HIGHLANDER FANDOM'S PREMIER SEKRET SANTAR EXCHANGE IS OPEN.
HIGHLANDER HOLIDAY SHORTCUTS OFFICIAL SIGN UPS BEGIN NOW.
Please read all info above and below the cuts to make sure that you understand. Or ignore it completely because you have probably done this a billionty times before, every year. If you have any questions, see link at the bottom of the post to ask a question.
DATES AND TIMES:
Sign Ups: September 30, 2016 to October 9, 2016 MIDNIGHT EST in a response to this post.
Assignments handed out: no later than October 11, 2016.
Default deadline: November 20, 2016 by email only.
Submission deadline: December 15, 2016 emailed to my addy.
First story posted: December 20, 2016. I am going to post the stories myself. All stories can be emailed to me in .txt, .doc, .rtf, or .docx format and should already contain HTML formatting.
UPDATE: THIS MIGHT BE OUR FIRST YEAR OF DIRECT TO AO3 POSTING. If I can figure out how to make an anon group that reveals all at the same time (not unlike YT), we will do it. DETAILS LATER. If, for some reason, you aren't on AO3, we can still host your story here.
OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF:
1. A beta would be preferred, as this is a gift.
2. Minimum word length: 500 words
3. Maximum word length: none
4. Pinch hitting: please. Please indicate if you can or cannot pinch hit.
5. Pimping: also please. When you sign up, if you could pimp the fest in a relevant community that would be great. If your communities are already informed, please pimp in your journal. Or on an insane journal or wherever. Please also, if somebody can, pimp on mailing lists as well.
6. YOU MAY SIGN UP FOR THE FEST USING THE ANONYMOUS POSTING FEATURE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE/WISH TO HAVE OR USE LJ. This includes people who prefer to be mail list fans only.
SIGN UP FORM (expanded edition; sample filled form below)
Your name:
Your LJ user name if different:
Your email address: please somewhere I can reach you.
For the gift you want to receive:
1. Three to five of your preferred characters or pairings: here is also the place to list what you prefer-gen, het, slash, femslash as well.
2. A listing of preferences you would like to see in your gift, if any.
3. Any dislikes or squicks you do not want to see in your gift.
Scenarios: (OPTIONAL) Provide one or more scenarios you would like to see included in your gift. Note: Your writer is NOT OBLIGATED to use this scenario, but it may provide a jumping off point for them. Please don't go overboard with specifics; make it general enough to be workable by someone else. Do not provide a step-by-step outline.
For the gift you are going to give someone else:
1. Any characters or pairings you refuse to write. Please be generous here. Unless you have a serious issue with characters, please don't put them here. Please don't put something like "Everyone but Methos and Amanda" or something like that. The point of this is to stretch yourself and give a gift to a person who may not necessarily share your specific likes.
2. Anything you refuse to write (It will be assumed that you are willing to write anything that is not listed in this section. Within reason. I'm not going to be hedging my bets on those special unspoken things, and if I find myself really hard up to make pairings, I will email you before I give you an assignment. Likewise, if you have been in contact with me on lj or email re: your abilities/needs then I will remember them. This is not carte blanche to bombard me with nitpicky things, but I understand some concerns people have had in the brainstorming process, and I remember them.)
Crossovers with: Here is where you put the fandoms you'd like crossovers with. A MAX OF THREE FANDOMS. Format this area like so:
1. Fandom (characters you like from this fandom, like only if there's one that is a necessity to be in the fic. Otherwise, just leave it. I suppose if you HATE a character, you could note that, but I'd like to make this brief.)
Crossovers I'll write: List the fandoms you'll be willing to cross with HL. Do not get into details. If you have any stipulations about characters in a fandom etc, do not list it. You will either write a fandom or not.
I will try to pair people with crossovers and the like when I see them, but that won't be my sole criteria. Stating that you'd like to receive a crossover will not guarantee that you get one, and vice versa for writing one. This is an attempt to include crossovers in the santa list. I would naturally like to see crossovers, but I don't want to schism them into their own subgroup and dilute the whole writing group number.
The Jinxed_wood Crossover Stipulation: all the stories have to be set in the Highlander universe, even if they use crossover characters (as opposed to having Methos wandering around in the Buffyverse, for example, with nary another Highlander character in sight.). Thanks Jinxed!
FINALLY, should you feel that you NEED to clarify your wants and or needs further, or perhaps you have a few scenarios that you would like to see in a story and you need a few sentences to explain them, I suggest making a post in your LJ addressed to your HLHShortCutter in your LJ. I would note that you have done so and maybe link to it at the bottom of your sign in form.
Whew! That's a lot of work for a sign on! It looks smaller than the above.
We have never had issue with this before, but I want to continue the trend of signups taking only one comment. The more you put, the more difficult it becomes to place you, and the more difficult it becomes for your author. Please refrain from laundry lists and overly detailed optional requests.
FINISHED FORM SAMPLE:
Name: Amand-r
LJ name: Amand_r
Email: amandr@gmail.com (incidentally, this is the email address at which you contact me)
I want to receive:
1. PREFERRED PEOPLE: het, gen, slash, femslash, Methos, Caspian, Amanda, just about anybody regular, Methos/Duncan, Methos/Joe.
2. PREFERENCES: battle sequences, first time stories, character death, snappy dialogue (you know, Josslike conversations)
3. DISLIKES: smut for smut's sake, fluffy romance, watersports, Matthew McCormack, Cory Raines, season one Richie, bdsm.
For the gift I am giving:
1. CHARACTERS I WILL NOT WRITE: Cory Raines, Connor.
2. THINGS I WILL NOT WRITE: Mpreg. PWP. Crossovers with your mom; it distracts her.
Crossovers with:
1. Firefly (I lurv River, Jayne, Malcolm)
2. Mad Men (esp Don, Roger, Joan, Peggy. The company. Don't much care for Betty.)
3. DCU (I lurv Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Superman, Green Arrow, etc)
Crossovers I'll write: Forever Knight, Dead Like Me, The Muppet Show, Longmire
Elaboration post in my LJ: No.
Can you pinch hit? Maybe. Contact me.
BLANK FORM FOR YOU:
NOTE: You have to add in the scenarios part. If you do not want crossovers, delete that part of the form.
Name:
LJ name:
Email:
I want to receive:
1. PREFERRED TYPE/PEOPLE:
2. PREFERENCES:
3. DISLIKES:
For the gift I am giving:
1. CHARACTERS I WILL NOT WRITE:
2. THINGS I WILL NOT WRITE:
Crossovers with:
Crossovers I'll write:
Elaboration post in my LJ:
Can you pinch hit?
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? Please ask here.
Happy hunting, my little pumpkins. Please pimp far and wide.
SERIOUSLY, IF YOU BELONG TO ANY LISTS OR COMMS, PLEASE PIMP. THIS INCLUDES TWITTER, DREAMWIDTH, TUMBLR OR ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA YOU ARE ON.
Please read all info above and below the cuts to make sure that you understand. Or ignore it completely because you have probably done this a billionty times before, every year. If you have any questions, see link at the bottom of the post to ask a question.
DATES AND TIMES:
Sign Ups: September 30, 2016 to October 9, 2016 MIDNIGHT EST in a response to this post.
Assignments handed out: no later than October 11, 2016.
Default deadline: November 20, 2016 by email only.
Submission deadline: December 15, 2016 emailed to my addy.
First story posted: December 20, 2016. I am going to post the stories myself. All stories can be emailed to me in .txt, .doc, .rtf, or .docx format and should already contain HTML formatting.
UPDATE: THIS MIGHT BE OUR FIRST YEAR OF DIRECT TO AO3 POSTING. If I can figure out how to make an anon group that reveals all at the same time (not unlike YT), we will do it. DETAILS LATER. If, for some reason, you aren't on AO3, we can still host your story here.
OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF:
1. A beta would be preferred, as this is a gift.
2. Minimum word length: 500 words
3. Maximum word length: none
4. Pinch hitting: please. Please indicate if you can or cannot pinch hit.
5. Pimping: also please. When you sign up, if you could pimp the fest in a relevant community that would be great. If your communities are already informed, please pimp in your journal. Or on an insane journal or wherever. Please also, if somebody can, pimp on mailing lists as well.
6. YOU MAY SIGN UP FOR THE FEST USING THE ANONYMOUS POSTING FEATURE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE/WISH TO HAVE OR USE LJ. This includes people who prefer to be mail list fans only.
SIGN UP FORM (expanded edition; sample filled form below)
Your name:
Your LJ user name if different:
Your email address: please somewhere I can reach you.
For the gift you want to receive:
1. Three to five of your preferred characters or pairings: here is also the place to list what you prefer-gen, het, slash, femslash as well.
2. A listing of preferences you would like to see in your gift, if any.
3. Any dislikes or squicks you do not want to see in your gift.
Scenarios: (OPTIONAL) Provide one or more scenarios you would like to see included in your gift. Note: Your writer is NOT OBLIGATED to use this scenario, but it may provide a jumping off point for them. Please don't go overboard with specifics; make it general enough to be workable by someone else. Do not provide a step-by-step outline.
For the gift you are going to give someone else:
1. Any characters or pairings you refuse to write. Please be generous here. Unless you have a serious issue with characters, please don't put them here. Please don't put something like "Everyone but Methos and Amanda" or something like that. The point of this is to stretch yourself and give a gift to a person who may not necessarily share your specific likes.
2. Anything you refuse to write (It will be assumed that you are willing to write anything that is not listed in this section. Within reason. I'm not going to be hedging my bets on those special unspoken things, and if I find myself really hard up to make pairings, I will email you before I give you an assignment. Likewise, if you have been in contact with me on lj or email re: your abilities/needs then I will remember them. This is not carte blanche to bombard me with nitpicky things, but I understand some concerns people have had in the brainstorming process, and I remember them.)
Crossovers with: Here is where you put the fandoms you'd like crossovers with. A MAX OF THREE FANDOMS. Format this area like so:
1. Fandom (characters you like from this fandom, like only if there's one that is a necessity to be in the fic. Otherwise, just leave it. I suppose if you HATE a character, you could note that, but I'd like to make this brief.)
Crossovers I'll write: List the fandoms you'll be willing to cross with HL. Do not get into details. If you have any stipulations about characters in a fandom etc, do not list it. You will either write a fandom or not.
I will try to pair people with crossovers and the like when I see them, but that won't be my sole criteria. Stating that you'd like to receive a crossover will not guarantee that you get one, and vice versa for writing one. This is an attempt to include crossovers in the santa list. I would naturally like to see crossovers, but I don't want to schism them into their own subgroup and dilute the whole writing group number.
The Jinxed_wood Crossover Stipulation: all the stories have to be set in the Highlander universe, even if they use crossover characters (as opposed to having Methos wandering around in the Buffyverse, for example, with nary another Highlander character in sight.). Thanks Jinxed!
FINALLY, should you feel that you NEED to clarify your wants and or needs further, or perhaps you have a few scenarios that you would like to see in a story and you need a few sentences to explain them, I suggest making a post in your LJ addressed to your HLHShortCutter in your LJ. I would note that you have done so and maybe link to it at the bottom of your sign in form.
Whew! That's a lot of work for a sign on! It looks smaller than the above.
We have never had issue with this before, but I want to continue the trend of signups taking only one comment. The more you put, the more difficult it becomes to place you, and the more difficult it becomes for your author. Please refrain from laundry lists and overly detailed optional requests.
FINISHED FORM SAMPLE:
Name: Amand-r
LJ name: Amand_r
Email: amandr@gmail.com (incidentally, this is the email address at which you contact me)
I want to receive:
1. PREFERRED PEOPLE: het, gen, slash, femslash, Methos, Caspian, Amanda, just about anybody regular, Methos/Duncan, Methos/Joe.
2. PREFERENCES: battle sequences, first time stories, character death, snappy dialogue (you know, Josslike conversations)
3. DISLIKES: smut for smut's sake, fluffy romance, watersports, Matthew McCormack, Cory Raines, season one Richie, bdsm.
For the gift I am giving:
1. CHARACTERS I WILL NOT WRITE: Cory Raines, Connor.
2. THINGS I WILL NOT WRITE: Mpreg. PWP. Crossovers with your mom; it distracts her.
Crossovers with:
1. Firefly (I lurv River, Jayne, Malcolm)
2. Mad Men (esp Don, Roger, Joan, Peggy. The company. Don't much care for Betty.)
3. DCU (I lurv Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Superman, Green Arrow, etc)
Crossovers I'll write: Forever Knight, Dead Like Me, The Muppet Show, Longmire
Elaboration post in my LJ: No.
Can you pinch hit? Maybe. Contact me.
BLANK FORM FOR YOU:
NOTE: You have to add in the scenarios part. If you do not want crossovers, delete that part of the form.
Name:
LJ name:
Email:
I want to receive:
1. PREFERRED TYPE/PEOPLE:
2. PREFERENCES:
3. DISLIKES:
For the gift I am giving:
1. CHARACTERS I WILL NOT WRITE:
2. THINGS I WILL NOT WRITE:
Crossovers with:
Crossovers I'll write:
Elaboration post in my LJ:
Can you pinch hit?
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? Please ask here.
Happy hunting, my little pumpkins. Please pimp far and wide.
SERIOUSLY, IF YOU BELONG TO ANY LISTS OR COMMS, PLEASE PIMP. THIS INCLUDES TWITTER, DREAMWIDTH, TUMBLR OR ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA YOU ARE ON.