It is with extremely heavy hearts that we announce the passing of a fandom legend, someone who was instrumental in building up this fandom and -- this isn't hyperbole -- wrote the most influential and arguably greatest of its fics.
We have lost Cesare, who was a very dear friend to some of us and an inspiration to all of us.
She was in her early twenties when she started writing The Secret History, Lestat's retelling of Interview with the Vampire. Her deft turn of phrase, the way she wrote Lestat with such passion and insight, became legendary in fandom. There was a frenzy whenever she posted a new chapter; people wrote spin-offs of her work.
Many of us (your mods included) placed her on a pedestal, which she rejected. She was warm, approachable, always ready to collaborate and to advise. She brought people together.
She joined us for one of our very best years at the exchange, and of course people were delighted by her Christmas fic where only Cesare could make us fall in love with a story of Lestat getting engaged to a crazed poisoner.
Cesare spent a quarter of a century in this fandom and the mark she leaves on it is indelible. She will be sorely missed, but her incredible writing and her warmth and her kindness will live on.
I think I need to take a break from life and media for a little bit. I need some time with myself to recharge. Emotionally and mentally, I haven't been well lately due to some irl stuff. Also, this overabundance of rain and bad weather every day has been a damper on my mood, making my seasonal depression kick into overdrive. Plus, the recent troubles Tumblr has been having haven't been helping either, especially with the dumb new update they did, but mostly the constant censoring of literally anything and everything. I had 6 labled asks in my inbox from different people being censored as mature for absolutely no reason, some of those I had plans to draw something for. I ended up just deleting them, I'm so over it. So yeah, I just wanted to let ya'll know I'll be stepping away for a bit. Peace ✌️
It will take a while to actually close all auction forms - bids that are registered after 8:00:05 EST WILL NOT BE COUNTED.
Bidders:
We will email you in the next day or two with a list of all of your winning bids and a link to submit your donation proof. Please do not make any donations until we have validated your bids and sent you this list.
Creators:
Please do not contact your bidders until you have heard from us! Once your high bidder has donated and we have processed the donation, we will email you to confirm and put you in touch with your bidder. Remember that bidders have until the 18th to make their donations, so this may take a while. We will also be contacting you soon about the possibility of making an offer to your second bidder - please do not contact anyone about this until you hear from us, either.
Everyone:
Although the main auction is closed, plenty of Craft Bazaar stalls are still taking bids/donations! Remember that donation proof for crafts goes directly to the crafter, it cannot be submitted along with your regular auction donations.
Ready your horses, strap on your armour and dust off your lance – the tournament is about to begin!
Details and extra cards below!
How it'll work:
Each week a one-word prompt will be posted as usual.
However, for an extra challenge, you can join in the Merthur Microfic Bingo Tournament from 1 December 2025 to 4 January 2026.
The aim of the game is to tick off as many of these bingo squares for each of the five weekly prompts during this time as you can.
You can choose to do as few or as many as you like, and aim for bingo, blackout, or anything in between.
What counts as a fill?
Any type of fanwork is welcome – including microfics and longer fics, art, moodboards, web weaving, fanvids, gifsets, poetry and more! The only rules are that each work must:
be human-made, not AI-generated
feature Merlin/Arthur (see more detail in the FAQs)
incorporate at least one of the five weekly prompts posted during the Tournament period
be a new work (not something previously published)
The prompts
You will see some squares have a second prompt listed – this is to ensure all creators are able to complete each square, not just writers.
POV: First person ⚔️ Alternate prompt: Red
Excalibur
POV: Non-Merthur ⚔️ Alternate prompt: Black and white
Modern AU
Festivities and gifts
Mythical creatures
Present tense ⚔️ Alternate prompt: Landscapes
Fairytale AU
Spell gone wrong
Jealousy
First kiss
Forced proximity
Magical object
POV: Third person ⚔️ Alternate prompt: Gold
Knights of the Round Table
Different first meeting
Episode fix-it
Future tense ⚔️ Alternate prompt: Nature
BAMF Merthur
Past tense ⚔️ Alternate prompt: Details
Humour
POV: Second person ⚔️ Alternate prompt: Green
Magic reveal
Hurt/comfort
You can interpret any of these prompts as creatively as you wish!
Sharing your fills
As usual, post your works on tumblr (either directly, or as a link) and tag us!
You can also post to the Bingo Tournament AO3 collection, but this is entirely optional.
Join our discord server!
If you'd like to hang out and chat with other Merthur creators, leave a comment below and you'll be sent an invite link.
FAQs
What counts as Merlin/Arthur for this fest? This fest is specifically for flash fiction and other creations centred on Merlin and Arthur as a pairing. Creations are not required to include romantic or sexual content, which means you can (and are encouraged to) explore their platonic dynamic as well – however, we ask that Merlin and Arthur are not depicted in non-Merthur ships (including poly ships, as these are their own ship, and not Merthur) unless Merthur is strongly implied as being, or wanting to be, end game.
Can I tick off multiple squares in one fill? YES!
Can I submit multiple fills in one week, or multiple fills for one prompt? YES!
Choose your card!
There are four designs to choose from – all with the same prompts, just different shields (for some extra whimsy).
Out fourth ever Spones Day is coming in just a few weeks on June 26th, as decided by our zine committee!
As always you are free to create anything that you would like for the event! Fic, art, edits, meta, anything you'd like to do in the way you want to do it! Wthe AO3 collection for the event will be linked below for you to add your works to as well.We will be tracking the tags #sponesday and #sponesday2026 so don't forget to tag your posts so we can reblog it onto here! You're also free to ping us @sponeszine so please so so we won't miss it!
We're looking forward to seeing what everyone creates~!
Spones Day 2026 AO3 Collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SponesDay2026
We ( @coppercatbird, @orolin-writes and @angeldog5 ) are thrilled to be taking over moderation of this tumblr account and our discord Drarry Microfics community. This community has been and continues to be so important to all three of us, and we’re so excited to be here!
If you’re new to Drarry or to microfics, we want to welcome you! Micros are a fantastic way to dip your toe in, meet people, and start getting words down on the (paper or metaphorical internet) page. Our pinned post includes all the details, but a few highlights from the new mod team:
* 50 words is our “official” word count, but we encourage you to write as much or as little as your muse inspires. We see and love a huge range of definitions of “micro” here, and we want all of them!
* Whenever relevant, please note M and E ratings, major AO3 warnings (i.e. noncon, MCD, etc.), and/or hate speech so that readers know what to expect
* Our asks are open for prompts (word, song, or image) until further notice
* If you aren’t in the discord server, send us an ask for an invite! We post and chat about prompts, share micros, discuss upcoming events, and more
* We are planning some events starting this summer, so keep an eye out for announcements!
Finally, we want to offer our warmest gratitude for the incredible modding done by @citrusses, @maesterchill, @sweet-s0rr0w, and @tackytigerfic. You all did such an amazing job stewarding this community, and we are so grateful for all of it (and not even a little bit overwhelmed by the shoes we have to fill ☺️)
May 4th is Bird Day. I REALLY LIKE BIRDS. So this month's theme is Birds! These are the SFW prompts - the NSFW ones can be found here!
Text below the cut!
Angst:
Child Inserted into a Very Different Family
Prevented from Migrating
Omen of Death
Mourning a Partner
Conscripted into the Military
Lost on a Journey
Separated from the Flock
Never Touch Land
Canary Warning
Swan Song
Ugly Duckling
AU:
Wingfic AU
Migration AU
Mating Plumage AU
Imprinting AU
Changeling AU
Bird-Themed Alias AU
Breeder AU
Phoenix AU
Extra Senses AU
Winged Guardian AU
Fluff:
Nesting
Mated for Life
Birds of a Feather
Offering a Trinket
Collecting Shiny Things
Singing Together
Adoption
Mimicry
Racing
Carrying a Message
Beautiful Mutation
Lyrics:
'Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly'
'Some Birds Aren't Meant to Be Caged'
'When I Left That Little Bird with Its Broken Leg to Die'
'Tonight We Fly Over the Houses, the Streets, and the Trees'
'There's Something Wrong with Me, I'm a Cuckoo'
'Hold Out Your Hand. Yours Is the Only One That I Dare to Land Upon'
'What Do You Say to Jumping Off the Edge?'
'Rare as the Feathers on My Dash From a Phoenix'
'Fly Me to the Moon, Let Me Play Among the Stars'
'Is That a Guarantee of Freedom For Our Descendants?'
'Birds of a Feather, We Should Stick Together'
Quotes:
"Let's See How Nicely You Sing for Me, Little Bird."
"Why Is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?"
"Their Songs Too Sweet and Wild…"
"Nothing in the World IS Quite as Adorably Lovely."
"Don't Feed Them. You'll Never Get Rid of Them."
"Pigeons Are Underrated."
"From Birds She Learned How to Sing."
"You Make Me Wanna Build Something Real."
"Take Me Under Your Wing."
"Are You Okay? You Look a Bit Ruffled."
