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teratornisBite-Sized is only in its second year. It's an exchange for anything that takes fewer than eight hours to complete, so movies, miniseries, stand-alone books, short games. And, most notably in this case, songs.
See, I nominated a couple of songs for the fandom pool for this exchange. Specifically, I nominated a song called Tale of the Shadow, an original shanty by the artist Sail North. It was then one of my requests for the exchange, and I wasn't the only one requesting it, which was pretty cool.
When assignments went out, I got assigned to the other person requesting Tale of the Shadow. That was pretty exciting, I had some ideas, I got it written and posted fairly thoroughly ahead of the deadline.
I was also excited when my own gift appeared, and went to check on which of my requested fandoms it was for.
Tale of the Shadow.
That made me laugh, since it was also what I had written (and yes, it turned out the other Tale of the Shadow requester and I had indeed written for each other).
However, then I got a second gift. This was also very exciting. I haven't been participating in exchanges all that long, and this was the first treat I had ever gotten. All eager to learn some details, I went to check the fandom.
Tale of the Shadow.
I was incredulous but delighted. What a fun thing to happen.
Then I got a third gift, and might have been holding my breath when I went to look at the fandom.
Tale of the Shadow.
By this point, between what I'd written and the gifts I'd received, we'd tripled the number of fics for this song on ao3. There had been two, prior to this exchange.
(To my excitement and delight, I stunningly received a fourth gift, but it broke the streak, and was instead written for the book A Sorceress Comes to Call.)
Anyway, it was a hilarious and wonderful exchange experience, and I had a lot of fun with it this year. The gifts I received were all really excellent:
Phantom Sails (3013 words) by bluerosekatie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tale of The Shadow - Sail North (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Characters: The Captain (Tale of the Shadow), The Shadow (Tale of the Shadow), The Captain's Mum (Tale of the Shadow), Background & Cameo Characters
Additional Tags: Curses, Inspired by Sail North Songs, Angst and Tragedy, Hopeful Ending, Platonic Relationships, Grief/Mourning, Pirates, Canon-Typical Violence, Supernatural Elements, Ghosts, Minor Character Death, Song: Tale of The Shadow (Sail North)
Series: Part 1 of Sail North Ballads
Summary: A boy, enamored with treasure, forgets the warnings of curses to pursue the Shadow -- and the Ghost Ship takes her toll.
But perhaps the curse can be broken?
---
An expansion of the story told in Sail North's ballad "Tale of the Shadow." Written for Bite-Sized Fandoms Exchange 2025.
The Selkie and the Shadow (1344 words) by bluerosekatie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Broken Mast Bay - Sail North (Song), Tale of The Shadow - Sail North (Song)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: The Selkie & The Sailor (Broken Mast Bay), The Sailor & Man With Coin (Broken Mast Bay), The Shadow & The Captain of the Shadow (Tale of the Shadow)
Characters: Captain of the Shadow (Tale of the Shadow), The Selkie (Broken Mast Bay), The Sailor (Broken Mast Bay)
Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, Selkies, Grief/Mourning, Friendship/Love, Matchmaking, POV Third Person, Supernatural Elements, Stealth Crossover, Inspired by Music, Sequel, Weird Fluff, Song: Broken Mast Bay (Sail North)
Series: Part 2 of Sail North Ballads
Summary: A cursed sea captain hopes to keep a lonely sailor from falling to the same fate as him -- and enlists a selkie to help.
Continuation of 'Phantom Sails', where the Captain of the Shadow appears as the Man with the Coin from the Broken Mast Bay music video!
It was so exciting to learn two of those Tale of the Shadow stories were by the same gifter, and they had been written as a series for this song, as well as for another of Sail North's shanties, Broken Mast Bay. I loved seeing these two tales rolled together to interact with one another, and the author had some really, really fun ideas about the worldbuilding and some of the details behind the stories of both songs.
she'll take your life (1260 words) by Evandar
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tale of The Shadow - Sail North (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: The Captain & The Captain's Mother (Tale of the Shadow)
Characters: The Captain's Mother, The Captain
Additional Tags: Grief/Mourning, Angst, Post-Canon
Summary: She’d waited for him, as much as she could. She’d never been the type to linger on grief: not for her father, or her boy’s father, or even for her boy. But every so often, on days when the seas raged and the sky went dark, she’d catch herself watching the horizon.
The third Tale of the Shadow song, and a somewhat grimmer look at the events of the song and their aftermath. It's so good, and I loved the backstory and perspective. This one definitely had me holding my breath at some points, it's excellent.
We'll Find a Pattern All Our Own (1183 words) by MimiHylea
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: A Sorceress Comes to Call - T. Kingfisher
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Cordelia & Hester, Alice & Cordelia
Characters: Cordelia, Hester, Alice, Memory of Penelope Green
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Shopping, Grief/Mourning, Moving On, Mentions of Canonical Character Death
Summary: Set on putting their ordeal behind them, the newest residents of Evermore Estate pay a visit to the local dressmaker.
I imprinted really hard on this book, and this story just builds wonderfully on the post-canon relationships between some of the characters, as well as aspects of those characters themselves. It's just a really lovely look at some growth and healing and mourning, after the events of the novel. It was a great read.
In addition to my own official assignment for Tale of the Shadow, I also ended up writing one treat for this exchange this year, for the movie Ladyhawke.
Cry Defiance (1360 words) by Teratornis
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tale of The Shadow - Sail North (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: The Captain & The Shadow (Tale of the Shadow)
Characters: The Shadow (Tale of the Shadow), The Captain (Tale of the Shadow)
Additional Tags: Introspection, Discovery of Purpose, Myths & Legends
Summary: Why was he allowed to catch her, and why was he allowed to live?
I honestly wasn't completely sure where I was going with this story at first, but it was fun to write and I felt like it shaped up in some pretty cool ways. It's particularly interesting after the fact, given that the three people who wrote for this fandom this year, including myself, all had notably different interpretations of some of the song's story and setting, and I've loved seeing all the different approaches to that.
Not Like Before (1086 words) by Teratornis
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ladyhawke (1985)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Isabeau d'Anjou/Etienne Navarre
Characters: Isabeau d'Anjou, Etienne Navarre
Additional Tags: Transformation, Aftermath, Blood, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence
Summary: Maybe they're not quite as human as they used to be.
Ladyhawke is my favorite movie, and I've spent a lot of time contemplating it, but somehow I never once thought about some of the possibilities this requester had suggested, most notably: "Power once unlocked can rarely be closed off - did they keep their shapeshifting abilities?"
Frankly I was a little mad at myself that I'd never thought about it, given how much I enjoy the concept of shapeshifting. Still, this was a great opportunity to explore that a little, and this story was a lot of fun to write.
I've really enjoyed this exchange both years I've participated in it. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for it next year as well.