Egoism is the very essence of a noble soul.

Some poor intern or something, eye bags darker than the dried coffee stains on their shirt: Confirmed. There's no mention of it in any existing Star Trek franchise. Across 25 total seasons of 5 shows, and 10 movies, over the last 40 years, there is absolutely zero conclusive evidence that Florida survives to see the founding of the Federation

What is this?

Schlocktober is a month-long writing and drawing event. It was established in 2025 as a response to a kink-free Kinktober calendar that became infamous for having way too many rules.

Its unconventional prompts and loose standards encourage creative freedom and reject morality policing in fandom spaces.

Who's running this thing?

Direct your complaints to patheticfangirl.

Why "schlock"?

It means trash/junk (affectionate), and that's the quality of content I'm striving for with these prompts. It's also fun to say.

But, y'know, if you want to take a prompt and turn it into a masterpiece of a whumpy longfic, go for it. That's creative freedom, baby.

What fandom is this for?

Schlocktober is fandom and ship neutral. At the time of posting, there are 218 different fandoms represented in previous works.

What if I want to combine prompts? What if I want to write or draw things out of order? What if I want to make a video? What if...

Go for it. Get weird. Do an interpretive dance. Mix in last year's prompts if you want to. Let the spirit of schlock move you.

What does [prompt] mean?

You tell me. It's all open to interpretation.

Is RPF okay?

Yes, so long as it's clearly fiction. See rule #3 below.

There are rules?

Just three.

No AI use. Having the plagiarism machine do your work for you is the opposite of creative. A typo-riddled mess is better than AI-written fanfiction. A stick figure drawn on the back of a napkin is better than soulless AI slop art. Believe in your own ability to produce trashy works.

Tag appropriately. 'Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings' means anything goes. 'No Archive Warnings Apply' means your work is guaranteed not to contain any of the major archive warnings (non-con, major character death, graphic violence, or underage sex).

No irl bigotry or crimes. Your characters can be as problematic as you'd like, but if you try to post a weird pro-JK Rowling essay or threatening manifesto or something you're not going in the collection. Don't kill the vibes.

Anything else I need to know?

Only the most important thing of all: Have fun.

But someone else is having fun wrong!

Shut the fuck up.

How do I participate?

There's an ao3 collection right here:

Schlocktober on ao3

Otherwise, just tag #schlocktober here or on Bluesky. DMs are open if you tag something and I miss it (I promise it's not intentional).

Will the collection stay open after October?

The collection is open 24/7/365, but you may not get approved as quickly in the off-season as mods don't check often.

I can't read your graphic!

Text version of the prompts under the cut.

[Image ID: The Destiel confession meme edited so that Dean answers 'JK Rowling posted upskirt photos of a woman on Twitter' to Cas 'I love you'. /End ID]

No one doing this should be allowed to call themselves a feminist.

This is awesome on so many levels.

Executive dysfunction comes from a lack of available dopamine. Common advice is wrong. You need to provide your own dopamine before you can start. Otherwise you're trying to run your car on empty.

"But what if I still don't do it" well you already weren't getting it done anyway. Now you have a little treat. Try again later.

You deserve kindness and care even when you aren't being productive.

I usually suggest this technique as a "Reverse Pomodoro." In the original Pomodoro, you work for 25 minutes and then take a break for 5 minutes (the times vary, but that's the essential ratio). People with executive dysfunction often find this insurmountable, and they get even more frustrated, and then the task seems even more difficult. So instead, flip those times.

FIRST, spend 25 minutes doing something energizing and engaging that you like to do. Not scrolling social media passively, not watching tv, not napping. Try something like colouring, doing yoga, running/walking around the block, talking about your favourite tv show with someone in real time, playing with the dog or cat, making and eating a lovely sandwich, hula hooping, something active. Having a little treat absolutely falls in this category!

(on the subject of little treats: refusing yourself food until you do work is for fucking Puritans and you can be kinder to yourself)

Then, after 25 minutes (or however long it takes to eat the sandwich or finish the yoga routine, it doesn't have to be exact), spend 5 minutes writing (or doing whatever you're struggling to start). Most people can coax themselves into doing something they find difficult for five minutes, if they have already filled up the joy/energy/engagement bucket. You can put a timer on for the 5 minutes if you want, or if you find that annoying, just work for as long as you like.

The other key is: don't push yourself to keep going when you're frustrated or tired—that will just reinforce the negative belief that you already have, which tells you that this task is painful to do, and needs to be avoided. If you've commonly had to force yourself to do this kind of task, that's likely part of why you think of it as painful and have trouble starting it now. Also, you should just, at a basic level, try not to put yourself in pain for the sake of productivity. So just do it till the good feelings run out. Then start hula hooping or colouring again for another 25 minutes. When the tank's refilled, try another 5 minutes of work, if you can. Adjust times to taste.

This is a pretty major letdown, ngl.

I need links to news articles about recent book bans and other censorship, particularly in a US context.

For those curious it’s Sylvester McCoy

Oh, this has nothing to do with you being a woman. I like women. I just have a little problem with scientists.