Archive of Our Own ^beta

Welcome to the 2012 Canada Six Degrees (of Due South) Midsummer Santa Gift Exchange.

Come and sign up to make and receive a fanwork for our super-awesome Canadian fandoms.

TIMETABLE

How do I sign up?
CLICK ON THIS LINK
It will take you to a signup form.
Note: Although the signup form is not on AO3 you will still post your work to the Midsummer 2012 Collection, on AO3.

But what if I'm not an AO3 member?
No problem. Email me at midsummerc6d@gmail.com and I'll rustle up an invite for you.

What is Canada 6 Degrees?
It's a large group of related fandoms that have some connection to the television show due South. This encompasses fandoms that are "six-degree-ish" of a small set of (mostly) Canadian artists:

Paul Gross, David Marciano, Callum Keith Rennie, Hugh Dillon, Don McKellar, Bruce McDonald, Daniel MacIvor, Sandra Oh, Molly Parker, James Allodi, Peter Outerbridge, Gordon Pinsent and others.

An extensive list of eligible fandoms can be found here. If you aren't sure a fandom is eligible, please ask.

What is Midsummer Santa?
Midsummer Santa is a fanworks exchange in which you secretly make a C6D fanwork (story, art, vid, icon set, podfic, fanmix) for someone else, as a gift. You MUST offer to make a fanwork in at least two of the core fandoms. Please help make this fun and exciting by offering every fandom you feel comfortable! The world TOTALLY needs more ReGenesis fanworks! More Flashpoint! More Men With Brooms! More Suspicious River Slapshot 2 Last Night!

You can enter three and five requests on the signup form, detailing characters and pairings, prompts and suggestions. Two of these requests MUST be from the core fandom list - the other three can be any C6D fandom, or a crossover of two or more C6D fandoms. Your assigned gift-giver will make a fanwork for one of your requests.

What are core fandoms?
For the purposes of being able to match requests to offers, we have a set of 'core fandoms'. Participants are asked to ensure that at least TWO of their requests/offers are from this list:

Canadian Actor RPF, Double Happiness, Durham County, Flashpoint, Hard Core Logo, Last Night, My Life As A Dog, Men With Brooms, ReGenesis, Slings & Arrows, Twitch City, Wilby Wonderful

What kind of fanwork can I make/receive?
In the past we've only offered the opportunity to write stories. This year we'd like to open the exchange to artists, vidders, podficcers and fanmixers.

You can help encourage all kinds of creativity by asking for or offering as many different types of fanworks as you feel comfortable. This will also make it easier to match people.

Why isn't due South included?
due South has a big fandom, and its own Seekrit Santa exchange every year. Midsummer Santa was started as a way to, among other things, explore the opportunities presented by other characters the dS leads played. In the spirit of that endeavor, for this exchange we rule out due South and other shows and films that have their own large fandoms.

Can I request a crossover, or an AU?
Absolutely!
Because crossovers are awesome, I am allowing characters from larger fandoms such as due South to be part of a request, eg. Mike Sweeney/Ray Kowalski, Benton Fraser/Brian Larson, Francesca Vecchio/Buddy French, etc.

Examples, please?
You can see what people have done in the past by checking out the collections here on AO3 (just click on "Parent Collection" in the sidebar and you'll see the subcollections), and previous Midsummer communities:

Midsummer 2010, which was hosted by the gang at c6d universe.
Midsummer 2009
Midsummer 2007
Midsummer 2006
Midsummer 2005

I don't have a beta/can't find a beta.
There will be a beta-call post to the C6D communities on LJ and DW. Keep an eye out for it.
If you are willing to beta, keep an eye out for my post requesting betas, and add your name to the list. Betas are awesome!

What do I do if I can't finish my assignment on time?
PLEASE contact me as soon as possible, so that I can assign a pinch-hitter. This makes life much easier for the mod and ensures that everyone who gives a gift gets one in return.

Can I sign up to be a pinch-hitter?
Yes! Please send an email to midsummerc6d@gmail.com and let me know what kind of fanworks you are willing to pinch-hit.

Other things
Please do your best to keep your requests short and sweet, follow the rules, and post your gift on time.

Dear Santa letters: You can help your gift-maker by posting a Dear Santa letter on your journal. Note that they don't have to meet all of your specifications. They're only obliged to match on the fandom(s) and pairing(s) in your signup. If you don't have a journal, I can forward your letter directly to your gift-maker.

Media: If you need access to hard-to-get media, please email me at midsummerc6d@gmail.com.

Any other questions?
Email the mod at midsummerc6d@gmail.com.

Size:

Stories must be at least 1000 words.
Vids must be at least 1:30 minutes long.
Visual art is not as easy to quantify, but basically we want to see contributions equal in effort and time to a well-crafted 1,000 word story. So if you make icons, we're looking for sets of ten, rather than a single one; if you are drawing a sketch, it should be reasonably detailed work.
Podfics must be at least 1000 words.
Fanmixes must be of commensurate size and effort, preferably with artwork.

TWO requests/offers must be for core fandoms (see FAQ).

For offers/requests other than for a fanfic, AT LEAST TWO different types of fanworks must be offered/requested (eg. if you would like to receive fanart, please also request a podfic or a fanfic, just in case we don't have any artists able to work in your preferred fandom).

Your gift must include at least one of your recipient's requested pairings or characters.

It is expected that your work will be betaed. If you have trouble finding a beta, check the beta call posts on the C6D communities, or contact the mod.

It's a Secret Santa: this means that you are creating a gift for someone and MUST keep it secret until the works are revealed.

HAVE FUN! \c6d/