due South Seekrit Santa gift exchange

Greetings all you wonderful dSSS people!


Firstly, primary gifts are due in eleven days -- they must be added to the dSSS Collection no later than December 17th, 2021 at 11:59pm Central. If for some reason you can't make the deadline, email the mods ASAP at dsss.admin (at) gmail.com. Thank you kindly!


But if you're done with your gift work, and you want to give a little more to the community, then read on!


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We dSSS mods are delighted to announce the commencement of dSSS Treats! Treats are fun, small, seekrit, and 100% optional. If you only have time for your assigned work, no worries! Focus on that (please!). But those done making their assigned gifts, are free to drabble, drawble, vidlet, and podficlet!


How Treats work:


* Treats Deadline is December 31st!

* Post TREATS any time AFTER you post your assigned giftwork, up until 12/31/21, 11:59pm Chicago (Central) time! Yes, we allow Treats right up through New Years Eve!

* But please: YOU MUST POST YOUR ASSIGNED GIFTWORK FIRST. We review works as they are posted to keep track of unfulfilled assignments. If you post a treat without already posting your assigned giftwork, we must delete it from the collection. POST YOUR ASSIGNED WORK FIRST.

* Once your assigned dSSS work is done? Have at it!




Who are Treats for?



• Any dSSS registered participants, pinch hitters, and mods. When works go live, the "Guess the Creators!" post will list all gift creators, including pinch hitters.

• Your assigned recipient: dSSS 2021 companion pieces (for the gift you created). Complementary works only, not remixes. Questions? Email the mods.

• dSSS giftwork(s) companion pieces (for the gift someone received). Please ensure all Treats are complementary/companion works -- not remixes.



How do I know what to make? Aren't requests hidden?

Everyone's signup requests are visible now. So you can look at all the prompts! While assigned work must be in the requested format(s), Treats don't have to be. If a fic prompt inspires you to create art or podfic (and vice versa), have at it!


Do pinch hitters get to make requests?

If you were assigned a pinch-hit, please comment on this post with a request, so people who want to make you a Treat know what you like. Mods may also post comments to this post, detailing their requests. Check here for those. (This doesn't guarantee you will get a Treat, though.)



Special Rules:

1. IMPORTANT: Carefully follow the special posting instructions for Treats in the next section.

2. Brevity is fine! No minimum word count or artistic effort.

3. Our standards for all dSSS works still include spelling and grammar. Treats that don't meet dSSS quality standards may be removed at the discretion of the mods. You are not required to have Treats beta-ed (because of the shorter time for Treat creation) – but we still strongly encourage you to have them beta-ed.

4. Other gift formats not named by a participant request, and relaxed length/effort requirements are the only rules changes for Treats. They must still respect the recipient's requested characters/relationships and any DNW info (including Dear Santa letters).

5. Art, vidlet, or podfic Treats must be sent to dSSS mods for approval. Like all dSSS works, Treats are SEEKRIT until Reveal!



Special AO3 upload instructions for Treats:

This is the Treats Addendum to the full-length posting instructions for dSSS gifts:

* Additional Tags: Enter "dSSS Treat" (plus any other relevant tags).

* Does this fulfill a challenge assignment? No! This is a Treat, not your assigned work! You've already uploaded your assigned work, so UNCHECK this box.

* Post to Collections. Make certain "dsss_2021" is entered here.

* Gift this work to: Enter the username of the recipient of your Treat here.

What recipient do you enter if your treat is a companion piece inspired by an {Anonymous} dSSS giftwork? Enter the recipient who received the inspiring work!

* After Reveal, you may edit in the revealed creator of the inspiring work as an additional recipient. (IMPORTANT: Do NOT enter "Anonymous" as the recipient! If you do, your Treat will be gifted to the AO3 user “Anonymous” – not your intended recipient!)

* This work...was inspired by another work. (Optional!) If you check this box, a window appears to enter information to link your Treat to the associated work in the AO3 which inspired you. You don’t have to use this, but you can if you want to. If you do use it, the creator of the original inspiring work will get an email notification that their work now has a companion piece. Also, the creator of the original inspiring work does not have to approve the “inspired by” link from their work to your companion piece – but if they want to, they can.

Defaulters MAY NOT post Treats (with some exceptions). Participants must fulfill their assignments for dSSS to succeed. The top priority is all participants posting their assigned dSSS works. It isn't fair to default, forcing the mods to scramble to find a pinch hitter (and the pinch hitter scrambling to create a gift matching a specific prompt on short notice), only to later create optional treats when you didn’t complete your originally assigned work. In certain rare cases we may offer exceptions (email the mods) – but if you default on your assigned dSSS work, do not expect to post treats.



Companion Piece Permissions:

For dSSS, gifts are good, and more gifts are great! If you write your assigned recipient fic, a dSSS podficcer could record that story as a Treat for your recipient, or an artist could make cover art for your fic, etc. We mods figure, more gifts + more creativity = more Due South works, YAY! However, if you have concerns (e.g. you really, really don’t want anyone to record your story as a podfic), please email the mods. We'll reply with further instructions.


We hope everyone takes the possibility for more gifts in the spirit of December holidays’ gift-giving – but we will work with you to respect your comfort zone.



In summary:

Optional Treats are optional. Treats posted by assigned gift defaulters will be deleted. Pinch hitters and mods should comment here to inform dSSSers of their requests and squicks/Do Not Writes. Everyone's requests are now viewable.


Treats can be posted up to midnight New Year's Eve, Chicago (Central) time. Length and format rules are relaxed for Treats; nevertheless, you are strongly advised to have your work beta-ed. All other dSSS assigned gift requirements stand.


For ANY questions or concerns, please email us at dsss.admin AT gmail DOT com. This may be a little confusing, we know -- so just ask! And thanks for being awesome!


The dSSS Mods