No True Pair

Well, the prompt list is still in progress, but who needs it to get started, right?

Comment here with your numbered list of eight characters for the January round of No True Pair. Yes, your list may contain characters from different fandoms. Yes, you may use your original characters. Yes, you may make more than one list if you want to. Yes, every character in your list will have a prompt with every other one. ...No, signing up does not obligate you to complete any fic/art. ^_^

I will post the prompt list on November 25, so you'll have a little over a month before posting starts.

I'm so sorry it's been this long!

But I promise I have not forgotten about this challenge. I love it to death and I was thrilled at the first round and I want there to be a second -- sign-ups will start by this weekend, and posting will happen in January.

I have a few questions for you before we get started:
(A) How strongly do people feel about having master lists of all the works created for the challenge? This is by far the most time-consuming and labor-intensive part of administering, and I'm never sure how useful it is to people. Are you guys attached to having a list? If so, are there any volunteers to help out with assembling it?

(B) Would anyone feel like it was cheating for me to re-use (possibly with slight alterations) a few of the prompts from last time? I've been trying to make sure that everything I had was flexible enough to fit a variety of fandoms and pairings, but that also means they wind up being pretty broad, so.

Not a question, just some thoughts on where I'm going: Since this coming round will be in January, I'm thinking about trying to put in some New Year-type themes among the options. This round will probably be mostly scenarios, stuff that works fairly well for pairing fic or for gen. The following round will be a Lusty Month of May round, and all the prompts will be kinks. >3

Hey guys -- I'm trying to collect opinions on timing for upcoming challenge rounds. If you'd like to contribute, please stop by and fill out a really short poll here.

Thanks!

Okay! I, ah, know I said in my last post that I hoped to be running a new round in August. It's...going to be August here in another 2 hours and 39 minutes, and I've already gotten the first request to start things up again, so clearly there's interest.

...But I think I really need a break first. I loved the first round! I definitely want to do it again! But I'm suffering hardcore challenge burnout and I know I'm not the only one. I'll get back to you guys in September, and we'll see how things stand.

In the meantime, people who'd like a dose of doing-something-different-with-favorite-characters are welcome to come play at roads_diverged, which is an ongoing pan-fandom AU themes challenge that's already produced some very cool work and would love to have some new blood.

Thank you for your patience! I'll see you soon. ^^

A few people have asked me about this, and I can't see a good reason to say no, so --

If you have extra bits for your no_true_pair pieces that you'd still like to share with the asylum, you can still post them here -- I won't be able to get another round running for a while, and there's no reason to let the asylum just lie dormant until then, right?

I'm starting to work out a plan for the next round, which will involve shorter character lists (so that you have better odds of getting all possible pairings prompted!), most likely multiple prompt lists, and definitely all-new prompts. I'm hoping for sign-ups in August and posting in October. ^^

Thanks again for a great first round!

edit: ( some stats and what I make of them )

And that's it, guys -- posting is done!

213 works of art and fiction (including four that were too long to fit in single posts!)
in 103 fandoms and crossovers
...including 54 new pieces posted in free-for-all week, omg. (they're marked in the list with asterisks.)

Most prolific contributors:
35 - shiegra
26 - hyel (half art, half fic)
18 - elanor_pam
17 - ciceqi (including two of the double-post epics!)
16 - cephy (I am so sorry for leaving you out this morning!)
12 - chibirisuchan

goddamn, guys! you are all fabulous. When I have more time, I'll be going through the complete list of posts to try to pull together some stats on what prompts got used most often, and see if I can use that feedback to help make an even better set next time. I'd be interested to hear your input on that, too -- what kind of prompts feel the most inspiring to you? (People who didn't wind up posting, or didn't post much, I'd like your input here, also: what would have made you more likely to post? did your character list wind up not clicking? were the prompts too weird? did life just get in the way, as it tends to do?)

Thank you all so much for coming along with me on this challenge -- it's been more successful than I ever imagined, and a hell of a lot of fun. ♥

( The Master List )

Title: Amputare
Author: White Aster
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist/ Final Fantasy XII
Pairing/characters: Kimberly/Basch
Rating: ...PG :SOB:
Warnings: Battle gore. Lost limb issues.
Prompt/challenge: Kimberly and Basch: "Go on, make yourself comfortable."
Author's Notes: IT IS STILL THE 7TH SOMEWHERE, WHUT. More at the end of the fic.

---------

( Amputare: Latin, to cut away )

Title: Every Dog Has His Day
Author: dogmatix
Fandom: FFVII/Inuyasha
Rating: PG-13 for language
Warnings: none, worksafe
Wordcount: 674
Prompt: Cid/Sesshoumaru, riding out the storm

( Every Dog Has His Day )

Title: Cold and Dark
Author: Laylah
Fandom: Baccano!
Pairing: Claire, Lua->Ladd
Rating: worksafe
Prompt: love is blindness / i don't want to see / won't you wrap the night around me

( Cold and Dark )

Title: Nothing Like the Sun
Author: SlowMercury
Fandom: Fruits Basket and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/characters: Tohru/Andrew
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Prompt/Challenge: Tohru and Andrew Wells with the title, "Nothing Like the Sun."
Author's Notes: This is a drabble about Tohru. And I now am finally completely finished - I used every character from my primary list at least once, even if I didn't write everything I meant to.

( The reality warp wasn't actually magic at all )

Good work, everyone, and thanks!

Title: Back to Serenity
Author: SlowMercury
Fandom: Firefly and Good Omens
Pairing/characters: Malcom Reynolds/Adam Young
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Prompt/Challenge: Malcom Reynolds and Adam Young: "Go on, make yourself comfortable."
Author's Notes: This was the first story I started and the last one I finished. It's been great participating in this challenge, and I'm proud to say I used every character off my list at least once except Tohru. :) I may or may not manage a drabble featuring her too before The End.

( Obviously, Mal should have stopped four shots ago. There was no other explanation for his current predicament. )

Title: Next Time
Author: Cephy
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters: Zack, Vincent
Rating: R
Warnings: And this would be the very-much-less-happy, Nibelheim-era version of this prompt. Repeat: not happy. I'm serious.
Prompt/Challenge: Zack/Vincent, sex under the influence

( He turned just in time to see the door seal shut behind him. )

Title: Perspective
Author: SlowMercury
Fandom: Star Wars and Ranma 1/2
Pairing/characters: Princess Leia/Ranma
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Prompt/Challenge: Princess Leia and Saotome Ranma have something to celebrate.
Summary: Princess Leia has journeyed from afar seeking a Jedi master.

( To Leia's admittedly untrained eye, the black haired boy standing in front of her at the bazaar shone with the Light of the Force. )

Title : The Edge of the Map
Author: Cephy
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII
Characters: Sora, Zack
Rating: PG
Warnings: Gratuitous Pirates of the Carribbean 3 references.
Prompt/challenge: Sora and Zack with the title, "The Edge of the Map."

( Sailing to the edge of the world... )

Title: Behind the Mask
Author/Artist: Hyel
Fandom: Discworld
Characters: Tiffany and Susan
Rating: PG
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Tiffany and Susan with the title 'Behind the Mask'
Word Count: 100
Notes: It's just a tiny pointless thing, but this is how I would see their first meeting going.

( 'I am not afraid of you,' said the girl, without a shudder or a drop of sweat on her broad young forehead. )

Title: Blunted Edge
Author/Artist: Hyel
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Pairing: Sam/Pippin, Sam/Frodo, possibly Pippin/Frodo
Rating: PG
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Sam/Pippin, weapon kink
Word Count: 200
Summary: Frodo's still gone and everyone's still depressed about it. I write these drabbles too often...

( Bag End was quiet, the curtains drawn, the candlelight dim, the fire dying. )

Title: Girls on Another Night Out
Author/Artist: Hyel
Fandom: Discworld
Pairing: Polly/Mal, Mal/Tiffany/Annagramma
Rating: NC-17
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Maladict/Tiffany, in a threesome with any other character from your list
Note: This is a follow-up to Amazon Syren's fic Girls' Night Out (note: there are also nsfw illustrations under the link, though not right on the top) and basically just a blatant ripoff, but I kind of couldn't justify the pairing in any other way without breaking my Polly/Mal OTP or killing one of them off, so that's my excuse. Also it's smutty smut smuuuut. And not very long.

( Polly and Maladict do not normally share, but this is special. )

Title: First Place at the Witching Bee
Author: chibirisuchan
Fandom: Discworld and Bleach
Pairing/characters: Granny Weatherwax and Yoruichi
Rating: PG
Warnings: None really
Prompt/challenge you're answering: "Granny Weatherwax needs help that only Yoruichi can provide."

( Ficstuff here )

Title: Basic Instinct
Author: chibirisuchan
Fandom: FF12 and Bleach
Pairing/characters: Balthier and Yoruichi
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: a bit of language
Prompt/challenge you're answering: "Balthier and Yoruichi: Don't make me come over there."

( Ficstuff here )

Title: Tournament of Lies
Author: chibirisuchan
Fandom: Discworld and Vagrant Story
Pairing/characters: Granny Weatherwax and Sydney Losstarot
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: deathbed fic
Prompt/challenge you're answering: "Granny Weatherwax and Sydney: there's no need to complicate / our time is short / this is our fate, I'm yours"

( Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline. )