Valdemar Reveals Party!

[shadowsapiens]

Wow everyone! 21 days, 71 prompts, 29 fills, and 123,567 words* later, the math adds up to every last one of you being totally awesome Valdemar fans! We hope you had fun, because we sure did. Thank you to everyone who prompted, filled, and commented throughout the past three weeks, it’s been an absolute joy watching so many incredible fanworks come through. On that note:

1. 21 Days of Valdemar is now concluded, and the reveals party begins! Our AO3 collection has been de-anoned, and you’re welcome to comment logged-in on this post to share all the fills you posted, talk to each other, link to your AO3s and Tumblrs, etc.

2. Links to reposts are now allowed on the Main Post. If you cross-posted to AO3 already, or if you plan to eventually, you’re welcome to head back to the Main Post and drop a link under the prompt. The Main Post will be perpetually anon for commenting purposes, but don’t worry about hiding your identity.

3. Prompts are still there if you want them! If you feel like writing or drawing something inspired by a prompt now that the fest is over, you’re welcome to add to the AO3 collection at any point, and drop a link under the prompt on the Main Post.

4. 21 Days of Valdemar is over--what sits on the Main Post today is a testament to your hard work during these last three weeks. No new fills should be direct-posted to the Main Post, and we won’t be actively moderating or encouraging comments on the Main Post.

5. Tag any fill post on Tumblr with “21 Days of Valdemar” and we’ll reblog for a promo on the 21 Days Tumblr! It has to be one of the first five tags or it won’t show up in the tag feed. If you don’t have a Tumblr but would still like us to post about your fic, let us know here or drop us a link on Tumblr and we can make a new post to share for you. (Full Disclosure: we have like 8 followers so it’s not going to be a massive signal boost, we just really want to brag about all the awesome stuff you guys created!)

5. Feedback survey! If you feel like giving us your 2 cents via google form, you can do so here. We’d love to hear from you! :D

*6,000 of that being art fills, since a picture is worth a thousand words, of course ;)

Comments

*\o/*

[shadowsapiens]

Well someone has to go first...

Hi, I'm shadow_lover, and I wrote these fills!*

Vanyel & Blankets - "Platonic"
Vanyel/Tantras Starvation - "Respite"
Leareth/Vanyel sonnet - "His Lover's Claws"
Leareth/Vanyel dreamsex - "An Echo of Touch"
Nyara gen - "Stable"
Lavan/Kalira - "Beloved"
Van/Stef AU - "Le Barde et La Bete"
Talia H/C - "The Sleeping Garden"
Van/Stef Deus Ex Machina - "The Embodiment of Evil"

and the incomplete Hawkbrothers gang bang one, haha :D :D


*this is what my co-mod told me to say when I asked her what I should say.

Re: *\o/*

[blackbournen]

I can't thank you enough for your work with this fest (and the Vanyel Woobie Campaign)! I've had a wonderful time and I'm so glad I got to experience all of this.

I've only been able to read Respite so far, but it was brilliant. Poor Vanyel can be so dense sometimes. It's good that he has Tantras to help look after him!

Re: *\o/*

[thene]

Thank you so much for the Leareth fills - the composition of those was amazing. An Echo Of Touch is one chilling, atmospheric fic; one of the real standouts of the fest imo. I completely adored it, god. AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WROTE A SONNET, THAT WAS AMAZING.

Respite was adorable. Seconding everyone who said Beloved is the classiest bestiality fic in the ever. It's so fun and sexy? Kalira's just like, I got this problem, oops, now what?

You're the best :P

Re: *\o/*

[pennie_dreadful]

You wrote my Beauty and the Beast prompt! *heart eyes* In fact, all of these fills are among my favorites!

Re: *\o/*

[mornelithe_falconsbane]

Platonic STILL cracks me up every time I read it. And Respite, man. I like Respite a ton.

Okay, I liked everything you wrote, but since both of those were for me, I liked them best!

[harukami]

Hello! I'm Harukami. I actually only started rereading Lackey's books at the start of July and otherwise hadn't read them for a good 15 years, so I'm still catching up on reading. My current primary fandom other than Valdemar series is DRAMAtical Murder. I can be found on tumblr at harukami and AO3 at harukami.

I wrote these fills (link goes to the AO3 version rather than back to the prompt post):
Little Deaths (Vanyel/Shadow-Lover)
Good Company (Lissa and Vanyel's amazing adventures gen)
Orders (Tylendel/Vanyel, monk AU)
Owned and Gifted (Stefen/Vanyel, kept boy AU)

[shadowsapiens]

Dangg, you were busy this month! And I had no idea those were all by the same person, but now that I think about them, it makes sense. Awesome work :D

Also I think I've read your ViTri fics before!

[blackbournen]

I've read the ones that looked like they wouldn't have spoilers for me, and I absolutely loved Orders. You really got everyone's character down in that one - even Gala was perfect! And of course Vanyel and Tylendel's relationship was wonderful. Thanks so much!

[rymenhild]

Awesome! I wrote the prompts for both "Good Company" and "Little Deaths," and I was so happy and excited to read both of those terrific stories. "Orders" is also a standout of the fest. I think I started reading the kept boy AU, but I may not have seen later installments. Good work taking care of Vanyel!

[thene]

oh woah. I LOVED Good Company - that thing is like my ship manifesto in fic form and is bookmarked forever. It completely wrecked me and I need to go read it again, repeatedly. Orders also made me super happy - I prompted it, and I'm so glad I did. <3 It was one of those ideas I'd had kicking around for ages but hadn't done anything with, and you took it AMAZING PLACES. It was so sweet seeing Van gradually drawn out of his shell by Lendel. Thank you for taking it on.

[mornelithe_falconsbane]

Wow, you were busy! Orders was huge. And delicious, delicious Vanyel-angst.

(I really liked Orders)

Hello!

[blackbournen]

I'm nen! I wrote one fic for this fest, and anybody who's been following my liveblogs of the series is going to be completely unsurprised by which one it is, but possibly surprised by the fact that I wasn't the one who prompted it in the first place.

"Unison" (Vanyel/Tashir, mutual dubcon canon divergence) - uploaded to AO3 under a different username because I don't want to confuse anyone following my main, also available with its prompt on the main post.

Because I haven't actually finished reading the series, I've been pretty wary of checking out any other fills, but what I have seen has been incredible. I'm looking forward to coming back and being able to fully enjoy everything you've created. This was the first fest I've ever participated in, and it's been an absolute blast!

Re: Hello!

[harukami]

I really enjoyed Unison! It was a fantastic read, really emotionally intense and so mixed up and I felt so badly for both of them. Really good work.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the series!

Re: Hello!

[thene]

Unison was great! Such a hot mess.

Re: Hello!

[shadowsapiens]

Nen, Unison was awesome! So fucked up in a very appealing way, and I was surprised at how well it flowed from the canon paragraphs.

I feel like a proud mother hen sort of mod, watching from your live blog through to your first Valdemar fic in your first fest, haha. Definitely looking forward to the rest of your liveblog :D

Re: Hello!

[mornelithe_falconsbane]

I'm a huge fan of your Valdemar reviews. Incidentally, if you want to go on to Talia's series...

(Huge fan!)

And I prompted the Vanyel/Tashir one with the specific hope of luring you in to write it. \o/ I...am feeling very pleased with myself, yes. :D

[zazzle]

HELLO I'm Zazzle AKA allegoriest. I'm harukami's actual wife. I don't write fanfic. I actually make AMVs. I haven't written fic or prose in, like, 15 years.

Somehow I wrote the Vanyel/Tylendel/Staven fill, which finished at just over 20K. I'm not sure what I'm doing here, and feel equal parts happy and alarmed.

HONESTLY, THANK YOU THOUGH to everybody's wonderful comments along the way, and of course for all the great fics that have been written ♥ ♥ ♥ I tried to leave comments everywhere I could but I'll make sure to double back to read everything else that we're all done.

[harukami]

[blackbournen]

That was great! Thank you very much for sharing it. You definitely nailed Tylendel's... issues, and Vanyel's rude nobleman persona was fantastic. If you do decide to get back into writing fic, I'd definitely be interested.

[thene]

I need to read the end of Equilibrium still, but it's been a real treat. I do NOT normally go for incest but you sucked me in with your Staven and the way he yanks on that web of relationships Lendel has with everyone else. I really hope you keep writing, because this was amazing.

[rymenhild]

Mods and writers, you have done fantastic jobs. This game made me so happy.

I did not write any fics. But I did write many prompts, and I was thrilled by all the fills I got. Not linking because I'm on a smartphone, but I am grateful for:

"Beloved" (Lavan/Kalira) which managed to give the weirdest pairing in all of Lackey's work (his soulmate? A horse!) a gentle, convincing, very Mercedes Lackey-ish and not actually bestial mindsex interlude. I was really impressed.

Jisa, not dealing (which I think was posted on AO3 as "Day Two"): a lovely, sad moment where Jisa reveals her grief and loss to Stefen, and Stefen in turn can open up his grief to Jisa. I admit that I read Valdemar for the emotional agony, and the writer delivered!

I'm going to post my responses to more of the fills gifted to me in a comment below, because I am afraid my phone will lose my comment otherwise.

[rymenhild]

Oh, dammit. My phone did lose my second comment, in which I wrote up all the ways that Harukami's "Good Company" (LISSAAAAAA!) and "Little Deaths" (Even Death wants to cuddle Vanyel and give him some good sex) are awesome and I'm so grateful for them. And I have to stop writing, because it's time to get up.

Thank you to all the writers, who were all phenomenal, and again to the mods! My grumpy Yfandes icon loves you.

[thene]

I wrote 3 things! Wish I could have done more but, uh, one of them took a lot out of me. I also sat and passed a professional exam last Monday, and study time was a real crimp on my style :/ I wrote a surprising amount of The Lost One sat in parks and even on crowded trains (hey, if I'm writing in point 6 font then the old lady next to me only has herself to blame if she takes a peek). The highlight was when I sat under a tree to write at lunchtime and got dripped all over by gross tree sap.

THIS WHOLE FEST HAS BEEN GREAT, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE. I am totally going to raid these prompts forever - there were a lot I liked that I didn't get around to filling. Y'all should join us on last_herald_mage for future funtiems too. (the interests list compels you...)


Day Two (Jisa & Stef, grieving) (now also on AO3)

The Lost One (Krebain/Van torture, Stef/Van comfort) (now also on AO3)

Van/Stef rivals mini-fill - this was a self-fill: I prompted it because it was one of those ideas I'd never made work. It still doesn't work, but now it's out there.

(Spoiler the end of The Lost One is, like, I think the 5th time I've written Stef/Van D/s so you can raid my AO3 if that's your thing).

[shadowsapiens]

Thene!!!! I'm the OP for the Krebain H/C prompt and I stand by every comment I made -- that was the fic of my dreams. Thank you. I'm sure if the old lady on the train saw it, she also thought it was a damn good fic. Probably the tree thought it was great too.

Also congrats on your exam :D

It's me!

[mornelithe_falconsbane]

Hi! I'm Mornelithe, and I can't spell worth a damn! Please pity me.

Anyway, I wrote (and didn't finish):

Vanyel/Angst Starvation fic: http://21-days.dreamwidth.org/1496.html?thread=163544#cmt163544
the Kero threesome:
http://21-days.dreamwidth.org/1496.html?thread=56024#cmt56024
Mornelithe/Starblade/a gryphon
http://21-days.dreamwidth.org/1496.html?thread=167896#cmt167896

And I actually did finish:
A Restful Night: Vanyel/Blankets/Embarrassment
http://21-days.dreamwidth.org/1496.html?thread=75736#cmt75736
The Hung Tree - Firesong/Vinetcles
http://21-days.dreamwidth.org/1496.html?thread=93400#cmt93400
which I edited considerably on AO3
http://archiveofourown.org/collections/21_Days_of_Valdemar/works/4669496

Man this was fun! I was writing this stuff like it was my job! ...at my job. It was a slow month. :P

Re: It's me!

[thene]

OH MY GOD, THE KERO THREESOME. finished or not, that thing is pure gold. The amount of lust you got in there is phenomenal. And poor innocent Kerowyn having to learn so much all at once. Like, her life is so hard. I am only sad Kero never found out about strap-ons because I was stoked for that :(

eta: also, so much love for the poor blanket and for your other fills; I loved all this weird fun stuff on meme. That starvation fic was chilling. Holy shit, Van, you are way out of it.

[pennie_dreadful]

I'm Kat, aka macabre_monkey, and I wrote the yet untitled Vanyel lives AU. I have been in a writing slump for two years now, and even before then I managed to write complete fics in under two weeks like NEVER. This whole fest has just been...there are no words. I know a fair number of people are new to the fandom, or read the books years ago and never really got into the fandom, but for those of us who could never get these fucking books out of our ids, well, it can get kinda lonely here. So I just want to say thanks, really, because it has been the most unexpectedly wonderful thing to happen to me since a random encounter with thene, which ultimately resulted in us trolling lhmfanship with links to our kink porn. And creating last_herald_mage so we could play in our own sandbox. Which you are all welcome to join! Crosspost your fills, post meta discussions, whatever, the fun doesn't have to stop just because the fest is over! I never figured there would be more than like, five people participating and that this fest could produce so much GOOD fic. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY THE MODS, YOU ARE DOING GOD'S WORK. <3 <3 <3

[shadowsapiens]

Oh gosh, your fill was so good! Never would have guessed it was coming out of a writing slump -- but I also know exactly where you're coming from. Three cheers for getting our shit together! :D

And I for one am so grateful that so many awesome people, both old fans and new, came out to play with us. You have no idea how excited we were when Mornelithe stumbled upon last_herald_mage! "Shit look there's an active comm, they all write awesome fic? We have to lure them over to us." Thankfully you guys seemed pretty amenable to luring, haha.

[pennie_dreadful]

Just want to throw this out there for all the new(ish) folks: I have compiled an LHM recs list, which between me, thene and gildaurel we have probably found all the good (or at least readable) fics going back to 2001.

…wow, updating that list is going to be fun

[thene]

I was thinking we just link the whole post or the AO3 collection or sth rather than doing it item by item? Your call.