy) Everyone is encouraged to participate! (Artworks, fics, moodboards, playlists—anything can be made). Do tag this blog and @jilymicrofics so that your works can be reblogged
Readers Bingo!
We’ve been spoilt with so manyyyy jily fics this year, were you able to keep up?? If you were, you will rock the bingo weekends this year!
The official bingo templates will be posted every Friday at 12AM GMT and to win it, one would have to get a bingo by Monday 12 AM GMT. This year, we will have 4 bingos (🎉🎉) for each category— general audiences (6th-8th), teen and up(13th-15th), mature(20th-22nd), explicit(27th-29th). Every single person in the fandom is encouraged to participate :)
Whoever finishes the bingo first, each week, wins! They should also post a photo of their finished template on Tumblr and tag this blog. Each winner has the chance to win a bonus of eternal fame (in the author’s minds) and love ♥️♥️ if they have left a comment, as well as have read the fic :)
The JilyExpress - A collaborative fic writing event
All ready to start and head straight to Hogwarts is the Jily expressway 🚂🛤️🚇 so…
Get your ticket through this form before 20th September. Everybody is welcome! (All readers, artists, writers)
The fest mod will start a story on 1st October - It shall only be 1-3 (complete!) sentences and no more.
The next person on the list will continue the story the next day, 2nd October, by writing 1-3 more (complete!) sentences. This continues till the 31st of October when a complete fic, with all the authors credited, will be released on ao3. Based on the number of sign ups, the order and the number of times each author gets to write will be decided and announced in a later post
The writers are to post their lines as a reblog chain with proper tagging (the jily express and @jilytoberfest ) and numbering (date). In case you want your sentence to be anonymous, you can send an ask to this blog after the person before you has posted their sentence, and we would post yours!
First years and Heads of Houses (readers, artists and writers) all can get tickets (since it’s only max 3 sentences) so, hop on, enjoy the fun ride to make sure James and Lily arrive at their destination (happily ever after) safely
ROMCOM event
Ever wanted to combine your favourite rom com with your favourite couple? Here’s your chance, because James and Lily are just a boy and a girl standing in front of an audience asking them to write their love story
And that’s what we’ll do! If you have any romcom books/movies you’d like to recommend, please mention it in the comments of this post! A post with the entire list of movies/books will be released by the 5th! You can choose which movie/book to write as jily in the comments/reblogs of that post!
31Prompts!!
31 prompts for 31 days is back again this year with even more exciting prompts for all! P.S. we now also have lyrical prompts included in the list
The prompts will be posted tomorrow!
And lastly, for the very first time… SURPRISE EVENT!
I think most of you will love this one 🤞🏼🤞🏼. I’m hoping everyone participates in this (yes, readers included). The details will only be revealed on the 29th October, so stay tuned!
The schedule for the Jilyexpress is here! Exciting news: there's going to be not one, but TWO fic chains! Hence, we request all participants to tag your reblogs with the following tags: #jilytoberfest2023 #jilyexpress #jilyexpress chain 1 (in case of chain 1) & #jilyexpress chain 2 (in case of chain 2)
Example on how it works:
After the @jilytoberfest blog posts the first three lines of fic chain 1 (G rated) on 1st October, @wearingaberetinparis can reblog the post on the same day with their additional three sentences after mentioning the date (01.10.2023) and with the required tags.
Then, on 02.10.2023 it is @nodirectionhome-ao3 's turn to reblog the post with their additional three sentences (again, with the date and required tags)
Same rules apply for fic chain 2 except that we request you to add your lines under a "keep reading" cut since it will be m rated
On the 31st, the fic would be posted on ao3!
If you have any doubts, feel free to ask them in this post's replies or through an ask.
This jilytober has been so special for me for too many reasons that I cannot name. I am just so grateful for everyone in this community. This time, there were so many people who helped me with different events. Namely, @abihastastybeans @annabtg @athenasparrow @charmsandtealeaves @majormaybe1 @practicecourts
The JilyExpress fics are also live now on ao3!!
The M rated discord chain is named...
The one where all the smut already happened
The G rated discord chain is named…
Soups and broom closet shenanigans
There’s also a feedback form if you’d like to send in your feedback about this year’s fest and how we can improve in the following years. Cheers!
