Ten years have come and gone and so have our Summer/Winter Holidays for this year. (We’re a bit late closing this time thanks to Real Life™ striking - sorry!) We've had a host of fabulous entries again, and I hope you all had fun. Many thanks to all the participants, to everyone who is reading/viewing and commenting, and in particular to our intrepid pinch-hitters!

Everyone's free to crosspost their entries now, and let me use this opportunity to remind you that there's a Winter Companions collection over at AO3 - feel free to add all your wintercompanion entries!

Here is our masterlist for this year's Summer/Winter Holidays. Time to get caught up - or start reading/viewing! As usual, you can also find all the entries under the challenge: summer holidays 10 tag, or just click here.

( FANART )

( FANFIC )

x-post: wintercompanion.livejournal.com/272005.htm

Ten years. It's crazy to think we've done this for a decade - and as always, we're thrilled the Holidays are here!

For those who are new: we have a terrific group of authors and artists who have spent the last month creating works for a special set of prompts, and now it's time to showcase them, one by one - and to let you all loose on them as well!

This year's theme? We've already had an Anniversary Edition for Summer/Winter Holidays 5, so instead we're celebrating our anniversary with a trip down memory lane. Our comm has a decade to look back on - and Jack and the Doctor have far, far longer. How do they keep track of where they've gone, when they've met, who they've seen? So, this year, we're taking a look in their metaphorical photo album. We're giving you a person (their name's on the tip of Jack's tongue... ;) ), an action (what WAS going on?), a memento (where did you get THAT?) and a description (you wouldn't believe me if I told you).

Every creator who signed up was assigned one of the prompts, and we'll be posting their works over the course of the month. In addition, for the whole month of August, all of these prompts are open for anyone in the comm to write or create to. As usual with Winter Companions challenges, you can interpret any of these however you like. You're not required to use all of a prompt group - they're just meant as something to get your ideas flowing. :)

Please let our authors and artists know you appreciate their work! And while you're at it, we hope you'll offer some of your own. Come and join our party!

The prompt groups are listed below, and they're all open for the taking. There's no particular order to them, and you can post your responses any day this month.

( Here's this year's prompt list: )


The first showcased entry will be up in a moment - enjoy!

As a gentle reminder, please don't crosspost stories for this challenge elsewhere until the challenge closes about one month from now. Thank you!

Assignments have been sent, so check your email! (Including spam folders if necessary.) Please reply and let us know you've received it.

Also, we have a few prompts left over this year, so if anyone missed sign-ups, we're open for late sign-ups! Let us know if you'd like to do fic or art, and give us your email address, and we'll email you the prompts to choose from.

There's still time to join this year's Summer/Winter Holidays here at wintercompanion!

Willing to write 500 words of Doctor/Jack based on a specific prompt?

Willing to create a Doctor/Jack fanwork of any type - a vid, banner or drawing, icons, or anything else you can think of?

Here's the link to the sign-up post - leave us your name and an email address, and whether you'd like to do fic or art (or both). Sign-ups will remain open until it's no longer the 29th anywhere in the world.

Let's make August a fantastic month!

Ten years, wow. It's an anniversary!

A month later than usual, but it's finally that time of year again: Summer/Winter Holidays are about to start. This has been one of my favourite times of the fannish year for a long time now, and I can't wait to do it again. :)

As usual, here's the deal:

Summer/Winter Holidays Round 10

Every summer, or winter depending on your hemisphere, we're throwing a full-month Doctor/Jack party here at wintercompanion (and wintercompanion). During that month, we post new fic and art created to a prompt list kept secret until the month starts. On the 1st, we start posting the created works, and all of the prompts are open for anyone in the comm. Each year, it's been a great opportunity to showcase the really fantastic stuff you all create.

So here's what we're looking for:

• up to 15 writers willing and excited to write at least 500 words of Doctor/Jack based on specific prompts, to be finished and submitted by 24 July


• up to 15 artists interested in producing a Doctor/Jack-centric work (wallpapers, icons, banners, drawings, vids, etc.) based on specific prompts, to be finished and submitted by 24 July

(As usual, prompts can be interpreted as strictly or loosely as you like. If you'd like to see what kinds of prompts we do, here are last year's.)

Interested? In the comments, leave us a note telling us:

Your name: Your email address: Interested in creating fic or art?

We'll email everyone our secret list of prompts, and you'll pick your top three choices. Once we have everyone's choices, we'll assign you a prompt - we'll do our best to match you with your first choice, but we can't promise.

Sign-ups will be open until 29 June - they'll close when it's no longer the 29th anywhere in the world, and assignments will go out no later than 1 July.

Of course we always have a need for pinch hitters for art and fic - life has a way of happening. Let us know if you're willing to join the ranks of those lifesavers! And if you're willing to beta, please check out our beta volunteer post (LJ | DW) to leave your information.

It doesn't matter if you're new to the comm or if you've been here since the beginning. Anyone and everyone is welcome! Feel free to spread the word - the more the merrier. :D

xpost: https://wintercompanion.livejournal.com/267946.html

A month later than usual, but Round 10 is a go!

Since our poll was a tie, we've decided to go with the later schedule, which will make things a little easier on your mods:

• Sign-ups: June 23 - June 29
• Submissions due: July 24
• Posting: August 1 - August 31

For those of you new to our annual fest: every year a terrific group of authors and artists sign up to produce Doctor/Jack-centric works based on loose prompts, and we'll gradually post and showcase their work for a whole month in the summer - or winter, depending on your hemisphere. :)

So later this month, we'll be looking for your sign-ups. Stay tuned - and get ready to celebrate the Doctor and Jack!

Once again, July is over, and so are our Summer/Winter Holidays for this year. (We’re a bit late closing this time thanks to Real Life™ striking - sorry!) We've had a host of fabulous entries again, and I hope you all had fun. Many thanks to all the participants, to everyone who is reading/viewing and commenting, and in particular to our intrepid pinch-hitters!

Everyone's free to crosspost their entries now, and let me use this opportunity to remind you that there's a Winter Companions collection over at AO3 - feel free to add all your wintercompanion entries!

Anyway, here is our masterlist for this year's Summer/Winter Holidays. Time to get caught up - or start reading/viewing! As usual, you can also find all the entries under the challenge: summer holidays tag, or just click here.

( fanart )

( fanfic )

( fanmix )

xpost: http://wintercompanion.livejournal.com/266311.html

Nine years running - wow, we're having a special anniversary coming up next year, don't we?

But before we look ahead in time (alas, your mods lack a TARDIS or vortex manipulator to actually make the jump), let's look at the NOW: Round Nine is here!

For those who are new: we have a terrific group of authors and artists who have spent the last month creating works for a special set of 15 prompts, and now it's time to showcase them, one by one - and to let you all loose on them as well!

This year's theme? Inspired by the Emoji Bots in a recent episode, we're getting all emotional this time! Because it doesn't matter what the emotion in question, if it involves the Doctor and Jack, you can bet it will be intense. :D

Each prompt contains an emotion, an action, a secret and a piece of music. (All of the music should be easily googleable.) How much of those prompts you use, and how you interpret them - as usual for this fest, it's all up to you.

Every creator was assigned one of the prompts, and we'll be posting their works over the course of the month. In addition, for the whole month of July, all of these prompts are open for anyone in the comm to write or create to. As usual with Winter Companions challenges, you can interpret any of these however you like. You're not required to use all of your prompts - they're just meant as something to get your ideas flowing. :)

Please let our authors and artists know you appreciate their work! And while you're at it, we hope you'll offer some of your own. Come and join our party!

The prompt groups are listed below, and they're all open for the taking. There's no particular order to them, and you can post your responses any day this month.

( Here's this year's prompt list: )

The first showcased entry will be up in a moment - enjoy!

As a gentle reminder, please don't crosspost stories for this challenge elsewhere until the challenge closes about one month from now. Thank you!

xpost: http://wintercompanion.livejournal.com/261922.html

Hi all!

If you signed up for art or fic for next month's fest, the assignments are waiting for you in your email. (Check your spam folders if necessary!) Please reply and let us know you've received it.

If you haven't received your assignment, please comment here so we know something went wrong. Thank you!

If you have already signed up: please reply promptly to the prompt selection email if you haven't yet, so that assignments can go out quickly after sign-ups close!

If you haven't signed up yet: there's still time to join this year's Summer/Winter Holidays here at wintercompanion! Sign-ups will remain open until it's no longer the 28th anywhere in the world.

Willing to write 500 words of Doctor/Jack based on a specific prompt?
Willing to create a Doctor/Jack fanwork of any type - a vid, banner or drawing, icons, anything else you can think of?

Here's the link to the sign-up post - leave us your name and an email address, and whether you'd like to do fic or art (or both).

Come help us make July a fantastic month again!

For everyone who has already signed up: welcome aboard! Prompt selection emails have gone out - if you haven't yet, please reply with your top three choices as soon as you can. Thank you!

For everyone else: there's still time to join this year's Summer/Winter Holidays here at wintercompanion!

Willing to write 500 words of Doctor/Jack based on a specific prompt?
Willing to create a Doctor/Jack fanwork of any type - a vid, banner or drawing, icons, or anything else you can think of?

Here's the link to the sign-up post - leave us your name and an email address, and whether you'd like to do fic or art (or both). Sign-ups will remain open until it's no longer the 28th anywhere in the world.

Let's make July a fantastic month again!

Hello, everyone! It's that time of year again - Summer/Winter Holidays are about to start, for the ninth time now! It's one of my favourite times of the year - it's been a fantastic fest every single time, with so many wonderful submissions. So let's do it again - and for a small change, let's do it on LJ and DW this year! (Yes, this means we're crossposting everything.)

As usual, here's the deal:

Summer/Winter Holidays Round 9

Every year, during the entire month of July we're throwing a Doctor/Jack party here at wintercompanion (and wintercompanion). During that month, we post new fic and art created to a prompt list kept secret until the month starts. On 1 July, we start posting the created works, and all of the prompts are open for anyone in the comm. Each year, it's been a great opportunity to showcase the really fantastic stuff you all create.

So here's what we're looking for:

• up to 15 writers willing and excited to write at least 500 words of Doctor/Jack based on specific prompts, to be finished and submitted by 25 June


• up to 15 artists interested in producing a Doctor/Jack-centric work (wallpapers, icons, banners, drawings, vids, etc.) based on specific prompts, to be finished and submitted by 25 June

(As usual, prompts can be interpreted as strictly or loosely as you like.)

Interested? In the comments, leave us a note telling us:

your name,

your email address, and

whether you're interested in creating fic or art!

We'll email you our secret list of prompts, and you'll pick your top three choices. Once we have everyone's choices, we'll assign everyone a prompt - we'll do our best to match you with your first choice, but we can't promise.

Sign-ups will be open until 28 May - they'll close when it's no longer the 28th anywhere in the world, and assignments will go out no later than 31 May.

Of course we always have a need for pinch hitters for art and fic - life has a way of happening. Let us know if you're willing to join the ranks of those lifesavers! And if you're willing to beta, please check out our beta volunteer post (LJ | DW) to leave your information.

It doesn't matter if you're new to the comm or if you've been here since the beginning. Anyone and everyone is welcome! Feel free to spread the word - the more the merrier. :D

xpost: http://wintercompanion.livejournal.com/260636.html

Hey all! In response to a few inquiries we've had lately: yes, we're going to start archiving and crossposting the comm over at Dreamwidth. Stay tuned for more details, and watch for Summer/Winter Holidays sign-ups later this spring!

July is over, and so are our Summer/Winter Holidays for this year. Once again, we've had a host of amazing entries. Many thanks to all the participants, to everyone who is reading/viewing and commenting, and in particular to our fabulous pinch-hitters!

Everyone's free to crosspost their entries now, and let me use this opportunity to remind you that there's a Winter Companions collection over at AO3 - feel free to add all your wintercompanion entries!

Anyway, here is our masterlist for this year's Summer/Winter Holidays. Time to get caught up - or start reading/viewing! As usual, you can also find all the entries under the challenge: summer holidays 8 tag, or just click here.

( fanart )

( fanfic )

( fanmix )

Amazing wintercompanion people, we need YOU! Or one of you, anyway. ;)

Which is to say, we need a pinch-hitter for our Summer/Winter Holidays - a person who can write 500 words of Doctor/Jack fic, or create some Doctor/Jack-centric artwork, for a specific prompt. One of our participants has had to drop out, so we're urgently looking for a replacement.

Can you help out? Please leave us your email in the comments, and we'll be in touch. Many thanks in advance!

All sorted, thank you very much! :D

Holy cow. It's year eight of this Fest. We've seen four doctors (five, counting the War Doctor!) come and go, and Jack's remained the fixed point that he is, year in and year out. And their dynamic is still just as much fun as ever.

For those who are new: we have a terrific group of authors and artists who have spent the last month creating works for a special set of 15 prompts, and now it's time to showcase them, one by one - and to let you all loose on them as well!

This year's theme? In three words: “Hello.” / “Stop it.” (aka Meet Cute; aka Jack Harkness, every day, every hour, every minute; aka "Are We Seeing Other People?") Because we know how Jack reacts to people, and we know how the Doctor reacts to Jack reacting to people! And the Doctor has this habit of picking up people himself, in a slightly different manner (ahem), and we do want to see Jack reacting, too.

So, this year, Jack and the Doctor are saying hello!

Each prompt contains an age, a location, an occupation, and an event or activity. In other words, all you need for a first encounter (or that meet cute!). How much of those prompts you use, and whether you use an original character or a canonical one, and how large a role said character plays – all of those are up to you.

Every creator was assigned one of the prompts, and we'll be posting their works over the course of the month. In addition, for the whole month of July, all of these prompts are open for anyone in the comm to write or create to. As usual with Winter Companions challenges, you can interpret any of these however you like. You're not required to use all of your prompts - they're just meant as something to get your ideas flowing. You're not required to create the art listed, write the book, or speak the language.

Please let our authors and artists know you appreciate their work! And while you're at it, we hope you'll offer some of your own. Come and join our party!

The prompt groups are listed below, and they're all open for the taking. There's no particular order to them, and you can post your responses any day this month.

( Prompts under the cut )

The first showcased entry will be up in a moment - enjoy!

As a gentle reminder, please don't crosspost stories for this challenge elsewhere until the challenge closes about one month from now. And don't forget - leave a comment in THIS post that we can use for voting in our next regular challenge poll!

There's still time to join this year's Summer/Winter Holidays here at wintercompanion! Sign-ups will remain open until it's no longer the 28th anywhere in the world.

We're still looking for volunteer authors and artists!

Willing to write 500 words of Doctor/Jack based on a specific prompt?
Willing to create a Doctor/Jack fanwork of any type - a vid, banner or drawing, icons, ANYTHING?

Here's the link to the sign-up post - leave us your name and an email address, and whether you'd like to do fic, or art, or both.

Please come help us make July a fantastic month again!

Where did the year go? It's time for Summer/Winter Holidays again already! For the eighth time now, if you can believe it. It's one of my favourite times of the year - it's been a fantastic fest every single time, with so many wonderful submissions. So let's do it again this year!

As usual, here's the deal:

Summer/Winter Holidays Round 8

Every year, during the entire month of July we're throwing a Doctor/Jack party here at wintercompanion. During that month, we post new fic and art created to a prompt list kept secret until the month starts. On July 1, we start posting the created works, and all of the prompts are open for anyone in the comm. Each year, it's been a great opportunity to showcase the really fantastic stuff you all create.

So here's what we're looking for:

• up to 15 writers willing and excited to write at least 500 words of Doctor/Jack based on specific prompts, to be finished and submitted by June 26


• up to 15 artists interested in producing a Doctor/Jack-centric work (wallpapers, icons, banners, drawings, vids, etc.) based on specific prompts, to be finished and submitted by June 26

(As usual, prompts can be interpreted as strictly or loosely as you like.)

Interested? In the comments, leave us a note telling us:

your name,

your email address, and

whether you're interested in creating fic or art!

Of course we always have a need for pinch hitters for art and fic - life has a way of happening. Let us know if you're willing to join the ranks of those lifesavers! And if you're willing to beta, please check out our beta volunteer post to leave your information.

Sign-ups will be open until May 28 - they'll close when it's no longer the 28th anywhere in the world, and prompts will go out no later than May 30.

It doesn't matter if you're new to the comm or you've been here since the beginning. Anyone and everyone is welcome! Feel free to spread the word - the more the merrier. :D

Hello, comm!

Doctor Who is back, and so are your mods, with an update on what the future holds for our corner of Whodom.

After a lot of thought and discussion, and a look at ongoing participation trends, wintercompanion is going to shift away from the bi-monthly challenge format we've been using, and towards running two fests a year - one of which will be Summer/Winter Holidays.

We know it's a big change, and we went back and forth a lot. But the truth is (sad though the fact is), we've always been a small comm and Jack has been off-screen (but in-(ahem)-heart) for a good long while. We want to keep this community alive, though, and shifting gears will allow us to focus on running really good fests that give our awesome members a chance to shine.

The comm will be open year-round - hiatus amnesty will be permanently open in between fests, so if an old WIP suddenly comes alive, or a plot bunny strikes, don't hesitate to post!

And in 2016, we'll be kicking off our new format with an exchange-based fest in the spring.

Feel free to PM us with questions, or comment here - and watch this space for the Spring Exchange!

Love,
your mods,
Woj (wojelah) and Dora (trobadora)

This community has been around for just a little over eight years - it was founded in July 2007, shortly after Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords had aired. Since then, circumstances have changed a lot - LJ has grown smaller; Jack hasn't been on air in years, much less interacted with the Doctor; and I'm sure everyone has noticed that comm traffic has gone down a lot.

A few years back we revised the community calendar, and it's time now to do that again. We'll be taking a two-month hiatus to consider options for the comm, and to work out how to proceed. We'll be back for October - expect another announcement then.

In the mean time, the community will be open for a general amnesty. As always, this means you can write or create for any of our previous challenges. Anything goes - and we mean anything, including the prompt fests and the Summer/Winter Holidays prompts. You can find all the previous challenges via the wintercompanion sidebar. Please use the "challenge: hiatus amnesty" tag as well as the tag for the challenge you're using, and mention both in your headers. Thank you!

If you have any thoughts or ideas for the future of our comm, please comment here - we'd love to hear from you!

Your mods,
wojelah and trobadora