#winterhawl wonderland 2023

[winterhawkwonderland]

FAQs 2023 - revised edition!

Hey there, Wonderland Participants! Here is your 2023 update of resource for dates, common questions, and rules for our event. Not much has changed over the years, but we like to keep all our info in one place for convenience.

Dates:

Monday, October 16th: Signups open - you will receive an automatic confirmation from Google Forms when you submit the form. All communication from the blog will be directed to the email you sign up with, so please use an email you check regularly. Also be sure to check your spam box! If you do not receive this email, please send us an Ask to confirm you have signed up.

Monday, October 23rd: Signups close

Wednesday, November 1st: Assignments will be emailed - these will arrive in the email inbox you provided when you signed up. If you do not have an assignment by November, 3rd, please check in with the Blog.

Friday, December 1st: Mandatory Check-In #1

Friday, December 15th: Mandatory Check-In #2; Posting Date Signups begin

December 24th-31st: Gifts Posted (by assigned date)

Sunday January 15th: Round-Up Posted

Rules:

This exchange is for good-hearted fun! Remember that you’re getting a gift, not ordering a commission.

Works submitted for this event have to be original works that haven’t yet been posted elsewhere in the fandom. Everybody deserves a new, unique gift!

Remember to keep your recipient a secret until gifts are revealed!

This event doesn’t allow any works involving the Big AO3 Four (Character Death, Underage, Rape/Non-con, Extreme Violence).

This event is open to all ages — with the caveat that participants under the age of 18 will not be allowed to create or receive sexual content.

This year we are allowing art and writing.

Fanart: Final pieces should be digitally consumable. This can include fanart, moodboards, and the like.

Fanfic: Absolute minimum 1000 words; no maximum; expectation between 1K-3K.

All works need to be complete before posting — this includes multi-chapter work.

All works should be submitted to the 2023 Winterhawk Wonderland AO3 Collection.

Have fun!

FAQs from past years:

If you have a question that is not answered here, please feel free to send an Ask! (Below a cut because it has gotten longer as the years go by.)

If we write a story best formatted as multiple chapters and finished by the deadline, can we post just chapter one on the day the story is due and each chapter on a new day thereafter or does an entire multi-chaptered work have to go up all at once?

The multi-chapter work must be complete by your posting date and must be completely posted by the end of posting. Basically, posting runs December 24th-31st - dates will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis by google form sign-up, and your entire work must be completely posted by December 31st. If you have many chapters, we recommend that you choose an earlier posting date so that you can post a chapter each day until complete and still be done by final posting date.

Will I get assigned to make either art or fic or do I get the prompts and choose which to make?

You will receive three prompts from your gift recipient and you may fulfill the request in whatever fashion you like as long as it respects the recipients DNWs. If you can make all three prompts into one art piece or one fic, go for it. You can focus on only one prompt. You can mash up two of the three! Whatever inspires you, we encourage you to get creative!

Are we allowed to combine our gift with a bingo fill if we can fit a bingo event prompt into the gift exchange prompt?

We are okay with this as long as the following conditions are met:

The work produced must prioritize the recipient’s request. If you can make werewolf den mothering and canon-compliant mission AU match up in a way that makes sense and that meets the recipient’s requests and DNWs, go for it.

The Bingo event is okay with prompts doing double-duty for our event and theirs.

The work created must meet the cumulative requirement for BOTH events. For example we are asking for 1000 words at minimum. If the Bingo requires 500 words, you would need to produce at least 1500 words to meet the guidelines for both events. It is hard to give an example of how that would apply to art, but the general idea is that you are creating a body of work which cumulatively meets the requirements for both events. Mood boards might need 6-8 images instead of 4, for example, or art might have a detailed background or full shading rather than a black and white sketch.Please use your good judgment with the idea that you are creating a gift for someone to enjoy in addition to filling a Bingo prompt rather than filling a Bingo prompt that you happen to gift someone.

Are threesome ships allowed for the exchange? As long as Clint and Bucky are prominently included? Can we put that as a request?

You can request an OT3 as part of your requests, but as this is a Winterhawk event your creator is under no obligation to fulfill any poly ships. Additionally, the focus should definitely be on the Winterhawk aspect of the relationship. Please do not create a polyship that the recipient has not asked for!

When we will receive our matches?

On or before November 1st, depending on the Mods’ schedules. We begin working on matches as soon as sign ups start!

How are matches made?

Matches are made through a very sophisticated system of: first we match up sensitive topic requests, such as ace/aro, trans, etc. with creators who are comfortable with those subjects and will treat them respectfully. Then we ensure that unusual DNWs (things that don’t fall under the Big 4 or that aren’t what most would consider ‘common’ DNWs such as abuse) are not matched with people who might accidentally include that DNW in a gift. For example, if you put werewolves on your DNW list, we aren’t going to match you with someone who has submitted three werewolf prompts. That person likes werewolves, and you don’t! It’s not a good match! Finally, we pray over the spreadsheet to the Random Number Generator Gods, and they spit out divinely reveal Random Numbers for us to match. Entry number 1 gets holy Russian Roulette matched to entry number 25! Unless one of those already has been matched, that’s the pairing that gets emailed out! This is the fairest way we have come up with to do the matchmaking, but if you receive a prompt you absolutely feel you cannot create for, please reach out to us and we will see what we can do about resolving the situation, whether that means we make a matching change, or we ask the gift recipient for new prompts.

How do posting dates work?

As part of the second Check In, the Google Form will ask you to choose a date on the form that you would like to post on, running the entire length of the posting period (December 24th-31st). There will be a limited number of slots per day (4-5 spots) and they will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Again, we recommend that if you have a multi-chapter work and would like to post a chapter per day/every other day that you sign up for an early posting date so that your work is completely posted before the event ends December 31st.

Artwork and AO3 - Do I have to post my art on AO3 for the exchange?

Unfortunately in past runs we have found that Tumblr often eats tags and notifications and we have unintentionally overlooked Gifts that were posted on Tumblr and tagged to the blog. Additionally, not every participant is on Tumblr, some people exist in that nebulous space where this hellsite isn’t their primary means of social media (weird, we know). So for those two reasons we do ask that all participants post their Gifts on AO3 and gift them to their assigned recipient. (AO3 pseuds were included in the original matching emails, but if you can’t find yours send us an ask or email and we’ll get your recipient’s AO3 name to you!) We then pull all the AO3 links to our Master Post after the event is complete and make a Masterpost on Tumblr.

Will you be reblogging Tumblr posts that are tagged to the blog?

We will not - similarly to art, when we’re tagged on Tumblr we don’t always get the notification because Tumblr is, well, Tumblr. This has led to issues where gifts are overlooked or don’t get reblogged which causes hurt feelings and confusion. For that reason, we ask that all participants post their Gifts to the AO3 collection, and we will collate a Master Post at the end of the event with everyone’s work, including their Tumblr handle if they have one.

What are the Check-Ins?

Just a way for the Mod Team to check in with participants to ensure things are running smoothly. We will ask you how your gift is coming along, if you’re having any trouble we can help with, and if you have any concerns you would like to voice.

The second check-in is going to ask you to be a little more specific about your progress towards completion, and it will give us as mods an opportunity to offer you help if you need it.

What if I need to drop out?

Please, please, please let us know as soon as possible. We have pinch-hitters on standby, very willing to step in if needed - we understand that things happen! We will not even ask you why you need to drop out, we will just say thank you for letting us know and then we will pass your recipient’s prompts on to a pinch hitter. No drama at all, and nothing to feel anxious about. No one will even know that you dropped out unless you tell them. Gifts are kept anonymous until posting day, and your recipient will still receive a gift regardless of whether you are able to provide it or not.

Beta Readers/Cheer Readers/Other forms of writing support:

In previous years we have done things like beta-matching and setting people up with that kind of support, but we have found that difficult given the unknown nature of what each writer is creating and what each volunteer beta can or will help with.

What we can do is this: If you are someone who would like to offer your services as writing support to another member of fandom please reach out to us either via blog Ask or email at winterhawkwonderland (at) gmail (dot) com. We will provide all those who ask for writing support with a list of fandom members they can reach out to for help! You do not need to be participating in the exchange to offer your help, you need only be willing to support another member of fandom as they create something for the event. We will ask that all writers who are looking for help please be upfront and honest with anyone who offers them help in terms of what they are specifically looking for (SPaG, a full beta, cheer-reading, idea-bouncing, etc.) and what sort of fic they’re writing, including all content warnings.

Pinch-Hitting

If you would like to volunteer to pinch-hit, there will be a space on the sign up form to indicate your willingness. If you do not want to sign up for the exchange but would still be willing to provide a pinch-hit, please email the blog at winterhawkwonderland (at) gmail (dot) com, or send an ask to the blog. In exchange, you will receive our undying love and devotion.

If for any reason someone needs to drop out, we will draw from this pool of wonderful volunteers who are willing to take on a last minute assignment and make a gift.

As always, we will never ask anyone why they need to drop or give anyone any grief about dropping, nor will anyone be banned from any future exchanges. We understand that sometimes life happens to people. All we ask is that you notify us as soon as possible if you need to drop. Please don’t wait until your posting date to tell us you aren’t going to make it! We can be flexible if something comes up, but if you know you’re not feeling the vibe, just reach out to us either via ask or email.

Please do not just ghost the Exchange if you cannot complete your gift assignment - we want to help, and we don’t want anyone to be left hanging at the end of the event.

Social Spaces

The Winterhawk Wonderland Exchange does not have an official Discord server, but if you are looking for a space to hang out, sprint, and make friends, there are several good Winterhawk/Marvel servers around! If we have any followers that would like to invite Exchange participants to their servers, please reach out to the blog via Ask and we will share the links.