2026 Monster Theme Poll
Pick 10 new themes for 2026:
Adoption
13 (18.8%)
Afterlife
8 (11.6%)
Aliens
11 (15.9%)
Angst
10 (14.5%)
Books & Writing
12 (17.4%)
Character Study
18 (26.1%)
Collaborations & Remixes
13 (18.8%)
Coming of Age/Rites of Passage
16 (23.2%)
Community
15 (21.7%)
Crack Treated Seriously
26 (37.7%)
Fandom (characters involved in fandom, works involving fandom, meta about fandom)
9 (13.0%)
Fannish Non-Fiction (meta, tutorials, resources)
18 (26.1%)
Fantasy (elves, unicorns, et al)
15 (21.7%)
Fluff
16 (23.2%)
Games & Competitions
5 (7.2%)
Gothic
15 (21.7%)
Holidays & Celebrations
9 (13.0%)
Horror
11 (15.9%)
In Denial
16 (23.2%)
Inept in Love
16 (23.2%)
Journey/Travel
18 (26.1%)
Just Like Canon
13 (18.8%)
Kink
11 (15.9%)
Kisses
14 (20.3%)
Manners & Etiquette (including mannerpunk)
12 (17.4%)
Matchmaking
10 (14.5%)
Meet the Family
14 (20.3%)
Mentors & Protegees
17 (24.6%)
Music
9 (13.0%)
Neurodivergent Characters
12 (17.4%)
New Releases (I'll let you determine what's "new" for the fandom)
14 (20.3%)
Original Characters
9 (13.0%)
Outstanding Prose
11 (15.9%)
Podfic
7 (10.1%)
Power Dynamics
12 (17.4%)
Protest & Revolt
5 (7.2%)
PWP (Porn Without Plot or Plot? What Plot?)
10 (14.5%)
Role Reversal
8 (11.6%)
Romance
9 (13.0%)
RPF
9 (13.0%)
Short Fiction (under 2000 words)
18 (26.1%)
Siblings
16 (23.2%)
Social Media
6 (8.7%)
Unpopular Characters
18 (26.1%)
Unreliable Narrator
24 (34.8%)
Vampires
12 (17.4%)
Villains
10 (14.5%)
War
7 (10.1%)
Whump
16 (23.2%)
Pick 3 classic themes you'd like to revisit:
Arranged Marriage
31 (44.9%)
Cops & Crime
8 (11.6%)
Epistolary
23 (33.3%)
Forced Proximity
21 (30.4%)
Future Fic
16 (23.2%)
Historical AUs
16 (23.2%)
Pining
19 (27.5%)
Threesome
25 (36.2%)
Worldbuilding
34 (49.3%)
Only two days left to suggest themes!
I'll close that post the morning of the 19th and put up the big theme poll on the 20th. If you're going to be out and about around that time, you can track the admin: poll: theme tag. Just click on the little bell icon or "track" link on any post with that tag, select "Someone posts an entry tagged admin: poll: theme," hit save, and you'll get an email when the big poll goes up. You'll also get an email every time I post a theme poll thereafter, which is monthly. If you don't want that, you can cancel the notification later; it's the same process, just uncheck the box and hit save.
Stranger Things: Like a Virgin, by mistresscurvy
Pairings/Characters: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Rating: Explicit
Length: 26,183 words
Creator Link:
Theme: Amnesty, First Time, Canon LGBTQ+ Characters, Research, Futurefic, Friendship
Summary: "Did it ever occur to any of you that I might not want to have my only sexual experiences be with someone who isn't actually interested in me?" Will asked.
He was met by three identical looks of confusion. "I mean, it would still be sex," Dustin said finally.
Reccer's Notes: Set after a season four where, yes, a lot of people died. But the kids are seventeen now, and Mike and Will are both virgins, which Mike is very concerned about: Cue the 80s teen sex comedy. Unlike much of that genre, though, this isn't gross or embarrassing, and everybody's having a good time. I adored Will here, kind of baffled by what Mike's gotten them into, yet excited about it too, and it's wonderful to see him stand up for himself, confident enough to be honest about who he is and what he wants. Plus it includes the entire crew, even Argyle.
Fanwork Link: Like a Virgin
Tangled: The Next Birthday by lalaietha
Pairings/Characters: Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Rating: General Audiencees
Length: 714
Creator Links:
Theme: Amnesty, Old Fandoms, Comfortfic
Summary:
"You know," Eugene's voice comes from the side of the tower, "I am really out of practice in climbing up sheer rock-faced walls and across rickety shingles. D'you think I should start a workout regimen again? I mean, I'd kind of let it slide because these are skills commonly associated with thievery and I'm all reformed, but - "
Reccer's Notes:
In which Rapunzel is feeling overwhelmed by her first birthday celebration that involves more than one person and a chameleon, and Flynn offers sympathy and helpful(?) advice.
Short and sweet, and seemed appropriate for Fancake's birthday.
Fanwork Links: The Next Birthday on AO3
Fancake is FIFTEEN
On this day in history,
jerakeen made the very first post to this comm. Happy birthday to us!
To celebrate
fancake's fifteen years of operation, we're taking a two-pronged approach, with thanks to
full_metal_ox for suggesting the second prong:
post recs to the comm for fanworks published in 2010 for amnesty (if all else fails, theme: old fandoms should probably cover you, but consider also theme: favorite fanworks, theme: fandom classics, and theme: underloved fanworks)
comment on this post with what you were into when you were fifteen—or what you were into fifteen years ago—what you're into today, and how your tastes have changed—or not!—over the years, or share your thoughts in your own journal and leave us a link here in the comments
a secret third thing???
Happy birthday, Fancake! Thank you for making this comm a community. 🎂
NATM: if this was a cowboy movie (i'd give you my boots) by Liviapenn
Pairings/Characters: Jedediah/Octavius
Rating: T
Length: 10,180
Creator Links:
Theme: Amnesty, Cultural Differences, Enemies to Friends (to Lovers), Enemies Working Together, Missing Scenes
Summary: There are secret articles in our treaties with the gods, of more importance than all the rest, which the historian can never know. -- Henry David Thoreau
This hour I tell things in confidence,
I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you.
-- Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself"
Reccer's Notes: This is so much fun, charting the growth in these boys' friendship starting from their trek through the snow in the movie to their awkward, gradual romantic advances post-canon ❤️
Fanwork Links: if this was a cowboy movie (i'd give you my boots)