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fiabex · 4 days ago

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With out post-deadline pinch hits, we currently have 56 pinch hits looking for gifters able to make something before midnight on November 13th! Check them out at the above links!

What Are Pinch Hits?

Sometimes, either because of matching, or because something has happened in the life of the original assigned creator and they had to tell the mods they wouldn't get the gift done, exchanges have assignments that have no creator. That's when they put them up for Pinch Hits, and creators who want to take on an extra challenge on a shorter deadline can volunteer to pick them up. That way everybody still gets a gift.

Fic in a Box is no exception, and we do have Pinch Hits that are looking for creators!

Not everyone can take up 10k of an assignment— and sometimes the original creator was able to cover some of the assignment but not all of it, or had to drop when they only had a swap— so FIAB does pinch hits in 1k-increments. You will see a pinch hit like "PH 8 - 5k - 鹿鼎記 - 金庸 | The Deer and the Cauldron - Louis Cha, 鹿鼎記 | The Duke of Mount Deer (Hong Kong 1984), 老洞 | The Old Miao Myth (Hong Kong 1983), 江湖 | Triad Underworld (2004)", and you click through to get more details, and hmmm, yes, that looks like something you can do, and you think to yourself— well I'm pretty busy right now, but I bet I can do 2k of The Deer and the Cauldron— and you can inform the mods that you'll take 2k, and then the mods will update the post saying that they're just looking for 3k now! Any increment down to 1k and up to 10k is welcome and helpful!

All of the current pinch hits can be found in this tag, on the Dreamwidth blog. If you want to pick one up (or some part of one up), you can either email the mods at [email protected], or you can comment directly on the post the Pinch Hit is listed in. In your comment or email the mods will need to know 1) the amount of wordcount you would like to claim, 2) the exact username of the AO3 account you will be posting your fill(s) from, and 3) an email where the mods can reach you. You don't need to have a dreamwidth account to comment, you can comment anon!

We currently have 18 pinch hits we're still looking for creators for! If you're looking for an extra challenge, check out the post!

More Questions?

If you have questions, feel free to ask them here, check the dreamwidth blog for much more documentation, email the mods, or join our discord server. The discord server has a lot of experienced participants happy to answer questions, and you are also welcome to join just to hang out!

Note: you must be 18 or older to join FIAB.

Links

Email: [email protected]

Ao3 Collection

Tag Set

Dreamwidth Blog

Discord (includes question channel)

Current Pinch Hits

#pinch hits #fic in a box #fiab

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fiabex · 2 months ago

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Signups close tonight at 11:59 EST! You have 11 more hours!

FIAB: Sign-ups open!

Sign-ups are now open for Fic In A Box, a 10k fandom gift exchange, and it's time to officially join the event!

What Is FIAB?

A gift exchange is an fandom event where participants create fanworks to gift to each other. Fic In A Box is a fanwork exchange with a large minimum gifting requirement and several unique features. Participants have 6 weeks to create their gifts, and gifts can include fic, art, audio, video— and much much more— aiming for a minimum of 10k of fic or equivalent to give to their assigned recipient.

This sounds enticing but you have questions? More under the cut!

Signups? What's that?

To officially join the event and be matched— so that you are assigned someone to make a gift for, and someone is assigned to you— you have to sign up on Ao3. It is the "sign up" button in the sidebar on the left-hand side of the Ao3 page. You have until signups close on September 7th (10pm EST), to get your signup filled out. You can edit your signup after you submit it, so feel free to get a minimum signup done and then tinker with it during signups.

To sign up you fill out your Requests (what you are saying you'd be okay for people to give you as a gift), and your Offers (what you are saying you'd be able to make to give someone else as a gift), and submit it. You use tags from a special event tag set to fill out your offers and requests, and you'll only be able to use the tags in the tag set for the event. The tag set contains fandoms, ships, characters, worldbuilding tags, and gift types ("mediums"), all of which you use to refine your requests and offers to make sure you are signing up with exactly the type of gift you want to get or make in mind (with a bit of mystery still, part of the fun of the exchange is the challenge and surprise of it all).

Tag set?

Hopefully you heard about FIAB early enough that you were part of the nomination process where we built the tag set, where anyone could nominate their ships or worldbuilding ideas or fandoms. But maybe you just heard about it and you didn't nominate any tags— can you still participate? Yes! There are two options! First one: check out the tag set here, and if there are any ships that you like, smack those into a signup and you're good to go!

Second option: FIAB accepts late nominations if they are tags that you imminently intend to use in your signup. You need to format them in such a way that we can batch load them into the tag set, and you need to submit them through a comment on the designated Dreamwidth Blog Post— check out this post for more information and an example in the comments of what a submission would look like. You do not need a dreamwidth account to comment on the post, you can comment anonymously! Late nominations closes 6 days before signups close.

What if I only like one ship in the tag set, or at all? What if I like several ships, but only one fandom?

If you only like one tag in the tag set you still have a minimum viable signup, and you can sign up with just the one fandom, one ship! However, there are two points of order for that.

The first point is about your offers. You must be matchable to at least one person to get an assignment and stay in the exchange. If we can't give you an assignment, we'll contact you to ask about adding more offers, and if it ends up we cannot match you to anyone, your sign up will be deleted. So you need to be offering something that at least one person is requesting when the exchange closes and locks. You can look at all current signups here to see if there's anyone you can add an offer to, to make yourself matchable! It's best practice to offer at least three different fandoms to make yourself matchable— but if you have only one fandom you main you can still sign up, as long as you're matchable! (And pro tip, even if it comes down to the last few hours and you're not matchable, don't delete your signup! There's always a flurry of signups in the last few hours of the exchange, and someone from your fandom might still sign up.)

The second point is about your requests. If your original gifter drops out (life happens! People's lives blow up, computers break, people leave fandoms, etc.), the mods will put your assignment up for a Pinch Hit on the blog. That way people who want to take on an extra assignment can claim it and still write you a gift! If you have three or more unique fandoms in your requests, the mods will hold the entire exchange until someone has turned in a gift for you— nobody gets their gift until everybody gets a gift. However, if you have less than three requests you are still welcome to sign up, and you will still be posted as a pinch hit if something happens to your original gifter, but the mods won't hold the exchange for you if you only have one or two fandoms, so you might not get a gift. There is a dedicated group of pinch hitters who will do their best to make sure that everyone gets a gift, but you do run the risk of no gift if you sign up with a restricted list of offers.

I can't write 10k of fic, but I could do 10k's worth of art— what do I do?

The standard assumption is that everyone gets 10k of fic by default, and everyone signs up to make 10k of fic by default. But this is a special unique exchange, and we love to have people participating who are not fic writers. How does that work? You do not specify that you are a non-fic-writer in your signup, because that would break Ao3's matching. The mods match you manually— as long as they know that they have to do that. So you have to let them know that you want to give a non-fic gift.

If you want to work in a medium that is not fic, contact the mods by email ([email protected]), and tell them

The username you are signing up with.

A list of usernames of participants who are requesting something you can make, and what relationship/character/WB: tag and medium tag(s) you are aiming for.

It will look something like:

Hi mods, My username is RanbooLive, and I'm a podficcer who just signed up. I would like to be matched to either CarthagoDelendaEst (for the tags Chara & Flowey & Toriel (Undertale), and Medium Opt-In: Audio - Podfic of any of my fics that match this request's fandom/relationships), or Clif_Bar (for the tags Padme Amidala & Royal Handmaidens (SWPT) or WB: Prequels-Era Jedi Culture (SWPT) and Medium Opt-In: Audio - Podfic), or ThingsForgotten (for the tags Billy Brennan/Alan Grant (Jurassic Park OT) or WB: Effect of Dinosaur Reveal on Careers of Academics (Jurassic Park OT), and Medium Opt-In: Audio - Podfic). Thanks, let me know if there are any issues!

We need the info about relationship-field tags and medium tags not because you will be obligated to create that exact thing, but because we will double check during matching that the recipient we’re matching you to hasn’t, for example, removed the medium you said you can create from their request. We do not want to give you an assignment you cannot actually complete.

You do not need to have multiple options on the list you send the mods— as long as there's one person you're matchable to, you're matchable and we can assign you! It is a somewhat safer idea to have multiple options so you know you're still matchable even if someone changes their signup at the last minute, but technically one option is all you need.

And how do you get the information to put in the letter about who you're matchable to? That would be searching through the automagic app, which is a searchable database of everyone who's signed up, which lets you sort by medium tags and fandoms! Check there to find people requesting podfic/poetry/art/spreadsheets/fibercraft/cocktail instructions/video/whatever your art form is!

Honestly I'm still baffled/I'm staring at this Ao3 box and it is swimming in front of my eyes/What on Earth is a medium tag and how many do I need:

The system for signing up is pretty complex, especially if you haven't done it before. That's why we set up a discord server with a bunch of experienced people who are happy to answer questions! If you join the server, look for the #event-questions channel and we would be happy to explain anything you need, from "how do I sign up for an Ao3 account" to "why is my signup yelling at me when I save it" to "what's the difference between these two medium tags and do I need them both"? We are all standing ready to answer questions, hit us up!

If you do not want to talk to people, there is extensive documentation on the dreamwidth blog, and there might be an answer to your question there!

Or if all else fails— shoot us an ask here or email the mods!

Note: FIAB is not an all-ages exchange. You must be 18 or older to join FIAB.

Links

Email: [email protected]

Ao3 Collection

Automatic Ao3 App (contains the signups for everyone who's signed up so far, sortable by fandom or by tag, allowing you to see who you're matchable to)

Tag Set

Dreamwidth Blog

Discord (includes question channel)

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fiabex · 2 months ago

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So what on EARTH are swaps anyways?

A couple times when discussing what makes FIAB unique we've mentioned the mysterious "swaps" as a feature. What are swaps? Well, I'm glad you asked!

Have you ever been cruising the requests for an exchange and thought "oh man, User A's worldbuilding prompts are amazing, I wish I could create for User A— but look, User B is prompting my OTP and my favourite tropes, I want to create for User B too— oh but User C has opted into an absolutely incredible medium I want to create for— I want to create for all three of them! Why can't I create for all three of them? This is so unfair."

Swaps lets you live in a world where you can do that.

As you know, FIAB gives you an assignment of 10k (or equivalent in your chosen medium). You can deliver that in the form of a single 10k (or equivalent) gift, or you can chop it up into several small pieces by 1k increments, and give them a 9k and a 1k. Or a 2k, a 5k, and a 3k. Or a 6k and four 1ks. Etc. Swaps lets you take this a step further and instead of turning in 10k for one person, you chop your assignment into smaller pieces, the mods swap things in a massive spreadsheet, and you get assigned 4k for one person, 3k for another person, and 3k for another person, which you then turn in. Still 10k total, but in smaller bites. This is a great way to make sure you get to create for multiple different fandoms that interest you, it can mean you get to try out different mediums that have caught your eye, and it can reduce a daunting assignment down to several manageable smaller ones.

Before I go any further now, I should say— are you hearing this discussion and thinking it sounds overly complicated and getting stressed out just trying to think of juggling multiple assignments? No worries. Swaps are totally optional. They're an extra bonus thing you can do to spice up your assignment, and completely opt in. If this sounds bad to you, entirely disregard the rest of this post.

If the idea of getting multiple assignments has you bending closer to your screen in interest, keep going.

How does this work?

The mods release a google form that you fill out, here linked with extensive FAQ on the dreamwidth blog (or you can email— instructions for how to do that are in the dreamwidth post). You sort through the signups on the Ao3 Automagic App, and you make a shortlist of ones that you like, or you adjust your Ao3 offers so that you're offering all the ships you'd really like to create for, and you fill out the form.

It asks you for:

Your Ao3 username and an email they can contact you with

The max word count you want to be assigned (you can go higher than 10k if you're really ambitious)

The minimum amount of your original assignment you want to keep (maybe you want to keep 4k— maybe you want to get rid of all of it!)

If you want to swap with anyone you're matchable to on Ao3, or if you have a short list of people you are open to being matched to

A minimum length for your assignments (maybe you know that you just automatically write in 2k lengths, so you want your assignments in 2ks)

The total maximum number of assignments you're willing to take, including your original assignment (maybe you know you don't want more than three recipients— maybe you go hit me, I want ten recipients).

And an optional question that asks you if you want to specify that you need a certain word count for a certain person— maybe you know you need at least 2k for recipient B cause you'll be making them a comic! Or maybe you want no more than 1k for recipient D! If you want to go super granular, this is where. Otherwise you can ignore this question.

And then the mods go to town.

Now, the mods don't guarantee that they can get you any specific assignment or any specific recipient. This only works because they're playing the world's most complicated game of tetris behind the scenes, and if someone's original assignment doesn't want to swap, or only wants to swap a specific amount, maybe they can't swap for you. But they do their best.

What does this look like in practice?

After sign ups end you might find that your initial assignment is for X. You know you could create a full 10k for X, but maybe they haven't opted into any extra mediums, and you wanted to do some art for FIAB.

Looking around the requests, you see that A, B and C are all requesting art mediums you can do for fandoms/relationships you're interested in.

You submit a swap request form telling the mods:

You'd like the following swaps: 1k for A, 3k for B, or 1k for C

You need at least 2k for B because you want to make them a comic at least that long.

You want to keep at least 7k of your initial assignment for X.

You don't want more than 3 recipients total.

The mods get a whole bunch of swap requests like the one above and then do a huge spreadsheet puzzle to figure out who can actually swap what.

In the end, you will either get an email letting you know we couldn't make any of your swaps happen…

…or you will get an email with telling you about your swapsignments, which might be any of the following:

You've kept 7k of X, and now have 1k of A & 2k of B

You've kept 7k of X, and now have 1k of C & 2k of B

You've kept 7k of X, and now have 3k of B

You've kept 8k of X, and now have 1k of A & 1k of C

You've kept 8k of X, and now have 2k of B

You've kept 9k of X, and now have 1k of A

You've kept 9k of X, and now have 1k of C

And then you start creating!

But how can I do swaps until I know what my assignment is? Not everyone is even signed up yet!

Very valid. The swaps form is open at least a day after assignments are out, so you have time to assess your assignment, take stock of the signups, and put in your requests. Many people wait until after assignments to swap.

However, some people have intermittent access to internet, or already know who they want to swap for regardless of who they get assigned, or are just saying "swap me to anyone I'm matchable to on Ao3", and don't have to wait until all signups are in to pick among them. The mods didn't want to have the form only open for a few days or one day (what if someone's travelling!) so they open it early.

Sometimes people fill out their swaps assignment as soon as they make a short list of people they want to swap for (which can happen quite early in signups), some people wait until signups are closed and they can sort through everyone and know for sure who requested in their fandoms or mediums, and some people wait until assignments are out. Each of those things work!

What if I file my swaps assignment early but I change my mind?

As long as the swaps form hasn't closed yet, you can re-fill it out, and mods will just throw out the earlier one. They'll always go with the latest swaps request.

Questions?

For more information about swaps, mediums, signing up, late tag nominations, or much more (questions about how pinch hits work? we have documentation about that), check out the dreamwidth blog!

If you have questions, feel free to ask them here, check the dreamwidth blog, email the mods, or join our discord server. The discord server has a lot of experienced participants happy to answer questions, and you are also welcome to join just to hang out!

Note: you must be 18 or older to join FIAB.

Links

Email: [email protected]

Ao3 Collection (sign up here)

Tag Set (everything you can request or offer is here)

Ao3 Automagic App (you can see all current signups here)

Dreamwidth Blog

Discord (includes question channel)

#fandom gift exchange #fiab #fic in a box

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fiabex · 2 months ago

Text

FIAB: Sign-ups open!

Sign-ups are now open for Fic In A Box, a 10k fandom gift exchange, and it's time to officially join the event!

What Is FIAB?

A gift exchange is an fandom event where participants create fanworks to gift to each other. Fic In A Box is a fanwork exchange with a large minimum gifting requirement and several unique features. Participants have 6 weeks to create their gifts, and gifts can include fic, art, audio, video— and much much more— aiming for a minimum of 10k of fic or equivalent to give to their assigned recipient.

This sounds enticing but you have questions? More under the cut!

Signups? What's that?

To officially join the event and be matched— so that you are assigned someone to make a gift for, and someone is assigned to you— you have to sign up on Ao3. It is the "sign up" button in the sidebar on the left-hand side of the Ao3 page. You have until signups close on September 7th (10pm EST), to get your signup filled out. You can edit your signup after you submit it, so feel free to get a minimum signup done and then tinker with it during signups.

To sign up you fill out your Requests (what you are saying you'd be okay for people to give you as a gift), and your Offers (what you are saying you'd be able to make to give someone else as a gift), and submit it. You use tags from a special event tag set to fill out your offers and requests, and you'll only be able to use the tags in the tag set for the event. The tag set contains fandoms, ships, characters, worldbuilding tags, and gift types ("mediums"), all of which you use to refine your requests and offers to make sure you are signing up with exactly the type of gift you want to get or make in mind (with a bit of mystery still, part of the fun of the exchange is the challenge and surprise of it all).

Tag set?

Hopefully you heard about FIAB early enough that you were part of the nomination process where we built the tag set, where anyone could nominate their ships or worldbuilding ideas or fandoms. But maybe you just heard about it and you didn't nominate any tags— can you still participate? Yes! There are two options! First one: check out the tag set here, and if there are any ships that you like, smack those into a signup and you're good to go!

Second option: FIAB accepts late nominations if they are tags that you imminently intend to use in your signup. You need to format them in such a way that we can batch load them into the tag set, and you need to submit them through a comment on the designated Dreamwidth Blog Post— check out this post for more information and an example in the comments of what a submission would look like. You do not need a dreamwidth account to comment on the post, you can comment anonymously! Late nominations closes 6 hours before signups close.