This fest is restricted to individuals who are 18 years of age and older given the inclusion of darker concepts and potentially NSFW content.

Forced caretaking is a trope where one or more character(s) takes away the freedom of another character in order to care for them.The character who is forced in this situation typically has somewhat limited say in what happens to them. This can range from being playfully coerced by friends into taking a break from work, to unwillingly losing all responsibility and autonomy under the care of a stranger.The care forced upon them may be truly necessary for health and wellness, or it may simply be what the caregiver perceives to be necessary.The amount of violence or tenderness, romantic feelings or lack thereof, smut or no smut, and scope/intensity/duration of care all varies fic by fic.

Schedule

Prompting Begins - 6 Oct 2025

Prompting Ends - 15 Nov 2025

Claiming Begins - 17 Nov 2025

Claiming Ends - 15 May 2026

Check-in - 31 May 2026

Submission Ends - 15 June 2026

Fic Reveals - 7 July 2026

Author Reveals - TBD

Rules

  • You need an AO3 account to participate.

  • Every participant must be 18+ at the time of sign-up. We also ask that minors do not interact with this fest given the sensitive nature of its subject matter.

  • Restricted topics for this fest include: pedophilia, sexualizing minors, and underage sex. WARNING: due to the nature of this fest, dubcon/noncon will likely be common themes. Please keep that in mind before participating!

  • All content must be tagged appropriately.

  • WIPs and chaptered fics are allowed. There is also no minimum or maximum word count requirement.

  • Writers can write any BTS (mono or poly) ship, or no ship.

  • The final submission deadline will be somewhat prior to fic reveals so that the mod team has time to make final arrangements. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need an extension, we will do our best to accommodate you. Because we are allowing WIPs, we also encourage any participants with incomplete work to submit what they have, and add the rest after the fest is complete.

  • Once you have submitted your fic, we ask that you not add additional chapters until the fic has been revealed.

  • Fics that have already been posted previously, either as independent works or as part of another fest, will not be accepted as valid submissions.

  • Hate or disrespect towards BTS members, fest mods, or fest participants will not be tolerated. Please be kind!

  • Plagiarism is strictly forbidden, as are AI-generated fics and any AI-generated content.

  • Each user can submit up to 50 prompts (AO3’s allowed maximum), so please feel free to submit more than one. There is no limit to how many prompts one user can claim and write. However, each individual prompt may only be claimed once.

  • This fest has a ‘no questions asked’ dropout policy. If you need to drop a claim, please fill out the form.

  • Most importantly, have fun!

Important Links

Meet the Mods

🧸 Anna (@sweetsubkoo)
🐝Betty (@BettyB_Writes)
🦊 Eliza (@ethesea1)
🦝 Halwa (@HalwaSenpai)
🦋 Ari (@ArianneMaya)
🌞 Heulwen (@NinjasWear)
🍄 Becks (@garfloc1)If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the mod team. You can reach us through:Email: [email protected]
Twitter DM: Twitter
Bluesky: Bluesky
Alterspring: Alterspring

FAQs

What is Forced Caretaking?Forced caretaking is a trope where one or more character(s) takes away the freedom of another character in order to care for them. The character who is forced in this situation typically has somewhat limited say in what happens to them. This can range from being playfully coerced by friends into taking a break from work, to unwillingly losing all responsibility and autonomy under the care of a stranger. The care forced upon them may be truly necessary for health and wellness, or it may simply be what the caregiver perceives to be necessary. The amount of violence or tenderness, romantic feelings or lack thereof, smut or no smut, and scope/intensity/duration of care all varies fic by fic.Is forced caretaking related to littlespace?Littlespace can be a trope used in conjunction with forced caretaking, but they are NOT the same.How do I claim a prompt?
- Claim your prompt(s) in the AO3 collection (only one claim per prompt! There is no restriction on the amount of prompts you can claim)
- Fill in the claiming form
- Wait for the confirmation email
- Start writing your prompt!How do I submit my completed fic?
- Submit your fic(s) in the ao3 collection by clicking the following link, then go “add to collection” and post your fic(s) as usual. It will be automatically anonymous and invisible as soon as you post it to the collection, where it will be reviewed by mods. If you want to access your fic during this time, please find it in “stats”. Don’t forget to properly tag your fic(s)!
- Fill in the submission form
- After this, all you have left to do is wait for fic reveals! If there happens to be a problem with the fic(s) you posted, the mod team will contact you.What if I need to drop out?We totally understand! If you can no longer participate for any reason, all you have to do is fill the dropout form or contact via email or Twitter/Bluesky DM to let the mod team know.Is self-prompting allowed?Yes, self-prompting is allowed. Please claim one of the available self-prompts in the collection and then fill the claiming form.When does -insert fest event- happen?Our Carrd lists all of the relevant dates for this fest, as well as countdowns to important deadlines.How will the mod team contact participants?We’ll be reaching out mostly through email. However, we ask that participants keep their Twitter/Bluesky DMs open as well, as a back-up route for communication.