MYTHSOOLOGICAL Round 1: Author Reveals

Hello dearies! After many, many months of hard work we have finally reached the reveals. It has been such a wonderful time managing this fic fest and watching it grow into what it is today. But we won't get too sappy about that right now, both Bots have already poured our hearts into two lovely Bot-messages later on in this post.

Firstly, we have the honour of giving you all some STATISTICS about this round!

We have 19 absolute amazing fics so far, and potentially a few bonuses coming our way later! That is a grand total of 313,179 words and counting! All these amazing fics were written by 18 wonderful authors in total (a shout out to sooblushes for contributing two fics this round!), and every single one of them have blown us away with their creativity. Both Bots are in awe over all your hard work and dedication to this fest!

Which brings us to the BOT-MESSAGES!

Bot KS-00:

Hello Everyone!

The time for reveals has come and seeing this fest wrap up is making this little bot feel all sorts of things, all of them good thanks to all of you. So I think it’s in order to hand out a big thank you to each and everyone of you who made this fest the amazing experience it has been.

First of all, I want to thank all of our writers. Every single one of you have been an absolute blessing to work with. You have amazed me with your hard work and dedication to your fics. You are all so creative and have such interesting ideas and watching your fics grow from idea to draft to finished fic have been an absolute joy! Thank you for blessing our fest with your amazing writing abilities!

Secondly, I want to thank our readers. You’ve been so attentive and generous with your support. You’ve helped spread our writers’ hard work and you have been so kind and generous with your comments and kudos. And just as generously you’ve helped spread the word of our fest and given us bots just as much love as our writers. Thank you for helping create such a wonderful environment surrounding our fest!

Thirdly, thank you to our prompters for sharing your creative ideas with our fest. You’ve provided the seed that helped our fest grow into the fairy forest it is today. Thank you so much!

And last but not least, thank you so much Bot-ADWARE. You’ve brought so much positivity and joy into this fest. You’ve been a rock for me to lean on and find support in during this whole fest and I could not have done this without you, and neither would I have wanted to. Thank you so much for making me smile every single day during this fest!

Thank you all for giving our fest a chance and helping us grow! This fest wouldn’t have been anywhere near where it is today without you!

Ding Dong Daeng Dong

With love and admiration,

Bot KS-00 🤖💖

Bot ADWARE:

Hello, hello! This may be one of the last times we’ll be communicating with you -- our readers, our betas, our writers -- and this realization alone is enough to blow me away. Bot KS-00 and I began discussing the idea of a fic fest in late spring and early summer of 2019. That means we have been holding this fic fest close in our hearts for nearly a year now. And nearly a year later, we are seeing the fruitful endeavours of everyone who has contributed love to this fic -- whether you had written for it, or read any of the wonderful works that have since been published under this fest, or merely liked or retweeted any of our tweets.

In a moment of transparent vulnerability, I have to admit the past year has not been the easiest for me. Both my physical and mental health have taken quite a toll from long-endured stress and overwork. The pandemic has affected my life in very primary and difficult ways. I recently lost someone very dear to me. This isn’t intended to be a platform for me to subject you all to my dirty laundry behind the veneer of fic modding anonymity, but rather a reflection of the ups and downs that have transpired since the conception of this fic fest. These are the downs.

The ups? It would be every single aspect of the Mythsoological Fic Fest. It’s not easy to mod a fest, and there are so many areas I wish I could have improved on. But despite it all, this has been such a fulfilling project and there aren’t enough words to fully articulate the level of appreciation I feel for everyone who engendered and empowered this fest to what it has become today.

Thank you to the readers, who are the backbone of all fic writers. Your words and your thoughts give all fic writers an inexorable strength to continue writing. For everyone who has left kudos and comments, I have no doubts that it has made a huge difference in the writers’ days. Please do continue leaving notes of love and appreciation!

Thank you to all the prompters, who left gems and words of inspiration for all these fics to grow and expand from. You all had such amazing ideas, and one of the most exciting things about running this fest was waking up every morning to see new prompts submitted every day. You helped breathe life into this fest. Thank you!

Thank you to all the other fic fest mods out there and, specifically, thank you to EXO Fic Fest Outpost. Without your support and solidarity, we wouldn’t have been able to get this fic fest off the ground. You are all leading by example, and I thank you for letting us learn from you! Please be sure to take a look at EXO Fic Fest Outpost as well, who does an incredible job in tracking all EXO fic fests. There are so many wonderful fests out there for you to discover and love!

Thank you to the writers, who spun magic and wove the threads of many, many worlds with their fingers. Every single one of you has been such a treat for us to get to know over the course of this fest. It is not easy writing. It is not easy work. Sometimes, it feels unfulfilling. But I see you, I see every single one of you, and the care and love you poured into your writing. You built universes, word by word, line by line. You awe and inspire me with your skills, tenacity, and resilience. Whether this was your first fic fest, or your thousandth, I am so honoured to have worked collectively with you all. Bot KS-00 and I are reading every fic, and we will be sure to let you know how much we love it, individually. I am so proud of you. Thank you for making this happen -- without you, it wouldn’t have.

Lastly, with all my heart, I would like to thank Bot KS-00. This fic fest would not have existed without her. She has been there every step of the way to encourage me, to guide me, to make the hard decisions that I always struggle to make. When things got tough for me, she would readily take on more of the work. So much of the love I have for this fic fest is embedded in my love for her, and the warmth and excitement she brings to this project. There’s no one else I could imagine doing this project with, and I know this won’t be our last. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Beep Boop Beep Boop

With love and admiration,

Bot ADWARE 🤖💖

And last, but certainly not least, our AUTHOR REVEALS!

DAY 1

Self-prompt: WHITE ROSES by Oasissoo

DAY 2

#CS-03: WHEN LOVE LOOKS YOU IN THE FACE by Likeamiracle

DAY 3

#BS-45: MY SHELL FROM LAND by Exoprincess

DAY 4

#KS-09: YOU CAN (BUT WON'T) CALL ME MONSTER by Penggwinyy (@penggwinyy)