2010 Treat-a-Thon Rule Post

STOP! IT'S PURIM TIME.



Hi, and welcome to the the 3rd annual Purim Treat-a-Thon! Whether past participants or newcomers, we're glad you to have you here :-)

So what's this all about? (or: What is the seasonal justification for yet another ficathon?)
On Purim, we give our friends mishlochei manot – gift baskets of food, candy, and treats for the holiday (here's the why). In schools, this is often done in the form of an anonymous exchange – just like Secret Santas, except instead of presents you get a basket of treats, all wrapped up in ribbons and colorful cellophane. In fandom, of course, this translates into fics!

How does the exchange work?
Every participant will make their recipient a "gift basket": 3 ficlets and 3 graphics, which will be posted anonymously for three days, starting on Purim Eve (February 27th). Authors will be revealed a day after Purim (March 2nd), and there will be much joy.

What are the requirements for a gift basket?

(A) 3 ficlets, each between 300-1000 words.

Since Purim is the ultimate Jewish women power holiday, ficlets should be focused around one or more of the following:
characters who are Jewish and/or
characters who are women and/or
characters who are persecuted by evil viziers (hey, it's not us, it's the megillah.)

Just one of these would be enough, two would be awesome, and three would be pretty [insert relevant swearword] awesome, if you'll pardon our censored French. daysofawesome has a great list of Jewish characters, if you want some inspiration, as does Wikipedia.

(B) 3 graphics of some sort.

Okay, those of you who see the word 'graphics' and freak, do not panic. The graphics are really fun and simple – basically, they can be anything. A graphic can be an icon, a photograph you took, a pretty picture you found on the net, a drawing, a note you scanned, anything. Graphics don't have to have anything to do with the fics, but it's pretty cool if they do. And if you're looking for examples or ideas, you can browse through master lists from previous years.

Even if you don't have the slightest clue on how to upload an image, it won't be complicated, we promise. There will be a detailed submission guide, and we'll be here to help.

(Why graphics? Because it's fun. Because the point is to make this a basket of treats, so they should be many and simple and colorful and, really, just fun.)


Frequently Asked Questions (that are not really frequently asked, but they might be, if we gave them a chance):

Can the ficlets be related to one another?
Yes, they can. The three ficlets can be related to one another, can be three parts of the same story, and can even have cliffhangers. (Except the third one. No cliffhanger for that, please.) Or they can be entirely unrelated. It's up to you.

Do the gifts all have to be from the same fandom? What about crossovers?
The gifts can all be from the same fandom, or they can be from different fandoms your recipient asked for. Crossovers are allowed, as long as you're certain that your recipient likes both fandoms, and requested at least one of them. (So if, for example, your recipient requested a True Blood fic, and you know they're also a big fan of Glee, you can write a True Blood/Glee crossover. You know you've always wanted to.)

Do I have to post one fic and one graphic for every day of the ficathon?
While you do have to post one fic per day, you don't have to post one graphic each day. Spread them out among the three days however you like.

And only three fics, right?
Yes.

And only three graphics?
Actually, you can make as many graphics as you like. Just tell us how to spread them out between the three days.

What's the deal with the 300-1000 word limit?
Yeah, so each ficlet has to be a has to be a minimum of 300 words but no more than a maximum of 1000 words. In the end, this shouldn't turn into a competition of who wrote the best and longest fic (or turn into those exchanges we had in school, where a girl brings a huge, prettily-wrapped basket heaped with candy and fun treats and an
awesome card, and gets an unwrapped M&M packet in return. AND NO I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT MYSELF -- roga). In any case, the rule of thumb here is to keep it simple, and make your recipient smile. Everyone who participates in this should know not to expect to read or write an epic.

What other prompts do I give/get, other than fandom?
None. Recipients are free to post 'dear author' letters in their LJs, or in a specially designated community post, with a little more direction regarding what ships they like, what squicks them, and so forth, but please, be vague – give the author enough freedom to find what you both like to read/write about. You can add your preferred characters if you wish, but remember: the central characters you'll get will be JEWISH or a WOMAN or a JEWISH WOMAN. Or possibly persecuted by an evil vizier.

Authors are strongly encouraged to go to their recipients' LJs and stalk and browse and try to come up with something their recipient will like - but this exchange isn't about catering to specific requests. The only real restriction is rating: authors shouldn't write anything more graphic than the rating their recipient is comfortable with receiving (which will be noted in the sign up form).

Um. You said something about evil viziers?
In the Scroll of Esther, Haman was the (EVIL) vizier of King Ahasueros who plotted to kill all the Jews in the empire. Defining vizier as various dictionaries do is a little restricting, for the purposes of this ficathon, but the definition shouldn't stray too far from the spirit of the megillah. We leave it to your interpretation, as long as you keep the emphasis on the persecution from said evil vizier, not because of who the characters are, but because of what they are.

Anything else about the stories?
Purim is a holiday where we're actually supposed to be happy. And laugh, and get drunk. And stuff. This is supposed to be fun! So humor, crack, lightheartedness, etc, are encouraged. (But, again, not mandatory. Please go through your recipient's LJ and see what they like; if their absolute favorite genre is depressing apocafics with
multiple character deaths, then by all means, kill 'em all! Make your recipient want to jump off a building like there's no tomorrow.)

Man, it sounds like fun, but I don't have the time right now... :-(
You can always pinch-hit! If you can't commit to the Treat-a-Thon for whatever reason, but you’d be willing to fill in for someone who’s dropped out at the last minute (also known as pinch-hitting), please let us know. We would love you forever. Pinch-hitters are awesome. (If you’re considering it, leave a comment in the sign up post.)

How are the stories (and graphics) submitted?
Starting this year, the ficathon will be hosted at the Archive of Our Own (=AO3), under the Purimgifts collection. Hosting the Treat-a-Thon on the AO3 means that every participant has to have an AO3 account, with which they will upload their own stories. If you don't have an AO3 account, we will send you an invitation.

A detailed uploading guide will be posted once sign ups are over, both in the purimgifts community and via email. In general, each participant individually uploads their stories to the AO3 Purimgifts collection by the deadline, which means you can also edit your stories yourselves after you upload. Graphics should be uploaded to an image-hosting site such as Tinypic and embedded anywhere you wish in your story pages -- meaning gifts will look exactly like they did in prevoius years (you can browse the comm for examples), except at the AO3 instead of on LJ. Here is an example of what a Purimgifts fic will look like at the AO3, with the graphics embedded at the bottom.

Again, a nice, detailed submission guide is forthcoming, and we will be here to help if needed.

Last question: Do I have to be Jewish to participate?
You absolutely do not have to be Jewish to participate. Mishlochei manot are for your friends, not just your Jewish friends, and this is an opportunity for a small gift exchange set during the holiday but not necessarily religious, like yuletide is set in December but isn't decidedly Christian.


Important Dates:

Jan 12th-Jan 19th: Sign ups.
Jan 22nd or earlier: Assignments are sent out.
February 22nd 23rd: Submission deadline for all fics and graphics.
February 23rd-February 26th: Pinch hitters finish their stories. Once every recipient has a story, the prompt list might be opened up so that people get more treats in their baskets, like yuletide stocking stuffers – we'll see how things go.

Saturday, February 27th (Purim Eve): first ficlet goes live
Sunday, February 28th (Purim Day): second ficlet goes live
Monday, March 1st (Shushan Purim): third ficlet goes live
Tuesday, March 2nd: author reveal! Woohoo.

Deadlines will be calculated according to the time in Alaska; stories will go live as early as the date in Australia. Because WE ARE THE WORLD, people! Besides, Purim doesn't follow a 24-hour clock or the Gregorian calendar anyway. Exact times by timezone will appear in the sign up post. (And if anyone lives in a timezone west of Alaska or east of Sydney, let us know!)


Signing Up:

To sign up, leave a comment in the sign up post. Your comment should include:
*Your name/LJ
*Your contact email address
*Do you have an AO3 account? If yes, what is your account name? (if you don't have one, we'll send you an invite.)
*Fandoms you want to receive: the more you add, the easier it will be to match you up. Please try to include one popular fandom (we leave the term ‘popular’ to your own judgment.)
*Fandoms you want to write: (just to give you ideas, here's the list of fandoms that were requested last year.)
*Other fandoms you’d be willing to write: all in all, you have to offer at least 3 fandoms. We'll do our best to make sure you get the ones you want to write the most; the rest will only be used as a last resort in the match-up process.
*What is the maximum rating you’re okay with receiving (this part only obligates your gifter not to write anything rated higher than what you specify here, nothing more)
*Are you willing to pinch hit? (i.e. write a fill in story, usually on short notice, for someone who has defaulted on their assignment. If you say yes, we'll include you on our pinch hitters' mailing list; should the need arise, we will send word to the mailing list and whoever has the time and/or inclination will pick up the challenge. Agreeing to pinch hit now only means you'll get the OPTION to do it, if you're up for it, not that we'll be counting on you as a sure thing. :))

Sample sign up:
Name: roga
Email: roga_wind@yahoo.com.
AO3 account? Yes, "roga".
Fandoms I want to receive: NCIS, House, Hercules (1997 movie), Batman (DCU), Bible
Fandoms I want to write: NCIS, House, Sports Night, West Wing, SGA, Bible, HIMYM, American Idol RPF, Discworld, Merlin
Other fandoms I can write: House, X-Men, Brothers & Sisters, Firefly, Grey’s Anatomy, Kings
Maximum rating I want to receive: R
Can I pinch hit: yes

Join the purimgifts community (or subscribe on DW) to keep up with updates, although important notifications will also go out by mail. If you have any questions all all, leave a comment in this post, or email us at purim_gifts@yahoo.com.

Finally, if you think it's cool writing fic for Purim but don't want to commit to an exchange, check out daysofawesome, and have a happy holiday :-)

Your mods,
roga and sabrina_il (aka all_my_fandoms or marina. We're still just two mods, not four *g*)