I figured it was high time for me to finally get around to posting all of my recs. Anyone at anytime can feel free to leave suggestions in the comments, and I will review them and add them to this post at my discretion (although of course I'm not going to stop anyone from making their own recs post if they want).
( Updated 12-24-17 )
Sovvan Night Challenge 2025
Oct. 1st, 2025 11:25 amWelcome to the second annual Sovvan Night Challenge!
Autumn is the season of change, the season of harvest and the time to celebrate the year’s bounty. It is also the time to mourn the year’s losses. Sovvan is the night of the year when the veil between life and death is thinnest. Celebrated with a great hunt, feasting, songs, and dancing throughout the day, and bonfires and scary stories at night while candles glow in every window to ward off evil and guide lost spirits home.
The Challenge-
You have thirty days to create something for the theme of Sovvan Night from one (or more) of the prompts, it can be fan-fic, poetry, art, or meta analysis. Choose any characters from any period in Valdemar’s history or even your own OCs, just so long as it is set in Valdemar or the world of Velgarth.
Your Sovvan Night fic does not have to be set actually on Sovvan Night, as long as it fits into the overall theme. It can be scary, spooky, or horror-themed, it can be sad, bittersweet or tragic, it can even be a silly crack-fic or crossover with pop-culture Halloween standards. Just create something new!
The Challenge begins October 1st, with all works to be posted to Ao3 on October 31st (Halloween). You have 30 days to write, draw, or create something inspired by the prompts list. An Ao3 Collection to host all submissions will be made titled- Sovvan_Night_2025
The Prompts-
Autumn
First Frost
Harvest Feasts
Black Cat
Atmosphere
Fog
Full Moon
Candles
Mysteries
Disappearances
Weird Woods
Ritual
Ghostly
Ghost Meeting
Vengeful Ghosts
Possession
Death
Date With Death
The Shadow-Lover
Remembrance
Afterlife
In the Hereafter
Day in the (Un)life
Reincarnation
Autumn is the season of change, the season of harvest and the time to celebrate the year’s bounty. It is also the time to mourn the year’s losses. Sovvan is the night of the year when the veil between life and death is thinnest. Celebrated with a great hunt, feasting, songs, and dancing throughout the day, and bonfires and scary stories at night while candles glow in every window to ward off evil and guide lost spirits home.
The Challenge-
You have thirty days to create something for the theme of Sovvan Night from one (or more) of the prompts, it can be fan-fic, poetry, art, or meta analysis. Choose any characters from any period in Valdemar’s history or even your own OCs, just so long as it is set in Valdemar or the world of Velgarth.
Your Sovvan Night fic does not have to be set actually on Sovvan Night, as long as it fits into the overall theme. It can be scary, spooky, or horror-themed, it can be sad, bittersweet or tragic, it can even be a silly crack-fic or crossover with pop-culture Halloween standards. Just create something new!
The Challenge begins October 1st, with all works to be posted to Ao3 on October 31st (Halloween). You have 30 days to write, draw, or create something inspired by the prompts list. An Ao3 Collection to host all submissions will be made titled- Sovvan_Night_2025
The Prompts-
Autumn
First Frost
Harvest Feasts
Black Cat
Atmosphere
Fog
Full Moon
Candles
Mysteries
Disappearances
Weird Woods
Ritual
Ghostly
Ghost Meeting
Vengeful Ghosts
Possession
Death
Date With Death
The Shadow-Lover
Remembrance
Afterlife
In the Hereafter
Day in the (Un)life
Reincarnation
An Alternate Ending
Aug. 18th, 2025 01:54 pm Hi! So I participated in Fandom Trumps Hate this year (super awesome, you should do it) and I've finished and posted my fic! It's an alternate ending to Magic's Price, rated M. I present Jagged Edges!
There was a great turnout for the Halloween Challenge! Ten brand new fics posted to Ao3 under the name collections/Sovvan_Night_2024
The Sovvan fics-
'A Sovvan Night Tale' by leannmanderson
'Cycle of Sacrifice' by dragonem
'Ignoble End' by Goldscion
'Absurd' by lirason
'Hearthfires' by ToothandClaw
'Pockets Full of Stones' by isnt_it_pretty
'Desiderium' by lirason
'In A Yellow Wood' by ladyfnick
'Years Past Peace' by Gildaurel
'Reunion After A Long Journey' by Blue_Jay_Jay
Many thanks to the wonderful and talented writers who participated in this year's Challenge, I think I will definitely do this again next year. (I'm also seriously thinking of doing an April Fools Crack-fic Challenge)



The Sovvan fics-
'A Sovvan Night Tale' by leannmanderson
'Cycle of Sacrifice' by dragonem
'Ignoble End' by Goldscion
'Absurd' by lirason
'Hearthfires' by ToothandClaw
'Pockets Full of Stones' by isnt_it_pretty
'Desiderium' by lirason
'In A Yellow Wood' by ladyfnick
'Years Past Peace' by Gildaurel
'Reunion After A Long Journey' by Blue_Jay_Jay
Many thanks to the wonderful and talented writers who participated in this year's Challenge, I think I will definitely do this again next year. (I'm also seriously thinking of doing an April Fools Crack-fic Challenge)

A writing Challenge for the Valdemar fandom, thirty days in October to write a fic with the theme of Sovvan Night.
It can be any characters from any period in Valdemar’s history or your own OCs, as long as it is set in Valdemar.
Autumn is the season of harvest, the time of celebrating the year’s bounty. It is also the time to mourn the year’s losses. Sovvan is the night of the year when the veil between life and death is thinnest. Celebrated with a great hunt, feasting and dancing in the day, and scary stories at night while candles glow in every window to ward off evil and guide lost spirits home.
-The Challenge-
Write a new fic set in the kingdom of Valdemar (from the world of Velgarth by Mercedes Lackey) with any of these themes-
Autumn
Hunting
Haunting
Ghost Stories
Brush With Death/Near-Death Experience
Meeting the Shadow-Lover/Death
Afterlife
Reincarnation
The Sovvan Night fic does not have to be set actually on Sovvan Night, as long as it fits into the overall theme.
This is an open Challenge to inspire you into writing a totally new fic; it can be scary, spooky, or horror-themed, it can be sad, bittersweet or tragic, it can even be a silly crack-fic or crossover with pop-culture Halloween standards.
Anything goes! (Please remember to Tag properly)
The Challenge begins October 1st, with all fic to be posted to Ao3 on October 31st (Halloween), so you have 30 days to write. Please tag your fic with [Sovvan Night Challenge 2024] and I will make a Collection of them all.
No limits to wordcount, write as little or as much as you like, the important thing is to Just Write! (poetry and meta analysis welcome too)
It can be any characters from any period in Valdemar’s history or your own OCs, as long as it is set in Valdemar.
Autumn is the season of harvest, the time of celebrating the year’s bounty. It is also the time to mourn the year’s losses. Sovvan is the night of the year when the veil between life and death is thinnest. Celebrated with a great hunt, feasting and dancing in the day, and scary stories at night while candles glow in every window to ward off evil and guide lost spirits home.
-The Challenge-
Write a new fic set in the kingdom of Valdemar (from the world of Velgarth by Mercedes Lackey) with any of these themes-
Autumn
Hunting
Haunting
Ghost Stories
Brush With Death/Near-Death Experience
Meeting the Shadow-Lover/Death
Afterlife
Reincarnation
The Sovvan Night fic does not have to be set actually on Sovvan Night, as long as it fits into the overall theme.
This is an open Challenge to inspire you into writing a totally new fic; it can be scary, spooky, or horror-themed, it can be sad, bittersweet or tragic, it can even be a silly crack-fic or crossover with pop-culture Halloween standards.
Anything goes! (Please remember to Tag properly)
The Challenge begins October 1st, with all fic to be posted to Ao3 on October 31st (Halloween), so you have 30 days to write. Please tag your fic with [Sovvan Night Challenge 2024] and I will make a Collection of them all.
No limits to wordcount, write as little or as much as you like, the important thing is to Just Write! (poetry and meta analysis welcome too)
Fire and Ice- Chapter Seven
Jul. 25th, 2023 12:27 amChapter Seven of my Lendel Lives AU.
The trial of the century! The queen decides to address the Leshara/Frelennye feud head on!
Tylendel finally gets to testify, the truth will come out!
Chap 7- Truth and Consequence https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/118298104
Savil POV at the start, mostly Vanyel POV, ending with a new POV- Lissa!
Warning- For Homophobia/Homophobic speech, Xenophobia/Othering (Evan is a gigantic douche-bag), Mention of Torture, Poisoning, and Violent Death. Blood/Gore.
The trial of the century! The queen decides to address the Leshara/Frelennye feud head on!
Tylendel finally gets to testify, the truth will come out!
Chap 7- Truth and Consequence https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/118298104
Savil POV at the start, mostly Vanyel POV, ending with a new POV- Lissa!
Warning- For Homophobia/Homophobic speech, Xenophobia/Othering (Evan is a gigantic douche-bag), Mention of Torture, Poisoning, and Violent Death. Blood/Gore.
Fanfiction.net outage/possible vanishment
May. 28th, 2023 02:09 pmHeads up to anyone who has work posted on fanfiction.net, they are having a major outage and cannot be accessed right now except via mobile (m.fanfiction.net). So if you have anything there and can at all manage to get into your account Back Up Everything you can.
No idea if this is some sort of server problem or preparation of shutting the whole thing down, but if you have anything that is only posted there go back it up quickly.
*Update*
So it seems to be a DNS attack, people are getting redirected to a spoof site, so if you manually enter the address it will still take you to the actual legit site.
(Still, take this as a reminder to back up your files)
No idea if this is some sort of server problem or preparation of shutting the whole thing down, but if you have anything that is only posted there go back it up quickly.
*Update*
So it seems to be a DNS attack, people are getting redirected to a spoof site, so if you manually enter the address it will still take you to the actual legit site.
(Still, take this as a reminder to back up your files)
Reading Beyond and Into the West
Feb. 3rd, 2023 04:30 pmSo I have a question for the community- I have been reading the new 'Founding of Valdemar' series (which is very good btw! Nice to see how it all started and it's intriguing to have a story with an adult character rather than an emotional teen). But I have a question, I know one of the books had a sort of brief history of the Founding as a sort of prequel bit, which mentioned when the first Companions showed up and Choose the king, his eldest son, and his herald, but I cannot recall which book that was in and I wanted to reread that bit over for context.
Can anyone remember what book that was in?
Can anyone remember what book that was in?
Fire and Ice- Chapter Six
Jul. 14th, 2022 09:09 pmChapter Six of my Lendel Lives AU.
Tylendel gets some damn therapy. Lissa shows up ready to defend her favorite brother from any and all threats (the Fist of Sisterly Wrath!). Withen shows up to be an utter ass and try and take Vanyel home.
Warning- For Homophobia (cannon typical) and Homophobic slur (a rather antiquated one, cannon typical)
Tylendel POV, then Vanyel POV, ending with Savil POV.
Chap 6- "Thicker Than Blood"- https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/99108066
Tylendel gets some damn therapy. Lissa shows up ready to defend her favorite brother from any and all threats (the Fist of Sisterly Wrath!). Withen shows up to be an utter ass and try and take Vanyel home.
Warning- For Homophobia (cannon typical) and Homophobic slur (a rather antiquated one, cannon typical)
Tylendel POV, then Vanyel POV, ending with Savil POV.
Chap 6- "Thicker Than Blood"- https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/99108066
Fire and Ice- Chapter Five
Apr. 15th, 2022 08:57 pmJust posted Chapter Five of my 'Lendel Lives AU.
The Dreams and Visions episode. Tylendel starts feeling some of the negative side effects from the Power Theft. Vanyel has the first Foresight dream.
Warning- For disturbing imagery and flashbacks.
(Lendel POV turning into Van POV, then Savil POV)
Chap Five- The Ties That Bind https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/94232182
The Dreams and Visions episode. Tylendel starts feeling some of the negative side effects from the Power Theft. Vanyel has the first Foresight dream.
Warning- For disturbing imagery and flashbacks.
(Lendel POV turning into Van POV, then Savil POV)
Chap Five- The Ties That Bind https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/94232182
Fire and Ice- Chapter Four
Feb. 19th, 2022 10:56 pmSo I've just posted the next chapter of Fire and Ice, my Lendel Lives fic.
A bit shorter than last time (Chap 3 was over 11K words!) but this is going to be a kinda heavy chapter with more confessions.
Chapter Four- Two Heartbeats https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/92167912#workskin
Tylendel has to turn his illicit notes over to Savil, and comes to some painful realizations.
We also come to find out his relationship with his twin wasn't quite as peachy as he let on.
(All Tylendel POV)
Warning This chapter has mention of the mother's suicide, as well as Canon-typical mention of under-age sexual activity, and mention of child abuse/neglect (vague)
(No incest or twincest)
A bit shorter than last time (Chap 3 was over 11K words!) but this is going to be a kinda heavy chapter with more confessions.
Chapter Four- Two Heartbeats https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/92167912#workskin
Tylendel has to turn his illicit notes over to Savil, and comes to some painful realizations.
We also come to find out his relationship with his twin wasn't quite as peachy as he let on.
(All Tylendel POV)
Warning This chapter has mention of the mother's suicide, as well as Canon-typical mention of under-age sexual activity, and mention of child abuse/neglect (vague)
(No incest or twincest)
Fire and Ice- Chapter Three
Jan. 15th, 2022 10:52 pmSo I've just posted Chapter Three of my 'Lendel Lives fic.
Warm As Love https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/90734752#main
This is kinda the feel-good chapter. Vanyel has bonding time with Yfandes and some girl talk with Donni. Donni gives him good advice, explains a bit about being Lifebonded.
He has visitors, and finds out he has more friends than he thought.
Though not to be completely without angst- we also see what he felt during Tylendel's Confession.
(Vanyel POV throughout... All Vanyel Vision All the Time)
Warm As Love https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/90734752#main
This is kinda the feel-good chapter. Vanyel has bonding time with Yfandes and some girl talk with Donni. Donni gives him good advice, explains a bit about being Lifebonded.
He has visitors, and finds out he has more friends than he thought.
Though not to be completely without angst- we also see what he felt during Tylendel's Confession.
(Vanyel POV throughout... All Vanyel Vision All the Time)
(no subject)
Jan. 6th, 2022 09:44 pmHi, all!
My usual beta reader isn’t familiar with LHM, and I really need another set of eyes on my next chapter. I’m having trouble walking the line between necessary explanation and too much exposition and could really use an outside opinion. Would anyone have time to read over the next chapter and give me an opinion? It’s been written for weeks now and I’ve hesitated to post it because I don’t know if it really works or not the way it is.
Here’s what’s been posted so far, and if anyone wants to beta for me I can send the next chapter to you.
Rating is E, strong BDSM themes, the only non-con will be a more in depth look at the canon scene in Magic’s Price.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/32251795/chapters/79934548
My usual beta reader isn’t familiar with LHM, and I really need another set of eyes on my next chapter. I’m having trouble walking the line between necessary explanation and too much exposition and could really use an outside opinion. Would anyone have time to read over the next chapter and give me an opinion? It’s been written for weeks now and I’ve hesitated to post it because I don’t know if it really works or not the way it is.
Here’s what’s been posted so far, and if anyone wants to beta for me I can send the next chapter to you.
Rating is E, strong BDSM themes, the only non-con will be a more in depth look at the canon scene in Magic’s Price.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/32251795/chapters/79934548
Old Van and Stef in love, continued...
Jan. 4th, 2022 05:43 pm Happy New Year to all!
This is the final part I have written of happy, sappy old Van and Stef. If you read the first parts, you know that Van is injured, old, and stuck at his desk. For some reason, this idea absolutely fascinated me, because I feel like Van is such a perfectionist & I enjoy messing with him. So in this third part, he's even older, and even more pampered by Stef... you get the idea.
Here you go: ( The summer months had been warmer than usual )
This is the final part I have written of happy, sappy old Van and Stef. If you read the first parts, you know that Van is injured, old, and stuck at his desk. For some reason, this idea absolutely fascinated me, because I feel like Van is such a perfectionist & I enjoy messing with him. So in this third part, he's even older, and even more pampered by Stef... you get the idea.
Here you go: ( The summer months had been warmer than usual )
Yuletide fics!
Dec. 25th, 2021 07:15 amHere are five more fics, currently anonymous until Yuletide reveals.
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2021/tags/Valdemar%20Series%20-%20Mercedes%20Lackey/works
From first glance it seems they are Vanyel/'Lendel (some fix-its, some not) and there is one crossover (with The Night Circus). (4 which appear not to be crossovers.)
I am savoring them. :)
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2021/tags/Valdemar%20Series%20-%20Mercedes%20Lackey/works
From first glance it seems they are Vanyel/'Lendel (some fix-its, some not) and there is one crossover (with The Night Circus). (4 which appear not to be crossovers.)
I am savoring them. :)
Fire and Ice- a 'lendel Lives AU
Nov. 22nd, 2021 12:12 amHello everyone! I'm Blue Jay-jay, been a huge fan of Misty's works and most especially LHM since back in the day. I've been on a huge reading spree since I heard the announcement about the possible moving series, re-reading the series, looking for fan-art, and then followed a link from DevArt to Ao3 where I discovered the treasure-trove of fan-fic you darling and lovely people have been making. I've spent a couple of weeks reading everything I could find, and about halfway through chewing my way through the archives I was struck by the writing bug and sort maniacally banged out this start of a 'lendel Lives AU. (I also started to write a prompt fill but then realized it was for a several years old prompt and didn't know the protocol for necroing things?)
For my AU (Which I am tentatively calling 'Fire and Ice') I am running off the idea of what would have happened if Tylendel has messed up building the Gate? What if he didn't make it to the Leshara's, didn't get repudiated, didn't kill himself, and has to actually Deal With the Consequences of his stupid actions.
So here for your reading pleasure, Chapter One- Darkest Night https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/86974228
(Starts with Vanyel POV, then has Savil POV.)
Got the next chapter uploaded! Chapter Two- The Morning Bright https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/88784815
Tylendel has to confess. This chapter starts with some Van POV, most of the chapter is Tylendel POV, and the end has some Savil POV for the adults talking segment.
For my AU (Which I am tentatively calling 'Fire and Ice') I am running off the idea of what would have happened if Tylendel has messed up building the Gate? What if he didn't make it to the Leshara's, didn't get repudiated, didn't kill himself, and has to actually Deal With the Consequences of his stupid actions.
So here for your reading pleasure, Chapter One- Darkest Night https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/86974228
(Starts with Vanyel POV, then has Savil POV.)
Got the next chapter uploaded! Chapter Two- The Morning Bright https://archiveofourown.org/works/34926076/chapters/88784815
Tylendel has to confess. This chapter starts with some Van POV, most of the chapter is Tylendel POV, and the end has some Savil POV for the adults talking segment.
Hello all.
Nov. 10th, 2021 01:00 pmHello all! So I was invited by thene. My heart's been really re-committed to LHM lately, probably because of news of the show, which I have major trepidations about. For a variety of reasons I found myself rereading Magic's Pawn and it's so brutal. Truly unkind to pretty much every character.
In an case, I will be trying to work my feelings out through fic before we see anything from the show (that'll be when the fandom starts getting weird as we all know.)
I recently was in a remix challenge and was surprised to find a Valdemar fic to remix, so this fic is a Van/Stef fic. I did this without rereading because it was heavily based on the premise of the first fic. The rules in remix are that you can change anything, but you can't change the pairing.
I went on intuition and memory and these are the results. https://archiveofourown.org/works/33517444
More fic to come, at least a few more anyway.
It's nice to meet you all and I hope you enjoy the fic.
In an case, I will be trying to work my feelings out through fic before we see anything from the show (that'll be when the fandom starts getting weird as we all know.)
I recently was in a remix challenge and was surprised to find a Valdemar fic to remix, so this fic is a Van/Stef fic. I did this without rereading because it was heavily based on the premise of the first fic. The rules in remix are that you can change anything, but you can't change the pairing.
I went on intuition and memory and these are the results. https://archiveofourown.org/works/33517444
More fic to come, at least a few more anyway.
It's nice to meet you all and I hope you enjoy the fic.
So, Last Herald Mage TV show?
Aug. 14th, 2021 08:03 pmI'm sure I'm not the only one here who is fascinated, and also apprehensive, about the news that a Valdemar TV show is in the works and that the first planned season will be Vanyel's story.
There are so very many ways this could go wrong... but it also reminds me how deep my Feelings about Vanyel and Stef and Tylendel and Yfandes go. Here's a discussion post -- I'd love to hear any Feelings any of you have about this! Here's to our sparkly tragic gay Herald-Mage!
There are so very many ways this could go wrong... but it also reminds me how deep my Feelings about Vanyel and Stef and Tylendel and Yfandes go. Here's a discussion post -- I'd love to hear any Feelings any of you have about this! Here's to our sparkly tragic gay Herald-Mage!
has been too long <3
Aug. 14th, 2021 11:20 amUm. 9+ years ago I started a series in the vein I think of as Scorched-Earth Fix-It, in which Van didn't die but a whole lot of other terrible stuff happened and keeps happening. However I am secretly all about the comfort and had always been trying to expand on that aspect, so I finally did add two more chapters to the part where Van & Stef are getting their shit together and banging again.
I went through a lot of iterations trying to get these two chapters to work, so here is a little reel of deleted scenes and conversations. let's start with Van blowing Stef for no particular reason:
( You did so much for me )
So, there's a bit in the new 3rd chapter where Stef suggests they take a break from having sex. Originally, they did, but it killed the pace so I went back and let them keep at it instead. But here is a bit of what they would have done with that break. (Text doesn't quite line up because [insert much version-weaving]. Also they were in Stef's room in this iteration, not Van's.)
( I have manners )
And another bit of dialogue that got cut:
( Then so we'd be. )
Finally, I originally played out the scene where Van tells Stef what happened - I then decided that was a waste of time bc people would have read what happened in the previous fic if they wanted to go through all the trauma. I also thought it might be best leaving it to the reader's imagination, to think of what Van might have said and how Stef might have responded - when I put it in text it seemed way too smooth. But here's how it could have gone:
( I got what I wanted )
I went through a lot of iterations trying to get these two chapters to work, so here is a little reel of deleted scenes and conversations. let's start with Van blowing Stef for no particular reason:
( You did so much for me )
So, there's a bit in the new 3rd chapter where Stef suggests they take a break from having sex. Originally, they did, but it killed the pace so I went back and let them keep at it instead. But here is a bit of what they would have done with that break. (Text doesn't quite line up because [insert much version-weaving]. Also they were in Stef's room in this iteration, not Van's.)
( I have manners )
And another bit of dialogue that got cut:
( Then so we'd be. )
Finally, I originally played out the scene where Van tells Stef what happened - I then decided that was a waste of time bc people would have read what happened in the previous fic if they wanted to go through all the trauma. I also thought it might be best leaving it to the reader's imagination, to think of what Van might have said and how Stef might have responded - when I put it in text it seemed way too smooth. But here's how it could have gone:
( I got what I wanted )
Shout it from the rooftops, guys!
Feb. 20th, 2021 11:35 amGuys it’s happening, Lackey is writing about the founding of Valdemar. I literally just stumbled across this on GoodReads and I confirmed it is legit on Amazon. It hasn’t been published yet, it’s supposed to published on June 15th THIS YEAR. I’m so excited! She is calling the book Beyond and it looks like it’s going to be a series.
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Founding-Valdemar-Mercedes-Lackey/dp/0756417333
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Founding-Valdemar-Mercedes-Lackey/dp/0756417333
So I’ve thought about this for a bit and I finally want to say something about it. AU/fic of us authors getting thrown into the LHMverse and explaining to everyone just how fucked they are if they don’t listen to us. I mean explaining Ma’ar/Leareth, the coming mage-storms in the future, just all of that in one glorious fic of madness. I don’t know if this should be an entire fic written by ALL of us or one of us writes it and the rest give TONS of feedback on it. Either way I think this has potential to be great. The one where all of us writes would probably be done on the glowfic site that Swimmer963 has introduced us to. As I said, this has potential.