Hamiathes' Gift Exchange is on!

[pendrecarc]

Okay, this is happening! I'm thrilled so many people are interested.

This is the first exchange I've run, so A) I'm very open to input, but B) I may err on the side of what seems simplest this time around. I'm not an artist, so I'd particularly like input on anything to do with fanart. I'm basing those requirements on what I've seen in other

Comments

[ninedaysaqueen]

Thanks so much for a great idea! It's been too long since I've written any QT one-shots, so I'm game to participate.

The ban on fanfic in Sounis is more of a soft ban, so all fanfic is organized in one place with it's own set of search tags. That way reprobates (that's us) can read, write, and discuss fanfic more conveniently. Sign-ups and announcements for fanfic events are fine to be posted here, as long as the actual fics are posted somewhere else. I agree that AO3 should work well, as you can post fanfics, art, and videos there. (I also love their tag system.) You can get in touch with our Moddess, checkers65477, if you have questions.

Also, one suggestion and a couple of questions:

(1) You probably already have something like this in mind, but something that I always thought was a good idea during our holiday exchanges was listing trigger warnings.

So, anything you're not comfortable seeing, writing, or drawing: graphic violence, mature rated content, etc (or even if you just really hate a particular pairing) is information that is available for making matches.

(2) Does fanart extend to icons and fan videos? I've made book trailers in the past for QT, and that might be something I'd be interested in gifting if anyone requested it.

(3) One thing I'm still a little confused about: are prompters being assigned to an artist or are we picking them ourselves from the ones available?

Sorry, that got long-winded fast. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help! :)

[pendrecarc]

I'm glad you're in!

Re: the ban - my understanding when I joined the comm lo these many years ago was that fanfic should be posted either on the queensthief-fic comm or, if posted here, should be friendslocked. I seem to remember came up because MWT occasionally stops by, though I've no idea if she specifically requested it. But as I said, that was ages ago, I may be misremembering, and fic prompts aren't quite fic anyway, so I may ask for the mod's opinion.

[ninedaysaqueen]

Yeah, I think part of the reason for the ban (along with organization) was to accommodate Mrs. Turner's visits, so she didn't have to worry about absorbing any of her readers ideas through osmosis. Prompts are probably fine as long as they're under a cut. Checkers is a good person to ask about it.

[checkers65477]

Lady Jane and pendrecarc have summed it up nicely. The fanfic ban was also for others who wanted to keep sounis as a discussion site, with fic posted elsewhere.

So, you all's idea of putting announcements and prompts here and fic elsewhere is perfect.

This sounds like fun!

[pendrecarc]

Thanks for confirming! This should be a great time. :)

[pendrecarc]

Re: the rest (and I've been fighting a losing battle not to be too longwinded myself, it's all good!):

1) Excellent point! The last couple of AO3 exchanges I've taken part in have asked people to include a list of Do Not Wants in their request, for exactly the things you're thinking of--triggers, pairings you're not interested in, etc. Authors/artists are then expected to avoid those things. I was thinking of going the same route with this exchange.

2) I love the idea! Things to work out before we could move forward include what requirements make sense for other types of work, to be the equivalent of 500 words of fic or a 500x500 pixel drawing. Do you have any thoughts on that? I know vids particularly are very time-intensive.

The other question would be matching, and whether icons or vids would be a separate tag for people to request. This may wind up being slightly more complicated and therefore something I might skip this time around, but I'm open to discussion!

3) AO3 does the matching automatically, and you won't even know who's creating work for you! When fanworks go live on June 19th, they'll appear as anonymous, and then a week later the authors/artists will be revealed.

Everyone who signs up will get an automated email with a link to the person they're assigned to. The exceptions are any pinch hits, where the author/artist will volunteer to sign up for a particular person in need of a match, or any additional "treats" people may decide to produce.

[ninedaysaqueen]

(1) I figured you probably had something like that in mind. I just wanted to double check as I know Sounis has a number of young members, people who aren't interested in mature stories, and those with very specific NO OTPs. I'm looking at you, Audrey. ;)

(2) I agree videos may be too time-intensive and overly complicated for prompting, upon further reflection. Maybe, I could think of making one as a treat.

Usually, when icons are given as gifts, there's a predetermined number you're suppose to give to your requester like five or six. Prompts for icon sets could be things like quotes from the books or a particular character or an actor as a particular character.

However, that could get too complicated as well... Icons might work better for treats, as I don't think a single icon is too time consuming to make. Plus, It's a way for people to participate who don't draw or write. Icon making usually just requires a knowledge of computer software and some creativity.

(3) Ah, I've seen exchanges hosted on AO3, but I've never participated in one, so I wasn't sure how that worked. Sounds great!