#sqfeature

Votes have finally been tallied...

Congratulations to Writetherest for winning this year's Christmas Fic Exchange!

Thanks to everyone who participated and voted :) Til next year!

Theme: Christmas Fic with overall genre of Fluff. It can have a little angst, a side of smut, and can vary on timelines but general feel of the fic should be Fluff and of course, SWAN QUEEN. It can still be a pre SQ fic, as long as it leaves the impression of an SQ pairing.

The fic with the highest number of notes wins.

Prize:

(1) Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2013 (WiFi) [Shipping will be covered.]

Submission Guidelines:

Submit entries here. Indicate in the body/description that this is SQ Xmas Fic Exchange Entry.

Submission begins Dec 5 0000 EST and ends Dec 12 2359 EST.

One entry per writer.

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We will count from what we post here in beatthe0dds. If the story is posted elsewhere, what you will need to submit to us is the link, we will copy the story and post it here in the blog.

All entries will be posted Dec 14 0000 EST.

Voting Guidelines:

*Readers can like/reblog different stories.

*However, a reader who likes and/ reblog the same story more than once will be counted as one vote.

*Writers reblogging their story will be not be counted as a vote.

Likes/Faves on other sites apart from Tumblr are not counted.

Voting begins once entries are posted, which again, is on Dec 14 0000 EST. Voting ends Dec 21 2359 EST. We will take screenshots to keep a record of the vote count by this time. [For concerns as to why not use polls, we all know this can be rigged. We're not saying this will be done, but better to not have that looming over anyone's head]

Screenshots will be posted within 30 mins from Dec 21 2359 EST.

For writers:

Writers can advertise/market/promote their fics however they want once the fics are posted. Disparaging another writer thru any of this promotion will disqualify your entry.

Winner Announcement:

The story with the highest note* count wins and will be announced Dec 21 0100 EST thru blog and twitter post. Winner will also be notified thru their ask box.

As a bonus, we will also be randomly selecting another winner among our followers using this software, the Hat. In any event that the selected follower is the same as the writer who won the Exchange, we will be drawing for another winner.

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Updated with the recent post made by Hunnyfresh here

Incoming Messages has garnered quite a following in the ship that we thought to ask the author's top picks. Though we wanted a little spin to it and asked for fic recs that don't get much buzz but definitely worth the read.

Without further ado, here is HunnyFresh's Top Picks

  Operation Reindeer - Fangirlin'it. This fic is absolutely amazing. It ties together the festivities of Christmas, mixed with awkward family reunions and an established realistic blooming romance between Emma and Regina. It's the perfect combination of hilarity, sweetness, Swan Queen suggestiveness and heart-warming fluff. Fangirlin'it hits it right out of the park with this two-shot

  All the Single Ladies - Korderoo. Korderoo's ATSL is sure to be a fun ride as the author puts our two favourite ladies in a bachelorette auction. It's well-written, maintains a steady pace and involves many of our favourite ships including Red Beauty and Snowing. This story is sure to be a good one as Emma and Henry plot their move to get Emma to win Regina's bid for a date.

  Practical Magic - KateWallowie. For those of you who aren't familiar with Sandra Bullock's movie Practical Magic, KateWallowie takes the essence of that film in the concept of casting a spell to produce a perfect partner, or as we like to call it, True Love, and sets it with Regina and Emma. The angst build-up sets the stage for the inevitable Swan Queen get together that won't break the reader's heart but makes it all the more endearing when our two favourite ladies finally realize their potential. Putting Swan Queen in a Sandra Bullock plot line has definitely made it a favourite of mine.

  It's About Time - queenofspades72.This little gem brings out my love for Emma and Regina's secret relationship. Told from Henry's point of view and with a minimum of Swan Queen scenes, the little hints throughout the story had me grinning at the knowledge that there was something going on between Henry's two mothers right in from of his nose. Queenofspades72 implies the relationship really well that once revealed, you're giddy you were right.

  Growing Pains - awkwardfangirlwritesfanfiction. The premise for this is golden. After all the Emma or Regina losing their memory fics, having Henry lose his instead is clever. Not only is the kid a seventeen year old with a ten year old mindset, but he's reverted back to his ways of hating Regina. I think we can all agree the kid tends to have it out for his brunette mother, but the way it's handled in this fic is really well done, not to mention the fact that Emma constantly stands up for her even to their son. Aside from the story being a little Henry-centric, the Swan Queen moments where they don't have to pretend not to be in love are just adorable and sweet and fluffy, and I could go on. It looks like akwardfangirlwritesfanfiction writes has some pretty creative ideas.

  Dreaming - awhitefairytale. The concept behind this story totally brings on the angst of the separation of True Love. That's my favourite part about the story. Where Charming feels his heart hurt when Snow falls under the sleeping curse in the show, Emma falls physically and mentally ill when she and Regina have a rough patch. Awhitefairytale emphasizes the point that these two ladies just belong together.

  The Story of it All - Sage1982. This is a well-thought out and well-written Regina as a professor with Emma as a student fic. It had me hooked right from the beginning because of its plot - college student Emma bribes Regina to return to Storybrooke with her . What makes me love it is that it's not a teacher/student fic primarily about sex. It's clear attraction and relationship is there, and I'm very excited to see how Sage1982 plays this one out.

  Text From Last Night - Swan Queen - mandylyn9. This story is my guilty pleasure. I absolutely adore the TFLN photosets, but the accompanying stories are the cherry on top. Mandylyn9 brings those photosets to life with hilarious adventures of Swan Queen smut ranging from quick and fast to sweet lovemaking.

  Evil Queens Don't Get a Happily Ever After - In A Minute There is Time. Warning! The title says it all! This angst-filled journey ripped apart my soul and didn’t even bother to put it back together again. Even still, the story was addictive and had me on the edge of my seat for every chapter. I definitely recommend reading this one from In a Minute There is Time.

Our August Feature Writers as promised. Writetherest and B of Ericaland.

We decided in this installment, to interview the writers simultaneously,though half the time it is more of a conversation flow as we were just awed hearing them bounce off ideas, opinions, future fic plans and more. Definitely, a read we know you guys will enjoy.

So hey, we'll stop with the yapping so you can go and start with the reading :)

If you're new to this blog, here's our first installment of Writer's Choice

Sexytimes [ Exquisitliltart | Chilly Flame | Killer Elephants ]

I will be honest here, I haven't read a single fic Chilly Flame wrote until I saw the post for This Great Distance. And I read it when I saw Fictorium (Lola) beta'ed the piece.

I know, I know. But you have to understand too, with all the fics posted, it kinda takes you some time  to get caught up in all of them. 

Clearly I was missing out because her fics are outstanding. (Really glad that I know that now.) 

Both obsessivelyaddictive and I follow her updates religiously so it just follows that we ask her what her top picks are and as with SQ writers, she was really gracious to send this back to us.

A little insert from ChillyFlame and then on to her list :)

These stories are almost uniformly about more than just the hot stuff; I love a good smutty one-shot but I also very much enjoy little sparks of heat in a beautifully written universe.  I also realized as I compiled this list that lots of other M stories I’ve enjoyed in the Once universe are of other pairings, so when there’s a request for those, I’ve got some ready. :D