Dear Santa Letters!

[squidgiepdx]

Everyone: please come back and check this post over the next couple weeks, to see if your recipient commented with a Dear Santa letter.

Dear Santa/Giftmaker letters let recipients expand on their requests -- both what they enjoy, and what they’d rather avoid/what squicks them.

That said, remember Dear Santa letters are totally optional.

That also means that dSSS gift-makers are not required to fulfill optional requests from their recipients' Dear Santa letters. 

(They should of course respect the requested exclusions/squicks in the recipient’s AO3 dSSS signup.)

Notes on Dear Santa Letters:

• Please be sure to include your AO3 USERNAME (so your giftmaker knows which letter is yours)!


• If your dSSS AO3 signup has an empty placeholder link for your Dear Santa letter, please go back and edit that with the correct address for your Dear Santa letter.


• If you didn't include a link in your Request on AO3, you can’t add one now.

BUT you can post your Dear Santa letter here. Just paste it into a comment here.

Or, if your Dear Santa letter is posted elsewhere, post the link in your comment here.

• If you forgot what you requested, refer back to your AO3 dSSS signup by logging into AO3 and clicking "My Signups" from your AO3 dashboard.
 
• If you requested art, vid or podfic, remember to put these non-story formats in your Dear Santa letter.
 
• Holiday or Christmas-themed giftworks are NOT required and may be unwelcome, since dSSS is an international and multicultural exchange.

If you have a preference concerning December holidays, please put it in your Dear Santa letter so your Giftmaker will know.

For pointers on how to write a Dear Santa/Giftmaker letter, see past participants’ Dear Santa letters here on dSSS discussion DW -- check out the "santa letters" tag.

DSSS Reminders:

• This is a secret exchange! Keep everything you're doing secret until Reveal Day, January 1st.


• Don’t openly discuss your assignment or identify your recipient on any social media, in order to avoid revealing your assignments before Reveal Day.

(However, of course you can reveal those details in emails to dSSS admins at dsss.admin (at) gmail (dot) com.)

• DO NOT contact your recipient directly!

If you have questions about your assignment (no matter how weird!), bring them to your mods at dsss.admin (at) gmail (dot) com. We'll happily contact your recipient for you. 

We can even be sneaky and frame the discussion so that they're less likely to guess what they're getting. *g*

 

• Optional Details Are Optional, at least as far as prompts go.

• HOWEVER, PLEASE RESPECT your recipient's list of squicks/exclusions. We appreciate your kindness.

Once you write your Dear Santa letter, paste or link it in a comment below!  

Make sure your linked post is PUBLIC – your gift-maker may not be on your access list!

If your journal is friends-only, paste your letter into a comment below instead. (Requiring your gift-maker to friend-request your f-locked journal will reveal their secret identity and ruin the fun. Don't ruin the fun! *g*)  

If you're a Tumblr user, please post a link to your Dear Santa letter in a comment here.

Okay! When you're ready, please comment below with your Dear Santa link or copied/pasted letter! 

 

Welcome! (dSSS: What You Need To Know)

[squidgiepdx]

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for signing up to dSSS 2019 - our 16th year of exchanging due South fanworks!

Read on for dSSS: What You Need To Know (Assignments, Instructions, Not Required)

Assignments!

Everyone should have received their 2019 dSSS assignment email from AO3.  

If you didn’t, please log into AO3 and check your "My Assignments" page. Your assignment should be listed there.  

If you don’t see it there, email us mods at dsss.admin (at) gmail (dot) com ASAP.

If AO3 shows your assignment, but you didn't get the AO3 assignment email, check your spam or junk mail filter. 

If it isn't there either, please let us know ASAP at dsss.admin (at) gmail (dot) com!


Instructions!

Reminders:

Your assigned recipient may have up to three requests. Choose only ONE of the requests to work on.

Your created fanwork is for the character/relationship in the recipient's AO3 request (or in the AO3 request you chose, if there was more than one). Optional tags and Dear Santa letters are suggestions only. 

Requirements:

Fic must be at least 1000 words in length (AO3's word count). 

Podficced works must also be at least 1000 words in length. 

Vids must be at least 1.5 minutes long. 

Visual art should be equal in effort and time to a well-crafted 1,000 word story. 

All gift works must be beta-ed. No exceptions. We want our gift recipients to have the highest quality dSSS gifts! 

For betas, please check the previous betas post in upcoming weeks for additional comments by beta volunteers. You can also check our challenge profile for the rules and FAQ.

Do NOT contact your recipient if you have questions. Contact us at dsss.admin (at) gmail (dot) com and we will help you!

IOW, secret things stay secret. Optional things are optional. Required things are required. 

Any questions or confusion, ALWAYS ASK A MOD! 

If asking your question in a comment here could reveal your assignment or recipient, please DO NOT comment here! EMAIL us dsss.admin (at) gmail (dot) com.

For any other questions or concerns, please email us at dsss.admin (at) gmail (dot) com and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

NOT Required

For Gift-makers: 

Holiday or Christmas-themed giftworks are NOT required! (Given that DSSS is an international and multicultural exchange, they may not even be welcome.)

Please check your recipient’s requests on AO3 and list of squicks (if they have one).
Alternatively, see their optional Dear Santa letter if there is one, to determine their squicks. 

For Recipients:

If you have a preference regarding December holidays, please mention that in your Dear Santa letter, so your Giftmaker knows.

Bonus works/treats:

If you finish your dSSS gift early and have an idea for a bonus work or treat, that would be great! 

But you are only required to make one gift work for your recipient. 

Also, until your primary gift work is completed, beta-ed, and posted on AO3… please do not make or post any bonus work/treats.

A "treats' round is in the future – in upcoming weeks, keep an eye on this community or the dSSS Tumblr for more information.

Finally: 

Thank you for signing up to dSSS 2019! We're excited to see so many new faces alongside many old friends! Go forth and create!