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dreamingofsunshineGeneral
Who can participate?
There are no age restrictions so long as you are old enough to have an account on Archive of Our Own... but you will need an AO3 account to sign up. We'd love your participation in any form — writing, drawing, podficcing, betaing, cheerleading, commenting, etc!
What if I don't have an AO3 account?
Because this is an AO3-based exchange, you'll definitely need an AO3 account for nominations, sign ups, and posting your assignment. You can sign up for an invite here.
If you're reading this near the end of nominations or sign ups and won't have time to get an account, email me at dreamingofexchange@gmail.com.
What am I committing to by signing up?
All participants who sign up will produce a fanwork for another participant as a gift! In return, they will be gifted a fanwork by another participant. Creators and their recipients will at minimum be matched on one medium (fic, art, meta, etc) and one relationship (romantic or platonic). Participants won't know who their creator is until after the anonymous period ends.
Creators must produce works that match one of the requests their recipient made, including:
- the correct medium
- at least one relationship tag in the correct fandom
Creators must avoid their recipient's Do Not Wants (DNWs) and all participants must include the DNWs they want enforced in their AO3 sign up.
Freeforms are to make matching more accurate and do not have to be incorporated into your work.
Participants who would like to receive works that build on other recursive DoS fanfiction are encouraged to opt-in via the google form that will be available at the start of sign ups.
What are optional details?
Archive of Our Own has a text box where optional details can be added to your request after you add the tags you want to match on. You can use it to let your creator know what kinds of things you enjoy in the fanwork type you're requested — for example, a fic author might want to know that you like canon divergence, or missing scenes from canon, or time travel, and so on.
What are DNWs and how to do they work?
A Do Not Want list lets you specify elements that would prevent you from enjoying your gift. A DNW could be a trigger, squick, something you really dislike, or just something you don't want to receive. This helps creators make a better gift for you!
- You should put all your DNWs in your AO3 sign up; otherwise I can't enforce them.
- The standard formatting is simply "DNW:" followed by a list separated by commas.
- Don't use your DNW section to try to force your creator to create a specific type of work.
- Reasonable: "DNW: Clowns, sickfic, second person POV"
- Unreasonable: "DNW: Fic where ninja exist; art that isn't a coffee shop AU"
- Unhelpful WHY explanation: "DNW: Kakuzu or Hidan (because they're gross and I hate them ugh)"
- Helpful HOW explanation: "DNW: Kakuzu or Hidan (one-sentence mentions are okay, but I DNW focus on them or for them to be present in my gift)"
What are the content restrictions?
Aside from the obvious requirement that your fanwork has to be a recursive fanwork based on Dreaming of Sunshine, there are also some restrictions around explicit content. The following are not allowed:
- sex scenes for Shikako
- explicit portrayals of rape
- underage sex scenes
For the purposes of this exchange, "underage" means "under 18". Age gap relationships, like Hatake Kakashi/Nara Shikako, are fine as long as you're not writing explicit scenes involving characters under 18 years old.
Participants may individually opt into explicit dubcon (eg: sex pollen) or mentions of rape/underage, as well as of course explicit works in general.
What counts as canon for this exchange?
Silver Queen's SI OC works all count as canon for this exchange. That includes Dreaming of Sunshine, Sunshine Sidestories, and Reincarnation Roulette. The Naruto manga, anime, video games, and so on can be considered a kind of extended canon, but we'll be going by Silver Queen's works first, because this is a recursive exchange. Therefore, where Silver Queen's worldbuilding or Word of God contradicts Naruto canon, please go with SQ's version.
What about Dreaming of Sunshine/Naruto crossovers?
Navigating the different worldbuilding/events is up to the author's discretion, just like any other crossover.
What's the difference between requesting something like "Nara Shikako (DoS) & Nohara Rin (DoS)" under the Dreaming of Sunshine fandom and "Nara Shikako (DoS) & Nohara Rin (Naruto)" under the Naruto crossover fandom?
If you’re asking for a DoS/Naruto crossover, keep in mind that each character should be treated as in their own canon; please follow DoS and Naruto canon accordingly.
For example, Silver Queen has said that the later developments of canon including Obito being Tobi and Kaguya existing aren't a part of Dreaming of Sunshine, so...
- Nara Shikako (DoS) & Nohara Rin (DoS): The creator would need to assume that Obito is genuinely dead and Madara wasn't involved. So, for instance, Obito couldn't be around to see Rin die.
- Nara Shikako (DoS) & Nohara Rin (Naruto): The creator would be allowed to pull in anything they want from Naruto canon, including Madara's involvement and Obito still secretly being alive.
Nominations
What are nominated tags for?
Tags in the tagset are the only things participants can sign up to offer/request and then match on — it's a way of making sure we're all consistent in the tags we use when we sign up so that half of us aren't offering Character A & Character B and the other half Character B & Character A, since those tags wouldn't be able to match to each other.
If I nominate tags, does that mean I have to participate?
No. Please nominate tags that you want to match on even if you're only vaguely thinking of signing up or treating, because otherwise you'll be stuck with what other people have nominated.
My nomination(s) haven't been accepted! Why?
Well, for one, the tagset approval process is kind of wonky and disorganized, so I can only see so many tags at once. Maybe I just haven't gotten to yours yet! There might be other tags to go to first, or I went to bed, or something. You should also check out the nomination clarification posts to see if I've asked you to correct your tag or explain why you think a character should be eligible or something.
My nomination(s) were rejected! Why?
Maybe you nominated a character who doesn't qualify for the exchange... or maybe your nomination was really close to a nomination we already have.... or maybe I made a mistake! Rejected characters/tags should be listed in the nominations clarification posts. If you don't see anything that explains your rejection, comment on the most recent clarifications post to ask me about it.
My nomination(s) were accepted but I just noticed an error/typo. What do I do?
This happens to all of us. Please comment on the most recent clarifications post so that I can fix it. There will also be a period of tagset clean up to look for errors and duplicates before sign ups open. If sign ups have already opened and someone has already used the tag, I'm sorry to say it's basically too late.
Why do we need to use Solo: and add fandoms in parenthesis?
On AO3, you can't have identical tags in different sections. That's why you sometimes see tags with - Character, - Freeform, or -Relationship added on to them. We're nominating everything in the Relationships category for this exchange, which simplifies matching, but it does mean that we're definitely 100% nominating tags in the wrong category for single characters! This is explained in more detail in the Nominations Guidelines.
Sign Ups
What happens if there's no one I can make a fanwork for?
If you have no possible recipients at the end of sign-ups — meaning, no other participants are requesting any of the relationship/group/worldbuilding tags you're offering, making you unmatchable — I will contact you via your AO3 account-associated email address. You will need to either add more offers or drop out of the exchange.
What happens if there's no one who can make a fanwork for me?
If you have no possible creators at the end of sign-ups — meaning, either no other participants are offering any of the relationship tags you're requesting or that the people offering those things were assigned to other requests — you will go out to pinch hits. Pinch hits will be posted to this dreamwidth community.
How do I sign up? What should I put in my optional details?
Please see the sign ups post, when it's up.
Assignments
When will I get my assignment? What will it look like?
You'll get your assignment as soon as I've run matching and made sure everyone has an appropriate assignment. This may be delayed by people being unmatchable, but hopefully not!
When you get your assignment, you'll be sent an email to the email account associated with your AO3. It will contain a copy of every request your recipient made, not just the request you matched on. You do not need to make something for all of their requests and you do not need to create for the request that you matched on. You just need to create something that fulfilled one of their requests in medium, relationship, and lack of DNWs.
What if I can't fit my recipient's optional details into their gift?
You don't have to! Optional details are optional. You have to respect their DNWs, but otherwise it's okay if you need to ignore the rest of their optional details to complete your assignment. In this exchange, freeform tags are considered optional details.
What if I don't know how to avoid a DNW, or need to ask my recipient something else?
You should email me at dreamingofexchange@gmail.com. I will pass the question(s) along. Don't contact your recip yourself.
Do I have to get my assignment beta'd?
No, but it would be nice if you did, since it's a gift!
What if I can't complete my assignment?
You should default as soon as possible so we can find a pinch hitter.
To default, find your assignment under "Assignments" on your AO3 dashboard and click on "default."
If you default and your creator defaults as well, you will not be assigned a pinch hitter.
For this round there is no extra penalty for late defaults.
Meta
What is meta? What qualifies as meta?
Meta is a (usually written) fanwork that analyzes some part of canon in a non-fiction, non-narrative manner. Like an essay, except you definitely don't have to be as formal as an essay.
What's most important is that you not just write your opinion down, but also logic it out for your recipient as much as possible, preferably with support from the source text(s).
What kind of meta can I request/write?
Anything your heart desires! Worldbuilding might be the thing to first come to mind, but a character analysis or a shipping manifesto would also qualify.
Do quotes pulled from DoS count towards my word count?
Hopefully this is obvious, but no. I would very much like you to directly quote DoS in your meta! But like a high school teacher, I must insist you produce 500 of your own words for your assignment. :P If you're getting in-depth enough to quote, though, I don't expect you'll struggle to write 500 words.
Art
I don't draw, but I do graphics/photo manipulation/icons/mood boards/etc. Can I sign up to be an artist?
Unfortunately, no. As explained above, art for this exchange is expected to be drawn, except if someone opts-in to receive something else.
How do I post my art on AO3 anonymously?
To post an image on AO3, use this code:
To post anonymously, avoid these things:
- Signing your work.
- Posting your work publicly before the anonymous period is up.
- Using a image link that has your username in it.
I like to use imgur.com to host images, but you could also save a tumblr post as a draft and use that, or any other solution you prefer. Once the anonymous period is up, feel free to re-upload your work with a signature and post it wherever you want. Please leave it up on AO3 in the collection, though, because it's a gift to your recipient.
I'm worried about art theft, though, so I want to sign my work./I'm uncomfortable not having any attribution on my work, even for a week.
I understand! The anonymous period is important and fun, though, so I'd really prefer if you didn't. Instead, when you're ready to upload, consider making a blank work first (with empty code, you know) and then adding the AO3 work URL to the art as a watermark.
You could also just wait until the anonymous period is over and post your gift to the collection then as a treat instead of signing up to create.
Podfic
I've written DoS fic and I want people to be able to podfic it, how to I let you know?
If you opted-in last year and said you were okay with being podficced in all future rounds, you're good! If you didn't last year, fill out this form, and also thank you! Here's that short FAQ about it if you want to see that again:
- What if I don't want my fic podficced? Then just don't fill out the form; this is opt-in.
- What if I only want my fic podficced by certain people? Sadly I cannot accommodate that because fanwork creators need to stay anonymous.
- What if I only want my fic poficced if it's as a gift to me in the exchange? Then don't fill out the form and just wait for sign ups.
- What if I'm only ok with some of my fics being podficced but not others? There's an option for that on the form!
- All of my 'fics' are just short snippets on the forums, though. That's fine! The length requirements are really short, and a podficcer could always combine more than one snippet.
- What if I opted-in forever last year but now I've changed my mind? Please email me to revoke access.
If I sign up to receive podfic, what kind/length of podfic will I get?
If you sign up to receive podfic, you'll get a podfic that's either 5 minutes long or at least 500 words.
When you make your request, you'll be selecting one or more relationships that appeal to you. Hopefully you'll have some fics in mind that fit those tag(s) and whose authors have given permission to podcast, in which case please list them in your optional details!
Recipients are free to attempt to contact authors who have not already given permission and ask them to do so, but be polite.
Where can I find the list of people who've opted-in to be podficced?
It's here although you certainly may find DoS fic not on that list that you could podfic!
I want to sign up as a podficcer but what if I can't find a fic to read and I don't want to write one?
You control your offers, so I would suggest only offering tags that correspond to fic you know you want to read/that you know exists. I'm also happy to poke requesters who haven't listed any specific fics that fit their request.
Can I request Sunshine Sidestories/other parts of DoS be podficced for me?
Sure. Currently, all chapters of DoS, SS chapters 1-14, and Reincarnation Roulette Chapters 1, 2, and 5 have been podficced already, as far as I can tell, but you're free to ask for those to be podficced again or for the chapters that haven't been done to be podficced!
How do I post my podfic to AO3 anonymously?
I collected several tutorials on how to post podfics on my tumblr here.
If anonymity is important to you:
- don't use a hosting service that has your username in the file embed URL.
- don't say your name/username at the beginning of the podfic.
But of course, there's nothing anyone can do about your voice being recognized! Plus, rerecording/reuploading to replace your name/username after creator reveals would be a lot of effort. So, please feel free to do your intro as you normally would and leave concerns about anonymity behind if you're doing podfic.