Are you in need of a mystery, crime, or a problem to solve? Our post-deadline pinch hits are for you! We have two new pinch hits, two returning, and several others that are in need of a detective or criminal mastermind to create and solve them.

Quick links: Rules and guidelines · 2025 Collection · Mod contact: gumshoeagency@gmail.com

This batch of pinch hits are due on Friday 25 July at 11:59pm Eastern time. [ In your timezone ] This deadline is negotiable. I will allow deadlines up until Tuesday 5 August at 11:59pm EDT [ In your timezone ], but no further as long as the work reveals date is Friday 8 August at 11:59pm EDT. Please specify the deadline you need when you claim.

Pinch hits must comply with the exchange's rules. Pinch hits must meet the minimum assignment requirements of a completed work of a minimum of 3,000 words for fanfiction, a minimum of 10 panels for a comic, or a recording of a completed fic of 3,000 words minimum with "casefic" as one of its tags. Works must include a fandom, character/ship and be of a medium that the recipient has requested. You must have an AO3 account to participate.

We guarantee gifts for requests that feature a minimum of three unique fandoms. I would like to fill all our pinch hits if possible!

Please take note of the mediums as some requests have a combination selected.

To claim, please either reply to this post or email gumshoeagency@gmail.com with your AO3 name and the pinch hit number you want to claim.

Comments are screened, so if you reply anonymously, please include an email in case I need to reach out to you. You will not be able to receive a reply from me if you comment anonymously on this post.

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( PH 3 (comic, fic) - Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), Pandora (TV 2019), This Means War (2012) )


( PH 8 (fic) - Severance (TV), The West Wing )


( PH 10 (fic, podfic) - Gilmore Girls (TV 2000) )


( PH 13 (comic, fic) - 終ノ空 remake | Tsui no Sora Remake, A Girl Corrupted by the Internet is the Summoned Hero?!, Tsukihime (Visual Novel & Anime) )


( PH 15 (fic) - Babylon 5 (TV 1993), Mass Effect: Andromeda, Stargate Atlantis, Robot Series - Isaac Asimov )


( PH 19 (comic, fic) - Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005) )


( PH 21 (comic, fic) - The Defenders (Marvel TV), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016), Crossover Fandom (The Defenders TV/MCU) )


( PH 22 (comic, fic, podfic) - 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, Dominion of the Fallen - Aliette de Bodard, 琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire (TV), 莲花楼 | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (TV), The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir )


CLAIMED! ( PH 23 (comic, fic) - Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005), Crossover Fandom ((MHA/BHHA, Dreaming of Sunshine/Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dreaming of Sunshine/Star Wars: Original Trilogy, Dos/One Piece, One Piece/Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Raven Cycle/All For the Game)), Dreaming of Sunshine - SilverQueen (DFE), All For The Game - Nora Sakavic, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater, Original Work, Road to Nowhere by Aeruogonian (DFE), One Piece (Anime & Manga), The Residence (US TV 2025) )

Thank you!

Dear detectives, citizen detectives, private investigators, and criminal masterminds,

The assignment deadline has passed!

We have post-deadline pinch hits that will be due on Friday 25 July at 11:59pm EDT (post to come!).

We also have a number of extensions due on Friday 18 July at 11:59pm EDT and Friday 25 July at 11:59pm EDT. Please note that I have retroactively implemented a penalty if those with extensions default because it means I need to find another creator to fulfil that gift close to our work reveal deadline, and the creator has less time to create the gift. More details are in this post.

A note about extensions

We have several active extensions with Friday 18 July and Friday 25 July (both due at 11:59pm EDT) as deadlines.

If you do not have a gift, your creator is either on extension or you are a post-deadline pinch hit. You're more than welcome to reach out to me—Commissioner Clawseau—and ask if your creator has an extension, although you can conclude that they do if you are not a part of the post-deadline pinch hits. (You are still welcome to email me, as I appreciate double-checking.)

Any extension requests made from now on will be denied. We are in the final phases of our exchange and we are now working towards opening our collection. Reasonable deadlines are negotiable if you are a pinch hitter claiming from our most recent active pinch hits post. I will not be granting deadlines that are on or go beyond the current collection reveal date.

Penalty for defaulting on extensions

Given that we have a lot of extensions, I will be implementing the penalty that if you default on your extension, you will be required to make a makeup gift before the next round's sign-ups. This gift does not have to be for the request you defaulted on. The gift must meet the exchange's minimum gift requirements.

I will waive this for extenuating circumstances and in the instance you complete one of our pinch hits for this current round.

This has been implemented retroactively as we have more extensions than I anticipated (which is fine!), and because if you default while on extension, that means I have less time to find a creator and the creator has less time to fulfil the assignment. (The exchange also had a default deadline in the hopes of giving our pinch hitters more time, so a penalty is needed given how many extensions we have. If you defaulted after the post-default deadline but before Friday 11 July at 11:59pm EDT, you are exempt from this penalty. For full transparency, we only had less than five post-default deadline defaults and septuple the amount of extensions.) The penalty applies from Friday 11 July 11:59pm EDT.

Please note that there is nothing wrong with needing to default if you must. This penalty is only in place because of the smaller creation period pinch hitters have to create for our high minimum.

Post-deadline pinch hits

Please remember that we have a rule where participants who have requested a minimum of three unique fandoms will be guaranteed a gift. I will do my best to get everyone a gift, including those who have requested less than the minimum requirement, but the collection will open on the nominated date once all guaranteed gifts are in.

I would appreciate any help you can give me in getting these pinch hits filled, especially if you're a part of fandom spaces of requested fandoms! Our post-deadline pinch hits will be posted with the active pinch hits tag.

Treats and a treatless list is coming!

Treats do not have to meet the exchange assignment minimum. You can submit a work that features a scene of a case rather than a completed case that has a beginning, middle, and end that sees a case resolved. You can read more about our treat guidelines on our rules and guidelines.

We also have pinch hitter's treats available for gifting. If you are a pinch hitter who has turned in a work, please feel free to post a request!

One of our participants was kind enough to pull together a treatless spreadsheet for the exchange, which I'll share (and endeavour to keep updated) once the post-deadline pinch hits are posted.

Get in touch!

Please email gumshoeagency@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns.

Happy creating to those who have extensions, and good luck to those who are editing during the period before the collection opens! Thank you in advance to participants and passers-by (and the nonnies on BFE, especially the lead PH nonny!) who assist us in getting our pinch hits filled.