Teen And Up Audiences Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Gen Complete Work 30 Nov 2025 Tags Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Original Characters Anthropologist Intern Guide Anthropological hubris Found Documents Lost expedition Psychological Horror Implied/Referenced Character Death Twisted Strand (Dredge) Pre-Canon Dredge fanzine Summary The Twisted Strand holds mysteries and the promise of discovery. Going by clues strung together by a misguided hunch, a group of anthropologists ventures into its twisted waters... Written for Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine. Check out the rest of the zine here! Language: English Words: 2,376 Chapters: 1/1 Collections: 1

Here's the fic I wrote for the Dredge zine that was released in October by @dredgefanzine.bsky.social! Some Twisted Strand creepiness, as a treat.
#dredge #dredgegame #dredgefanfic #dredgefanzine

ao3: archiveofourown.org/works/75017366
zine: dredgefanzine.itch.io/zine

Contributor preview: HopeStoryteller Handle for socials: HopeStoryteller (ao3, bsky), ofstormsandfire (tumblr) Pfp: a red smilie face Sample fic preview: 13th April There's something in the water. 14th April Supply ship not arrived yet. I have no memory of writing the previous entry. Don't know why I would have bothered. We're on a rig in the ocean. It would, as I think I said before, be more noteworthy if there was NOTHING in the water. The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle, floating in the ocean. At the bottom corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @hopestoryteller.bsky.social

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame

Contributor preview: onlybythestars Handle for socials: only-by-the-stars (tumblr); only_by_the_stars (ao3); onlybythestars (dreamwidth) Pfp: headshot of a humanoid creature with flowing maroon hair (a kind of Zora from Zelda) Sample fic preview: We saw—I don’t even know what we saw. Lights in the dark. Shapes in the fog. Not ones that matched that horned beastie, neither. An’ if we let the quiet grow, we’d hear stuff. Whispers. Murmurs. We tried to explain it as jus’ the wind howlin’, but the sea was still more often’n not. So we spoke. Laughed. Lied. Anythin’ to fill that silence. Anythin’ but admit to what was goin’ on. If you’re thinkin’ o’ sayin’ we shoulda done somethin’ different—don’t. I heard it before, an' I’ve gone over it in my own head too. The only thing I can say that brings me any kinda peace is that we did our best with what we had. An’ that even if we’d had more, none o’ it woulda stopped a thing from happenin’ the way it did. The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle, floating in the ocean. At the bottom corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @/only-by-the-stars (tumblr)

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame

Contributor preview: Viedai Handle for socials: 7PhoenixAshes (ao3), AerinFH (twitter/x, bsky) Pfp: drawing of a dragon breathing fire Sample fic preview: The Traveller was thrown into the sea. Screams from the other crew members surrounded her, but no matter which way she swam she could not find any of them. She treaded water, praying for daybreak. One by one, the cries of the crew fell silent, until at last the Traveller was alone in the dark and the swirling fog. She didn’t know how long she floated in the emptiness. Minutes. Days. Centuries. Cold seeped into her bones. Her strength gave out. Finally, she slipped beneath the surface, her dream sinking with her. I wanted to see the world, she thought as she drifted into the depths. And down in the abyss, something heard her. The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle, floating in the ocean. At the bottom corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @aerinfh.bsky.social

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame

Contributor preview: Sleepy Handle for socials: simply-sleepyhead (twitter/x) Pfp: drawing of a delivery person riding a broomstick with a captain's hat and a messenger bag Sample fic preview: Undo the knot, run to the steering wheel, start the engine, go. The ship darts away, leaving behind the Research Outpost and the writhing mass attacking. There’s a screech from an antenna tearing from the roof of her lab behind her. And for just a moment, a tentacle swings out towards the ship, its reach just short of the small boat, before returning to go after one of the machines that was recording currents in the Stellar Basin. The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle, floating in the ocean. At the bottom corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @simply-sleepyhead (twitter/x)

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame

Contributor preview: raen Handle for socials: giffca (bsky) Pfp: a black cat wearing a purple cape with silver markings Sample fic preview: The sound of movement in the water behind the Airman was quiet and easily drowned out by the sound of his brain being pulled in a dozen directions by every other thought already running through it, but some part of him was able to signal the alarm and he spun around to face it, barely able to catch a glimpse of a massive snake-like, slug-like creature as it retreated back into the shallow water. He stared at the murky water for a long moment, trying to match the little that he saw with any animal he knew of, but… The Airman was already on high alert from the crash, but that thing made his hair stand on end. The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle, floating in the ocean. At the bottom corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @giffca.bsky.social

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame

Contributor preview: Peaches Handle for socials: itsmoonpeaches (bsky, tumblr) Pfp: Felix from Fire Emblem: Three Houses Sample fic preview: My Colleague suggested that we go to the Fishmonger for a second opinion, maybe even take notes on whether he has seen any aberrated fish, like the Cod, as of late. She was right to suggest this because the Fishmonger said that fishermen have started to sell him odd catches recently but that he did not know what to make of them. “And you bought these fish?” I asked him. He replied easily. “Of course. They look interesting enough to eat.” Tonight, we dined on an unusual delicacy in the form of a new variety of aberrated P. colias that I did not have the fortune to catch myself. A three-headed cod, aptly named by my Colleague, the “Three-Headed Cod.” The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle floating in the ocean. At the bottom left corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @itsmoonpeaches.bsky.social

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame

Contributor preview: OceanMyth Handle for socials: ocean-myth (bsky), justoceanmyth (tumblr), OceanMyth (ao3) Sample fic preview: [A drenched and decayed fragment of parchment tumbles in the waves, stuck in an eddy. Spinning with the current. Caught and moving eternally without a destination.] NATURALIST: You’ve chosen to start with me then, I suppose? [The ink here has run–the name of the interviewer far too damaged to recover properly.] TRANSCRIBER: Indeed. The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle floating in the ocean. At the bottom left corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @ocean-myth.bsky.social

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame

Contributor preview: Kai Handle for socials: kiwibrot (bsky), kiwibr0t (instagram) Pfp: a person wearing underwear and a robot with a camera face Sample preview: A chain secures the whale’s body to the docks. It’s a dark mass, yearning to sink into deeper waters. Preventing the whale from sinking is the first priority when whaling. What point would there be to the carnage if the victim just sank to the bottom of the sea? Its anthracite skin is wrinkled and scars reflect the last of the fading daylight in stark white. An old animal, judging by its massive size and the battle scars. It must have been hunted before. Some of the scars are human-made. He thinks he recognises one from his own harpoon, decades old. Stepping towards the posts, he only hears his own boots on the creaking wood, and a clank of the chains, as waves gently lap at the whale’s body, bobbing it up and down. No other soul is present. It’s just him and the whale. The preview image is presented like a message in a cracked bottle floating in the ocean. At the bottom left corner, in smaller font: Messages in a Bottle: A Dredge Fanzine

Contributor preview: Fic by @kiwibrot.bsky.social

#dredge #dredgfanzine #dredgefanfic #dredgegame