Archive of Our Own ^beta

In September 2008, the BBC launched a new television series based on the old Arthurian legends but with a fresh new look and feel: Merlin. Just a few weeks later the success of the show led to the creation of a seasonal gift exchange on livejournal: merlin_santa. This community allowed fan to both share their love for the series and much holiday cheer in the classic Secret Santa fashion through the exchange of wishlists and the creation of fanworks such as fiction, art, banners, icons, music mixes, wallpapers, and videos. The first round was a great success, with many wonderful works being produced, which encouraged moderators to make the exchange an annual event.

What is the schedule?

Participant Sign-Up: November 1st thru November 22nd
Posting: December 24th thru January 10th

For challenges and exchanges like this one, generally participants are asked for a minimum of 1,000 words for a story or the equivalent for some other form of virtual gifts.

In order to participate:

1. You must join the livejournal community.

2. You must post your wishlist during the appropriate period, usually in November. Any type of created gift is acceptable to ask for: fanfic, banners, icons, wallpapers, videos, music mixes, etc.

3. You must be willing to be a Secret Santa for someone else. Posting a wishlist automatically means the community mods will be matching you with another participant and given their wishlist to fill. This is a gift exchange, after all.
NOTE: Please do not reveal yourself to your Secret Santa. This will only ruin the surprise.

4. You’ll need to kick your creative booty into gear, and get cracking on making a "present" for your Secret Santa. Should you have any questions for your Secret Santa, please email the community mods, and they will get back to you as soon as possible. Satisfying the entire wishlist is not necessary. Any contribution will be appreciated by your Secret Santa.

5. You must post your gift between December 24th and January 3rd on the community.
NOTE: If you are unable to complete your gift for whatever reason, please let us know as soon as possible by commenting on this post HERE. No one will be mad at you as we know that crappy stuff in life can prevent us from taking part in such things. We can then quickly arrange a back up gifter to take your place.

6. After January 3rd, the mods will post a gift masterlist for everyone to peruse and to also ensure that those who have not received their gifts are granted a back-up Santa, and in turn receive gifts.

1. The gift you created for your assigned person must be fan fiction. Presently the Archive is not equipped to handle other types of virtual gifts, though fan art and fan videos are expected to eventually be accepted.