#also thank u to the fest organizers!! so much fun!! love everyone's work so much!!

[a-a-a-anon]

eeek loved the prompt for a richie and eddie wedding so i drew this up for the @rikandadefest 2024 (ao3 link)!

i'm also taking the opportunity to post my headcanons i had while drawing this:

the flowers are grown by richie in his little windowsill garden. they probably died and burnt to the crisp from second hand damage while he was cooking up the wedding dinner/cake, but he was still proud!

speaking of, some of the things richie cooked up include pickle onion sandwiches (eddie's favorite), fish fingers, and caviar scavenged from the depths of the bin from when lady natasha visited to add some pizzazz. their cake was cheese and onion flavoured

the flowers are blue and pink because of richie's apron colors/eddie and richie's matching pj's colors (i imagine the wedding's color schemes were blue/pink)

the lacey, frilly wedding dress is also heavily inspired by richie's frilly pretty apron. i wanted something a little 1980s-ostentatious-ugly but also princessy because i think that would appeal to richie's out of touch, fanciful sensibilities (/affectionate)

richie got the base of the dress from somewhere else (eddie nicked it for him) and sewed even more lace and frills on himself

eddie's suit is the fancy one from 'digger' (i think they mention its a rented suit in that episode but in my head eddie never bothered to return it.) eddie didnt care much about dressing up but richie wanted it and the wife gets what she wants, and it was the nicest item of clothing eddie had

[gimmethatagustd]

Hai I’m the kid from the “struggling with ao3” ask. I read your advice (thanku sO MUCH) I just wanted to know, how the fuck do I join fests??? Where do I find them??? Do I have to ask permission??? Do I make a fest??? All of the work I have done is actually Taekook, but meh not many hits, so I’m thinking of joining a fest… and I have no idea what a fest is so that’s cool too. However thANK YOU for taking your time to answer me!! It was so sweet of u

LOL, ok, first I want to say I'm glad that reply was helpful because I was like, this is INSANE, and I wrote so much. I hope the anon doesn't think I'm ridiculous 😂 anyway, have another long explanation: 

THE BASICS

Fests are an opportunity for AO3 writers to all write for a specific theme and/or ship. Sometimes, they're created to boost a theme or ship that's uncommon or doesn't get a ton of love (like the Rarest Pair Jinmin Fest or the Top Tae x Bottom Koo Fest since everyone likes to write Jungkook as an alpha daddy dom top even tho he's a babygirl bottom 😤 - I'll die on that hill I'm ngl jhskdfjs ANWAY). Fests are hosted via Collections on AO3. Someone makes the account/collection and is in charge of organizing the fest's schedule. They're called the fest mods. Mods host the fest on Twitter, advertising it, playing games with people, overall getting everyone hyped up to join the fest. 

PROMPTING PERIOD

Once the fest begins, mods will open the "prompting" period. This is where people can go to the collection and submit prompts that they'd like to see as fics. It's basically the same as people submitting fic requests on Tumblr via asks, but it's a whole list of prompts collected throughout a specific time frame (usually around 1 month). You can submit prompts if you want. I really like doing it! Here's an example of a prompt I submitted for the Sink Your Teeth In Fest 2024, which is a fest about fangwarming (which is like cockwarming, but for fangs... very sexy, I did the 2023 round and wrote a Vmin fic here - the fic says it's part of a collection, so if you click that, you'll see all the fics posted as part of that fest last year).

Any ship Person A is a dom who regularly frequents a supernatural BDSM club. Person B is a new member with a pain kink and an interest in fangs. DW: Any supernatural creatures, as little or as much plot as you want DNW: Cisswap, bp, toxic relationships, for the dom character to be mean

You should include your Do Wants (DWs) and Do Not Wants (DWs) in your prompt. This ensures that the writer who claims your prompt won't write something you don't like (and then, ofc, same for you when you're the one writing a prompt). Most people like requesting specific ships, but I like to let writers choose. 

Mods will usually play games on Twitter to encourage people to develop prompts. They tend to be really cute!

CREATING PERIOD

Eventually, the mods will close the form on the AO3 collection to submit prompts so writers can start claiming prompts. Usually, it's one writer per prompt, but the rules vary based on the fest. You can also claim a "self-prompt," which means you will write whatever you want and not what someone requested. A little button on each prompt on AO3 says "claim," and you'd click that! Some mods also ask writers to submit a Google form about your claim(s) so they can keep track of who has signed up/what they're writing. 

FIC DEADLINES

Mods will provide a schedule so you'll know when your fic is due. Once it's due, you'll post it to the AO3 collection. Sometimes, mods will have you submit another Google form to confirm you're finished. Some fests allow incomplete WIPs/chaptered fics, while others require completed fics. Then, your fic will be public and advertised by the fest mods BUT it'll be anonymous. The point is to ensure that everyone gets a fair chance to attract interest (ie, people aren't just flocking to well known writers, but are going for anything that looks fun) before the mods eventually reveal that you're the one who write the fic. 

Fests are a fun way to promote a specific theme/ship, get to know other writers, draw more attention to your own writing, and sometimes challenge yourself to write a fic you'd never thought you'd write. 

I'm running a fest with Kelly @here4kpopfics! If you're interested in a Jimin ship, you could join ours! Our fest is the Sugar Baby Jimin Fest. We're still in the planning stage, but we're close to opening the fest. Here's our Twitter. There are also a lot of Twitter accounts that advertise fests (there's like DOZENS going on at once, all the time). I recommend this Twitter account. The person who runs it is very nice and always shares news about ongoing fests. 

If you want, you can always message me on Discord if you wanna talk more (daddytaehyung)! I like making new writer friends, and Taekook is one of my favorite ships to write (I'm a Vmin, Taegi, Taekook bitch aka I'm obsessed with Taehyung).