Summary & Genre Feedback

[longficmod]

Hey, everyone! Hope you’re as excited about this as we are. Nominations open on 7 February, just a couple of weeks away.

Before we kick things off, here’s a quick summary of how the exchange will work. We’ll give more information on each step of the process later on.

Questions can be left in the comments or sent to fandom5kmod@gmail.com.

Tags for Matching:

Matching will be done by fandom, character/relationship, and (hopefully) genre. We’ll use the Character field in AO3 for individual characters (Character A), gen relationships (Character A & Character B), and ships (Character A/Character B). We’ll use the Additional tag(s) field for genre. More on how the genres work below!

Nominations: Select up to 4 fandoms and 4 character/relationship tags per fandom. Genre tags will not be open to nominations, though we are taking feedback on those now--see below.

Signups: Request a minimum of 4 fandoms, with at least 1 character/relationship tag and 3 genre tags per fandom. Offer a minimum of 5 fandoms, with at least 1 character/relationship tag and 3 genre tags per fandom.

Genre:

We’ll try to match based on genre, but if that results in an unmanageable number of initial pinch hits, we’ll just match on fandom and character/relationship. AO3’s matching functionality will still prioritize offers and requests that share genre tags, so hopefully most of you will be assigned to someone requesting a genre you offered, and if not, you’ll at least have a better idea of your recipient’s tastes.

Because we’re not guaranteeing a match based on your genre selections, you will not be required to write a fic in one of the requested genres, though you’re certainly encouraged to do so!

We’ve defined a list of fifteen genres that we hope are specific enough to give some sense of your tastes in fic without being so general as to be meaningless. We want a good range of options for individual characters, gen relationships, and ships.

• Darkfic
• Angst
• Hurt/Comfort
• Fluff
• Getting Together
• Established Relationship
• Smut
• Canon-Style Plot (casefic, etc.)
• Worldbuilding
• Mundane/Modern AU (coffee shop, high school, etc.)
• Genre AU (historical, space opera, fantasy, etc.)
• Action/Adventure
• Interpersonal Drama
• Bildungsroman/Character Development
• Slice of Life

This is one area where we’d like some feedback. Did we miss anything obvious? Do these need additional clarification? We’re hoping to keep the list near this size.

We discussed canon-divergence AUs but decided that genre doesn’t give a good sense of the “feel” of a story, since it could either be a fluffy fixit divergence or a horrific apocalypse scenario. Feel free to request those in your optional details!

Defaults and Mandatory Check-In:

This is important, so we’ll include reminders as these dates approach.

Midway through the writing period, we’ll have a no-fault default deadline. You may default without penalty up to 1 April. Defaulters after that date will be required to fulfill their assignment if they want to participate in the next round.

On 2 April, we’ll make a post here with comments screened, and you’ll have until 8 April to leave a comment confirming that you’re still committed to the exchange. After 8 April, anyone who has not checked in will be defaulted automatically.

Explanations and Feedback:

Most of these decisions were made because 5,000 words is a big commitment, and we’re guaranteeing a story of that length for everyone who fulfills their assignment. We want to keep initial pinch hits low and, in the event of defaults, give pinch hitters more options to choose from.

To do that, we could either increase the number of fandoms required or the number of character/relationship tags per fandom. We’ve decided to try a slightly higher number of fandoms but only require one character/relationship tag in each. We’ve also instituted the mandatory check-in period to give pinch hitters as much time as possible.

We’ll see how the first round works with these rules, and then we’ll consider changing things up for the next round based on how smoothly this goes and on your feedback. Keep an eye out for a feedback post after reveals!

Note that we’re still finalizing the list of genre tags, though, so please review that section and leave a comment if you have suggestions!

Comments

[muccamukk]

Could you add Canon-Divergent/Turn Left AU as a category? ETA: Sorry, I missed the line. I'd still find it more useful than say "fluff", but will include it as optional.

I know this is picky, but would you mind not hard-coding the font? It shows up as black on dark grey on my feed.

[sirvalkyrie]

I don't really like the split between AUs just being mundane/modern AU and genre AU. Can there be some tag to specify non-mundane elements instead of lumping it all in to the same tag as things such as historical, westerns, and detective noir?

[burglebezzlemen.livejournal.com]

Would it be possible to separate out casefic (and similar procedural plots like Monster of the Week, medical patient of the week, etc.) from Canon-Style Plot?

I'm definitely interested in potentially offering and requesting casefic/MotW, but some of the canons I'm thinking of don't actually have cases in canon. (I'm thinking of canons like sitcoms, family dramas, classic novels, RPF, that sort of thing.)

[pameluke]

Another call to add Canon-divergence type of AUs, or AUs in a Canon Setting. I love reading and writing all kinds of trope heavy AUs (ranging from soulmates to separated twins at birth to arranged marriage to werewolves etc...), with the caveat that they still take place in the canon setting as opposed to a modern/mundane/non magical version.

I don't think these would fall under the feelings listed here. Simply Getting Together doesn't necessarily cover Getting Together Because Soulmates...

[(Anonymous)]

I'd really, really like to see Canon Divergence make the genre list! If you're worried about it being too vague, you could perhaps split it into a few different ones? Like "fix-it" and, uh, I dunno, "bad ending"? There are some fandoms I'd want to request fix-it for, so I'd be over the moon if I could actually choose it as a genre.

As for other genres, how about "humor"?

[(Anonymous)]

I'd also like to see canon-divergence and/or fix-it as a genre.

I'm a bit confused by "Bildungsroman/Character Development". Bildungsroman is a very specific literary genre that not all character development stories fit, and it's hardly a term used a lot for fanfic anyway. Wouldn't it be easier to just call it "character development" to avoid possible confusion?

I'm not sure if this is really feasible, but maybe "smut" could be split into PWP and porn-with-plot? I figure a lot of people would be happy to receive smut, but not necessarily 5k of exclusively smut and nothing else.

[badass_tiger]

Speaking up for the crowd that would prefer to keep canon divergence out here. Labeling a story with a genre should give a feel for what the story is, even if it's a parody, deconstruction, etc. of that genre, and canon divergence is definitely too open to be a genre. Any of the genres listed could be a canon divergence AU (e.g. character development by exploring a divergence AU, getting-together through a soulmate AU, etc.). I think some people might be a bit confused by the definition of genre, especially as used in this post, but this is my understanding of the OP's definition of genre.

[(Anonymous)]

Are you very committed the genre tag? Because frankly, I think it'll do more harm than good.

As it is now, it also strongly favours groups of people who like certain things (like AUs) over those who don't because they get more tags to choose from.

Personally, I'd have trouble picking three genres I like from the list above and would most likely end up picking at least one I feel lukewarm about. So I hope you'll either drastically expand this list or scrap the category altogether.